Cabin for 5?

[sakana]

Hello all,

 

My mom wants to take my sister and her children on a 3 night Disney cruise next January and asked me to look into pricing for her. Cruising will be my mother, my sister, my sister's husband, and their two children, about 3 & 5.

 

Disney quotes me a family suite when I search for cruises. Is this the best way to go? Would 5 fit into a smaller room? Is there such a thing as connecting inside rooms? Would that be more or less expensive?

 

Any advice on how best to arrange 5 people on a Disney cruise is much appreciated.

[Rudi610]

I just booked two inside connecting staterooms on the Magic (for the Easter cruise). These two cabins together were about $5000 less than the family suite that holds up to 5. I think the family suite is the first cabin category that can hold up to 5 (the others below it can only go up to 4 people). With 3 adults, you may want the 2 connecting cabins since you get 2 bathrooms and a bit more elbow room.

 

Good luck.

[OneParticularHarbour 71]

When pricing on the DCL site, you will need to start off with 2 adults and a child in one room. Once you choose the particular date and category you want, there will be an option at the bottom of the page to add an additional stateroom. Then add the other adult and child. It usually works out to be less expensive to book 2 lower category rooms than one cat. 4. When you look on the DCL deck plans, the staterooms that are connecting are indicated by a (> symbol between staterooms and a triangle arrow pointing towards each stateroom. If you are unable to get connecting staterooms, other options are to book staterooms next to one another or even across the hall from one another (if you wanted to get one inside room & 1 verandah or oceanview room). Depending on the ages of the kids, it may be cheaper when booking to book 2 adults & 2 kids in one cabin & one adult in the other (if there is a child in this room, they would be charged the adult rate I believe anyway). One adult will be charged a higher single rate for the cabin if booked alone, but it may end up being lower than having someone else booked in the room as well. Sorry a little confusing - bottom line, play around with the different combinations for the lowest rate :) It doesn't matter which cabin everyone ends up sleeping in in the end.

[ccc321]

When I went on DCL, we had a party of 5 and booked 2 cat. 10 inside connecting staterooms. My dm, 2ds, dd, and myself occupied the rooms. This worked out great for us. At night, the kids would all sleep in my room, but we shared storage space, showers, bathrooms. The door was usually left open during the day, but we were always able to close it for times when we wanted some privacy. I think having the 2 bathrooms and 2 showers alone was worth it. No waiting around all day for everyone to get their chance to shower and get ready.

[atinkerbellmom]

First off, welcome to our DCL family. Now reading your post and not yet all the replies, I wanted to type this as I see you are on the boards right now. There is NO WAY I would place 3 adults in a Cat. 4. The rooms are the same as the six with only about 2 extra feet in front of the verandah to accomindate a Murphy Bed that pulls from the wall. I would book two seperate categories. With your situation, you do not even need them connecting, they can just be adjourning. If you give me more specifics of if you need a balcony for both or just one or if inside is okay with both parties, I can tell you what the best way to book is. No way should you do 3 adults in one room, that will be SOOOOOO tight.;)

[InDashMP3]

Great info! I was trying the last couple of days to play around with this on the DCL website, but as many of you may know, the site was down (at least the reservations part).

 

We will likely have the same situation:

 

Me - Wife - 5YO Son - 2YO Daugther - My Mom

 

Today while playing around trying to find a 4 Day Land / 3 Day Sea package, I tried all different arrangements.. I think the cheapest was Mom and Daughter in one room.... Me, Wife and Son in the other. About 2K cheaper than the CAT4.

Still looking around though. Posted in another tread regarding timing/age restrictions for our trip. Haven't firmed anything up yet.

[atinkerbellmom]

Yes, for sure go for 2 rooms. I would not even question that. A cat. 4 is really for a couple traveling with three SMALL children. It is NOT for your situation. Tell us some of your desires and we can help you better. LIke do they both have to be outside rooms, do they both need to be balconies. Can they be inside rooms. Can one be inside and the other outside. If you let us know, I can tell you the best route without playing with numbers.:D I know the best combinations off the top of my head.;)

[InDashMP3]

thanks all for the input. So...here's the latest....

 

We are looking at the week of May 17th. She will only be 2 weeks away from her 3rd birthday. Assuming she is fully potty trained, is there a chance they will not let her in if the club is full? I mean, they give preference to those that are already three, and those that are almost get in on a first come first served? Thanks all for the tips..... This is great!

