4 adults in a "family" room?

[TiggerBouncy]

DW and I love DCL. We have taken 4 cruises, and loved every one of them. However, we have always had an outside room with a veranda on the upper floors (not concierge).

DW's mom was unfortunately diagnosed with lung cancer very recently, and she has always wanted to take a cruise. So we thought about taking her while she can still go. However as finances were tight, DW was thinking we would jam the 4 of us into an inside cabin. I have a few questions related to that.

First, as we are not very small people, I know one of the beds pulls down from the ceiling. Will that support a full size adult in the 200-250 pound range? MIL is handicapped (and the person who the cruise is for) so I figure her and her mom will share the bed and DW and I will take the bunks. Just want to make sure that would actually work. ? Would we fit?

Also in question - MIL is handicapped. She can do light walking with things to hold onto. She uses a tub at home so doesn't need a roll in shower. I think she can handle the step into and out of the bathrooms. There is no reason we can't book a regular room instead of a handicap, is there?

finally, DW and I USUALLY stay at WDW before the cruise on our DVC. HOWEVER, WDW is FULL (ack!!!) the day before. We were thinking of staying in the Orlando Airport hotel and catching ME in the morning. Any experience with that?

thanks crew!

 

[Dug720]

I can answer the bunk - the max weight limit is 250. I slept on one in a cabin when my parents, sister and I were on a trip celebrating my parents' 45th anniversary - they had the queen, and my sister (a CM) took the sofa bed because she was too heavy for the top. I'm 5ft 6 and around 180lbs (and dropping!). It wasn't horrible - I managed it for 3 nights. Any more than that and I would have just been tired of it.

 

[ldo]

the 250 lbs is certainly the upper limit. and the bed is a queen, maybe too tight. a MUCH better fit would be an OV room that sleeps 5 persons, which has a murphy bed by the window. you can call and ask if they would let you book this, as you have a handicapped person--maybe they would allow it. usually, OV is not that much more than inside. a handicap room would give you more space. I would certainly book a H room with 4 persons.

 

[Weedy]

I would price out getting two inside cabins. Sometimes the price is the same or just a little more

 

[DISNEYFAN3260]

We were thinking of staying in the Orlando Airport hotel and catching ME in the morning. Any experience with that?

As for this, the Hyatt MCO can be pricey at times but super convenient and might be well worth the money for you. They will even take your luggage down to be sent to the port so you don't have to take it to the B side with you to get on the cruise bus. No rush, no fuss! The next time you see the bags will be in your stateroom that afternoon. The cruise bus trip is just like ME - quick and pleasant. Some find it pricey at $35 pp one way, but I love the ease of it and it puts me in the mood for the cruise with the informational videos, etc.

On the stateroom issue, I agree with a PP who suggested trying to book an H room in whatever category you choose. The extra space might be nice with four adults in the room, though beware of having one larger bathroom rather than split baths in most categories if that is a concern with 4. Two connecting inside cabins would be great if you can swing it, or the Family OV a PP suggested which sleeps 5.

I'm sure you'll find an option that works for your needs and budget. Enjoy!

 

[scgustafson]

I would price out getting two inside cabins. Sometimes the price is the same or just a little more

Four adults definitely warrants two complete restrooms.

 

[cmph]

Do DCL's accessible rooms have bunks? We're going on our first DCL this year, but for years we went on practically every other line with my grandparents. My grandfather used a wheelchair, so they always had accessible rooms. At least one of my cousins always stayed in their room with them, and I don't remember it ever being a bunk... but my memory could be faulty. Tons more space in the accessible rooms so a full pull-out couch was much more doable. I remember on RCL, it seemed like it was twice the size of the inside my parents, sister and I were staying in. I'm curious now b/c I'm sure I'll eventually be dealing with this type of situation with my own parents.

During the above-mentioned RCL, my sister and I were in college. It was the smallest cabin I ever remember having, but in retrospect I wonder if that's just b/c we were older at that point and used to living on our own. We didn't have the weight issues and both used upper bunks just fine (except for our parents' dueling snoring, which became almost hilarious after a couple days), but the bathroom situation was a pain. On DCL, at least there are the split bathrooms. But to echo was a PP said - the bathroom issue would be my biggest concern.

 

[cruisingtwins]

I don;t think that sounds too pleasant. I woul look at another line before cramming 4 full size adults on an inside.

 

[lanejudy]

I would think 4 adults would prefer to have 2 baths, so connecting or adjoining staterooms might be a better option for your party.

An HA stateroom will have more floor space. Will MIL be using a wheelchair or ECV? If so, will she be using it to move about the stateroom, or would she prefer to walk? If she prefers to walk (at least in the stateroom), a regular stateroom might be the better choice because the tight quarters actually means she has more options of something to hold/grab as she moves about. A manual wheelchair can be folded to bring into the stateroom; an ECV would need someone else in the party to move it to an approved parking area as it won't fit in a standard stateroom.

Your thread title mentions a "family" room -- do you have a cabin booked that sleeps 5? If you have a family stateroom (either verandah or oceanview) with the murphy bed, you don't need to worry about the drop-down bunk. But not all rooms in those categories include the extra bed so you'll want to be sure.

Enjoy your cruise!

 

[timrousbeastie]

I am very sorry to hear about your DW's mom. Your gesture is very considerate and it will be an extra important time for all of you to be together. Having experienced lung cancer in my own closest family, I would even say that it is one of those exceptional cases in life where I never would have any regrets about temporarily leveraging my credit cards if necessary to make the vacation possible. I lost my mother to the disease when I was 23 and one of the few regrets, she expressed to me towards the end, was that she had never been able to afford to take my younger sisters and me on a nice vacation. Sadly, there was no way we could give her one back then and one day it was too late. I wish all the best for you and your family, and I am sure you'd always be very happy that you gave her this trip, even if you had to squeeze a bit to fit in the cabin.

 

[tiggger1]

the bunk on the dream had a max of 220 pounds....

 

[PlanoNana]

We did Hyatt Regency on our first DCL cruise in 2004 because we were leaving Dallas in the early evening and getting to MCO about 10:30. We were SOOOOO glad we did because there was a thunderstorm in Dallas that caused a ground stop so we didn't leave on schedule and arrived at the Hyatt about 1:30 AM. We hadn't The next morning before breakfast we arranged for the DCL transfers. It worked out really well for us. Yep, a tad pricey and probably more 9 years later but it sure took the hassle out of the trip.

Depending on your room preferences, I would think two inside connecting rooms or even side by side or across the hall. Lots of folks do a verandah room and an Cat 11 inside across the hall. Kind of gives you the best of both worlds.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

the bunk on the dream had a max of 220 pounds....

Same on the Fantasy. Pretty sure it's the same for all the ships:

 

[Dug720]

Ok, somehow I had 250 in my head. Either way, I was the one under the limit between my sister and myself.

 

[scootch]

We are doing a room with a Murphy bed for two adults and two tall teens. My 120 lb 5'6 can't handle the bunks anymore. We have an 8D on the Fantasy. As far as the Hyatt, extremely convenient!! Large comfortable rooms and they pick up your luggage for you in the morning. Worth the extra cost.