Family of 5

[tecdavidt]

Come one everyone, don't stop at 3 go for 4! lol. We have 4 by default, I had 2 and he had 1 then we had ours so we ended up with 4. We always booked 2 rooms. Sure it is pricey but with a family of 6 you just get use to it. The benefit of two bathrooms was hard to let go when just the three of us started to cruise, the boys are all in college. We booked a cat. 3--our daughter was not old enough to be in a room by herself and then it would be a 1 1/2 fare if we went that route so we choose the cat. 3. It was actually cheaper booking the two rooms for 6! Kathy

 

[herrbeeb]

#3 (who is now 12) was also a surprise but one i've never regretted. we had to switch from man to man to a zone defense.

usually when we travel we get 2 rooms, except on dcl. the children, 16, 14 and 12, actually seem to enjoy being together. the rooms are set up so efficiently that there is plenty of room even when we are all there. the split bathroom allows us to dress fairly quickly, and the verandah gets a lot of use since my dh is a reader.

we tried pricing 2 rooms but the savings were not substantial enough to give up the verandah. being together puts the family in family vacation. inaddition, its' easier to keep track of teenagers when they are in the same room.

 

[TerriBelle]

This thread is great!

Our plan was to have two kids but the second turned out to be TWINS! So we ended up as a family of 5 by accident. It does make traveling more expensive. We are cruising for the 1st time next year and we decided to invite the grandparents. We booked two adjoining rooms and our DD will sleep with my parents.

 

[Kimer]

There were 22 of us on our recent cruise.....we all had cat 4 rooms - could and did easily fit 5 people. The only bummer is the 3rd kid bed drops down in front of the balcony door - we did not have a problem climbing over kids though.

 

[dbond]

Traveling with a family of 5 will cause you problems from here on out. Wait until you want to take the family to NYC, then you'll see how hard it is to find a room that you can afford that will let you have 5.

On our last cruise with 5, we booked connecting rooms and then convinced grandma & grandpa that they would love to cruise with their grandkids. They paid the extra adult fares in the 2nd room, we only paid for the 3rd psgr and then paid the fare for our room. It was nice having all of the extra space.

Now that the kids are a little older, here's what we're doing on our next cruise, a verandah room for Mom & Dad and an interior room across the hall for the 3 kids, oldest now 20, youngest is 10. The 10 yo may actually sleep with us occasionally, but he's booked across the hall, it's cheaper that way.

It's always complicated with 5, not just on DCL, almost anywhere we go is a challenge, but I hear it's more difficult with 6 & up.

 

[CheapMom]

we had to switch from man to man to a zone defense.

That is hilarious. My 3rd child is such a blessing. And as a 3rd child myself I have to say I am all for going for #3!

 

[DonnaDavid]

And just when you thought our funny thread about how many children we have was going to sink to the bottom of the DIS, I find myself revisiting it. I'm in guaranteed Cat. 9 staterooms with a request for connecting cabins but DCL isn't assigning staterooms. I would rather be in a family stateroom than 2 non-connecting staterooms. THe CM from DCL just assured me not to worry about it but . . . When I go to DCL's website, the price for a family stateroom isn't much more expensive than the 2 Cat. 9's that I have. Now I'm back to debating it.

 

[CheapMom]

The family stateroom was only $266 more than 2 connecting cat 10's for a 4 day- I am sure the difference would be greater for the 14 day but it might be worth it. Going 14 days straight a verandah might be important! Good luck!

 

[westjones]

We waited 11 years before DH and I decided to have kids. We decided on just 1 so that we didn't have to deal with sibling fighting (I hate to listen to fighting kids!).

Well to our surprise, we had twins! So we are a family of 4 now! That is it, I am already double my 'plan' . But I have to admit, it is nice for the twins to have each other on vacation (for riding rides, swimming together, etc.). The girls do fight (yes, I was not able to avoid that experience in life), but they can also be good friends (right now they are doing an art project together as we wait for the pool to open).

DJ

 

[CheapMom]

DJ- sometimes when things don't work out as planned it's a wonderful thing!