Please Help! Want to cruise with young children!

[jbhunt]

I posted this on the general question thread, but thought I would get more responses here.

 

I am so glad I came across this website. I have been reading all these wonderful posts and now, would like your advice.

 

I have been on a couple cruises on the Carnival, but when I was young and single. Now, I am married with two children. We would like to take them on a cruise, probably a 4 or 5 day one.

 

I have read that you pay for the "Mouse." We are not too concerned about cruising with the mouse. I have read that Celebrity and RC have really fantastic programs for kids.

 

We are planning for a cruise in 2007 or 2009. If it will be in 2007, the ages for our kids will be 3 and 6, respectively.

 

What would you advise for us. I would like it child friendly, but I really want to spend time with my kids. So, do I really want it too child friendly.:D

 

Would really like one that offered great food. I have never been on any of these brand-new huge ships. So, it could be a smaller ship.

 

Please help me find a place to start!

 

Thanks so much

Barb

[renata102]

hi, well there is alot said on this subject if you go through past posts. But, I will offer you my 2 cents. I have traveled with a 2 year old on RCCL Nordic Empress (weeks before she was redone and now is the Nordic Empress) and we are going on another RCCL with her (she will be 5 during the middle of the cruise) and our going to be 1 year old.

 

I personally love the ocean adventure club (daycare). at the age you think they will cruise they will both be eligible. Its great. They are going to want to go there all day long. You can have some down time while they have fun. You carry a pager and you can check on them whenever you miss them. they even have extended hours into 2 am, (but you have to pay extra for those few hours - like 4 dollars per hour per child after 10 pm) other than that it is free.

 

I personally lvoe RCCL. I am under 30 with two young kids and they are all we cruise with or without children. maybe I am biased, but never regreted it.

 

I find the midline ships the beset not to big and not to small. Just right! Go for a warm cruise as opposed to a "cold cruise" (as they get older and appreciate and remember more, I am Definatly doing an Alaskan cruise) I did a cold cruise with my than 2 year old. We did not intend to go to New England for 7 days. We planned a cruise to Bermuda and HHUrrican Juan went right over it the night before we cruised out and devestated it. I have to say that even though we were disappointed we made the best of it. but she got bored during the excursion. In a warmer climate, you have the beach and the pool and sand and fun stuff!

 

Food is great on RCCL for kids. I know that they have extensive menu for children. But personally I did not order one item off of that, as my daughter (at that age) has a broad pallate. (She was eating lobster in Maine when she just turned 1). My daughter had the cold fruit soups, fruits, rack of lamb, turkey, grilled fish and grilled chicken. Nothing different that what she eats at home (we don't eat chicken nuggets or things like that in our house -that is just us). But rest assured they had the usual "children" food nuggets, hotdogs, hamburgers, fish sticks. and great desserts for the kids.

 

I think you will love it! I really did. Although I do cruise with my hubby without them, I enjoy my time with them as well. THis time around my inlaws wanted to come wtih us (first timers) and they used the excuse they will help us with the kids, but once they get hooked we may not see them as they will be having their fun! Thank god that really don't stay up late, so they can stay with the kids while we go out and have fun. If you have any more question please ask. Feel free to read through all the old posts.

[adamsmom]

We have cruised once with our son when he was 7 on the Triumph, once with both kids when they were 5 and 9 on the Holiday, and we are leaving next week with both of them (now 6 and 10) on the NCL Spirit.

 

I have found that ships' kids programs vary greatly, even with the same cruiseline. From what I've read, Disney has the best program for kids, but they are just too pricy, so we haven't considered them. I have read lately that second to Disney, the NCL Spirit has the best kids program/facility, so we are looking forward to that!

 

You will get a schedule at the beginning of the cruise with the kids' program mapped out for the whole week. You will get a different schedule for each age group--2-5, 6-9, etc. We let our kids just pick and choose which events they want to be a part of, and highlight them. The rest of the time, they are with us, swimming, eating, exploring the ship, going ashore, or just hanging out in the cabin. So don't be afraid that your kids won't spend any time with you--there is always enough time when there are no kids activities, and there will be some, probably, that your kids aren't interested in. The kids club workers are always terrific!

 

My 6yo daughter is very sociable, and wants to be in her "class" any time the doors are open. My 10yo son just picks the events he wants to do--video game time, scavenger hunt, etc. They both love to swim, and they can only do that with us, so that's time we get to spend together too, as well as meal times. The larger the ship, the better the facilities will be, usually. The larger Carnival ships have the bigger waterslide and more stuff to do in the childcare area.

