Cost effective way to cruise when you are a family of 5

We also have a family of 5 and we prefer to book 2 adjoining balcony cabins (NCL, Carnival, RCCL) or a balcony cabin adjacent to a Junior Suite (on RCCL). We once booked a full Suite that slept 5 on NCL but felt the room wasn't large enough to justify the cost and we still had to share a bathroom for all of us. We much prefer the 2 full bathrooms for our family and found that 2 rooms is always much cheaper for us than a larger family room or balcony. There aren't many of those and they charge a premium for them. We also like that we can open the balconies and have a larger balcony as well. We are booked in adjoining balconies on Carnival Vista this July and on the Disney Fantasy this October. We once booked a balcony room for us with kids in an interior across the hall but my husband kept worrying that we couldn't get into their room in an emergency (in case of a fire....) So.... Adjoining rooms it has been from then on! We prefer a balcony room but my sister and her husband prefer interior rooms which they feel allow them to sleep much better since they are darker!
 
We've done 5 cruises as a family of 5. Four on RCCL and once on Carnival Magic. Twice in a family cabin and 3 times with cabins next door. The 2 times we did a family cabin it was on Independence of the Seas in cabin 8500 which is huge. It has 3 separate sleeping areas with doors separating the areas. It was much cheaper than booking 2 rooms. The other times on RCCL (Allure and Freedom) it was practically the same price for 2 as a family cabin so we went with connecting cabins. It varies cruise by cruise. On Carnival Magic we had side by side balconies but not connecting rooms. I actually liked that better. We were able to open the balcony divider and go back and forth that way. My kids are all teens, if they were little I would want connecting.
 

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