Stateroom for family of Five on Disney Dream

[Kjt313]

Hi all,

 

This is my first time posting and my first cruise ever!

Im looking at a 4 night Bahamas Cruise in Jan 2017. Our children will be 5, 8 & 11.

 

The travel agent has given me quite a few room options which we have narrowed down to two.

 

First being a deluxe verandah family room or deluce verandah room x 2 (interconnecting). Obviously the interconnecting rooms will be bigger and have two bathrooms but it is also about $800 more.

 

Having never cruised before I thought we would hardly be in our room and the family room is sufficient. Has anyone on here stayed in this room type with a family of five.

 

Many thanks

[moki'smommy]

You have described the options well. What you didn't mention is that on the Dream there are also cabins for 5 people in categories that don't have a verandah...but sounds like that is on your "want" list.

 

In our experience, the shorter the cruise, the less time we spend in the cabin. This is particularly true on your first cruise--there is so much to see and do around the ship that the cabin becomes the place to change clothes and sleep.

 

On a 4 night cruise, I'd save the $800 to use as a rebooking on board (get a discount on the next cruise) or whatever else you'd like to do. Yes, 2 cabins would double the bathroom space, closet space, and number of TVs...but your kids are young and you won't be in the cabin much. I'd save the money!

 

If bathroom space is an issue, Dad can always shower in the fitness center locker room (free).

Edited October 18, 2015 by moki'smommy

[Pirate@Forty]

Hi all,

 

This is my first time posting and my first cruise ever!

Im looking at a 4 night Bahamas Cruise in Jan 2017. Our children will be 5, 8 & 11.

 

The travel agent has given me quite a few room options which we have narrowed down to two.

 

First being a deluxe verandah family room or deluce verandah room x 2 (interconnecting). Obviously the interconnecting rooms will be bigger and have two bathrooms but it is also about $800 more.

 

Having never cruised before I thought we would hardly be in our room and the family room is sufficient. Has anyone on here stayed in this room type with a family of five.

 

Many thanks

 

We went on the Wonder for our first Disney cruise in April and we had almost the same ages (11, 8, and 6) We also went on a 4 day cruise as well. We booked two rooms together knowing we were paying extra and it was worth it for us. Even though we didn't spend a lot of time in the room we felt having it made the difference.

 

For us, we used the room as a bit of an escape from the craziness of all the activities. It gave the kids a chance to be in one room or spread out to two if they weren't getting along with each other.

 

Having two rooms for us was worth the extra $$. Now, as we look at future cruises with the kids we look for two rooms together.

[helenb]

Your kids are a little young for this right now, but since our kids are a bit older (12 and 14) we now cruise in a balcony/verandah with an inside across the hall. The cabin is close, and the inside is a lot cheaper than a second verandah. But to do this, you'd have to feel that your kids are mature enough to stay in an unconnected room, or you'd have to have one adult in each cabin.

[chemistrynerd]

There is no wrong answer here, but I would also vote for the two rooms. I have 3 kids, and we go for two rooms whenever we can. In fact, we go for connecting inside staterooms. A previous poster has made the comment that you don't spend much time in your cabin. If that's the case (varies from family to family), then you certainly don't spend much time on the balcony.

 

helenb - I'm intrigued by the across the hall option. My kids aren't there yet (8, 6, 4), but that's a neat idea.

[moki'smommy]

I totally agree that on a short cruise, the balcony is not needed with one exception--if you have a child who still takes naps, the balcony is a wonderful place for mom to hang out while the little one sleeps.

 

On longer cruises, I'm all for 2 staterooms and balconies. My point is that the shorter the cruise, the less time we spend in the cabin and the more I'm willing to be a bit cramped. Longer cruises with lots of sea days--love that balcony.

[ArthurUSCG]

We did a 4 night cruise on the dream with 9 people in 2 of the veranda family state rooms.

Room1

wife and I + 3 yr old son and brother and his wife.

 

Room2

Parents + other brother and his 2yr old daughter

 

With the split bathrooms on the Dream, using the bathrooms was not a problem. Not all of us were showering at the same time though. I did use the Gym/Spa locker room to shower in 2 times. But It was by choice because the showers are so big, even compared to back home.

 

The biggest thing for us was to unpack the suite cases and put them under the bed. Having the suite cases out makes the room that much more crowded.

[helenb]

helenb - I'm intrigued by the across the hall option. My kids aren't there yet (8, 6, 4), but that's a neat idea.

 

It works out well for us, but we didn't feel comfortable doing it until our kids were 11 and 13. Previous to that, we had cruises on Princess and Celebrity with 2 balconies that were adjoining, but not connecting. We had the balconies connected, but that was the only way to get from one room to the other. So it was a good intermediate step, that allowed us to see how our kids might do sharing a room.

 

At about age 11 or 12 (depends on the cruise line) kids are allowed to go in and out of the children's clubs without needing a form signed by the parents. This means that you have to be able to trust them to some extent to 'roam the ship' without you being there. This was another intermediate step for us in trusting them to be in their own room.

[davidmbfonz]

Another possibility that you might consider - we were able to book two connecting deluxe family oceanview rooms (large portholes) for essentially the same price as a single verandah room.

 

There were five of us, and the kids slept in one room, while we had the other room to ourselves - plenty of bathrooms - we didn't even use all the closet space. Was great to have that extra space.

[Pirate@Forty]

On our cruise we booked balconies but I agree that having connecting ocean views are just as good (and cheaper too!). My wife and I used the balconies more because it wasn't like we were just going to let our kids hang out on the balcony without supervision.

 

If the ocean view rooms are considerably cheaper that may be a better bet.

[Kjt313]

Hi all,

Thank you so much for your responses I appreciate them all!

I have decided to book the two interconnecting verandah rooms. Who knows we may never do this again so decided this is the way to go for us!

Such a great forum will be reading for research a lot!!

[chemistrynerd]

I'll make one last comment on adjoining cabins. Very often, the prices you'll see on the DCL site will not match what your travel agent will quote. The problem is that, in order to find available connecting staterooms, you sometimes need to bump up to a higher cabin grade.

 

In a couple instances, I've looked at online prices and expected to see a certain price difference for my choices (inside vs. outside or outside porthole vs. verandah). Once the real numbers come back based on availability, my expectations might not match reality.