Family of 5

[smiles32617]

Okay booked my 8th cruise but my first family cruise. Due to financial restrictions, we are all booked in same cabin. I know it sucks but the kids are small and young (7, 9, 13).

 

We are going on the sunshine in march. Does anyone have any real advice for a family? Any must brings? Anything?

 

Oh yeah we are driving 16 hours too lol. I know we are crazy!!

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Forums mobile app

[sparks1093]

Okay booked my 8th cruise but my first family cruise. Due to financial restrictions, we are all booked in same cabin. I know it sucks but the kids are small and young (7, 9, 13).

 

We are going on the sunshine in march. Does anyone have any real advice for a family? Any must brings? Anything?

 

Oh yeah we are driving 16 hours too lol. I know we are crazy!!

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Forums mobile app

 

Not so much, our first two family cruises we drove 27 hours with 5 kids in the van:eek:. Of course with 7 of us we had to get two cabins. You've cruised before so you have a general idea of what's available- what do your kids need that isn't available on board? A few small board games, maybe their hand held electronics. I believe that anyone may use the showers in the gym. The biggest issue will be those times when all of you have to be in the cabin at the same time- then you will need to bring your sense of humor;).

[SadieN]

Its like camping

 

-Pack light one bag and one backpack per person.

-Luggage under bed

-Double and triple on hangars

-Use pocket shoe holders

-share toiletries and other things

-only bathroom 'duties' in bathroom. Primping done outside. Some will go to the gym to shower.

- depending on room configuration it might be best to split the lower beds This trick works great on the Fantasy class OV IS cabins. Look for the bed lights to see positions of the beds.

-a laundry bag is useful

-cabin stays neat. Everything put in it's place before leaving

[momof3cruisers]

Everyone needs a book light that they can keep by their bed. You can get them at the dollar store. If you want to read it doesn't bug others but most importantly, anyone who has to use the bathroom in the night uses their book light. Those switches can be confusing in the middle of the night.

 

Get an over the door shoe holder and label the openings with what goes in there such as sunscreen or band aids and then at least one for each person for toothbrush, deodorant, hair stuff etc. no way do you want to keep everyone's stuff on the counter or shelf.

 

We also like a collapsible laundry basket. Put it in the closet and that's where dirty clothes go throughout the week.

 

Each kid has a backpack--they need one for the road trip anyway. Whenever you leave the cabin and at bedtime, everyone puts their personal items..iPod, books, stuffed animal, etc into their backpack.

 

Bring band aids, pain relievers, and a Solarcaine type of product...but especially band aids. :) Lots of sunscreen too. All that stuff is expensive onboard.

[sweetsixteencruisers]

We are a family of 5 as well. We drive to all our cruises/florida vacations, ever since the kids were 2, 4, 6. They are now 23,21,19. Depending on the port it has taken between 19 and 25 hours. My suggestion is to leave at night after dinner, get a couple of new movies (if you have a dvd player, portable), coloring books, etc. They sleep most of the ride. Leaving at that time also helps with traffic.

 

Have fun!

[FireEater]

Holy crap. Remind me never to complain again to have to drive max of five hours to have five port choices for just the 2 of us.

 

All the power to ya. The problem I see too is you have to drive back...:eek:

[nydney1]

Redbox for movies. You can rent at one location and drop them off at another.

[pungo3]

Sounds like you will have a fabulous family vacation. I'd suggest bringing a power strip as well. If kids have games, camera's, etc. to charge, there is only one plug in the cabin. Drive carefully and have a fabulous cruise!:D

[thomarvin]

You didn't say what type of cabin you got. If you booked a balcony, you might be able to get connecting OV's for a cheaper price. i have done that in the past.

 

but if not...Pop up hamper is key to keeping the cabin tidy. it really helps. I also find that at the end of the week, I line up the suitcases and sort the laundry while I am repacking and all the clean clothes go in one suitcase and sort and check pockets so everything is ready to go into washer when I get home.

