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Family Harbour Ocean view or just an Oceanview on the Vista

DKNE

By DKNE,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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DKNE

DKNE

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So we have an opportunity to book the Family Habour Oceanview on the Vista for $80 more than just our regular Oceanview for $80 more.

 

Thing is the Family Harbours are under the galley. Even though the Vista isn't built yet, with reviews, other ships, people say to stay away from the rooms below the galley. Wondering if it is worth the $80 to switch to a Family Habour Oceanview (we have 2 kids who will be 13 and 11 on the cruise sailing). Clearly having a Family Harbour with all the perks....family area, movie nights, family breakfast area, etcetc is cool to have, but having the galley above us...is that a perk lol

 

However another thing is, we are also hoping for a deal that will allow us to get a deal where we can get an 'balcony for the price of an oceanview' like we did on the Breeze.

 

Not sure what to do. Any tips? Or should we just book the Family Harbour to secure a super neat room on the Vista and if we do get a great rate to upgrade to a balcony, so be it?

 

Thanks ! :D

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virginiab

virginiab

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I would snap up the family harbor room myself. Sure, some areas under the galley will be noisy at odd hours; many others will not be noisy. Unless you have someone extremely sensitive to noise, I'd just stock up on earplugs, just in case of noise, and book the cabin. The cabin looks really neat!

 

I never travel without earplugs. You never know who will be in the next cabin or the hotel room next to yours and how loud they will be.

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Rosethorn40

Rosethorn40

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I think you made a good decision. I would not expect too many zero/low cost upgrade deals on the Vista the first year. You didn't say if you were on a Europe or Caribbean sailing. On the Caribbean sailings the "specialty" staterooms (Havana & Family Harbor) seem to be filling fast, even though those sailings are a year+ out.

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DKNE

DKNE

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I think you made a good decision. I would not expect too many zero/low cost upgrade deals on the Vista the first year. You didn't say if you were on a Europe or Caribbean sailing. On the Caribbean sailings the "specialty" staterooms (Havana & Family Harbor) seem to be filling fast, even though those sailings are a year+ out.

 

We are on the 8 day eastern exotic caribbean! And apparently the 6pm first seating dining is already 'waitlisted' for our sailing, this is for Jan 2017 !!!! :eek:

I am glad we booked the Family Habour room. We have over 480 days till sailing. I have never booked a cruise this far in advance! But we are excited as we are sailing with 2 sets of friends with their families as well!!!

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Rosethorn40

Rosethorn40

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Don't forget to come back and tell us how you liked it!:)

 

I really felt I was taking a big gamble to book a Havana Cabana (And a suite at that) on a ship that all I had to go by was conceptual drawings, and no first hand reviews. I booked months ago and I'm glad I did, because besides 2 sailings that have a few interior cabins for the Havana area, there are no Havana Cabins to be had. Of course some may open up when final payment due date arrives. The down side, was when I booked, there were only the cabins aft, on deck 5 that were considered "Havana" which meant the pool area would be blissfully uncrowded. Apparently demand was so high, they added additional cabins on aft portions of decks 6, 7, & 8 (Maybe even more) to "Havana". I don't think it's going to be quite the oasis I originally thought.

 

I think the Family Harbor is a great concept & perfect for families. If the reviews are positive I think DH & I will take DS, DDiL, & DDGS on a cruise in 2017.

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Sam_Eagle

Sam_Eagle

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I think you'll be fine. As you already found out, all the FH Oceanviews are under the MDR. Only the FH Suites & Coves are under the galley. I booked on day 1 into a FH Interior, but I quickly moved to a FH Deluxe Oceanview for the small price difference. I would've loved to get a FH Suite, but the price difference was just too much, and the FH Coves sold out quickly since there are only 4.

Given that the Vista sailings have been bookable for 6 months now, plus how popular it has been, I'm really not surprised that a dinner seating is waitlisted already. I booked at 645 days out, by far the farthest out I've booked a cruise. An active roll call makes the time fly by though, and I'm already more than a third of the way there. :)

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DKNE

DKNE

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I am really happy with our choice, especially that the family deluxe oceanview habours have 2 washrooms !! Our one set of friends that we are travelling with also booked a family habour ocean view too!

We had the 2 washrooms on the Disney Dream and it was so handy !!!

 

Can't wait! Only 470 days! lol

 

Thanks for all your help, really appreciate it ! :D

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  • 1 month later...
trvlgirlmq

trvlgirlmq

Posted
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wondering if some of you have additional info on the family harbour ocean views

 

we are booiked into deluxe family harbour, but it seems its mostly for family

 

the agent on carnival explained how 5pm to 9am others are not allowed in that area, how there is a special lounge etc, but is it more for families and children>

 

we can go to regular deluxe ocean view im concerned and dont even understand what the lock down time means..... why is this

 

i also dont know if there is a pool in that area or no? should two seniors stay in that area not only due to it being a family area but why take this space from families with children if that is what its for...

 

any help please on this family harbour section which is supposed to be special

 

This area is designed specifically for family groups with children. The rooms are all the Deluxe OV with the 2nd bathroom. The lounge has video games, board games, movies, snacks and provides a continental breakfast each day. There is no pool or special access to one.

 

If I did not have children I would not choose to stay in this area. I do actually have kids (younger teens) but we are still not staying in this area. The hallways may be louder and the lounge will probably not be a peaceful place to be.

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Sam_Eagle

Sam_Eagle

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This area is designed specifically for family groups with children. The rooms are all the Deluxe OV with the 2nd bathroom. The lounge has video games, board games, movies, snacks and provides a continental breakfast each day. There is no pool or special access to one.

Agreed. The Family Harbor area seems to be set up similar to the Havana area. Only those staying in that area have access to it during certain times. As the name "Family Harbor" implies, this area is geared more towards families. Games, snacks (including a 24-hour ice cream machine), private concierge for booking excursion/specialty restaurant reservations, etc. Depending on the sailing, I fully expect the Family Harbor area to be somewhat filled with the noise of kids in the hallways. Since I'm on a special sailing (NYC-Miami repo), I don't think there will be as many younger kids as there would be on a more traditional sailing.

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  • 1 month later...
Sam_Eagle

Sam_Eagle

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Hmmm...... We don't mind kids but not everywhere so maybe Celebrity would be better for us, less kids.

 

I'm not saying the Vista is not a good choice, just the Family Harbor area, which is dedicated towards kids, may not be the best area. The Havana area is also a restricted area that is kid-free, or at least it's a 12+ area

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steph7021

steph7021

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What do you get with the Havana is it like the Haven a ship with in a ship and does the amenities include the interior staterooms

 

 

It includes a bar area and pool that is exclusive until 5pm. We are booked in a cabana but there are interiors.

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  • 2 weeks later...
lilnoia

lilnoia

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We booked a FH deluxe OV for the 9/23/16 sailing! We'll be travelling with two little ones (2 and 4 by then). My husband and I have done a few cruises, but always on the cheap and without an ocean view, so I'm very excited about this. I wonder if there will be any other families with little ones on our cruise...otherwise I guess my kids will get a lot more attention at Camp Carnival. :D

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