Family of 5

[mom3princesses]

Help! I have been on teh Disney Cruise once before with our 2 children. Since, we have added another member to our family (she's now 2). Stupid Question.......are there rooms that will fit all of us? What about when she turns 3? we obviuosly don't want to book 2 rooms. Our other children are 9 and 8, if that makes a difference. Thanks!

 

[momto2dkids]

Cat 3 and above all fit a family of five. There are also some Cat 4's that sleep 5. My family has stayed in a cat.3 and loved it! We will be staying in a Cat.4 on our cruise next year.

 

[PattiPB]

Sometimes two rooms are comparably priced---don't rule it out!

I went with 2 Cat 10's instead of 1 Cat 4. I'm not thrilled with no porthole, but completely jazzed about two bathrooms!!!

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Just curious- why don't you want to book 2 rooms? Your older two should do just fine in a connecting room. We have our first cruise booked for 2 connecting rooms next Feb and it was WAY cheaper for those 2 rooms than getting one of the few rooms that would fit a family of 5. It's way more expensive to get a cat 4 stateoom (or 3, 2, 1) to fit 5 people than to get 2 connecting rooms. We saved a LOT by doing this for our cruise!

 

[HooKooDooKu]

As other's have pointed out, you're choises are limited:

1. Cat 4. (I think they all sleep 5), but its basically just an expensive verandah room,

2. Leave one or more of the kids with someone,

3. Book two rooms.

While you'd have to check specifically for the trip you are wanting to take, I seem to recall when this subject has come up that one Cat 4 cost about as much as 2 Cat 10 or a Cat 6 + Cat 11 (but you can't get connecting 6+11).

I would think the best thing for you would be to attempt to book two connecting rooms. Price will be about the same as a Cat 4 and you have the "kid's" side and the "parent's", meaning two sets of bathrooms, and TWO TVS!!!

 

[BWVDenise]

AND 2 bathrooms... we checked and a Cat 4 was more than 2 Cat 10s (we are in connecting secret porthole rooms)
don't know about your kids, but mine always need the bathroom at the same time!

 

[Gupsmom]

Connecting Category 10's are great. First of all, it's cheaper than 1 Category 4. It's like having a suite. The kids can watch TV and play on one side while you relax in the other room. You can ask for a door wedge (piece of wood they put up top to prevent the kids from closing the door). 2 bathrooms...priceless!!! When we can back from Castaway Cay, all 5 of us were able to clean up in about 20 minutes. It was much better than waiting in a line of 5 people waiting to take a bath/shower.

Jess

 

[smchan]

This is going to sound silly, but when my wife and I were deciding whether to have a 3rd child or not, one of our points of consideration was the impact to our vacation budget for family vacations; specifically when taking a DCL cruise!

Sam

 

[MATTERHORN]

SMCHAN,

You are not alone!!!!
Sorry to highjack this thread, but thought it was too funny, since we too are considering stopping at two due to vacation restrictions!! Please let me know what you decided, as I am still undecided!!! Thanks.


Andrea

 

[Ontario Kim]

We are a family of 5 and have always booked a catagory 4 room. This is the only time the 5 of us EVER stay in the same room. Whenever we travel, even the night before the cruise, we always, always booked two rooms!!

For some reason, the family accepts the close quarters (16,15,12) and we all seem to get along. There must be a lot of pixie dust floating in our room!!

This past cruise Apr. 24, we rebooked and booked a cat 5 with a cat. 11 across the hall for next year. The kids looked at us like we had bats flying out of our head. We tried to explain the cost benefit but they didn't want to let go of the "family" experience we have always had. Now DM and DH are feeling quilty for wanting a little privacy. We will see what happens.

 

[DonnaDavid]

Okay, too funny about the 3rd child dilemma . . . I have 3 kids now. There are definitely times when the 5th person is a bit of a pain . . . restaurants, etc. Cruises and hotel rooms are also a pain. There is an extensive thread on the resort board about the lack of options for a family of 5 at the resort hotels. While my kids are small, I have a ready bed (inflatable mattress with sleeping bag attached) for the smallest child. It is definitely more expensive to cruise with 5. We had booked a Carnival cruise for Mexico next Dec. - can you believe that the newer Carnival ships don't have cabins that accomodate 5 and they have no connecting doors! I tried to book an outside cabin and an inside cabin accross the hallway and they couldn't guarantee the cabins would be near each other! I've canceled that one for the 14 day repositioning cruise instead. We booked 2 connecting Cat. 9 rooms for our last cruise and our future one - 2 bathrooms for less money - sounds like a no-brainer to me!

