mike91911 Posted May 10, 2008 #1 Share Posted May 10, 2008 We are a family of 6, my wife and I and 4 boys ages 13, 11, 4, 1. We are cruising in Sept but the 2 older boys will not be going on that cruise. I'd like to plan a future cruise with all of us maybe late next year. We've cruised both Carnival and NCL. We'd prefer to go Carnival or RCCL. What is the best way to accomodate all of us? I don't believe Carnival has a stateroom that will handle all of us but I don't know about RCCL? Am I better off getting adjoining staterooms? If I do that I assume that 2 people in each room would pay the "full fare". We can basically depart from any port on the east coast. I work for Amtrak, so I can take the train or drive to avoid the airfare. Any ideas from any of you larger family cruisers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boulders Posted May 10, 2008 #2 Share Posted May 10, 2008 RCCL has several classes of staterooms that can handle 6. You can't book these cabins online, you have to call RCCL or a travel agent. I have done both a family oceanview and connecting cabins. With connecting cabins, the first 2 people in each cabin will pay full fare. I much preferred the family cabin. Our family didn't need the extra bathroom. I felt very cramped in the 2 connecting cabins. Another downside for the two connecting was the fact that there were 2 TV's LOL. About all there was room to do in each cabin was sit and watch TV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crusin6 Posted May 10, 2008 #3 Share Posted May 10, 2008 We are doing our 3rd cruise this summer with our 4 daughters ages 7, 12, 13, 17. We always get CONNECTING ( not adjoining) staterooms and leave the door open. We get oceanview as we find balcony to be too expensive and few connecting rooms even though the balconies can be made to connect. Also, you have a baby so don't waste the money now. We have found that the balcony does not help us much as we don't like to spend time in the cabin "en masse" during the day anyway. We all go to bed around 10 or 11pm so nightlife is not an issue as the girls want to be with us anyway. I have heard that boys can be different in this manner and want to make friends on trips. We have sailed Disney and we love them but they are too expensive. We would consider them again though. So for now we do Carnival, get a great price booking early and keep looking for reductions on the cruise along the way. We call the ta and get the reduction. You will pay full price for the 1st and 2nd in each room. So you will pay 4 full and 2, 3rd and 4th person rates. This summer we are going to the Med on the Carnival Freedom. We will only sail on ships that offer connecting low priced cabins and this time we will be on the 2nd deck. So will everyone else as well since the 1st and 2nd decks are very very nice on Carnival. We would consider inside cabins if they connect but have not financially needed to do so thus far. Also, we can not get guaranteed cabin rates as Carnival can't guarantee connecting rooms that way and of course we are not splitting up. Some folks book a Balcony and then an interior across the hall for the older kids. Well what can I say? No way am I letting my girls sleep alone across the hall! I wouldn't do it even if they were boys either. A ship is a small city and predetors surely abound. So as far as the " we can sit on the balcony and sip wine while the baby sleeps and the older kids hang out with their new best friends." thinking, we don't buy it. Our kids want to be with us on family vacations, we find a ship with well priced connecting oceanview rooms and continue to make family memories. One last thing, we will try this summer to get a 6 seat dinner table. Disney knows families need to be together and arrange for such without be told. Carnival has sat us with a single parent and child. They were unhappy with everything and the kid didn't want to be sitting with 4 girls. They were apparantly mute as well so we went on enjoying ourselves in a well behaved manner. Enjoy your travels!!:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrp96 Posted May 10, 2008 #4 Share Posted May 10, 2008 I've posted this in the past about what RCCL offers for large families (in addition to connecting staterooms): Family Inside Stateroom - requires a minimum of 5 people to book, holds max 6 people. All of our Family Staterooms can accommodate up to six people, with two twin beds, sofa and/or Pullman beds. Other amenities include a minibar and sitting area. Found on Freedom class and Enchantment of the Seas Family Promenade Stateroom - requires a minimum of 5 people to book, holds max 6 people. All of our Family Staterooms can accommodate up to six people, with two twin beds, sofa and/or Pullman beds. Other amenities include a minibar and sitting area. Found on Freedom class. Family Oceanview Stateroom - requires a minimum of 5 people to book, holds max 6 people. All of our Family Ocean View Staterooms can accommodate up to six people, with two twin beds, sofa and/or Pullman beds. Other amenities include a minibar (except on Vision of the Seas) and sitting area. Found on Freedom class, Voyager class, Radiance class, Enchantment of the Seas, Rhapsody of the Seas, and Vision of the Seas. Royal Family Suite - requires a minumum of 5 people to book, holds a max of 8 people. Has 2 bedrooms AND 2 bathrooms, plus