Adjoining rooms vs 1 larger room with young kids

[emdowens74]

We are taking our first Disney cruise hopefully over Spring Break. Both DH and I have been on cruises before, but this will be our first DCL. We have 2 young children (DD 5 and DS 3). My DH wants a Deluxe Family Oceanview Stateroom with Verandah OR a Concierge 1-Bedroom Suite with Verandah. Both these rooms are expensive. For almost the same cost as the Del Family OV w/ Ver. and less than the Concierge 1-B Suite w/ Ver we could get 2 adjoining rooms in the Category 5 (5C or 5B likely). So my question...do you think this is a better option...having 2 rooms. Can we guarantee adjoining? Our kids are so young that we MUST have adjoining or it won't work.
Is there a way we can definitely lock them INSIDE their own room (where they couldn't open the door or the verrandah and only have the adjoining door to our room open? It might sound frivoulous, but we like our space, 2 bathrooms, they sleep in their own bedrooms fine all night at home (but could totally change if their surroundings change).

I'm also worried that it will totally backfire and we will all be in one room the whole time anyways. Thanks for any/all opinions and advice.

 

[kcashner]

Yes, you can assure that you will have connecting rooms if that is what you book. Obviously, you'll need to book CONNECTING rooms, then have a note added that you must keep connecting rooms. Adjoining = next to each other. Connecting = interior door between the rooms.

If you don't want the concierge services of the suite, I'd definitely go with the two rooms. The rooms that sleep 5 are only slightly bigger than a room that sleeps 4, and you still have only one bathroom. 2 cabins gives you double the closet space, bathroom space, etc.

The lock on the cabin doors is HIGH up (adult shoulder height, and quite heavy. It's not easy for an adult to open. The main door to the cabin is also heavy, but a child might be able to open that. Your stateroom host will secure the doors between the cabins in the open position.

Lots of parents do the 2 cabin deal. It works fine!

 

[emdowens74]

Yes, you can assure that you will have connecting rooms if that is what you book. Obviously, you'll need to book CONNECTING rooms, then have a note added that you must keep connecting rooms. Adjoining = next to each other. Connecting = interior door between the rooms.

Thank you thank you for the correction! CONNECTING rooms is definitely what I meant!

 

[jdb in AZ]

We are taking our first Disney cruise hopefully over Spring Break. Both DH and I have been on cruises before, but this will be our first DCL. We have 2 young children (DD 5 and DS 3). My DH wants a Deluxe Family Oceanview Stateroom with Verandah OR a Concierge 1-Bedroom Suite with Verandah. Both these rooms are expensive. For almost the same cost as the Del Family OV w/ Ver. and less than the Concierge 1-B Suite w/ Ver we could get 2 adjoining rooms in the Category 5 (5C or 5B likely). So my question...do you think this is a better option...having 2 rooms. Can we guarantee adjoining? Our kids are so young that we MUST have adjoining or it won't work.
Is there a way we can definitely lock them INSIDE their own room (where they couldn't open the door or the verrandah and only have the adjoining door to our room open? It might sound frivoulous, but we like our space, 2 bathrooms, they sleep in their own bedrooms fine all night at home (but could totally change if their surroundings change).

I'm also worried that it will totally backfire and we will all be in one room the whole time anyways. Thanks for any/all opinions and advice.

Yes, you can specify that the rooms must connect. Just tell your travel agent what you need and he/she can book it for you, assuming the rooms are available of course. One room will be booked in your name, and one booked in your DH's name (an adult must be listed on each room) but you can make whatever sleeping arrangements you want. Just tell the room steward.

Two bathrooms and two closets, plus extra drawers for storage, are the way to go. If the kids fall asleep in your room you could pick them up and move them back to their room. Or you could lay down with them in their room til they're asleep. They'll be so tired from all the activities they should fall asleep easily.

 

[TDC Nala]

If you book GTY I dont think you can guarantee anything. Make sure you are able to book specific cabins.

 

[Mommb]

Two rooms might well be better for you than a 1-bedroom suite. I would worry about young kids wandering around the "living room" of the suite. They probably couldn't get outside, but if they did it might be harder to hear than if they are next door in a smaller room. (For older kids, I would go for the suite, but the daily goodies won't mean as much for younger kids.)

 

[shoppgirl]

What are your sleeping arrangements like when you travel with the kids at hotels? Do you normally get two connecting rooms there and have the kids sleep by themselves in a different room? Or do each of you take a kid or do the kids share a bed? If so, and they need to sleep with you or have your right there in the same room, then your worst thoughts about booking two rooms but they all end up in your room anyways might be more true than you think! When my girls were that age, they needed to sleep with mom and dad when we were in hotels. There was no way they would sleep together in the room next door regardless if the connecting door was wide open or not. They are in strange surroundings.

