2 vs 1 Room

[WannaCruise]

Family of 4 (kids 14 and 10).  Would you keep connecting Promenade rooms?  Or upgrade to a Junior Suite?  And how much would you pay to upgrade?  It's for a 4 day cruise.

[Lovetocruise2002]

Depends...do the points matter to you?  And how well do your kids get along? And what ship?

Personally, if it was an Oasis class or Quantum class ship, I would move to a JS for the dinner access to Coastal Kitchen and for the double points.  That matters to me.  We have had a cot in a JS suite before for our two kids so the sleeping works out too.  And for a 4 day cruise, we can survive in one washroom.

[WannaCruise]

Its Navigator so no CK.  Our kids get along (and also fight like siblings do) but they are boy and girl. Difference now is $800 so probably still a lot (we locked in at good price) but guess main pro is double points (and we'd get balcony).

[Lovetocruise2002]

So then the question becomes is $800 worth the balcony and double points to you?  Is it worth the loss of the other bathroom and bed?  Our kids are 10 and 12.  They are both girls and they hate sharing a bed.  One always gets the sofa bed and the other one gets the cot.

One thing to note is that hopefully you booked a refundable deposit.  If you did not, the change will also cost you.  When you move from 2 rooms to one, you are actually cancelling a reservation.

[WannaCruise]

Thanks for the reply.  Yeah...that's probably the big thing is having them go from their own bed to sharing (or cot solution as you mentioned).  We actually have a bunch of cruises book and we have different room configurations for all (e.g. 1 boardwalk balcony, 2 promenades, 2 interior virtual, 1 balcony, 1 promenade).  They really all come down to price.

Good point about refundable.  We actually have them booked the two rooms as refundable so no issue there, but we can move to non-refundable now as our flight is booked.  That's generally our trigger for when we are ok to switch over.

PS - I see you have Navigator booked for August 2019 too  (and most of your booked ships we have as well, or have been on)

[Lovetocruise2002]

3 hours ago, WannaCruise said:

PS - I see you have Navigator booked for August 2019 too  (and most of your booked ships we have as well, or have been on)

We got sucked in by the new amp features. We grabbed a Panoramic Suite on that one. Hopefully I don't end up cancelling that one....

[WannaCruise]

9 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

We got sucked in by the new amp features. We grabbed a Panoramic Suite on that one. Hopefully I don't end up cancelling that one....

Yeah...really excited for those slides.  Our kids will love them. And those rooms look really nice!

[Lovetocruise2002]

@WannaCruise, I thought of one more reason that you might use to justify the upgrade...if you can grab one of the new JS cabins up on Deck 11, those balconies are huge!  More than double the size of a regular balcony.  That alone might be worth the upgrade.  And those cabins are newer so the furnishings and decor will be updated for sure.

[melski94]

I would prefer the 2 rooms and 2 bathrooms over 1 JS especially for that price.  I think $200 a night extra is quite excessive considering you don't get much besides double points.  Take what I say with a grain of salt as I hate sharing a room with my kids and rarely do it except for the pre  cruise hotel.  

We always get 2 rooms and are starting to get 3 rooms for our family of 6.  Our preference is 2 connecting JS but that configuration isn't available on all ships so we are going to 3 rooms as it isn't much more than the cost of 2.

Looking at booking Navigator in July!  Debating on if waiting until just after final payment as I'm already late to get a decent deal.

   

[Lovetocruise2002]

Just now, melski94 said:

Debating on if waiting until just after final payment as I'm already late to get a decent deal.

The last few sailings that we have been on, I have not noticed a great price drop after final payment.  With the Royal Up program now, I worry that might be going away as well...

[WannaCruise]

16 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

@WannaCruise, I thought of one more reason that you might use to justify the upgrade...if you can grab one of the new JS cabins up on Deck 11, those balconies are huge!  More than double the size of a regular balcony.  That alone might be worth the upgrade.  And those cabins are newer so the furnishings and decor will be updated for sure.

