What to do??

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Things are not working out as I had hoped for our plans to cruise in Feb 2005. We can get the connecting cat 10 rooms on deck 5 for the Feb 12th trip- but the Feb 5th trip is the one I MOST wanted- as that coincides with the kids' school vacation and if we decided NOT to do back to back cruises... that would be the ONE we picked to do, not the Feb 12th one.

Also the price quoted by DU for the Feb 12th trip is higher than cruise.com and allseastravel for that date- although when I checked on cruise.com just now.... the price is still lower but I went further with the "process" and see that the connecting rooms aren't available through them.

I really do not want to be on deck 1 or 2. Deck 5 or 7 would be better for us I think.

So what to do?
Our children will be 4 (few months shy of 5), 7yrs 3mo, and 11yrs 1mo at that time of sailing. I hadn't even considered the option of booking 2 rooms that were NOT connected... would you consider that for children this age? It looks that it might be our only option- either nonconnecting rooms (also not secret porthole rooms- wahhhhhh pout) or go some other date.

So would you do that (nonconnecting rooms) with children that age??

 

[eek40]

I am not sure what I would do, but one thing is that if you could get rooms very close like across the hall ? I am not sure. It would mean that you would have to really trust your older child. I am not sure I would do it. Maybe put in a request and see if one comes thru? Or go ahead and book the lower deck...they are better as far as movement goes, but I know what you mean about location. I will send some pixie dust your way!
Aimee

 

[Hygiene99]

check your pm cabin 5520 cat 10 deck 5 still avaliable for both of your dates did a search on www.expedia.com and it came up
for both dates ............ peter

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Hi Peter- but that's just one room, right? I would need the connecting rooms.... if only 5520 is available but not the connecting room- then that would be why DU said it wasn't available? I asked for both rooms- connecting.

Okay so if I don't want to go with rooms NOT connecting.... is Deck 2 with connecting cat 10 rooms (obviously also not secret porthole rooms) really bad? I mean as far as noise, convenience of location, etc?

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Also, in trying to do price comparisons- it's difficult when one includes insurance, the other doesn't, one includes port/govt taxes & fees- the other doesn't. *sigh*


So anyone have an idea of how much the insurance adds if you go with a quote that does not include it? I mean it's kinda hard to compare rates from one company to another- when one includes ins and the other doesn't and you haven't a CLUE how much ins is to add it yourself?
(and how do you go about getting travel protection insurance yourself? Say you went through allseastravel for your cruise res?)

 

[jwann]

We've stayed in connecting 10 rooms on deck 2. We loved it! I think they do rattle a bit more than the deck 6 where we stayed before but the advantages of connecting rooms clearly outweigh the disadvantages of deck 2! In fact, when we booked our next cruise (a 7 day) we requested the same deck 2 connecting 10 rooms.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

I agree that you should get connecting staterooms, given the age of your children. You and your children should have access to each other through an open passage (with both connecting doors propped open) or by knocking on a single connecting door (with the other connecting door propped open).

It's unfortunate that there are no connecting Category 11 staterooms.

How about the connecting Category 10 staterooms on Deck 7 (7005-7007 or 7505-7507) if you'd prefer to avoid Deck 2? These don't have portholes, but staterooms are really just the places where you sleep, shower, and change. The whole ship is your "living room."

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

I requested either the cat 10 connecting rooms on Deck 5- or the exact rooms you suggested on deck 7. None are available for the Feb 5th cruise. That's why I'm so bummed... it's either go to deck 2 or have seperate rooms- and if I'm going to have seperate rooms, why I might as well go with cat 11 on a higher deck, no?

But I really do NOT like the idea of seperate rooms. While I think they would be fine at night (my daughter is only 9 now, almost 10, and shares a room with the youngest... and she's the one that wakes up when the youngest wakes up or cries/etc- although she usually does come get me, sometimes she doesn't bother and just gets whatever the youngest wants- helping her in her sleepy daze to the bathroom if that's why she's crying, or getting her a glass of water/etc)- it's just the fact they won't be close enough for ME to hear if someone is upset or sick.... or check on in the night without having to go out in the hall. The main thing is that I'd have to have my oldest be the one to unlock/open their room to come out- so we have the whole issue of the youngest two not able to reach us without her help, having to make sure we have a key to be able to get IN that room when it's locked/etc. Just so not into that idea at all. With a connecting room it's just like at home- seperate but accessible like in the same "house".

