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Have 6 Kids - Need AFFORDABLE Cruise - HELP!!!


Cascone96
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My wife and I would like to go on a family cruise with our six kids while we still have them all at home. This would be our anniversary celebration. Our kids range in age from 10-18. We live in Kansas City and are open to driving to the port. We are thinking Caribbean but we are open to anything. HELP!!! :)

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What kind of help are you looking for?

 

Affordable is subjective. The best thing to do would be to search departures by date from the ports that are within driving distance. Or if you don't want to do that, then contact a travel agent who knows the ins and outs of booking and who can try to meet your budget requirements.

 

As far as I know there is no anniversary celebration discount on any line ;)

Edited by ExpatBride
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First, you will need two cabins for four. Second, look at NCL and MSC. NCL has promotions on some cruises where kids sail free (when in a cabin with two full fare adults/others. MSC also has promotions where children 17 & under sail free in a cabin with two full fares. This can be combined with other promotions. There recently was a promotion where two sailed for the price of one in a balcony. You need to go to the websites of all of the cruise lines that interest you and sign up for their email specials. AND EXPLORE THEIR WEBSITES. You w uld be surprised what you can find out there. Then come back here and ask more questions. EM

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A good travel agency in your town, specializing in cruises, is a good starting place....they can give you comparisons, and overviews of all the possible ships that go where you want to go! Brochures, too....they have tons of info in them!

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I would suggest a cruise out of New Orleans (Probably closest port to Missouri). Get 2 insides side by side the kids in one you in the other. Check out Carnival Dream. We just sailed her in May. Lots of things for the kids on her.

 

There are no inside cabins that will hold six kids. I agree with the suggestion of finding a travel agent that specializes in cruises and go from there.

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There are no inside cabins that will hold six kids. I agree with the suggestion of finding a travel agent that specializes in cruises and go from there.

 

I missed the 6 kids. I was thinking family of 6. You can still get 2 insides side by side holding 4 each.

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If you are driving, I believe you'd have the most options (and therefore more price competition) if you look at sailing from Houston/Galveston. The least expensive way to go would be 2 cabins of 4, especially if you can take advantage of a 3/4 passenger promo like was mentioned above. The more comfortable option would be a separate cabin for you and your spouse, and 2 kids' cabins. Start by determining a budget and time of year that you'd like to sail, and begin your research from there. Good luck!

 

 

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I agree that working with a travel agent is best. Online agents may get you better pricing but that usually comes with a lower level of service (but not always). I prefer saving by booking online or with an online agent, but I've done enough cruises to know what I want.

 

Give the Travel Agent (TA) you budget, and see what they can do to work within it:

 

  • look for cruises that offer kids sail free, or 3/4 passenger pay a reduced rate
  • sail during non-holiday, non-summer times when fairs are typically lower
  • look for cheaper cruise lines like Carnival
  • you will get lower fares on an inside cabin and also a lower deck. These cabins are less desirable for most, but if the goal is to save money, then this would be way to go.
  • look at using some reward points (if possible) to pay for the cruise
  • like others have said, you will need two cabins of four.
  • some lines (X and Royal, I think) have family cabins that hold five people, it may be possible to add a cot for the sixth person. You must get pricing on these cabins from a TA. It could work out to have the 6 kids in one cabin, and you/your wife in adjacent cabin, but these are not inside/low deck cabins, so there will be a premium.

Edited by Queen of Oakville
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Lets see a party of eight, I can't even wrap my head around the cost, even with the promotions, don't forget each person get grats added onto the bill, say 7 nights at 11.50 (round figure) thats 80.50 x 8 thats approx 650 in grats alone, don't forget the extras, kids want drinks too. I would think of a cheaper vacation with the kids.

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Lets see a party of eight, I can't even wrap my head around the cost, even with the promotions, don't forget each person get grats added onto the bill, say 7 nights at 11.50 (round figure) thats 80.50 x 8 thats approx 650 in grats alone, don't forget the extras, kids want drinks too. I would think of a cheaper vacation with the kids.

 

11 cruises with my kids and not once did we purchase any drink packages and only on a couple cruises did we buy a specialty drink for them. They were quite happy with the drinks that were included. Any extras besides gratuities are a choice.

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Ships go out of Galveston and New Orleans, those would be the closest drive for you in Kansas city. That said, if a 12 hour drive with 6 kids doesn't scare you, then you might as well consider Tampa and Orlando (Port Canaveral) for an extra 6 hours of driving, that will really open up your options.

 

We are not big Carnival fans per se, but unless you can find a good 3/4 person free deal on NCL/HA, ect, then it is going to be hard to beat Carnival for the price and their activities will be in your teenagers wheelhouse.

