Friends sharing room--two twins or use sofa?

[Dale-n-Chip]

Looking for opinions about how much more room splitting the queen into two "twins" takes. Are the beds too slim to be comfortable? Does it take up all the space in the room to separate them?

A friend and I (two women) will be cruising together in January, sharing a Cat 9 stateroom. We are good friends, yes, but we aren't exactly into spooning together. Should we separate the queen into two "twins" or should we flip for the queen and the other of us take the fold-down sofa?

What do you think?

mk

[NancyIL]

My experience with two beds is on other cruise lines with smaller cabins than DCL's. I think the cabin seems more spacious when the beds are separated than when they are together - although that is in an inside cabin. I imagine the twin bed is also more comfortable than the sofa bed.

[PammyK]

I've done this several times and we always have one person take the bed and the other take the sofa. Usually, the person who did all the planning and booked the reservation was the one who got the queen. I've slept on the sofa several times and always found it very comfortable - never had a problem sleeping on it.

I prefer doing it this way because then each person gets a little privacy by being in separate sides of the privacy curtain. This is especially good if you keep different schedules on board the ship.

[atinkerbellmom]

I think it depends on the size you are. The beds when seperated as two twins are actually a lot smaller than standard twin beds. When my DF was traveling with another DF the SRH suggested that one take the bed and the other take the sofa and suggested that they try it because the sofa was much more comfortable than the twin size bed. The sofa sleeper is actually wider and closer to the width of a true twin bed. So I would suggest, maybe try it this way the first night and if you do not like it, then the next night tell your SRH and she/he would be more than happy to seperate them for you. It is not a one time decision, it can be changed. When I sit at the foot of the bed when seperated as 2-twin beds, my butt spreads end to end. (I guess you now know the width of my BE-Hind ); but I just want you to be aware that it is more narrow. What many people do not realize is that the sofa on DCL is not like a standard sofa sleeper nor is it like on RCCL. The sofa is actually a true twin size true mattress that is just encased into the back side of the sofa. It is not a standard pull out. It is actually pretty neat to see.

[kcashner]

I'll disagree that the twins separated are "a lot" narrower than standard twins, but they are narrower. Generally when I cruise with my now adult daughter, we use the sofa and keep the bed big. However, when we had 4 in the room, we had no problem with separating the beds.

On my most recent cruise (with another adult female friend) the beds were separated when we came into the room and we just used them that way. I'm rather Pooh sized, and had no problems with it.

SO....I'd probably say use the sofa, but it's not a big issue either way.

[disneyfaninaz]

You can always have the queen bed split to start with. If you don't like it after one night, you can have your steward put the beds together and turn down the sofa bed for you the next night.

[calmpets]

When I sailed with a friend years ago we alternated nights on the bed and the sleeper sofa. Both are comfortable, and every other night we each got to spread out a bit.

[clten]

My sister and I often cruise together in a cat 9. We always leave the big bed as a queen and have the other person (usually me) sleep on the sofa bed. Our thinking is if we split the big bed, both of us end up sleeping on a twin bed (okay something a little smaller than a twin). If we use the sofa bed, then only one of us has to sleep in a twin, the other has more room. The sofa bed is just as comfortable as the bed in the room so it is no sacrafice to do it the way we do.

P. S. Usually, the room steward doesn't flip down the sofa bed the first night. (Our fault, when they introduce themselves, we usually forget to mention it.) If that happens, don't call housekeeping. Just flip down the sofa (there's a little strap). The pillow will be in the cabinet above the tv. The cabin steward usually makes it up the rest of the week.

[DisneyJenn23]

I love the couch bed! My first Disney Cruise, we switched each night, but after that I decided to let my friend have the bed and I took the couch. I have slept on it every cruise since.

[Smileneyes]

From my own personal experience...

My son and I have been taking Disney cruises for five years now. I'm 5'8", but used to sleeping solo in a Cal Queen bed. My son is 6'1"...has a queen size bed at my house, and a twin at his mom's.

We tried the sofa bed. It's okay, just not as comfy as the bed. Navigating with the twins separated is a little more challenging, but we like the sleep we get in the twins...and neither of us seem to have an issue adjusting to the more narrower area.

With that said, you can always try it one way, and then ask your stateroom host(ess) to change it if the accomodations aren't to your liking.

[NancyIL]

One thought: the sofa is closest to the window in an oceanview cabin, whereas it's closest to the door in an inside cabin. From the photos in the Passporter book, it looks like an open sofa bed would be more in the way in an inside cabin - especially when the person sleeping on the bed needs to get around the sofa in the middle of the night! My friend and I will have an inside cabin (unless our cat. 12 gty cabin is upgraded to a cat. 9 or higher) - so I think we will stick with twin beds.

[Meriweather]

Just cruised with a friend last Sept.....RCCL.
The 2 twins were just fine. No complaints at all.
We will do the 2 beds next Sept. when we go transatlantic.

[ibouncetoo]

I've done both when traveling with my sisters. The time we used the queen and the sofa bed...we were fighting over the sofa bed! In that particular cabin anyway, it was more comfortable than the queen.

While splitting the queen makes narrow beds, and makes the cabin feel a little more crowded since they then take up more floor space, I liked having the sofa available AS A SOFA all the time. If one person wants to stay up and watch some TV, they can close the curtain and sit on the sofa...and not be depriving their cabinmate of a bed. Also, with the queen split the space between the beds provides a nice 'detour or holding area' when the two of you are running back and forth from the bath to the vanity. AND the beds as twins provided more seating area when we had friends visiting in the cabin.

That's my two cents.

.

[lovebeast]

Originally Posted by NancyIL

One thought: the sofa is closest to the window in an oceanview cabin, whereas it's closest to the door in an inside cabin. From the photos in the Passporter book, it looks like an open sofa bed would be more in the way in an inside cabin - especially when the person sleeping on the bed needs to get around the sofa in the middle of the night! My friend and I will have an inside cabin (unless our cat. 12 gty cabin is upgraded to a cat. 9 or higher) - so I think we will stick with twin beds.

the couch is not pull out, it flips in place so you don't lose space. my mom loves sleeping on the couch even when it's just the two of us.

[TDC Nala]

Here is my opinion. The sofa is not comfortable for an adult, especially on long cruises. I spent 7 nights sleeping on it once and I do not want to do that again. Splitting the beds is the way to go as far as I am concerned.