Tapi

I have kids who've been sailing since they were infants (they're now teenagers). I have learned to steer clear of ANY cruise line that caters to families (Royal, Disney, Carnival, MSC, etc) during school breaks. What you describe has been our experience when we've taken any of those lines when schools are out.

If sailing during school breaks, we've booked cruises on more adult-oriented lines, like Holland America and Celebrity. We had a great time, and the kids also had a great time. Less kids onboard, and the ones that do come onboard tend to be, in the most part, well traveled and aware of fellow cruisers and expected behavior.

Granted, the kids clubs aren't as elaborate, or the number of kid-oriented activities and facilities aren't as extensive, but there's still plenty for kids to do both on the ship and ashore. One of the blessings in disguise about sailing on a ship with less kids is that they end up getting more personal attention at the kids club since they're not as packed. 

If you can squeeze everything into one bag, I'd say do that. Makes life easier to have less bags to worry about. My philosophy has been that "if it doesn't fit in one carry-on, then I don't need it". That applies whether were doing a 3 night cruise to the Bahamas, or a 2 week land/sea vacation in the Mediterranean. 

If you're interested in religious services, may I recommend looking into Holland America. Their ships are staffed with a Catholic priest who offers daily mass services. In addition, they schedule an interdenominational Protestant service on Sundays, as well as a Shabbat service on Fridays. 

Even if there are some children onboard, I'm willing to bet money that they will not affect your enjoyment. In my humble experience, adult-oriented / upscale cruise lines tend to attract a significantly smaller amount of children, and those who do travel on these lines, tend to be well traveled and more aware of social etiquette and behavior. 

Even if you're traveling during spring break (which extends into the first week of April in many jurisdictions), you will not encounter the hordes of unattended children terrorizing other passengers that you can find on family-oriented lines like Royal, Carnival, etc. 

Our most recent experience sailing on an adult-oriented cruise line during Spring Break was on Holland America to the Caribbean. According to the kids program counselors, there were around 100 kids onboard (out of 2,500) passengers. They were basically invisible. The only times you'd see kids, they'd be with their parents, and always well behaved. It was actually a pleasure to travel with them. 

Tough question. Hard to narrow it down but here are some "stand outs" from the ships I've sailed on. 

• Nieuw Statendam was wonderful. It provides the perfect blend of modern and traditional cruising. Many nods to Holland America's long maritime history. The ship is an ideal size. Not too big, not too small. If I could design my own cruise ship, this is what it would look like. 
• Harmony of the Seas / Allure of the Seas. There's no denying that Oasis class ships have a "wow" factor that is hard to beat. In my opinion, this class of ship needs to be experienced at least once. The options for activities, dining, and entertainment are mind boggling. BUT this is not a class of ship for everyone. It can be very overwhelming. Trying to do everything that these ships have to offer will be exhausting.
• Disney Fantasy. Let me start by saying that I'm not a Disney fan. But, like with Royal's Oasis class ships, I think that Disney should be experienced at least once, even without kids. Beautiful ship, imaginative, great attention to detail, top notch customer service, and great entertainment. Only downside is that they charge luxury cruise line prices for a family-oriented mass market experience. 

The kids program on Royal is free beginning at 3 years of age. In my humble opinion, its a fantastic program. We've done most major cruise lines with kids, and I place Royal's program as one of our favorite. 

Cold milk will be available free of charge. Booster chairs will be available as well. 

The BEST piece of advice that I can give you is to pack as lightly as possible. First cruise we took with a little one (at 18 months of age), we packed as if we were moving to another country. 😂. By cruise 2-3, we were down to whatever we could fit in one carry on for our kids and an umbrella stroller. 

Ocho Rios is a better port of call than Montego Bay. Better infrastructure and accessibility to activities and shore excursions. 

Of the 3 ships listed, Horizon is the newest, largest, and with the most amenities. It doesn't necessarily mean that it will be the best choice for you. Some people prefer the smaller ships. 

I find it to be at par with Royal Caribbean but with a European flair. Big ships with a "wow" factor. Definitely a mass market cruise line with similar activities, cuisine, and upcharge options. If sailing on an itinerary that features their private island in the Bahamas, I prefer Ocean Cay over Coco Cay. (Ocean Cay has more of a laid back, private island feel. Coco Cay feels like an amusement aquatic park).

I've sailed on MSC in the Mediterranean and the Caribbean, and I prefer their product in the Mediterranean.

