Considering Europe with 3 young kids

[gkrnjlr]

Are we crazy? :eek:

 

We're currently booked on an Alaska itinerary but were informed that the taxes have gone up and now pricing out a Europe itinerary on the Caribbean Princess we're finding that we could do two inside cabins for less than what we're booked in for Alaska.

 

Our kids will be 8, 7 and 4 at the time of cruising. The itinerary is:

 

London (Southhampton)

Brussells/Bruges (Zeebrugge) Belgium

Copenhagen, Denmark

Helsingborg, Sweden

Oslo, Norway

 

There are also two sea days in there.

 

I've never been to Europe, so I am hoping that someone can tell me if this is probably a cruise that should wait till the kids are older? Or if this is a kid-friendly itinerary? The kids love to cruise and they are easy travelers, so that helps. Maybe? LOL

 

Please! Any insight or help is appreciated!

 

Thanks!

[Kerry's Girls]

That is EXACTLY what happened to me when looking for a cruise for 2010. I was trying to book Alaska and realized that Europe would actually be less expensive. The only thing I would caution you about is that airfare to Europe is a lot more lately because of extra taxes and fees. The Baltic itinerary you're looking at has gotten rave reviews from parents with young children - the ports don't require long drives into the city and have places of interest to kids. I'm on a Roll Call for a Baltic cruise in June (I've reserved it, but may have to cancel because air fares are so high) and so far the roll call is all families with younger kids. If you do a search on this board of "Baltic" you should pull up some reviews and ideas of what to see in each place.

 

I took two five year olds on a Med cruise that lots of people said should wait until they're older, but we had an amazing time using the tips I found on this board. We used private tours in each city, kept it kid friendly (no long museum or shopping stops) and we had a ball. Yes, they'll appreciate Europe in a different way when they're older, but I must say, I appreciated it differently seeing it with young kids than when I went without kids and enjoyed it much more.

 

Best,

Mia

[chipmaster]

In my mind price is only one of many factors in deciding on vacation. Clearly budget and value often go hand in hand as well as expectation.

 

Did you pick these just because of the price or those are ports you would enjoy?

 

Why was Alaska your orginal choice?

 

For me Europe was all about Med Ports. The ports you listed, honestly while I've never been there but even if they cost mey 99/day and airfare was 500 bucks round trip I'd still not do it as given a certain duration its more about the experience I want.

 

As to age, as long as the activities you plan align with your kids and your interest and plan anything is possible and fine.

 

We went to Med with older kids, the youngest was 8 at the time. There were many things they couldn't appreciate our enjoy, there were some things they will hopefully treasure for a lifetime and the bottom line is we had a blast with "family" trumped all.

[gkrnjlr]

Europe is on the "to do list" but it's up in the air as to when we'll do Europe. Alaska was chosen because we were going to bounce through Vegas and drop one of the kids off to stay with Grandma/Grandpa for a week. Since then, all the kids have said that they wanted to go to Alaska. We were there two years ago without the kids and thought we'd take them back. The price we're paying for 2 cabins, we've started seeing more cons than pros for going. Even though Alaska is beautiful, we're not as sold anymore.

 

As a celebration, we're going to be planning a big cruise for 2014 or 2015 - and it's been discussed that the kids will all be old enough to enjoy Europe more.

 

As for the Europe itinerary that I mentioned previously - my husband has mentioned that he would like to go there so it was my "give" part of the give and take of picking the cruise. ;)

 

Since posting this morning I have decided to just downscale and do a Princess cruise for spring break next year and then land vacation next summer in San Francisco. I love cruising but I have to admit that I'm a little burnt out on shopping for one right now LOL :D

 

Thanks again for your help! I do think our big Europe cruise will end up being in either late 2014 or summer 2015. I'm leaning towards the Baltic itinerary that is....12 nights? It's got so many great ports!

[Cshgrand]

I think that is a wise decision. Because of the olympics and Paralympics in London next yr accommodation and airfares are likely to be at a premium.

As for those destinations, I have done

[Cshgrand]

Weekends in Bruges and Copenhagen and would definitely travel to either with my son. London is also a great family destination of course.

[brazilgirl]

Not crazy...we did both Med and Baltic cruises with our three young children. On our Med cruise our youngest was 4 (brother and sister were 8 and 10 at the time). We have so many wonderful memories from both cruises as well the fact that these trips sparked a real interest in history and geography in all of them.

 

Highly recommend Europe with kids! However , we ALWAYS booked private shore excursions , which I think is very important when travleing with smaller kids.

 

Kim