Please recommend best family cruise...

[cassandra44]

We are grandparents, 70 and 63, both experienced cruisers, but this time we want to take our daughter and son in law and our two grandchildren, aged 4 and 2.

We are thinking of a Disney cruise but wonder whether others might be better (given how young the grandchildren are). They are both in daycare and so are used to mixing, but the little one is still in diapers.

Would also welcome advice about the best cabin configuration for our group....we certainly want a balcony(ies) but are wondering whether to go for a suite or simply adjoining rooms. We're leaning towards adjoining rooms to give us privacy during the evening.

[crusinmama06]

I would go with adjoining balcony cabins (or at least next door cabins) just so each family has their own space.

 

I see the cruises you have been on. They traditionally don't cater to the age that your youngest grandchild is. Would you be happy doing other lines?

 

Disney would be nice for that age. They would have flounders nursery for the youngest (pay for that service) and a club for the 4 year old. You would lose the casino that you are accustomed to on other ships (don't know if that matters to you).

 

NCL and Carnival have kids clubs starting at Age 2. But like I said before, judging by your past cruises, would you be happy on a Carnival or NCL cruise?

 

What about Cunard or Celebrity? If I remember correctly from reading online, Cunard has British nannies that can take care of younger children (the 2 year old). Celebrity has in cabin babysitting and a great kid's program for the 4 year old.

 

You've done Princess. Other cruisers here report that they have a great program for the kids.

[Terpnut]

If you can afford it, the large family suites on many ships (e.g. Royal Family Suite on most RCI ships) would provide privacy and keep the entire family everyone together. We did this (two grandparents, two parents and two small children) previously on RCI Explorer OTS and worked out well. It's VERY expensive to book however so it's not the best value unless you get a sweetheart, last-minute steal or upgrade.

 

For us nowadays, we like the relative value, privacy and practicality of connecting oceanview or balcony rooms. The six of us now travel getting three cabins near each other--with two of them connecting. The kids get one room with the parents (us) in the connecting room. The grandparents stay in an adjoining or nearby stateroom. Be sure you understand the difference between connecting and adjoining staterooms! Adjoining merely means the rooms are adjacent, but connecting rooms have a door between the two. Good luck.

[cassandra44]

Thanks for the advice! In this case our needs are going to take a backseat and we're going to focus on the grandchildren...but it would be nice to have a little privacy each night and so the interconnecting cabins seem the best option. I think that would be better than one of the suites, especially since the family ones seem to be very expensive.

I think we'll go with Disney but we've heard great things about Royal Caribbean so may give that a shot. I've love to combine the Disney cruise with a land portion but I think the grandkids are just a bit too young...my kids were around 10 when I took them to the Parks and I recall they needed a lot of stamina!

[Warm Breezes]

At those ages I would go with Disney. I absolutely loved seeing the magic of Disney through DD's eyes. She was 4 on our first Disney cruise and 6 on our second. She was absolutely enchanted with the characters and the shows. DS had a great time too, but he wasn't as enchanted as his younger sister was. Castaway Cay was wonderful with small children. If you can afford it, then I'd say go for it.

[larronry]

I took my son to Disney for the first time at 22 months and he did fine. Went back to the hotel for the afternoon nap which was good for everyone. We were also able to use the time to go for a little swim. The life guards loved my little one. :) Both children are young enough for strollers and my son's stroller sat in the stroller park and/or held bags he had more energy then mom and dad. :eek:

 

Oh and now he is Mickey crazy.

 

The first time I went to Disney was the year it opened in 1971 and I was 5. I still remember that trip. So no don't assume your grandkids are too young for the parks. That said I'm not sure if that is the best cruise line option. You pay a lot of money for the Disney name and I know that one dinner in the restaurant that goes from black & white to color is something I look forward to seeing someday, but I think that the other cruise lines offer a lot more. That said it is something I will do once.

 

The thing to consider is the family going to want to be responsible for the younger one most of the time except when paying for babysitting services or would an organized program for 2 year olds be preferred? But if the 2 year old is rambunctious as mine is then you know that DCL will be more accepting of the behavior then any other cruise line.

 

Since I've been trying to pick our next cruise I've been going through a lot trying to pick the right cruise for my son so it's probably coming across in my answer.

 

Things to consider:

Diapers - pool or splash area that accepts diapers

babysitting or child facility (if it's important)

 

Making sure that a variety of food is available on the menu for my son (but in my case also knowing mac & cheese is available if he gets picky).

