Two CC cabins or one CC and one Aft Family Cabin

[ginza]

Experienced Celebrity cruisers I need your help...we are a family of six...75, 54, 54, 25, 22, and 19...yesterday I booked a cruise on the Summit for March 26 out of San Juan...I have reserved two rooms: CC 9193 and aft

family cabin 9199....could put two people in the CC 9193 room and have four

in the family cabin or for about $300 less I could get two CC rooms and put

three of us in each cabin...the balcony on the family cabin 9199 appealed to us for sitting around together -- visiting, playing cards...but just not sure..

would love some comments from you experienced cruisers. And, finally this

will be grandma's first cruise with Celebrity.

Thanks in advance.

[Island_Chica]

Are both of the CCs aft cabins? Personally, I'd take the FV cabin and one CC cabin over two CCs. The FV cabin and its balcony are very, very large. 9199 is a non-corner cabin, but has a balcony around 200 sq feet with loungers on it. The CC balconies will be small if they are not aft cabins. You can get your whole family out on that FV balcony.

 

Also, the FV room is large (I believe around 300 square feet). It's really like two rooms with a divider; the sitting room has pullout sofas. There are plenty of pictures of these rooms if you do searches.

[ginza]

No, the CCs would not be aft

[Ma Bell]

Put the three young ones in the CC and the "more mature" ones in the FV and enjoy the balcony together. Three in each bathroom is enough.

[Island_Chica]

ginza, without a doubt, I'd take the FV. You can still divvy up three and three if you wanted. If you can get 9199 and 9193, that would be ideal. Those are around the corner from one another.

[Lsimon]

Personally, with 6 people those ages I'd opt for three lesser cabins even if some or all had to be inside cabins.

 

While 3 or 4 in a cabin is possible and done by many, the cabins are small for more than 2. The third and forth beds are for the most part designed for children and not adults (or near-adults) - at least not beds I'd want to sleep in for a week. Complicate that by having to share a very small bathroom, limited storage space and lack of privacy. This is all fine if you're traveling with young children who can't stay alone or don't have the budget to get an extra cabin - but if these are not obstacles it doesn't make sense to have more than 2 people in a cabin if you don't have to.

 

I love the extra veranda space of the aft balconies and the FV cabins are great. But a bigger plus would be enough space to not feel crowded, rushed when getting ready for dinner and to be comfortable when sleeping or getting dressed.

 

There are plenty of nice areas around the ship to meet, gather, play cards and enjoy the view and outdoors. With a big group you'll probably prefer to gather in larger more open areas in any event.

 

If for any reason you don't take this advice then by all means take the FV over a CC cabin for one or more of your choices. The CC amenities are not even worth taking into consideration if you have an FV available and are contemplating more than 2 adults in a cabin.

[ginza]

Hi, Yes, the deposit I put down yesterday through Celebrity is for

9199 and 9193....I thought because they were so close we could always

hang out together on balcony of 9199...thank you for you help...I just thought maybe it would be weird two people getting CC perks and not the rest of us but I guess it doesn't really matter...

[biker1972]

Your problem is that you have 6 adults and will be using sofa beds for two. The bathroom issue with 4 in one cabin is also problematic but with a room only five steps away, you could split pre-dinner bathing/dressing easily. Having a large private area for gathering and socializing is the best part of the family veranda cabins and can makeup for a lot of other hassles. There are some cat 9 cabins available on the sky deck near the mid-ship elevators so another option, but more costly, would be 2 inside and the family cabin.

[Island_Chica]

I see LSimons point. Is it an option to get the FV and two of the interior cabins nearby? That would solve that dilemma and still give you a very large private area where the family could gather for breakfast, cocktails, etc.

 

If it's not an option, I wouldn't worry too much. The 19, 22 and 25 y.o.'s probably won't care much about sleeping comfort. I'm in my 30s now, but just 10 short years ago, I really didn't care if I slept on a floor, a couch or a cot.

[warmwinds]

Truthfully, I would put the 3 older people (you guys plus grandma) in the FV and just get a nearby inside (9195, 9191, 9187) for the 3 kids. They could work out two twins and a sofabed between them.

 

Everyone will be hanging out on your large balcony, the kids will be out partying all the time or with you guys.

[Classynfun1]

I agree with warm winds! How much are the 20 somethings going to be in the cabin? My guess...not much! Spend less money there and more money on activities, dinner in a specialty restaurant, etc. With a FV balcony you have MORE than enough room for all to enjoy and adding an inside means more play money! I'm 31 but if I was your kiddos, I would have been very happy with that arrangement. Now, I'm the one planning and paying for all ;-)

[glenneagle]

We also have 3 twenty/thirty year olds who travel with us. I agree with the previous post.Give them an inside,use the extra cash for dinners,drinks ect. Our kids are only in the cabin to sleep and a CC is a waste for them.Have a great trip...

[ginza]

Thank you....had never given thought to the inside for the "kids"...I am going to call on this right now...

[Patsfan3]

What are the sleep sofas like in the FV?

[ginza]

No close by inside cabins available...so I think we will just stick with 9199 and 9193...I really appreciate all of your help....thank you.

[warmwinds]

Ginza, I'm not saying you can't do whatever you want with your money, but on a lark I just checked the Celebrity website for your cruise...and both inside cabins 9195 AND 9191, the closest to your FV, ARE available for your sailing.

