You & Your Grandchildren Cruise!!!!!!

[Chucksta63]

How may folks cruise with their Grandchildren???

If you do, or would like to, Cruise Critic has put together a Group Cruise for kids and their familys!!!!!! Laura S. and Cruise Critic have intrusted to my-self to lead a Group Cruise for Familys and Kids!!!!!! If this is something that intrests you. Please come visit our forum on the Triumph!! Follow the links in my signature or click on my banner!! We have Great Group Pricing and a $100 Cabin Credit with discounts on all Cruise Critic logo wear!!!! Please feel free to stop in and say hi, ask questions (this is what I'm here for), or just play on the conga line thread!!!! Hope to hear from you soon, and enjoy this Great Board Laura has started!!!

Thank You

Chuck Johnsen

CC Group Leader

[WCAB]

Sounds like fun. Taking grand kids is really more fun then taking your own kids.

I have promised all of mine that when they turn 11, grandma will take them on a trip. The first one got to go to Hawaii, the second one, we took on a coastal cruise and number three is planned for September 06, that one is a coastal trip too, as we got a really good deal on a mini suite.

 

Between two daughters, I have seven grandchildren, so I have several more years of taking them on "their trip", as they turn eleven.

 

Carol

[SallyMay]

We sailed with our granddaugher on our first cruise. She was 4 at the time and had a great time with her. Of course, other set of grandparents and parents went along too. We did enjoy being with her but also like to cruise just by ourselves.

[Love Cruis'n]

Right now they are a little too young (Maya will be 6 in Aug. and Jayson just turned 2 in Feb. And the other kids plan on starting their family next summer, now that Matt has graduated Law school and got a job with a great firm :) . We're told that 2006 is to be the "summer of conception" - way too much information. :o

BUT, this past May, we took them all to Disney World over Memorial Day weekend, and while expensive, it was a BLAST! In fact the gang was over at our house yesterday, doing the "scrap booking" think, making up photo their albums from the trip.

 

But yes, someday, I would love to cruise with the little ones - at least once, so they will understand later where much of their inheritance went (LOL). :)

[R Prim]

We have been cruising with our grandchildren for 15 years. I could not recommend it more for building memories and extra bonding. My husband and I actually planned a cruise on the Glory for September well guess what - one week later we had to add our Grandson and his wife to the cruise. My one grandson has been crusing since he was an infant - needless to say it doesn't sit too well when we go without him. The kids programs they have on both Carnival and Royal Caribbean (the only two we've taken them on) are excellent and we just allow our grandkids to pick and choose what they want to do. Of course when they get to be teenagers it is a whole different ballgame (especially with the girls). My 16 year old granddaugher has made friends that she still e-mails 4 years later.

[Chucksta63]

This is so great to hear from you all!!!!!

WCAB what a neet thing to do at 11 years old!!

I hope people keep sharing their story's!!! There are alot of folks thinking about cruising and with kids or not!!! Nice to hear such Great Story's!!!

Chuck

[cim]

1996,98,2002 with all of them

1994,2000.2005 without

 

July 1996 all of them on the Sensation(4) Most enjoyable cruise I ever had

 

we snorkled, fed the stringrays, went on tours, they danced, met alot of other teenagers, couple of them sneaked into casino, had to make them stop.

[bswisu]

My husband and I was planning a cruise for last November, when our 2 oldest granddaughters (12 and 13 yrs old) talked us into taking them too. That was the best thing we ever did. We had so much fun, laughing, talking, swimming with the dolphins, climbing Dunn River Falls, and shopping. We even went to the hot tub at 1:30 am.

 

We had so much fun "testing the waters" that this year we are taking the whole family. There will be 16 people, 8 adults and 8 granddaughters, ages 3 to 14 on the CCL Truimph on Nov. 26th. We are so looking forward to our family cruise and can hardly wait for Nov. to get here.

[grandmaof7]

We are taking our 2 oldest Grandchildren,12 &15 on the new Freedom in Oct.06. It will be our first trip with the young ones and I think we are looking forward to it as much as they are.

[yancycruiser]

We live in the same town as our grandchildren and see them all the time, therefore, would never take them on a cruise for it is a time for us to relax. Now, if we saw them only once or twice a year - that would be a different story.

