Possible to fit family of 4 in HAL inside cabin?

[happycruising88]

I am planning last minute Alaska cruise and realize the balcony cabins are more expensive than expected. Has anyone had experience with 4 people (2 adults and 2 boys 3 and 5) in an inside cabin on HAL Westerdam or Oosterdam? In the previous cruises on NCL and RCCL, we always got balcony cabin and let the boys sleep on the sofabed.

 

Any feedback is appreciated.

[epixx]

I don't know if this information will help you, but we had an inside quad cabin last summer on HAL's 14 night Alaska cruise. The price was unbeatable because the 3rd and 4th passengers were free for the entire 14 nights. We have 2 girls, a teen and a preteen. We almost always sail in an inside quad, occasionally a window, but never a balcony. We found the HAL inside quad to be one of the best we have ever had, in terms of layout and efficiency of space utilization, when compared with other lines such as Princess, Disney, NCL, Carnival, RCI, and Celebrity. Our preteen slept in the pullman bed, and the teen slept on the sleeper sofa.

[Essiesmom]

The inside J cabins on Main deck are huge, and I also understand that the I cabins on Upper Verandah are the largest insides, although I have not personally seen them. My nside K on Main deck on WEsterdam had more space than my OV E on Oosterdam. EM

[topspot]

Definitely doable in the J on the maindeck and the I in upper veranda. We have stayed in both. On the maindeck there is the possibility of being under the Northern Lights (disco) We were here once, but the good thing about HAL was that the music stopped each night between 11 and 1130. Your kids might not even notice it. On the main deck, you also are near a public restroom, which could come in handy with 4 people.;)

The I on the upper veranda was also nice, and you have cabins above and below, so it was quieter.

[happycruising88]

Thanks for the information. It really helps! What is the size of the sofa bed? Does it convert to a full-size bed? I am just worried if my 5 yr old may fall out of the pullman bed or he simply doesn't like it. Would it be possible to squeeze the 2 young kids on the sofa bed?

[topspot]

I think so with a head at each end and thier feet touching in the middle. If they could sleep on one single mattress, you could ask the steward to put the mattress for the pullman on the floor, then you wouldn't need to pull out the sofa bed.

The sofa bed in the J cabin was a pull out. The sofabed in the I cabin is more like a single bed, with one of the longer sides of the mattress up against the wall. (at least on the Westerdam).

[Alison1466]

We did 4 in an inside on the Maasdam (approx 182 sq. ft). Once we did it for 35 days on the Voyage of the Vikings last summer and it worked out great--nobody ever got sick and we spent only our sleeping time in the cabin. We just got back from a 10 day Caribbean cruise on the Maasdam in an inside and it didn't work out as well because our kids were sick and we had to spend a ton of time in the cabin...made for quite a different experience.

 

The sofa bed that I experienced cannot fit 2. We had one in a sofa bed, one in an upper bunk, and 2 in twin beds.

[B95127]

Thanks for the information. It really helps! What is the size of the sofa bed? Does it convert to a full-size bed? I am just worried if my 5 yr old may fall out of the pullman bed or he simply doesn't like it. Would it be possible to squeeze the 2 young kids on the sofa bed?

Depends on the cabin. HAL has sofas that pull out to a double and also sofas that sleep only one. So it entirely depends on your cabin. If you look at the cabins on the deck plans they will sometimes say accomodates up to 4 or up to 3. The up to 4 has the double, 3 has the single sofa bed. I would call HAL and make sure you book the cabin that best suits your needs.