Separate cabin for college-age kids?

[ladyofthetramp]

We share with our twenty-something kids. We all get along. Best scenario is to have a cabin with a murphy bed. The split bath helps. If timing doesn't work, someone just heads to the spa to shower. We are out and about mostly anyway. As someone else stated-it is a vacation not a long term living situation. $1500 buys some great excursions

 

[cutiger96]

I would get the second cabin. Rooms are small enough on a cruise that I think with 4 adults (especially with adult children) you will want more space and that extra bathroom.

 

[Clarkson U]

so a 4E is a smart booking since you will most likely have booked a room with a murphy bed - so then only one person has to sleep on the sofa or pull down.

We book one Cat 4 room for 2 Adults and 2 college age kids of ours still (like our upcoming Wonder trip in May) and we have a plan.

Tallest child uses murphy- other child uses Sofa bed - we leave the ceiling bed alone (we know our room has a murphy bed because we search for rooms with 5 people and it comes up as available for 5 people)

Split bath is nice - but we also go to the fitness center to take showers if we are all in a rush to take showers - you could do ladies in room; gents in fitness center showers etc to speed things up.

It is very doable; I would save the money (I am also in the should I vs can I category) and keep one room.

 

[vakamalua]

If you can afford it, don't think twice--just do it!

 

[Stacey25]

I just booked the Treasure for a 2025 summer sailing. I booked a veranda room for my husband and myself, and booked an inside room across the hall for our 18 & 16 year old. We usually stay in 1 room but this time we were looking for more privacy and a sort of vacation for just my husband and I while bringing the kids along if that makes sense. This will be our 8th Disney cruise so the kids are very familiar with the ships and I feel comfortable having them do their own thing. I also booked 2 place holders last cruise so we got the discount on both rooms. That helped.

 

[Aaryana]

I (36F) booked a separate room for my parents to avoid 3 adults in one room. At this point in my life, I’m not willing to sleep on a tiny bed. Not to mention the bathroom situation and storage space. Plus, having a bit of privacy while changing and not having to be cramped into the tiny bathroom to do so is very nice. Well worth it for us.

 

[JM_97]

If you can, get connecting or adjoining staterooms. That way you are right by each other but everyone can spread still spread out a little bit more. And if you get connecting rooms, your stateroom attendant can remove the barrier between the two rooms to create an XL balcony.

Will it be more? Probably, but I think it would be well worth it for adult children.

 

[dreamer17555]

Question, which ship do you have booked?

The reason I ask is because if you’re doing a longer sailing and assuming the treasure has the same storage capacity as the wish an additional room might come in handy. I feel like the magic class has the most storage followed by the dream class and the wish class has the least.

 

[Cfabar1]

2 rooms is the way to go. If you can do it, not even a question in my mind.

Right now our plan is once our kids turn 12-13 we will do two rooms, even if it means less cruises. But who knows, maybe we will feel differently then.

 

[SnowWhite2]

We started giving our kids their own cabin when they were in high school. They got in late at night and woke us up. Then they wanted to sleep in while we got up at a normal time. They also complain about us snoring. Everyone gets along better if we have two rooms. If we cruise with only one kid, they stay in our room and we pay. I'm not paying for a single supplement.

 

[holula]

so a 4E is a smart booking since you will most likely have booked a room with a murphy bed - so then only one person has to sleep on the sofa or pull down.

The 4E rooms only have the oversize verandah, not Murphy bed. They are recategorised cat 5 rooms because of the verandah size so they charge a premium for it.

I’ve shared with my parents before but it’s just me so three of us total. Honestly I couldn’t do four adults in a room. I would spend the extra $1500 for an inside room for them to have their own space and extra bathroom.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

We started doing that when our kids were 12 & 15. They were very experienced cruisers. For our Alaskan cruise, it was actually cheaper than putting all 4 of us in one room with verandah. Back then, an OBB included OBC from DCL and it was tiered according to Castaway Club level. We were platinum so each room got $350 from DCL and $200 from our TA. Having 2 rooms made that doubly sweet.
We booked one of us in each room and one child in each room. We asked GS for blank keys for all 4 of us so regardless of which room we're booked into, we could all go into our booked room or the other one.
It was so nice to have 2 closets, 2 bathrooms, and 2 TVs, not to mention double the space and privacy for me and dh.

