Two Staterooms for Family of 4?

[bizer]

We booked our first cruise which is a 4 night on Dream in December. I originally booked a cat 04A (deluxe family oceanview w/ verandah) room. Messing around today on the website I noticed I can get two connecting cat 08 (deluxe family oceanview) rooms for a hundred or two more. Is it worth switching? I like the thought of two bathrooms, two tv's, two separate sleeping quarters, etc. We would lose the verandah and would have to move down a couple of decks which I don't think is a big deal. Our girls will be 9 & 3 at the time of sailing.

Is it worth switching to two rooms or is it double the headache with reservations, dining, etc?

 

[wehavesix]

We booked our first cruise which is a 4 night on Dream in December. I originally booked a cat 04A (deluxe family oceanview w/ verandah) room. Messing around today on the website I noticed I can get two connecting cat 08 (deluxe family oceanview) rooms for a hundred or two more. Is it worth switching? I like the thought of two bathrooms, two tv's, two separate sleeping quarters, etc. We would lose the verandah and would have to move down a couple of decks which I don't think is a big deal. Our girls will be 9 & 3 at the time of sailing.

Is it worth switching to two rooms or is it double the headache with reservations, dining, etc?

We are a family of 5 and got 2 ocean view connecting rooms. It is a lot more convenient for us. We put the kids in one room and dh & I are in the other. We open the doors between the rooms and keep them open most of the time. Our kids are older than yours though. It's no extra headache. Everything is linked from the get go. We just let our stateroom host know what the sleeping arrangements are on the first day so he/she will know which beds to make up.

 

[Davistigers]

We are a family of 4 and are going on our 4th Disney cruise next week. We have always gotten only one stateroom and haven't had a problem. But I never saw an additional room only being a few hundred more - that's great! We like being together so far but I can see why the extra space would be good as kids get older than mine are now.

Here's an idea of our kids ages when we cruised all sharing one room:

cruise 1 - DS was 7, DD was 4
cruise 2 - DS was 9, DD was 6
cruise 3 - DS was 12, DD was 9

Now I'll have to come back and post after next week to let you know how this cruise went. Now that my DS is 14 and tall and lanky, I'm sure the room will feel crowded. But I insist on saving money and sticking that kid in a bunk bed until he's 18.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

We are a family of 4 and are going on our 4th Disney cruise next week. We have always gotten only one stateroom and haven't had a problem. But I never saw an additional room only being a few hundred more - that's great! We like being together so far but I can see why the extra space would be good as kids get older than mine are now.

Here's an idea of our kids ages when we cruised all sharing one room:

cruise 1 - DS was 7, DD was 4
cruise 2 - DS was 9, DD was 6
cruise 3 - DS was 12, DD was 9

Now I'll have to come back and post after next week to let you know how this cruise went. Now that my DS is 14 and tall and lanky, I'm sure the room will feel crowded. But I insist on saving money and sticking that kid in a bunk bed until he's 18.

This is around the age that our single room started feeling cramped with 4 of us. Ds16 towers over dh & I and his legs hang over the bunk bed. Around the same time, we cruised the Dream and got a free upgrade to a cat 4C. It was great to have the extra space & ds, then 15, could use the murphy bed. It was a little longer but the blankets are still tiny so we got some extra adult blankets but the murphy bed blocked the door to the verandah & we always seemed to bump our ankles on the parts that extend out.

Last August we sailed on the Wonder where cat 4s are not so plentiful and cost almost as much as a suite. So we opted to get a verandah for us, and an inside across the hall for our teens. We all had blank keys to get into the room that we weren't booked into. It worked out great; the classic ships still have beds that pull apart & our boys appreciated that.

It's not just that the kids outgrow the little beds. Their clothes get bigger too. The days of being able to roll up 6 pairs of tiny size 3T shorts in 1 small drawer are long over. It's nice to have 2 closets, TVs & toilets too.

Also since we booked the cabins while onboard a previous cruise, the OBCs from DCL & our TA are double so it's $800 instead of $400. Helps offset the kids paying adult prices.

