Family stateroom costs

[joomin]

Hi, we're considering taking a cruise this summer but none of the websites can provide a quote for a family room without me calling them up. I'm planning on calling once I've spoken to my family and decided exactly what we'd like to do but in the meantime, can anyone tell me the approx. cost for the family staterooms? Looking at a normal balcony room, travelling to Europe in August 2020 for 13 days with 3 adults and 1 child is £5-6000 (children will be 9 and 12), how much extra would a family room cost approximately?

[leaveitallbehind]

Impossible to say as it will vary by cruise line, actual stateroom category, and specific departure date and itinerary, and any promotions that may be offered at the time - and this information is necessary to know first.  And as pricing is driven by supply and demand and stateroom availability, it can vary as well over time based on when you inquire.  

 

As a result there is no way for anyone here to even approximate a price with any degree of accuracy as to what you would currently expect to pay. The only way to get accurate pricing is to contact a travel agent and have them determine it for you based on the above information or to contact the cruise line(s) directly.

Edited January 6, 2020 by leaveitallbehind

[hancock]

An alternative would be a balcony cabin with an inside across the hall. You would have more space and two bathrooms.

[RSLeesburg]

You may not even find any family suites available to book - these are usually the first cabins to sell out, especially during peak travel over the summer.  

[Essiesmom]

Often family rooms/suites are intended for families of 5 or more, so you wouldn't be able to book with 4.  And you can seldom book them online.  EM

[cb at sea]

You HAVE to call on the phone.  It's not hard!  Make sure you have the deck plans in front of you, so you're sure of what you're paying for.  If a "family" suite isn't avail., 2 CONNECTING cabins will work, too!

[Kerry's Girls]

Since there are usually only a few family rooms on each ship, they're generally sold out a year in advance.  That said, if you keep checking, especially around the refundable cancellation date, you might find one given back.  When we went on RCCL in a family stateroom (reserved a year ahead) with no balcony, it cost a little more than an outside stateroom per person, but less than a balcony.  So the non-balcony family room on RCCL might be even less than the balcony room you're looking at.  I was able to book that cabin online and I think you'd be able to too with just 4 people - it's once you get to 5 that you have to call RCCL.   Try looking for 2021 to get an idea - there are probably family cabins avail then.  

Edited January 7, 2020 by Kerry's Girls

[mamaneedsavacay]

MSC has Super Family and Super Family Plus categories available to view and book online. Besides Disney Cruises, they were the only one I could find in all of my searches that would let me view web results for one booking for five of us rather than having to book two cabins. 

 

Edited to add: not all of their ships have this cabin category. 

Edited January 13, 2020 by mamaneedsavacay
see explanation in body

[klfrodo]

I'm spending about $10K USD on a 2 bedroom family suite on a RCCL ship for a cruise in July 2021.

I would doubt that there are any family suites available for a cruise this summer.

Edited January 13, 2020 by klfrodo

[soozles]

We booked 2 connecting rooms, turned out to be cheaper than a room that could accommodate us. We got 2 ocean views, but you can also price out 2 balcony if the balcony is important to you. 

[CruisingWithTriplets]

Unfortunately, trying to book 5 person rooms without talking to a person is really hard.

 

NCL and Carnival will let you do it on the site, but others like RCL require that you call.

 

I ended up booking connecting ocean view rooms on Carnival, which was much cheaper than any of the suites while affording us more room and a second bathroom. Our kids will be 6 at the time of sailing, so we didn't want the balcony, but they were available connecting as well.

 

A call to a TA or the cruise line is the easiest way to do this, as they can look up which connecting rooms are available that meet your party size. You can also start the process of booking the first room, looking at all the rooms still available with connections, then seeing if any of them connect to another room with the correct party size (Carnival had a lot of 2s that connect to 2s or 3s that connect to 3s, which we couldn't book). This is super time intensive and annoying, though.