Favorite Ship and/or Itinerary with Kids

[CozGurl]

We're thinking of a big family cruise next year with age ranges 4-66 years. Anyone have recommendations for a  NCL ship or itinerary that you think would be a good fit for us? 

[tallnthensome]

You would know your own family and their interests,  their likes,  and dislikes more than anyone on Cruise Critic. I'm somewhat taken back by questions like this because nobody knows your family and you're experienced cruisers. Just saying .....

[LGW59]

43 minutes ago, CozGurl said:

We're thinking of a big family cruise next year with age ranges 4-66 years. Anyone have recommendations for a  NCL ship or itinerary that you think would be a good fit for us? 

Perhaps you all look at the videos available on YouTube for each of the ships, there are a tone of them.  Each makes a list of questions:  likes/dislikes, then come back and fire away, you will get a lot of information along with many many varied opinions.

[CozGurl]

I just want your own opinions and thoughts. I shouldn't have asked for a "good fit for us" I guess. I hoped to get responses from people who had great family cruises and wanted to share what made their vacation so great whether it be the ship, itinerary etc. 

[cruiseny4life]

On 7/31/2022 at 5:38 PM, tallnthensome said:

You would know your own family and their interests,  their likes,  and dislikes more than anyone on Cruise Critic. I'm somewhat taken back by questions like this because nobody knows your family and you're experienced cruisers. Just saying .....

Ya know...if people followed your advice, there wouldn't be a need for Cruise Critic...sure I may say go to Google to some people, but I generally provide the Googled answer too. Wow! CC recognizes Googled as a verb. Hah! 

 

Anyway - just scroll on by if you have nothing to add. Or, you could relate your great/negative experiences as to why the lady should/should not select a specific ship.

 

Cozgurl, I'd suggest one of the big ships since you have such a wide variety. Plenty to do, lots of space to spread apart - because, if you're like my family, you don't want to be near each other 24/7! My family can do about 3 hours before ignoring each other. 🙂

 

Also, I'd suggest leaving from a port with a decent airport, rather than making everyone fly in to a tiny airport like Boston, NOLA, etc. 

 

That's the extent of my advice since it's just my husband and I that travel together. 

[tetleytea]

My suspicion is that the new ships like the Prima will be the best fit, at least on-board.

[Travelling2Some]

2 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

Cozgurl, I'd suggest one of the big ships since you have such a wide variety. Plenty to do, lots of space.

 

Also, I'd suggest leaving from a port with a decent airport, rather than making everyone fly in to a tiny airport like Boston, NOLA, etc. 

I think this is excellent advice for a large group with a big age spread.  You don't want to stick people with connecting flights (especially these days) and the big ships will really wow first timers if you have those.  One of the great things about cruising is the ability to be together and yet do your own thing.  First time cruisers tend to be a bit "clingy" so you might want to have a gentle chat about that if you want to do some things on your own.  What we always found great is that young people could party at night and then sleep in without disturbing anyone else's plans to go ashore the next day.  (Unlike a road trip where they have to get up and get with the program!)  We would book fixed dining and all meet up for dinner every night. Other than that people did as they pleased either with others or separately. 

 

This may or may not be of use to you but we used to find Bermuda a very low stress family trip and I always suggest it to people who are not sure they will like the cruise ship experience, since you are in the same port for multiple days.  But we do live in New York (great airport connections but high cost for hotels) so that may not work for you, especially since Bermuda is one of the ports still insisting on covid testing.

 

[wolft927]

On 7/31/2022 at 5:16 PM, CozGurl said:

We're thinking of a big family cruise next year with age ranges 4-66 years. Anyone have recommendations for a  NCL ship or itinerary that you think would be a good fit for us? 

So a few questions, is there a departure port that everyone can drive to? Is there anyone with special needs? Are the kids the kind that will utilize the kids club things ?

[nhtravels]

I'm gong to agree with the above recommendations -

1.  an easy port to depart from for your group

2.  BA/BA+ class

3.  Bermuda! (DS and DDIL did this with her family and now we are doing it in May as well.  

 

Cruising with a large group has many benefits.  Just remember, you won't please everyone all the time. Have fun planning!

 

 

 

[cruiseny4life]

12 hours ago, nhtravels said:

3.  Bermuda! (DS and DDIL did this with her family and now we are doing it in May as well.  

 

I'll echo Bermuda - first, because other than Canada, it's the only place I've sailed to. But, also, because the ships typically (not always) spend at least one, if not two, nights at port. This means folks don't have to rush off the ship/rush on the ship. There are plenty of activities - think history, culture, yummy food, afternoon tea, snorkeling, mini golf, jet skis, dolphin adventures, and so much more for every single member of the family! 

 

So, if you are cruising from NYC/Boston, then Bermuda could be for you. Currently you do have to pay an additional $40 to Bermuda for a Travel Authorization and get an antigen/NAAT test 2 or 3 days respectively, prior to boarding. That could complicate the trip if you have a whole host of people coming as it sounds like.

 

Even with the Bermuda Travel Authorization, the husband and I are heading back in four short weeks.