There's always a debate about MSC only being worth it in the Yacht Club. I disagree. While its true that the Yacht Club offers a fantastic product that elevates the entire experience (the same can be said for other cruise lines offering a similar product), I personally feel that it's not a must to enjoy an MSC cruise. We've done Fantastica, Aurea and Yacht Club, and have enjoyed all of them. 

22 hours ago, helenb said:

How is it embarking/disembarking in a port where the majority of the ship is not joining you? If you're not getting off in a port, do they still make you disembark to 'clear' the ship, like they do for people on B2Bs? How much more smoking can we expect? 

We sailed on the Meraviglia, first in the Mediterranean and then in the Caribbean:

- I actually preferred smaller groups embarking and disembarking at each port. Short lines and very leisurely process. The chaos at the port when all passengers are embarking/disembarking at once was greatly minimized. Another thing that was really nice when we first boarded the ship was that the ship was pretty much deserted, with most in-transit passengers ashore. That meant no crowds, and no lines to get a bite to eat at the lunch buffet (which is normally packed on U.S. based ships on embarkation day).

- You will not be required to get off at each port to clear the ship. In addition to that, if your itinerary is wholly contained in the Schengen Area, you will disembark on the last day and not have to clear customs before exiting the terminal. You walk right out. 

- I did not find the smoking to be any more aggressive on the Mediterranean sailing compared to the Caribbean sailing (and my wife is like a bloodhound when it comes to cigarette smell) 😂.Yes, you will see a considerable amount of smokers in the designated smoking areas, but they will be contained to those areas only. 

- Another thing that was a welcome change was on debarkation day. We had an early flight back to the U.S. so we were ready to do self-assist and get off the ship as quickly as possible. Based on our experience in the U.S, we were expecting long lines of people doing self-assist. But those lines never materialized. We were one of 5 or 6 families trying to get off the ship as early as possible. That, combined with no customs, and we were outside the terminal in less than 5 minutes. Loved it.

Overall, the MSC experience in the Mediterranean was far superior than in the Caribbean. Would love to do it again. 

1 hour ago, TRLD said:

Seems like they are moving away from  the branded music venues and step1 dance company and back to more typical production shows.

I prefer the Step One shows over the more typical production shows. So simple, but professional and visually stunning. 

We've sailed with our kids twice on HAL, one time in Alaska, and the other time in the Caribbean. On our Alaska cruise aboard Westerdam, there were very few kids onboard, and the kids club was closed several times when it was supposed to be open. In addition, our kids didn't even care about going because sometimes they were the only ones in attendance, so we didn't even bother with it after a few days.

On our Caribbean cruise aboard Nieuw Statendam, there were 110 kids onboard (high compared to HAL's average, according to the camp counselors). On that cruise, my kids attended the kids club almost on a daily basis. They absolutely loved it. They made fast friends right away and after that, they all wanted to hang out as much as possible. On that cruise, all activities ran as scheduled. 

Overall, our experience with Club HAL (more specifically on the second cruise) was very positive. Compared to more family friendly cruise lines that we've sailed on (Royal, Carnival, MSC, Disney, etc, where the number of kids can sometimes be in the thousands), our kids received a much more personal and dedicated experience from the counselors. Having a smaller number of kids onboard meant that it was easier for them to make friends.

HAL may not have massive facilities with tons of activities like on other cruise lines, but my kids still say that our cruise on the Nieuw Statendam was one of their favorites. 

We've done both. When we stayed in the Orlando area, it was because we were combining our cruise with a visit to the amusement parks 🤮. Otherwise we've stayed in the Cocoa Beach area at one of the oceanfront hotels. To me, that's much more enjoyable, relaxing, and a better way to begin my vacation. 

1 minute ago, tfred said:

sailing is still a bargain (although that wouldn't be the opinion of long time cruisers.)....

I agree. We have a land vacation (a quick 4 night trip to Cancun) in a few days, and we're paying 2X what we will pay for a 4 night cruise that we have planned for June, and we're not even staying at an All-inclusive resort. I was floored at the cost of all-inclusive resorts. They have sky-rocketed since the last time we did an all-inclusive vacation 3-4 years ago. Even for a less luxurious resort, the cost would be 3-4X more than our upcoming cruise. 

We sailed on Celebrity for the first time about a year ago aboard Celebrity Solstice. Mid-late 40's with two kids.