 

[ladyj0212]

Our next cruise will be the first with two connecting rooms. We came to that decision because we now have two kids, and the last time when we sailed it was just us with our daughter...we felt restricted.

At night when she was asleep, we wanted to watch tv and the tv volume had to be super low so she wouldn't wake up...we also couldn't order room service at night in fear she would wake up...not to mention the extremely loud toilet...lol...we figured it would just be easier to have the children have their own room and us keep the door open in between next time around now that it is the four of us...plus, the girls will be over the moon when they find out they get their own room. They are separate at home.

 

[cris0809]

I'd definitely pick two staterooms over one. That extra bathroom space is valuable when getting ready for dinner!

 

[desamnik]

Our first cruise was a 4 night, in a category 4 w/ a veranda. The kids were probably 12 and 9. Wen all loved the verandah, and w/ the split bathroom and bunk bed set up, we had plenty of room.

Fast forward to our next cruise at 13 and 10, 7 nights category 4. By the4th night, dh and I were all set! We were much too crowded in that one room even w/ the veranda.

To the OP, i think you would do better w/ one room w/ a veranda, your kids are young and small, and I think you would all enjoy the verandah more than the extra room on a four night cruise.

You'll have a great time no matter what you decide!

 

[Dug720]

Just keep in mind that the possibility exists that rooms side by side could have different muster stations...

 

[ktmo]

We had two connecting Cat 8D room on our spring break cruise. It was more than enough space, but well worth it. My DH really likes having separate rooms and it really wasn't that much more than one room. I don't think I could get DH to go on a vacation if we all shared a room.

 

[Mommb]

We have always stayed in a single veranda room with two kids, most recently at 14 and 10, and haven't felt cramped. However, there were times another bathroom would have been helpful, and there were times when the kids were younger that being able to watch TV or carry on a normal-volume conversation after they went to sleep would have been nice. We enjoyed the veranda, but if the difference between a Category 4 and two Category 8s were less than $200, I would have gone with the two rooms.

 

[wwwosie]

Last two cruises we have done one inside stateroom and one with a verandah. Our kids are older (18 and 13 the first time and 21 and 16 now ) it wasn't much more than a verandah for 4

 

[lovetotraveltx]

We have taken 3 Disney cruises with our 2 girls and have always gotten 2 rooms. Twice connecting and once on separate decks, but they are older. We always get deluxe rooms so we have 2 split baths. Very helpful!

 

[Magic3forme]

we have 3 kids and get 2 staterooms now.
the kids are across the hall, and we have the verandah.

It works out great... 2 showers are a must with 2 teenage girls

it is a ton cheaper to do it this way too... the kids dont mind having an inside cabin.

We just asked guest services for extra keys to each room.. no problems.

 

[bizer]

Thanks everyone. I will give DCL a call today and see if we can switch.

 

[Suger Mag]

We booked our first cruise which is a 4 night on Dream in December. I originally booked a cat 04A (deluxe family oceanview w/ verandah) room. Messing around today on the website I noticed I can get two connecting cat 08 (deluxe family oceanview) rooms for a hundred or two more. Is it worth switching? I like the thought of two bathrooms, two tv's, two separate sleeping quarters, etc. We would lose the verandah and would have to move down a couple of decks which I don't think is a big deal. Our girls will be 9 & 3 at the time of sailing.

Is it worth switching to two rooms or is it double the headache with reservations, dining, etc?

For us, we live in the country in a rambling house and are used to having plenty of space. On our first cruise we decided to go with two staterooms (2A and 2K: 6 and 12) and NEVER regretted it. The cabins were smaller than what we expected as we were kinda thinking on the scale of an avg US hotel room so having adjoining rooms was great. It is not a pain because they link the reservations so no issue with dining or when you do bookings bcuz you can do it for everyone in your two linked cabins.

