Choosing 1st cruise with 4 y.o. to Caribbean

[hannahi]

(x-posting this thread from first time cruisers)

 

My husband and I trying to book a cruise sometime in late Feb to the Caribbean. We're generally adventurous travelers, an have been around the world--almost literally--several times with our son but have never been on a cruise. We're taking our 4 1/2 y.o. and had first looked at Disney cruises but decided they were more than we wanted to spend.

It looks like Princess is a little cheaper and is highly recommended for families with young children.

I also don't want to discount other cruise lines, even Carnival though I've heard really mixed reviews.

 

 

So let me give you an idea of what is most important to us:

 

1) Comfortable staterooms with in-room entertainment. In-room wifi would be nice as well.

2) Kids' program or kids' play area. We want our son to have the option of the kids' program if he wants to but we're fine keeping him with us if he doesn't so . . .

3) Activities that the whole family would enjoy

4) We don't care much about the live entertainment options.

5) Also we don't care about formal dining and would rather have the option to order food any time of the day rather than scheduled dining times.

 

Also in terms of itinerary, we're looking at a 7-day cruise. Would eastern, southern, or western Caribbean be the best?

 

Let me know which cruise line and itinerary you'd suggest. Thanks in advance!

Hannah

[jlrn366419]

I'm beginning to research our next cruise (will be the first with our son who will probably be 2-3 yo when we cruise). I used to not worry about our safety because we are alert, safety concsious travelers. Now that I'm a mom I've found I'm a little more absent minded and more distracted caring for my son. That being said I would probably avoid certain places like Mexico. I know the tourist areas are generally safe but there are a lot of travel advisories out for the outlying areas. If you want to do more unique excursions then pick safer places. If you are ok just lounging on a tourist beach then it probably isn't as big of a deal.

 

All the mainstream cruiselines have buffets and room service (free for most mainstream lines too) as an alternative to formal dining, so in that regard it doesn't really matter which cruiseline you choose.

 

Are you set on the type of cabin you want yet?

[Mom2B&Z]

from a 7 night eastern carribean sailing of the NCL Sun. We went to Nassau (Bahamas), St. Thomas and St. Maartin. Our boys are 3 and almost 6 yrs. We purposefully avoided Mexico because of the political issues there, but that being said our next cruise does stop there. I'll decide closer to the sailing as to whether we actually get off the ship.

We had a balcony room which was wonderful. The boys loved being out on the balcony as we sailed into port or while at sea. It was also a great spot for DH and I to hang out after they went to bed.

The kids program was simple, but very appealing to our older son. They did family programming too, which was a bit cheesy but DS loved it. We too like to do things as a family while on vacation, so we really liked the ports and the excursions. The dolphin encounter was a blast, and the boys loved Coral World in St. Thomas. We barely made it to the beach :)

We absolutely loved the freestyle dining. It made our trip, we couldn't have managed having a scheduled time to eat. The Great Outdoors restaurant on the aft of deck 11 of the Sun was fantastic, as the boys could talk loudly and no one cared! They were just as welcome though in the formal dining rooms, and they didn't have to order off the kids menu which I appreciated immensely.

 

 

(x-posting this thread from first time cruisers)

 

My husband and I trying to book a cruise sometime in late Feb to the Caribbean. We're generally adventurous travelers, an have been around the world--almost literally--several times with our son but have never been on a cruise. We're taking our 4 1/2 y.o. and had first looked at Disney cruises but decided they were more than we wanted to spend.

It looks like Princess is a little cheaper and is highly recommended for families with young children.

I also don't want to discount other cruise lines, even Carnival though I've heard really mixed reviews.

 

 

So let me give you an idea of what is most important to us:

 

1) Comfortable staterooms with in-room entertainment. In-room wifi would be nice as well.

2) Kids' program or kids' play area. We want our son to have the option of the kids' program if he wants to but we're fine keeping him with us if he doesn't so . . .

3) Activities that the whole family would enjoy

4) We don't care much about the live entertainment options.

5) Also we don't care about formal dining and would rather have the option to order food any time of the day rather than scheduled dining times.

 

Also in terms of itinerary, we're looking at a 7-day cruise. Would eastern, southern, or western Caribbean be the best?

 

Let me know which cruise line and itinerary you'd suggest. Thanks in advance!

