5 people in a room? - Deluxe Family Oceanview w/ Verandah

[Tulip2796]

We are considering booking a cruise on the Fantasy (it's been 5 years already since our last time!) We are a family of 4 (2A, 2C) but since my father's passing, my mom has moved in with us and we like to have her come along on our vacation. The 5 of us did a Med cruise last year on RC Wonder of the Seas and had connecting rooms and it was a wonderful set up with ample room for all. We're looking at the 10-day cruise and with connecting rooms the cost of Disney is too high for us to just cruise. I'm wondering if we would be ok all staying in one room, the Deluxe Family Oceanview. I know it'll be tight, but is it reasonably feasible? My children can share a bed if necessary, they're not big teenagers yet.

 

[Calantha]

We are considering booking a cruise on the Fantasy (it's been 5 years already since our last time!) We are a family of 4 (2A, 2C) but since my father's passing, my mom has moved in with us and we like to have her come along on our vacation. The 5 of us did a Med cruise last year on RC Wonder of the Seas and had connecting rooms and it was a wonderful set up with ample room for all. We're looking at the 10-day cruise and with connecting rooms the cost of Disney is too high for us to just cruise. I'm wondering if we would be ok all staying in one room, the Deluxe Family Oceanview. I know it'll be tight, but is it reasonably feasible? My children can share a bed if necessary, they're not big teenagers yet.

I think some of those rooms have a murphy bed (just put in 5 people in your search), so there will be enough beds. Not sure exactly how old your kids are, but, here's my view.

I almost went 1 room with me, DS (at the time 5, now 8), my dad and his girlfriend (both late 60s). If we had gone when he was little, I think it would have worked. Due to covid, we cancelled. Now, we're finally booked, but in 2 rooms, I just don't want to try to try to juggle nakedness/bathroom/changing/different wake-up/sleep times with that mixed group of people.

Also, if I were to cruise with DH and my mom (which would never happen, but if it did), we'd totally need 2 rooms.

 

[MomOTwins]

If it was 3 kids I’d say go for it as we regularly stay in these rooms with 3 kids, but I wouldn’t want to share one room (with one shower, and one place to change clothes) etc with a mother/mother-in-law FOR 10 DAYS. It’s about there being no real privacy more than a lack of space.

Try deck 2 connecting porthole rooms. They are usually around the same cost or less than a family verandah.

 

[jujubiee4]

I have seen others with extended family traveling get 1 Verandah and an inside across the way.
That may be an option also.

 

[kcool]

I have seen others with extended family traveling get 1 Verandah and an inside across the way.
That may be an option also.

We did this. It is its 4 of us, but the cost was only about $400 more for us. I wanted the 2 bathrooms. We did a GTY rate, so we could have been far apart, but were right across the hall from each other. My kids spent a lot of time in our room on the verandah.

 

[JWG]

If it sleeps 5 it would be a bed and 3 separate sleeping spaces (couch, upper berth, Murphy bed). That said, it feels tight. One bath, no where to go…

 

[CaptainMarvel]

I haven't personally cruised with five to a room, but have cruised with relatives who regularly do this (parents, grandma, and two kids--in their case, teenage boys). It may feel like a squeeze at times, but it is very much workable. Bathrooms/showers are definitely the biggest issue; when I last cruised with these family members, their kids were occasionally sent over to my sister and I's room to take a shower when time was running short (this was mainly an issue on especially long excursion days). Aside from that, it'll help if can you keep a tight handle on how much luggage everyone brings (in room storage space isn't infinite) and if at least some of the people in the room are likely to spend the majority of the day outside the room.

(And, while not an issue for everyone, if your party has any especially late sleepers, you may need to devote some extra attention to making sure there's actually some time where the room is empty, so your room attendant can come in and work. During my last cruise with my relatives, there was actually a day where their room almost didn't get it's daytime cleaning because it was the afternoon and one of their sons still hadn't left the room ).

 

[imbelle]

Depends on how much you like each other. When I cruised with my sister and her kids (21,19,13) I offered to get us two rooms but my sister vetoed that. They like the slumber party style of being all together. Me, I had a length-of-cruise Rainforest Room pass so I did most of my showering in the spa area locker room instead of queueing up in the room.

 

[Flcruising]

We are considering booking a cruise on the Fantasy (it's been 5 years already since our last time!) We are a family of 4 (2A, 2C) but since my father's passing, my mom has moved in with us and we like to have her come along on our vacation. The 5 of us did a Med cruise last year on RC Wonder of the Seas and had connecting rooms and it was a wonderful set up with ample room for all. We're looking at the 10-day cruise and with connecting rooms the cost of Disney is too high for us to just cruise. I'm wondering if we would be ok all staying in one room, the Deluxe Family Oceanview. I know it'll be tight, but is it reasonably feasible? My children can share a bed if necessary, they're not big teenagers yet.

You said you are a family of 4 and your mother lives with you. Since you don't consider that you are a family of 5 that may actually answer your question. You may want 2 rooms. However we've done inlaws in one room and it was fine. So it is doable. It depends on the relationships. The real problem is snoring...

