Carnival Vista - Family Harbor Suite or 2 Balcony Rooms?

[KayKay14]

My family and I are looking at booking a cruise on the Vista next August and I'm trying to figure out the best room option for us. There are 5 of us - my husband and I along with our 3 children (ages 11, 8, and 5). I'm debating between 1 Family Harbor Suite or 2 Balcony Rooms if I can find adjoining rooms.  From my initial research on Carnival's site, there isn't much of a price difference between the FH Suite on Deck 2 and 2 Balcony Rooms on Deck 6, but I can't tell if I can get adjoining rooms, or not. We haven't sailed with this large of a group before, and I'm curious what everyone would recommend.  Thanks!

[psikic]

Just don't forget the extra Family Harbor benefits -- the Family Harbor lounge with breakfast and snacks, a specialty coffee machine, video and board games, etc.  Also children in Family Harbor get free specialty dining (steakhouse, cucina del capitano, etc.)  I also think that booking the Suite you will get priority boarding, compared to no extra priority for the balcony rooms.

[Eli_6]

I would do two adjoining rooms over 1 suite for a family sailing together.  We sail as a family of four--Me, Husband, and 2 kids.  2 rooms gives you 2 tv's, 2 full bathrooms, 4 beds (or two kings), 2 sofas, more closets, and you can close the door in between you and the kids if need be.  My favorite configuration I have sailed has been a Vista Suite adjoining to a balcony where you basically have two bedrooms with a living room in between (and 3 tvs), but that is a different "class" of ship (Legend, etc.) than the Vista that has that configuration. 

[Eli_6]

Another option would be two adjoining window rooms on the Vista that puts your right there by the main lounge on deck 3.  I think some of those even have an extra bathroom with an extra sink and tub...so you would 2 toilets, and 4 sinks and showers/tubs.  With that said, at Christmas last year we sailed in two adjoining window rooms on deck 3 on the Vista and while I loved the location, I swore I would never do an inside room or OV again because the room started stinking from my stinky children and there was no balcony door to open to air it out.  We literally had to set one of their shoes in the hallway because they smelled so bad and were stinking up the entire room...and then someone picked them up and threw them away (presumptively because they were gone) and he had NO shoes then.  We had to buy him flip flops in the gift shop.    

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

We are also a family of 5, and we asked ourselves this same question. 

 

The family suite is 50% larger than a standard cabin, so while not as much space as two cabins, they are fairly large.  You get two bathrooms either way (but only 1 toilet in the suite). Family harbor suites have the walk-in closet (so should be ample storage space) and 2 tvs.

 

Do you prefer:

- Family harbor lounge, and other suite perks (such as priority embarkation and check in day two days earlier), cove balcony

 

or

 

-More space, two toilets, standard balcony or cove balcony 

 

We chose the family harbor suite.  We don't spend that much time in the cabin, so the space is sufficient. But, we are looking forward to using the family harbor lounge and make use of the suite perks.

 

[KayKay14]

Thanks everyone. We ended up deciding against the FH and Cove balconies due to Deck 2 being right below the galley and dining rooms. I'm worried there might be too much noise because some of us are very light sleepers.

 

Ended up booking 2 connecting Balconies up on Deck 10. I figure that will be pretty convenient to a lot of the food options and activities the kids will want to do. 🙂

[Liljo22]

Having the FH lounge was great but being that low can be a pain.  There was almost always a low vibration and you also felt ever shift.