Hannah

[Peace2U]

I love Princess best, with Royal Caribbean being a close second. They are classy yet fun, with lots of things for kids to do. Why mess with perfection? ;)

[amcb]

They were just as welcome though in the formal dining rooms' date=' and they didn't have to order off the kids menu which I appreciated immensely.[/quote']

 

Did they try and gear the kids toward the kids menu? If not, that's even better than I expected. Both our kiddos like good food, and we've tried to expose them to many different cuisines, so I don't want them to feel that they have to order chicken fingers, hot dogs or hamburgers at every meal. They will occasionally (they're kids after all), but it's nice to know that they can also enjoy a good steak or pasta dish or fish. :-)

[Kerry's Girls]

Did they try and gear the kids toward the kids menu? If not, that's even better than I expected. Both our kiddos like good food, and we've tried to expose them to many different cuisines, so I don't want them to feel that they have to order chicken fingers, hot dogs or hamburgers at every meal. They will occasionally (they're kids after all), but it's nice to know that they can also enjoy a good steak or pasta dish or fish. :-)

 

I've done a number of cruises with my girls on (on NCL, Carnival and Princess) and they have never been encouraged to order off the kids menu. In fact, we have a rule that at dinner, they are not allowed to use the kid menu - they must order off the regular menu. The difference on NCL is, that if you're in one of the many "extra charge" restaurants, the kids must pay - sometimes 1/2 sometimes full charge - unless they use the kid menu. I've found cruises are a great way to expand what my girls will eat.

 

Best,

Mia

[boulders]

(x-posting this thread from first time cruisers)

 

 

 

So let me give you an idea of what is most important to us:

 

1) Comfortable staterooms with in-room entertainment. In-room wifi would be nice as well.

2) Kids' program or kids' play area. We want our son to have the option of the kids' program if he wants to but we're fine keeping him with us if he doesn't so . . .

3) Activities that the whole family would enjoy

4) We don't care much about the live entertainment options.

5) Also we don't care about formal dining and would rather have the option to order food any time of the day rather than scheduled dining times.

 

Also in terms of itinerary, we're looking at a 7-day cruise. Would eastern, southern, or western Caribbean be the best?

 

Let me know which cruise line and itinerary you'd suggest. Thanks in advance!

Hannah

 

When I looked at your list, my thought was definitely Disney, especially the Dream, but I see that you've ruled it out.

 

My second choice would be Royal Caribbean, especially the Allure.

 

Any cruise ship will give you the option of having food at any time of the day. :p

 

We just went to our first "private island" on our last cruise. It was a big hit with everyone. I'd also avoid the Western itineraries because of Mexico.

[RoadTripFanatic]

Did they try and gear the kids toward the kids menu? If not, that's even better than I expected. Both our kiddos like good food, and we've tried to expose them to many different cuisines, so I don't want them to feel that they have to order chicken fingers, hot dogs or hamburgers at every meal. They will occasionally (they're kids after all), but it's nice to know that they can also enjoy a good steak or pasta dish or fish. :-)

 

I've never had them push the kids menu on us. In fact our last cruise we had a great waiter who would "monitor" what DD ordered. We were on Costa and she would pick something on the adult menu. Our waiter would look at me and say..she won't like it. LOL! He was right!!! He suggested a different fish that she would enjoy. By the way the dish was a salted fish and we all knew she wouldn't eat that!

[MamaParrotHead]

I'd choose an itinerary with ports that have things to do near the pier. Nothing scarier than rolling the dice on getting a competent taxi driver. I'd also avoid tender ports, they're kind of a pain and eat up a decent amount of port time.

 

Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay, St. Thomas, St. Maarten, Roatan, Nassau all have little shopping areas and/or beaches within easy walking distance (or short ride) of where your ship will dock.

 

We've done two Carnival cruises with our kids and have really enjoyed every second of them. They love the kids' programs, the cabins are among the largest among the mass-market lines. They offer everything we want, need and more for a competitive price.

[sunrise&set]

Based on what you're looking for and my own experience, I would suggest the Royal Caribbean Freedom class ship or Carnival, and an Eastern Caribbean itinerary. You can choose My Time Dining for the main dining room or eat anywhere else on the ship. We just got back from Freedom of the Seas and the kids pool area (H2O Zone) was a lot of fun for DS. I also find that Carnival caters more to families than the old "party ship" reputation they used to have. They are a great value for a family!

[Mom2B&Z]

when I ordered two plates of salmon for the boys off the main menu, but nothing after that. They cleaned their plates that first night and apparently made an impression! The boys were always given kids menu (which includes some activities to keep them busy), but we never ordered from it. I did ask for smaller portions, but apparently the dishes are pre-portioned so they were quite generous.

We don't let the kids order off typical kids menus at home, so this trip was no different. They too enjoy good food, the beef tenderloin I made last night was especially popular lol!

 

Did they try and gear the kids toward the kids menu? If not, that's even better than I expected. Both our kiddos like good food, and we've tried to expose them to many different cuisines, so I don't want them to feel that they have to order chicken fingers, hot dogs or hamburgers at every meal. They will occasionally (they're kids after all), but it's nice to know that they can also enjoy a good steak or pasta dish or fish. :-)