5 people in 1 cabin??

[Paulxyz2004]

What type of lock is used on the upper part of the door? Is it a chain that goes up and down or the heavy metal that swings? Reason I ask is we have an up/down chain on our pantry, you know to limit snacks, and the twins have learned to use a broom to push up the chain :D these 2 guys are very resourceful!!

 

 

There´s nothing on the upper part of the door. There´s only a kind of knob you turn to lock the cabin door. When the door handle is pulled the door will open, even if the lock is closed.

 

However those doors are really heavy and your 4 yo have to be strong to open them. A word of caution, as heavy as they are as heavy they can close when not held open, so be careful with the little fingers of the kids:eek:.

The balcony doors btw have a child lock, that I doubt a 4yo will be able to open. It´s high up and on the side of the door, so completely away from the regular handle. They should have a hard time to find it and reach it.

[spcopps]

There´s nothing on the upper part of the door. There´s only a kind of knob you turn to lock the cabin door. When the door handle is pulled the door will open, even if the lock is closed.

 

However those doors are really heavy and your 4 yo have to be strong to open them. A word of caution, as heavy as they are as heavy they can close when not held open, so be careful with the little fingers of the kids:eek:.

The balcony doors btw have a child lock, that I doubt a 4yo will be able to open. It´s high up and on the side of the door, so completely away from the regular handle. They should have a hard time to find it and reach it.

 

Thanks for the input on the balcony locks! Just spoke with 2 different people at RCCL and they both said that balcony dividers are no longer allowed to be open on any of the ships. This puts a connecting balcony out because why pay for a balcony 2nd room when that balcony won't be used :mad:. I have now changed to the Freedom and looking at the family promenade room. No balcony but it is 300 square feet. If we don't like the cabin we know to go to family balcony next time. Thanks guys for all the help!

[jmf123]

Thanks for the input on the balcony locks! Just spoke with 2 different people at RCCL and they both said that balcony dividers are no longer allowed to be open on any of the ships. This puts a connecting balcony out because why pay for a balcony 2nd room when that balcony won't be used :mad:.

 

Would you consider the D1 Balcony that connects with a Cat F (175.5 s.f.) Large Oceanview? Your s.f. would be 300+ with the two staterooms, and you'd have a lockable balcony, two bathrooms, two tvs, privacy. The Oceanview has a sofabed so should accommodate three passengers. There are just a couple of these, forward on Deck 9. Your family is sure to enjoy the Freedom, wherever you stay! :)

[spcopps]

Would you consider the D1 Balcony that connects with a Cat F (175.5 s.f.) Large Oceanview? Your s.f. would be 300+ with the two staterooms, and you'd have a lockable balcony, two bathrooms, two tvs, privacy. The Oceanview has a sofabed so should accommodate three passengers. There are just a couple of these, forward on Deck 9. Your family is sure to enjoy the Freedom, wherever you stay! :)

 

I did actually look into these and the inside/balcony aft but they were already booked for all of Oct and Nov 2012 :eek:

[cruisinfanatic]

The booking has to reflect an adult in each cabin. However many work around this by than asking for extra room keys once on board ( not at check in ) and making the changes on their own. However it should be noted that if by placing the kids alone in the room present any issues regarding noise and other bad behavior when not surpervised by an adult other passengers than sometimes report this behavior. Thus posing a potential risk for the entire family being made to leave the ship/cruise at the next port of call. Yes entire families have been escorted off the ship for this very reason.

Not true

Kids can be booked in their own cabin as long as it's next door or right across the hall from parents.

[nenner1]

You can book 5 in a regular cabin..IF there is one child age 2 or younger. We did it in a D1 when my daughter was 22 months (and our other 2 kids 10 and 8)- never again. :eek:

 

 

It is true about Oasis class having some regular cabins that hold 5 (including over age 2) but honestly we have not been able to find much info on it and haven't really tried since we have no desire to go that route again!!:D. A good TA should be able to help with that.

 

 

Go for the family rooms, or better yet two connecting rooms=two bathrooms!

 

Enjoy your planning!

[jmf123]

I did actually look into these and the inside/balcony aft but they were already booked for all of Oct and Nov 2012 :eek:

 

Things change daily and cancellations happen, I would recommend checking into having your choice waitlisted if you can. You are more than a year from sailing. :)

[Ashland]

You can book 5 in a regular cabin..IF there is one child age 2 or younger. We did it in a D1 when my daughter was 22 months (and our other 2 kids 10 and 8)- never again. :eek:

 

 

It is true about Oasis class having some regular cabins that hold 5 (including over age 2) but honestly we have not been able to find much info on it and haven't really tried since we have no desire to go that route again!!:D. A good TA should be able to help with that.

