Selecting a Family Cruise

[d4upmc]

We have cruised a lot of luxury lines and love them.  We would like to take our family on a Disney type cruise but I am so concerned that we will hate it with all the kids everywhere.  Are there any options that would be a good compromise?  

 

[cb at sea]

If you can afford Disney, there are PLENTY of "adult only" areas and options!  No fear!  There are lots of kids on ALL the cruise lines, until you get to the true "luxury" lines....they don't offer much for kids.

 

RCI, Carnival and NCL offer good family cruises at better price points......

[Dulciana8]

We really loved our Disney cruises with our son, and it’s true in our experience, that Disney did an excellent job of separating the adult cruise experience from the children’s experience. We’ve only sailed on the Wonder, which is one of the older and smaller Disney ships, so that’s my only point of reference, but there are absolutely adult only areas that were enforced by crew, and then again in the evenings, after a certain time, public areas are adults only, too. If you’re signed up for late seating, the kids club cast members will even come to the main dining room after a certain point and bring the children back to the club area— definitely a bonus for adults wanting to enjoy a quiet(er) meal. 

[Umwakichwa]

We cruised Disney on the dream in the first part of November and there were sooooo many kids screaming and crying everywhere. However, a larger portion of the ship was “adults only” than on any other ship I’ve been on so there would be places to get away. However, if you are cruising with kids (which is what it sounds like from your post) you’ll be in crowded pool areas or waiting in line for the water slides with rambunctiousness all about. I didn’t like it (I was with kids) and the kids clubs were also totally packed and chaotic. We had to wait in lines to get the kids in and out—-lines as long as 20 minutes in a narrow hall that became hot because of the amount of people. There were also lots of sleep-deprived kids because of parents trying to “do everything because we paid for it.” I much prefer some of the royal Caribbean ships with enough for the kids to do but not overcrowded with kids. I’m not sure the ages you have, but arcades are on most royal and carnival ships, some have water slides and splash zones, they all have kids clubs and kid activities but there are far fewer kids and it’s less chaotic. This is especially true if you cruise in the regular school session. My kids get more personal attention in the clubs, they also do kids dinners so you get time alone and there are theme nights in the clubs (dinosaur stomp, pirate night). Even princess had decent kids clubs and has licensed discovery channel and themes accordingly, including shark week stuff. Holland America is not a good choice as there was nearly open hatred of kids by the passengers (have a look at any of the roll calls where people mention taking kids on that line).Carnival has cat in the hat costumed charavters for pictures and a themed breakfast “green eggs and ham.” I heard royal completely phased out their characters. I’d go with at least 7 day royal or carnival (the short cruises are party cruises mostly).

Edited January 5, 2019 by Umwakichwa

[phxbne]

Hi

 

We did one Disney cruise and it was our least favorite - almost everyone has kids.......so even if you have your own it can get a bit overwhelming. We also felt that it was overpriced.

 

We have traveled on Crystal with our daughter. They have dedicated kids clubs - not sure the ages of your family, or when or when you want to travel, but it was great. The kids club on Crystal was her favorite - lots of attention!

 

Celebrity might also be an option - kids club is pretty strong and on our recent Christmas cruise the teen program seemed strong (daughter didnt set foot in it.....). If you do a suite on Celebrity, you get drinks and a dedicated restaurant, which made it closer to Crystal.

 

Have a great trip!

Michele

[kitkat343]

 

 

I 

3 hours ago, phxbne said:

 

 

We have traveled on Crystal with our daughter. They have dedicated kids clubs - not sure the ages of your family, or when or when you want to travel, but it was great. The kids club on Crystal was her favorite - lots of attention!

 

 

 

Michele I've tried looking on Crystal's website, but can't find any info about their kids clubs there.  Do they have drop off programs?  What ages can attend?  What hours are they open for?

 

 

To the OP, please note that Disney clubs keep children from ages 3-12 in the same room, so that cousins on family reunions can all stay together.  Unfortunately, those wide age ranges mean that the activities need to be unstructured and some - though certainly not all- younger children are a little overwhelmed by being in a kids club program with 12 year olds.  My children liked the kids club programs on Princess, NCL and HAL (we haven't sailed Disney yet since I was a little concerned with mine being too small to be happy in the kids clubs plus with only 4 ships they can't match the itineraries of other lines, although being on Disney itself must be a very special experience).

[phxbne]

Hi

 

From what I recall the hours are something like 9 or 10 til Noon, 2 til 4 or 5 and then 7 til 9 or 10.

 

I think kids is 3-12, then there is a teen room too. There is only one room for each, but the ratio of staff to kids is good, so I think they are pretty good at modifying activities based on who shows up. On our 1st (Baltic) there were never more than about 8 kids with 3 staff, and on our 2nd (Med) my daughter was often the only one with 3 staff!

If kids are on the young end (3-4), know that the restroom is outside the space (near Palm Court).

There is a rule that you cannot leave kids in the club without an adult remaining on the ship.

They have a kids menu in the dining room - my daughter loved having 2 menus to pick from!

 

My daughter did not like the Disney kids club much at all - least of the 4 she has been in (Celebrity is 2nd fave, then Holland America) 

 

There is some info on the Crystal board - I had posted there and can't find it, but did find a thread 'Children On Crystal Cruises' 

 

Hope that helps - ask away!

Michele

 

[angie7911922]

Go for the Disney. It is fantastic. Your kids will love it, and there are plenty of adult only areas that you can hang out in. As a matter of fact, on every single cruise I've been on, I've found adults that are on the cruise with no kids at all, just because they like Disney. 

[kitkat343]

Thanks so much for the info on crystal!

Edited March 5, 2019 by kitkat343