Family of five......

[cstraub]

I've been pricing cruises for our family of five. We are two adults and three children between the ages of 5 and 13. The only rooms that will fit a family of five are the deluxe family suites with a veranda. I have priced out getting two oceanview rooms and it is slightly cheaper. Anyone run across this same situation and how did you handle it? Is it better to get the two rooms or the deluxe suite?

I find it frustrating that familes larger than four are forced to spend so much more for the 5th person. The difference is literally thousands of dollars.

 

[cruisin'Mike]

Our kids will be 6,6, and 8 when we go on the Wonder in Jan. We went with connecting cat 10's. We actually were able to get secret porthole rooms, so we're pretty happy about that. Our original plan was to just prop the connecting door open for the kids in one roon with us in the other. Now my parents are coming with us, so the price per person went down (no longer paying for two of the kids as adults). We'll keep two of the kids with us and put one in with them. We thought the extra room and two bathrooms at a cheaper price was definitely the way to go.

Mike

 

[DisneyBill]

Another very workable option is to put 2 in a cat 6 verandah & 3 in a cat 11 inside stateroom (at least book it that way) right across the hall. Just have to register 1 adult in each cabin. I just looked at All Season's site and the total for the cat 6 & cat 11 is $8749, versus 5 in a cat 4 @ $9821 on the 6-10-06 eastern for example.

 

[Jules123]

I'm in the same boat with you. We're a family of 5 trying to plan our first cruise and it is QUITE expensive for 5 in the category 4. My DH wants a verandah. The idea of getting a cat. 6 and a cat. 11 would work if my kids were a little older, but I'm not too sure about putting them across the hall from me. Connecting rooms would be much better.

 

[staceymerrill]

we will be in this same situation on our next cruise...I plan on reserving adjoining cat 9s while on my 9/1- 3 day with DS.....the only potential drawback to reserving adjoinings vs a cat 4 family stateroom is the availability of adjoinings....there seem to be many more cat 4s typically available than adjoining staterooms....if you favor a certain location on the ship, I would recommend booking further in advance to get your pick of adjoining staterooms...

 

[DisneyNutMary]

We are family of "sometimes 5" which makes it even harder! I have a teenage stepson, who we never know whether he is joining us or not until almost the last minute. Disney is not at all friendly to the family of five

When he cruised with us, we booked adjoining category 11 cabins. Though if we were to do it again, I would go for connecting Category 10's.
It's cheaper than a family stateroom, and you will appreciate the privacy, and extra storage space.

 

[cstraub]

Thanks to everyone for their replies so far!
They have been helpful!

 

[westjones]

cstraub, you already got your answer (I think the connecting Cat. 10s would be the way to go), but I just wanted to say how much I loved your pictures in your sig line. That is beautiful!
DJ

 

[cstraub]

cstraub, you already got your answer (I think the connecting Cat. 10s would be the way to go), but I just wanted to say how much I loved your pictures in your sig line. That is beautiful!
DJ

Thank you~~

 

[AspiringCindy]

We went with 2 adjoining cat. 9s! We will bungee the doors open so we will always be able to see what they are doing! The 2 cat.9s came out to be $200 cheaper, plus the extra bathroom will be a blessing for 3 DDs!

 

[ivanova]

I've been pricing cruises for our family of five. We are two adults and three children between the ages of 5 and 13. The only rooms that will fit a family of five are the deluxe family suites with a veranda. I have priced out getting two oceanview rooms and it is slightly cheaper. Anyone run across this same situation and how did you handle it? Is it better to get the two rooms or the deluxe suite?

I find it frustrating that familes larger than four are forced to spend so much more for the 5th person. The difference is literally thousands of dollars.

I know it's frustrating but a lot of other cruise lines have FEWER rooms that even sleep four (a lot are just doubles).

On DCL at least you are guaranteed a room that sleeps 3, and they do have quite a few quads versus other cruise lines.

On the repo cruise we have a family of 5 in our group. They booked two cat 9 rooms on deck 2 and I think they're grand total was approximately $7,200.

I'm in the same boat with you. We're a family of 5 trying to plan our first cruise and it is QUITE expensive for 5 in the category 4. My DH wants a verandah. The idea of getting a cat. 6 and a cat. 11 would work if my kids were a little older, but I'm not too sure about putting them across the hall from me. Connecting rooms would be much better.

If your husband insists on a verandah (as mine did for our first cruise) the least expensive verandah category is cat 7 (navigator's verandah).

 

[nixieh]

We are also a family of 5 and I too am trying to decide between 2 cat 9 or 10s and a cat 4. The thing is with my 3 DDs (all 8 and under) we always end up with musical beds anyway so if I book 2 rooms for the extra beds they will probably all still end up in our bed. so I am leaning towards the cat 4 which is about $300 more expensive (for the 3 night cruise) but we will get the veranda and I like the idea of being on a higher deck (not sure why, just a feeling!).

Nicola