Luckily, at the age of 6 and 8, they were more than happy to share their own cabin with mom and dad next door. And even better, now when we're in hotels, we can get a suite and they sleep on the sleeper sofa in the living room!

I would obviously say go for two cheaper cabins for two full sets of beds, two washrooms, two TVs, but if your children are afraid to sleep by themselves, then you might want one bigger cabin. Also, at their age, it would be very difficult for them to open the cabin doors...my 7 year old could barely open them, they were so heavy.

 

[emdowens74]

What are your sleeping arrangements like when you travel with the kids at hotels? Do you normally get two connecting rooms there and have the kids sleep by themselves in a different room? Or do each of you take a kid or do the kids share a bed? If so, and they need to sleep with you or have your right there in the same room, then your worst thoughts about booking two rooms but they all end up in your room anyways might be more true than you think! When my girls were that age, they needed to sleep with mom and dad when we were in hotels. There was no way they would sleep together in the room next door regardless if the connecting door was wide open or not. They are in strange surroundings.

Luckily, at the age of 6 and 8, they were more than happy to share their own cabin with mom and dad next door. And even better, now when we're in hotels, we can get a suite and they sleep on the sleeper sofa in the living room!

I would obviously say go for two cheaper cabins for two full sets of beds, two washrooms, two TVs, but if your children are afraid to sleep by themselves, then you might want one bigger cabin. Also, at their age, it would be very difficult for them to open the cabin doors...my 7 year old could barely open them, they were so heavy.

Honestly, we haven't been in a hotel in quite a while. We purposefully have started renting multi-bedroom houses/condos on trips since DS (2.5 now) has been born so that we could have more space/rooms. When he was an infant we'd always have him in our room in a pack n play and our DD in her own room. We usually visit their grandparents and they sleep in the own rooms there. We rented a house near disney this past spring break. We just got back from a beach trip where we had a 3 bedroom condo. They are used to sleeping in their own room/bed for sure. Of course, we sometimes have to go INTO their rooms at night and console them or sleep with them for a bit, but most of the time they are pretty good to go.
thanks, the feedback really does me feel more informed to make the best decision for us!

 

[molarman]

Two rooms might well be better for you than a 1-bedroom suite. I would worry about young kids wandering around the "living room" of the suite. They probably couldn't get outside, but if they did it might be harder to hear than if they are next door in a smaller room. (For older kids, I would go for the suite, but the daily goodies won't mean as much for younger kids.)

The "living room area" on 1-BR Suites are not that spacious, and if you leave the sliding bedroom doors open, you can see almost every corner of the living room. The living room is also where the children will sleep. The sofa folds out into a double bed.

We have stayed in Cat 1, 2, 3, and 4 (there are five of us). We recently all 5 stayed in a Cat 4 and had enough room. We would choose 2 connecting staterooms over a Cat 3 1-BR Suite (the 1-BR suite is very crowded in the living room area, especially with the sofa bed out.

If you can stay in a Cat 4 room, you can use the ceiling-mounted pull-down bunk and the sofa twin-bed below it. This avoids having to take up all the free space required by using the fold-down wall-mounted murphy bed. This murphy bed completely blocks access to the verandah (which we like to go out onto while the kids are settling down and going to sleep).

 

[Blanche_Neige]

Also you get 2x the onboard credit!!

On my last cruise we had a Cat4 veranda stateroom for 5 of us. It was ok, but it did feel small when all the beds were down.

For our upcoming cruise I booked 2 connecting staterooms we will have more room. I prefer that option because if they go to bed earlier we can still be in the room and watch TV or something... Same goes when the kids wake up early (mine wake up 6am) they can play, watch TV in the other room allowing us to sleep or relax longer.

 

[surfer_ed]

As far as getting out the door on the balcony, I can't figure them out and have a hard time opening them I am an adult.

Kids might be able too.

 

[lark]

We got two 11Bs and it was much much cheapter than one verandah. Loved it. Balcony was largely irrelevant to us, seeing as the entire ship is a balcony.

On connecting cabins the way the doors work is exactly how you would expect -- you can open your door leading to the connecting cabin, but you can't open the other cabin's door. So, if the internal door to the cabin with the kids in it gets closed, you will not be able to get into their room unless they open the door for you, or you go around and enter their room from the hallway with a key.

If you keep your closed, but keep theirs open, you will be able to enter their room but they won't be able to enter yours without knocking. If, however, they were to close their door (either by accident or on purpose) you would be effectively locked out of their room unless you went around and used your key from the hallway or yelled loud enough through the door for them to hear you and open the door.