The only hiccup I can recall was that every night I would tell them to turn the lock on the door. I felt better knowing no one could enter their room. That cuts both ways because on some mornings when we had early excursions and needed them to wake up by 6am, I couldn't get in there either. I think I just called into the room but I have to admit I was a bit worried that they would sleep through the phone ringing and we'd be late to our excursion.

It worked out so well, we did it again for our Mediterranean cruise the next year.

When they were 19 and 22, we cruised to Norway and they were offering VGT rates that were very enticing. That was the only time we splurged for 2 balconies. We had connecting rooms and asked them open the door between verandahs and that was a delicious amount of space. I would highly recommend that if you can swing it.

 

[sponica]

I have a 7 year old and a 3 year old and I'm wondering at what point I can book a connecting room to get space from them...so I'd go for it

 

[mab2012]

We booked two rooms on RCL once, a few years ago, because even in a suite their sleeping arrangements are not great for two kids who don't happily share a bed. My kids would have been not-quite 13 and 16 at the time, and experienced cruisers. Their room was down the hall a bit, same floor, not very far. I found it less convenient than sharing a room. Granted, 20-somethings would be more independent, but even putting aside the issue of supervision, just things like packing (we usually try to minimize the number of bags for flights, so some are shared), laundry (yes, they can do their own, but it's not efficient for paid loads), and just staying connected on a family vacation are easier in the same room. We haven't generally found space to be much of a problem on DCL, but we also don't spend a lot of time in our room.

My kids are 15 and 18 now, one at university, and I would still save the money and book a single room on DCL. Maybe it'll be different in a few years, but my guess right now is that we would stick with one, even into their twenties.

 

[MamaMermaid]

I'd absolutely get a second cabin.

 

[Kennywood]

Getting the kids their own cabin would be a good way for them to learn some independence and responsibility, within a controlled environment. Plus, it would be so much more enjoyable for everyone.

 

[mcd2745]

Next year we're sharing a cabin with our 21/25 yr olds. We're still paying for them...if they could pay for part of it, they could have their own cabin. We're not in the room much, so it's no issue.

Same here! As long as we're footing the entire bill...we'll have to make do with one room. We considered it for our cruise we just booked for next summer (10-nt Eastern on the Magic), but it would have been more than $2500 extra - on top of an already hefty price tag - to do two rooms. We also are not in the room much, essentially just to sleep & shower. When on the Dream/Fantasy, we always go for the 8A Oceanview rooms. Plenty of space in those, with the drawback being no split bath. It's tougher on the Magic/Wonder since you don't have those 8A's so we end up with a tighter 9B.

 

[tjkraz]

Getting the kids their own cabin would be a good way for them to learn some independence and responsibility, within a controlled environment. Plus, it would be so much more enjoyable for everyone.

They'll be 24 and 22 at the time of the cruise, both with 4+ years of college behind them. Independence isn't really a concern.

 

[kiford]

Have you considered booking an inside cabin instead of a family cabin and just a regular balcony cabin? If you're not sleeping with all four of you in one cabin, you may not need the larger family cabin size, and it could reduce that extra $1,500 a bit. Two cabins offer more bathrooms and storage, which are two major benefits. When just the two of us had a family cabin, we didn't find we needed the extra space. Your only downside is that the balcony is smaller and less able to accommodate four people simultaneously, and if you're all hanging about in the cabin during the day, there is less space. But how much time do you (all) spend in the space together during the day? If you do spend a lot of time there, then a family cabin may be necessary, but if you don't, then you could probably get away with both inside and regular balcony cabins.

 

[tink1970]

I'm all for an inside cabin and did that for my DD on my parents' 50th over NYE for the entire family. She had her own inside cabin, while the rest of us were scattered around the ship. She's a vampire and at 18, her hours were different than the rest of the family so it worked out best for everyone. That said I'm always a fan of more bathrooms-and will pay for it. A little privacy after together time isn't a bad thing, either.