Kids rooming with parents

[Hobbitmomma]

I am curious what folks do regarding their children sharing a cabin. Obviously, up to a certain age, they just room with their parents. We have a son (9) and a daughter (7). On our 2009 cruise they will be with us, no problem. But we are planning on cruising again in 2012 for my husbands milestone birthday and at that time they will be 13 and 11. So my question is at what point do most of you find that the kids are too old to room with you? Do you get adjoining cabins? Also, if they are brother and sister as we have, how do you handle that? Is it still appropriate for them to share a room? I'm just wondering what the conventional wisdom is on this. Thanks!

 

[NancyIL]

I took 2 of my kids on a Caribbean cruise in March and we shared one cabin. The kids were 17 and 23! Now if my husband had been along - I would've gotten two cabins - just so they wouldn't have to listen to him SNORE!

 

[Fizzgig]

The following applies to non-handicap-accessible rooms:
Below Cat 4, you can (in one room) get a pair of twin beds or a queen bed, possibly a short twin bed that drops from the ceiling (dependent on sleeping capacity of the room), and a sofa that makes into a short twin bed. You have a curtain between the sofa and the twin beds/queen bed that intersects the cabin.

Category 10 and above gets a split bath: one compartment has a shower and a sink, and the other compartment has a sink and a toilet.

If those arrangements for privacy make your family uncomfortable, grab a category above 4 or adjoining/separate cabins. Because, honestly, the choice of cabins and sleeping arrangements is a purely personal decision, dependent on how much you care to spend.

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

My kids 13 and 10 got on well in our Cat 4 for 15 nights recently no issues, with the two sections bath and toilet we could cover most needs without a problem, and there is a curtain down the middle of the room to separate.

That said Cat 3 for 2009.

 

[PenskeSth1]

We all stay in the same cabin DD is 19 and DS is 10 plus DH and myself.
DS sleeps on the uppper bunk, DD is on the sofa bed and DH and I in the big bed. I think for our next cruise we will probably try 2 connecting rooms though, that is if DD will be off work or not in school at that time. If so then we will just get one room again.

 

[stacieps]

Our kids are 11 and 9, we've cruised 7 times in the same cabin. On our last DCL cruise we decided to book connecting cabins for our next cruise in Feb '09. With the onboard discount and taking into consideration the OBC per cabin, we were able to get connecting Cat 10 cabins for the same price it would cost for all of us in 1 Cat 9 cabin. We decided the space was more important than the window. BTW, we have a boy and a girl - I don't have any problem with them sharing a room now or in the future.

 

[HoosierFrog]

If you were to book one adult and one child in each room, would DCL charge this as two adults in each cabin for double occupency? This won't apply to my family for a while, but just curious for future travel.

 

[Magic3forme]

we have a cat 4 and there are 5 of us in the cabin. in 2 years from now we are thinking about 2 cabins. the problem is we are spoiled by being on Deck 8.

 

[smeecanada]

We're just home from the EB Repo - 15 nights - CAT8 - DS13 and DD12. No issues. DD slept in the upper bunk and DS in the sofa/bed. There was a curtain to separate them from us in the big bed. We had issues with snoring last year but not this time. I think because we were all so tired at the end of the day. We've booked a CAT8 for our next cruise.

 

[Fizzgig]

If you were to book one adult and one child in each room, would DCL charge this as two adults in each cabin for double occupency? This won't apply to my family for a while, but just curious for future travel.

The first two people get a much higher price than the third, fourth, etc. If you put a 2 year old in the room with an adult, it isn't exactly the same price for each.

 

[HallsofVA]

If you were to book one adult and one child in each room, would DCL charge this as two adults in each cabin for double occupency? This won't apply to my family for a while, but just curious for future travel.

For our upcoming cruise we booked 2 connecting Cat 6 rooms. My DH and DS (4) are in 1 room, and me and my DD (2) are in the other room. I had to pay a "single" supplement since DD isn't old enough to be counted as a double occupant but it was still cheaper because of her age, but we didn't have that issue with DS in the other room. Does that help answer your question?

While we could have fit all of us in 1 room, we did this because we were spoiled on our first cruise with an upgrade to a handicapped Cat 3 and really enjoyed having DS sleep in a separate room since the kids sleep in separate rooms at home. And this option was cheaper than booking a Cat 3 in advance.

 

[HoosierFrog]

The first two people get a much higher price than the third, fourth, etc. If you put a 2 year old in the room with an adult, it isn't exactly the same price for each.

For our upcoming cruise we booked 2 connecting Cat 6 rooms. My DH and DS (4) are in 1 room, and me and my DD (2) are in the other room. I had to pay a "single" supplement since DD isn't old enough to be counted as a double occupant but it was still cheaper because of her age, but we didn't have that issue with DS in the other room. Does that help answer your question?

Thanks, I wasn't sure how they handled that.