[Terpnut]

IMO the Disney cruise is not a great value with grandkids that young. In my experience, it's not worth spending alot of vacation money on toddlers because they're too young to take advantage of most kid-oriented vacations such as cruises or Disney. Trust me because we took our kids on cruises and/or Disney World EVERY YEAR of their lives. What I learned is that they have fun no matter where you go but they get the most out of a cruise or Disney vacation when they're elementary school age--say 6-11. That's not to say that families with toddlers can't enjoy a cruise or Disney vacation--just that you spend an awful lot of time changing diapers, dealing with grouchy kids because they're hungry or tired, etc. etc. Thus I recommend cruising on Carnival or RCI, and save that expensive Disney cruise for another 3-4 years down the road.

[larronry]

As long as you make sure they have their nap and you make sure they go to bed at a decent time they are not grouchy. No you can't keep them up till 11 every night and expect them not to be grouchy.

 

You should have seen how grouchy I was the first time I went to Disney with my husband and no kids. Up at 7 parks all day hotel at midnight. Oh yeah and day 1 up at 4am and I drove there and day 4 we left around 8 or 8:30 pm and I drove home. If you want to know grouchy? But biggest hint for a toddler if give them their nap and don't keep them up to late. I won't say keep them on their normal schedule because that's not possible but don't think you can forget about their schedule either.

 

I am looking forward to my nap every afternoon on the ship with my son. Something I never get to do at home because that is the time to get 101 things done.

[sparky605]

One thing that is truly great about Disney is the nightly shows, they are nearly Broadway caliber and family friendly. The ships are also very nice and clean and comfortable.

 

If I recall right, when I cruised Disney in 2004 you had to pay for kids under 3 to go to the nursery/kids club. My older kids (ages 6 and 7) liked the kids club a lot.

 

I think adjoining cabins would be smart.

[larronry]

If I recall right, when I cruised Disney in 2004 you had to pay for kids under 3 to go to the nursery/kids club.

I think they can only go in there to nap and I think you are right about having to pay.

 

I'm giving the new Carnival Ship a try. I'm pretty sure it will be clean since it's brand new (first official sailing in July), but the only concern is the type of people on it. I am sure that there will be a lot of children. The description of the kids area sounds great.

[Dsnyluvr]

I LOVE Disney - as you can tell by my name:p - , but I have seen soooo many kids, in the age range that you're talking about, who are terrified of the characters. Usually not the face characters like the princesses, but the ones in the whole costumes, Mickey. I would see how your grandkids handle Santa Claus, etc, before deciding on a Disney cruise. I think it would be very difficult to enjoy a cruise with a 2-year-old who screamed every time she saw a character.

[larronry]

I LOVE Disney - as you can tell by my name:p - , but I have seen soooo many kids, in the age range that you're talking about, who are terrified of the characters. Usually not the face characters like the princesses, but the ones in the whole costumes, Mickey. I would see how your grandkids handle Santa Claus, etc, before deciding on a Disney cruise. I think it would be very difficult to enjoy a cruise with a 2-year-old who screamed every time she saw a character.

That's a good point. Before I took my son to Disney World, where I knew we didn't have to go up close to the characters if he was afraid, we went to story time at a local mall on a monthly basis since he was about a year. Every month they brought a character in (Bernstein Bears, Curious George, Clifford the Big Red Dog, etc) I knew he wasn't afraid although he wasn't crazy about them like my friends daughter who would go running up to them. I know when I was 5 I was afraid of the characters and there are no pictures of me with the characters from Disney World but a ship is a more confined space and the characters, I'm sure, are more likely to approach all the children.

[Terpnut]

I LOVE Disney - as you can tell by my name:p - , but I have seen soooo many kids, in the age range that you're talking about, who are terrified of the characters. Usually not the face characters like the princesses, but the ones in the whole costumes, Mickey. I would see how your grandkids handle Santa Claus, etc, before deciding on a Disney cruise. I think it would be very difficult to enjoy a cruise with a 2-year-old who screamed every time she saw a character.

Very good point and just one more reason to wait until they are a bit older. When my kids were toddlers, they were easily intimidated by the characters too.

 

At Disney theme parks, admission for kids under 3 years of age is free mostly because they don't get very much out of the visits. However, you have to pay for the todder to cruise and, if they get scared of the characters, you're stuck with no way off!

[cassandra44]

Boy am I glad that several people have mentioned the problem with the characters. The younger grandchild is very cautious and tends to get upset when she sees people in costume (although she was okay on Hallowe'en). Yes that could well be a nightmare.

On reflection I think I'll wait until the younger one is at least 4 before we do the Disney holiday.

Thanks for all your help!