 

Also - I would like some room tips.. Since we would do a 4 day land 3 day sea, I can live with an ocean view room, perhaps even the inside stateroom. We would like them connecting however, since we need two.

[Tinkerbell34]

Yes, for sure go for 2 rooms. I would not even question that. A cat. 4 is really for a couple traveling with three SMALL children. It is NOT for your situation. Tell us some of your desires and we can help you better. LIke do they both have to be outside rooms, do they both need to be balconies. Can they be inside rooms. Can one be inside and the other outside. If you let us know, I can tell you the best route without playing with numbers.:D I know the best combinations off the top of my head.;)

 

:eek: After reading this I am scared! We leave in a week and will be three adults and two kids (9 and 4) in a deluxe family stateroom. We were planning on Grandma/Grandpa having the queen bed and closeing off that area w/ the curtain. I figured the youngest would be in the top bunk, the oldest on the couch, and I would take the Murphy bed. I know when we are up we will mostly be in the bathroom or out on the verandah. I hope we will be ok. :(

[atinkerbellmom]

:eek: After reading this I am scared! We leave in a week and will be three adults and two kids (9 and 4) in a deluxe family stateroom. We were planning on Grandma/Grandpa having the queen bed and closeing off that area w/ the curtain. I figured the youngest would be in the top bunk, the oldest on the couch, and I would take the Murphy bed. I know when we are up we will mostly be in the bathroom or out on the verandah. I hope we will be ok. :(

I do not want to scare you. At this point, you HAVE to be okay, it is just REAL REAL tight. The bathroom is a big deal too when it comes to that many people getting dressed for dinner. Also you are going to find the sofa bed to be bigger than the Murphy bed, so you may want to rethink that. I would personally place the 9 year old up top. Just to let you know, it is really a category six with just two extra feet "the width of the Murphy bed in front of the verandah. You do get a double steammer trunk (storage trunk for clothes) instead of a single in the cat. 6 though. The bunk bed, sofa bed and murphy bed will get placed away and be out of site each morning after you leave for breakfast, but it is real tight. The Murphy bed blocks the verandah when pulled down and it is a chair on the wall of the murphy bed that is really in the way. We have stayed in it as a family of 4 and could not imagine sharing with anyone else. Just rotating that many people in and out of ONE shower is a bit of a challenge, but think of it as "you do not spend much time in the room". The privacy to me is not as big of a deal as the space. Are you on a 3, 4 or 7 nighter? I really think the rooms were made for a family with 3 small kids and therefore have no other option. You will have a blast just being on the ship. Just map out a plan on rotating in and out of the showers twice a day and it will go ok. Happy sailing......;)

[atinkerbellmom]

thanks all for the input. So...here's the latest....

 

We are looking at the week of May 17th. She will only be 2 weeks away from her 3rd birthday. Assuming she is fully potty trained, is there a chance they will not let her in if the club is full? I mean, they give preference to those that are already three, and those that are almost get in on a first come first served? Thanks all for the tips..... This is great!

 

Also - I would like some room tips.. Since we would do a 4 day land 3 day sea, I can live with an ocean view room, perhaps even the inside stateroom. We would like them connecting however, since we need two.

Now you are aware that Disney books about 2 years out correct? We have been booked for a March 2009 trip since March 2008 and at that time was already stuck with 2nd dinner (even though we like 2nd). Our ship for November 2009 is already only 2nd dinner and 95% Full. They are already on GTYs and we have been booked since March 2008. So you may not be able to get connecting rooms since they are the first to go. Now if you are doing a land sea deal and book through DCL they will not allow you to mix and match resort class rooms and SRs. If you are booking it seperate, then do not worry. If I were you, I would book two cat. 10's or two cat. 9's. You can do just fine even in 11's. Now you will not get connecting 11s as 10's are the first connecting. The reason I also like higher than 11s is to get the split bats with two sinks. When you call DCL ask them for "connecting" rooms but if they are not available, make sure you get "adjoining". I think I told you in another thread, the 2 YO is on the ship for super cheap, but you do need to book you, your spouse or the older child in the room with grandma. You will pay adult prices for your son, but it is still cheaper than paying for grandma as a single occupant. You can sleep where you want. Now everyone has to go to the right Muster station, another reason the adjoining or connecting rooms are necessary. I hope this helps, just let me know if it does not make sense.:)

[ducklite]

If the kids clubs are full, they are full and she will not be admitted, regardless of how close to her birthdya she is.

