Questions about 5 in a room or 2 rooms? Please help

[LongHill44]

My wife and I are looking to take my two teenage kids on a cruise as this will be their 3rd time however, my brother would like to join us.  He is single with no children.  

 

Do you feel it would be cheaper per person to try and rent a suite for the 5 of us or go with two rooms with 2 and 3 in each?

 

And if we go with two rooms, would it be cheaper for him if one of my kids, 17 and 14, room with him on paper, saving him money?   Is that how that works?

 

Thanks in advance.

[jakeil7]

There are a lot of items here. For the standard rooms, are you thinking inside or balcony. If you go with one suite, you will want to ensure it has two bathrooms as that will be your limiting factor which boosts the cost further. 
 

if you go with two rooms, send a kid with your brother as you have to pay for two people per room no matter what.  As you seem to infer, you can have the kid stay with you.

 

generally, the two rooms will almost always be cheaper given the 2 bathroom requirement. 

[mjkacmom]

We are a family of 7, 2 rooms has always been cheaper than a suite for us. Try to get connecting to make better use of the 2 bathrooms.

[The Fun Researcher]

2 rooms have always been cheaper for us

 

Dan

[LuvCruising8]

I think two rooms will be more economical compared to the large suite you would need to comfortably sleep 5 adults.

[cb at sea]

Yes, if you pay for 1 child in brother's room, he will only pay the "per person" rate.    Otherwise, he'll pay for 2 people even if he's only 1 in the cabin.

 

If your cabin can sleep 4, the child can sleep wherever you want them to....

[jakeil7]

34 minutes ago, mjkacmom said:

Try to get connecting to make better use of the 2 bathrooms.

That might depend on how...social...your brother is 😁

[mjkacmom]

15 minutes ago, jakeil7 said:

That might depend on how...social...your brother is 😁

True, but if the brother is just paying 1 fare and keeping the cabin for himself, while the OP is paying for 4 and squeezing all 4 into a cabin, it doesn’t seem equal.

[Ken at the beach]

As a note after May 1 of 2021 you will no longer be able to get connecting cabins that can hold 5.  All connecting cabins will have both cabins as double occupancy.  Also depending on the ship if you book 3 in a room it will only have beds for 3 so to book 1 in your brothers room works on paper there may not be room in your room for them to sleep.

[Billy Baltic]

1 hour ago, Ourusualbeach said:

As a note after May 1 of 2021 you will no longer be able to get connecting cabins that can hold 5.  All connecting cabins will have both cabins as double occupancy.  Also depending on the ship if you book 3 in a room it will only have beds for 3 so to book 1 in your brothers room works on paper there may not be room in your room for them to sleep.

When was this announced?

[Ken at the beach]

7 minutes ago, Billy Baltic said:

When was this announced?

Royal really doesn't announce these kind of things to the public.  Travel agents received notification within the past month.  Easy to confirm by looking at the new deck plans on ships after May 2021

[The Fun Researcher]

21 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Royal really doesn't announce these kind of things to the public.  Travel agents received notification within the past month.  Easy to confirm by looking at the new deck plans on ships after May 2021

 

I don’t get it.  So some inside connecting rooms on Freedom and Voyager class ships have built in Pullman beds in the cabin for 4.  They can’t remove them.  You’re saying they just won’t allow 4 in a cabin even though there are 4 beds?

 

Dan

[Billy Baltic]

26 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Royal really doesn't announce these kind of things to the public.  Travel agents received notification within the past month.  Easy to confirm by looking at the new deck plans on ships after May 2021

Seems strange. I’d imagine lots of people don’t use TAs so how are they going to know this? ( that’s a rhetorical question since I know you’re just the messenger). 

[Ken at the beach]

11 minutes ago, The Fun Researcher said:

 

I don’t get it.  So some inside connecting rooms on Freedom and Voyager class ships have built in Pullman beds in the cabin for 4.  They can’t remove them.  You’re saying they just won’t allow 4 in a cabin even though there are 4 beds?

 

Dan

That is the information that I received.  They juggled capacity.

[Ken at the beach]

6 minutes ago, Billy Baltic said:

Seems strange. I’d imagine lots of people don’t use TAs so how are they going to know this? ( that’s a rhetorical question since I know you’re just the messenger). 

They will figure it out when they go to book cabins like they did in the past and won't be able to

[The Fun Researcher]

19 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

That is the information that I received.  They juggled capacity.

 

Looking at the new plans it looks like the 4 person rooms with 2 pullmans are changing to 3 persons rooms with one pullman.  Thankfully that still works for our family of 5

 

Dan  

[jennyumaa]

We were looking for two rooms for our family, but had to get an extra large room (at a higher cost) because non-suite cabins for 3-4 people usually sold out very quickly. Check availability to see if you truly have an option here.

Edited November 18, 2019 by jennyumaa

[Tee & Chilli]

There’s also a new category for connecting cabins.

[matj2000]

Stick all the kids in a room with your brother.

 

Have just the parents in the other room.

 

And don't get connecting.

Edited November 19, 2019 by matj2000

[jakeil7]

6 hours ago, mjkacmom said:

True, but if the brother is just paying 1 fare and keeping the cabin for himself, while the OP is paying for 4 and squeezing all 4 into a cabin, it doesn’t seem equal.

I was speaking to the connecting rooms, not how people should be assigned to them. 

[waterbug123]

As some said, if you book 3 on paper in one room, in may not let you choose a cabin that actually sleeps 4 so the one booked on paper with your brother may actually end up needing to sleep in that cabin.  As for suites, depending on the suite category, sometimes it's just a bedroom that sleeps 2 and a pullout couch that sleeps 2 in the living area.  Not sure how a a 5th person would be accommodated?  Like a grand suite for instance...does it have a pullman bed as well? 

[Ken at the beach]

On 11/18/2019 at 2:16 PM, Ourusualbeach said:

As a note after May 1 of 2021 you will no longer be able to get connecting cabins that can hold 5.  All connecting cabins will have both cabins as double occupancy.  Also depending on the ship if you book 3 in a room it will only have beds for 3 so to book 1 in your brothers room works on paper there may not be room in your room for them to sleep.

Sorry, just wanted to clarify this as Royal certainly did not make it clear in the information they sent out. 

 

In looking at the deck plans there are still quads and doubles that connect and are not identified any differently.

 

Whar they have done is identified some connecting cabins and those that are now their own separate category are all doubles.