Party of 5 room question

[Kilikikina]

Hello everyone, new to the boards, so not sure if this should have went here or on the RCI boards.

 

I have only been on one cruise, Disney, and hoping to explore other cruise lines. It seems as though the next best to Disney for families is the Royal Caribban line of ships (please correct me if I am wrong). I'm looking into them but can't seem to figure out how many people their rooms hold. I have been to their site and even looked through a brochure of theirs, and nothing.

 

If there is a link to it and I am just missing it on their site, I would like that.

 

If not, if someone could give me a breakdown on their rooms and how many people they hold, I would appriciate it.

[karenem]

Hi, Kili...

 

I also have 3 kids, and it's pretty difficult to figure this stuff out. I *think* at least some of RC's ships have a few rooms that will fit more than 4, but good luck finding that information. Sometimes deck plans will tell you, but again, it's hit or miss. From what I've read/researched, the "family suites" are usually pretty high-end, and you're often better off getting two rooms close together than booking one big one (you get another bathroom, for one thing). They also tend to sell out quickly. By far the most common arrangement is 4 max to a room.

 

As far as family-friendly lines, RC is good, but so are Princess and Carnival. Even Holland America is also trying to appeal more to the family demographic, and has some great deals going on now. Sorry, this isn't much help--I'd also be interested in a site that lists this information, because although I've happened upon an occasional more-than-four cabin, it's been sporadic.

[mrspjotter]

Hi - we are on our 1st cruise in a couple of weeks myself, DH, DS aged 8 and twin DD's aged 5 - I guess it depends on the age of your family but we have booked a family oceanview cabin which sleeps up to 6 - no balcony but it worked out cheaper than 2 rooms as you only pay the higher end price for the 2 adults and the rest are kids prices. You can't book these cabins on the internet you have to give TA or give RCI a call. We have twin beds which make a queen, pullout sofa and small other bedroom with bunk type beds - not sure if it's going to work out or not - i'll let you know when we get back:confused:

[wrp96]

Royal Caribbean has LOTS of options that will hold 5 in one room. You just can't book them online, as the maximum you can book online is 4 people. You will need to call a Travel Agent or Royal Caribbean directly to explore your booking options. Generally you will have more options on the newer ships, than the older ships.

 

Some of the options for a family of 5 on Royal Caribbean:

 

Grand Suites - they will allow you to book 5 people into most Grand Suites. They bring in a rollaway bed for the 5th person.

 

Owners Suites - they will allow you to book 5 people into most Grand Suites. They bring in a rollaway bed for the 5th person.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

Another thing to think about is that on RCCL's Voyager class and Freedom class, they have a couple of inside cabins that have a connecting door with a balcony stateroom (they also have oceanview cabins with a connecting door to a balcony stateroom). So that might be an option as well.

 

The Oasis of the Seas has even more options for families of 5 than I've listed above.

[Kilikikina]

Thank you so much for your help guys! That is quite a list of options. Disney only has the family suite and then the bigger suites and Walt Disney and Roy Disney suites which are entirely too big for us!

 

I'm surprise they have a family suite that is an inside room. I did notice they only allow 4 on their site, which makes it hard to research for a cruise. I would hate to call and bother them just for options, when they should have that on their site.:)

 

Now, the problem is finding the right ship. Disney makes it easy with only two. But how in the world do you choose out of 82 ships which one is best?! lol.

[wrp96]

Do not be afraid to call. That is what they are there for - to answer your questions.

[RENMama]

We are a fiesta of 5 and are sailing in one oceanview cabin on Carnival Dream this December. It has 1.5 baths.

[WineDown17]

We has a GS on VOS.

 

It was comfortable for 3 of us, and gives a privacy curtain between teh bed and the couch- which converts to a bed.. which was nice at times, as my son was 9.

 

5 folks can "fit".. but it will be tight, esp with one bathroom.. made it hard to get ready each day and evening.. luckily my inlaws had the adjoining cabin next door, we made use of their room as well when we needed it.

 

It all depends on the experience and what you want to pay for what you get...

[karenem]

So just to clarify: if you book one cabin with 5 people, does this mean # 3, 4, and 5 all get the lower per-guest rate?

[Klady]

You can go to www.*****.com and search down the left side for 'find a ship'. Then put in RC and 5 passengers and it will bring up all the ships that sleep 5 in a cabin. Hope that helps.

[2Cruise4Ever]

So just to clarify: if you book one cabin with 5 people, does this mean # 3, 4, and 5 all get the lower per-guest rate?

 

Yes

[karenem]

So it sounds like the code word for finding a more-than-4 is "family" That's good to know.

 

Can I just say that not being able to find this info online is extremely frustrating? :mad:

[eyegel]

My DW and I have been cruising for years with our three children (now 6, 7, and 8). There is no substitute for doing the legwork.

 

What I usually do is research the cruise that I want to take first. That is usually dictated by finding the cheapest cruise with two inside cabins (ideally, with connecting doors). Once I know the cruise I want, I call the cruiseline directly to check on the availability and pricing of a family oceanview. They are always very helpful and do not mind your taking up their time, but they are the only ones with access to the family cabin database (travel agents have to call the cruiseline to get the information, just as you would have to do).

 

Which one I choose depends on the circumstances. We took a thirteen day fall foliage cruise on the Celebrity Constellation which had an AWESOME "family ocean room" cabin that was actually a two-room suite with a HUGE veranda where the veranda alone was larger than a standard cabin. Because we paid a discounted rate for passengers 3, 4, and 5 (rather than paying the full rate for four out of five passengers), the price of that prize was only $200 more for the entire cruise than the cost of getting two inside staterooms without a connecting door.

