Help Needed Planning a Family Cruise

[Sheila56]

Hello family cruisers!

 

Would you please share your hints and wisdom on planning a family cruise. My husband and I are retired. We want to take adult children/spouses and grandchildren on a family cruise in 2008. So there would be myself and husband, son/his wife and 3 kids and daughter/her husband and 2 kids. One family lives in Atlanta and one family lives in Indiana. So school calendars are not in sync for spring breaks.

 

We normally pick up bargain when we cruise, so I didn't realize how expense summer cruising was. When I saw the prices, I thought we might as well consider a Christmas cruise - also very expensive. Our only other option is to go in a less expensive season. This would require we take at least one family's children out of school for the week.

 

Christmas really seems to be the best time since the adults will have time off work and the kids will be out of school. I'm thinking about going RCCL or Princess.

 

Ages of children family 1: 16, 12, 10. family 2: 10 and 6.

 

I'm looking for suggestions on cabin arrangements, money saving hints (especially since all will need passports). and anything else you can think of that might help me. Do "bargains" ever come up for holiday cruises. I'm starting to watch now for Christmas 2007, so I can get an idea of whether cabins are available as close as 6 months in advance.

 

Or should I just pick our ship/cruise, pay the deposit and pray for price reduction?

 

Can I reserve cabins just using the adults and add the children later to save on the deposit? The one family with two children says they can share a quad. I think the other family with the teenagers needs at least a connecting cabin so they can have space and a 2nd shower.

 

Your help will be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks,

 

Sheila

[hunter2004]

I will suggest RC. Since all the children are old enough to book the room themself. Each cabin must have an adult unless you can get the cabin that connected together. You can have up to 4 people in the cabin, but cabin with 4 or connected are selling out fast especailly during the holiday when family with children also on board. You need to book them all at once. If you have 4 in one cabin, 3rd and 4th person paid a little less than 1st and 2nd person. We always take kids with us and stay in one room, but this past June since we wait so late to book we can't get a deal for cabin for 4 so we booked 2 cabins. My husband stay with one kid ond deck 7 and I with other kid on deck 9. Just for this time, it's better deal for us to book 2 cabin instead of one. Hope this help

[crusinmama06]

There are certain weeks that are MUCH cheaper during the year than others, even in the Summer. For some reason, this year the prices for the week of August 18th took a dive. So find out when the kids start back to school and if it's not till the last week of August or later, then check out the prices for the 3rd week of August.

 

Then Sept/Oct...cheap if they are willing to be pulled out of school.

 

The week AFTER Thanskgiving, also VERY cheap.

 

And then the prices are also usually good the last few weeks of May.

 

I think RCCL has the best ships on the sea...so they would be your best bet.

[Onessa]

Actually, you can get some bargins the week OF Thanksgiving - (particularly if everyone can drive to the debarkation point). This also reduces the number of days off of school. We've done HI and the Mediterranean the week of Thanksgiving and gotten great deals (it's just scary trying to fly home the weekend of Thanksgiving).

 

PS - When my parents were alive, they and my family would often cruise together. It was a great vacation. Sister and her family would NEVER cruise with us (she had gotten sea sick once on a 19 foot fishing boat on Lake Michigan - so in her mind she couldn't cruise). I felt sorry for my parents because they really wanted to include them, but felt happy for my family because we didn't have to endure her! :eek: I hope you and your family have a great time!