Thinking of booking our first family cruise..

[JYeagersGrl]

This will be our third cruise but the first time with our entire family. It's too good of a deal to pass up coming out to be approx $185 pp for 5 days.

 

Our kids have been bugging us since we got back from our last cruise to bring them next time. They'd be 6, 5 and 1.

 

Our plan is we want to go somewhere we've been already since the things we will be able to do will be limited. So what we are looking to do is Half Moon Cay and Nassau. HMC we can rent a clamshell and the kids can play on the beach all day no extra expenses really and Nassau not sure what we would do yet but might go to Blue Lagoon as we've been there before and its such calm waters they'd love it I think and the price isn't bad at all.

 

Any suggestions or tips anyone would like to offer. We are gonna get an inside cabin it will be a bit tight but ya only are in there to sleep so not a big deal. HOPEFULLY booking tomorrow just don't have the money right now for the deposit and don't wanna rely that my income tax refund will be here by the time I need to make my credit card payment lol.

[rebeccalouiseagain]

Do it. That's a deal and it sounds like you've cruised before and know what its like. It's 5 days- how bad can it be?

[seashell36]

The best piece of advice I can think of for you is make sure you take whatever is best for you to keep your room organized. In a room with 4 or 5 people you'll get a lot of "stuff". Some people say using the over the door shoe holder to store items in is the best way. But, with younger kids, some of the upper sections are not accessable. We usually have a tote bag or backpack for each person. That's where the stuffed animals, books, video games go when they're not being used.

 

I love HMC! It's my favorite port of call - have a blast!!

[milton333]

Just keep in mind that your 1 year old will be napping during the day. My son, at 15 months, is still napping twice a day, for 1-2 hours at a time. Someone's going to have to sit in an inside room with the child during these naps. I'd prefer to do a balcony with a child who still naps. Otherwise, I'd be sure to bring a stroller that reclines and has a good canopy, and hope that you can get your child to nap in the stroller while you walk around the ship.

 

Are you looking at Carnival? No kids' club for the 1 year old, but you may be able to do the for-fee evening group babysitting.

[JennLuvs2Cruise]

I think you should definitely take up this opportunity. I sailed with my son last year when he was 9 months at the time. I was concerned about nap times but he happily napped in his stroller. It reclined & had a great canopy to block out the sun, so like PP mentioned, one of those strollers is key to cruising with a baby.

 

Those ports seem great for a family. I've been to Nassau before (and going again this June) and plan on visiting Blue Lagoon. My son will be 15 months at the time of our upcoming cruise, so like you, we are looking for family-friendly beaches. Half Moon Cay is great & the clam shell idea seems fun for everyone. Carnival is great at accommodating children. The 1 year old will be too young for the kids clubs, but they have babysitting from 10 PM - 3 AM for $6 an hour if you want alone time at night.

 

Also, we had a port hole cabin on our last cruise which worked out great for us since it was roomy enough for us 3. But since you are traveling with more people, I'd look into a balcony cabin for that extra space so you don't feel like everyone is on top of each other.

[AandBmom]

We just did a 4 day Carnival cruise to the Bahamas with our children (7, 5, and 8mos). It was fabulous. We had all 5 of us in a cabin and it worked out well. The kids slept in the upper bunks and the baby had a crib. We actually put the crib in the shower b/c our daughter sleeps better when she can't see us and she tends to make a lot of noise in her sleep (cute little sounds but they wake us up) so putting the crib in the shower really worked well for us. It also gave us more cabin space. The crib folded up really quick so it was easy enough to take out for us to shower. The kids enjoyed Nassau - we did a small walking tour and checked out neat stuff (pirate's museum, police station, Queen's steps, library that housed in a jail, etc.) The kids swam and played at the beach at the Hilton and we didn't pay to be there since we didn't use any of their facilities. We also went to the Adrastra zoo. On the ship the kids really enjoyed camp carnival. At the beginning of the cruise we got a hold of the camp schedule and I highlighted all the activities that I thought my guys would like. We then sent them to camp for a few hours each day. The rest of the time on the ship they enjoyed eating with us and playing on the waterslides. Cruising is our first choice of vacation with kids b/c there is a lot to do and the adults can have some time without the older kids while they are at camp.

[JYeagersGrl]

Thanks :) we ended up booking the inside cabin for now since its such a great price I actually found an even cheaper price right after thanksgiving so we went for that will watch prices and MAYBE upgrade for a bit more room at somepoint but I think with them being so small the inside will probably be fine.