Ask a family what they want from a cruise and the answer is usually a destination. Ask them what made the last one work and the answer is usually a door: the one between two suites that let the adults have an evening and the children have their own room without anyone sleeping in a corridor.
What a connecting suite is
Two separate suites, each with its own bathroom, veranda and entrance, joined by an interior door that can be locked from both sides. Not a suite with a second bedroom, which is rarer and far more expensive, and not two adjacent cabins, which share a wall but not a door.
Why there are so few
Luxury ships are small. A ship of three or four hundred suites may have ten or fifteen connecting pairs, and they are spread across categories and decks. They are also the first thing experienced families ask for, often before the itinerary is announced to the public. By the time a sailing appears on a booking website, the connecting pairs in the sensible categories are frequently gone.
How to get a pair
Decide the cabins before the flights. Be flexible on the deck and the exact category. Start nine to twelve months ahead for school holidays and six for anything else. And ask a specialist to ask the line directly: connecting status is not always visible on public deck plans, and a phone call to the right desk finds pairs that a website never shows.
When they are gone
Two cabins directly across a corridor are the next best thing, and often cheaper. A single large suite with a separate bedroom works for children under about ten. On ships with very large top suites, a grandparent couple in one and the family across the hall is a configuration we book often. What we would avoid is a sofa bed for a teenager in the parents' suite for a week.
The lines where it is easier
Explora Journeys and Regent Seven Seas have the most useful pairs for families and are set up for the request. Oceania has them in a range of categories. Silversea and Seabourn have fewer, and the yacht-style lines fewer still. The river ships are a different story: no connecting doors, but the whole boat is small enough that it barely matters.
What we do
Tell us the party, the month and the ship if you have one in mind. We will tell you whether the connecting pairs you need exist on that sailing, hold them if they do, and build the flights, hotels and transfers around the cabins rather than the other way round.