 

 

Go for the family rooms, or better yet two connecting rooms=two bathrooms!

 

Enjoy your planning!

The OP has no chidren under age "2"...I would like to hear of someone being able to book a regular balcony cabin for a family of 5....:confused:

[ChicagoBound]

Tons of good intentions in these posts but tons of wrong information.

 

SPCopps: Here's the ansewr you've been looking for. You can EASILY book your family of five in a balcony room on Oasis or Allure. I know because. All five us were in one standard balcony room on Allure in March. Look for the rooms that have diamonds on the diagram. That means they have a queen bed, a sofa that sleeps two and a pullman bed that comes down from the ceiling and is basically a bunk bed over half the sofa.

 

We had me. My wife, our 7 year-old twins and our 3 year old in one of these rooms. It is way cheaper than a junior suite or two attached rooms or a family suite. Our 7 year-olds fought over who got to sleep in the pullman bed--each wanted to sleep there every night.

 

In the past, we had stayed in junior suites and grand suits. But on Allure, that was price-prohibitive. My wife was extremely trepedatious about whether we'd have enough room, including enough room for our clothes. We ended up having just enough room. There is no question that it'll be tight quarters, but it really wasn't bad. My wife admits as much! We didn't spend huge amounts of time in the room. On Allure, why would you.

 

I recommend you do what we did. It was fine and we saved a boatload. (Pun intended).

 

Also, there's no requirement that one of the kids be younger than three. Ours weren't. I posted about our experience elsewhere. Search for it and take solace that yes, you absolutely can fit five into a standard balcony.

[lesleyswimcoach]

I was looking a a Jr. suite for my family of 4 but went with two balcony cabins. They were having a sale on two person balconies and we were able to get two next door to each other. Here is the hitch. They do not connect inside so we are splitting up at night. I will sleep with my DD(5) and my husband will sleep with my DS(8). It is not ideal but if we were all in one room there would be no loving going on anyway! I looked at doing this with an inside but the rooms were not close( the sale was for certain balconies) and it was only $100 more to have the balconies side by side than a inside down the hall. We had a suite on our last cruise together and I can't imagine 5 people in a regular room. I think the biggest thing that sold me is the balconies were 639pp and the extra person in our room was 409pp. This is not enough of a discount to be on top of each other. I realize the Allure and Oasis are premium ships right now but give yourself some space on a seven day cruise.

[spcopps]

The OP has no chidren under age "2"...I would like to hear of someone being able to book a regular balcony cabin for a family of 5....:confused:

 

She was giving her example with a child under 2 but also stated that on the Oasis class there are some cabins that sleep 5 (over age 2). I do think though, this is only available on Oasis class ship.

[spcopps]

Tons of good intentions in these posts but tons of wrong information.

 

SPCopps: Here's the ansewr you've been looking for. You can EASILY book your family of five in a balcony room on Oasis or Allure. I know because. All five us were in one standard balcony room on Allure in March. Look for the rooms that have diamonds on the diagram. That means they have a queen bed, a sofa that sleeps two and a pullman bed that comes down from the ceiling and is basically a bunk bed over half the sofa.

 

We had me. My wife, our 7 year-old twins and our 3 year old in one of these rooms. It is way cheaper than a junior suite or two attached rooms or a family suite. Our 7 year-olds fought over who got to sleep in the pullman bed--each wanted to sleep there every night.

 

In the past, we had stayed in junior suites and grand suits. But on Allure, that was price-prohibitive. My wife was extremely trepedatious about whether we'd have enough room, including enough room for our clothes. We ended up having just enough room. There is no question that it'll be tight quarters, but it really wasn't bad. My wife admits as much! We didn't spend huge amounts of time in the room. On Allure, why would you.

 

I recommend you do what we did. It was fine and we saved a boatload. (Pun intended).

 

Also, there's no requirement that one of the kids be younger than three. Ours weren't. I posted about our experience elsewhere. Search for it and take solace that yes, you absolutely can fit five into a standard balcony.