The room really isn't THAT much of an issue as far as other things go- we don't spend much time in our rooms. That's why we decided to forego much higher categories and verandah's/etc. It sure would have been nice to have the secret porthole rooms at cat 10 price though! LOL
Is lower deck less likely to feel motion/seasickness? I mean deck 2 less likely than say deck 5 or especially deck 7 as that is where we'd probably end up if we DID decide to go with 2 rooms not connecting?

What rooms did you stay in, jwann? Just curious... and was the rattling at night? Couldn't care less about noise during the day- but worried it would interrupt sleep at night? I'm already quite the nightowl and have difficulty going to sleep at night- add to that the possibility that I may have a little queasiness from the motion... I didn't "like" the motion of our trailer last summer one night when we were camping and it was windy that night. I had difficulty going to sleep-felt weird- although I think that might have been just fear that it was going to knock us off the jack things that hold the travel trailer up- yanno? LOL .... I didn't get sick though. But if deck 2 is LESS likely for seasickness it might persuade me to go that route.
I was just really excited about the prospect of staying on deck 5 (same deck as all the clubs/labs the kids would be in.... which is 3 different age groups for us btw) and then finding out the rooms I wanted connected- were secret porthole rooms! I should have known my luck wouldn't be good enough for that. LOL

I thought deck 2 wouldn't just be rattling.. but also noisy from deck 3 activities above?

 

[CaliforniaDreaming]

Have you considered upgrading to category 8? There are connecting rooms on decks 6 & 7 with them.

 

[kajohn]

When getting a room quote from DU (or any travel agent) just specify you want it without insurance that way it is easier to compare prices.

You can book your own insurance much much cheaper on your own. We now book insurance through Access America directly. We were able to get the kids insurance free, so for our 7 day cruise on the RCCL explorer we were able to get our entire familiies insurance for $89.00. I paid $350 for basically the same coverage when I took my family on our DCL cruise, when I booked the insurance as part of the price of my cruise.

 

[ChattyKathy]

Personally I would go for the two connecting rooms on deck 2. If you read around the site, it claims it IS better for seasick folks and its not noisy at all. Sounds like you would have a good price advantage that way too.
And in light of your initial post, If I had kids that age, I wouldn't get a room across the hall or even next door. . I would want immediate access to them..like by a few steps, lol, I wouldnt get a wink of sleep if they were in another room! BUT that is me...

Good Luck!


Kathy

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Okay I took the plunge.
Took a lot of thinking, stressing, pacing to clear my thoughts, etc. LOL But I did it. (couldn't get deck 5, cat 10 connecting rooms though!)

I booked Feb 5th, 2005 Eastern (still undecided if we want to do back to back cruises with Western 7 day after that/take the kids out of school that 2nd week/etc) with allseastravel.com. I really wanted to go with DU, but the price was lower with allseastravel (to be fair I did not compare the same cat with DU- but DID compare the cat/etc that DU gave me with allseastravel and their's was less- so I'm sure that the change of cat would have been the same also)... so I'm going with them. Others on this board have used allseastravel before also- right?? I know it was mentioned here... that's how I thought to try them! LOL

Anyway, decided to go with deck 2 category 9's- connecting rooms. Not thrilled with deck 2- but it's midship below Lumiere's so it shouldn't be too bad. We have late dining preference anyway- and we're all nightowls so we don't plan on being in our room to sleep until late anyway- by that time Lumiere's should be cleared out and nice and quiet above us. (right??)
Deck 2 should be less motion felt- right? In case any of us do end up having seasickness problems. They also said those oceanview staterooms are not little portholes- they are like bigger window type? I think it would be nice to have some light- yet no danger with the kids in the other room (ie: verandah kinda scared me with having 2 rooms with the kids in the other one. Probably an unjustified fear but still there all the same). And I definitely do no want to go with seperate rooms -sooo... this is the best for our situation/availability.

