Cruiseing with large family's

[Goaliebob99]

Why does Royal make it so hard to book on the website for those with large family's and they make it super expensive for those with lots of kids. My wife and I have five daughter's 12, 8,4,2 and TBD in July. (yes all girls) Were finding it super hard to book a room that can accomidate all of us without spending 13 grand on a suite.

 

We thought about doing two adjoining balcony cabins but that's still too expensive at 7200 for all of us. I can do Disneyland for half that price.

 

What's the secret sauce to getting a great deal for those with kids? It just seems like it's next to impossible to do it.

[anne.brumlevestaley]

On our last cruise, we booked an interior for the kids (12, 10, 9, 9). We will set sail on 4/1 on FOTS and had originally booked a balcony for us and an interior for the kids. Before our final payment, we asked our TA to look for less expensive options. We ended up going with two connecting interiors and it saved us $1300. We don't spend much time in the room, so we were willing to sacrifice the view. Never underestimate the value of a good travel agent!

 

 

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[Goaliebob99]

Does RCI have connecting interrior's?

[Clarea]

Does RCI have connecting interrior's?

Yes.

[emory2001]

It is annoying that you can't book online if you have more than 5 people in a room. I just went through that last night. I had to call to book the Family Oceanview for 5 people, and at one point they put me on hold for 10 minutes to finalize linking it to the other room in our group.

[andrew2346]

The secret is to have fewer kids : ) We are a family of 6. We always have at least 2 staterooms. 2 girls and 2 boys...3 total people in each cabin. Last year on the Anthem for some reason our oceanview rooms would only hold 2 people each so we had 3 cabins right next to each other. I believe the cost was $7200 or so. Keep in mind it was a spring break cruise so the cost might have been higher. Our onboard bill with 4 kids (two of which were teenage girls with a starbucks fetish) was near $2000. Something to consider with that many children. My H and I also love our wine and alcoholic beverages while on vacation. The one cruise that we had only 2 cabins it was 1 balcony cabin and 1 inside stateroom across the hall. That was on the Disney Fantasy and I don't even want to tell you how much that was. Bottom line....it is going to cost you. Consider that your food is included!

[lbjen]

Balconies are expensive. At least look for outside, if you really don't think inside will work for you. We always book 2 connecting rooms, it's usually cheaper than booking 4 of us into the same room.

 

Try calling for a price on one of the family cabins, since you will have an infant that can sleep in a crib and there are enough beds for the rest of you. And yes it can get really expensive on board if you're not careful, plus excursions, it adds up quickly.

[mjkacmom]

We are a family of 7, our cruises average around $7000 in a non peak season. We always book connecting balconies. It's expensive because we are 7 people, almost twice as big as the average family! We've also done WDW, crazy expensive for 7.

[melski]

We are a family of 6 and always book 2 connecting balconies and we normally travel over spring break so that itself has a higher cost.

 

If you travel when school is out, it will cost more. We have been going on Liberty out of Galveston because that seems to be much less than other ships and we can do a long drive to save on plane tickets. I have Oasis booked for 2018 and it is more than Liberty and it was hard to find 2 connecting rooms even last Nov. Try to book as early as possible for price and especially for connecting rooms.

 

I feel that with the economy getting better, more people are traveling and all travel is getting more expensive. If you price a Disney cruise, you'll convince yourself you are saving quite a bit of money!:D

[Merion_Mom]

Why does Royal make it so hard to book on the website for those with large family's and they make it super expensive for those with lots of kids. My wife and I have five daughter's 12, 8,4,2 and TBD in July. (yes all girls) Were finding it super hard to book a room that can accomidate all of us without spending 13 grand on a suite.

 

We thought about doing two adjoining balcony cabins but that's still too expensive at 7200 for all of us. I can do Disneyland for half that price.

 

What's the secret sauce to getting a great deal for those with kids? It just seems like it's next to impossible to do it.

 

Since you seem very frustrated by the process, I suggest using a good travel agent. You can discuss your concerns then let the TA do the work.

[cstimmons]

I could recently that (for a family of 4, 2 adults 2 teens) it was cheaper to get two adjoining balcony rooms than it was to get one room that fit four people. You'd think it'd be the opposite.

[mixplix]

family of 4, kids are 14 and 12 - for every vacation for at least the past ten years, we have gotten them a separate room, because it is no vacation with all four of us in any little room. On the cruise coming up next month, we have connecting windowed staterooms, paying @ $2600 total (1300 per room) - we were supposed to go on a cruise over christmas, where we were going to have a balcony and they were going to be in the interior room across the hall - even at their age, I didnt love the fact that they would have a balcony unsupervised.

[cb at sea]

You may want to check other sail dates, as well (if possible)...each sailing is priced differently it seems....

But yes...for larger parties and suites, you have to call on the phone. It's not that hard...but do have the deck plans in front of you, so you know what you're paying for!

[Doug S]

It is tough on a cruise. Your options for all in one room with that crew are basically a suite ($$$), especially considering your kids are all still fairly young and you need for a place for a baby to sleep. The pack & play kills what little floor space you may have had in any non-suite. We have 3 boys, and when they were that age, we simply did the Disney park type vacations for a few years, or arranged for them to stay with the Gs on occasion, which worked much better for everyone. When our youngest turned 5 we returned to cruising, and always booked 2 rooms to keep everyone sane. My idea of hell is trying to squeeze everyone in one room and attempting to survive the week.

[spookwife]

Kids are expensive. The more you have, the more expensive it is. Cruises are not hotel rooms where you can cram a lot of people in one room. The number of people allowed is set by the Capacity of the lifeboats and as such, you have to work around that.

 

 

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[Bratface1005]

Try the family interior room. Fits 8 I think. Large room and was great for our family. We could have had more people and we would have been ok. Glad luck and congratulations on your new bundle of joy. It is hard but if you work with the agent they will run prices on lots of rooms to find your happy vacation.

[Annabanana1234]

We're booked on the Liberty coming up on April 2, and I booked a year out. I booked a family oceanview in the very front of the ship it kind of has two bedrooms. The room also has a large living space considering it's on a cruise ship! When I booked I think the rate for the six of us was around $4000. I paid very close attention to the sales that royal ran and called my travel agent when they offered the kids sail free which brought my price down to $3200!! You can go on a cruise for a large family and get a deal, but you must plan in advance. The biggest cost savings is when you cruise during the non peak times. When royal ran the kids sail free it was only available on non peak sail dates! Our family always cruises in the first two week of April each year. Good luck with your planning!

[anne.brumlevestaley]

I agree that you have to book early. Those family rooms/suites always sell out first, according to my TA. However, our spring break cruise did qualify for the kids sail free promotion.

 

 

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