Do you find romance on cruise WITH kids?

[Already In Love]

My husband and I love to vacation with the kids, but we also love our solo vacations for the freedom, relaxation, and romance.

 

We booked the Vision of the Seas mexican riveria cruise for this october, which we hope will be a happy medium between last year's vacation (a week at disneyland.. all about the kids) and next year's vacation (a week in Jamaica... kid-free.... all about the adults!).

 

The boys will be 3.5 and 8 years old in october. I'm hoping they will ENJOY the adventure ocean camp, because it would be great to get some grown-up time during the trip. If they don't enjoy it though, I'm not going to make them go, as I want them to enjoy the trip as well.

 

Also, I doubt we'll spring for the "after hours" portion of adventure ocean, or if we do, it might be only one night.

 

I Guess my question is "what do you do to keep the trip romantic and fun when you've brought the kids along"? any good tips?:p

[Quilting_Cruiser]

I just had to chuckle when I read you post. Take a look at my signature and you'll see why!

 

Our DD absolutely loves Camp Carnival and we get lots of alone time on our cruises. On our last cruise, she usually ate dinner with them, so my DH and I ate in the buffet those evenings rather than at our larger table in the dining room. We really enjoyed the luxury of dinner for two and then a stroll on the deck.

 

If your kids are as happy in RCCL's kids' program as mine is in Carnival's, you and your DH will have no trouble finding time for each other!

 

Have fun!

 

Jayne

[JackieH]

Thats a good question. We only travel once a year, so where we go, my 3 kids go. This August we are going on the Carnival Valor. My youngest will be 2 when we travel. We arent quite sure how she will do in Camp Carnival. My older 2 never had a problem being away from me, the youngest is a little more clingy. We also have 2 side by side inside cabins. Me and the girls in one cabin, my husband and the son in the other. So we are hoping for a little alone time after dinner. Again we do not know how it will play out with my youngest. If she needs to be with us, then so be it. But, we will try and get her in camp carnival each night after dinner, and play it by ear.

[larie]

We just returned from our Carnival cruise. Our kids are 14, 12 and 7. We were prepared to hardly see them at all, but they were with us non-stop! There were hardly any kids in the 12-14 age group and my 7 year old wasn't that interested in what his 6-8 age group was doing. It turned out that we had a blast all being together and had non-stop laughing! We all really bonded with one another, so I didn't mind being together all the time. One night we made my son go to the after hours babysitting, with tears streaming down his face. We enjoyed our time together listening to music etc. I can't say we had alot of romance on this vacation, but the memories we share were well worth it.

[katyjeka]

Invest in a balcony stateroom, when the children are sleeping you will have a romantic spot to listen to the ocean, watch the stars and reconnect. It was also awesome to awake early and watch the sun rise, all from the comfort of your pj's. Janice

[Cruising Aussie Mum]

Our kids are pretty social and we really talked up the kids' clubs and activities before we left home. Also, while we would never actually force them to do something they hated, we had a pretty clear understanding that there would be times when we would be doing adult things and they'd be in the clubs. Anyway, they loved the clubs and we found our biggest problem was coaxing them out to spend some time with boring old mum and dad! Plenty of time for romance.:)

[njcruisingmom]

This is the best way to find a little romance on a family vacation. Fortunately, our two wanted to head right for the kids club after dinner. So hubby and I went out for drink, went to the shows, listened to music, had a little time for just us. It was wonderful! During the day, and for use, through dinner, was family time, and we all had a wonderful time. The evenings were wonderfully romantic for us. (We actually took the cruise to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary.)

 

We cannot wait for our next cruise!

[Dawniepoo]

Invest in a balcony stateroom, when the children are sleeping you will have a romantic spot to listen to the ocean, watch the stars and reconnect. It was also awesome to awake early and watch the sun rise, all from the comfort of your pj's. Janice

 

That is great advice!:D

[crusinmama06]

I agree with the balcony advice. We never travel without our kids and we always book a balcony wherever we go (either on land or sea).

 

The balcony is a nice place to get away while the kids are sleeping and have some quiet adult time together.

[brooklintee]

I have been cruising with my kids since the youngest was 4 - on RCCL & Princess. Our daily ritual was to put the kids in the Kids Program during the day, pick them up around 4:30 and put them down for a rest unitl about 6pm. Then off to the buffet for their dinner and back into the kid's club at 7pm. My husband and I would go for a drink, then the late dinner seating, and and activity after that and then get the kids around 11pm. That gave us the evening to ourselves, and the late day nap helped the kids through the late night program in the kids club. Basically, your free time will be a result of whether your kids like the kid's program or not...mine loved it, so they couldn't wait to go = free time for adults!

:rolleyes:

[Cruisin' Chick]

One key to an active kids program is going on a cruise while most schools are out. I know that sounds logical but it's true. Our last two cruises were during summer and winter break, and there was a full program. The time before that was in February (we had the opportunity to take advantage of an employee discount so we bit) when our girl was in kindergarten. She was one of three five-yr-olds. And the program was very pared down.

 

We're lucky that our girl loves the kids program (last cruise she was in the Pirateers, one of the youngest in the 8-12 group). So we got plenty of alone time in the afternoon.

[bplazo]

I must be the minority, I bring my daughter along with me so I can avoid the romance.

[Calicruisefamily]

We are so happy to cruise with RC the Adventure Ocean program is the best! Its gives the kids a chance to have some fun while mom & Dad have some alone time as well.Don't forget to order Choc. Cov. Strawberries:p

Voyager Western Caribbean 12/16/06 "Our First AFT"

Voyager Eastern Caribbean 11/26/05

S.S. Azure Seas Baja 11/90