I didn’t choose the Star of the Seas Surfside Family Suite on Star of the Seas. I booked a suite guarantee, knowing Royal Caribbean would choose my suite category for me, and I’d actually book a suite guarantee again.
I’ve also written about how my feelings about mega cruise ships have changed after more than two dozen sailings, because this cabin experience is part of a bigger shift in what I value when I cruise.
Unfortunately, this is the suite we got.
Once Royal Caribbean assigned it, I had the opportunity to move our family of four into two connecting cabins instead. I didn’t.
That’s the decision I regret.
After living in the Surfside Family Suite for almost a week with two teenagers, I can see that Royal Caribbean designed this room with younger families in mind. But even with younger kids, I still think the layout is too small for a family of four to live in comfortably for a week. It technically sleeps four, but sleeping four people and giving four people enough functional space are two very different things.
There are three drawers for four people. There is almost no usable counter space. The second sleeping area is essentially a hard platform with a thin topper, and it was not comfortable for my teenagers. The toilet compartment is so tight my knees nearly hit the wall. And the curtains let morning light pour in around all four sides.
To be fair, Royal Caribbean markets this suite toward families with younger children, not teenagers. I knew that going in. My issue is that even for a family-focused cabin, some of the basic design choices still don’t make much sense to me.
The biggest one is the storage.
There are only three drawers for four people, while a huge amount of the room’s storage is hanging space. That might look generous on a cabin tour, but my teenagers aren’t hanging up most of what they wear on a Caribbean cruise. They need drawers and practical places to put clothes, chargers, toiletries, and everything else that accumulates over a week.
Instead, things end up stacked on open shelves or taking over the small desk because there simply aren’t enough useful places to put them.
And the ridiculous part is that I could have switched us into two connecting cabins for roughly the same price or less.
I should have.
Would I Book a Suite Guarantee Again?
Surprisingly, yes.
I knew exactly what I was doing when I booked a suite guarantee. You give up control of your specific suite assignment in exchange for the pricing, and sometimes that gamble works beautifully.
My regret isn’t booking the guarantee. My regret is what I did after our Surfside Family Suite was assigned.
I had the opportunity to switch us into two connecting cabins, and I decided to keep the suite.
Knowing what I know now, I would have switched.
What the Star of the Seas Surfside Family Suite Is Actually Like
For my family? No.
If Royal Caribbean assigned it to me through another suite guarantee, I’d immediately price my alternatives before deciding to keep it. And if I could get two connecting cabins for roughly the same price, particularly when traveling with teenagers, I’d take the connecting cabins.
Two bathrooms. Two real sleeping spaces. Two desks. More drawers. More places for everyone’s stuff to go.
The Surfside Family Suite technically sleeps four. After actually putting four people in it for a week, I think that’s very different from saying it works well for four.