While for me a veranda is important (we did adjoining 7As on the Wonder). I think some folks over estimate how much they will use it. Think about how/when/much you might use the veranda. Being a first cruise.... will you be running all over the ship trying to do things? If you are not going to use the veranda (fair warning the kids sleeping area will kinda block your access) then no loss there and another vote for more space/bathrooms/ some privacy for Mom and Dad time.

On our second upcoming cruise this JUly on the Fantasy (squeeeeee)... we are going with an 8C for the kids and a 7A for us. While I would have preferred adjoining they are just next to each other but since the kids are now 18 and 12, I don't think it will be that big of a deal and we are going to just get keys for everyone.

 

[bizer]

We made the change from a 04A to (2) connecting 08B rooms on the same deck for roughly $120 more. I think the extra space will definitely outweigh the loss of the verandah. Thanks for all the replies.

 

[ScottishDisMam]

We had a couple of cruises in one room but now love having 2 sets of showers.the only thing is that last year I had a couple of nights where my daughter and I snuggled up in her bed to watch a movie and fell asleep together very quickly, and my son and husband would be watching something else in our room.Not really what I had planned for our anniversary cruise

 

[Illini_Fan]

So, I must be looking at something wrong then. For everyone that is saying the price of two rooms is only modestly more than the price of one room, are thre any tricks to that? We have our 2014 cruise reserved and are planning on staying in an 8C room. We booked the room last week

But after reading this thread, I decided to look at the pricing of two rooms. When you price rooms with one adult and one child per room, the Disney web site doesn't give any discount for the child. They pay the same as the one adult. This is different than when you book four people into a stateroom -- in that case the kids pay substantially lower rate.

So, how do people end up with two rooms (even if one is an inside stateroom) being similar priced to the cost of one room. For this example and using today's website pricing. 8C for four people (kids age 14 and 10) is $7,041. Two rooms, splitting one adult and one child per each room is: cat 11b $4,089 and then a cat 8C is $4,526 for a total just over $8,600.

Am I looking at this correctly? I love the idea of two rooms, but that price difference is enough to cover our entire airfare to Orlando.

thanks

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

So, I must be looking at something wrong then. For everyone that is saying the price of two rooms is only modestly more than the price of one room, are thre any tricks to that? We have our 2014 cruise reserved and are planning on staying in an 8C room. We booked the room last week

But after reading this thread, I decided to look at the pricing of two rooms. When you price rooms with one adult and one child per room, the Disney web site doesn't give any discount for the child. They pay the same as the one adult. This is different than when you book four people into a stateroom -- in that case the kids pay substantially lower rate.

So, how do people end up with two rooms (even if one is an inside stateroom) being similar priced to the cost of one room. For this example and using today's website pricing. 8C for four people (kids age 14 and 10) is $7,041. Two rooms, splitting one adult and one child per each room is: cat 11b $4,089 and then a cat 8C is $4,526 for a total just over $8,600.

Am I looking at this correctly? I love the idea of two rooms, but that price difference is enough to cover our entire airfare to Orlando.

thanks

It can vary. For our Alaskan cruise, the 7A (secret verandah) for 2 was $3700, the 11B for 2 was $2200. A huge difference. It was actually cheaper to get the inside room across the hall than it was to put all 4 of us in a verandah room. Mostly because 7A cabins can only fit up to 3 guests so we would have had to move up to a more expensive cat verandah to fit all 4 of us. (For Caribbean cruises we don't really care to have a verandah but it was so worth it for Alaska. This part was important to us.)
Also we always rebook onboard. Since the OBC perks associated with booking onboard are per cabin, not per person, our OBCs double when we have 2 cabins. For this same Alaskan cruise that meant $1100 instead of $550.

 

[teriyaki]

We have taken 3 Disney cruises with our 2 girls and have always gotten 2 rooms. Twice connecting and once on separate decks, but they are older. We always get deluxe rooms so we have 2 split baths. Very helpful!

Hi,

Our 18 year old twins will have their own cabin, same deck, but on the opposite side from us. They will probably have a separate muster station. Did anyone who has traveled in non connecting cabins with older teens worry about them being alone in case of emergency?

Thanks,
Laurie