Please explain sleeping situation for family of 4

ten822

Mouseketeer
Joined
Mar 26, 2005
I'm considering a Symphony cruise (only done DCL in past). Most likely a regular balcony stateroom. I can't find pictures but keep seeing description "sofabed". Does that mean the kids sleep together on a mattress that pulls out of the couch? Or, is it a sofa that converts to a bed with the bed coming out of the ceiling above it like on DCL? I like the bunkbeds on DCL but they're not thick mattresses and not comfy. My daughter will be 15 and a little big for these flimsy mattresses. You pay so much $$ and can't get 2 real beds?! Ugh!
 
I believe bunk beds are typically called “pullmans”. When we stayed on Harmony last year they converted the sofa into a single, and there was a trundle underneath. Not sure if there is a sofa that flips out into a double.
 
I'm considering a Symphony cruise (only done DCL in past). Most likely a regular balcony stateroom. I can't find pictures but keep seeing description "sofabed". Does that mean the kids sleep together on a mattress that pulls out of the couch? Or, is it a sofa that converts to a bed with the bed coming out of the ceiling above it like on DCL? I like the bunkbeds on DCL but they're not thick mattresses and not comfy. My daughter will be 15 and a little big for these flimsy mattresses. You pay so much $$ and can't get 2 real beds?! Ugh!

Generally on Royal, the 3rd and 4th berths for balcony staterooms is a double sofabed, both kids sleep on the same sleeping surface.

It's the one thing that i'm not that keen on with Royal. Most other cruise lines do something like disney, with a single sofabed and a pullman that come down from the ceiling.

On Royal I'll either do a oceanview no balcony (2 pullmans), or just go with 2 connecting staterooms.

On DCL I can still make do with one room. It's one reason why, for at least my current situation, the difference in price sometimes isn't as big between DCL and Royal.

Update: did some searching and it sounds like Harmony and Symphony do the trundle bed thing, as described by starvenger (above). So the beds will be right next to each other, but at least both kids get their own blanket.
 
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Yes, from what I have heard at least some of the newer ships have a trundle that pulls out of the sofa bed and it can either be pulled up to make the sofa bed into a double bed or you can leave them at different heights. An improvement from the straight double bed but not quite as nice as a sofa bed and a pullman bed, IMO.

Also, be sure to price out 2 cabins. We ended up with 3 cabins for our party of 6. It was pretty much the same price to do 3 cabins with 2 people, 2 cabins with 3 people or 1 cabin for 4 and 1 for 2. A lot of the cabin that sleep 3 or 4 are limited (at least on Ovation) so the prices are higher. We did 2 oceanview balcony and one inside across the hall. We are putting the teens across the hall, one balcony for dh and I and the other with our youngest and my mother in law. Since the main bed splits, everyone will have a real bed and no one has to share if they don't want to.
 
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I know some RCI ships have some rooms with pullmans and some with sofa beds. But on Oasis Class ships it looks like most if not all rooms that sleep 4 have sofa beds.
 
I’ll report back in a couple of weeks from allure.

Are you doing Eastern or Western? We're doing Western on Allure in the Fall. We have connecting BW balcony rooms. The kids are in a room that sleeps 4 with a sofa bed, but there's only 3 of them so my son can have the sofa bed to himself.
 


Yes, from what I have heard at least some of the newer ships have a trundle that pulls out of the sofa bed and it can either be pulled up to make the sofa bed into a double bed or you can leave them at different heights. An improvement from the straight double bed but not quite as nice as a sofa bed and a pullman bed, IMO.

Also, be sure to price out 2 cabins. We ended up with 3 cabins for our party of 6. It was pretty much the same price to do 3 cabins with 2 people, 2 cabins with 3 people or 1 cabin for 4 and 1 for 2. A lot of the cabin that sleep 3 or 4 are limited (at least on Ovation) so the prices are higher. We did 2 oceanview balcony and one inside across the hall. We are putting the teens across the hall, one balcony for dh and I and the other with our youngest and my mother in law. Since the main bed splits, everyone will have a real bed and no one has to share if they don't want to.
might sound like silly question,but what is "" trundle" "
 
might sound like silly question,but what is "" trundle" "

Its a bed on the floor that is stored under the sofa, in this case. I'm not sure about on the ship, but generally, a trundle bed is on wheels or some kind of frame to make it easy to slide in and out from under the sofa. PP says the trundle can be pulled up to make the sofa bed into a double bed, so it must be on a frame that allows this.
 
We always book connecting rooms - DH and me in one and the 2 DDs in the other.
 
We also booked connecting rooms for our upcoming trip on Harmony. It was a very marginal difference over staying in one room. Having an extra bathroom will be nice too!
 
I'm looking into an RCL cruise for next year. With two adult boys, we will probably book two cabins. If we book one, we're thinking of having the main bed split into two twins for the boys. Then DH and I will take the double sofa bed. That way the boys will get their own beds.
 
We usually manage and book one room. On Allure we had a sofa bed (which was fine and comfortable) and a pullman. That was great.
On 2 upcoming cruises, our kids will share sofa bed. The sofa bed on Mariner looks extra long so shouldn't be an issue. Will see. In most cases, when I've priced things I find that 2 rooms are quite a bit more more than 1 (even though others say differently), but we do have another cruise for the future where we booked 2 connecting interior rooms. In that case, it wasn't much more and 2 bathrooms, and our kids each getting their own space is a bonus.
 
I'm considering a Symphony cruise (only done DCL in past). Most likely a regular balcony stateroom. I can't find pictures but keep seeing description "sofabed". Does that mean the kids sleep together on a mattress that pulls out of the couch? Or, is it a sofa that converts to a bed with the bed coming out of the ceiling above it like on DCL? I like the bunkbeds on DCL but they're not thick mattresses and not comfy. My daughter will be 15 and a little big for these flimsy mattresses. You pay so much $$ and can't get 2 real beds?! Ugh!

cabin configuration matters. some 4 berth cabins are a 2 twins and 2 pullmans( fold out from the ceiling) some are two twins and a sofa bed( not suitable for anybody over the age of 12) some have 2 twins, a sofabed/chair and a pullman

if you want 4 real beds you have to book 2 cabins or meet the occupancy requirements for the 2 BR suites( typically a minimum of 5 or 6) Usually 2 cabins will be cheaper than a suite.
 
I didn't like the idea of a sofa bed for the kids (takes up a lot of floor space) so for $200 more I booked the kids in their own room directly across from mine. We got an extra room credit so the price was hardly any more. Plus 2 bathrooms. Win win for everyone. (This will be on the Allure.) My girls will be 15 and 12 for this cruise.
 
might sound like silly question,but what is "" trundle" "

We had a trundle in 2007 on Carnival and loved it. It is as explained a bed that pulls out from under. The one we had didn't raise but it was great that the kids didn't have to share. Some trundles have a spring system that lets it rise up even with the other bed so you get a double. Great use of space. Two of our kids had single beds with trundles so there was extra space if they had a friend over.

This is a photo of one from Royal Caribbean Harmony. Looks like sofa with trundle underneath and a pullman/bunk from above.

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/...-a-sofa-bed-look-like-when-opened-on-harmony/

IMG_2361-1024x768.thumb.jpg.782d2f451c7c12390a9e4238d91da8a5.jpg
 
What type of cabin is that? I remember my balcony cabin as not having any space to move with the trundle out.
 

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