Booking, Family of 5

[Carohs]

Families of 5, how do you book to get the best deal? Booking Disney is so expensive! Looking at some the GT rates, they seem to be limited to 4 in a stateroom. If you book 2 GT rooms then your family may not be booked close together right? So then it seems booking on release date would be the way to go. Is it better to get one room with a Murphy bed or get 2 connecting? What do you think works best for 5?

 

[dreamer17555]

It depends on your budget and ages of who is traveling. Two connecting rooms is often more than a room that sleeps 5 but you will need to decide what works best for your family

 

[PAGA2003]

Have you reached out to a travel advisor? There was a GTY rate for the cruise we wanted showing but when I entered 4 people it wouldn't show up (showed for 2/3 when I searched). My TA was able to book it for 4 without a problem. It would be worth checking with someone to see if they can book it for 5 even if it doesn't show up for you online.

 

[dreamer17555]

Have you reached out to a travel advisor? There was a GTY rate for the cruise we wanted showing but when I entered 4 people it wouldn't show up (showed for 2/3 when I searched). My TA was able to book it for 4 without a problem. It would be worth checking with someone to see if they can book it for 5 even if it doesn't show up for you online.

GTY rates like VGT, IGT, OGT that are more heavily discounted can only have up to four.

 

[Flossbolna]

If you book 2 GT rooms then your family may not be booked close together right?

Yes, it’s not guaranteed that you are close together. From reading the thread where people post their experiences it seems like DCL tries to keep staterooms close together. So depending on how much of a gamble you might want to take it’s still a possibility.

My rough estimate is: you have a 50% chance of connecting, 30 chance of. Ring a couple of doors away and 20% of on another deck.

 

[Flossbolna]

Also, I think otherwise the most economical way to book is a category 8 B or 8 C. They only have a window, no balcony. And on the Dream and Fantasy the window is really large.

 

[lilsonicfan]

Families of 5, how do you book to get the best deal? Booking Disney is so expensive! Looking at some the GT rates, they seem to be limited to 4 in a stateroom. If you book 2 GT rooms then your family may not be booked close together right? So then it seems booking on release date would be the way to go. Is it better to get one room with a Murphy bed or get 2 connecting? What do you think works best for 5?

We have done Fantasy in one Family Verandah, Magic in two connecting Oceanviews, and Wonder in two connecting Verandahs. When we did the Fantasy, my kids were much younger and so having everyone in one room worked just fine. The split bathroom on DCL definitely helps. My kids are now in the tween/teen stage and I much prefer having two rooms. The connecting rooms worked really well. Two connecting Verandahs was a huge splurge. I'd definitely do Oceanview again for the savings.

The pricing is as follows: first two guests are full price; next 1-3 guests are child/much cheaper. So splitting up the family into 5 means that you pay 4 "full price" regardless of age, and 1 child/cheaper price. But, that can still work out okay, especially on Magic/Wonder where there are fewer Family Verandahs that can sleep 5. On Dream/Fantasy (not sure about Wish, have never priced it out), there were times when the pricing for everyone in one room was cheaper than two rooms, as there are many Family Verandahs and Family Oceanview rooms.

 

[Clarkson U]

Depends on type of stateroom. Sometime 2 inside rooms cheaper than one balcony room and you get second bathroom so bonus. Other times we booked the deluxe family balcony room for 5 when we had five and it was fine. It really depends on budget and room preference.

 

[Cfabar1]

All depends on the cruise... Personally I wouldn't gamble on XGT rates if I needed two rooms that connected - but that depends on your family's ages. Might feel comfortable having the older teenagers further away than say an 8 year old. But if being close matters, I'd book the connecting rooms and pay the price premium or squeeze everyone into one room.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

Families of 5, how do you book to get the best deal? Booking Disney is so expensive! Looking at some the GT rates, they seem to be limited to 4 in a stateroom. If you book 2 GT rooms then your family may not be booked close together right? So then it seems booking on release date would be the way to go. Is it better to get one room with a Murphy bed or get 2 connecting? What do you think works best for 5?

We’ve done 2 guarantee cabins 2xs and both times Disney put us in rooms right next to each other. They really make an effort to do this especially if there are kids on the reservations. I have spoken to a dcl agent about it. Our experience with other cruise lines however is that they make zero effort in this regard.

 

[MomOTwins]

In general, we find that on the Wonder and Magic, it is cheaper to book two oceanview or inside rooms than a single cabin for 5, because there are so few rooms for 5 that are not concierge and they charge a premium for them.

On the Dream, Fantasy and Wish, where there are more family sized rooms, it is pretty much always cheaper to book a single room for 5 than two inside rooms.

And yes, no GT rates for 5. The point of GT rates is to give DCL flexibility to place you in any rooms that remain available close to booking, and they don't have that flexibility given only a small percentage of verandah and oceanview rooms sleep 5.