 

At mealtime, they have a kid's menu, but on Carnival, at least, it's the same menu for every meal. There are sometimes things on the regular menu that my kids like too, though. And if we choose to eat at the buffet instead of in the dining room, there are even more choices. I'm never concerned about them finding enough to eat. ;) They also had plenty of ice cream!

 

Going ashore with a 3yo, I would suggest bringing along a small stroller, if possible.

 

We usually go back to the cabin and go to bed at 10pm, since it costs money to leave your kids in the childcare after that. Plus, after a long day of sun and fun, my kids were VERY ready for bed by then. But sometimes, after they are asleep, I will leave them there with my hubby and stroll off to see a show or something. ;)

 

You might want to get them used to showering before you go too, unless you plan to get a suite with a tub.

 

Hope this helps!

[jbhunt]

Thanks for the information renata102 and adamsmom. I will start looking into both RCCL and NCL. I have never been on anything else to compare. Friends have suggested some cruises, but they didn't take their children so they weren't able to share their experiences in regards to cruising with children.

 

Looking forward to hearing more replies and ideas.

 

Thanks again!:)

[crusinmama06]

I've been on RCCL, NCL AND "the Mouse" DCL, I am going back to RCCL. My kids are 22 months (will be 3 by the time we board again) and 6 years old.

 

And we are going on the biggest ship of them all next :D , the Freedom of the Seas.

 

Here's what I found. Kids love any ship you put them on, honestly. They loved Disney as much as they loved NCCL, etc. So what you have to find is a ship YOU will love. I didn't like Disney as much as the other ships (just my personal opinion).

 

We chose the Freedom of the Seas not only because the top deck is going to have a MASSIVE water park type area for the kids complete with a lazy river, but also because there will be ALOT of things for the adults to do as well (casino, shopping, shows, ice skating, rock climbing, surfing, etc)

 

Just note that many ships do not have toddler paddling pools, so if your child is not pt by the time you go, you won't be able to let him/her swim in the pool in swimmie diapers or attend the kids clubs.

 

This is the Freedom of the Seas ship, not even launched yet...

http://www.freedomoftheseas.com/?sid=7

[Kerry's Girls]

My husband and I always preferred to cruise on RCCL, but when I was shopping to take our twin girls, I found that the 3rd/4th passenger rate on Princess was hundreds of dollars less, plus they have refrigerators in all rooms, which I thought would be a plus for snacks, etc. Princess treated my girls (1 year olds) like queens and the kids area and staff are remarkable. I do love RCCL, and will choose them next time if the price is comperable, but Princess does a wonderful job with kids as well (and is probably a bit more adult, but there were masses of other kids on our ship too). I just want you to know you can safely choose Princess as well if the price is better.

 

Best,

Mia

[Onessa]

we've cruised Disney, NCL, Princess, and RCCI with our daughter (now 10YO).

 

Disney - nice ship, nice people, but unless you are big into Disney not worth the extra $$$. Good program for little ones. Lots of computers and stuff for the older programs. DD has never been a big Disney fan and really was not any more impressed with that trip than any of our others.

 

NCL - latest cruise. They accept a wide variety of ages. Tends to be a bit more "day care" ish than other lines particularly at younger ages. DD made lot's of good friends and had a blast. The counselors for here age group were all just out of college girls and counselors and kids both had a great time. Non-kids club kid-friendly facilities were somewhat lacking past the 8YO age area - kiddie pool was just that, kid friendly areas in dining rooms were definately aimed at the pre-school, very early elementary group.

 

Princess - we did AK on Princess. Their program seems to be really good for the 8-12YO group. A bit more learning-based (but still lots of fun!) We didn't spend much time on-board where DD wasn't in kid's program so I can't speak to non-kids club facilities/activities. Don't have any experience with younger ones with Princess.

 

RCCI - we've done three RCCI over the years. Probably DD's favorite kid's program. Mainly male counselors - they are very well qualified and all are great with kids. The program tends to be VERY active. The line really supports the kids program and hypes it to pax. RCCI ships have a lot of family friendly facilities - many ships have kids pool areas that are aimed to more than just the wading pool set (water slides, fountains), there is the rock climbing, put-put golf, and some ships have ice skating or roller blading.