Thanks for the mention!  I assume you mean the 4 corner-ish rooms at the front?  Some are available. Normally I would avoid forward, but with these 4 day cruises you are barely moving so probably not as big of a deal  i.e. since stops are close

Still a lot of difference so we'll probably see if it comes down at all (but avoid switching over our current booking to non-refundable so we have the option to swap)

[WannaCruise]

1 minute ago, melski94 said:

I would prefer the 2 rooms and 2 bathrooms over 1 JS especially for that price.  I think $200 a night extra is quite excessive considering you don't get much besides double points.  Take what I say with a grain of salt as I hate sharing a room with my kids and rarely do it except for the pre  cruise hotel.  

We always get 2 rooms and are starting to get 3 rooms for our family of 6.  Our preference is 2 connecting JS but that configuration isn't available on all ships so we are going to 3 rooms as it isn't much more than the cost of 2.

Looking at booking Navigator in July!  Debating on if waiting until just after final payment as I'm already late to get a decent deal.

   

Yeah...2 bathrooms and extra space is nice (esp as our kids would get their own bed). Having said that, my younger one still needs help with the shower and drying her hair, so it's not like we can just say 'go shower' or 'brush your teeth' and saves much time (but our older one is 100% independent).

Yeah...2 JS would be great...but even one raises our budget a lot (we've been cruising more, so it lowers budget overall across them...esp with flight costs)

One thing I should mention though...we have 5 Royal bookings at the moment. When those are done, we will move up to Emerald.  If we move the Navigator to a JS, then with the double points, we would move up after the next 4 bookings.  But guess overall, it doesn't make much of a difference.

Good luck...I hope prices drop for you so you can book for a good deal!

PS - Unless you can successfully get a bid from royal-up for a small amount, then I don't see much point.  You don't get double points (if moving from lower-suite to suite class) and you don't get to select your room number.

[Lovetocruise2002]

Just now, WannaCruise said:

I assume you mean the 4 corner-ish rooms at the front?

Yes, 1154, 1156, 1106, 1108.  We had 1102 on Mariner and although it was not the exact same setup, it was still very forward.  Same thing, 4 day cruise.  Motion was not noticeable at all.  We all loved the location on Deck 11.  Kids love being so close to the pool, soft serve ice cream and WJ.  And we were literally steps from the Solarium.

[WannaCruise]

Just now, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Yes, 1154, 1156, 1106, 1108.  We had 1102 on Mariner and although it was not the exact same setup, it was still very forward.  Same thing, 4 day cruise.  Motion was not noticeable at all.  We all loved the location on Deck 11.  Kids love being so close to the pool, soft serve ice cream and WJ.  And we were literally steps from the Solarium.

Great...thanks so much.  We'll definitely watch prices and those staterooms.  Only one is taken at this time.  We prefer being aft (so near the waterslides , Windjammer and dining room)....but then again if on deck 11, then you are horizontally close and can avoid those nasty elevators (or stairs that our kids complain of...lol)  Great to hear you also found movement a non-issue on a 4 day cruise with stops close.

[KathyC]

8 hours ago, WannaCruise said:

One thing I should mention though...we have 5 Royal bookings at the moment. When those are done, we will move up to Emerald.  If we move the Navigator to a JS, then with the double points, we would move up after the next 4 bookings.  But guess overall, it doesn't make much of a difference.

There is barely any difference between Emerald & Platinum...so unless you are in a hurry to get to Diamond there is no rush to get to Emerald.  A couple of bottles of welcome waters is about it.  LOL 

[WannaCruise]

34 minutes ago, KathyC said:

There is barely any difference between Emerald & Platinum...so unless you are in a hurry to get to Diamond there is no rush to get to Emerald.  A couple of bottles of welcome waters is about it.  LOL 

True, thanks.  Diamond seems to be the only real benefit (except for bit more savings on balconies with each level) but we're obviously a long way from that.

I'm sure we'll keep our 2 promenades...unless the JS drops a good amount.

[mom2mybugs]

5 hours ago, KathyC said:

There is barely any difference between Emerald & Platinum...so unless you are in a hurry to get to Diamond there is no rush to get to Emerald.  A couple of bottles of welcome waters is about it.  LOL 

Yeah...we will make Platinum on our next cruise and I keep telling myself jumping to emerald IS NOT a good reason to book a gazillion cruises in the next year!   Diamond is a very very very long way away!  Jane

[WannaCruise]

8 hours ago, mom2mybugs said:

Yeah...we will make Platinum on our next cruise and I keep telling myself jumping to emerald IS NOT a good reason to book a gazillion cruises in the next year!   Diamond is a very very very long way away!  Jane

Lol...I hear you  (but still like the idea of booking a gazillion cruises for other reasons )

[Lovetocruise2002]

To play devil's advocate...Booking a gazillion cruises in JS and above will move you up the C&A ladder even faster.  Win-Win. 