We absolutely LOVED it. I must say that I wasn't wowed from the get go though. It took me a few days to warm up to this brand (not because there was anything wrong with it), but once I did, I enjoyed every minute of it. 

The ship was beautiful (although it was showing a bit of wear in some spots pre-drydock, but nothing major), service was great, food was better than what we've experienced on other cruise lines, and the overall experience was very enjoyable. 

I'd place Celebrity somewhere above Royal Caribbean and below Holland America. At par with Princess. 

We always do Uber to move around in the MIA / FLL area between airport, port, and hotel. Super easy to do, priced well, and usually no wait. 

7 hours ago, dgosho said:

Will you share the contact info of this tour operator? We'd enjoy an experience like this. 

Certainly. The tour operator is called Bay West Adventures. Don’t know if I can share their info on this forum, but Google them and you’ll find their website. You can book online. 

We had 14 family members in our group and split the cost accordingly which made the per person cost cheaper than a ship excursion. I just visited their website and they have increased prices and changed their pricing structure, but it may still be worth your while. Enjoy! 

15 hours ago, WhaleTailFlCruiser said:

I honestly do just plan on flying in the morning of. 

We've done both LGA and JFK. LGA is closer, but with the Manhattan traffic, we felt like there was no clear winner between the two. We were stuck in horrible traffic coming from both airports. 

I fly in and out of NYC area airports very frequently for work, They are notorious for cascading, hours long delays and cancelations, even early in the morning. The airspace is too congested and the infrastructure simply can't keep up with the demand, even with the recent renovations. Please consider flying in at least one day prior to your cruise.

2 hours ago, RICHARD@SEA said:

The most important issue was my balcony cabin on DECK 4.  There was a constant banging inside the cabin & outside in the corridor from midships forward.

Sorry that your cabin had issues. Not trying to minimize your experience, but I wouldn't generalize and say "avoid deck 4" altogether. 

I was concerned when I booked cabin 4133, first, because we were above public venues, and second, because we had a connecting door. Turned out that all of my concerns were unfounded. The cabin was super quiet during the entire cruise, and we loved the location near stairs and elevators, which made it super easy to go down to the Dutch Cafe one deck below for a quick morning coffee. 

I wouldn't hesitate booking the same cabin on deck 4 again. (but i would avoid yours) 

I have a good friend who lives in Miami who surprised us. We flew down from Atlanta to take a quick, 3 night cruise out of Miami. I'd asked him if he wanted to join us for lunch before getting on the ship but he declined, saying that "he had to work".

We got to our cabin and minutes later, someone knocked at our door. Surprise, surprise, it was him. We'd cruised together before and I was very happy to see him. We had an absolute blast. It was a very welcome and pleasant surprise. 

With that said, had it been a different friend on a different cruise, I probably would've been mortified. I have some great friends who I love hanging out with back home, but who I would NEVER want to travel with. 

13 minutes ago, bluemarble said:

Please post the dress code and theme schedule for your voyage here if you don't mind once you find it in your voyage calendar. I just need to know which dates are listed on your calendar as Gala Evenings and what the themes (if any) will be on those evenings. Thanks for your help with this.

Hi:

Thanks for your very thorough and detailed response. I just looked at my trip, M431. There's only one Gala Evening - Black and White slated for October 1. All the other are smart attire evenings. 

Looking forward to the experience! Have a great day.

Hello:

We just booked a quick, 5 night itinerary on the QM2 from Quebec to New York, and I have a few questions:

• How many formal nights can we expect on a short itinerary like this one?
• Our fare includes one dinner at an alternative restaurant. Is it correct that on QM2, a portion of the King's Court is transformed into an alternative dining venue, and that will be our only alternative option? (We are booked in a Britannia balcony). 
• We are looking forward and planning accordingly to adhere to Cunard's dress code throughout our sailing, but there may be a night or two during the cruise where we may choose to skip dinner at the main dining room and have a casual dinner at the buffet. Will smart casual (slacks and collared shirt for men, cocktail dress or pant suit for women) be acceptable for a buffet dinner and to then attend other venues throughout the ship after dinner? What if it's on a formal night?

I haven't been on a Cunard ship since the 1980's, so needless to say, I'm a bit rusty on all things Cunard. Thanks for your expertise and kind words! 