 

[njmom23grls]

Disney will not book a room in a child's name - in fact our then 19 yo could not be the primary on the reservation - I believe it had to be someone over 21. We do as the previous post did - One adult and one child on each reservation and we do a cat 6 with a cat 11 across the hall. It really depends on your comfort level and your budget.

 

[Mickeyhugger]

So my question is at what point do most of you find that the kids are too old to room with you?

When DCL lowers the cruise fare to make the 2nd cabin more affordable.

Seriously, we have only child (13 year-old DD.) For her birthday this past November, we let her bring along her best friend. I wondered, at first, if her friend would feel awkward, sharing a room with all of us. She wasn't! The curtain divider help the privacy issue tremendously, as well as the split bath. We were in and out of the room so much (DH and me) at different times than they were, that it worked out fine. In fact, DD and her friend are begging us to do it again when she's 15. (Her friend volunteered that she'll 'get her parents to pay.' )

Now, we might also be sailing Carnival over spring-break, and let our DD take her friend again. However, with only one bathroom, and no curtain divider, we'll book two rooms. (Fortunately, two rooms for us on CCL is still less than one on DCL. But we don't intend to quit sailing DCL. It's our favorite!)

 

[Weedy]

Next year will be our 6th cruise. We have always shared a cabin. It has not been a problem. We decided for our next cruise to book two cabins!!! But we did not book conecting rooms. We have a balcony room and booked a room across the hall for the kids who will be 11 and 13. We are all very excited.

 

[slk]

This past May our kids (DD 15 and DS 12) stayed in our room. They took
turns sleeping on top and bottom. They were hardly ever in the room at
all. We had no issues at all. Our next cruise (which will be on RC) we will
do the same though.

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

We are fine with sharing one room for all 5 of us (like in hotels and such) and would if DCL would let us! (in lower categories- cat 4 is just not worth it for the extra few feet... we can get 2 rooms for cheaper than the cat 4)
Therefore we've always had 2 rooms on our cruises.... first time connecting rooms- 2nd time they were older so we did cat 6 with cat 11 across the hall. They were 14, almost 11, and 8 on this cruise- it worked fine. I hadn't even thought about in the future when they are all older... but I would think we'd probably continue to do 2 rooms- we probably won't be able to afford a cat3 or higher to fit us all in one room and the cat 4 is just not worth the extra cost IMO.

In our experience- booking one parent/one child in one room, one parent/2 children in the other- we are charged for 2 adults in each room... the 2nd room having an extra child- that child is charged the 3rd person rate (without extra premium on top of that since she's not 3rd person adult) A single person has to pay extra if they stay in a room by themselves, so I imagine it's the same if that person has a 2yr old (ie: under 3yrs old).


With that said- if we only had 2 children, therefore we were a family of 4, we'd be able to share one room - and we would! And we'd be able to cruise a lot more often. LOL

 

[Justthe8ofus]

If you were to book one adult and one child in each room, would DCL charge this as two adults in each cabin for double occupency? This won't apply to my family for a while, but just curious for future travel.

yes. we do 2 cabins-1 adult and 3 kids in each cabin. The first 2 people are charged the full rate no matter what the age. After age 12 the kids are charged a higher rate also. Even if they are the 3rd and 4th person (it makes like a $100pp difference on a 7 night cruise).

We do connecting cabins. That works for us. We live in a very large home and sort of like the "camping out" feel while on the cruise. Just adds to the family bonding part of the vacation.

 

[gr8leg8]

: we have an only child (13 year-old DD.) For her birthday this past November, we let her bring along her best friend. In fact, DD and her friend are begging us to do it again when she's 15. (Her friend volunteered that she'll 'get her parents to pay.' )

Now, we might also be sailing Carnival over spring-break, and let our DD take her friend again.

Hello,
I am a parent of an only (wonderful) DD. She is 6 1/2 now,
I often think about us inviting a friend in the future.
It was great to hear your success and future plans.

Please forgive me if this is too personal a question.
Do you pay for the best friend? I can see both sides.
If I invite her I would want to pay for her
or
If someone (I trusted completely) invited my daughter I would want to pay my daughter's way.

I guess it depends on your situation and your relationship to the other family...

On our past adventures we brought my mom.
Who would definately qualify as DD's best friend.
They are like two peas in a pod.
We drive down together,
DH pays for the hotel room (God love him),
I like to provide in-room snacks,
and we share treats in the park.

She likes to help with the cost of gas,
buy trinkets for DD (big surprise),
and won't let me pay for her meals.

 

[DisneyMama27]

We also found it cheaper to book 2 Cat 6 rooms for the 5 of us than a Cat 4. DCL even recommended doing it that way for more space. We are DVC members, so we have grown accustomed to more space/privacy. Our rooms will be adjoining, so I feel that it's safe, and our kids love having their own space whenever possible. DH does too! We want to enjoy some of the romance that cruises are famous for!