[JLMoran]

10 hours ago, mom2mybugs said:

Yeah...we will make Platinum on our next cruise and I keep telling myself jumping to emerald IS NOT a good reason to book a gazillion cruises in the next year!   Diamond is a very very very long way away!  Jane

 

1 hour ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

To play devil's advocate...Booking a gazillion cruises in JS and above will move you up the C&A ladder even faster.  Win-Win. 

No need for a gazillion. Just book a JS in four 10+ day repositioning or transatlantic trips and you’ve got half the points for Diamond. 

[melski94]

On 12/22/2018 at 9:13 AM, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Yes, 1154, 1156, 1106, 1108.  We had 1102 on Mariner and although it was not the exact same setup, it was still very forward.  Same thing, 4 day cruise.  Motion was not noticeable at all.  We all loved the location on Deck 11.  Kids love being so close to the pool, soft serve ice cream and WJ.  And we were literally steps from the Solarium.

 

On 12/22/2018 at 9:03 AM, Lovetocruise2002 said:

The last few sailings that we have been on, I have not noticed a great price drop after final payment.  With the Royal Up program now, I worry that might be going away as well...

Thanks to the thread, I booked 1154 last night!  I saw the 2 rooms that I wanted were available on the UK site and tried to book on the US site.  The US site wasn't showing 1154 as available.  A quick email to my TA last night (I was trying not to bug her over the holiday weekend) and she had the 2 rooms on hold this morning.  I'll put the deposit down after Christmas.  Plus she said there are 2 sales over the week so she'll check any price changes.  Thanks Nancy S at MEI Travel for dealing with me! 

Now I put myself + 3 kids in the JS for the double points but my kids will probably sleep there. Anyone know if the balcony dividers open?

[mom2mybugs]

2 hours ago, JLMoran said:

 

No need for a gazillion. Just book a JS in four 10+ day repositioning or transatlantic trips and you’ve got half the points for Diamond. 

and I only need to buy a gazillion lottery tickets and win to afford it!!!!!   Jane

[WannaCruise]

On 12/22/2018 at 10:13 AM, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Yes, 1154, 1156, 1106, 1108.  We had 1102 on Mariner and although it was not the exact same setup, it was still very forward.  Same thing, 4 day cruise.  Motion was not noticeable at all.  We all loved the location on Deck 11.  Kids love being so close to the pool, soft serve ice cream and WJ.  And we were literally steps from the Solarium.

On Mariner, the new rooms are 1100, 1102 (one you mention), 1104 and 1106 right?  These seems to be the only rooms at this part of the ship so guessing these are pretty quiet.  (We have this ship booked too, but one balcony)

[Lovetocruise2002]

6 hours ago, melski94 said:

Thanks to the thread, I booked 1154 last night! 

Awesome!

2 hours ago, WannaCruise said:

On Mariner, the new rooms are 1100, 1102 (one you mention), 1104 and 1106 right?  These seems to be the only rooms at this part of the ship so guessing these are pretty quiet.  (We have this ship booked too, but one balcony)

Just a note that Deck 11 on Mariner and Navigator are not the same.  The new JS on Mariner (1100, 1102, 1104, and 1106) are along the Starboard side and they do not have the large balconies like Navigator will.  The new JS on Navigator are right along the very front (kind of like the panoramic suites) and they have the larger balconies.

[WannaCruise]

5 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Awesome!

Just a note that Deck 11 on Mariner and Navigator are not the same.  The new JS on Mariner (1100, 1102, 1104, and 1106) are along the Starboard side and they do not have the large balconies like Navigator will.  The new JS on Navigator are right along the very front (kind of like the panoramic suites) and they have the larger balconies.

Ah yes thanks for clarifying.  Not sure how accurate the deck plan drawings are, but on Navigator, they are on the "corner " circle part (if that even makes sense...lol) and so by the shape, the room and balcony looks bigger.  On the Mariner, it looks like the standard rectangle room and balcony.

