Summer Vaca from Tampa with the lil ones

[MrsO]

Yep finally received my bonus from work!! Wooo hooo!!!:p Ok so here is my question. I would love to take my family (Mr O and 3 girls 7,10,12) on our first cruise this summer. I have basically 3 months to pick from june,July,and Aug. I have been reading on this site for weeks and getting some great information!! The thing is my bonus wasnt big enough for the great Mickey cruise. If anybody has any suggestions on what ship to go on and what month might be a lil less expensive I would love to hear it!!! thank you sooooooooooooooooo much for any advice!!!:rolleyes:

[Essiesmom]

I assume you are wanting to cruise from a port you can drive to? I would go to each cruise line's website and do a search for a cruise leaving from a particular port, or doing a particular itinerary. Or pick a specific ship. For instance, on the Carnival website, choose a ship and it will tell yu what itineraries it does. choose an itinerary, and it will give the dates and the base price for different categories of cabin. Those base prices are not all the same for every date. THAT will tell you when the expensive times are. When yu have narrowed it downn to a few possibilities, go see a flesh and blood travel agent. EM

[JanineM]

Since you're in Tampa, I'm sure you know that the Mickey boats sail from Port Canaveral ... so just a couple of hours away!

 

Check with Disney for the fares on different dates, and for the 3-night, 4-night and 7-night cruises. I'm not a Disney cruiser, so am not sure if the weeklong cruises are only going from Europe this year.

 

Also check some of the big on-line agencies that advertise here to see if any have special deals.

 

If Disney doesn't work, there are many other options for a Floridian! Look at the Mariner from Port Canaveral (lots for the kids to do), plus the plethora of sailings from Miami, Fort Lauderdale and your own Tampa!

 

Nice to get a bonus, eh?

[ChBoxers800]

Check out the family cruising subject. There's a poster there that has done many cruises with her kids and is an absolute expert when it comes to best ship for kids, etc. She's very informative and always willing to help.

[prttygirlmss]

I would look at Carnival Inspiration. It leaves from Tampa. It was just re-done and has a great water park for the kids and new mini golf. The Carnival site has great info on their new upgrades. I am doing this cruise with my family in Sept.