 

Conversely, we initially booked a "family ocean view" on the Radiance this year for an Alaska cruise, but eventually opted for two inside cabins with a connecting door instead. The oceanview was in the bow of the ship (so you would not get a good view of the coast) and did not have a balcony and would have cost $1,500 more. We will use that money on excursions instead.

[kimmimom]

we have done it twice with 5 in an inside cabin and it works fine. The key is to keep everything in its place. we don't spend enough time in the cabin to worry with paying for 2 cabins or a higher end family cabin. It is me, dh, and 3 girls (they were 3, 6, and 11 the first cruise and 6, 9, and 14 this cruise).

[amber8339]

Kimmimom,

I have two 10 year olds and a 14 year old. We are planning a cruise in March 2010. How were your sleeping arrangements in an inside cabin with 5 people? I'm curious as I'm trying to figure out what to book.

 

Amber8339

[kimmimom]

2 uppers and a cot they brought in. We opted not to use the cot since the 6 YO could easily sleep with someone else (she is only 42 lbs), so we saved the space from that, although they fold the cots up relatively small and it would have been very doable.

[Dr_DNA]

The Family Oceanview worked well for us (sleeps 6 with plenty of room- a standard double, a sleeper sofa and bunk beds). However, you have to talk to RC directly or your TA to find out pricing and availability I believe. I would strongly suggest working with a good TA who will be able to help you out. The one that we used was great at not only finding options for us, but also making recommendations based on her experience.

[karenem]

Still pretty new at this, but I've noticed on Celebrity's website that categories will have the "this category is sold out" sign up when that's not necessarily true. For example, if you say you have 3 people all of the guarantees magically go away. They're not sold out--they're just unavailable to a party of three. Not at all the same, and I wish they'd differentiate.

 

I'm going to call today and ask about a "sold out" FV on a sailing I'm interested in. Wish me luck--will report back.

[CruisingCatherine]

I know you were asking about RCI specifically but I though I would throw out this option.

 

We are now a family of five (as of 11/30/09) and found a great deal on HAL's newest ship the Eurodam. We are doing a 7 night Eastern in October. For the 5 of us in a balcony stateroom it was only $2500 total.:eek:

[karenem]

Congrats on the new cruiser, Catherine! It sounds like you got a great deal from HAL.

 

Reporting back from the live Celebrity person: My suspicion was correct, the 5-person family cabins (Cat FV) are NOT sold out, notwithstanding the note on the website. For the sailing I'm interested in, we'd save about $200 by going with this cabin rather than splitting up into a balcony and across-the-hall inside.

 

So, one more data point.

[wrp96]

I know you were asking about RCI specifically but I though I would throw out this option.

 

We are now a family of five (as of 11/30/09) and found a great deal on HAL's newest ship the Eurodam. We are doing a 7 night Eastern in October. For the 5 of us in a balcony stateroom it was only $2500 total.:eek:

 

 

Wow!! That's news. Usually HAL will not let you book 5 people into ANY cabin. Guess they've changed the rules with Eurodam.

[karenem]

I'd suspect it's because the #5 is an infant...

 

I've thought of trying to argue that my two girls weigh less than 70 lbs put together so could we pretty please get in one cabin, but have a feeling that wouldn't fly with the management. Too bad.

[familytrip]

We are also a family of 5 and I called RC today. They do have plenty of options for accomodating this size family, but in the end, two adjoining inside cabins seemed to be the cheapest way to go. We did this on the Disney cruise and appreciated the extra space, bathroom, TV, etc. And given that we were rarely in the room, we didn't want to spend the extra $ on the window.

 

The RC person I spoke with also said that in some category L rooms, you can fit 2 kids and a baby in a crib for a total of 5 - the cheapest option for fitting everyone in 1 room. When I tried to hold it for 24 hours I was told I had to do it on-line or I would have to leave a deposit. When I tried to find it on-line, they all had a limit of 4 people and the cabin she said was available didn't come up. A bit frustrating.

 

The newer RC ships with the H20 water park, iceskating, and mini golf seemed to have the best kid friendly ammenities.

 

Good luck. Will keep you posted on our progress as well.

[Johnny Pie]

My wife and I have three daughters (9, 8 and 5) and don't feel comfortable in booking adjoining cabins (even if connected); I researched and found only three lines (HAL and Princess were noted above though) that allow 5 to a cabin: Disney, RCCL and Carnival. Disney requires you to do the Cat 4 family cabin (or a suite); we did that last year on the Wonder, Cabin 8020, nice....but it was tight (is a four person cabin with extra murphy bed; so, no floor space when all beds in use; has balcony though); for the money, would expect more s/f or perks. This year we were tempted by Carnival's pricing (esp. as they seem to allow 5 in a lot of 4 person cabins, ableit the 5th on a cot); however, we have just reserved one of the FO cabins on RCCL Freedom (for next month)[though no balcony and at very front of ship, below the bridge]. Found that these were hard to find online and we had to call or use TA. Will give you all a review when we return in May. Seems to have a lot more s/f, price is between Carnival and Disney and price did not rise as sail date approached (as Disney did). I think this is the way to go until the kids are little older. I'd be int'd in hearing about the HAL and Princess arrangements for families of five and six, for future consideration. Thanks for all the great info. noted in the preceding postings.