Family of Six

[DaveBWV]

we are looking at going on the seven day in october. From all the information I can find the only way to get a family of six on the boat is to buy two cabins. kids are 10, 8,8, and 6.

Does anyone have any experience with a family this size. Any pointers?? What's more, is they say we must pay for two adults in the extra room rather than just pay for the ages that are cruising.
Guess this is the disadvantage to a big family. For a company that market itself to families, I think this stinks!!!

 

[BarbOKW]

We ended up paying for 4 adults, 2 kids, eventhough we have 2 adults and 4 kids. We go the last week in March (can't wait) we have two connecting staterooms. It was quite expensive but it's the only thing you can do. If you book early you get an early booking discount. We made our reservations a year in advance and got a discount of something over $800 per stateroom, so that helped quite a bit. But I know whant you mean it was a shock when I discovered I had to pay adult prices for 2 of my kids.

 

[my3kids]

We got 2 rooms for the 5 of us. This was actually cheaper than 1 category 4 even with paying for 4 adults and 1 child instead of 2/3. Six of you would be very cramped in one room and with only 1 bathroom, you'd probably never get out the door in the morning. Book the 2 rooms and enjoy 2 split baths(which gives 4 sinks for getting all those teeth brushed!)

 

[bakmj]

We are in the same boat. We have a family of 5 plus a child we bring with us. So we will need 2 rooms. Do any of the suites hold 6? I don't think so but not sure. I agree for a company catering to families you would think they would be more accomadating. Many people have 3 kids and a family of 5 even has trouble getting one room.

 

[lespaul55]

Invite another family to share with you! I'm an experienced cruiser and was helping dear friends book their land/sea vacation last summer. They were on a tight budget and with a family of 5, the prices for a Cat 4 were too high for them. So being a kind and generous person [yeah, right, I was dying to go!!!] I invited myself and my two daughters along. We got two connecting cat 6, saving thousands. And we had a great time. I paid the higher rates for the first two in my room, charging the extra person fare to their daughter who stayed in my room.
Check around for someone who loves your children, grandparents, aunts, godparents, dear friends, someone who loves to have fun. Hey invite me, it worked before!!!
Leslie

 

[my3kids]

bakmj: Yes, the Category 1 and Category 2 suites each will accomodate your group of 6. I think they each will sleep 7 and the category 3 will sleep 5.

 

[Mic]

We, too, are a family of 6, and had to get 2 cabins for our cruise in Oct. DH and I cruised in Jan. using our DVC points in the lowest cat. possible, and were able to get the "$99 special" to take our entire family back in Oct. Otherwise, I was planning to book a 3 or 4 night Wonder cruise in the fall when the kids were out of school, as we have 2 middle schoolers that are cheerleaders, student council pres., etc., and missing days at their age is harder than when they were in elementary school. I have been fooling around with DCL's website for @ a year pricing different dates and categories, and this is what I have learned. Getting 2 connecting cat. 10 cabins was always less expensive than 1 cat. 1 or 2, and the least expensive time to cruise always seemed to be in Sept. DCL came out with a great deal last summer for Sept. cruises, and lots of people on this board took advantage of them(maybe someone could post the details). Oct. is definitely less expensive than June or Christmas, so I have to agree with previous posters that you should book early to get the early booking price(use your tax refund or something to pay the $1200 initial payment) and pay the remainder in monthly installments over the next 6 months. If you decide to use your DVC points(I assumed by your name that you own at BWV), MS will need to take the full payment of cash/points at the time of booking. Our guide suggested we pay for the 2 adults in the first cabin using our points, then we would basically pay cash for the second cabin, and thus spending what the "average" family of 4 would pay to cruise. In the future, we would like to do the 7-day, but for now we are happy doing the 3-day, and combining it with 4-5 days at WDW beforehand to extend the magic. Good luck!