Family New to Cruising

[katzoe]

I have friends who are planning to take their first cruise in the Caribbean in June this year.

They have 3 boys aged 4, 6 & 7 yrs. They would like to know which family friendly cruise lines have interconnecting cabins or alternatively family suites which accommodate 2 adults & 3 children.

I love cruising but I have never travelled with children so my knowledge is very limited. I would appreciate any help & information.

 

Many thanks

 

Lorraine

[JWMom]

Hi! We are going on Royal Caribbean (Liberty) in a couple of weeks. My boys are older so we got them an inside cabin across from our balcony, but my sister is going with her 4 and 7 year old and they got connecting balcony cabins. They are going to request that the door be opened between the two. There are several that would be available (on the ship map they are marked by an arrow between the two rooms). I think most ships offer this. Usually you can get a 2nd cabin cheaper than what you would pay for a larger cabin (and have more privacy:)) Hope this helps!!

[2Cruise4Ever]

NCL has suites that sleep 5. We always sail in an AB penthouse with our 2 kids (a third would fit no problem). It has 2 bedrooms. The 2nd bedroom has one full bed and one twin that folds down out of the wall.

[crusinmama06]

Royal Caribbean, Carnival and Disney all have connecting staterrooms.

 

And some of their cabins do sleep 5. But sometimes it is more cost effective to get 2 connecting cabins.

 

You can't go wrong with those 3 for family friendliness.:)

[cb at sea]

Almost every line has connecting cabins--and that sometimes is less expensive than a "family suite". Have them check out the prices for both types of accomodations.

[rebeccalouise]

Celebrity also has connecting rooms. Princess doesn't.

 

For the ages you mentioned- I must say that I think Celebrity would be a real hit. My son loves the youth program on that line. He also enjoyed Royal Caribbean and said that was "paradise" for a kid.

 

He has sailed Cunard, Holland, Princess, Celebrity and Royal in the past two years- so he's pretty knowledgeable about these things.

[katzoe]

Thanks for all the information which I will pass on to my friends. They did check out a Carnival Cruise & were led to believe that there were no interconnecting rooms. That is when they asked my advice. Anyway you have given them several cruise lines to follow up on.

Thanks once again.

Lorraine

[wfinley]

Thanks for all the information which I will pass on to my friends. They did check out a Carnival Cruise & were led to believe that there were no interconnecting rooms. That is when they asked my advice. Anyway you have given them several cruise lines to follow up on.

Thanks once again.

Lorraine

 

 

Carnival shows the connecting rooms on their deck plans. It looks like only ocean view rooms have connecting cabins.

[cruisingram1]

Some Princess ships (Diamond and Sapphire) do have connecting rooms that have more than 2 beds in each room. If you're a family of 5, that is a concern. Most of the Carnival ships have connecting rooms, but those cabins only sleep two persons. I have found RCCL to have the most options with connecting rooms that sleep 3 or more.

[CKEA_Cruising_Family]

We have connecting rooms booked on Carnival Pride in May. It's a balcony connecting to an inside which saves some $$$. Looks like many of the Carnival ships have these rooms - they are as far forward as you can get which is the only downside. :)

[mrspjotter]

We had a family oceanview room on the RCI Explorer of the seas in Feb - our ds is 8 and twin dd's 5. As it was 1 room is was much cheaper as we only paid for 2 adults and there was loads of room - to be honest we never used the kids room much with the bunk beds in it - all 3 of the kids slept on the sofa bed in the lounge area coz there was a tv in there and we had our double bed with a curtain divide.:D

[kitty9]

Your friends are booking way too late to find connecting cabins on any ship that has them. June is a very popular time to cruise and those connecting cabins have probably been booked months in advance. They will have to look very hard to find anything available at this late date. Happy Cruising

[amjebrown]

Hi! We are sailing on the Dream and we have a family of 5. We are traveling with my parents so we have 2 connecting balconies. We put 4 in one and 3 in the other and lowest category we could get for balcony's for 8B's. I would definitely check out the deck plans for ships but there are MANY connecting balcony ships. Good luck!

 

Amy

[sunandseagirl617]

We have not found any problems with connecting cabins on RCCL, CCL or Princess.....!

 

We typically chose a larger suite or connecting staterooms...due to cost....Always call the cruise line direct OR ask your travel agent.......On the 'main stream' cruise lines you should NOT have a problem with accomodations of 5....or more.........

[katzoe]

Your friends are booking way too late to find connecting cabins on any ship that has them. June is a very popular time to cruise and those connecting cabins have probably been booked months in advance. They will have to look very hard to find anything available at this late date. Happy Cruising

 

Thanks once again for all the helpful information. Maybe as Darcie has stated it is now too late to get connecting cabins for a June cruise.

 

Lorraine