Those with a family of 5..Advice needed

[Mickey28]

We are planning our first DC and need some advice for cabins. We have a
15 yo boy and two girls ages 10 and 5. I was wondering would we be more comfortable with two cabins or will one be big enough. We don't necessarily care if we have a verandah or porthole. My son is a fairly modest person and was just thinking two rooms would give him a little more privacy plus he could sleep in the other larger bed. Thanks in advance

 

[MouseMomx2]

I would definitely go with two staterooms. You will get two bathrooms, two sofas, two TVs, etc. and lots more space.

We almost always sail in an inside stateroom so my first choice, in your situation, would be connecting interior cabins. You could also do connecting porthole or verandah staterooms. Another option is side-by-side (but non-connecting) or across-the-hall-from-each-other staterooms in two different categories (porthole/verandah, porthole/inside, verandah/inside, etc.). It's a good option if you really want a porthole or verandah but the cost for two is too high but we prefer to have connecting staterooms as it makes the entire space feel like one unit.

 

[sambycat]

We find it crowded with the 3 of us (myself, DH and DS 20). I would recommend 2 cabins. Have a great cruise!!

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

I would go with 2 cabins. We've always had 2 connecting inside cabins for a family of 4. My kids are pretty modest also, both teens, 1 boy and 1 girl. They love having the curtain between the 2 sleeping areas so they can have a girl side and a boy side.

If you book 2 cabins with the plan of the 3 kids sleeping in the same cabin, be absolutely sure their cabin is one that can sleep 4 people. Not all cabins have the bed that comes down from the ceiling. If it's a cabin that only sleeps 3, your son will have to use the twin sofa bed and the girls will share the queen.

 

[brewcrew]

Definitely 2.

 

[Woodmnky]

If it is monetarily feasible I would say to go with 2 cabins. Things like 2 showers, toilets, TV, storage space, beds, will make the cruise that much more comfortable.

If it is not monetarily feasible I would talk to your son about expectations before the cruise. There is a room divider that could be closed for him to have space to change if the rest of the family was in the other.

 

[for my family]

We are planning our first DC and need some advice for cabins. We have a
15 yo boy and two girls ages 10 and 5. I was wondering would we be more comfortable with two cabins or will one be big enough. We don't necessarily care if we have a verandah or porthole. My son is a fairly modest person and was just thinking two rooms would give him a little more privacy plus he could sleep in the other larger bed. Thanks in advance

We are in a similar situation as you. Our chidren are 15, 13 & 10 and we have always had 2 Oceanview connecting rooms. We love the extra space. Also, we find the rooms to be a bit cheaper than 1 verandah room.

 

[Misako]

We are family of 5 also. And we booked two connecting room for first time. Two porthole room was $1000 Cheaper than one deluxe family w/veranda and we got double the onboard credit.

 

[Mickeyhugger]

Two cabins! The extra bathroom ALONE is worth the difference, IMHO.

 

[cedricandsophie]

Two cabins definitely.

 

[jenjen3574]

Definitely do the 2 cabins. Price it out and I think you'll see that it is actually cheaper than one 5 person verandah room to have two inside or even two porthole cabins.

My family is similiar - we have DS19, DD10, and DD2 and are sailing a 5 day West Caribbean on 1/18/15 in two Cat 7A Navigator Verandahs. Cost difference was only about $300 more than one family verandah. We definitely want the extra space for nap time for younger DD, for privacy for DS, for more showers, etc. etc.

BTW, on the Magic and the Wonder the only connecting Navigator Verandahs are 6140/6142 and 6540/6542. You'll have more options though with inside or porthole connecting rooms.

 

[conandrob240]

Most of the time, it is cheaper or the same price to do 2 cabins vs a cabin for 5 people anyway so it's a no brainer.

 

[squirrel]

There are other benefits for getting 2 staterooms. If it's not your first cruise you get two Castaway Cay gifts (one for each room). You can get OBC for two cabins (depending on who you book with it could be a good amount).

 

[su_A_ve]

Poor guy - two 10 yr old girls ... you need two cabins. You should look into a verandah and an inside as an option...

