fall TA with kids - 5 and 1yo

[ArchMom]

Posted this in Carnival forum, but thought I'd try here as well, as I think most of my questions have to do with kids ;)

 

Background: Pretty new to cruising. Went on one way back in Dec of 2007, just husband and I (he surprised me for my birthday!). Definitely enjoyed it, the relaxing more than anything. I think it was a Carnival cruise, but not positive.

Since then we've had one kid, and are about to add a second. In the midst of planning a family reunion (his family) cruise for summer 2013, likely on Magic as most of the family live in TX.

 

Now: after exploring these forums, I've become obsessed:) In doing so, I've been looking at the repositioning cruises for fall of 2013, one on the Sunshine (old Destiny, I understand) from Barcelona to NO and another on Legend from Barcelona to Tampa. I've lots of questions, so feel free to point to other threads if you know they exist (there seem to be so many here!).

- Transatlantic/repositioning with kids: Is it doable? Recommended? Discouraged? At that point they will be 5 and 1. I don't think our then 5 yo will have a problem with the camp carnival (which I assume will still happen on a TA?), but realize that a toddling 1yo could be interesting.

-opinions of Legend? Esp with kids? I realize Destiny/Sunshine will be sort of 'new,' so can't get real reviews yet.

-booking now? The rates, even for a balcony, seem to be crazy ridiculous right now. And we've heard balconies can be nice with kids, as while they're sleeping you can still talk, have a drink, etc. Will these rates go up? By a lot (double? Triple? I think ideally we'd like to wait til after the summer 2013 Magic cruise to book, to see what it's like first hand cruising with kids, but these rates are ridiculous!

-Minor, but are we even going to be able to use the pools in November? Is it going to be so cold and windy on a TA that we'll be inside the whole time? (with a toddler! ?)

-Should we consider a different line for a TA?

 

Thank you for your help. I'm sure I'll have more questions. I'm assuming we'll get travel insurance, as I've read on here it's sort of invaluable with kids. Perhaps that would cover part of a cancellation if we needed to? I've never gotten travel insurance before.

I'm not concerned about the flights with kids. We move a fair amount, and have had occasion for transatlantic flights with our current kid, so have strategies (and low expectations) set for those. We've pretty much decided not to let those brief 9 hours affect what we as a family get to experience.

 

Thanks!

[1025cruise]

One thing to consider for a TA is that there won't be that many children on board. Could be a good thing, could be a bad thing.

[rebeccalouiseagain]

I did a transatlantic cruise with my then 4 year old son in May of 2005 and it was wonderful. He had the youth program to go to each day and made a few friends in there (there were 20 children onboard). I would imagine there will be some pre-school age children onboard.

 

If it were me- traveling with a 1 year old- I would want some type of babysitting available to me while onboard. I think Royal Caribbean would be a better bet for you. They have in cabin sitting available at night and now there is a daycare available on some of their ships.

 

While I think a 1 year old will have a great time on a ship (my son did at 13 months). I don't think that any of the formal venues (theatre, MDR) will be hard to manage with a 1 year old. My experience is they have the attention span of a flea and want to get down and play after about 10-15 minutes in the high chair. They do have nice buffet areas on Royal Caribbean-so if you find the MDR too much for the 1 year old- you can fall back on that.

 

One concern I would have is that you have so many sea days and the baby needs to play- at least on Royal's larger ships they have the H2O zone available for the baby to play in.

 

Since the one year old is an unknown at the moment- I would definitely purchase the ship insurance- in the event that any of you aren't able to travel. You don't have to purchase this until final payment is due and don't because you can not get the insurance costs back once it is purchased.

 

I do think that you only have a window of time to do this before your child is in school. That's why I did it before my son started kindergarten. It was one of the best cruises I ever did.

[Kerry's Girls]

I really regret not doing TA cruises before my girls started school. The rates are always so wonderful and we love sea days. I do agree that you'll want to have access to some kind of child care. Carnival does offer paid group sitting to under-2s after 10 and possibly at another time during the day, but I agree that Royal Carib may be a better choice.

