Sleeping Arrangements w/ 2 Kids

[husky01]

Hello!!!

 

I'm looking at booking a cruise in May 2020 on the Harmony with my family.

 

I want to pick the right kind of room that can fit us comfortably.  My 4 year old daughter will sleep on the pull out sofa and I'm thinking my son who will be 20 months will be in a pack in play.  Is there enough floor space in the Ultra Spacious Ocean View with Large Balcony or the Junior Suite for both of those two beds? Will they even let me book the large balcony room with only 4 people when it can hold up to 6? That would save me some money since we really don't need any of the perks that come with the junior suite.

 

My other concern will be is if my son is too big for the pack in play and I will need the sofa for him, so that I can turn it around and block him in against the wall. Then I don't know what to do with my daughter, if I can get her a role away bed or something else to sleep on.  

 

Any ideas or suggestions would be much appreciated.

 

   

[Merion_Mom]

Where do you see a balcony cabin that sleeps six?

 

I would get the Junior Suite if I were you.  You will all just be much more comfortable, no matter which configuration you end up wanting.

[Ourusualbeach]

Any of the ultraspacious cabins would work great.  Many times they are available to book with 4.  

 

There are insides, Oceanview and balconies.  All are approximately the same size as a JS.  Deck 11

 

 

Edited February 4, 2019 by Ourusualbeach

[sixesandeights]

Co-Sleep the 20 month old, 4 year old on the sofa.  Plenty of room.  The Pack and Play will take up a ton of space.

 

6&8

[Mrcar09]

We were just on Allure and my 4 and 6 year old both slept on the sofa in a LG. Balcony room. Our Steward made the sofa up the short way meaning their feet were pointing toward the TV. It was plenty long for them to stretch out and we were able to put a pillow between them because god forbid ones arm or foot touch the other. I'm not suggesting this as your primary plan, only pointing out that there would be more than sufficient room for your two kids to co-sleep on the sofa, if the pack and play isn't an option, even if you had to provide some separation to protect your 20mo.

[husky01]

Thank you for the helpful suggestions!  

[Chicky2181]

I would forget about the pnp. I would co-sleep them on the sofa bed with the youngest on the inside against wall. This is what we are doing for our girls on our upcoming trip.  

 

Originally we planned to get a 3&4 Pullman but I was nervous having my youngest (who will have just turned 3 on our cruise) on one.  Then we thought myself or husband could take one of the Pullman’s....and I wasn’t happy with that idea either since I wasn’t sure of the weight limits.  

So both on the sofa it is. Lol. 

[Cruise a holic]

21 hours ago, husky01 said:

Hello!!!

 

I'm looking at booking a cruise in May 2020 on the Harmony with my family.

 

I want to pick the right kind of room that can fit us comfortably.  My 4 year old daughter will sleep on the pull out sofa and I'm thinking my son who will be 20 months will be in a pack in play.  Is there enough floor space in the Ultra Spacious Ocean View with Large Balcony or the Junior Suite for both of those two beds? Will they even let me book the large balcony room with only 4 people when it can hold up to 6? That would save me some money since we really don't need any of the perks that come with the junior suite.

 

My other concern will be is if my son is too big for the pack in play and I will need the sofa for him, so that I can turn it around and block him in against the wall. Then I don't know what to do with my daughter, if I can get her a role away bed or something else to sleep on.  

 

Any ideas or suggestions would be much appreciated.

 

   

If you can swing it, a junior suite will give you much more room for a family of four.  Another option might be a family cabin.  However I think typically only available for 5.  Call and find out.  Enjoy

Edited February 5, 2019 by Cruise a holic

[The Fun Researcher]

You could also do connecting inside rooms.  You can book it with one adult in each and one kid in each.  When you arrive just have both adults in one room with the connecting door open to the kids room .  Lots of room this way, and two full bathrooms.

 

just an option.

 

Dan

[Ashland]

We've done Harmony...the sleeper sofa isn't the normal type, it's more like a daybed type that one of the beds stays at floor height (doesn't pop up). 

 

We're doing another extended family HOTS cruise and have opted for the JS that has a sofabed and an additional pullman that comes down from the ceiling on deck #8. You can see this set up on YouTube just Google Harmony cabin # 8632.