 

You do need to know that cruise ship cabins are not like hotel rooms. You can't just sneak a few extra kids in without anyone noticing, They know exactly how many people are on the ship so you will need at least two cabins. I have never done a group that size but there can be restrictions on cabins...you need one adult for each cabin, so you may not be able to book 3 cabins depending on how old your oldest is. I think those rules vary by cruise line so you need to be sure.

 

I am interested in what you decide on, please report back on what you book!

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I don't usually post on here, but I felt like this was one topic I had to join. We are a family of 8 with 6 children as well, ranging in age from 6 years old to 21 years old. We are leaving next week for our 11th cruise. It is possible to cruise on a budget with a family that size on a budget. We are sailing on the Carnival Breeze from Galveston soon. We are from Wisconsin and will be driving there. We will be stopping along the way to see some sites so it will be an enjoyable road trip, but that's what our family likes. We found it quite diffcult to use a travel agent, having a big family requires some creativity. We book our trips ourselves. Most customer service people freak at the size of our group, so if you get an uncooperative one, hang up and try again. There are a million ways to book the trip cabin wise. We actually have 3 cabins booked on our next trip, 2 adjoining cove balconies and one inside. Your oldest can be booked into a stateroom with one room in between you and them so there is no need to worry there. We never do the drinks packages, if our older ones want one they can purchase it themselves. If you go the Carnival route, you can bring a 12 pack of soda per person on board so that saves money. We don't book excursions through the ship, we usually do it ourselves and that saves money as well. Don't despair, you can go on a cruise. Feel free to ask any questions you have.

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I don't usually post on here, but I felt like this was one topic I had to join. We are a family of 8 with 6 children as well, ranging in age from 6 years old to 21 years old. We are leaving next week for our 11th cruise. It is possible to cruise on a budget with a family that size on a budget. We are sailing on the Carnival Breeze from Galveston soon. We are from Wisconsin and will be driving there. We will be stopping along the way to see some sites so it will be an enjoyable road trip, but that's what our family likes. We found it quite diffcult to use a travel agent, having a big family requires some creativity. We book our trips ourselves. Most customer service people freak at the size of our group, so if you get an uncooperative one, hang up and try again. There are a million ways to book the trip cabin wise. We actually have 3 cabins booked on our next trip, 2 adjoining cove balconies and one inside. Your oldest can be booked into a stateroom with one room in between you and them so there is no need to worry there. We never do the drinks packages, if our older ones want one they can purchase it themselves. If you go the Carnival route, you can bring a 12 pack of soda per person on board so that saves money. We don't book excursions through the ship, we usually do it ourselves and that saves money as well. Don't despair, you can go on a cruise. Feel free to ask any questions you have.

 

 

Yes, I have a couple of questions, if you don't mind.

 

First, its great that you find the time and finances to make a trip like this for your family. It's hard to do that for a lot of families in this day and age.

 

Second...how do you plan your day on board....family vote? Who decides where to go and what to do. Do you do it together or just split up and do your own thing.

 

Third, if one of the children want a beverage, are they restricted to the "freebies" or do you budget for that.

 

and lastly....Luggage....how do you handle all the luggage? Does each child have their own pieces to handle. Carry on's, backpacks? or do you limit size and space.

 

Just wondering,.....thanks for answering....enjoy your trip.

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It certainly is hard-especially with two kids in college. Our crew consists of the older kids(a 21 year girl and 19 and 16 year old boys) and the little ones (10 and 6 year old girls and an 8 year old boy). Just so when I start talking about that, you don't get confused:) Now onto your questions:

When we onboard, we do a mix of family time and splitting up. When we are in port, we do mostly stick together when doing excursions, walking around, etc. We do split up though if we are shopping and some people want to go back to the ship. On sea days, we do meals together and usually the waterpark/pool. We do spend time apart-the littles at the kids club, our teenage boys feeding their shuffleboard obsession, etc. We do consider dinner a mandatory event each night. We don't try to do everything together-too many competing interests. That is one of the perks of cruising-some family time and some alone time.

Our kids are basically restricted to freebies. Our older kids have money from their summer jobs/birthday money so they are allowed to get a drink on their dime, but the parents don't pay. The little ones have money for the trip as well, but since they really don't drink soda, I'm really not sure they know what they are missing. None of the kids have charging privileges on their cards-it keeps the unknown "he did it no she did it" charges to a minimum. If the kids want something, they give the parents the money for and the parents buy it for them. The little ones also don't carry their sail and sign cards at any point.

