pholder Posted March 6, 2007 #1 Share Posted March 6, 2007 We have never taken a cruise before but we really want to. I have looked at so many websites my eyes are beginning to cross.:eek: My children are 16, 13, and 10 so we would be cruising with two adults and three children. We want to go to the Caribbean. What are the best family cruises besides Disney?? Disney can break the bank! Also, what are the cheapest ones to take kids on and still have loads of fun?? Thanks so much for the input! I love this board.:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crusinmama06 Posted March 6, 2007 #2 Share Posted March 6, 2007 The cheapest - Carnival The most things to do onboard for kids that age - the Royal Carribean Voyager Class (Explorer/Adventure/Voyager) Carnival allows 5 people in a cabin. RCCL does not unless it is a family suite. The cheapest months to go...last week in August through Jan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetskier Posted March 6, 2007 #3 Share Posted March 6, 2007 We have never taken a cruise before but we really want to. I have looked at so many websites my eyes are beginning to cross.:eek: My children are 16, 13, and 10 so we would be cruising with two adults and three children. We want to go to the Caribbean. What are the best family cruises besides Disney?? Disney can break the bank! Also, what are the cheapest ones to take kids on and still have loads of fun?? Thanks so much for the input! I love this board.:) Hello from Mississippi, We have taken our girls 12 and 5 on the Holiday (Mobile) and the Fantasy (New Orleans). Both have excellant kids programs. The one on the Fantasy is much larger and the kids enjoyed it more. For what you will pay on Disney, you can take two Carnival cruises. Also Disney does not have a casino onboard. The kids programs on Carnival are age specific, that way you wont have older kids being bored with the little ones. Also with these two ships being so close to you, you wont have to buy airfare to get to the port. Another ship to consider is the Conquest out of Galveston. Not sure if you were looking at a 7-day cruise or not. We are going on it Sept 2nd and taking our daughters. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2krazykats Posted March 7, 2007 #4 Share Posted March 7, 2007 Hi pholder, this is the first quesiton I asked myself when we started planning our first cruise with our two kids - we've been on past cruises sans-kids before. The answer "really depends" which is not the answer you're looking for I'm sure! You're right that Disney is expensive but just about everyone on this board LOVES Disney for the kids' programs and you probably can't beat Disney's attention to detail when it comes to kids. However, depending on your price range (and traveling with 3 kids might be on the expensive side), your options might be to look at the programs each cruise ship (not all ships in all cruise lines are created equal) they offer for each of the age groups. While we love RCCL, our children (2 and 3) are too young to enjoy the activities like miniature golf and rock climbing on the biggest ships RCCL has so it would be a waste of $ for us to spend it there. We will go back to RCCL when the kids are older and would enjoy that stuff but then again, who knows what the next innovations will be in 5 years' time in the cruising industry. ;) So, for us, it will be Carnival because most people on these boards seem to like it for little kids and boy, the prices mean we can actually do an excursion or two and have $ for a cab back to the airport! Good luck! I had to create a spreadsheet to figure out what is best for our family. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebeccalouise Posted March 7, 2007 #5 Share Posted March 7, 2007 Disney is great for kids 9 and under. I don't think teens would like it. It is kiddy Central. Really a great one for little kids, though. I haven't sailed Carnival with teens so can't speak from experinence. My friends just took their six kids (ages 10-19) on Carnival Elation and loved it. I know that certain Holland America ships have great teen hangouts with hammocks. You might want to go to the Holland America board and ask what parents thought about the teen program there. My older son had a great time on NCL Spirit(he was 17 at the time). Although I personally love Celebrity, there weren't many teens on board. The 18 year old I traveled with did manage to find some teens her age to hang out with but she preferred Holland America. The thing about older kids is they don't participate much in organized activities. They do hook up with kids their own age though and seem to have fun. As for accomodations on board. Go on a less expensive cruise and book connecting balcony staterooms. It is well worth it to have the extra bathroom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NDCruiser Posted March 10, 2007 #6 Share Posted March 10, 2007 Disney is the best of course, but also expensive which is why we get an inside cabin. I respectfully disagree with the previous poster as my older teen *loves* Disney, especially now that the teen club is up in the stack. But she has been on 10 cruises on 7 different lines (see below), adapted to them all, and always had a blast. We've had cruising complaints, but almost never about the kids programs--it is just so competitively important to the cruise lines that they bend over backwards to do it right. I'd pick 1 of the major lines with fun ports and a private island if possible and not too many days at sea. I'll bet they will be thrilled just to be cruising. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scorpad99 Posted March 10, 2007 #7 Share Posted March 10, 2007 If you go on any voyager ship of r/c you will not regret it, we just got off of the navigator in Feb with 2 kids (10 & 11) and there is so much for them to do..........rock climbing wall, mini golf, full basketball court, ice rink, teen nite club, roller skating, and the kids club is amazing, they really go way beyond for the kids, and plenty to do for the adults, the shows are amazing! For a family of finve, I suggest booking either adjioning cabins, or maybe book rooms across from each other (you can book one adult and child in one room and one adult and child in the other....then sleep wherever you want) Ending up with way more room, and 2 bathrooms, which is a plus! HTH! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crusinmama06 Posted March 10, 2007 #8 Share Posted March 10, 2007 Disney is the best of course, but also expensive which is why we get an inside cabin. I have to disagree. Disney is not always the best cruiseline for every family. I am one of those people who is lucky enough to not have to worry about a budget. I could never do an inside cabin, for any reason. Although we ARE Disney fanatics, I was not overly impressed with the ship. We did pay for the higher suite category and I was still not thrilled. The service isn't half as good as the service on any other ship. And it certainly isn't as good as it is at a resort at WDW. So before every cruise I book a suite at a Walt Disney World Deluxe Resort. And we go to WDW before the cruise. THEN for the cruise, we go on other cruiselines. If I am going to pay the money, then I am going to get the best money can buy. And the best money can buy (like suites on RCCL Freedom class) is STILL cheaper than Disney. So for Disney do yourself a favor and go to WDW. For cruises, go with RCCL. ;) Here is a breakdown of all of the different cruiseline strengths: Carnival and NCL - the kids club starts at age 2. (You won't need that for your family). Carnival has 24 hour pizza and ice cream is a plus for older kids. And the food is the absolute BEST on Carnival. RCCL - the Voyager class and Freedom class ships have MANY ammenities for the ages of the kids you listed. Ice Skating, rock wall climbing and surfing on the flow rider (Freedom class only). The service, for me, is the BEST on RCCL. Disney - the adult areas are truly ADULT areas where kids are not allowed. The BEST theatre shows on the sea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newmexicoNita Posted March 11, 2007 #9 Share Posted March 11, 2007 As a TA, if you were to ask me, knowing the age of your kids I would recommend any of the 3 below: RCI NCL Carnival RCI will probably be the most expensive, they do have lots of kids activities. NCL offers a great kids program, maybe the best or close to the best at sea plus the freestyle dining which works well for families. Carnival also has a great organized kids program and the cabins are larger than either of the other two. You can't go wrong with any of the above. Other lines offer good kids activities as well but I think these are the best. Disney, as you know, is very pricey and I have had friends and clients with kids over 8 or 9 that were totally unimpressed. NMnita Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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