 

Thanks for the info..this was very helpful. We usually book a suite and have plenty of room. My thought process is this...the suite is to expensive for 7 days on Oasis class. My kids are actually 3, 3, and 8 at time of sailing so the twins are still small and could share the pull out sofa while DD8 can use the bunk. Once they get much older than this I wouldn't even consider this arrangement. I really wanted a balcony to cruise Eastern because our past have been Western Intenerary. I really could care less about the room, with all to see and do (I told DH the kids would be happy riding the carousel all day). DH on the other hand likes his space. I tried to reason with him that during the day the bed would be up and the sofa so we would have enough walking space. 1 bath isn't an issue, we all change in front of each other all the time anyway. I do have a question for you, can you walk past the sofa bed/pullman onto the balcony when both beds are in use???

[spcopps]

Tons of good intentions in these posts but tons of wrong information.

 

SPCopps: Here's the ansewr you've been looking for. You can EASILY book your family of five in a balcony room on Oasis or Allure. I know because. All five us were in one standard balcony room on Allure in March. Look for the rooms that have diamonds on the diagram. That means they have a queen bed, a sofa that sleeps two and a pullman bed that comes down from the ceiling and is basically a bunk bed over half the sofa.

 

We had me. My wife, our 7 year-old twins and our 3 year old in one of these rooms. It is way cheaper than a junior suite or two attached rooms or a family suite. Our 7 year-olds fought over who got to sleep in the pullman bed--each wanted to sleep there every night.

 

In the past, we had stayed in junior suites and grand suits. But on Allure, that was price-prohibitive. My wife was extremely trepedatious about whether we'd have enough room, including enough room for our clothes. We ended up having just enough room. There is no question that it'll be tight quarters, but it really wasn't bad. My wife admits as much! We didn't spend huge amounts of time in the room. On Allure, why would you.

 

I recommend you do what we did. It was fine and we saved a boatload. (Pun intended).

 

Also, there's no requirement that one of the kids be younger than three. Ours weren't. I posted about our experience elsewhere. Search for it and take solace that yes, you absolutely can fit five into a standard balcony.

 

Do you have any pics you could post or email me of the cabin. I understand if they don't have your kids/family in them but would really like to see it with the beds open and/or with all your "junk" in the room LOL. If you have any I will give you my email to send them.

[ChicagoBound]

You can walk past the sofa to the balcony when the sofa is opened up as a bed. There's probably a foot and a half of clearance. Again, it's tight with all the beds open but really quite doable. The only times we were in the room were in the morning, waking up and getting ready, and at nighttime. A couple of days, one of us was in the room at naptime with the three year old. He napped on the main bed and the adult was out on the balcony. With the sofabed folded away and the pullman folded up into the ceiling, there's plenty of room. Plus, you'll be on the world's largest cruise ship with plenty of space. And your kids WILL go on that carosel about a hundred times. Thankfully, it's free.

[spcopps]

You can walk past the sofa to the balcony when the sofa is opened up as a bed. There's probably a foot and a half of clearance. Again, it's tight with all the beds open but really quite doable. The only times we were in the room were in the morning, waking up and getting ready, and at nighttime. A couple of days, one of us was in the room at naptime with the three year old. He napped on the main bed and the adult was out on the balcony. With the sofabed folded away and the pullman folded up into the ceiling, there's plenty of room. Plus, you'll be on the world's largest cruise ship with plenty of space. And your kids WILL go on that carosel about a hundred times. Thankfully, it's free.

 

Thanks again for the info. The way I see it when the beds are open DH and I will either be asleep or on the balcony! Seems when we are on vacation the kids sleep late so it would be nice to be able to go out to eat on the balcony without the kids waking up :D.

[Greghouseo]

So minors are allowed to be booked in a cabin with nobody of legal age? I am surprised. The only cruises we took with our kids was on Princess and they told us we had to book an adult in each cabin.

 

Absolutely not.

I can give you booking references, ages, everything you need to prove the point.

2 x G category cabins next to each other one with two adults 56 and 49 years old, one with 3 children, 15, 15 and 13 years old.

[DonnaK]

The booking has to reflect an adult in each cabin. However many work around this by than asking for extra room keys once on board ( not at check in ) and making the changes on their own. However it should be noted that if by placing the kids alone in the room present any issues regarding noise and other bad behavior when not surpervised by an adult other passengers than sometimes report this behavior. Thus posing a potential risk for the entire family being made to leave the ship/cruise at the next port of call. Yes entire families have been escorted off the ship for this very reason.