because it is a suite you get concierge lounge access (on ships that have a concierge lounge). On most ships, our Royal Family Suite has enough space to accommodate eight people, with two bedrooms including four twin beds, two Pullman beds and a double sofa bed. All have a separate living area, two bathrooms, vanity area and refrigerator, among their amenities. Found on all ships except for Sovereign of the Seas Presidential Family Suite - requires a minimum of 8 people to book, holds a max of 14 people. The Presidential Family Suite has four bathrooms, a spacious living area with entertainment center and flat screen TV. The private balcony includes a whirlpool, wet bar, lounge chairs and an al fresco dining area that seats fourteen. Found on Freedom class. Be aware that not every ship has all the family staterooms. You have to call RCCL or book with a travel agent in order to book more than 4 people in a room. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crusin6 Posted May 11, 2008 #5 Share Posted May 11, 2008 I've posted this in the past about what RCCL offers for large families (in addition to connecting staterooms): I would be interested in the price comparasion between RCCL connecting oceanviews and the first class of Family stateroom you mentioned. Do you know? My thinking is that it is more economical for our family of 6 (read more vacations) to just book to connecting oceanviews vs a Family state room. For example I have heard something like $8000 vs $11000 on RCCL. Have I been misled? I am not in the market to book another cruise at this time and probably won't be until 2010 as we have the Med this summer so I won't bother a rccl agent with a whatif for the price of a 6 person cabin. However, any input you may have is welcomed, thank you. addicted:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunshinestatemom Posted May 11, 2008 #6 Share Posted May 11, 2008 We cruised in April with our three children, 6, 6 & 4 and had two oceanview connecting cabins on deck 3 of FOS. It worked out very well for us. We stayed in one cabin and the kids were in the other - my 4 year old and one 6 year old were in the twin beds and my other 6 year old was in a Pullman. It was wonderful to be able to close the door between cabins when the kids went to sleep and still be able to watch tv and talk or read. It really helped to have two bathrooms and we never felt cramped. I don't remember the numbers, but it was only ever so slightly more expensive to get the two rooms versus the family stateroom - we had more square footage overall with the two rooms and more privacy. The way the TA explained it to me was that the family stateroom only gave us a curtain to pull for privacy. Just my 2 cents, but I'd opt for connecting cabins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrp96 Posted May 11, 2008 #7 Share Posted May 11, 2008 I would be interested in the price comparasion between RCCL connecting oceanviews and the first class of Family stateroom you mentioned. Do you know? My thinking is that it is more economical for our family of 6 (read more vacations) to just book to connecting oceanviews vs a Family state room. For example I have heard something like $8000 vs $11000 on RCCL. Have I been misled? I am not in the market to book another cruise at this time and probably won't be until 2010 as we have the Med this summer so I won't bother a rccl agent with a whatif for the price of a 6 person cabin. However, any input you may have is welcomed, thank you.addicted:) It really depends on the cruise. Sometimes you can get deals on the family staterooms, sometimes you get the deals on connecting cabins. My advice is to price both and NOT assume that one option will be cheaper than the other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike91911 Posted May 14, 2008 Author #8 Share Posted May 14, 2008 Called Carnival PVP today. I am looking at the Fascination for sometime in June, July or August of 09. PVP said he would look at some things and call me back. I'm thinking the Fantasy class ship may not be the best choice for interconnecting cabins but I'll let him look into it. I see some OV interconnecting rooms that look like they have a capacity of 5 between the 2 rooms. Would they either give us a crib for the 2 y.o. or he could sleep with us. Heck he does that now half the time anyway LOL. None of the interior interconnecting looked like they would work. Any thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
West Texas Posted May 23, 2008 #9 Share Posted May 23, 2008 we got a balcony room, and a cheaper inside room across the hall, you can all enjoy the balcony, and two older ones, might like the "independence" of their own space during the day, if they are in the cabin much at all. cabins are really just for sleeping! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
galavant3 Posted May 23, 2008 #10 Share Posted May 23, 2008 We've done OV connecting cabins and it worked out perfectly. I imagine interior would be the same. We found that we really needed the extra bathroom. The kids loved sleeping in the pull down berths. I was more comfortable without the balcony. The connecting cabins seem to go quickly as do the cabins that sleep more than two so book early. Now my kids are older and we aren't even on the same hall! (still same floor, though!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.