Best Non-Disney for an 11 and 2 yr old?!?

I have been on one cruise, and that was on Carnival pre-kids. My husband has never been on a cruise and he and I are taking his first next Aug on the Carnival Dream. I am wanting to book a family cruise and with all the possibilities I am so confused as to which line would be best for us. My boys will be 2 and 11 when we go. What non-Disney cruise line would be the best for both of them? What are the pros and cons of each line. We would go while school is in session as to avoid the ridiculous crowds.

I enjoyed Carnival and I know we can get a good bang for our buck on it but I am wondering if the kids activities on RC and NCL are better.

And for those wondering why not Disney

1) Way over our budget in order to do all we want to do

2) Only so much Disney and kids my husband could take

Carnival allows 2 year olds in the "kids clubs". Some RCI ships have nurseries for the under-3 crowds....but not all do, yet. Not sure what NCL's age range is....

Any of those lines will be perfectly fine for your family....just depends what you want for the youngest....and be forewarned that there are NO pools for anyone in diapers...not even swim diapers. Some ships do have "baby splash zones"...sort of a sprinkler system for those still in diapers...but not all do.

The activities on the ship (as far as the kid's clubs go) are more similar than different. Some ships have more "bells and whistles" than others....generally, the newer the ship, the more "stuff" they have....

A good travel agency will have brochures and info on individual ships...so you can make an informed choice!

Carnival allows 2 year olds in the "kids clubs". Some RCI ships have nurseries for the under-3 crowds....but not all do, yet. Not sure what NCL's age range is....

 

Any of those lines will be perfectly fine for your family....just depends what you want for the youngest....and be forewarned that there are NO pools for anyone in diapers...not even swim diapers. Some ships do have "baby splash zones"...sort of a sprinkler system for those still in diapers...but not all do.

 

The activities on the ship (as far as the kid's clubs go) are more similar than different. Some ships have more "bells and whistles" than others....generally, the newer the ship, the more "stuff" they have....

 

A good travel agency will have brochures and info on individual ships...so you can make an informed choice!

Thank you! I will have to find an agency. I am wondering if their is a website that allows you to compare cruise ships, from different lines, side-by-side ?! That would be ideal. I'll have to do some research ;)

RCI Harmony of the Seas. It has everything for everyone. The nursery and open play area are great for 2 y/o, and water slides, rock climbing, zip line, ice skating, kids club, arcade for 11 y/o.

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Your 2 year old is eligible for the kids club on Carnival and Cunard. NCL, Royal, Celebrity and Princess will not let children under 3 into their kids club. Princess used to allow children under 3 to visit the kids clubs with parental supervision, but they have redesigned their kids club program and there is no mention of this on their website. We recently sailed Cunard with a 2 year old, and the experience on most of the ship was great. Unfortunately, their kids club wasn't wonderful, especially with a young child since they didn't want to help my 2 year old son adjust to being in the kids club for 5-10 minutes. After he's over the 5-10 minute adjustment period, he's happy and participates in the activities with the other kids. I wrote a longer post on Cunard and children here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2533351

Some of the European cruise lines may also allow 2 year olds in their kids clubs.

There are fee nurseries on Disney, newer and most refurbished Royal ships and the NCL escape.

If you waited a year until the youngest is 3, that would open up more possibilities.

Roz

I just noticed that you are in MD. The RCI Anthem sails out of Bayonne NJ and NCL Breakaway sails out of NYC. Both have tons of activities for 11 y/o. Anthem has nursery for 2 y/o, but not sure about Breakaway. A nice cruise is 7 day to Bermuda on Breakaway. We did this on Grandeur from Baltimore when our son was 3.

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If you waited a year until the youngest is 3, that would open up more possibilities.

 

 

 

Roz

Funny you say that because I was just thinking that same thing today!! It seems there are a lot more options once they turn 3. So we'll probably take the 11 year old alone or wait until the baby is 3.

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Not all cruise lines go (or have limited sailings) to the Caribbean in August.

You might be better off sticking with Carnival.

Not all cruise lines go (or have limited sailings) to the Caribbean in August.

 

You might be better off sticking with Carnival.

Huh? You must have misread my post. I said my husband and I are already booked on an Aug cruise without the kids. And I want to book another cruise with the kids during the time the kids ARE in school so I miss the summer/spring break crowd.

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We took our 18 month old on a Carnival cruise and he had a blast! There was an open play time for toddlers with a parent for free and without a parent for a fee. We took an inflatable bathtub that doubled as a splash pool for him since he wasn't potty trained yet. The staff was wonderful and went out of their way for him. They washed his sippy cup every night at the beginning of dinner and always had his "appetizer" (fruit and cheese) waiting for him at dinner. The room stewards asked what his nap schedule was so they could work around it and room service delivered cookies and milk every night at 7pm for him. I used a tula onboard and in port so we didn't have to worry about a stroller. I wouldn't hesitate to take a toddler again.

RCL has a program for under 3, it just isn't included in your cruise fare and you'll have to pay an hourly fee. NCL also has a paid program for under 3 but only on their 2 mega ships.

We just traveled NCL with our kids (youngest is almost 2) and were on a ship without a paid nursery. We were okay with that because our 15 and 11 year old sons were able to watch her a couple times for dinner.

We're traveling Oasis of the Seas with RCL in December without the older two kids, but with the 2 year old. We plan to make some use of the paid nursery options, but the ship has so many things to do I think she'll just come along to most of it.

If you haven't traveled with a toddler before, you're in for a treat. The staff will absolutely DOTE on your 2 year old. They love little children and will go to extreme lengths to make the smile/laugh. I've even had dining staff assist me with cutting up a meal (years ago when sailing with my older two when they were much younger).

Final thing to note, the 2 year old will not be allowed in any of the pools if they aren't potty trained. However, Oasis class ships on RCL have a splash zone that is okay for diapered children.

We really enjoyed the Carnival Pride with our kids. The Splash area was great and it was nice to have an indoor pool as we traveled South from Baltimore. Our 8 year olds twins at the time had a blast at the kids club, but our youngest (4) and oldest (10) didn't really enjoy it, but they found other things to do. We went with my mother and aunt, so there was lots of adults for the kids to be with.

Our best kids club experiences have been on Carnival, which has been our choice for the past 5 or 6 years. Before that we sailed NCL and RC. We are all out of babies at our house, but I would have really appreciated the option for 2yo care with no additional fees. My youngest was 6 when we moved to Carnival.

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