Cruising with the kids

[ntbullet]

Gang;

 

I know this question is redundant, but I'm going to ask anyway. My wife and I are taking our two children, age 11(daughter) and 14(son) on their first cruise. We are going to the Bahamas for 3 nights and Disney World for 3 days. What cruise line would you recommend for family cruising? And would you also recommend booking the cruise and Disney hotels online or thru a travel agent? Thanks in advance.

:confused:

[caribbean dreams]

I think Disney has a combo crusie & park package you may want to look into.

But being your kids are a little older, they may have more fun on Royal Caribbean or Carnival.

I would Book directly thru the cruiseline and book the hotel online.

[fantavet]

Gang;

 

I know this question is redundant, but I'm going to ask anyway. My wife and I are taking our two children, age 11(daughter) and 14(son) on their first cruise. We are going to the Bahamas for 3 nights and Disney World for 3 days. What cruise line would you recommend for family cruising? And would you also recommend booking the cruise and Disney hotels online or thru a travel agent? Thanks in advance.

:confused:

 

First I would definitely look into a TA in your case. Online prices thru Disney are considered "Full" price. I made that mistake once. You can get the same packages thru a TA for cheaper.

 

Disney does have a combo package (land/sea) which comes with some nice perks, like luggage and shuttle transfer from the airline to ship and ship to Disney hotel if you are staying in the park.

 

Disney cruise would not be too young for your kids. They have great kids clubs, plus the shows at night are geared for kids. Plus there are also adult only night clubs so you get the best of both worlds.

 

Discuss with your TA for the best prices and options.

[crusinmama06]

I've done the 1 week in Disney followed by 1 week on the Disney cruise ship Magic and let me tell you, save your money. ;)

 

Now, I book 1 week in Disney at Wilderness Lodge Resort (booking it through the Disney web site) followed by 1 week on RCCL or Carnival.

 

For the price of my category 7 on Disney Cruise I can get a Grand Suite on RCCL. And I wasn't impressed with the cruise ship. And this is coming from a person who is obsessed with everything Disney and who has two young daughters who are obsessed with everything Disney Princess.

 

I don't mind spending alot of money for a great time, but I can tell you, you will have just as good a time on RCCL or Carnival.

[BitsnBearsmom]

Can't help with the Disney cruise since I have never done one BUT being a Disney nut I can help with that - if you go to disboards.com you will find a site much like this but all Disney - I think they have a specific area that talks about the land sea combo.

[DisnyMik]

We have been on 2 Disney cruises (2002 and 2004) and we are a family of 5. Both times it was the 4 day Bahama cruise. The first time we had a Family Cabin that has a verandah. We really enjoyed that but for the cost probably not worth it if you want to save $$.

 

The second cruise we had 2 inside cabins on Deck 2. My husband tends to get a little nausea's(?) so we've learned that the lower the deck and mid-ship is the best place for us. We really enjoyed having 2 cabins. We did get adjoining cabins but that was b/c we had a 6 yr. old at the time and wanted to make sure he could get to us if he wanted to. It would have been fine even if we didn't have the door between.

 

My kids, now 9,15, and 18, thoroughly enjoyed both cruises (as did the parents!) The teen club was a lot of fun as was the kids club.

 

The ship is beautiful and we loved it. Not sure why anybody would not think so.

 

We booked thru a friend that is a TA and had a group going so we got a pretty decent deal. We usually book our land (Disney) seperate. We save more $$ doing it ourselves rather than have a TA do it for us. Also, we don't do packages. We consider ourselves Disney Vets. We go a lot.

 

We really want to do the W. Caribbean but the cost is outrageous for us so we are looking into another cruise line. The 9 year old is afraid it won't be as much fun b/c it won't be Disney!

 

My husband and I have been on NCL quite a few years ago and enjoyed that as well.

 

Hope this helps you decide. We had a wonderful experience and they do everything right. It's definitely done the Disney way!!

[cali-croozer]

We did a week on Carnival out of Tampa, and then a week in Disneyworld. Great vacation! Booked the cruise through a local travel agent; but booked the Disney part on my own. There are a lot of Disney related sites with discount codes (at the time Disney wasn't offering any good deals, but sometimes they do---check their website). We stayed at a moderate hotel (Coronado Springs). Loved it. Check out disboards.com and mousesavers.com (they are not travel agents, just information and discussion boards). Have fun!

[Cuizer2]

For a family cruise where you also want to go to Disney World, I would recommend either Disney, Royal Caribbean or Carnival. Carnival and Royal Caribbean might be better than Disney for the 14 year old (depends on how the 14 year old feels about Disney). All three have excellent children's programs. Carnival and Royal Caribbean will be less expensive than Disney.

[CruisingMainer]

In my experience as good TA will work hard and save you time and money. They have access to discount companies that offer Disney packages at a lower cost. I always look around the net to be sure that the price I get from them is really best. They can give you a price for an all Disney vacation as well as comparing it to a RCCL or CCL cruise portion along with the stay at Disney.

 

We are leaving on the Carnival Glory next week and we got a balcony for $1,500 less than an inside cabin on the Disney ship.