Best value rooms

[jagmeister]

I'm sorry if this has been asked before but I have problems with the search function.

For other families of four w/ two young children (5-8), in your experience what has been the "best value" category of rooms? I know that is not a very clear question but I would like to know what is the break even point in your mind for spending $$ for more space in a higher category room. Based on the DCL website, it seems a tight fit in any cat 6 and below for four people. I would appreciate your opinions so we don't overspend -- we just want our two girls to sleep comfortably.

Thanks!

Rob

 

[cruisnfamily]

I believe all the cabins from category 6-10 are the same size (214 sq ft). The cat 11 and 12 are slightly smaller (maybe 186 sq ft). I don't know the dimensions for the category 5 thru 1.

Our family of 4 travelled in a category 10 last time and had plenty of room. Our kids were 4 & 7 at the time. No it wasn't as spacious as a hotel room but met our needs perfectly. On our left as we came in were the 2 bathrooms, after that a living room with sofa, tv, desk, dressers, after that, a curtain that could be pulled shut to close off the "bedroom" which was a queen bed. The sofa flips over or something to convert to a twin bed and a twin bed pulls down from the ceiling for the other child. When we first checked in, we thought there was a mistake because we couldn't even tell where the two twin beds would come from. Our stateroom host assured us that when we returned for bed the 2 twin beds would in fact appear. They did! And after we left for breakfast in the morning, they would magically turn back into a living room.

Our children will be 6 & 9 in the fall when we cruise again and we have chosen the same category 10. I would truly love to have a verandah, even a navigators veranda would be fine. I have heard they really make your room feel larger, plus you can sit out there and drink wine or coffee or smoke (if you are a smoker). The cost difference was too great to make the verandah worthwhile for us. We could have gotten a window, but I'm fine with out one so why spend the money. For us, it will be category 10 until we can justify the added expense for category 7 or 6.

As far as the much larger fancier rooms, someone else will have to give you the scoop but honestly, we were quite comfortable in the Category 10.

Hope this helps!

 

[din]

They were four of us in the room, two adults and two DS, 7 and 10. It was a cat 9 room. We initially looked at the verandah and thought it would be nice to have that view. We decided that there was no time to do that, so we opted for a cat 9. The kids loved the view of the large porthole. In addition, as mentioned the top bunk worked great and during the day when we were in the room other than sleep, there was space for the kids to spread out the toys and play.

The split bath worked great in the morning and when it was time to clean up after Castaway Cay.

I would suggest that you look at some of the other posting here, and get a sense of the activities on the ship and also how many days you are on the ship. For a three or four day cruise, you are busy watching a movie, a show, going on excursions, playing table tenise, going to the spa (you got to try this) etc....

Hope this helps and again this is the greatest board for planning. HAVE FUN!!!!

 

[TnRobin]

We have stayed in Cat 10, Cat 5, and Cat 3. Everything from Cat 10 to Cat 5 are the same interior room size. The difference in price is for the view/veranda or location on the ship. Cat 11 and 12 are not really much smaller.

I really enjoy the split bathroom the you get in Cat 10 and higher. I hear the single bath in Cat 11 and 12 is roomier and you can do more than just turn around in it. But with me being the only female. It is nice to take a shower in the AM without being disturbed by the constant - MOMMY - I GOTTA GO NOW.

 

[AnnMorin]

There are only three of us but I would gladly pay even more to have the veranda. This gave my husband and I an other "room" for us to relax and our son a place to wind down and watch tv. DH and I would enjoy some wine on the veranda while DS drank his juice box while watching a disney movie. It was the perfect combo for us as we like alone time, especially on the 7 day cruise where it's nice to have a quite place to watch the world go by and just chill before getting back to the fun., IMHO I would never go without a veranda BUT we are homebody type of people, I like to have quiet at times and our son (9)definately needs downtime before he goes to sleep. With the veranda he could wind down and we could sit and hold hands in the moonlight with nothing but stars and ocean around..boy remembering it I can't wait until we go in December!

 

[patches-4]

We were a family of 4 in a Cat.9 DS151/2 and DD 111/2 and we had plenty of room. They loved the porthole, not that they wouldn't have liked the veranda, but at the time I wanted the money for other things. DS loved the pull down and had already claimed it for our next cruise, and he'll be 18 then. Had plenty of room, and really liked the split bath.

 

[D L and K's Mom]

We decided to pay the extra and treat ourselves to the verandah and I am so glad we did. It was so nice to sit out there in the morning and just relax. DD loved being able to watch them load and unload things (Towels, etc) when we were parked at Castaway Cay. She also thought it was a hoot to see the other ships docked at port and had a blast waving to other people from HER verandah. DH and I loved calling roomservice ordering a smoothie and sitting out on the verandah while the children slept after a long day. The stars, the moon the sound of the water....very nice!! On the day we were in the Bahamas we had a very casual breakfast from roomservice and then left the ship. It was a nice break to just relax and watch everyone getting off. If it is at all within your price limit I say go for the verandah. The only problem is you will never want to cruise again without it !