[Lovetocruise2002]

2 hours ago, WannaCruise said:

Ah yes thanks for clarifying.  Not sure how accurate the deck plan drawings are, but on Navigator, they are on the "corner " circle part (if that even makes sense...lol) and so by the shape, the room and balcony looks bigger.  On the Mariner, it looks like the standard rectangle room and balcony.

On Mariner they are standard size. If you look at my Mariner blog (link in signature) there are pics of 1104 (I think I may have given the wrong cabin earlier).  I can't remember where I saw it, but somewhere online, the square footage of those corner JS on Navigator was posted. It was considerably larger than the standard JS on any ship.

[melski94]

10 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

 I can't remember where I saw it, but somewhere online, the square footage of those corner JS on Navigator was posted. It was considerably larger than the standard JS on any ship.

Navigator Standard JS on deck 9 297 sq ft with 64 sq ft balcony (j3/j4)

Navigator deck 11 JS  J3 (guessing 1154 and 1106 due to balcony size) 235 sq ft and 537 sq ft balcony

Navigator deck 11 J3 (guessing 1156 and 1108) JS 267 sq ft and 412 sq ft balcony 

I find it surprising as they look larger on the deck plans but deck 11 staterooms are actually smaller but the balconies more than make up for it.

Just an FYI, the balcony staterooms on deck 11 are also listed as smaller rooms with larger balconies. 

 

 

[WannaCruise]

38 minutes ago, melski94 said:

Navigator Standard JS on deck 9 297 sq ft with 64 sq ft balcony (j3/j4)

Navigator deck 11 JS  J3 (guessing 1154 and 1106 due to balcony size) 235 sq ft and 537 sq ft balcony

Navigator deck 11 J3 (guessing 1156 and 1108) JS 267 sq ft and 412 sq ft balcony 

I find it surprising as they look larger on the deck plans but deck 11 staterooms are actually smaller but the balconies more than make up for it.

Just an FYI, the balcony staterooms on deck 11 are also listed as smaller rooms with larger balconies. 

 

 

Interesting. Thanks for the info.  So the Navigator rooms on Deck 11 are smaller than standard JS (but with huge balcony).  Good to note as the room space is probably most important to us (of course the super huge balcony would be great too). They also seem an odd shape so wonder how the layout works inside?

[whitsmom]

I would rather have 2 bathrooms than the extra points. 

[WannaCruise]

3 hours ago, whitsmom said:

I would rather have 2 bathrooms than the extra points. 

Thanks...we'll most likely keep the 2 rooms (which means 2 bathrooms) unless there is a big drop in the JS.

I actually think our kids will get a kick out of having their own room, and other times we've all been in the same stateroom.

[melfire]

On 12/23/2018 at 9:50 AM, melski94 said:

 

Thanks to the thread, I booked 1154 last night!  I saw the 2 rooms that I wanted were available on the UK site and tried to book on the US site.  The US site wasn't showing 1154 as available.  A quick email to my TA last night (I was trying not to bug her over the holiday weekend) and she had the 2 rooms on hold this morning.  I'll put the deposit down after Christmas.  Plus she said there are 2 sales over the week so she'll check any price changes.  Thanks Nancy S at MEI Travel for dealing with me! 

Now I put myself + 3 kids in the JS for the double points but my kids will probably sleep there. Anyone know if the balcony dividers open?

Curious when you're sailing.  We have 1106 booked for Feb 3 2020.

[melski94]

46 minutes ago, melfire said:

Curious when you're sailing.  We have 1106 booked for Feb 3 2020.

July 2019.  I plan on doing a review about the new rooms.

[Bakerette]

On 12/21/2018 at 8:32 PM, WannaCruise said:

Yeah...that's probably the big thing is having them go from their own bed to sharing (or cot solution as you mentioned). 

You can always ask your stateroom attenedent to separate the beds so that both of your kids do not have to share a bed (because the size of the bed that is in the room is a king size which is just 2 twin size beds pushed together, when can be separated upon request) or one of them ends up sleeping on the sofa or a cot.

 On my last cruise in December 2018 I stayed in the same room as my mother and I had requested for the beds to be separated so that we did not have to share a bed or one of us sleeps on the sofa (or on the floor).