Best option for a family of 5.

[rajones007]

I hope the thread title isn't misleading. I'm trying to figure out what cabin options would work best for our family. I'm having difficulty trying to put it in words, so I hope somebody understands the small dilemma I am having.

 

My GF and I are thinking of trying Carnival some time in April of this year. Eastern Caribbean is preferred as we've did the western twice in 2011 (Princess in January and NCL in Nov.)

 

There's myself (45) and my daughter (17), plus my girlfriend (46), her daughter (16) and her son (13).

 

My GF and I would prefer some sort of suite with the extra roominess and full bathtub. That isn't absolutely mandatory, but would be nice.

 

We'd also like a balcony cabin next door (adjoining door would be preferred, but not mandatory) for the 2 teenage girls. I'm finding that the Carnival website isn't very good for moving back and forth between cabin types and searching for adjoining rooms.

 

What have others done with a 5 member family? What cabin combinations would you recommend? Is there a particular ship that would work best in our circumstance? 5 of us in one cabin just isn't going to work.

[thegreatmouton]

My DH and I took my parents and my sister on a cruise a few summers ago. I bought 3 rooms - one for me and DH, one for my parents and my sister had one all to herself.

[poohbear]

Last year we had 2 balcony cabins next to each other and had them open the balcony partition to make one big balcony. The rooms were not adjoining inside but worked well. We put the 3 kids in one cabin and DH and I in the other. This year since we are cruising in the summer and rates are higher we have the kids directly across the hall in an inside cabin while we have a balcony(we have done this in the past also). Both options work well, and everyone has some privacy! :-)

[sweeks82]

We cruised on the Imagination with 2 adjoining oceanview rooms and on the Pride on two balcony rooms with the divider opened on the balcony. Both worked well but this year we are just next to each other since we booked late.

[firefly333]

Dream has some OVs that hold 5 people as does Magic.

 

Other than that you could do some older ships that were grandfathered in that allow 5 in a quad, to book your suite. (ships built before year 2000). They give you a trundle bed or a rollaway for the 5th person.

[steph7021]

This year on the Magic we are doing a balcony with an inside cabin across the hall. We have teens. You do have to officially book an adult in each room and then you can change things around when you get onboard (NO flames please). We have also just done 2 inside cabins across from each other. This Magic will be a splurge to do the balcony and inside.

[sbnuggie]

Before you read any further you have to understand how Carnival uses the terms "Adjoining" and "Connecting". Most people interchange the two terms but to Carnival they are very different. I even have to correct my PVP sometimes when I call to make reservations.

 

Adjoining = Cabins (Inside (IS), Oceanview (OV), Balcony (BL) and suite (ST)) which are directly next to each other or even directly across a hall from each other but can not be accessed from one another.

 

Connecting = Cabins which adjoin each other and connect via an interior doorway. On the deck plans these are designated with a white triangle type of shape between the cabins.

 

I also have a family of five, me and my wife and 3 kids ages 9, 9 and 6 so our situation is just a little bit different then yours. We found that connecting OV rooms work best for us. I have attached a couple of photo's for you showing the interior door which connects the two cabins. We've done these types of rooms on both the Conquest and the Splendor. We choose these types of rooms for peace of mind about the kids wandering out on the balcony unsupervised (mostly the youngest), cost effectiveness and the ability to be able to have connected rooms so we always monitor our kids. They are not old enough to have an adjoining room and be unsupervised.

 

As some have elluded to, you can get adjoining balcony rooms and then request the balcony divider be opened to make one giant balcony but still be next to the parents for monitoring the teenagers and easily access one another's rooms without going into the public hallway via the balcony. However, I understand that not all Balcony dividers can be opened or they limit the number they open per cruise. There are a lot of topics about it, a simple search should yield good info about that scenario.

 

A second room, either connecting or adjoining, will really help when it comes to extra showers, storage, bathroom space etc, especially when dealing with teenage girls.

 

I don't know how your two families teenagers get along but it sounds like you could get away with putting three teenagers in one room (either connecting or adjoining) and you and your GF in the other room. However, be advised that when you make the booking you have to do seperate bookings and thus two booking numbers. Also, one parent will have to be booked into each room. The older teenagers I think this will work well but your 13yr old I think is right on that border whether I would go with adjoining versus connecting, only you can make that call. Additionally you will be paying a higher price in that you have to book passenger 1 and 2 fares for both rooms and in one of the rooms will you get the discounted 3rd fare with the third person.

 

Definately use a PVP for this process, sit down in front of a computer with Carnvial website up and deckplans for you to look at as you go through your room options. They can easily look up the rooms you need/request and give you the quotes a lot faster then trying to do it on carnival dot com. They can also link the reservations so they know the to booking numbers are the same and you don't get split up for dinner assignments.

 

I know the spirit class ships (pride, legend, spirit and forgot the other one) have connecting balcony to inside rooms at the front of the ships but there is a lot of movement in the front of the ship so if anyone is motion sick, beaware. All other classes have various connecting rooms of the same class.

 

Hope this helps and here are our connecting OV rooms we had on the conquest, the splendor was identical to the conquest.

 

Good luck

[big_duck]

As long as you book specific cabins you DO NOT have to book an adult in each room as long as the rooms are adjacent and you are the actual parents.

[Kethry88]

You may want to look at the Dream-class ships (Dream, Magic, Breeze). Older Carnival ships have the suites all in a row, with only the ones on each end being next to a standard balcony room. With Dream class, there are standard balcony cabins scattered in with the suites, so it would be easier to get a suite next to a balcony cabin. Although, it does not look like there are any with a connecting door inbetween a suite and a standard balcony.

