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Needed: Family 4 one cabin advice

RedLeg72

By RedLeg72,
in Royal Caribbean International

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RedLeg72

RedLeg72

Posted
Posted

I'll get straight to the point. Ive got a balcony room for myself, wife and twin 15 year old boys. Our room has a pullout sofa along with the bed. Should we get a blowup mattress for one of the kids and have the other sleep on the sofa (not pulled out as i don't think we'll have the room)? Or if anyone has any other suggestions, besides getting another room.

 

Thanks

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Tapi Great Review Rare

Tapi

Posted
Posted (edited)

My kids had to share a pullout sofa. They were kinda bummed because we thought that there would be an upper bed and a single convertible sofa, but it turned out to be a twin convertible sofa and no bunk. With that said, they slept comfortably. The sofa not pulled may be too short, specially for a 15 year old boy, so I think they may be more comfortable sharing the sleeper sofa unless they are past that stage of sharing a bed.

 

We brought an inflatable one time when our kids were little little because we didn’t want ether one of them up on a bunk bed at that age and it was a royal pain. It was uncomfortable, cumbersome and our son ended wedges between mom and dad in bed most nights anyway. [emoji23]

 

But all of that aside, with two teenage boys, I would recommend two cabins. You may be surprised to learn that, many times, the difference in price isn’t that much. Mom and dad will be much more comfortable, the kids will be much more comfortable, and everybody gets their privacy.

 

Sometimes the difference between a good cruise and a great one is only a couple hundred dollars.

 

 

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Edited by Tapi
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Grandma Dazzles

Grandma Dazzles

Posted
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If getting two cabins isn't in the budget; sometimes two interiors isn't that bad, I would check to see if a cabin with Pullman's is available. You might be able to just switchto a cabin with better accommodations.

 

I also think it depends on the height of your kids - might be tough to sleep on the couch. I also think even with the couch not pulled out you might find an air mattress hard to place. There's just not that much floor space.

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xcell

xcell

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Check -- I have two incidences so far that booking to separate cabins was cheaper than getting 1 -- now this does not happen all the time, but I guess whomever was in charge of the math was off that day.

 

Sometimes, the cost is more but barely (especially if there is OBC associated with each room or extra benefits), so it won't hurt to ask...

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Tapi Great Review Rare

Tapi

Posted
Posted
Check -- I have two incidences so far that booking to separate cabins was cheaper than getting 1...

 

 

We’ve done two connecting oceanview cabins for less than one balcony cabin. Turns out that we didn’t miss the balcony and really enjoyed doubling our cabin space and having a second bathroom.

 

 

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rriceesq

rriceesq

Posted
Posted
I'll get straight to the point. Ive got a balcony room for myself, wife and twin 15 year old boys. Our room has a pullout sofa along with the bed. Should we get a blowup mattress for one of the kids and have the other sleep on the sofa (not pulled out as i don't think we'll have the room)? Or if anyone has any other suggestions, besides getting another room.

 

 

 

Thanks

 

 

 

I’ve traveled with my three kids before. We pulled out the sofa, split the beds and used the Pullman. Worked great.

 

A tip for bathroom use: If you get a cabin up front, high floor, use the showers and changing room in the spa. Nice and peaceful while kiddo carnage abounds in the room. I always have a full sink for shaving to myself and the showers are much larger and very nice.

 

 

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Ourusualbeach

Ourusualbeach

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I'd get another cabin with 2 Pullman beds. There will much more room when the cabin is made up for sleeping. During the day the beds are put away and you don't even know they're there.

Many ships do not have balconies that have 2 Pullman’s or don’t even have a sofabed and a Pullman.

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VillaHappy

VillaHappy

Posted
Posted

I'd leave the blow up mattress at home. We just were on the Oasis and had a Boardwalk balcony room. It's 182 sq feet. The couch pulled out into a bed. That's where our two teens slept. It was hard to navigate when that was set up for the night, but not impossible. During the day, it was a couch and we had room to live.

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miamimere

miamimere

Posted
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One of the complaints I have about Royal for the older ships, you can't get a 4 person balcony with a Pullman. They don't exist on most ships. I did notice the newer ships (including the Symphony we just booked) offer a bigger room with Pullman that you can book with 4 people, still $1,000 more. We did connecting balconies on Allure several years ago and it was $300 more, well worth it for the price difference. However, not an option for our upcoming cruise, we waited too long and booked the last 4 person balcony room (this was 13 months in advance!). So, somewhat in the same dilemma with kids that don't particularly want to share a bed together. My oldest is 12, and we are bringing this https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075KPFFYG/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Good luck!

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yuvraj

yuvraj

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Luckily my children are now grown adults but we experienced this problem for a number of years. An inside cabin plus balcony for ourselves was always best option. Next best option was for all of us to drop to an inside if cost was too high. The worst option was 4 sharing one cabin.

 

Storage is a big problem with four people sharing IMO so it is not just about sleeping arrangements.

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Bizzie07

Bizzie07

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I wouldn't worry too much. Two teenage boys....most likely they are not going to use the cabin much and chances are they will only be back at 1am curfew! The steward will make up the sofa bed once you are all away for dinner. Use the balcony to sit out of the way relax and have a glass of wine while they are getting ready. You can make anything work if you need to!

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griffy116

griffy116

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The sofa bed on the ships is not the normal sofa bed. It's smaller and with 15 year olds, it's not going to be at all comfortable. I'd actually say more like unbearable. We've had balcony cabins with pullmans, but if you can't get that, I'd forego a balcony cabin to keep from putting two 15 year olds on a sofa bed or carrying a blow up mattress. Are you going to blow it up every night? If not, you aren't even going to be able to get to the balcony. I'd opt for two insides any day before this. Two bathrooms and everyone gets a bed they can actually sleep in, get up to go to the bathrooms,etc.

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Jimbo

Jimbo

Posted
Posted
I'll get straight to the point. Ive got a balcony room for myself, wife and twin 15 year old boys. Our room has a pullout sofa along with the bed. Should we get a blowup mattress for one of the kids and have the other sleep on the sofa (not pulled out as i don't think we'll have the room)? Or if anyone has any other suggestions, besides getting another room.

 

Thanks

 

Need ship and sale date to give you advice on best option, otherwise everyone is giving you useless information since all sailing dates are priced differently.

 

Sounds like you are all ready booked to.......so now it might even cost you a penatly fee to switch cabins.

 

 

Jimbo:)

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Clarea

Clarea

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Posted
we're doing one balcony, one promenade with our two teenage girls this Summer. £300 more expensive than a cabin for 4 - no brainer in my head. The more bathroom space the better right?

Are you kidding, with two teenage girls??? You may want to scope out taking a shower in the fitness area.

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