 

[Cheburashka]

It will be tight but it is doable.

 

[princesscinderella]

It’s definitely do able, grandma gets the Murphy bed and the teens take the couch and bunk above it. We are a family of 5 who stay in the family verandas all the time. As for the bathroom situation, I hardly ever use the bathrooms in the room. Other than in the evening before bed and waking up. My favorite bathrooms are the ones in the adult areas as they are nice and spacious and I go shower in the spa locker rooms where there’s plenty of room, a sauna (fantasy and dream - not sure about the other ships). The kids shower in the rooms and the adults use the spa and it’s never an issue. We traveled with friends, also a family of 5 and they made a rule for their teens if you need to go number two don’t do it in the room bathroom

 

[JM_97]

You could do it but it will be tight. On the Wonder, there was the queen bed by the front door, then the sofa bed, the bunk above it and then the murphy bed which is by the balcony. I haven't been on the Fantasy but it looks like the same setup.

So as you can imagine it'll be tight quarters. Especially if the kids are a little bit older. I'd see if you can swing connecting ocean view rooms.

 

[Weedy]

Have you tried booking an interior cabin across the hall or maybe two interior cabins?

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

We did 5 with our au pair as 5th and it was OK for 3 days, might do 4, but I cannot imagine 7. As mentioned, it works better if you don’t have any late sleepers, early sleepers, snorers, or need for privacy. Even with 4 on shorter cruises we run out of drawer space fast. Showering at the spa (need to get weekly pass) helps with bathroom space. Another major factor is weather. I can actually only handle 4 with husband and kids in nice weather, because I need the calm and quiet of balcony time to myself. Being unable to use the balcony makes the room feel a LOT smaller (conversely, bed 5 makes it hard to reach the balcony when it’s down!).

 

[princesscinderella]

We did 5 with our au pair as 5th and it was OK for 3 days, might do 4, but I cannot imagine 7. As mentioned, it works better if you don’t have any late sleepers, early sleepers, snorers, or need for privacy. Even with 4 on shorter cruises we run out of drawer space fast. Showering at the spa (need to get weekly pass) helps with bathroom space. Another major factor is weather. I can actually only handle 4 with husband and kids in nice weather, because I need the calm and quiet of balcony time to myself. Being unable to use the balcony makes the room feel a LOT smaller (conversely, bed 5 makes it hard to reach the balcony when it’s down!).

There’s no cost to shower at the spa, they have locker rooms with showers available to anyone. The rainforest room requires a pass, but you can’t exactly shower in those as you need to be clothed and I don’t think they want you shampooing and conditioning in the specialty showers.

 

[mz-s]

Well would all you be comfortable in a deluxe studio at WDW for 10 days? If so, then the cruise ship is basically the same as that - a bit smaller and with less storage (so you'd have to pack a little less I suppose) but similar. The very nice thing about Disney cruise rooms is the split bathroom. That would prove invaluable for you.

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

There’s no cost to shower at the spa, they have locker rooms with showers available to anyone. The rainforest room requires a pass, but you can’t exactly shower in those as you need to be clothed and I don’t think they want you shampooing and conditioning in the specialty showers.

Oh wow, I didn’t realize that anybody can use spa showers. On other lines, you have to have a treatment or day/week pass. My husband is going to be so excited to hear it—at 6’3, he hates DCL showers.

 

[lilsonicfan]

I couldn’t fathom doing this…I would hate to be grandma having to walk past all the beds to use the bathroom at night, for example. I already dislike having only one room for my family of 5 though and you may have a lot more tolerance than I do…. But ugh the thought of sharing a room with my MIL and then sharing a tiny bathroom - (yes I know they are split) - no thanks.

 

[ldo]

we're a family of 5 and have done those cabins with older teens--the 5th bed is a pull down murphy bed. There's a privacy curtains between queen (master) bed and the other 3 beds. It was a little tight--but getting 1 cabin meant the difference between going on DCL vs. another cruiseline.
We've also taken widowed MIL with us in a bunkbed cabin before with DH sleeping in upper bunk, as well as MIL with me and 2 DD on another cruise. If you are a "close" family, you'll be absolutely fine. The verandah give just enough extra space-glass of wine or coffee with some extra personal space. The split bathrooms also help A LOT. 2 sinks in the AM and getting ready for dinner are great.

 

[imbelle]

Oh wow, I didn’t realize that anybody can use spa showers. On other lines, you have to have a treatment or day/week pass. My husband is going to be so excited to hear it—at 6’3, he hates DCL showers.

I'm not sure that I would count on using the spa showers without a scheduled treatment or pass. There are only a few (3 maybe?) shower stalls in the locker rooms and when I was chatting with one of the spa workers, she said that they were cracking down on people coming in and using them without paying for spa services. I know that with the Rainforest Room Pass, you give the front desk your key card and they give you a wristband. If you try to bypass the front desk without checking in, you might get stopped.