Cruising! We love cruising! And now that I have taken my kids twice, they are hooked. Wanderlust is now out of control at our house.

But how do you book a cruise for a family of seven (parents + 5 kids) without selling the older ones to pay for the younger ones?

Our Family on Catalina Island on our 2nd Cruise together

Multiple rooms!

When I book a cruise for my family we are going as CHEAP as possible since there are so many of us. The price of an inside room per person can range from $400-$1000 before taxes and gratuities. With a balcony room or suite the prices jump SIGNIFICANTLY! And all those prices would be times SEVEN if I was booking the whole family in those larger rooms. Unfortunately for my children who keep asking when we get to fly first class, that is not a reality.

So we book TWO inside rooms that are next to each other. MANY cruise lines have connecting rooms, but since my kids are older I have been able to get away without the connecting rooms.

Kids can be right next door! (Photo Courtesy of Carnival.com)

The Trouble Booking Kids

Most cruise lines will NOT allow children to all be booked in one room unless they are connecting. Or they don’t let you book them at all. So what we do is book a girls room and a boys room. Mom and three girls are “booked” in one room. Dad and the two boys are “booked in the other room. I put the boys room as having a King bed while the girls’ room has twin beds and two pullouts or bunks from the ceiling. When the time comes to put our stuff in the rooms, the “boy” room becomes mom and dad’s room, while the kid room is the “girl” room.

Check out these fun bunk beds on board the Disney Magic!

Now the only problem with this is that only the “girl” keys work on the kid room and only the “boy” keys work on the adult room. BUT if you take one key from both rooms to the concierge desk you can get EXTRA key-only copies of both rooms for whomever may need them. I just wish that meant I could lock my boys out of my room for the remainder of the cruise. It is NOT fun allowing children to have full access to your room while on a cruise. Because we all know what happens to married people on a cruise, right?

They SLEEP! Finally!

You can book entire large family groups easily for family reunions or friend get-togethers with us as your travel agents. Your travel agent helps you get seated together at dinner time and even can help you get special group privileges.

Booking two connecting rooms is EASIEST with Fun Agents Travel. Contact us now to book your sleep-ful cruise for your family.

Zipline adventures in our port of Ensenada during our family cruise! It was a blast!