However, they occasionally do offer other discounts that are not GT. The Disney+ deal offered last year was 2 kids sleep free and it included families of 5. That was awesome--not offered currently but perhaps in the future, especially as they add more ships to the fleet and may have more trouble filling rooms.

 

[Snowwhyt]

We have booked both as party of four and party of five, all adults. After my next cruise in September, my daughter and I will be platinum which will give us the advantage of earlier booking for the best prices during peak periods. It seems your primary question is financial.
Here is the things that I do in order to get the best financial prices.
It’s all in how you look at the room that can make the difference in price. For example if the room is just a place to change and a place to sleep, you are definitely going to have a much lower cost vacation on a Disney cruise.
You could have an inside family sized room and enjoy the ship areas to relax.
For example,
do you need to sit in your room and watch TV from the bed? Would you be able to go on the deck sit in the lounge chair next to the outdoor theater and the Jumbo screen/stage up there? Could you go to a movie?
Did you need to sit on your own veranda in your pajamas? Or could you be dressed and find a quiet place on the ship to have your morning coffee and people watch and enjoy the outside views by going on deck away from the pools?
Disney has a in cabin tv channel that will show you what it looks like outside live from the front of the ship. So you really don’t even need a window.
My daughter and I will be canceling a five person handicap veranda cabin on the Wish for September and changing it to a windowless cabin for her and I instead.
I personally enjoy a window, for about $30-70 more a day. I usually line ones that are a little larger. But my daughter has inherited my “rope-drop” attitude and wants to save money to be spent on WDW just before our cruise.
Getting the few family rooms usually means getting them early. I (60-female), have slept on the couch, Murphy bed, and 3x’s on the bed because I usually offer the bed to my parents. Only one couch was uncomfortable which was in the handicapped room on the Magic.

 

[Carohs]

Financial, yes. But also curious on what people find "worth it." Whether it's close together, room location, a separate room, or something else. There's pros/cons and not always is the cheapest option the best choice.

 

[Snowwhyt]

Financial, yes. But also curious on what people find "worth it." Whether it's close together, room location, a separate room, or something else. There's pros/cons and not always is the cheapest option the best choice.

That’s what I’m all about too. When it is my daughter and I, we don’t need a split bathroom or window. But my parents like a veranda so I get one for us when we travel with them since they do actually stay in the room to nap.
But with 5 we absolutely need the split bathrooms because shower's just hold up progress in getting a group ready with one bathroom. You can send someone to the gym to get ready also when desperate. Use the curtains to separate the genders to dress. It’s nice if there’s an early riser to shower before people get upand someone who likes to shower at night before bedtime Tell everyone to remember it’s a place to change clothes and sleep not entertain.
Do you have one or more people who can vacation from their luggage? That helps if one person can slide out the suitcase from under the queen bed and just push it back when done. My daughter does that sometimes now with one or two dresses in the closet.
Money saved on the room can offer longer vacation's!

 

[RangerPooh]

We're a family of 6. When we sail together (oldest is in college) we typically book a veranda and inside cabin not too far away. If we sail just with 5 then a veranda. Murphy and dropdown bunks for the kids.

 

[lilsonicfan]

Financial, yes. But also curious on what people find "worth it." Whether it's close together, room location, a separate room, or something else. There's pros/cons and not always is the cheapest option the best choice.

Personally I prioritize having two rooms more than the financial aspect of it... with kids getting bigger I just don't really want to share a tiny cruise cabin with them if I don't have to. The cruise we did with two connecting verandah rooms was amazing but I would have also been fine with oceanview, or as mentioned, one inside room across the hall for example.

 

[auntlynne]

Financial aspect does matter for some of us. It is a big factor in deciding.

For me, a balcony is a waste of money; I just don’t utilize it. We did two interior rooms with 2 guests each in our early days of cruising. Next cruise, one verandah with an interior across the hall (total 5 of us). Alaska was two of the lowest cost: the sideways interior; again 5 of us.

I have been in Concierge three times and consider one of those the worst room situations I have encountered. The extra cost was not justified for me.

My choice of a Cat 8A on the Fantasy was the most expensive oceanview, but I loved it. It has two giant portholes, a dividing wall that creates two distinct areas (but not totally private). You only have a single bath, but there is so much open space and the sunlight is great. No cave-like cabin feeling. Probably my favorite cabin ever.

But we are also not a couple - two sisters with her kids (starting when youngest was 11 yo). We try to have a separate bed for everyone. It was easier when they had the beds that separated into twins (as most cruise lines still do).

There is no single “this is our cabin choice” for us. Itinerary, weather, what’s available, money for excursions/ hotel/ airfare all play into it. How much time will be in the cabin.

If it was a typical family of 5 with the “kids” being teens, I would think connecting rooms, oceanview or interior. Possibly Cat 7A + oceanview connecting if that combination exists.

I grew up in a family of five, which meant someone slept on a roll-away. But even in no name hotels, it was more space than a cruise cabin. And we didn’t take everyone by the time I was a teen.