We snorkeled independently (not through the cruise line) in Nassau. We were taken by private boat, just for our family, to a spot north of Balmoral Island to swim surrounded by turtles (it was wonderful and a bit surreal). From there, we headed to a secluded spot on Rose Island where we spent a few hours at a stretch of pristine beach with no other human being in sight. After that, we stopped at a coral reef off the coast of Rose Island where we snorkeled for a while until we were ready to head back to the ship. It was a great spot with tons of corals and colorful sea life. 
 

The advantages of going snorkeling independently were many. First, we had the boat all to ourselves. The boat captain tailored the day to our needs, including where to go, what food and drinks we brought, down to the music that was played on the boat’s music system. We also avoided the crowds since we were taken to snorkeling and swimming spots which we had all to ourselves. We passed several boats gathered in one spot with hundreds and hundreds of people trying to snorkel all at once and we were grateful that we had bypassed the ship sponsored excursion. 
 

It was a bit pricey since it was a private tour operator, but it was well worth the price. I’ve been stopping in Nassau for over 30 years, and this activity was, by far, the best thing I’ve ever done at this port of call. 

25 minutes ago, 1stresponder2086 said:

What if your flight gets cancelled or delayed the day before? Isn’t that the same problem? The sf Bay Area has flights to la area every 30 minutes.

If you’re flying in the day before the cruise, you’ll have considerably more time to figure out plan B. Even if you had to hop on a car and drive at the last minute, you can make it happen. 
 

It’s not only a flight cancelation. It can be early morning fog (very typical of the SFO Bay Area) causing rolling delays and where ALL flights are affected, or an accident on the way to the airport that makes you miss your flight, or longer than usual TSA lines, or lost luggage that doesn’t arrive with you and now has to play catch-up. We’ve had that happen, where we made it to the port city, but our luggage didn’t and it arrived after our ship sailed. We went on the cruise with just what we had in our carry ons. Our big luggage never caught up with us.
 

Also, keep in mind that, even if they have flights every 30 minutes, that doesn’t mean that they’ll have a seat for you on the next available flight, specially these days when flights are operating close to full capacity. If your flight cancels, now they’ll have 180 passengers to re-accommodate. If there are only 5-10 seats open on subsequent flights, you may be out of luck. 
 

Besides all of the possible scenarios that could make you miss your cruise, it’s always nice to arrive one day early, unwind, go out for dinner, sleep in a bit, and arrive refreshed at the port, instead of exhausted after being up since before sunrise. 
 

The advice that I’m giving you is not only based on 40+ years of cruising experience, but also based on my experience working for the airlines for the last 30 years. 
 

If you’ve sailed aboard older, Fantasy class ships on Carnival, Margaritaville won’t be much of a shock. I found it to be very similar in terms of overall casual vibe, clientele, and ship condition. 
 

- You used to select your fixed dinner time (early or late) at the port prior to embarkation, but it’s my understanding that they don’t bother anymore. Nobody even checks anyway and they seat you at whatever table is available.

- They will have a separate check in line for people who paid extra for one of the priority packages. Word of advice: If you have a passport, don’t bother paying extra for express/priority check in/check out. They’ll have a passport only line on debarkation which moves much faster than all others. There’s an overwhelming amount of birth certificate holders traveling on this cruise line and their line is a nightmare. 

- The main thing to watch out for on this cruise line are the extras. Their base fares are cheap, but they offer several packages to “enhance” your experience, some which cost considerably more than the actual cruise fare. Take for example “License to Chill” which includes specialty dining, massages, access to a VIP lounge, reserved seating at the theatre, priority embarkation, drink package, etc. 

A LOT of first time cruisers are suckered into buying these packages and end up paying considerably more for this 2 night budget cruise than if they went on a longe cruise aboard one of the more established cruise lines.  We just paid the $49 cruise fare (plus taxes, gratuities, etc) bypassed all the extras, and still had a great time (obviously we adjusted our expectations accordingly). 
 

Go with an open mind. It’s a fun, super casual, budget minded cruise, and it goes by super fast. 

First and foremost, you are going to have a wonderful time!
 

- Advice #1 of cruising:

Never fly on the same day of the cruise. Even if it’s an early morning, short flight, too many variables can quickly derail and ruin your vacation. 
 

- Advice #2 of cruising: 

Travel insurance. There are several comprehensive policies that cover everything from lost luggage, delays, cancelations, lost passports, illness and other medical emergencies, evacuation, work related issues, to repatriation of human remains.

If you cruise enough, sooner or later, you’ll be grateful for following these two pieces of advice. 😀