Best room option for family

[Danyle]

For the holidays my parents booked all their kids families on the jade in January! First cruise for any of us and all very excited! As my family has been looking at our room we have been wondering if we will fit ok or if we need to look at getting a bigger room. There will be 4 in an ocean view room including two young children. Will we be comfortable for 7 days or should we look at something with more space for the kids?

[Jenjer]

It is such a personal thing. Some people can put 4 adults in a interior room and be perfectly fine others will say the 2bed villa is the only way to go.

 

We started cruising with our kids ages 4 and 6 and could never cruise in anything smaller than a balcony room. Now they are 11 and 13 and we are looking at cruises with 2 rooms or suites.

 

I would look into the cost to upgrade to a balcony myself. Not knowing the ages of your kids but if they nap having the balcony to relax on while the children sleep would defiantly be worth it.

 

Some advice I found helpful cruising with kids

 

1. a pop up hamper to put all your dirty clothing in.

2. Put each outfit together top, bottom, underwear, socks, accessory's all in a zip lock bag. That way you don't have to look for matching items they are all together and ready to go. It also helps kids get themselves ready.

[haply]

We are cruising over Thanksgiving week with a 4 and an 8-year old. We have two connecting rooms to give us privacy. We are not traveling with any family (built-in babysitters), so when the kids go to sleep, we will not be going out etc. We will still be able to stay up, lights on, etc. in our own room while the kids are asleep in the other room. We did get connecting rooms because they are still young and we can keep the door propped open to keep a close eye on them. We do have balcony rooms so that we can still enjoy sitting out and watching the sea, etc. as we probably will be spending a bit more time in the rooms. We found that two connecting rooms were cheaper than a suite, with a bit more privacy option, two bathrooms, etc.

[plum24]

I'm going to suggest the opposite: some of the best memories we've had as a family have taken place in our super-cozy rooms, where we're all together. We only go there to sleep or change, and for us, it's been perfect. We prefer to spend money on excursions or other adventures, and always book inside cabins. My son is 10, and we've been cruising this way since he was about 4.

[3kidsncats]

I know my family would be fine in the cabin you have -- we have often traveled quite happily in close quarters. For others, it wouldn't work at all. I think the ultimate answer has to come from you-- what are your family dynamic and personal needs?

[dijid]

It really is a personal call and depends on how much time you wish to spend in the room. The OV on the Jade is a nice size and you will have enough storage for 4 (assuming you don't horrendously overpack!), but during the day there will be only beds and one chair to sit on, and during the night you'll have to have the two beds folded down for sleeping. (Our first cruise on the Jade was in an Inside + OV)

 

A balcony room will give you a little more space and places to sit. On our second Jade cruise, we had four in a minisuite (connecting to family with 3 in a minisuite) and it felt luxuriously spacious for a cruise. BUT we caught a fantastic deal with a KSF promo, otherwise I wouldn't have spent the extra money on the minisuite.

[Danyle]

Thanks everyone! We have two boys 4 & 8 so thinking we are going to look into something with a little more space. I'm sure we could make our room work just trying to make it enjoyable for all. [emoji4]

[sparkinator]

We have twins aged 12 and we cruise 4 to a room every year. We like the sideways obstructed oceanview cabins. The view is obstructed by a lifeboat, but he layout of the room makes it much easier accessible. Plus being on deck 8 makes it close to everything.

 

I like it much better than just an oceanview. I would be hard pressed to accept a balcony for the same price.

 

Our view isn't completely blocked, but it is obstructed. We can see almost as much as a porthole window. We don't sit there and look out the window anyway. LOL

Edited November 4, 2015 by sparkinator

[bonvoyagie]

On the Jade (and other Jewel class ships) The 2 bdrm family suite is probably the most amount of room for a family - they feature three rooms - 2 bed/bath rooms and a living room. The kids will have their own sleeping/dressing area and the adults will have theirs - and you will have a room for everyone to be together. These are available outside of the Haven - but are in limited qnty.

 

You can also sleep 4 in the two inner SE suites on deck 10 - under the bridge. These rooms are nice in that they have a large balcony - the drawback is that you are all still in one room with one bathroom - the sofa makes into a full size bed - note in all of the other SE and SF suites the sofa only makes into a twin (and a small one at that).

 

I am not sure that a family balcony would be that much larger than the OV. but you would have beds, a sofa and a pull down bunk.

 

You could also get a mini suite - they sleep 4 and have a bit more room than a balcony - they also have a tub style shower.

 

I guess it all depends on how cozy your family can be :D

 

We cruised with our teenage kids and had two cabins - a balcony and an inside. We still found that in order to play our family card/board games we needed to find another place - we often ended up at the garden café (had to have a snack:))

[49erfan007]

When we did our big family Thanksgiving cruise (26), DH and I got a balcony cabin and our three children stayed in an inside across the hall. It worked well for us, bc the children were teenagers. Our first cruise with the kids, 7 and 10, we all shared a balcony cabin. It was tight, but it was nice having the balcony to sit on when the children were sleeping. Either way you will have an amazing time :)