 

Have a safe trip.

[Badfinger]

Okay booked my 8th cruise but my first family cruise. Due to financial restrictions, we are all booked in same cabin. I know it sucks but the kids are small and young (7, 9, 13).

 

We are going on the sunshine in march. Does anyone have any real advice for a family? Any must brings? Anything?

 

Oh yeah we are driving 16 hours too lol. I know we are crazy!!

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Forums mobile app

 

Keep checking the prices. I was able to book a balcony for 2 and an interior for 2 (right across the hall) that was about $300 cheaper than a balcony for 4.

[Badfinger]

Okay booked my 8th cruise but my first family cruise. Due to financial restrictions, we are all booked in same cabin. I know it sucks but the kids are small and young (7, 9, 13).

 

We are going on the sunshine in march. Does anyone have any real advice for a family? Any must brings? Anything?

 

Oh yeah we are driving 16 hours too lol. I know we are crazy!!

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Forums mobile app

 

Use different size suitcases so you can nest them once you unpack them. Or use duffles that can be stored inside a bigger suitcase, et.

 

Also, this may sound weird, but for your kids especially, bring along clothes and shoes that are about worn out. So after they wear them a day or two, you just trash them. We are going to we wearing old trashed sneakers on our upcoming cave tubing. When back on the ship...in the trash they go. Will have less clutter in the room and less to bring home.

[sprint180]

5 hours to 5 ports! Heck it is 5 hours just to get to our local airport.

[KatieCharlotte]

We've had no problems sharing an inside cabin with three kids that age. We're kind of weird because we like the coziness. There's actually a surprising amount of storage space, even with each person bringing their own small suitcase. We bring extra hangers and use all available drawers and hanger space. Suitcases are stored under the beds and in the closets basically empty, except bulky items we may need once all cruise (spare shoes, etc). We try to minimize the toiletries we bring, but there has always been enough cabinet/shelf space in the bathrooms. I bring a trash bag for laundry, keep it in the largest suitcase, and stuff anything truly dirty in there. (The kids tend to re-wear clothes and I re-wear skirts.)

The biggest issue for us has been when we all want to change out of wet swimsuits or into dinner clothes at the same time. We bring flashlights for reading, so the youngest takes that into the closet and uses it as a mini dressing room. One of the other kids will sometimes change behind the shower curtain. Make sure you pull out the clothes line in the shower to dry swimsuits and take full advantage of the stewards switching out wet beach towels.

 

We always bring read-aloud books to help kids settle down for bed and encourage them rest when they've had too much sun and fun, or it rains. The ship library has board games you can check out, but is open limited hours.

 

Sixteen hours is a short drive for us. I don't know if your family has done a lot of long drives, but we're pretty used to it -- an inexpensive movie system is essential. Books on tape make the time go faster for the driver too. When we stop somewhere with an area for the kids to play, we sometimes let them burn off energy while we eat and then they eat in the car. We make a lot of quick "fresh air" stops to keep DD from feeling carsick. The kids make up games that need only a notebook and dice.

[thomarvin]

i hang the bathing suits on hangers then put them on the string in the shower. and use clothes pins to keep them separated to dry. If you have a balcony, i clothes pin them to the chairs to dry. I don't leave them there overnight, just during the day. Some people will bring a bungy cord to hook between the chairs to hang clothes on too.

[crusinpsychRN]

When my kids were that age, I'd have them roll up their complete outfit for the day--shirt, shorts, underwear, socks. For a 7 day cruise each would have about 9 small rolls which fit easily in a drawer or on one of the shelves. To get ready, all they did was grab a roll, no searching through things for each item.

 

Over the door thing was crucial for us.

 

Everyone needs to know the rule is to keep the cabin neat, don't drop your stuff on the floor or step out of your shoes and leave them there because someone will trip over it.

 

Have a great cruise!