Balcony room for 5 that's not a suite

[jenboyd29]

Are there balcony rooms available that sleep 5? We are planning for May 2021 cruise out of San Juan on Freedom of the Seas and the Ultra Spacious Room holds 5 but we are thinking a balcony would be nice but I don't see any that hold 5 except suites. Am I missing something? 

[TheHobbys]

I believe balconies are max occupancy of 4, so with your 5, you would need to find a larger room that would allow that many.  The Ultra Spacious Room seems to have 2 pullman beds (aren't those the dropdown from the ceiling?), couch bed and then then king size bed (2 twins that are mushed together).  Think these are only on the front of the ship. 

You could look into 2 balconies with an adjoining door - but then price that against a larger suite to see which option saves you the most money.

[CyclingVa]

2 balconies would probably be the way to go. You could open the balcony dividers and make 1 huge balcony and also have 2 bathrooms.  1 bathroom with 5 people sounds busy.

 

[Baked Alaska]

3 hours ago, jenboyd29 said:

Are there balcony rooms available that sleep 5? We are planning for May 2021 cruise out of San Juan on Freedom of the Seas and the Ultra Spacious Room holds 5 but we are thinking a balcony would be nice but I don't see any that hold 5 except suites. Am I missing something? 

You could book BOTH a balcony and an interior stateroom that is right across the hall from your balcony. If two adults, book an adult in each room. Then, go to guest services to swap around room keys. Then, you also have TWO bathrooms! And! The adults get the balcony!!

[HeWhoWaits]

3 hours ago, TheHobbys said:

You could look into 2 balconies with an adjoining door - but then price that against a larger suite to see which option saves you the most money.

A couple years back we were looking at 2 adjoining balcony rooms for five adults and an infant. The 2BR suite (known at the time as the Royal Family Suite) was only about $600 more. With the extra space and some added perks it turned out to be worth it to spend the extra $100 per person on average. Where the price point breaks for YOU is what's most important.

[jenboyd29]

I think we're going to book a balcony for us and an interior room for our kids across the hall (17, 15, 12). One bathroom just isn't going to cut it for a whole week with 5 folks. Plus no privacy for mom and dad if we're in one large room. 

[Baked Alaska]

4 minutes ago, jenboyd29 said:

I think we're going to book a balcony for us and an interior room for our kids across the hall (17, 15, 12). One bathroom just isn't going to cut it for a whole week with 5 folks. Plus no privacy for mom and dad if we're in one large room. 

A travel agent, say @Sharla at MEI travel if you don't have one,  could set this up for you! She's been wonderful to work with for our cruises, including notifying me of cruise fare price drops! 

[Fairlynew]

I agree that Sharla is very helpful.

[Fairlynew]

I also strongly recommend two bathrooms!!  We also have 3 children (adults now) but we did adjacent rooms when they were young.

[JLMoran]

Another vote for two rooms and two bathrooms, especially with teenagers in the mix! If the price gap between balcony and interior vs two balconies is acceptable, I strongly recommend going that route. As @CyclingVa noted, you can then get the partition opened up and have a double-width balcony. And your kids will appreciate the extra space!

[wstephensi]

Been booking adjoining rooms for years.  DD's get their space and bath and Mom and Dad get their's.  Most of the times with 4 it is way cheaper to get two rooms than one of the larger suites or family 2 room suites.  Now that the girls are older, our up coming cruise with adjoining rooms and balcony maybe our last.  Girls may find themselves in an interior across the hall to save money so Mom and Dad can upgrade.  Bring on the Grand Suite!

We will have an adjoining JS and Ocean view cabin on Harmony in June.

 

[AshleyDillo]

If for some reason only one adult wants the deluxe drink package, make sure to book one adult in each room to avoid buying two deluxe drink packages.  Another bonus of having two rooms there.

[rjac]

1 hour ago, Baked Alaska said:

TWO bathrooms!

Amen to that Sister! 

[JennyB]

Another vote for 2 rooms = 2 bathrooms.  That's what we're doing on our July Navigator cruise.  Connecting rooms, we'll have our cabin steward remove the partition on the balcony so we can all 4 enjoy the balcony together. 

[jenboyd29]

I think we're going to try and book a balcony room and an interior room across the hall. Its a port intensive cruise with only 1 sea day but coffee in the mornings on the balcony sounds fabulous to me and sail away from the balcony after each port sounds relaxing.