As far as luggage, oh boy. Since we drive, all the kids have a backpack of things to do. The little kids backpacks stay in the car usually, the older ones bring theirs on the ship (that is for their cell phones, chargers, etc. and as many souvenirs as possible of theirs). We definitely share suitcases as much as possible-we can do three kids in a 28 inch suitcase with a week's worth of clothes, swimsuits, toiletries, and shoes. We do bring a different outfit for the evening usually, but usually keep it to bring a clean shirt for each night, but bring one pair of dress shoes and 2-3 pairs of dress pants a person. The girls usually wear dresses. Dress clothes basically take another 28 inch suitcase for the 6 kids. We limit the shoes to one pair of tennis shoes(something good for walking in), a pair of flip flops, and some sort of nice shoes for dinner a person. We do try quite a bit harder for dinner than is necessary, so you can cut that down quite a bit most likely. We live on a farm at home, so we enjoy the chance to dress up a bit. We avoid carryon luggage as much as possible-you just end up with 5 million tiny suitcases. One usually makes the trip with us to carry off and on fragile/valuable things. We try to check as much as possible getting on the ship, they will take the luggage right out of your car and bring it to your stateroom on the ship. Getting off, you have two choices, self-assist or regular debarkation. Self-assist means you can carry everything belonging to you off the ship yourself-if we do this, everyone gets one piece of luggage they are in charge of. If you do regular debarkation, you pack up all your luggage the night before and set it outside your stateroom. They take it off the ship for you and you find it again once you are off the ship based on the number tag you attach to your luggage. You then only have to carry it through customs yourself and you can often get the help of a porter. Self-assist is faster for those driving to the port. I hope I answered the questions you had-feel free to ask any others you have.

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It certainly is hard-especially with two kids in college. Our crew consists of the older kids(a 21 year girl and 19 and 16 year old boys) and the little ones (10 and 6 year old girls and an 8 year old boy). Just so when I start talking about that, you don't get confused:) Now onto your questions:

When we onboard, we do a mix of family time and splitting up. When we are in port, we do mostly stick together when doing excursions, walking around, etc. We do split up though if we are shopping and some people want to go back to the ship. On sea days, we do meals together and usually the waterpark/pool. We do spend time apart-the littles at the kids club, our teenage boys feeding their shuffleboard obsession, etc. We do consider dinner a mandatory event each night. We don't try to do everything together-too many competing interests. That is one of the perks of cruising-some family time and some alone time.

Our kids are basically restricted to freebies. Our older kids have money from their summer jobs/birthday money so they are allowed to get a drink on their dime, but the parents don't pay. The little ones have money for the trip as well, but since they really don't drink soda, I'm really not sure they know what they are missing. None of the kids have charging privileges on their cards-it keeps the unknown "he did it no she did it" charges to a minimum. If the kids want something, they give the parents the money for and the parents buy it for them. The little ones also don't carry their sail and sign cards at any point.

As far as luggage, oh boy. Since we drive, all the kids have a backpack of things to do. The little kids backpacks stay in the car usually, the older ones bring theirs on the ship (that is for their cell phones, chargers, etc. and as many souvenirs as possible of theirs). We definitely share suitcases as much as possible-we can do three kids in a 28 inch suitcase with a week's worth of clothes, swimsuits, toiletries, and shoes. We do bring a different outfit for the evening usually, but usually keep it to bring a clean shirt for each night, but bring one pair of dress shoes and 2-3 pairs of dress pants a person. The girls usually wear dresses. Dress clothes basically take another 28 inch suitcase for the 6 kids. We limit the shoes to one pair of tennis shoes(something good for walking in), a pair of flip flops, and some sort of nice shoes for dinner a person. We do try quite a bit harder for dinner than is necessary, so you can cut that down quite a bit most likely. We live on a farm at home, so we enjoy the chance to dress up a bit. We avoid carryon luggage as much as possible-you just end up with 5 million tiny suitcases. One usually makes the trip with us to carry off and on fragile/valuable things. We try to check as much as possible getting on the ship, they will take the luggage right out of your car and bring it to your stateroom on the ship. Getting off, you have two choices, self-assist or regular debarkation. Self-assist means you can carry everything belonging to you off the ship yourself-if we do this, everyone gets one piece of luggage they are in charge of. If you do regular debarkation, you pack up all your luggage the night before and set it outside your stateroom. They take it off the ship for you and you find it again once you are off the ship based on the number tag you attach to your luggage. You then only have to carry it through customs yourself and you can often get the help of a porter. Self-assist is faster for those driving to the port. I hope I answered the questions you had-feel free to ask any others you have.

