Best room option for a multi-generational family

[michelle-nh]

We’ve only ever cruised just the two of us in a balcony. And once a long time ago with our daughter when she was young, in an inside cabin. We love our balcony, and it is a must for us now. 
 

But now, I’m thinking about inviting my mother along on a cruise (it would be her first). I know she’d hate an inside room. A balcony would be a must for her too. But booking a balcony just for herself would be pretty pricey. Is there a particular room type (not Haven—it’s out of our budget) that would allow us all privacy?  It would be uncomfortable for us all to be on top of each other and sleep in the same room. Outside of the Haven is a suite with bedrooms a thing? What are the best options?

[wcook]

In general, a multi room suite is going to be more expensive than two cabins. One option would be to seek out a cruise with a low single supplement. Another would be to put her in an inside across the hall. She can hang out with you and your balcony, but retreat to her cabin for the bathroom and to sleep. 

[PoofCat99]

4 hours ago, wcook said:

In general, a multi room suite is going to be more expensive than two cabins. One option would be to seek out a cruise with a low single supplement. Another would be to put her in an inside across the hall. She can hang out with you and your balcony, but retreat to her cabin for the bathroom and to sleep. 

I do this with my parents. They book a balcony (non-suite), & I'm in an inside or studio. We have also done a 2 bedroom suite for a splurge. 

[Two Wheels Only]

Which ship(s) are you considering?

[BirdTravels]

12 hours ago, michelle-nh said:

A balcony would be a must for her too. But booking a balcony just for herself would be pretty pricey. Is there a particular room type (not Haven—it’s out of our budget) that would allow us all privacy?  It would be uncomfortable for us all to be on top of each other and sleep in the same room. Outside of the Haven is a suite with bedrooms a thing? What are the best options?

So,,, there are really no NCL cabins that really meet your requirements. The older, smaller ships would have a privacy curtain between the master bed and the sofa bed, but it is still a single, small room shared. 

 

Booking a connecting room fits the bill, but you are still paying for two balcony rooms (unless you can find a cheap single supplement cruise as mentioned above... which I have not seen). 

 

You could book mom in a balcony and you take the inside room across the hall. Or the opposite. 

 

Best Choice: Or just bite the bullet and book the current promotion which the 3rd person in the room sails free (actually you still need to pay port taxes for passenger 3, but no cruise fare). Split the bed. You and mom get the the beds, your partner gets the sofa. It's only a week, saves money, and you may learn that sleeping with mom is o.k. Or maybe even splurge and get a club balcony (which the room is the same size on big ships (BA/BA+), but you get a bigger bathroom with a full size shower). 

[GeezerCouple]

4 hours ago, Two Wheels Only said:

Which ship(s) are you considering?

 

Again, if OP could let us know which ship, or that there's no preference yet?

 

The Jewel class ships have a 2BR/2BA suite that is exactly like the Haven 2BR/2BA suite, except... it's not a Haven suite.

In at least some ships (all Jewel class? not sure!), those suites still get the full non-Haven suite experience, meaning separate dining area for breakfast and lunch if desired, and the Butler service.  Some find the Butler "not a big deal", but for us, it's phenomenal, a wonderful addition.

 

The Jewel class ship Havens don't have a separate restaurant, so the extra fee for "Haven" isn't as valuable as on some other ships.

 

Note:  We made a dreadful mistake one year, and booked the Pearl for a holiday cruise, including both Christmas and NYE.  That ship was MOBBED.  Worse... the kids (of whom there *must* have been at leat 10,000!! 😱) were totally out of control.  They roamed the halls in groups, purposefully blocking elevator access and such.  Yes, purposefully... some of them would look you right in the eye as they stood there blocking the open elevator door, or as they barged in right into you, etc.  They would do the same as they walked, or ran, right smack into you in a hallway, never missing eye contact while smirking. 😡

 

Thank goodness we were Haven!  We escaped all of that as we sheltered in the Haven for most of the cruise.  That was fine for us, as we rarely partake of the "entertainment" these days on most ships.  That's not the purpose of cruising for us, so some of the smaller ships on other lines that don't offer much of that are really great for us; sometimes the itinerary dictates a smaller selection of ships.