 

This is NOT true. You can book your own minor children into their own cabin if it is connecting, adjacent or directly across the hall from your own cabin. There is NO rule that an adult has to be booked into each cabin, unless it is not next to or across the hall from yours. We've been booking our children into their own cabin for the past severeal years, and never had to book an adult in each cabin.

 

I wish people would stop spreading this misconception.

[DonnaK]

So minors are allowed to be booked in a cabin with nobody of legal age? I am surprised. The only cruises we took with our kids was on Princess and they told us we had to book an adult in each cabin.

 

Yes, minors CAN be booked into their own cabin if they are your children, and are next to, or directly across the hall from, your own cabin.

 

This is true on Princess too (we did it twice - booked our kids into their own cabin). In fact, Princess doesn't even have the across the hall or next to provision - you can book your children into their own cabin anywhere on the ship - their reservation gets marked "accompanied minors".

 

If you were told otherwise, then your TA or whoever told you that is misinformed. We book directly with the cruiseline, and never had a problem booking our kids into their own cabin without an adult on each reservation.

[soccerpapi]

I for one would not want to be on a ship where children can be left alone in a cabin for extended periods of time without an adult being very close by. I would think the children would need to be booked in a connecting cabin.

 

It sounds dangerous for the children and a safety concern for all.

 

Soccer

[Greghouseo]

I for one would not want to be on a ship where children can be left alone in a cabin for extended periods of time without an adult being very close by. I would think the children would need to be booked in a connecting cabin.

 

It sounds dangerous for the children and a safety concern for all.

 

Soccer

 

What exactly is dangerous?

Better make sure that you take all that cotton wool to wrap the kids in next time you go away.

[Greghouseo]

This is NOT true. You can book your own minor children into their own cabin if it is connecting, adjacent or directly across the hall from your own cabin. There is NO rule that an adult has to be booked into each cabin, unless it is not next to or across the hall from yours. We've been booking our children into their own cabin for the past severeal years, and never had to book an adult in each cabin.

 

I wish people would stop spreading this misconception.

 

Amen to that

Ignorance and inaccuracy is the staple diet of many on Cruise Critic.

Formulate an opinion and state it as fact!!!!!!

[Greghouseo]

The booking has to reflect an adult in each cabin. However many work around this by than asking for extra room keys once on board ( not at check in ) and making the changes on their own. However it should be noted that if by placing the kids alone in the room present any issues regarding noise and other bad behavior when not surpervised by an adult other passengers than sometimes report this behavior. Thus posing a potential risk for the entire family being made to leave the ship/cruise at the next port of call. Yes entire families have been escorted off the ship for this very reason.

 

and you got this useless and entirely inaccurate information WHERE exactly???????

[DonnaK]

I for one would not want to be on a ship where children can be left alone in a cabin for extended periods of time without an adult being very close by. I would think the children would need to be booked in a connecting cabin.

 

It sounds dangerous for the children and a safety concern for all.

 

Soccer

 

That's the idea behind having the children next door or across the hall, so that the supervising adults are very close by. It's NEVER been a problem for us, or created a problem for others, to have our children in their own cabin next door to ours, or when they got a little older, to put them across the hall from us. We know where they are at all times, and they know that they are accountable to us throughout the cruise.

[bobmal99]

Adjoining means they are next to each other.

Connecting means there is a connecting door

between the two cabins, you can open that door

and go back and fourth!!!

 

 

Look for a balcony cabin with connecting inside..they exist.

 

Firefly....what is the difference between connecting and adjoining......cabins? :confused:

[rd757]

We've had two cabins on all of our cruises so far. On our first cruise, it was myself and my two brothers in an inside cabin across the hall from our parents who had a balcony cabin. On the next two, it was my two brothers, one of my friends and I all in the inside room with my parents across the hall again. It worked out well, but 4 teenage boys in one room was kind of tight.

 

As far as booking, on the first one my mother was listed in our cabin and one of the twins were in the balcony room. We just switched the key assignments at the Purser's desk once we were onboard and no one even batted an eye. After that, I was considered old enough to be the "adult" in the room. :)

 

If you have 4yr olds, I think the inside adjoining rooms with the door in the middle would be your best bet. If you need "privacy," then close the door and wallah, but then if you need to get to your kids for whatever reason, it's quick access to their cabin. It'll sacrifice the balcony, but I think 5 would just be to tight in one balcony room.