Family of 5 booking options?

[CaptainMidnight]

What are the best booking options for a family of five (with small children) when desiring an ocean view (not necessarily a verandah). Two adjoining rooms in category 9?
Thanks.

 

[kcashner]

Your choices are a category 4 or 2 category 9s. Price it out both ways based on the ages of the kids, etc. Remember that the first 2 PEOPLE in each cabin pay adult rate regardless of age.

Which comes out cheaper depends on your sailing dates and the ages of your children.

 

[Dean]

Originally posted by CaptainMidnight
What are the best booking options for a family of five (with small children) when desiring an ocean view (not necessarily a verandah). Two adjoining rooms in category 9?
Thanks.

It partly depends on the ages of the children and when you want to go.

The prices for Thanksgiving would be about:

• $5634 for two cat 9's with one child rate before taxes and add ons.
• Cat 4 would be $6313 before add ons for the same cruise.

Even though you will end up paying the adult price for two of the children, that will almost always be the cheapest. You will actually book the units as connecting and that is the only way I think DVC will allow it unless you put one adult in one cabin and the other in the other cabin.

Look at each cruise and the prices to see how they fall. You could also take a nanny and get two cabins for not that much extra and have more free time and more options including one cat 11 across from one cat 9. Good luck.

 

[kcashner]

Wow, I really like that idea. Put the nanny and the kids in the cat 11, and you and husband take the cat 9 across the hall. That could actually be cheaper than 2 adjoining cat 9s...again, depending on the ages of the kids.

Just be fair to everyone...spell out ahead of time how much nanny will be expected to work and when she will have free time. What salary will she get, or is the cruise alone her payment? How often will kids be expected/allowed to be in the kid programs, and will she be the "beeper contact" when they are in the kid areas? What happens in the event of a sick child or whatever emergencies might occur? Having taken my nanny on trips when DD was younger, it really helps to make these things clear in advance....even if it is a nanny you have at home also.

Seriously, the difference between a 9 and an 11 is $100 or more depending on cruise dates. Since this difference would apply to the first 2 passengers in the room, be sure to book the oldest child in this room That could be a $200 savings or more...which almost covers the cost of a young child! If you have an under 3, you would also save the cost of using Flounder's Reef!!!! This is a really great idea!!!

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

We decided to go with 2 connecting cag 9's. (also family of 5 with 3 young children). We were actually trying for SPH rooms but couldn't get 2... then went for cat 10 on deck 2- decided on cat 9 (with porthole) on deck 2. We're so used to sharing one room up to this point (our youngest is barely 3yrs old now) that this is going to be like a lot of room for us!

 

[dvarallo]

Go for the connecting rooms. It will be cheaper than a category 4 even though you have to pay for one of the kids as an adult. I'm a single mom with a 5 year old and took 2 cruises last yer with another single mom with her 2 kids. Since there were 5 of us, we had the option of a Category 4 or above until my TA suggested connecting rooms. We actually got connecting category 8 rooms for less than a category 4. Just think of the extra bathroom (2 showers, 2 toilets, 4 sinks), extra TV, extra refrigerator, extra closet and drawer space...extra room overall. Plus, if your children are young enough to nap, you can make one room a sleeping room during the day and have the other room for playing games or watching TV with the older kids. It worked out perfectly for us.

 

[pats89]

We just got back from the NYE Magic cruise and I have 3 kids as well. We decided on two connecting rooms and it worked out great. My youngest is 18 months so we were able to put her down for a nap and be in the next room watching tv or relaxing on the verandah. The extra bathroom and space was wonderful.

I do want to let you know that the connecting doors do not stay open and they are pretty heavy. I was worried about little fingers getting caught so I put a towel above each door to prop it open a bit. It worked well for us. Good luck!

 

[jfis1020]

We cruised this summer as a family of five, children ages 9, 6 and 4. We had connecting 10s and wouldn't have changed a thing. The kids had their room and we had ours!!!!! Mommy and Daddy loved that!
We took bungie cords and tied the doors back when we wanted them open. The kids each had a bed. DS9 loved the "big bed". DS6 had the bunk and DD4 slept below. It was awesome having two toilet areas, two tub areas, and two coolers!!!
I do not like to be closed in and didn't have any troubles with being in an inside stateroom.
We also printed magnet sheets with our names on them so the kids could easily find the rooms as they came down the hall.

 

[hydster]

and when we did the land/sea we did a cat 4 and didnt like it much so this time we booked 2 connecting cat 8 staterooms with a porthole. We get 2 bathrooms and a room for the adults and 1 for the kids. We have 3 small kids as well with the oldest being 10 and the youngest being 5 when we sail. We are on the 6th deck instead of the 8th which I would prefer due to the noise on the 8th deck.

Just my opinion
Heidi