[r6girl]

Our last cruise was a couple of years ago on the Disney Fantasy, and it was our first time bringing the kids on a cruise with us (we had previously sailed Oasis and Mariner, but left kids with their grandparents on those cruises), and the pull-down bed on the Fantasy was neat. However, one of my kiddos sleeps like a banshee so he didn't get to sleep in the upper berth but his brother enjoyed it. If your 4 yr old is a normal sleeper, I'm sure she'll be fine on the pull-down bed (it has rails for safety). We are taking the kids on another cruise this April on Mariner of the Seas, and this time we are trying out what another poster (Dan) said, which is to have two connecting staterooms with an adult and child listed for each room. For us, the price was only a couple of hundred dollars more to book two balcony rooms with a connecting door as it was to book a junior suite with four people in it. For us, the extra bathroom that comes with putting the kids in the second stateroom is easily worth the extra couple of hundred in cruise fare. Explore that option when pricing out your cruise because even though that was my experience, that may not be the case with the cruise you are considering, since cruise fares vary so widely within the fleet and by sail dates. I booked during the "second passenger sails at 60% off", so booking two staterooms meant both my kids fares were 60% off, rather than just one of our four fares being 60% off. Also, I had to call a Royal Caribbean rep to book the two rooms because of certain rooms showing as "available" online that are inter-connecting, I wasn't able to book because the room had occupancy restrictions that were not evident to the average layperson (ex: can't book only 2 people - must be 3 people in it). I will say, we sailed in a Junior Suite on the Oasis (again, kids weren't with us), and they are a nice size! Good luck to you, and let us know what solution you wind up picking!

[Grandma Dazzles]

6 hours ago, Chicky2181 said:

I would forget about the pnp. I would co-sleep them on the sofa bed with the youngest on the inside against wall. This is what we are doing for our girls on our upcoming trip.  

 

Originally we planned to get a 3&4 Pullman but I was nervous having my youngest (who will have just turned 3 on our cruise) on one.  Then we thought myself or husband could take one of the Pullman’s....and I wasn’t happy with that idea either since I wasn’t sure of the weight limits.  

So both on the sofa it is. Lol. 

 

Just FYI in case you book again, Pullman is for age 6 and up.  I don’t think they monitor, but that’s the recommendation.  As far as weight, they probably do have a limit, but my son was 6’ 2” and college student playing football - at the time around 230 pounds. He loved the Pullman and had no problems. 

[husky01]

I’m leaning towards the junior suite. I do like the idea of the two connecting rooms but the kids are still too young for that I think. Something to keep in mind for next time. Plus I really do like the bathtub.

 

I did check out the YouTube video of the suite and I want to stay in one now. I am going to skip the pnp and put both kids on the sofa bed. Thanks for all the advice. I can’t wait for our trip even if it’s not till next year. 😀

[r6girl]

The bathtub is going to be ideal for the younger kiddo! You guys are going to have a blast!!!

Edited February 6, 2019 by r6girl
typo

[Merion_Mom]

On ‎2‎/‎4‎/‎2019 at 5:11 PM, Ourusualbeach said:

Any of the ultraspacious cabins would work great.  Many times they are available to book with 4.  

 

There are insides, Oceanview and balconies.  All are approximately the same size as a JS.  Deck 11

 

 

I missed the "Ultra" in his post.  😮  

[Merion_Mom]

19 minutes ago, husky01 said:

I’m leaning towards the junior suite. I do like the idea of the two connecting rooms but the kids are still too young for that I think. Something to keep in mind for next time. Plus I really do like the bathtub.

 

I did check out the YouTube video of the suite and I want to stay in one now. I am going to skip the pnp and put both kids on the sofa bed. Thanks for all the advice. I can’t wait for our trip even if it’s not till next year. 😀

 

 

You can keep the door open the entire time.  It's like one big suite that way.

[r6girl]

2 minutes ago, Merion_Mom said:

 

 

You can keep the door open the entire time.  It's like one big suite that way.

I read this and thought: YAY! Party for us grown ups, once our kiddos go to sleep!!! But, for the original poster, there's probably a few YouTube videos out there showing two connecting rooms with the door in between opened, showing how it "feels" to have two staterooms, vs a junior suite. There might just be too many blind spots in the second room that aren't easily visible through the small door opening between the two rooms for the OP's comfort. Just as a goofy story, when my kids were really little and I was in the bathroom at a hotel room, they surprised me with their "artwork"... hubby had gone to start checkout process, and I discovered they had found a pen under the nightstand and made marks all over the pillowcases... in the TWO minutes I was in the bathroom. Luckily, pillowcases are easy to wash, and the hotel was so forgiving - but I was thankful I caught them before they moved on to upholstery, lol. Little kids can get into all kinds of trouble! 