[InDashMP3]

If the kids clubs are full, they are full and she will not be admitted, regardless of how close to her birthdya she is.

 

Heheh! We just booked.. I understand above, but do the 3 Year Olds get to sign up first? I plan to be online the moment we are able to reserve.

 

Regards,

Joe

Jamie

Jacob

Jenna

[ducklite]

Heheh! We just booked.. I understand above, but do the 3 Year Olds get to sign up first? I plan to be online the moment we are able to reserve.

 

Regards,

Joe

Jamie

Jacob

Jenna

 

It doesn't work that way. Your child will automatically be assigned a place in the children's club that they are the appropriate age for when you book. If they aren't old enough, they can't register them until you are onboard, and then it's case-by-case.

 

When you get onboard, you need to take the child to the club. If there is room, and if they are within 30 days of their birthday, and if they are potty trained, they will be admitted.

 

But it's never guaranteed, and you won't find out until you are onboard, regardless of how early you book the cruise.

 

Also, I believe preference is given to those with a sibling already in the 3-4 age group.

[Tinkerbell34]

I do not want to scare you. At this point, you HAVE to be okay, it is just REAL REAL tight. The bathroom is a big deal too when it comes to that many people getting dressed for dinner. Also you are going to find the sofa bed to be bigger than the Murphy bed, so you may want to rethink that. I would personally place the 9 year old up top. Just to let you know, it is really a category six with just two extra feet "the width of the Murphy bed in front of the verandah. You do get a double steammer trunk (storage trunk for clothes) instead of a single in the cat. 6 though. The bunk bed, sofa bed and murphy bed will get placed away and be out of site each morning after you leave for breakfast, but it is real tight. The Murphy bed blocks the verandah when pulled down and it is a chair on the wall of the murphy bed that is really in the way. We have stayed in it as a family of 4 and could not imagine sharing with anyone else. Just rotating that many people in and out of ONE shower is a bit of a challenge, but think of it as "you do not spend much time in the room". The privacy to me is not as big of a deal as the space. Are you on a 3, 4 or 7 nighter? I really think the rooms were made for a family with 3 small kids and therefore have no other option. You will have a blast just being on the ship. Just map out a plan on rotating in and out of the showers twice a day and it will go ok. Happy sailing......;)

 

Thank you SO much for that information. It helps tremendously!! We are on a 4 night cruise and very excited. :)

[atinkerbellmom]

Heheh! We just booked.. I understand above, but do the 3 Year Olds get to sign up first? I plan to be online the moment we are able to reserve.

 

Regards,

Joe

Jamie

Jacob

Jenna

 

I do not think you quite understand. Every child that is on the ship is guareenteed a place in the appropiate clubs. It is not a first come first serve. You can not fill out a single form until your child gets to port and still will have a space in the appropiate club for EACH child. When people say the clubs are not full, they mean has DCL stopped taking reservations for that age group. When DCL gets "X" amount of 3/4 year olds on that sailing, they will close that reservation to that age group. So, if you call to make a reservation and the kids are 4 & 7, they will tell you the ship is full. Then you call back 2 minutes later and tell them you need to make a reservation but this time with a 7 year old and 10 year old, they will take the reservation. This is the reason the kids prices are so high, you are paying for the clubs, so they have to guarentee every paying child a spot. Now I will be honest, the clubs to not very often fill to the capacity except for the Holiday ones, the summer ones and school break ones. If you are wondering if that age group is full, go to the DCL site and do a mock reservation for the ages you are hoping for. Now you are not going to be able to register your two year old for anything besides PAID hours in Flounders. Once you get to the ship, you then can go to the clubs to ask for the 2 year old to be trialed for the 3 year old group. IF they do not have "X" amount of 3/4s on the ship, they will say yes, grant it the fully potty trained thing we discussed prior. So, there is nothing you can do besides 1) Make sure the child is fully toliet independent, 2) Hope this cruise is not popular for 3/4 year olds, 3) Once you get to the ship, go to the clubs and ask the CM if they will give the kid a trial. If you have Palo or something else scheduled, I would book Flounders for those times just in case. See, you get a two year old on the ship for just port fees and taxes, so if it works where there is space and the child is potty trainned then you basically get a free service. So does not matter if you are on line at 12:01 there is nothing you can do right now, but wait.;)

[InDashMP3]

sakana,

 

Sorry for taking your thread off-topic! I have a thread over here, that is better suited for my age / club related questions.... I will continue my discussion over there.