 

Now I don't know if you checked yourself, or heaven forbid you used a travel agent who told you they were unavailable so she could keep the higher commission (I truly hope that is not the case)...but it is simply not true that those cabins are not available.

 

If you want to treat your kids to a balcony that's great, but you really need all the facts on this one. Now, two parties COULD have cancelled 5 minutes before I checked...you just never know.

[Lsimon]

Ginza, I'm not saying you can't do whatever you want with your money, but on a lark I just checked the Celebrity website for your cruise...and both inside cabins 9195 AND 9191, the closest to your FV, ARE available for your sailing.

 

Now I don't know if you checked yourself, or heaven forbid you used a travel agent who told you they were unavailable so she could keep the higher commission (I truly hope that is not the case)...but it is simply not true that those cabins are not available.

 

If you want to treat your kids to a balcony that's great, but you really need all the facts on this one. Now, two parties COULD have cancelled 5 minutes before I checked...you just never know.

 

 

I also noticed that the FV and TWO insides, all double occupancy, look like the total would be less than the FV and CC room at triple occupancy. Depending on what they booked at they might even be able to get the FV, and OS and an inside at about the same rate although an OS would be on a different floor.

[ginza]

Hi again...OK so I really do need help and am confused....I booked through

Celebrity directly...they are telling me that I have to have 5 of us in the Family Aft cabin and one person in another cabin...you guys are making it seem like that is not true....it was Celebrity who told me yesterday that I would be better off keeping the CC cabin next to the aft as there was nothing

else available (close to the aft)...can any of you with experience advise me

on how to handle this? I really want the aft cabin but I don't want to be spending $$$ that I don't need to be...I have no idea what a good price is....we are paying $3400 for the five us in the Family Aft and $1700 for the

CC....I would really appreciate any input on this as typically it is just my husband and I cruising. Thanks.

[Lsimon]

Hi again...OK so I really do need help and am confused....I booked through

Celebrity directly...they are telling me that I have to have 5 of us in the Family Aft cabin and one person in another cabin......

 

Celebrity starts holding all the FV cabins for groups of 5, although I've heard of a family of 4 who've been able to book them early on through their TA. As the cruise gets closer they often release any unsold FV cabins for sale to any number of guests. On our cruise out of FLL around the same time as your Summit cruise out of San Juan they released several (if not all remaining) FV cabins a couple of weeks ago. We snagged one for the two of us and one person on our roll call got one as a single.

 

What confuses me about your statement is that the Celebrity online booking page for your cruise shows at least one FV (or did earlier today) open for booking for a party of 2 so I wonder why they are telling you that you can only book for a party of 5? I'd ask for a supervisor and tell them you saw this online.

 

Better yet you might try a good TA who does a lot of business with Celebrity. Unfortunately we can't give names of TA's on these boards. I did notice once that one of the TA's who advertises on Cruise Critic has a mention on their web page that they are a major Celebrity TA - if you look at the link to these agencies at the top of this page there is a listing that has links to their web page. We don't use this agency so other than that ad and link I know little about them.

[Holly2]

You can put in the cabin number you want (Celebrity only lists 3 cabins but you can use another site to find all available cabins) and the number of people and try to book it.

We were able to book a FV for two once. Of course, once you are booked, you can arrange your family the way that you wish --most cabins can accomodate 3 (you can look on the deck plan to see if there is a sofabed).

Good luck. sounds great whatever you decide.

[CathyCruises]

Just to chime in here. . .whatever you decide to do, there are lovely shower facilities in the spa area that several of your group could use during the busy pre-dinner prep time. Lots of room, hardly ever used, and a good option when there are extra people in any room.

[ljk76]

I was so glad to happen upon this thread and your post! We are on the Summit Feb. 19, and were booked in a 3C cabin for the two of us. Reading this made me look on X, and low and behold a corner FV, 9156, available for very short change over our original booking, and they were fine with just the two of us. I know we may get a bit of noise from above, but that huge balcony looks like that will be a minor trade off! It feels like an early Christmas present. Also kudos to my online travel agent. No office hours today, but she answered my email on her Blackberry practically instantly and told me just what to do. That plus the paid gratuitaries is a nice combination. Anyway, thanks for the heads up!

 

QUOTE=Lsimon;27208515]Celebrity starts holding all the FV cabins for groups of 5, although I've heard of a family of 4 who've been able to book them early on through their TA. As the cruise gets closer they often release any unsold FV cabins for sale to any number of guests. On our cruise out of FLL around the same time as your Summit cruise out of San Juan they released several (if not all remaining) FV cabins a couple of weeks ago. We snagged one for the two of us and one person on our roll call got one as a single.

 

What confuses me about your statement is that the Celebrity online booking page for your cruise shows at least one FV (or did earlier today) open for booking for a party of 2 so I wonder why they are telling you that you can only book for a party of 5? I'd ask for a supervisor and tell them you saw this online.

 

Better yet you might try a good TA who does a lot of business with Celebrity. Unfortunately we can't give names of TA's on these boards. I did notice once that one of the TA's who advertises on Cruise Critic has a mention on their web page that they are a major Celebrity TA - if you look at the link to these agencies at the top of this page there is a listing that has links to their web page. We don't use this agency so other than that ad and link I know little about them.