[A2Mich]

On 2/4/2019 at 3:06 PM, Merion_Mom said:

Where do you see a balcony cabin that sleeps six?

 

I would get the Junior Suite if I were you.  You will all just be much more comfortable, no matter which configuration you end up wanting.

 

I believe the 1A cabins will sleep 6.  They have the twin/king, bunks, and I believe the sleeper sofa is a double.

[brillohead]

4 hours ago, r6girl said:

We are taking the kids on another cruise this April on Mariner of the Seas, and this time we are trying out what another poster (Dan) said, which is to have two connecting staterooms with an adult and child listed for each room. 

FYI, with connecting or adjacent rooms, you don't have to have an adult listed in each room.  You have to call (or have a Travel Agent) to book it this way, but you CAN put both adults in one room and both kids in the other room.

[The Fun Researcher]

9 hours ago, brillohead said:

FYI, with connecting or adjacent rooms, you don't have to have an adult listed in each room.  You have to call (or have a Travel Agent) to book it this way, but you CAN put both adults in one room and both kids in the other room.

 

True, this is how we set up ours in March on the Navigator. 

 

The only drawback, if you want to bring 4 bottles of wine on board (like us), is that the policy states two bottles of wine per stateroom that has someone 21+.  Hopefully RCI doesn't put up a stink about it because we're bringing 4.

Dan

[Grandma Dazzles]

1 minute ago, The Fun Researcher said:

 

True, this is how we set up ours in March on the Navigator. 

 

The only drawback, if you want to bring 4 bottles of wine on board (like us), is that the policy states two bottles of wine per stateroom that has someone 21+.  Hopefully RCI doesn't put up a stink about it because we're bringing 4.

Dan

 

That’s one of the reasons  people put one child/one adult in each cabin on the official booking. Where you sleep is of no concern once you are on board.  You might get away with the four bottles, but two of them could be confiscated. Depends on how closely they check and follow the rules. 

[akcruz]

13 minutes ago, The Fun Researcher said:

 

True, this is how we set up ours in March on the Navigator. 

 

The only drawback, if you want to bring 4 bottles of wine on board (like us), is that the policy states two bottles of wine per stateroom that has someone 21+.  Hopefully RCI doesn't put up a stink about it because we're bringing 4.

Dan

 

7 minutes ago, Grandma Dazzles said:

 

That’s one of the reasons  people put one child/one adult in each cabin on the official booking. Where you sleep is of no concern once you are on board.  You might get away with the four bottles, but two of them could be confiscated. Depends on how closely they check and follow the rules. 

 

The other advantage to a parent in each cabin is if one wants the drink package and the other does not.  With connecting cabins it really doesn't matter which way you book as your key card can get you in regardless of what cabin  you are booked in.

[The Fun Researcher]

7 minutes ago, akcruz said:

With connecting cabins it really doesn't matter which way you book as your key card can get you in regardless of what cabin  you are booked in.

 

That has definitely not been the case on any of our 3 sailings with our kids. (All with connecting rooms)  Did you need to go to guest services onboard for that?

 

Dan

[akcruz]

30 minutes ago, The Fun Researcher said:

 

That has definitely not been the case on any of our 3 sailings with our kids. (All with connecting rooms)  Did you need to go to guest services onboard for that?

 

Dan

 

Since the cabins are connecting the door between is open so you can enter through either cabin.  Nothing special to do.

 

If the cabins are not connecting that us when duplicate keys are needed.

 

Grandma, we posted the same thing at the same time!

Edited February 6, 2019 by akcruz
Added info

[Grandma Dazzles]

20 minutes ago, The Fun Researcher said:

 

That has definitely not been the case on any of our 3 sailings with our kids. (All with connecting rooms)  Did you need to go to guest services onboard for that?

 

Dan

 

You have to ask your room steward to unlock the connecting door between the cabins.  Once unlocked it stays that way.  You can enter through your main door and then go into the connecting room. If you want a key to the connecting room actual front door  guest services can make one.  They will also make keys for adjoining or other rooms, upon request. 

 

My my family had two connecting and one adjoining room and had keys from guest services. Kind of a pain to carry more than one key, but kids didn’t need their key (too young) so entered through one door and walked into the connecting room. I was in the adjoining room and just wanted them to have access to my cabin if needed.