By the way, Grace is child number 3. We debated her for a while also. She followed 2 miscarriages - I knew my body was telling me to reconsider a 3rd child. She is an absolute joy and we can't imagine not having her. Listen to your heart.

 

[smchan]

Originally posted by MATTERHORN
You are not alone!!!!
Sorry to highjack this thread, but thought it was too funny, since we too are considering stopping at two due to vacation restrictions!! Please let me know what you decided, as I am still undecided!!!

My two boys are 4 and 6. We wanted a 3rd but we really enjoy the 2 we have and decided not to have any more. A tough decision for me as I really, really wanted a little redheaded girl. Which actually scared my wife a bit. She was afraid a little girl would've resulted in financial ruin from my spoiling her! "Daddy, can I have a Porsche?" "Sure! What color?"

Though it came up, the vacation issue was not being a decision point.

Best of luck with your decision. Remember, when you go from 2 to 3, you have to stop playing man-to-man and go to a zone defense.

Sam

 

[smchan]

Originally posted by Ontario Kim
Now DM and DH are feeling quilty for wanting a little privacy. We will see what happens.

Tphhh... you should see what people are saying to me for my probably leaving my 2 boys at home on the 14 day cruise. See the "Dealing with the guilt..." thread I started. Suggest to them that they can either stay in their own room or stay home; then they'll see the cost benefit. You pretty much have to pay full fare for them anyways, right? May as well get another room. I would.

Sam

 

[MATTERHORN]

Oh I totally agree. It is not the deal breaker for us, but I thought it was funny that someone else had thought of this also. We will go with our hearts, but being the Disney freak that I am, it did come up for us! Thanks.


Andrea

 

[mom3princesses]

Thank you all so much. If they would allow us all in one room before she turns three, we would like to go in December. Is this possible? Our third was a HUGE surprise and I, too, immediately thought of the cruise. WE had just been on one and I knew we wanted to do it again!

I think the girls would each love to share a bunk with their little sister, if Disney will allow it.

 

[Tigfanjeff]

Originally posted by smchan
"Daddy, can I have a Porsche?" "Sure! What color?"


Sam

You'd only buy her one?

 

[hydster]

We are also a family of 5 (10, 9 and 5) and then the 2 oldest kids who are both 33 We went on the 4 day Wonder in 2002 and got a Family Stateroom Category 4. It was ok but toward the last day on the 4 day it started to feel pretty cramped. If you put the kids down to bed and want to sit on the balcony you either have to be a contortionist or your children have to be very sound sleepers because when you open that door the air blast is pretty good AND you would have to at least step on the murphy bed to get out. For the 7 day cruise we originally booked 2 connecting Cat 8's and it actually worked out cheaper than all of us in 1 Cat 4 for some reason. We then received complimentary upgrades to 2 connecting Cat 4 rooms and although our cruise was rough it was SOOOOO nice to have the 2 rooms, the 2 bathrooms and a room JUST FOR KIDS and their stuff! The door was open at all times and they knew they could call out or come in and we were right there. We were also able to put them in bed and watch tv or sit on the balcony (holding on so we didn't blow away with the winds) but it was nice to have that option. I think you should price it out both ways and see which one is cheaper but that's just my opinion!

Heidi

 

[smchan]

Originally posted by Tigfanjeff
You'd only buy her one?

Well, you know, there's this little obstacle called credit limits.

On the topic of spoiling a little girl, my wife said she would love to have a little princess as long as the little princess remembered that my wife is the queen.

Sam

 

[epjenk]

The passenger per room limit does not take into account the age of the passenger. We are on the 14 day reposition with our two boys who will be 3 and 5 and our baby to be who will be 6 months, but we had to either go with two rooms or a Category 4 or higher. We elected to do connecting Category 9's and bring Grandma along- which was basically free for her since you have to pay adult fare for the kids in the extra room and the baby is only $99.

 

[DisnyMik]

We also have 3 children, 15 1/2, 13, and 6 . Since the day we found out we were having the 3rd, my husband has fretted over the "3rd child syndrome." There's always an odd # for the roller coaster or you have to wait longer at restaurants, or you can't sleep 5 people in most WDW resorts, etc.! We have since gotten used to it and of course we would never trade him for the world!! All the extra money, wait, and maybe a little inconvenience is definitely worth it!
We had a Family stateroom for our first cruise and loved it. We have booked our next cruise for Dec. 5, '04 and have connecting Cat. 10 rooms. We are excited about the extra room!!!

Has anyone stayed in cabins 2607 and/or 2609?