[kabado]

We took our then 10 year old grandaughter on the Adventurer of the Seas in Dec 2003. We just loved seeing things through here eyes. Her mother was along too, so we didn't have to do the work - just enjoyed her. She asked her mother if we could "live on the ship". I guess that meant she was enjoying herself :)

 

We also got a kick out of her freaking out when we went snorkeling. We tease her to this day. We live in the desert. My daughter and ourselves grew up on the east and west coasts, so we never thought about the fact that our grandaughter had never before seen fish in the water! She loved to snorkel in the pool before we left, but panicked when the fish at Baby Beach in Aruba kept bumping into her (obviously looking for food) :)

[SheilaNC]

We celebrated our 40th anniversary by taking our kids and grandkids on a short Disney Cruise (kids 2-7). It was a wonderful way to test the waters - no pun intended! Now we're talking about the whole family taking an Alaskan cruise for our 45th. It's great for bonding with the grandchildren but also a great multi-generational vacation since there is so much to do both alone and together.

[shirlmac]

It is the best, we take them every chance we get. We have 8 year old triplets and 2 other grandaughters one 10 and one 13. They really love

the time alone with Nana & Papa. It has built such strong memories. We give them their own set of photos but also we keep all the kids cruise photos on the computer and each time they come to the house they re-live the experience plus get a kick out of the other kids cruise. They all have something to talk about. Plus every now and then we take just Mom and Dad and that has been special as well. Family is what it is all about.

[Enchantment 04]

I am a 15 year old Grandson. My grandparents took me on their first cruise in April of 2004 on the Enchantment (also my first cruise). We got hooked and now we are going on one in December!! Every other person in my WHOLE enitre family just cant grasp the whole idea of cruising, So we just say more cruising for us!

 

joey

[BCHappyGal]

Took my 2 Grandsons (then ages 6&8) on their first cruise a mini cruise aboard the "Infinity" in May 2004.

 

Took them again in May 2005 on the "Sun Princess".

 

Needless to say they are hooked. They now want to go on a longer cruise.

It is a wonderful way to go as there are activities for them so we get a little time off to ourselves.

 

We are lucky in that both Grandsons live close by and we see lots of them - I fact I am waiting for my Grandson to arrive now for the night as his Mum has to work tonight & I will take him to school in the morning.

[loveJake]

We cruised for the first time in 2000 on DCL with our then 5 and 6 year old grandkids. We had been taking them to WDW since they were 2 and 3. The cruise then became a yearly thing just completed #6. This year our son, DIL and other grandson (won't let him go on vacation alone with us, long story, only child - we are not absent minded grandparents). Next year we are all going again, son included, and are also taking our other 5 year old along with the now 11 and 12 year old sister and brother. They just love it and talk the whole year about their adventures. Both have learned how to snorkle, seen both western and eastern carribean cities and love to ride wave runners with us. The funny thing is that in May DH and I took our first cruise alone, RCI, and we were bored without the kids, I know a lot will find this strange. We are going in Dec. on Carnival for our 39th anniversary, hopefully we can find enough to do!

[Aloha Me]

It took us 25 married years before we could take our first cruise and wanted to introduce our family to one while we were still around to watch them get the "cruising bug". We asked if they would be interested in a cruise as their Christmas present 2004 (along with spending part of their inheritance). They did and we went. Two adult daughters, a son-in-law and four wonderful grandkids, ages 9 to 15. Cruised on the Triumph to Western Caribbean and they are still talking about it today. We thought we may have created a monster since we put them in balcony rooms but they all said they'd stay in a boiler room if it would put them on another ship. They are constantly coming up with ways to pack themselves in our luggage for the Hawaii cruise next year. We're big on making memories and this is one that will last for a long time to come!

[Chucksta63]

It took us 25 married years before we could take our first cruise and wanted to introduce our family to one while we were still around to watch them get the "cruising bug". We asked if they would be interested in a cruise as their Christmas present 2004 (along with spending part of their inheritance). They did and we went. Two adult daughters, a son-in-law and four wonderful grandkids, ages 9 to 15. Cruised on the Triumph to Western Caribbean and they are still talking about it today. We thought we may have created a monster since we put them in balcony rooms but they all said they'd stay in a boiler room if it would put them on another ship. They are constantly coming up with ways to pack themselves in our luggage for the Hawaii cruise next year. We're big on making memories and this is one that will last for a long time to come!

Thats Great! I like making memorys to. My DS is really my Step DS and has never gone anywhere until I came along! Now he cruises and loves it!

