Group of 5: One Cat 4 or Two Cat 9, 10, or 11??

[Buddy Bear]

My family of 4 always books a Cat 5 or 6 depending on budget and availability, but a friend of mine has three children and are of course concerned with bugdet.

If you've traveled in a group of five what did you do? Did you book one Cat 4 or two Cat 9, 10, or 11 rooms? I am curious about cost comparisions and if a Cat 4 is comfortable for two parents and three children (the children are 10 and under).

Thanks,

Jeff

 

[Princess Dot]

I am having this same dilemma and having priced it out, it is cheaper to book 2 inside cabins than one cat 4. However, it appears that if you need connecting inside rooms (as I assume you would want with kids under 10 unless the parents want to sleep apart) you need to book a cat 10 as none of the cat 11s connect.

But if you really want an outside cabin, then a cat 4 is the way to go. However, it would have been aprox. $2,000 more for the cat 4 vs. 2 cat 10s. It is up to each family what is more important.

As for the room size, we were very comfortable with a family of 4 in our cat 11(before we were 5!) so I am sure we would be fine with 5 in a larger cabin. Disney staterooms are huge (even the cheapest ones!) compared with other cruise lines that I have sailed on. Heck, in my youth(!!) we even sailed with 4 adults in a RCCL cruise (with 2 pull down bunks!)!! Now that was tight! But it was better than staying home.

I still haven't booked anything yet, but it seems hard to justify the extra $$. My kids actually did better in the very dark room for sleeping/naps etc. Whenever I needed to see the outside, I just went out to the decks. There was always plenty of chairs and I spent lots of time reading out there when the rest of the family was still asleep in the mornings. We kept in touch with 2way radios so I would know when everyone was up and we would go for breakfast.

To make a long story short, the best way is to call the TA and price out all the options and see what works best.

 

[Magic_Fan_Bruce]

Jeff,
I think the two cabin option would be better. Twice the space and twice as many bathrooms.

 

[fortierv]

Having stayed in a Cat 4, 9, and 10 (and being inside a cat 11). I would prefer the cat 10 on a budget. The layout difference between a 9 and 10 is a plus for us though. My wife has a little trouble with mobility so having the bed in the back of the cabin is better than walking around it in a cat 9. We were upgraded from cat 11 to cat 4 on our first cruise so we had 6 people in two cabins. Cat 4 would be a little tight for 5 of us but we do have two teenagers. Might be a good fit with little ones.

 

[MarkLem]

January 2004 we had a cat 4 (2 adults, kids 8,6,3). Plenty of room.

 

[mark & sandra]

The price for a family of 4 in a Cat. 6 was only 100 less then booking the same Cat 6 (for 2 adults) and a Cat 11 driectly across the hall (for the 2 kids- charged as adults). We got an extra bathroom and another 200.00 onboard stateroom credit...Mark

 

[missyoh8]

Good point about booking across the hall.......and when you are a family of five on a budget the kids would not usually mind sleeping all together in the cat 6 while the cat 11 across the hall stayed vacant at night! Truly the size difference between a cat 6 and 4 is not much. If the kids are small two could be in the sofa bed.

Good luck,
missyoh8

 

[mark & sandra]

Good point about booking across the hall.......and when you are a family of five on a budget the kids would not usually mind sleeping all together in the cat 6 while the cat 11 across the hall stayed vacant at night! Truly the size difference between a cat 6 and 4 is not much. If the kids are small two could be in the sofa bed.

Good luck,
missyoh8

Are you suggesting getting 2 rooms just for the extra bathroom and stateroom credit?? I can't imagine not using the 2nd room. If the kids are too young then maybe bring along another adult (grandma or grandpa) to share the room with them...Mark

 

[jfis1020]

Our family of five had two connecting 10's. More economical than the larger one room for five and the split baths are wonderful. Having two bathrooms is very handy when getting ready for something, especially if you have girls! I would prefer the 10's, but unfortunately our next cruise the 10s were gone and we had to take to non-connecting 11s!

 

[CM_Mom]

I think they were thinking of the Cat 6 and Cat 11 across the hall and then all sleeping in the Cat 6 because you can't book 5 people in a Cat 6 rather than the extra stateroom credit.
When you're on a budget, every dollar counts.

 

[AnnaS]

First cruise - two adjoining cat. 11s.

Second cruise - one cat. 6 w/verandah and one 11 across.

Third cruise - one cat. 8 w/porthole and one 11 across (July 05).

 

[missyoh8]

That is exactly what I am saying! Speaking as a family of five you must figure your dollars every way! We have done both ways....a cat 4.....a cat 6 with one kid sleeping w/ the grandparents and 2 cat 10's adjoining. We have not done across the hall yet.....we will wait until the kids are a little older (almost there ).

What you must understand is that the two rooms are cheaper than booking one! If you want a verandah this is the way to go.

missyoh8

 

[HookedonMagic]

We cruised as a party of five in two staterooms last spring (we have two children and brought grandma, too!) Based on that experience, I would recommend two category 10's over one category 4. The extra bathroom and storage space, especially on the 7 day cruise, is great and (IMHO) more practical than the verandah (not that I don't enjoy the verandah, too!)

Happy Sailing!

 

[Mike320]

I found that two outside adjoining Cat 9s were much cheaper as well..thousands cheaper.

 

[Scott5150]

We did two adjoining cat 10s and it was very comfortable for 5 people.