Mini-suite OR connecting balcony?

[Brewyourown2001]

First time cruiser. Probably going on the Jewel this May for a 7 day cruise with my wife, and two boys ages 6 and 4. It's much more expensive to get two adjoining balconies than a mini-suite.

 

My first thought is that we will be fine in the mini-suite, only real concern is the sleeping arrangements for my boys. I have heard that the convertible sofa is not very comfortable. Maybe I am over thinking it, though, b/c my boys are small and will be exhausted at the end of each night.

 

Any ideas, thoughts?

[Cstan]

we always get the mini suite and my husband and I share it with my mom. she liked sleeping on the couch and my husband tried it out too and said it was great! should not be a problem! enjoy!

[bakerintn]

I believe that the couch in the minisuite is much better than the couch in the balcony cabins.

[snake114]

We also cruise often with son 4yo and daughter 6yo. The minisuite works fine for us. There is a curtain that can be drawn across the room once the kids are asleep so that you can still have light on the room without disturbing the kids.

 

One other thing to beware of regarding connecting rooms- NCL can and does sometimes switch room assignments around last minute without notification. We booked connecting rooms on the Spirit a couple of year back, 8 months before the cruise date, and when boarding found that one of the rooms was now on a totally different deck!! We pitched a fit at reception when they tried to tell us that we should be happy that one of our rooms had been "upgraded" to a higher balcony category! When I demanded our original rooms back, the NCL reception desk manager actually had the gall to try to make us feel guilty for "bumping" other people out of the room that we had booked 8 months earlier!!! I was fortunately able to reach my PCC on the cell phone from reception, and after a couple of hours of negotiation we did get our original rooms back. Not a good way to start a cruise though!

 

As a result, when traveling with young children, I would only go with the minisuite, as there is NO guarantee that the connecting rooms you booked will actually be connecting or the ones you requested!

[mpk218]

The mini should work well for you at the kids present age .

We have done it a few times with our 2 girls and they have plenty of room sharing the fold out . In a few years when your boys sprout up it wont work ,, to small.

[familyof4cruising]

When my boys were younger the minsuite bed was fine. At the ages of 4 and 6 your children will sleep very well on the sofa bed in a minisuite.