You could ask your porter whether they have a safety bar that effectively closes off the balcony in their room for good or that keeps their internal door open. I think some hotels have that, but I'm not sure about DCL. I'm not sure you're asking for personal opinions, and if not, accept my apology in advance -- these boards can become I'm-a-better-parent-advisor pretty quickly and that's not my intent. But, for me, I simply would not be comfortable in adjoining balcony cabins with children that age unless one adult were to stay in each room or unless there was a foolproof way to keep their balcony closed. Opening the balcony door is hard. That a child could do is unlikely. But it's possible. The combination of them being able to effectively (whether by accident or not) make it hard for you to enter the room by closing their internal door and the possibility of the balcony would worry me too much. If there were a way to ensure they could not close their door it might negate the worry a little.

I'd be less concerned about an OV or inside room. While it's theoretically possible they could open the door to the hallway, at least they'd still be on board and there are lots of employees around who likely would notice a child on his or her own.

 

[emdowens74]

We got two 11Bs and it was much much cheapter than one verandah. Loved it. Balcony was largely irrelevant to us, seeing as the entire ship is a balcony.

On connecting cabins the way the doors work is exactly how you would expect -- you can open your door leading to the connecting cabin, but you can't open the other cabin's door. So, if the internal door to the cabin with the kids in it gets closed, you will not be able to get into their room unless they open the door for you, or you go around and enter their room from the hallway with a key.

If you keep your closed, but keep theirs open, you will be able to enter their room but they won't be able to enter yours without knocking. If, however, they were to close their door (either by accident or on purpose) you would be effectively locked out of their room unless you went around and used your key from the hallway or yelled loud enough through the door for them to hear you and open the door.

You could ask your porter whether they have a safety bar that effectively closes off the balcony in their room for good or that keeps their internal door open. I think some hotels have that, but I'm not sure about DCL. I'm not sure you're asking for personal opinions, and if not, accept my apology in advance -- these boards can become I'm-a-better-parent-advisor pretty quickly and that's not my intent. But, for me, I simply would not be comfortable in adjoining balcony cabins with children that age unless one adult were to stay in each room or unless there was a foolproof way to keep their balcony closed. Opening the balcony door is hard. That a child could do is unlikely. But it's possible. The combination of them being able to effectively (whether by accident or not) make it hard for you to enter the room by closing their internal door and the possibility of the balcony would worry me too much. If there were a way to ensure they could not close their door it might negate the worry a little.

I'd be less concerned about an OV or inside room. While it's theoretically possible they could open the door to the hallway, at least they'd still be on board and there are lots of employees around who likely would notice a child on his or her own.

Thank you for the information! I really do appreciate it

 

[1 Minnie & 3 Mickeys]

We are a family with 4 young kids 9, 7, 5, 3 and we are cruising in November. Back in February when we booked this cruise I was looking at Spring Break 2012 and had difficulty booking CONNECTING (you do not want adjoining) staterooms on the Dream. The Family OV staterooms were completely booked and they only had staterooms with verandahs. Given we are 6 people we have to do 2 staterooms but I did not want a verandah room. The cast member helping me make my reservation assured me the locks are high and not easily opened but if anybody can figure something out that even I cannot it is my 5 year old (he is very crafty). I have also read in some posts that when out on the balcony small children could possibly crawl under the wall that separates the balconies from each other...that has my 3 year old written all over it! So my suggestion would be to get 2 Outside Connecting Staterooms. You will need and enjoy having the extra beds, space and bathroom...because inevitably someone needs to use the bathroom when you are in there.

Ultimately, I had to go with two inside staterooms which I would not have even considered if it was not for the virtual portholes. Hope that helps you in your decision making. Ultimately, you know your children..and also need to keep the hubby happy! Let us know what you decide. No matter what you choose it will be a fabulous vacation!

 

[shillee]

We had debated this as well...it was either a family room with verandah or 2 inside rooms that connect. I decided on the connecting rooms (we will have a 2 & 4 year old). I wish we had verandah's as I am worried about getting sea sick in the inside room (it happened one night on a 3 night cruise for me and I do/can get sea sick) but it wasn't going to happen for us on the dates we had for the Magic. So, DH may be watching kids alone at night if I get sick and need to go up on deck We still wanted quiet space as the youngest will still be napping when we cruise and goes to bed earlier than all of us and is a SUPER light sleeper. She can wake up with the noise of the baby gate moving on our stairs

Good luck with your decision! We know we may end up having me in with the youngest and DH with the other but oh well - it is vacation and we will take it as it comes!