The question we are asked most often by families is not which ship, but how many cabins. The honest answer is: fewer than you fear and more than the booking engine suggests. Luxury ships are all-suite or close to it, so even an entry-level cabin is a proper room with a sitting area and a veranda. The constraint is not space; it is doors.
Two adults and two children
One large suite with a separate bedroom works for children under about ten, provided the sofa converts and nobody minds an early night. For older children, two connecting suites are better: the adults keep an evening, the children keep their dignity. On ships without connecting suites, two cabins across the corridor from each other is the next best thing.
Grandparents, parents and children
For six people, the configuration we book most often is a pair of connecting suites for the parents and children, with the grandparents in a suite midship on the same deck. For eight, two pairs of connecting suites. The grandparents' cabin does not need to connect; it needs to be near the lifts and quiet.
Ten or more
Parties of ten to twelve are where a specialist earns their keep. We look for a run of cabins along one corridor, a mix of connecting pairs and single suites, and a ship with a private dining room or a restaurant that will hold a large table every night. Explora Journeys and Regent Seven Seas handle large parties well; the smaller ships of Seabourn and Silversea can, but the cabins are spread across the ship and the shared spaces are more intimate.
Grade matters less than position
Families often upgrade to a larger grade when they would be better served by a better position. A midship veranda suite near the pool deck will do more for a family with young children than a penthouse at the stern. Spend the difference on a private excursion or a night in a hotel before the cruise.
When connecting suites are gone
They go first, and on the most popular school-holiday sailings they can be gone the week the itinerary is released. If the connecting pairs are sold, we look at adjacent cabins with verandas that can be opened to each other (some lines allow this), a different sailing of the same ship a week earlier or later, or a different ship entirely. We would rather move you to the right configuration than squeeze you into the wrong one.
Tell us the party
Give us the names and ages, and we will send back a cabin plan with a deck diagram, the ships that can accommodate it, and a planning figure for the whole party.