 

Back on topic, we decided to book a single room - cat 8 oceanview. Mom (Nana) decided she is not going to be able to commit to this trip this far in advance, so we are booking without her. However, based on the other comments in this thread, if we were to book for three adults and two kids, we would probably go with two connecting rooms. I'm sure we would make the family stateroom work, but the two rooms end up being cheaper (if not getting balcony rooms) when we were playing around on the DCL website.

 

Thanks all for the tips!

[Tinkerbell34]

I do not want to scare you. At this point, you HAVE to be okay, it is just REAL REAL tight. The bathroom is a big deal too when it comes to that many people getting dressed for dinner. Also you are going to find the sofa bed to be bigger than the Murphy bed, so you may want to rethink that. I would personally place the 9 year old up top. Just to let you know, it is really a category six with just two extra feet "the width of the Murphy bed in front of the verandah. You do get a double steammer trunk (storage trunk for clothes) instead of a single in the cat. 6 though. The bunk bed, sofa bed and murphy bed will get placed away and be out of site each morning after you leave for breakfast, but it is real tight. The Murphy bed blocks the verandah when pulled down and it is a chair on the wall of the murphy bed that is really in the way. We have stayed in it as a family of 4 and could not imagine sharing with anyone else. Just rotating that many people in and out of ONE shower is a bit of a challenge, but think of it as "you do not spend much time in the room". The privacy to me is not as big of a deal as the space. Are you on a 3, 4 or 7 nighter? I really think the rooms were made for a family with 3 small kids and therefore have no other option. You will have a blast just being on the ship. Just map out a plan on rotating in and out of the showers twice a day and it will go ok. Happy sailing......;)

 

I just wanted to check back in and let you know we were just fine with our cabin and had plenty of room for the five of us. We didn't even use all of the drawers that were available to us and we did just fine with the bathrooms. I did take your advice and took the bottom bunk and put the four year old on the murphy bed which he loved. I had no trouble climbing over him in the morning to get out to the veranadah. Thanks for your tip and we would definitly book the same cabin again for the five of us. :)

[atinkerbellmom]

I just wanted to check back in and let you know we were just fine with our cabin and had plenty of room for the five of us. We didn't even use all of the drawers that were available to us and we did just fine with the bathrooms. I did take your advice and took the bottom bunk and put the four year old on the murphy bed which he loved. I had no trouble climbing over him in the morning to get out to the veranadah. Thanks for your tip and we would definitly book the same cabin again for the five of us. :)

I am soooo happy you are back and had a wonderful time..... See once you go, you get hooked.... Now that you see it, I do think you should think about next time and think of what it would be like to have two connecting rooms instead of 1 cat. 4. Did you know the 6's are the same exact size as the 4's with the exception of that 2 foot width of the Murphy bed. You know where that chair sits is the only difference. Just think of the space with 2 of those rooms...... If you have a connecting door, it gives you double the space. Two connecting rooms is cheaper than a cat 4 most times. Also if you had to have the verandah, just think what the savings would be with a cat. 11 and a 6... Just a thought.... Welcome back....

[Tinkerbell34]

We definitly have to have the veranadah next time. We were spoiled! hehe and yes, we are definitly addicted. We were chosen as the magical family and it was one magical experience after another. Can't wait to go back!

[PINEVIEW01]

If you have a connecting door, it gives you double the space. Two connecting rooms is cheaper than a cat 4 most times. Also if you had to have the verandah, just think what the savings would be with a cat. 11 and a 6... Just a thought.... Welcome back....

It also would give you double the bathrooms. I'm glad I learned this as we almost did the cat 4.

[JadedRaverLA]

It also would give you double the bathrooms. I'm glad I learned this as we almost did the cat 4.

 

That point cannot be overstated. Having two bathrooms is a lifesaver (at least a stress reliever) with having more than a couple of people in a stateroom.