 

Iternary is another key. Our DD is not much of a 'beach' girl (she gets bored) and really likes to sight see, so we tend to focus on urban or historical iternaries. You need to match your personality, your kids' personalities to the itinerary.

[Cruisin' Chick]

I usually recommend new cruisers take the shorter cruises (3-4 days) so they could see if they like that mode of travel. That's what we did with our girl. We had some Carnival cruises already so we took her on a weekend Baja California cruise (we're within driving distance of the port) and then drove down to San Diego to extend the trip to a week. She was 23 months then, a month too young to take part in Camp Carnival, but she still had fun. And we were able to take advantage of the post-10pm kidsitting (which is still $5/hr on both Carnival and Princess).

 

Since then we took her on a Western Caribbean (Carnival Paradise, when it was still a non-smoking ship) at 3 yrs, 4-day Baja California (Estacsy) at 4yrs, Mexican Riviera (Star Princess) at 5 yrs, Alaska (RT out of Seattle on the Sapphire Princess) at 7 yrs, and 15-day RT to Hawaii (Island Princess) at 8 yrs.

 

We don't have experience on the other lines so I can only talk about Carnival and Princess. But she enjoys going to the kids area on all these ships. They have activities (crafts and games), movies, electronic games (a treat for her because we don't have the Xbox, PSII and the others at home).

 

One thing to think about is that the number of kids will depend on if school is in session for most places and the length of the cruise. There were about 250 kids on our last cruise because it was during winter break. The cruise after us was supposed to have only 31. Usually there's more going on for kids when there's more kids. On the Star Princess, there were few kids because it was in February -- only three 5-yr-olds. If there are a certain number of kids, Princess has activities that are coordinated with the California Science Center. For example, on the Hawaiian cruise, one activity for the Pirateers (8-12 yr olds) was dissecting squids.

 

Another issue is food, as mentioned above. Some (or all) Carnival ships have a 24-hr pizzeria. On our 3 Princess cruises, there's a pizzeria that's open until 6pm (my daughter loved the pizza on the IP) as well as a grill, which serves burgers and hot dogs.

[Kuffam]

We've been on NCL America and Disney. Disney has the better ship for children and is geared better for families. However we didn't care much for the kids programs, DD was 5 at the time, and she wasn't all that trilled with it. She says she had fun, but she really didn't talk about all the fun things she did. However when we were on The Pride of Aloha, that all she talked about is what they did in kids club. The nursery wasn't bad on Disney but is more for the babies (DS was 2).

 

Depending on what ship your on NCL has ok to nice for kids. Pride of Aloha had ok, but I hear Pride of America and Spirit have good ones. But personally I liked Hawaii itinerary for a family. You are in port everyday and overnight in some cases, so renting a care and hitting the road on doing your own thing on your own time. Plus you are still in the US the entire.

[Triplet Dad]

We are a family of five, three 9 year-olds (2 girls and a boy), DW and myself and were on Royal Caribbean's Voyager of the Seas from Feb. 18 to 25. This was our first cruise. All of the positive comments about RC's Adventure Ocean program and on-board activities led us to choose RC and we were not disappointed.

The kids loved Adventure Ocean (AO). We signed our kids up at the first night open house….one of my daughters won a raffle there for an all-day Labadee water slide pass. We mainly used AO at night…we’d drop the kids off after dinner and pick them up between 12 midnight and 1 am…usually 2 out the three, if not all three, were still up and going strong...they told us to go away when we came at 11pm…they really had fun and we never had any safety concerns. There is a $5/kid/hour charge from 10pm to 1am. The rest of the time AO is free.

The last sea day they asked to go AO in the afternoon because they were bored…now that’s what I like to hear! DH1 and DH2 participated in the talent show..what hoot. We spent a lot of family time on the sports deck, enjoying activities like in-line skating, climbing the rock wall, playing miniature golf (watch out for the wind), basketball, and the pools. Although there were over 3,000 people on board, there was hardly ever a wait for an activity and the pools never felt crowded. The only thing we didn’t do was ice skate.

Another strength of AO is the age groups..they are pretty narrow so kids of similar ages are grouped together. Ours were in the 9-11 age group.

As far as food and dining goes, the wait staff in the dining room makes an extra effort with kids, cutting their food, joking with them, etc. The kids ordered whatever they wanted off the adult menu or the kids menu...they never went hungry.