 

 

WOW, sounds like quite the plan. You are lucky you don't get the "i want it, why can't I have it whine" You sound like a very grounded family.

 

This year after our cruise, we are planning a trip to Disney, my 40 year old son and DIL with DH. I am renting an SUV...Rav or similar, and am worried about fitting the luggage for four people, plus carry on's and totes in it. Part of my issue is that I use the cruise to do some Christmas shopping and we have a birthday shortly after returning, so I need room for those.

 

Make sure you let your children know how lucky they are to be able to cruise with you. Instilling values at an early age is something they will carry through, through out their lives. Maybe when they get older, they will treat you to a "few" cruises.

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WOW, sounds like quite the plan. You are lucky you don't get the "i want it, why can't I have it whine" You sound like a very grounded family.

 

This year after our cruise, we are planning a trip to Disney, my 40 year old son and DIL with DH. I am renting an SUV...Rav or similar, and am worried about fitting the luggage for four people, plus carry on's and totes in it. Part of my issue is that I use the cruise to do some Christmas shopping and we have a birthday shortly after returning, so I need room for those.

 

Make sure you let your children know how lucky they are to be able to cruise with you. Instilling values at an early age is something they will carry through, through out their lives. Maybe when they get older, they will treat you to a "few" cruises.

 

It's interesting, we are a family of 7 (kids now range from 13 -20), and they never beg for stuff. They know gift shops are for just looking, and if they ask for extras, the answer is usually no. When we go to the movies (rare), we splurge on the refillable large popcorn, and I bring red solo cups. I always allow them charging privileges on vacations, and give them a limit. Not once has anyone gone over (they'd would have to pay the money back, plus lose the privilege).

 

We cruise in connecting balcony cabins, and drive to the port (NYC, 10 miles). We split up during the day, stay together off of the ship, and have most dinners together. Once they hit the teen years, they spent most of the time with their new best friends. We pack a few people's clothing n each piece of luggage - we are light packers. I think our cruise budget has has been around $6000+, but sailing out of NYC is usually higher, but saves us on airfare.

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It certainly is hard-especially with two kids in college. Our crew consists of the older kids(a 21 year girl and 19 and 16 year old boys) and the little ones (10 and 6 year old girls and an 8 year old boy). Just so when I start talking about that, you don't get confused:) Now onto your questions:

When we onboard, we do a mix of family time and splitting up. When we are in port, we do mostly stick together when doing excursions, walking around, etc. We do split up though if we are shopping and some people want to go back to the ship. On sea days, we do meals together and usually the waterpark/pool. We do spend time apart-the littles at the kids club, our teenage boys feeding their shuffleboard obsession, etc. We do consider dinner a mandatory event each night. We don't try to do everything together-too many competing interests. That is one of the perks of cruising-some family time and some alone time.

Our kids are basically restricted to freebies. Our older kids have money from their summer jobs/birthday money so they are allowed to get a drink on their dime, but the parents don't pay. The little ones have money for the trip as well, but since they really don't drink soda, I'm really not sure they know what they are missing. None of the kids have charging privileges on their cards-it keeps the unknown "he did it no she did it" charges to a minimum. If the kids want something, they give the parents the money for and the parents buy it for them. The little ones also don't carry their sail and sign cards at any point.

As far as luggage, oh boy. Since we drive, all the kids have a backpack of things to do. The little kids backpacks stay in the car usually, the older ones bring theirs on the ship (that is for their cell phones, chargers, etc. and as many souvenirs as possible of theirs). We definitely share suitcases as much as possible-we can do three kids in a 28 inch suitcase with a week's worth of clothes, swimsuits, toiletries, and shoes. We do bring a different outfit for the evening usually, but usually keep it to bring a clean shirt for each night, but bring one pair of dress shoes and 2-3 pairs of dress pants a person. The girls usually wear dresses. Dress clothes basically take another 28 inch suitcase for the 6 kids. We limit the shoes to one pair of tennis shoes(something good for walking in), a pair of flip flops, and some sort of nice shoes for dinner a person. We do try quite a bit harder for dinner than is necessary, so you can cut that down quite a bit most likely. We live on a farm at home, so we enjoy the chance to dress up a bit. We avoid carryon luggage as much as possible-you just end up with 5 million tiny suitcases. One usually makes the trip with us to carry off and on fragile/valuable things. We try to check as much as possible getting on the ship, they will take the luggage right out of your car and bring it to your stateroom on the ship. Getting off, you have two choices, self-assist or regular debarkation. Self-assist means you can carry everything belonging to you off the ship yourself-if we do this, everyone gets one piece of luggage they are in charge of. If you do regular debarkation, you pack up all your luggage the night before and set it outside your stateroom. They take it off the ship for you and you find it again once you are off the ship based on the number tag you attach to your luggage. You then only have to carry it through customs yourself and you can often get the help of a porter. Self-assist is faster for those driving to the port. I hope I answered the questions you had-feel free to ask any others you have.

