Best room(s) for 2 adults + 2 teens

[jbrinkm]

First (potential) time on NCL. I'll say up front that I don't think we can afford the 2 bedroom Haven, but what is another good option for 2 adults and 2 teens that won't share a bed? I know on RCCL, it is 2 connecting cabins. Is it the same on NCL, or is there another option? Specifically Breakaway, if it matters.

[marbleski]

If they are older teenagers consider booking a balcony and an inside across from one another.  You will have to put one adult in each room to make the reservation. 

[kjquilts]

26 minutes ago, marbleski said:

If they are older teenagers consider booking a balcony and an inside across from one another.  You will have to put one adult in each room to make the reservation. 

 

Keep in mind that at least on Breakaway/Getaway the insides across the hall from the balconies do not open into the same hall ..... they open into an interior corridor.  Example from deck 11 .... the solid orange lines are solid hallway wall across from balcony staterooms.

 

[shadow73]

We got a family outside stateroom once. No balcony, but it has a window.  There's a queen bed and then a pull down twin berth on either side.  Not very much space and it smelled like teenage boy feet by the 3rd day, but we made it work!

[kjquilts]

NCL Breakaway has balcony staterooms that sleep four.  Two in comfortable bed that can be split if desired.  One one couch that turns into bed and one in bed that drops from ceiling above couch.

They also have connecting balcony staterooms but it might be necessary to book one adult in each stateroom along with minor passenger.... not sure about this if staterooms actually have a connecting door between them.

 

Another option and one that can be fairly inexpensive especially with the occasional "kids sail free" promo is one of the category 05 Family Oceanview staterooms.  No balcony but one thing I really like if four are sharing stateroom is the extra closet and the sliding curtain between the couch/pull down bed from the ceiling area and the main bed area.   Here is a quick YouTube video by Magic Inspired Fan of one of these staterooms from sister ship Getaway.  I think this is stateroom 5774, definitely not a Suite but nice roomy oceanview stateroom.

 

 

Edited July 18, 2022 by kjquilts

[BirdTravels]

I would get a connecting balcony room. And lock the connecting door 🙂 

 

I would not try to cram 4 people in one balcony room. 

 

[erin21497]

15 hours ago, marbleski said:

If they are older teenagers consider booking a balcony and an inside across from one another.  You will have to put one adult in each room to make the reservation. 

This is exactly what we did for our trip next week with our 2 boys, 13 and 16.  I think it will work out great.

[mjkacmom]

We had connecting balconies on the breakaway.

[JamesIowa]

The joy has a 2 br inside suite that is pretty nice. The suites on the joy aren’t haven but do have some perks. 

[RRSeeker]

I had 2 adult women and our sons in their early 20’s in club balcony 15186 on the breakaway. It worked well for us. No, not a lot of room to unpack and move around but we only slept there.

 

The boys had a Pullman and couch turned in to a bed like bunk beds and my sister and I split the bed to make 2 twins.

[Brian V]

22 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

I would get a connecting balcony room. And lock the connecting door 🙂

I would book a balcony and an inside...on a different ship😁

 

Seriously, I agree with @BirdTravelson this one, 4 (pretty much) adults in 1 cabin is not gonna happen, especially if the parental units want a little private time...

[Cruisingfan42]

Two connecting balcony staterooms works out nicely.  Our two teen daughters stayed in one room, and wife and I in the other.  

[thedoc29ca]

We’ve done connecting insides on the Getaway and enjoyed the extra washroom,storage and privacy for the price of one balcony.  
 

Another option is an aft balcony opposite the corridor for the inside staterooms and the inside room at the end if both are available.   

[lfreda]

The best room with teens is 2 rooms 🙂

[lfreda]

The advantage we have found with 2 rooms beyond the extra space and privacy is that everyone will get the free at sea promo if you book a qualifying room.  Without 2 rooms, you essentially end up paying to use the specialty dining since it will only apply to the 1st 2 guests.

[rbxlady]

I would definitely encourage you to book two connecting cabins or two cabins that are very close together, depending on how old your teens are, but if you do not want to book a Haven suite, then I would recommend looking at booking a club balcony "suite". There is a couch that turns into a twin bed and a pull down twin bed over it, so it's basically like having bunk beds. There's a tad more space in the cabin itself as compared to a "regular" balcony cabin, and the bathroom is more generous, with a bigger shower and double sinks. It's still tight but doable, and for our cruise the difference between the club balcony suite we booked and a regular balcony cabin was negligible. This is for a cruise in October on the Getaway with our two kids (9 and 11), but I suspect that when they get older we will need to book two cabins or suck it up and book a Haven suite (heavens, no!).

 

Don't forget that you can always bid to upgrade into the Haven. We have upgrade bids into the Haven pending, and I'm really hoping that if any of our bids is accepted, it will be for the two-bedroom suite. Right now it would cost over $5K to upgrade, and even though we're bidding a not-insignificant amount of money, it's still a good chunk less than $5K. I'll still be beyond happy with any other Haven suite, though, as my husband and I would at least have a bedroom door in any of them, but the two-bedroom suite would allow our boys to have their own bedroom with their own TV, the living area remains a living area, and it has a second full bathroom as opposed to a half bath.