Rare MillbrookMom Posted July 4, 2006 #1 Share Posted July 4, 2006 With the number of cruise lines, itineraries, ports, durations, etc. that there are to choose from, how on earth do you go about deciding what to do for your first cruise. We had actually booked a Disney cruise (as we are a family of 4, 2 adults and kids ages 9 and 11). But we had to change our plans because something came up when we were going to go, and had to cancel. Now we are rethinking Disney, because we can't go till next year now, so I started looking into other lines more. So....how do you go about choosing? All we know for sure is we want to go on a cruise, we want to have fun as a family and maybe a little adult only time and we don't want to spend an arm and a leg.:rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camperhawk Posted July 4, 2006 #2 Share Posted July 4, 2006 Research, Research, Research! These boards were and are unmatched in getting info on our first cruise. We are now going on number 4. Anything you need to know about cruiselines, itineraries,pre and post cruise hotels; cost, familly cruises and what to expect. You will be amazed at the wealth of info here. Hope this helps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caribbean dreams Posted July 4, 2006 #3 Share Posted July 4, 2006 First we have a family meeting and with all the cruiseline catalogs scattered around, we have a big map and everybody puts a post it note on the island or country that they want to go to, then we open the cruise books and find the itenerary with those locations on the itenerary that we all agreed on, then we research the total price for the trip to make sure my kids will be able to afford it, then we book the cruise, air, shore excursions ect... I guess it's not really that easy or fast, it's just a way to get the whole family in the same room for a few hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miami Posted July 4, 2006 #4 Share Posted July 4, 2006 I started with the departure port. I knew I wanted to leave from NY (I am from Westchester County and still have family there). Then I checked which ships left from NY and the itineraries. I decided on NCL Dawn mainly because of the ship itself and I liked the idea of "freestyle" dining. To be honest, I wasn't crazy about her itinerary. I loved the ship and have booked a cruise next year to Alaska on her sister ship. I have to ask, are you by any chance from Millbrook, NY? I lived there for a few years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare MillbrookMom Posted July 4, 2006 Author #5 Share Posted July 4, 2006 I have to ask, are you by any chance from Millbrook, NY? I lived there for a few years. Sorry, NOPE......I'm in Canada:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arubalisa Posted July 4, 2006 #6 Share Posted July 4, 2006 I think you need to find a good balance of what will suit everyone and yet be within your budget. Make sure you know all of your facts. This is an excellent source for asking ALL of your questions. A good example is when researching our upcoming Christmas cruise, we were considering HAL's Prinsendam. Little did I know, until someone here, pointed out to me that they did not offer a kid's program on that ship :eek: Boy would I have been sunk! Other considerations include port of departure- fly or drive. Our dd has some special needs so a port intensive cruise such as Hawaii would not be enjoyable for any of us until she is much older. For families, from everything I have read on this board, Disney, Carnival and RCCL are probably the top vote getters for family cruises. You just then need to scale it down to preferences on itinerary and of course, most importantly, budget. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackieH Posted July 4, 2006 #7 Share Posted July 4, 2006 We are going on our 2nd cruise this August, we have 3 kids, who will be 12, 7 and 2. As much as I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Disney, I just couldnt justify spending the extra money on a Disney cruise. We picked Carnival, simply because (other then Disney)they will take kids as young as 2 and not potty trained in their Camp Carnival. Crazy as it sounds, that was our deciding factor on what cruise line to pick this time around. Then our 2nd we looked for was ships leaving from Miami or Ft Lauderdale as my parents live in South Florida(Kill2 birds with one stone, visit with them a few days and off on the cruise)..then I had to pick the dates of when my youngest will be officially 2. She turns two Aug 13, and we are booked on the Valor Aug 20. I also picked a ship with more ports and less sea days..that is just my preference. When my youngest is older, we will have more choices of cruise ships to go on. Right now Carnival is it for us. You can get some really good cruise deals if you go off season, which I would love. But, my oldest is 12 now and in middle school and I do not want to pull him out for a whole week, he would miss so much. When he was younger, I would take him out of school for a week to do Disney World, now there is just too much to make up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadamG2U Posted July 4, 2006 #8 Share Posted July 4, 2006 Research, research, research. I read and spoke to everyone I could about cruising. The deciding factor used to pick cruising on the Crown was that the ship leaves from Brooklyn. No airlines just a short trip to the pier. MadamG2U Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruisin' Chick Posted July 5, 2006 #9 Share Posted July 5, 2006 1. ship with kids program 2. destination -- our first cruise with our daughter was from a port we could drive to, and it was a three-day cruise just to make sure she would take to cruising (which she did) 3. new, big ships are a plus for us 4. price (Disney is pretty pricey for us so would be far down the list) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katyjeka Posted July 5, 2006 #10 Share Posted July 5, 2006 We will be sailing NCL for the 2nd time this year. With 3 DD's(3,4,11) the freestyle dining won us over. Our children are used to eating a 5:30 dinner and we are able to do this, with little or no wait. The childrens pool area on the Dawn is the best we've ever seen. 2 slides, 1 infant slide, a freshwater pool with water sprays and a "hottub" just for children. This was also a deciding factor for us. We to love Disney to, but are glad we tried a different line. Janice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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