Our Cruise Experiences with the Kids

[mrmj]

I have found this board so helpful over the years so I just thought to share our cruise experiences/comments in hopes that it will be helpful to someone.

 

About Us ...

Me, husband (early 40s) and 2 kids (daughter 12, son 10). We took our first cruise 5 years ago and we were hooked. We take at least one big vacation (10-14 days) a year which prior to cruising was usually to a caribbean island resort - all inclusive. Since we have a busy work schedule, we use the vacation to unwind and spend time with the kids.

 

The top 3 things we like about cruising ...

 

• We love the food and service in the dining room and basically just like to be served. With kids, especially when they were younger, I find it so much easier to sit down rather than go back and forth to the buffet. I hear so much about families opting out of the dining room because of the kids but for us, this is has been great. The kids menu usually has something they like and of course now, they order from the regular menu. Even in the past, they would order soup, pasta, chicken, steak from the regular menu. The food isn't that different on the menu. The dining room staff has always been very accommodating and very friendly with the kids.
  
• We love the opportunity to see different places and do different things. Do note that I love the beach and its great to stay at one resort as well but we don't miss it. We try to do at least 2 beach stops every cruise so that the kids can enjoy the ocean and play in the sand. Of course, now that they are older, we are doing more adventurous things and use the sea days to relax.
  
• Lastly, it is about the kids and they love the kid's programs (and happy kids mean happy parents). Perhaps we are somewhat lucky because the kids enjoy the simple activities like crafts, games, scavenger hunts and just playing around. They really don't need all the "extra" stuff to keep them busy. But of course, they've seen the commercials of the newer ships and are just dying to go on them.
  

Our cruises ....

 

• Norwegian Dawn
  
• Norwegian Pearl
  
• Carnival Liberty
  
• Holland America Noordam
  
• Carnival Valor
  
• Royal Caribbean Enchantment of the Seas (to come)
  

Final comments / interesting conclusion ...

We love cruising but we understand that it is not for everyone but we tell people you have to try it and make up your own mind about it. Such is also the case when reading information on these boards, keep an open mind.

 

As for the kids, we ask them every year what vacation they would like and cruising is still their top choice. The next question we ask is which cruise line they prefer and surprisingly, their top cruise was the Noordam. The Noordam didn't have very many "extra" activities and in fact, the cruise had more wheelchairs and walkers than I have ever seen in one place but the kids both hooked up with other boys and girls their ages and had a great time. The service and staff was great. We find the smaller ships more comfortable and more friendly.

 

We are off to try to Royal next month and looking forward to it. As much as the kids have been wowed by the new Royal ships, I think they will still enjoy the Enchantment.

[bus man]

I'm glad to hear that your family has had such fun on your travels. When you're on the Enchantment, be sure and try the bungee trampoline. Unless they're afraid of heights, or easily get motion sick, they'll love it!

[mrmj]

Thanks - we are definitely going to try the bungee trampoline - just hoping it is open as I hear that it is closed often because of winds.

[kelbre]

Great post, mrmj!!! I agree 100 %!!! In 29 days (gee, can you tell I'm excited!, lol!) we will be sailing on the Carnival Miracle, and we CANNOT wait!

We sailed on her back in April of 05 as our first cruise, we took our kids (then aged 4 and 6) and we were hooked too!!! It was funny, my hubby hadn't wanted to go on one, but his cousin convinced him he'd love it, and when it was time to get off the ship, he and the rest of us did not want to leave!

For us, it's perfect too, as the kids have such a blast with kids camp, the camp counsellors are wonderful and the kids make great friends. For our second cruise, I joined the roll call and chatted with people before and that helped too. I've been doing that since then. In fact, for this cruise, I just booked it this past friday and in chatting with people, found a friend for my 12 y/o daughter to chat with already, hoping to find one for my son soon too.

