Need idea for great (affordable) cruise with 8year old and 2 year old...

[tracywi]

I am looking onto a cruise for our family. We have a 8 year old and a 2 year old. We did a Disney Cruise in 2004 and loved it! It is not a cheap cruise (but worth every penny!) and I am looking into an affordable cruise. We live in WI so we have to fly. We are VERY active so we like lots of stuff to do. What is a good time of year? When we traveled with DCL it was during a hurricane! Any ideas would be great!

[Paleochick]

We are taking our two kids on Carnival. I have been really impressed with everything I've read about Camp Carnival. Kids of all ages love it. I couldn't believe how low the prices were on the October Carnival sailings we looked at. It's because it's at the end of hurricane season when kids are back in school. We have vacation time and will be in FL then anyway, so we decided to go for it and buy good trip insurance (just in case). We like to have a lot of options on ships, so we went with the biggest, newest ship (Liberty) sailing the week we need to go.

 

I wish I could offer more suggestions, but, if it were me, I'd go to a travel agent and get the Carnival book (or other line's book). You can even see prices on the cruise line's website. I'd look for the cheapest weeks. Then decide where you want to go. Then, I'd look for the biggest, newest ship you can find that fits your needs.

 

Do some serious research on Cruise Critic. You can save lots of money using the tips you'll find on this board. I used ***** dot com to find an online travel agent who would make me an offer on the ship and sail date I wanted. I got a FANTASTIC deal since I booked at a time when Carnival was/is offering free upgrades on certain categories. I got those upgrades as well as a very competitive rate through an online TA.

 

Good luck and happy planning.

[Tinkerbell]

Paleochick did everything we did. I called a TA and had her price about 5 different cruises the week we wanted to go the last week in Jan. We had to take into consideration the cost for the 17 month old, and my sister who was solo. We then chose the Glory with connecting rooms for my daughter, son-in-law and the baby and my sister had a balcony. NCL advertises the baby would only be port charges but overall the cruise was more money. I would advise getting travel insurance that has the clause "cancel for any reason" we had insurance but the baby got sick the week of the cruise with ashma and when I checked the policy it said to cancel it had to be an illness that was life threating. I will be more careful next time when I choose insurance if we are traveling with children. It worked out the doctor let her go. I felt bad though because I thought the insurance would have covered a very sick child.

[crusinmama06]

Because you have a 2 year old, I would suggest Carnival for the Camp Carnival. I took a last minute cruise with my kids (just me and my two daughters ages 2 and 6) on Carnival Elation and it was only $299 per person for a 4 day cruise. And the 3rd person rate was even lower than that. And it was an ocean view cabin. So there are some VERY good deals out there if you just keep an eye out.

 

When your youngest turns 3, then I suggest looking into RCCL That's when RCCL accepts kids into the kids club. And I would recomend RCCL to anyone.

[I&MsMom]

I also recommend Carnival with a 2 year old. Only Carnival and NCL will allow a 2 year old in the Camp. The difference is, Carnival will change diapers, NCL pages you and you need to do it. So, for this reason alone we choose Carnival for our first cruise. We had such a good time, and it was such a good value, we've choosen Carnival for every cruise since!

 

Whatever you decide, happy cruising!