We had most of our meals served in the suite, something we often enjoy anyway, and we loved lounging in the common area, having more snacks or burgers/etc., delivered right there.

 

(We anticipate never cruising again during school holidays on a ship that welcomes children.  DH is no longer as constrained by scheduling, thank goodness.)

 

However, if it's not a school holiday or such, then a non-Haven 2BR/2BA suite might work very well.  Note that the 2nd BR is tiny, but fine for one person.  Also a tiny bathroom, with tiny shower.  And it IS an "inside".  But open that 2nd BR door (complete privacy, nice in OP's situation), and there's a very comfortable LR and balcony (*small* balcony).  >> This would be the same as if one had a 1BR suite with a real "bedroom with door".

There is only a curtain separating the LR from the main BR/BA, but that would probably be fine in this situation.

 

That arrangement might be much better than having Mother sleep in a "living room", or having to share one bathroom.

 

I hope she enjoys her first cruise!

 

GC

 

 

[michelle-nh]

11 hours ago, Two Wheels Only said:

Which ship(s) are you considering?

I haven’t narrowed it down that far yet. Probably one of the ships that cruise out of NYC.

[michelle-nh]

Thank you, GeezerCouple. The 2br suites you mentioned sound like exactly what we need. I’ll look into those.  If that doesn’t work out, the solution mentioned by others to book a balcony with an inside across the hall is a good compromise too. Unfortunately, even if we could afford Haven, my DH is very miserly and admittedly it’s one of his traits that I mostly appreciate. We are able to travel a lot, but do it modestly.
 

My mother is a retired junior high school teacher. I’m sure the last thing she’d want on vacation is a mob of kids. I’ll take your advice and avoid holiday weeks.
 

 

[johnrich]

We are sailing the Joy out of NY and although we always book a balcony, we decided to upgrade to a 2 bedroom family suite so my mom could have her own room and bathroom. Although it is an inside room, the one wall is a virtual balcony so you can see everything that is outside as if you were standing on a true balcony. From people I’ve chatted with, they love it. I’m sure we’ll miss the breeze but the room looks very big. Master bedroom with master bath, living room with a small dining table and a second bedroom with a second bath. It wasn’t much more than the balcony so we thought we would try it. Keeping our fingers crossed. This type of room is only on the Joy. 

[GeezerCouple]

31 minutes ago, michelle-nh said:

Thank you, GeezerCouple. The 2br suites you mentioned sound like exactly what we need. I’ll look into those.  If that doesn’t work out, the solution mentioned by others to book a balcony with an inside across the hall is a good compromise too. Unfortunately, even if we could afford Haven, my DH is very miserly and admittedly it’s one of his traits that I mostly appreciate. We are able to travel a lot, but do it modestly.
 

My mother is a retired junior high school teacher. I’m sure the last thing she’d want on vacation is a mob of kids. I’ll take your advice and avoid holiday weeks.

 

When you are getting ready to choose, please do look at the Floorplans.

AND then ask here about the specific category and ship, and also specific suite numbers.

NCL does not always have, um, accurate Floorplans.  That's especially true after major changes, when the new arrangements are sometimes actually in use before the online deck and floor plans are updated.  (Like... they didn't know far in advance what it was going to be??  Or they've been known to be grossly inaccurate as in "wrong". 😡 )

So if it really matters (and actually, when does it not, spending thousands and expecting what was described/shown?), double check.  To be fair, NCL does sometimes mention that the floor plan may not be as shown (or wording to that effect), but they don't make that obvious, plus... what ARE you getting!?