 

Cruise deck plans dot com is a good site for looking up deckplans, and cruise line rooms dot com has cabin photos. (just remove the spaces)

[kimmimom]

we had to put an adult in each cabin to switch after on board. Our kids are 17, 12, and 8.

[jakesnana]

I hope the thread title isn't misleading. I'm trying to figure out what cabin options would work best for our family. I'm having difficulty trying to put it in words, so I hope somebody understands the small dilemma I am having.

 

My GF and I are thinking of trying Carnival some time in April of this year. Eastern Caribbean is preferred as we've did the western twice in 2011 (Princess in January and NCL in Nov.)

 

There's myself (45) and my daughter (17), plus my girlfriend (46), her daughter (16) and her son (13).

 

My GF and I would prefer some sort of suite with the extra roominess and full bathtub. That isn't absolutely mandatory, but would be nice.

 

We'd also like a balcony cabin next door (adjoining door would be preferred, but not mandatory) for the 2 teenage girls. I'm finding that the Carnival website isn't very good for moving back and forth between cabin types and searching for adjoining rooms.

 

What have others done with a 5 member family? What cabin combinations would you recommend? Is there a particular ship that would work best in our circumstance? 5 of us in one cabin just isn't going to work.

 

You can look on the Destiny, Triumph, Victory, Freedom, Valor, Conquest, Glory, and Liberty deck plans. On all of these ships, on deck 7, there is a mini-suite next door to a balcony cabin. These are the only options that will provide EXACTLY what you are looking for (a cabin with a full tub next to a balcony cabin). With 8 ships to pick from, maybe one of them will still have the exact configuration you need for your family. If you look at the newest class of ship (Dream and Miracle) there are regular balcony cabins dispersed throughout the mini-suites, giving you more options, but someone already mentioned these options in an earlier post.

 

Good luck.

[girlscruise2011]

I have connecting balcony rooms on the Liberty for my Thanksgiving cruise. I will have them open the balcony dividers to hopefully have 1 large balcony. Me & my DH in one room and my 3 kids in the next. No need to pay for a suite if you can get connecting rooms. Gives you 2 bathrooms (no tubs), 2 balconies and 2 rooms to get ready in. In the past we've done connecting OceanView rooms. This will be the kids first balcony.

 

I agree with another poster. Call a PVP. They have access to all the rooms available. My PVP found my connecting rooms. Online, they weren't shown as available when I looked.

[KRW71]

We are a family of 5 booked on Carnival Legend. We have booked 2 balcolny cabins that are connecting (5253 and 5257) They are supposed to be connected with an interior door. You can view deck plans on cruisecheap dot com

[NorthGeorgiaCruiser]

We had connecting oceanview rooms on the Fascination. The wife and I in one using the kingish size bed and the three teens in the other room with three seperate beds. This worked great for us.

 

Two bathrooms is a huge plus when you have five people! :eek:

[5waldos]

I would do the suite for you, a regular balcony for the girls (sounds like money is not a big issue) and bring along a friend for the boy since everyone else is paired off. Hard to put the 3 kids in one room given gender and ages, and if you put the young man in a room by himself you'll pay the same as bringing along a friend. At least for the cruise part. Unless you all live together at home in which case it might work, but even then I think it could be difficult.

 

Or get the kids all OV's and you get a suite, which helps keep the price down some. Or even better- get the suite and put the kids in inside rooms across the hall.

[momof3cruisers]

I would call and talk to a Carnival booking person. I did that and they gave me all different options so I could compare prices etc. Much easier than the website.

[rajones007]

Thank you all for the fantastic replies. You've been most helpful.

 

Still not certain on which ship/itinierary we'll do. We still have some loose ends to tie up before we can say we're doing it, but I'm confident.

[spiritfox]

Our family travels as a party of five. There are three adults and two teens--girl 14 and boy 17. We book two connecting balcony cabins. Teen boy stays with me and the teen girl sleeps in the upper pull-down bunk. This worked great for us on the two cruises we have taken on the Dream and we are booked for another in June on the Freedom--same cabin setup. The connecting rooms work great for our family and the wall on the balcony is normally configured (at least on the Dream) to fold back to make the balcony extra large. :)

[T. Advisor King]

The most important thing is for you and your girlfriend to have a room to yourself. After that, it is just a matter of whether the three teenagers can share one cabin. If there is any doubt, I suggest putting it to them as whether or not they can get along (i.e., and if not, it looks like you/they won't be able to go). Maybe even float it that you're thinking about going, but tell them you've reconsidered and can't justify paying for three cabins. They'll probably be begging you to let them share a cabin. It's all about expectations. If they think they won't have to share a cabin, then sharing is a disappointment. If they think they might not have a chance to go, then having to share a cabin is a minor inconvenience.

 

I'm not sure what the value-added is of a PVP. If you just call the 800 number, they're usually pretty good.

 

There is no requirement to book an adult into each room. However, if only two of the passengers are past guests (e.g., yourself and your girlfirend), they'll need to book one of you in each cabin in order to get the past guest rate, if that's the rate you're using. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong on that, but that has been my experience.

 

And while the "bring along a friend for the boy" is a good outside the box idea, I don't think it really solves any problems. It adds extra cost (unless the boy's parents will pay all the boy's travel, food, transport, excursion, etc. costs) and just makes the journey that much more difficult. We brought a friend on our last (non cruise) vacation, and it wasn't a big deal, but it also changes the dynamic of the trip from a family vacation to something slightly different.