Best cruise line for families with young kids

[mra9955]

We have young kids and so far have settled on Royal Caribbean as our cruise one of choice we take two to three cruises a year. One to Europe and one or two to the Caribbean. We like Royal for the kids programs but dislike that they're not more upscale. Just preference. Is this the best line given or kids and tastes or is another better? Have been on Celebrity a half dozen or so times and enjoyed it but found the kids programs more limited. Thanks for your opinions.

 

 

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[Clarea]

You might want to try Disney and see how that works for you.

[WisconsinFan]

If you are going to go strictly on kids programs Disney takes the blue ribbon. Royal is a close second.

 

Our first cruise was on Disney many years ago and my children actually cried the day we left! As Disney right now breaks the bank a bit we have been Royal cruisers. The kids enjoyed the programing, both are now young adults so can't comment on what is current programing.

[spookwife]

We have young kids and so far have settled on Royal Caribbean as our cruise one of choice we take two to three cruises a year. One to Europe and one or two to the Caribbean. We like Royal for the kids programs but dislike that they're not more upscale. Just preference. Is this the best line given or kids and tastes or is another better? Have been on Celebrity a half dozen or so times and enjoyed it but found the kids programs more limited. Thanks for your opinions.

 

 

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"upscale" and "Family Friendly" are not quite mutually exclusive but you do have to decide which is more important. the only line that could probably pull that off is Disney..and the price reflects that.

 

the FF lines tend to be more casual to appeal to the entire family. upscale appeals to the more refined crowd who don't want all the family friendly activities or indeed to have too many of them around at all.

[tropiclvrs]

If you want more upscale, then more than likely you're going to sacrifice the kids program and things onboard that they would like more (i.e. H2O zone, waterslides, etc...). It's up to you to decide which is more important to you at the time.

 

Yes, Disney fully caters to kids and families but I'm not sure that I would consider it more upscale. They do a great job at what they do but I still wouldn't put it at the same level as the more upscale cruse lines such as Azamara or even Celebrity.

 

We prefer Royal for our family and our kids love the many options. We personally cruise for the flexibility it gives us and our love of the ocean not to feel like we are in a 5 star resort. But, that's not the same reason for may others and I totally get that.

 

I suggest you spend a bit of time checking out the Family board. When my kids were really young there was lots of great info on there.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=49

[scottygirl]

No question about it if you can afford it, Disney.

[cruzinlisa]

I would say Disney. I am not sure if it is upscale as you want, but the service level is amazing. And at least on the Fantasy, they adult areas are top notch. And as far as kids programing and themes, they knock it out of the park. But you pay a premium for it.

[drrich2]

Explain specifically what you mean by not more upscale. Maybe staying in a suite and one of the 5 night specialty restaurant packages would fix that for you?

 

 

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[grand isle joe]

I agree with those who recommend Disney BUT in our household we found the kids club superior for kids to about 8 and then RCL from that age onward. Disney kid's club is more structured and RCL has more "freedom" so the kids can chose what they want to undertake. Both are great choices. :)

[mra9955]

Thank you for your feedback. We did Disney on the magic about five years ago. It was an OK experience but not something that we would repeat. We felt the food was just so-so and I didn't see why it was worth paying a premium overall with them. More recently, we sailed in the two bedroom Aqua theater suite. This was just before the introduction of the new star class program. While we like the size of the room there was nothing particularly special. I am willing to eat in specialty restaurants, but based on our last cruise a few weeks ago the food there was just not very good. The quality of the food and level of service was not very good. In fact I felt that there were very few perks of sailing in a suite (we had the two bedroom suite). So I am wondering if this is the best at Royal Caribbean can offer, is there another cruise line that has a similarly good kids program but has been a much stepped up overall experience. It doesn't really sound like there may be.

 

 

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[drrich2]

Reviews of specialty restaurants vary, so which did you find lackluster and on which ship? Describe for us what this much stepped up overall experience you envision would look like.

 

People vary a lot in what they value and prioritize. You liked Celebrity; did they do a lot right that RC lacked?

 

 

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Edited January 5, 2017 by drrich2

[spookwife]

Sounds like your expectations are too high for your enjoyment on a mainstream line. However, the premium lines will not cater to the kids at all, so their experience will suffer. You may better off pursuing one of the all inclusive resorts that are family friendly

 

 

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[bluebelt]

We have cruised NCL and have had good experiences with them. We have not cruised in a suite but have heard that their suite program is one of the best at sea among the mainstream lines. Their new ships seem to have a lot of activities for children (ropes course and water slides). Their entertainment is very competitive with RCI's. Overall we think the food is better on NCL (I know this is subjective). Something to consider....

 

 

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