 

Although my family is much smaller (2 kids now 19 and 22) we basically had the same routine with them when they were cruising growing up. When they were younger and we were on a tighter budget we would do the 4 of us in one room (usually inside unless we got upgraded to an OV). Neither of my kids ever got a beverage program and they never missed it. Both were happy with ice tea, lemonade, juice, and chocolate milk. Today neither one of them drinks soda and my 22 year old doesn't even drink alcohol (he didn't get that from us :D). I did have charging privileges on their card but they rarely used it and when they did they were spending their vacation money that they had saved. Since there was just the 4 of us, the kids were allowed 1 backpack and 1 suitcase. At ports we could go really cheap with a taxi to the beach and/or shopping at the port or we could spend more getting an excursion either private (usually cheaper) or through the cruise line depending on our budget and we wanted to do. Except for camping, I have always seen cruising as one of the most economical family vacations.

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this is Royal Carribean (sp?)

 

Family Interior Staterooms: Available on Freedom- and Oasis-class ships, these windowless rooms accommodate up to six people, with two twin beds that convert to a king, a double pullout sofa and two Pullman-style bunk beds. The Family Interior Stateroom is the least expensive option for up to six passengers.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I am also in KC in the process of booking a cruise for 8... I have done LOTS of research and here is my advice. I have checked prices on all the cruises and cant find anything as cheap as Carnival. Driving down will save us about a thiusand dollars and thats with renting a second car for 2 weeks, which is cheaper then just renting it for 2 days before and after cruise. If you dont have to rent a second car, you can save over 1500 driving. Galveston is about a 10 hour drive and Nola around 13, so I was open to either port. Prices are about the same so I chose the shorter distance and newer ship, the Breeze. We plan on staying 2 nights in a motel which means paying for 4 rooms. So we are stopping about 50 miles out and fetting rooms fir $60 a night instead of going into Galveston and paying a lot more..

I woukd suggest getting Ocean view rooms on the breeze. They are bigger then an inside and have 2 bathrooms, and not much more then an inside..

What we have figured for costs is, Cruise around 3500. Travel to and from with rental, gas, motel, around 1000. Shipboard account for everyone including tips but not excursions. We plan on spending about 500 on excursions, but if things get tight we might spend a lot less. Some ports have free beaches right there, others need a short taxi ride. Some ports you can stay onboard and enjoy the empty ship.

I have also spent time researching other vacations, renting a beach house or motels. Cruising is always cheaper when you figure in all the costs. Yes you can rent a beach house cheaper, but once you add in all the food, entertainment and such cruising wins. I would rather travel to other countries and see new things, then sit on the same beach for 7 days...

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  • 2 weeks later...

We are a family of 4 kids and we booked 2 connecting ocean view cabins sailing from Galveston on Jan 28th (yes we are taking the kids out of school) on the Carnival Freedom. For the 6 of us, including tips it is coming to 4600 CAD.

 

And yes we did get a travel agent to find this for us. We told her any cruise line, any East coast port, at least 7 days and less than 5000 CAD for the week.

 

Joey

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Many times, you will hear people suggesting to use a travel agent. For me, personally, I also heard that over and over. But I figured that i am pretty darn good, and persistant, and will take a lot of time researching to find the good deals. I did that for many years. Then, about two years ago, I decided to try the travel agent route. WOW!!! I was not aware that the travel agent was able to give me prices MUCH, MUCH lower than any advertised price that I could find, including directly from the cruise lines. Then, on top of the already well discounted price, I got shipboard credit from the travel agency, on top of the shipboard credit that the cruise line was offering. I don't believe that I am able to state here the name of the travel agency. But it was an online agency that specializes in cruises. They were able to offer the low rate, by purchasing a very large bulk of rooms at a discount, and then reselling them to the public, yet still at a discount.

 

For the people who like to do it on your own via the Internet: You can still do that all you want, if you like. But when it comes time to make the purchase, at least go through the travel agent to get it cheaper. In my case, I already knew the ship and sailing date I wanted. I placed the online inquiry. Two minutes lateer a lady called me on the phone. I was on my computer at the same time she was on her computer. She offered rooms, and I looked at the deck plans to select the ones I wanted. Of course, you don't have to do that. But I always select my own rooms, so that I dont' have a noisy nightclub above me, an anchor below me, or an elevator beside me. LOL.

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