[lclocke]

We did it and had a ball. Hubby and I were married on the Enchantment of the Seas...combined at the time we had 4 grands. Our then 6 y/o granddaughter was the flower girl, and her sister then 6 mo went too. Lexie had a great time in the kids program and Ashley slept alot. The dining staff was great and Lexie had her dinner with us, then flew out the door to go back to the "camp".

It was great to see the kids all tromp through the ship when they were pirates, and the kid kareoke show was a hoot.

We are sailing again in April and Lexie and Ashley will be with us again. However Allison (the souvenier from the Enchantment honeymoon cruise, my honeymoon) will stay in GA with her cousins. Too young for camp and my DD wants to relax!!!!:D

[Billm23236]

Any suggestion as to a 50th anniversary cruise with 17 people--us, children, grandchildren for early summer? What cruise lines have real discounted prices for 3rd and 4th in a room? Many thjanks!

[morriscats]

Papa and I took our granddaughters, age 12 and 15, on Pride to Mexico and my daughter and SIL tagged along with his 2 boys, 8 & 10. At dinner one night the 8 year old, after dancing with the waiter at dinner, watched the sun set over the sea and said "wow, this is WAY better than Disneyland". That was a great cruise.

[terrylou]

Seven years ago, we took our four children and four of our six grandchildren on a 3-day Fantasy cruise. We were joined by my husband's sister an d her children and grandchildren. We were celebrating our 40th anniversary and sister-in-law and hubby celebrating their 40th anniversary also. We were 19 of us and had the time of our lives. I highly reccomend cruising with the children.

[born2travel]

What a wonderful thread! DH & I were very much hoping that Nov 2007 would be the time we'd be aboard some beautiful ship with our 2 DDs, SILs, and our 3 little ones. However, cooler financial heads prevailed and it's been agreed that 2008 would be a more reasonable goal. I was a bit disappointed but it may be for the best. Besides letting us all have more time to save, the children will 3, 3, and 4 by then, hopefully all well potty-trained and we'll have more flexibility about selecting a cruise line where they can take part in children's programs.

 

I can't think of a better multi-generational vacation. Cruising offers so many options for all ages & tastes, including some much-needed "adult" time while we know the children are having fun. I have heard nothing but glowing praise for the childrens' programs at sea, and seen first-hand the excited and happy kids on ships telling their parents about all the fun they've been having.

 

It's my fondest hope that 2008 will mark the first of many such trips we take with our grandchildren.

[Pisces11]

We took our then 15 month old grandson, our daughter, SIL and our son on the Empress of the Seas in 2005. We enjoyed this cruise a lot. Our daughter and her family live several states away and it was a wonderful way of spending lots of time with our grandson without the work of out of town family. Our grandson is now 3 and has a brand new little brother. I think we will wait a few years to do another family trip on a cruise ship. There was one incident on the ship that we still laugh about. The wait staff kept our grandson with a supply of big cookies. He was carrying one of these huge cookies as we left the dining room and stopped to discuss our excursion for the next day. A young woman bent down to speak with our grandson and for some reason said to him " All your wishes will come true if you toss your cookie in that huge fountain." Our grandson was off like a shot and threw his cookie in that fountain that went up to the top of the ship. The next thing we knew our daughter had both her arms in the fountain trying to scoop out the cookie before it clogged up that fountain. We could not believe that this 15 month old child even knew what a wish was much less what a fountain was. When our grandsons are a little older we will definitely start cruising with them.

[grammyandpoppy]

Poppy and I took our first grandchild on her first cruise at the age of two. She loved it although I have to say we were kept quite busy.

 

When she was 4 we took her on a 7 day eastern caribbean on Holland America Westerdam. She not only loved it - she didn't want to go home. No mention of Mommy, Daddy or her baby sister. She handled the water goblets very gracefully and watched our table mates as to what utensil to use at dinner. They loved her and we loved having her with us. She loved going to Club Hal. Most passengers commented on how well behaved she was but one old bitty complained that my husband was dancing with her on the dance floor.

 

When she was 6 she reminded us that her sister (who was now 4) had never been on a cruise and volunteered to go with us on another cruise to help take care of her - a little manipulation. We took both of them at the ages of 4 and 6 on Holland America Zuiderdam. The 4 year old loved the ship so much that she wouldn't get off the ship at two ports and Poppy volunteered to stay on the ship with her. We have those memories etched in our mind.

 

Those were some of our best cruises. We pray that the good Lord will give us the health and wealth to take them again.