Kids on Viking or other lines?

[Bellarose]

Yes, that was our plan! They will probably go sleep with a grandparent a night or two. Viking did not have a problem with this. Good luck planning.

 

 

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[pacmom]

The OP's children are five and nine---would not put mine of that age in a cabin without an adult on any boat. Children that young will be longing for something fun to do. Hope all those who bring young ones bring plenty to amuse them and that they eat adult food--no children's menus Personally would rather one place for multigenerational vacations. Enjoy and travel safely

[wunderlust123]

We have a multigenerational Viking river cruise booked for next summer. Grandparents, parents and grandkids. The youngest is 10. We have traveled all over the world together. It's a great way to spend family time together. We went on a previous river cruise and the kids had a good time.

 

 

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Hello Bellarose,

 

We also are taking a multigenerational cruise on the same trip as you and your family. Our granchildren are 11 (krista) and 15 (Michael). It is nice to know that there will be other children on board. This is our first river boat cruise, since you've done it before with family, are there any tips or suggestions you can provide? This will be a trip of a lifetime for our family and we are all excited about it.

 

Thank you.

 

Kind regards, Jan Nemetz

[TravelerThom]

...We have been on river cruises with multi-gen families that included mid-teens. Those kids did well and seemed to enjoy themselves.

YMMV. I have been on two river cruises that had mid-teens (both situations involved 3 generations). A 3 week cruise this year involved a single teen and she was interested in experiencing everything, and was a delight. A few years ago we had two teens who made it quite clear that they did not want to be there - both they and I would have been a lot happier had they stayed home. Perhaps they would have done better had there been other teens on board.

 

Thom

 

PS I think that comments that ocean cruises may be a better fit for children are appropriate on this river cruise forum. Discussions about the best ocean cruise line to take with children would seem more in place on some other thread.

[Host Jazzbeau]

Since this thread went dormant, there has been a development that might suit OP and others: AMA and Disney have teamed up to offer river cruises specifically designed for families, and AMA has redesigned their two newest ships with cabins suitable for families:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=6299

[wunderlust123]

YMMV. I have been on two river cruises that had mid-teens (both situations involved 3 generations). A 3 week cruise this year involved a single teen and she was interested in experiencing everything, and was a delight. A few years ago we had two teens who made it quite clear that they did not want to be there - both they and I would have been a lot happier had they stayed home. Perhaps they would have done better had there been other teens on board.

 

Thom

 

PS I think that comments that ocean cruises may be a better fit for children are appropriate on this river cruise forum. Discussions about the best ocean cruise line to take with children would seem more in place on some other thread.

 

Thom, thank you for your input. We have explained this is not a fun ship cruise. Michael, aged 15 has been on two of those and understands there are no climbing walls, pools etc. on this ship. We made it quite clear that the majority of folks will be grandpas and grandmas but they seem to be excited to experience the places in Europe we will be visiting. Especially Heidelberg where grandpop was born and lived.

 

Jan

[Host Jazzbeau]

For more information about the design of the new AMA ships that will be used on the Disney cruises (but will also sail many non-Disney itineraries), see this Cruise Critic article:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/blog/index.php/2015/08/07/just-back-from-amawaterways-amaserena-hits-misses/?isalt=0&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+CC%2FTheLidoDeck+%28The+Lido+Deck+-+Cruise+Critic+Blog%29

Note that the "connecting cabins" are way more than a communicating door (like I've seen on ocean ships). The description is "With the touch of a button, two cabins convert into one larger one, as adjoining walls recede like pocket doors." That sounds like a perfect answer to the question that keeps coming up about cabins rated for 3 or 4 people.

[Floridiana]

Check a-rosa. Children under 15 cruise free.

[ljandgb]

The new AMA ship, AmaViola) will have 6 cabins that fit 3, as well as 6 pairs of connecting rooms that sleep 2 each. The ship will primarily sail AMA (I have no clue what sort of trips, family centered, etc.) It has been contracted for Adventures by Disney for 7 weeks (5 summer, 2 Christmas), which are family centered trips, suggested ages 8+, minimum age 4. Those trips are completely managed by Disney with no chance of an AMA patron mistakenly ending up on a ship full of kids.

 

The prices are similar to Tauck family trips and include most meals, alcohol for the adults, any and all port excursions, and tips.

 

I don't work for ABD, but did a lot of research before signing up for one next July. Can't wait to sail. We'll have dh, myself, 4 kids ages 10-16, and the grandparents.

 

As of June, the breakdown of passengers was :

 

There are 141 currently booked on our sailing.

105 adults

36 kids total:

20 kids ages 4 to 12 (only 3 are under 8)

16 kids ages 13-17