 

Best,

Mia

[rebeccalouiseagain]

One suggestion that I'd like to make though- I would probably do an Eastbound Transatlantic (2014) instead of the Westbound. The Eastbound one will mean that you will gradually get over the time difference and be well rested upon arrival in Europe. When you disembark- you can spend some time in Europe and the kids won't be fussy. Then fly back to the US- which I think is a better bet. Royal Caribbean will release the Spring 2014 TA schedules in a few months. The Eastbound is really more of an adventure because you are looking forward to getting to Europe.

[powelweb]

We did a 9 night repo cruise when DD was 13 months, and a 15 night westbound TA from Barcelona to Galveston when she was 5.

 

When she was 13 months, we were on the Jewel of the Seas, and it didn't have a nursery. It did have the kids play program where they brought out playskool toys for an hour each morning, but that was about it, so we did a lot of walking around the ship, exploring many of the lounge areas in the morning when they were quiet, and taking naps. DH and I did swap time off as we had other family members with us, so we did fit in an excursion here and there, but what I remember most was just spending time together and not having to worry about meals and cleaning.

 

On the TA when she was 5, I had found another 5 yr old girl on the chat thread before we sailed, so her mom and I became pen pals to get the girls excited about the trip, and then we set up a few play dates while onboard as well as meeting up as some of the AO activities.

 

The westbound TA was in November and even though it was a southbound route, it was very windy so we were not able to use the pools until we hit the last few days which included a port day in Miami.

 

Personally, I prefer the westbound TA to the eastbound TA I did (without DD) as you gain an hour each day on the Atlantic crossing portion on the westbound cruise, thus getting more time on the ship, whereas you have 23 hour days on the eastbound sailing.

 

I haven't been on legend so can't comment there but in general, most TAs are reasonably priced although there are a few that increase due to heavy demand, like the Jewel's current westbound TA to boston was sold out since April. So you might be ok just watching the prices for a while and if you see them climbing, put your deposit down that would still be refundable typically until 75 days before sailing (unless a holiday trip)

 

We also get travel insurance, mostly to cover any medical evacuation costs if heaven forbid were needed and because we have many older relatives that have health issues so we may need to cancel if something comes up with them.

 

I'd say go and enjoy your cruise

[kitty9]

Just make sure that your youngest is 12 months or older, not just 11 months and a few days. They will not allow anyone who's not 12 months or older to do a trans ocean cruise. There are no facilities on board if a child should become very ill, so that's the one reason why they don't allow children younger than that on board.

[ArchMom]

Thank you for the info - we'll check out royal Caribbean. That's what we were thinking as far as timing - getting it in before school schedules cause difficulties:) Our youngest is expected in about a month, so will be a year+ by the Nov 2013 cruises:) and agree, we'll be doing a lot of walking around with littlest!

Thanks again for the tips

[tikcho]

It may work our for you as long as you have the right expectations. Having too many sea days with a 1-year old can be very grueling especially in November when the weather is chilly (especialyl in the middle of the ocean) so the pool/deck will not be an option. If you think that walking around a ship with a baby is acceptable way to pass the day, then go for it. But just keep in mind that the passengers on those itineraries are much older (probably 60+ on average), there will only be a handful of kids and you may end up spending a lot more time with your kids than you planned. I agree that i would do an East-bound itinerary if only because of the time of the year - usually May - when the weather warms up and you can hang out outside more than in november. In my experience people who take the TA in the fall just want to relax, play bridge and hang out on the ship so think about if this is your type of vacation. May I ask why you are considering a TA instead of a more typical itinerary - is it just the rates being lower?

[Essiesmom]

The pool would not be an option for a non-potty trained child anyway. If you really need that, you should look at one of the Royal ships that have a Kid Zone for diapered kids.

There are always empty lounges during the day, where a little one can run and dance and play without disturbing others...EM