It's really unfortunate.  There's no reason there needs to be upsets, surprises, or disappointments like this when NCL has had the information for months and perhaps well more than a year.

 

When we had that 2BR/2BA suite the first time, DH cracked up when we walked in and walked around.  (He doesn't like trip planning; I love it!)  It was just the two of us, and he called the little BR "his office". 😁  He does work on trips, which is fine, but thank goodness he did use the large LR for that, where there's much more space and lovely outside views with the balcony.

 

IF you get a suite like this, be sure to read up here on CC about how to make the best use of the Butler, especially for customized snacks or in-suite dining.  A *real* luxury trip!  Even compared with some more expensive cruiselines/ships, the Butlers in NCL can really stand out with this type of service.  (Or we've been lucky; only our very first Butler wasn't superb, but we didn't know enough then to realize what it "could have been like".)

 

Also, given that some services are being cut back (not just on NCL, and not just on cruiselines), double check about the services/etc., to avoid disappointment with incorrect expectations about the current state of affairs...

 

GC

[GeezerCouple]

37 minutes ago, johnrich said:

We are sailing the Joy out of NY and although we always book a balcony, we decided to upgrade to a 2 bedroom family suite so my mom could have her own room and bathroom. Although it is an inside room, the one wall is a virtual balcony so you can see everything that is outside as if you were standing on a true balcony. From people I’ve chatted with, they love it. I’m sure we’ll miss the breeze but the room looks very big. Master bedroom with master bath, living room with a small dining table and a second bedroom with a second bath. It wasn’t much more than the balcony so we thought we would try it. Keeping our fingers crossed. This type of room is only on the Joy. 

 

I just looked at the Joy deck and floor plans.  That 2BR suite you described looks very nice.  I actually thought it was a real Ocean View of some sort at first, or even that the balcony wasn't being shown.  But the bedrooms are both of decent size, which is nicer for most cases.

GC

[FLAHAM]

You and mother in a balcony.  Husband in a studio.

[Sailing12Away]

Jewel class ships have the non-Haven suites. Large rooms, lots of extra perks, much cheaper than Haven, and the only difference is no access to the private pool area. Dawn and Star also have similar rooms as they have no Haven on the ship at all.

 

Or look at the Joy. Consider the Haven in a HH category room. It's a large family villa with a murphy bed (so no couch bed, much comfier), fits up to 5 in there with a privacy curtain. Everyone would get Haven access, and since it's outside of the courtyard the rooms are much bigger and much cheaper. So even though it's a splurge, it's a justifiable one.

[evanskl4]

I am taking my mom on a cruise this fall for her 85th birthday, along with my partner and our 11 year old twins. I specifically booked a cruise on the Joy for the Family Suite - I believe this is the room that Geezer is referring to above. It is 2BR/2BA but only has a "virtual" balcony - basically a window screen that shows a visual of what's outside the ship.
The room sleeps up to 6 as there is a living room between the 2 BRs with a pullout double sofa. It's over 500sq ft...
Personally I think this is the perfect setup for multi-generational travel! It was much cheaper than booking 2 rooms for us (considering we would need enough room for 4 in one room anyway).

I think the Category is called SP.

Here is one of many threads discussing the room: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2849998-ncl-joy-category-sp-family-inside-suite-questions/

[dcipjr]

The Joy's Family Inside Suites were actually designed for multi-generation travel when the ship was built for the China market, IIRC.

 

We stayed in one back in early 2020, prior to the pandemic. Layout-wise, it's fabulous, and has tons of space and storage. It was priced competitively with a balcony at the time, but I'm not sure if that has changed over the years.

 

Not going to lie: I missed having a real balcony. The virtual one is an interesting illusion, but there's no getting past that it's a screen, especially at night, when it's staticky. Sometimes you had to "reboot" the balcony by opening and closing the curtain. 

 

But I would stay in that suite again, especially if traveling with family that aren't opposed to an inside.