 

I find when chatting with people about cruises around here, they either love it or not at all! We were actually going to try an all inclusive for this trip as it is for our March Break and ususally when we go, it's in April, I also wasn't sure how much time hubby could get away from his business, but when it came down to deciding, the kids both wanted a cruise, I said it didn't matter to me, but I am glad he decided to to the cruise idea. He just turns into a different person out there on the open sea, we all can be as busy as we want or not at all! , plus meals are all ready, no laundry, NO SCHEDULES!!!!!!!!

 

Another thing I like too, is being able to visit so many different places in a week! This cruise we go to Grand Turk and we were there last year, but it's our favorite port out of all of them that we visited!

 

Well, happy cruising to you all!

[mrmj]

Hey Kelbre, I'm jealous ... we've been wanting to get to Grand Turk and have yet to see the island - perhaps on the next cruise. Oh we almost booked the Carnival Miracle cruise but chose to try Royal for the first time.

[kelbre]

Mrmj, what ports does your cruise stop at?? At first for this trip we were going to do the Carnival Victory out of San Juan that does St Lucia, St. Kitts, Barbados and St. Thomas. But due to lack of extra travelling time, we went with the Miracle as it is a little easier to get to than San Juan. But those ports are definately on my must see list, we've done St. Thomas twice and loved it too! This Miracle cruise does Curacao, Aruba, Domican Republic and Grand Turk. Really excited to see Curacao and Aruba and of course GRand turk, but not too sure about Domincan Republic, I'm thinking that might be a good day to have an extra day on the ship, we'll see.

[mrmj]

We are doing the Bahamas itinerary on Enchantment so very few islands this time around. Since we've seen many of the islands already, we are using this cruise to relax rather than being too adventurous. We love Aruba and enjoyed Curucao as well. These were beach days for us. As for the Dominican, unless there's an interesting excursion, I would probably stay on the ship as well.

[kelbre]

I still haven't really had a chance to sit down with hubby to talk about excursions yet, but I read some more reviews on Dominican and they were not favorable at all!!!! I'm hoping to try the dolphin encounter in Curacao and/or just some sightseeing and the sightsee/beach tour in Aruba sounds good too! Grand Turk will most likely be just park ourselves in a lounger at the beach and that will be good!

Is it in March that you are going?? We are going the March 11 sailing as it is starting into our March Break week (we are Northern Ontario, more closer to Manitoba, actually).

I see your kids are pretty much the same ages as ours, my boy Brendan will be 10 at the end of April and my girl Kelsey is 12, going on 22, lol! I'm pumped about this March break vacation as it also means not having to bring a lot of homework with us! Usually when we go, it's April as that is when it usually quiets down for my hubby who owns his own logging business, but I'm really glad he decided he really needed a break sooner!!!!

[Julienatul]

I love your synopsis and totally agree. Our kids LOVE cruising best of all too. They are only 5 and 2 though. We do one land based vacation a year, usually Disney and 2 cruises a year. We too use it as a time to relax and spend quality family time since we both work full-time and our kids attend school and daycare. We have tried Norweigein, Royal Caribbean and Disney and our kids prefer Carnival so far. Once our youngest can participate in the kids club on all the lines Im sure we will venture out more on other lines. Enjoy your upcoming cruise

[mrmj]

Likewise Kelbre, we haven't decided on any excursions yet either. Too bad we are not on the same cruise, kids are exactly the same age even the girls, i.e. 12 going on to 22. We are also from Ontario, just outside Toronto and chose to drive to embarkation point instead of flying to florida. Having been to Aruba a few times, we decided to actual take a bus to the palm beach area - it was easy and safe.

 

Hey Julienatul - once the kids are able to go the kid's club, you'll have some free time as well. We also found this to be great for us so that hubby and I had a bit of time to ourselves.

[lisamarie_30809]

Our kids definately say they love cruising! This year I asked them what to do for summer vacation...one said cruise and one said Alaska. So, Alaska cruise for us on the NCL Pearl.

 

I am a little hesitant to try the Pearl after hearing some negative NCL reviews. We have cruised Disney, Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Celebrity previously.

 

We are just off the Disney Dream (February 3-6) and we had a great, but short vacation on her.

 

I am hoping that the Pearl in Alaska turns out to be a good choice for us this summer.