Cruising is a lot of things, but one word you’ll rarely hear is “roomy.” Despite cruise ships soaring in size, the number of passengers on board has also grown. That means more rooms than ever on ships. So instead of cabins increasing in size as ships get bigger, they stay the same or in some cases even get smaller.
If sailing as a couple, even the small size of a cruise cabin is no big deal. But sailing with a family of three or four? It can become cramped. So should you book two cabins instead? Or is it better to all sail in one cabin?
Size of Cruise Cabins
How large will your room be? Cruise cabins can vary in size, but they are usually pretty comparable between cruise lines.
If you look at the cruise line’s website, you can usually see the square footage of rooms when going through the booking process. They often run in the 160-180 square foot range, not including space on balconies, if the room comes with one.
Often you’ll find that interior cabins are smaller than other cabins on the ship. Suites will be larger, but that will also vary widely. That’s because suites can run anything from a regular room with a little bit more space to multi-deck rooms complete with bedrooms and balconies alone that are larger than other cabins.
But for most people, you can figure on a room that’s less than 200 square feet. Within that you’ll have everything you need for the trip, including the beds, typically a small living area, and the bathroom.
What to Know About Sleeping Arrangements
If you were to walk into your cabin with a family of four, you might be confused on where everyone is going to sleep.
Cabins are cleverly designed to the point where it’s not easy to see the sleeping arrangements at first.
You’ll start with the main bed. This is actually two beds joined together with a large zipper. When put together, it’s queen-sized and sleeps two. However, the bed can be separated by your cabin steward to sleep two people individually.
Other arrangements are less obvious. Some cabins might have a long couch in the seating area where the back cushions are removed so that it converts into a bed. Other rooms will have beds that drop down from the ceiling or fold down from the wall. These can be put away during the day to provide more room but then brought down each night for sleeping.
Pros and Cons to Consider Before Deciding
So should you opt to sail in one cabin as a family or go with two rooms? For that, you need to think about the pros and cons of sailing with each scenario.
Cost: Obviously the biggest consideration for sailing in one versus two cabins is the cost. When you book a cruise cabin, you automatically pay for double occupancy. So if the fare is shown as $500, it will actually cost $1,000 right off the bat.
Additional passengers, however, are typically charged MUCH less in cruise fare. This includes sometimes even sailing for free (though things like port fees and gratuities will be a charge). In other words, sailing three or four people to a single cabin is much cheaper than opting for two rooms.
Space: Of course, the trade-off for cheaper cruising in a single cabin is the lack of space. Having sailed dozens of times in all sorts of cabins, it’s our thought that sailing with two adults and two small kids is perfectly fine when it comes to space. Have older kids (say 12 or older) and the space will feel much more cramped. If sailing as a family in that case, you’d likely lean toward two rooms.
Privacy: There’s not only the issue of physical space when sailing as a family in a cruise cabin. There’s also the issue of privacy. It’s one thing to share a house or an apartment on vacation with your family. It’s something else to share a cruise cabin. Here, there is no separation. If you want to stay up later and watch TV, then it’s going to keep everyone up. Or if parents want to be romantic in the evening, then that’s hard to do with kids sleeping in the room.
Togetherness: On the flipside of the privacy issue is one thing that’s a big benefit — being together on a vacation. You never know when a treasured family memory is going to be made while taking a trip together. But it is clear that it won’t happen when you’re apart from each other. And while there is plenty of time to be together during the cruise even if sailing in separate rooms, the togetherness of all sharing the same space is something you can’t replicate.
So Should You Sail Two Cabins or One?
There’s no doubt that you absolutely can sail in a single cabin, even if sailing with four people in the room. But it will be tight quarters.
Our opinion? If you are sailing with two kids younger than 12, then sailing altogether in one normal cabin — while tight — makes the most sense. It’s cheaper, keeps the family together and with kids that size, there will still be space for everyone.
If sailing with kids 12 and older, then we think it’s much smarter to opt for two cabins. At that age, it becomes much tighter in the cabin and frankly, everyone needs their own personal space. With two cabins parents can have their own spot while kids can still be checked on without everyone being on top of one another.
One other thing to consider is sailing altogether, but opting for a larger suite. Depending on the type of suite, these may be less expensive than two regular cabins but offer more space for everyone (in some cases even having a bedroom separate from the living area for extra privacy).