 

We went as two families of five people each in June, and we booked two connecting cat 7's for our family, and my aunt and her kids wanted a suite but cats 1-3 were long gone. Since her kids are younger, they were debating getting a cat 4, but fortunately the first thing their TA said, was No! You don't want to do that. They ended up with two connecting cat 6s (I believe for less than the 1 cat 4), and had far more room and most importantly two bathrooms!

 

When you get up, everyone wants to take a shower at the same time. Between shore excursions and dinner everyone NEEDS to take a shower at about the same time. 1 bathroom would just cause too much stress IMO.

 

I think the cat 4s are a great idea (especially if you are a family of five with young children), but there's no reason for the price to be higher than cat 6 + 20%. Charging the prices they do (or at least on the cruise we went on), there just wasn't any incentive to give up on the extra space of two cabins.

 

BTW, as an aside, we went back and forth on the cat 7s before we left, but, the price savings ended up being quite a bit vs. a cat 6, so we decided to try it. They were fantastic! Certainly not ideal for getting sun out there, but its almost like having a whole separate sitting room that's open to the ocean -- and surprisingly large. We played cards out there a couple of nights. Very nice.

[Tinkerbell34]

We actually made the bathroom work for the five of us and had no problems. The split set up was great. My mom literally takes about an hour and a half to two hours to get ready. So she would shower and move over to the toliet side to finish getting ready and the other four of us were able to get ready in the time it took her to finish. We didn't have any problems for our particular situation. Although, if I could get two verandah rooms that would be nice but would depend on the cost.:)

[hss_1332]

HI everyone. I read this thread with interest as my family of four is thinking of taking our first family cruise and are trying to decide between a cat 4 and 5. DH and I took our first ever cruise on Celebrity this summer to celebrate our 15th anniversary. Our DS (5.5) saw the cruise video and said (hey there are kids on this boat why didn't we get to go). So, since we are all Disney fanatics and DS is building cruise ships out of his legos every day we are thinking about Disney for Thanksgiving 2010. At that time DS will be 7.5 and DD will have just had her 6th bday. We were in a concierge class cabin on Celebrity that was 191 sq ft. Which was fine for the two of us. We really only were in it to sleep and get ready for dinners. I couldn't imagine all 4 of us in it though. Do you think we should go with a cat 4 family stateroom to give a little more room for the kids or is it not really much different from a 5. There is a huge price difference. Also, in the Cat 5s that sleep 4 is it a double sofa bed or is it a sofa bed with a pull-down bunk above? Our kids get so excited just to be sleeping in the same room together that I cannot imagine them in the same bed not driving each other crazy. I presume the travel agents know which of the Cat5's sleep 4 and which are 3 and will suggest staterooms accordingly.

 

Thanks for the advice.

 

Hilary

[belle907]

HI everyone. I read this thread with interest as my family of four is thinking of taking our first family cruise and are trying to decide between a cat 4 and 5. DH and I took our first ever cruise on Celebrity this summer to celebrate our 15th anniversary. Our DS (5.5) saw the cruise video and said (hey there are kids on this boat why didn't we get to go). So, since we are all Disney fanatics and DS is building cruise ships out of his legos every day we are thinking about Disney for Thanksgiving 2010. At that time DS will be 7.5 and DD will have just had her 6th bday. We were in a concierge class cabin on Celebrity that was 191 sq ft. Which was fine for the two of us. We really only were in it to sleep and get ready for dinners. I couldn't imagine all 4 of us in it though. Do you think we should go with a cat 4 family stateroom to give a little more room for the kids or is it not really much different from a 5. There is a huge price difference. Also, in the Cat 5s that sleep 4 is it a double sofa bed or is it a sofa bed with a pull-down bunk above? Our kids get so excited just to be sleeping in the same room together that I cannot imagine them in the same bed not driving each other crazy. I presume the travel agents know which of the Cat5's sleep 4 and which are 3 and will suggest staterooms accordingly.

 

Thanks for the advice.

 

Hilary

All the cabins that sleep 4 will have the sofa bed and the pull down bunk from the ceiling. Cat. 5-10 cabins are 214 sq. ft., so a bit larger than the cabin you just had. The split bath is really nice for everyone getting ready.

You will get so many different opinions on whether you should book a cat. 4 or 5. I've stayed in a cat. 4 with 4 adults and a child and we were fine, and didn't feel cramped. Others will say they are cramped in there with 3 people. It's all about personal preference and what you can afford.