Best Cruise for families and Best time to go??

[allesonwonderland]

Hello! DH and I took our first cruise a few years back. (5 day Majesty of the Seas) We had a great time and thought it would be good to take our whole family on a cruise together. Any insight on what would be the best ships for families? Right now the kids are DD9 and DS6. We're probably looking at 2008 or 2009. I liked some of the RCCL itineraries for 7 night Western Caribbean with stops at Labadee, Ocho Rios, Grand Caymen, etc. Looks like that might not be the most cost effective option though. Recommendations?

 

Also, are the better deals found around Spring Break time or in the summer? We cruised at the beginning of June and the weather was fine until our last day when Arlene was stirring up. Our Spring Break this year was March 24-31...I'm guessing it will be similar the next few years. Easter being early next year could add some travelers to the March timeframe. The kids don't want to miss school, so that puts some constraints on our planning.

 

Thanks in advance for your input! :)

[tribbs1]

We've taken our kids on Carnival - they are older than your kids-and liked it much better than RCCL. Your older child will be able to check herself in and out of Camp Carnival and will have a lot of fun activities. We found the food to be much better on Carnival and the cabins bigger. The Conquest is a great ship w/a nice itinerary to the Western Caribbean. It sails out of Galveston, TX. We sailed this ship in June'05 and didn't have any weathter related problems. I think if you sail as early as you can in June you will be all right weathterwise and maybe even miss some of the "summer vacationers". Spring break will be chaotic and airfare will be expensive. You could try a Thanksgiving week cruise and then the kids would only miss a couple of days of school.

[Jill and Jo]

Last year, I took my 2 son's..ages 7 and 9 at the time on the Enchantment of the Seas. We went to Ochos Rios and Grand Cayman. We booked and independent tour with Phil Lafayette tours in Ochos Rios ( http://www.phil-lafayette-tours.com/Tours.html ). We did the Dunn's River Falls climb and River tubing tour. The kids LOVED every second of it. This is a great tour for the kids. The river tubing is very low key and they get to jump off a "cliff" at the end...it isn't all that high. I even jumped. Our second stop was Grand Cayman. We booked another independent tour with Captain Marvin ( http://www.captainmarvins.com/ ). This tour included 3 snorkel stops. 1 was Stingray City. This is a once in a lifetime experience. We did this tour 3 weeks after the "Crocodile Hunter" incident. I assure you, you have nothing to worry about. They are not the same species of stingray as the ones found in Austraila. It is perfectly safe! Having done this same tour twice, I can assure you that the Steve Irwin incident was an EXTREME freak accident! Both of these ports are AWESOME for kids and the tours mentioned can't be beat. The Adventure Ocean Club for kids on The Enchantment of the Seas was top notch. The kids loved being there and had a great time. They couldn't wait to get there. RCCL was great about the kids dress in the dining room. We dressed them in dressier shorts and polo shirts on casual nights with dressier sandals. No one said a word. We did put suits on them on Formal night, but most kids had dress shirts and khaki pants on. I praise RCCL for the kids program. It is top notch. You won't go wrong with Ochos Rios and Grand Cayman as ports either. Have fun!!

[allesonwonderland]

The Conquest is a great ship w/a nice itinerary to the Western Caribbean. It sails out of Galveston, TX.

 

This is one that's really caught our eye. Galveston wouldn't be a horrible drive for us either since we've recently relocated. (Used to live in Nebraska...nothing was close there! LOL)

 

You won't go wrong with Ochos Rios and Grand Cayman as ports either. Have fun!!

 

Thanks for the details and the links, I'll file them away for future reference. Looks like independent tours are a good way to go--less people and less money. ;)