Did your kids like a short Cruise? One port?

[skyw]

HI

I am looking at LOS 4 day cruise to Cozumel. I was wondering how kids liked this kind of short cruise with one port. Anyone with experience? Thanks

[colocop004]

I loved a short, one port cruise when I was a kid!! Loved it and thus began my cruising addiction!!!

[cruiseguy1016]

The shortest cruise my kids have been on is 4 nights with two ports. It was their first cruise. They loved it. With so many things to do on LOS they will not mind only one port.

[irishgal432]

WE went on a 3night Disney a few years back with the kids. That was short. We are also going in Jan for the 4 night and I think it is perfect with all of the things to do on the ship, they will never get bored. We are going to spend an extra day in Fort Lauderdale and treat it as a port day.

[snorkelman]

My wife and I go on at least one cruise a year. When our kids were 4 they missed us for the first time when we went on a 7 day cruise and left them with the grandparents, so we began looking into short cruise to kind of test the waters with them.

 

I personally need a break to relax and have always considered a 7 day cruise for this goal. While I love my kids and do stuff with them year-round, I would not find the cruise relaxing if I was in my normal "dad" role the whole time, so we used a short 3 day cruise to test-drive the concept of cruising.

 

We took our 5 year old daughters on a short 3 days cruise to the Bahamas on RCL (Majesty) and the kids loved it. We were very happy that the kids loved the Adventure Ocean program because we also liked RCL and did not like the idea of paying 2X the going rate just to bring them on a Disney ship.

 

Since then, our kids have cruised 3 more times and will be on the Allure with us in 2 weeks, but this time as 7-year-olds.

 

If I could give a piece of advice, don't allow your child to know there is any option other than the kids' program. I have seen some parents who are nervous and it comes through to their kids and they give their 5 year old the option of going in the kids program or staying with mommy and daddy and the kid chooses the latter. Our kids now beg to STAY in the kids program when we pop in for lunch or to pick them up at bedtime.

 

Don't get me wrong, even with the kids program, there are plenty of opportunities to have a family vacation, and we always eat breakfast and lunch with our kids, do our own shore excursions with our kids, and make sure to do things with them that they want, such as ice skating and climbing the rockwall and mini golf. We also make a big deal about watching the kids in the Pirate Parade.

[skyw]

Thanks everyone. Short is good, not bad. :0

[Wilda]

I'm not generally in favor of short cruises....but Liberty of the Seas with only one day in port- sign me up:D:D:D The Freedom class ships are a destination unto themselves and your kids will love, love, love it!

 

We chose a western Caribbean on Oasis this year because we want to spend port days on the ship to explore!

[FLSteve11]

HI

I am looking at LOS 4 day cruise to Cozumel. I was wondering how kids liked this kind of short cruise with one port. Anyone with experience? Thanks

 

MY DD is 7 and has been on seven 3-night cruises and a 4-night cruise (with another coming up in December) besides a few 7-nighters. To her, there is not much of a difference between the long and short cruises. She is happy to be on the ship and has a great time.

 

The REAL difference isn't the length, it is the ships. The shorter cruises are generally the older, smaller ships with less amenities. MY DD really does not do the Kids Clubs, she may go once a cruise, if at all. But there is a bit of a difference between what is offered on the different ships.

 

In reality though, she has loved every cruise she has been on, long or short. She loves going to dinner, the shows, and various activities. Much like we enjoy them, even if different, it's hard to have a bad cruise.

[B_Mc]

My kid was only 10 months when he did it, but I don't think he complained! We also really liked it - it was a good "test vacation", short enough that if everything went wrong we wouldn't suffer too long but long enough to really get a feel for being away from home with a baby. Also, very little vacation time used!

[lesleyswimcoach]

We did a 4 day(2 port) for our first "test cruise". I was worried since my daughter sometimes gets carsick. Everything went great. We were together all day and they spent the evenings in the kid club. My kids are hooked on cruising and we are doing a 5 day Jewel out of Tampa next April. We actually looked at the 5 day Liberty but it was almost $1000 more for the same dates. I am thinking, I'll just save the bigger ship for our first 7 day! Freedom, Oasis or Allure, you are next!