 

[100AcreWood]

We are a family of 5 and have found it cheaper to stay in one room on the Dream. So depending on the ship, it might be cheaper to stay in 1 vs. 2 or vice versa.

However, given the ages of your kids I would want 2 rooms for sure . Otherwise you'll never get any bathroom time!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I would go with 2 cabins. We've always had 2 connecting inside cabins for a family of 4. My kids are pretty modest also, both teens, 1 boy and 1 girl. They love having the curtain between the 2 sleeping areas so they can have a girl side and a boy side.

If you book 2 cabins with the plan of the 3 kids sleeping in the same cabin, be absolutely sure their cabin is one that can sleep 4 people. Not all cabins have the bed that comes down from the ceiling. If it's a cabin that only sleeps 3, your son will have to use the twin sofa bed and the girls will share the queen.

By the time ds17 was 15, his feet completely hung off the fold down bunk and the sofa bed. I would think the 15 yr old should get the real bed, the 10 yr old on the top bunk, and the 5 yr old on the sofa bed. jmho. That should be the perk for sharing a room with 2 younger sisters.

Ooops sorry, I just re-read your post and saw about getting a room that sleeps 4. I agree 100%!! Then no one has to share a bed.

 

[DahliaRW]

We are a family of 5 and have found it cheaper to stay in one room on the Dream. So depending on the ship, it might be cheaper to stay in 1 vs. 2 or vice versa.

However, given the ages of your kids I would want 2 rooms for sure . Otherwise you'll never get any bathroom time!

Ditto, a family oceanview on the fantasy was cheaper than 2 connecting of the cheapest interior cabins. But, my kids were younger (9, 6, and 4), so it wasn't a big deal to be in one room. I'd price it out and see what is cheaper and if 2 is more expensive if the price difference is worth paying for you or not.

 

[AnnaS]

We always booked two cabins for the extra space/bathroom/privacy.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

It's almost always cheaper to fit all in one room but cheaper isn't necessarily better. Sometimes it's only $2-300 more to have 2 cabins. When you're spending $5k on a cruise, you might as well spend a little more and be comfortable. Now if getting 2 cabins means double the price, I'd have to really think about how much time we'd be spending in the cabin.

We are a family of 4 but our boys are 17 & 14, and experienced cruisers. On the classic ships we like a verandah and get the kids an inside cabin across the hall. They like having their own space, own TV, etc. I like having double the closets since their clothes are close to dh in size and having 2 bathrooms. GS gives us blank keys for all 4 of us so any of us can go in the other cabin that they're not booked in. To me, this only works with older kids but really when they were little (started cruising at 4 & 7) it didn't feel very crowded being all in one cabin.

I would think with 3 kids it would feel very tight to all be in one cabin, even if they're little. jmho

With our Alaskan cruise in 2012 it was actually MUCH cheaper to put 2 across the hall (cat. 11B) because even the 3rd & 4th person rates with a verandah were crazy high. Also with all 4 of us together we wouldn't be able to get a Navigators Verandah which is much cheaper too. Also having 2 cabins means double the OBCs for OBB and from our TA. Back then platinum guests would get $350 per cabin for booking onboard and our TA would give $200/cabin. So we had $1100 in OBCs total. That was sweet!

For cruises < 7 days, the OBC is much less so it's less of a factor. There are so many variables to consider.

 

[evcollins]

I am so lost on all the cruising verbiage. LOL! We are considering a cruise for September '16 and this will be our first time. It's myself, DH, DS13, DD12, DS11. I am leaning towards two cabins, however, I'm not sure what to book.

I'm thinking we'd like to have the verandah, but cost-wise I'm wondering how the two inside rooms with the "magic" porthole are. What would you suggest? A friend mentioned that having the verandah just made the space "feel" bigger.

Thoughts? And I'm not following all the number/letter configurations. All I see on the map are deck levels. What am I missing? And do you request specific cabin numbers or do you let your TA figure it out?

TIA! Any and all information is appreciated. I'm trying to get a bottom line number for DH before I tell him what I'm doing.

One other thing...do you normally start at Disney World, stay at their resort, take the bus to port?

Thanks again!