I did look into going April 2nd instead... that's the kids next break from school and would be warmer (not sure if Feb is going to be too cold for us to thoroughly enjoy the pool, excursions, etc.- we're Texans after all LOL) BUT.. the first 2 days of that spring break is "bad weather make up days"- so if that happened, they WOULD miss those days of school, plus all their TAKS tests- my 5th grader at that time- is right after we would be taking that trip. I'm not sure if it would interrupt their studying or cause her not to do well and all that. Weighing pros & cons of each.

But at the present time- we have deposit & ins (btw- $180 ins with them- and the total was STILL less than with DU that included ins in the quote) paid for Feb 5th, 2005 Eastern Caribbean cruise! Our rooms btw will be 2594 & 2596.... anyone ever stayed in or around those? Anything good/bad to say about those rooms? Please let me know!

Thanks so much for all your help!!!!

 

[The4OfUs]

Originally posted by BibbidyBobbidyBoo
Deck 2 should be less motion felt- right? In case any of us do end up having seasickness problems. They also said those oceanview staterooms are not little portholes- they are like bigger window type?

This is a concern for our upcoming cruise, with DH, so I checked w/my mom, former longtime cruiseship employee, for her recommendations. She said that the closer to the water line you are, the better for motion (makes sense to me! *grin*) and that a window is good, because seasickness is caused by your inner ear and your eye not "matching up" - ie. your inner ear feels movement, but your eye "sees" a wall that doesn't move - so looking out at the horizon can help. (Or something like that... *does best Star Trek imitation* "Dammit Jim, I'm a webmaster, not a doctor!" )

So we're on deck 2, with a window. And we're crossing our fingers and buying meds.

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Thanks for the reassurances about the motion factor! Sounds like that makes sense to me!

But uhoh....
I just looked here:
http://www.dcltribute.com/faq/deck2noise.htm

And we're in the noisy "zones" listed there!!!! ack ack ack! We won't be in the room much-but I'm not sure how the kids will sleep with noise and don't want them waking up all night long (especially the youngest)
???

What rooms on deck 2 connecting would anyone here suggest? I'm sure I could probably change rooms...

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

What about 2622/2624? Is that too far aft and apt to cause more motion problems? It is closer to the elevators and not in the "noisy zones" listed above....

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

I clicked the link on that page I showed above and on the thread was this:
"Most of Deck 2 is actually pretty quiet. 2598 is on a slightly noisier section of the deck. 2594 (two rooms away) is across from a mechanical room where it sounds like the ships motors are running. There's a slight vibration, but not as noticeable as it was at Animators Palate this evening (Deck 4 Aft). If you can handle a little white noise, it shouldn't be a problem."

Um, 2594 is one of our rooms! I don't like the iea of being right across from a mechanical room with vibration and noise!!!!

I put a call in to reach her to change our rooms to 2622/2624. (she's on another line at the moment) I sure hope she can do that... hope hope hope! That's also closer to the elevators- always good for us. LOL I don't mind PEOPLE noise... I'm just not sure how we'd do with mechanical noise and vibrations on top of the first time ever cruising/possible seasickness issue!

 

[The4OfUs]

I read that too, and we're in 2506...

However, I'm going to use my power of positive thinking and reassure myself that "noisy" is not TOO noisy for us...

Especially as when we booked, we got one of the last 2 Cat. 9s open, so it's not like I have a ton of choice here...

 

[CaliforniaDreaming]

2602/2604 might be okay, too.

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Just heard back from her- she's going to change the rooms if they are still available- I hope so! If not, I'll try that power of positive thinking too. LOL

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Okay cool- she already got back to me (fast eh?) and we now have rooms 2622/2624 *sigh of relief* Even if it's a little noisy- atleast we're not going to be in the LISTED area of definitely noisy. LOL