Three Generation Cruises

[Sky Sweet]

Which cruise line do you think is best for three generation cruises?

[Kerry's Girls]

A big factor is how old the youngest child will be, because if there are babies or toddlers, you need to pick the line that will take care of them as well (i.e., RCCL in-cabin babysitting for 1+ year old; NCL & Carnival for 2 year olds; Princess 3+ but doesn't require potty training; RCCL 3+ AND potty trained).

 

Best,

Mia

[pmfan]

My vote is for RC. I think they have something for everyone.

[kat89447]

we are doing a 3 gen cruise in june ages 2-72 and we thought the freestyle of NCL was the way to go. kids are 2-10 My parents are used to more formal dining, but are willing to concede the dining for itinerary and kids club.

[Sweetest Sin]

We have 4 generations on our next cruise (ages 8 - 80), and we picked Royal Caribbean because the ship offered activities for all of us. We've never sailed RCI before so lets hope we picked the right ship! :)

[abba_dabba_doo]

We have a 3 generation cruise and are going on RC Mariner.....can't wait and I'm sure the ship will have something for everyone!

[Sky Sweet]

A big factor is how old the youngest child will be' date=' because if there are babies or toddlers, you need to pick the line that will take care of them as well (i.e., RCCL in-cabin babysitting for 1+ year old; NCL & Carnival for 2 year olds; Princess 3+ but doesn't require potty training; RCCL 3+ AND potty trained).

 

Best,

Mia[/quote']

 

Hi Kerry's Girls :)

 

I agree with you about considering the age of the youngest child. In November we took our first three generation cruise with our daughter, son in law, and granddaughter who was eight months old at the time.

 

We were originally planning to cruise on RCCL's Freedom of the Seas, even though my husband and I prefer smaller ships, because we thought it would be fun for our daughter, who was in her twenties, and son in law. Then when we discovered that Royal Caribbean does not provide in cabin baby sitting for children under a year old, we decided to try Holland America's Westerdam.

 

At first I was a little apprehensive about how the passengers and crew on Holland America would react to an infant, but was very pleasantly surprised at how wonderful everyone was to her.

 

I was able to book two adjacent cabins for the five of us, which were spacious enough to comfortably fit a crib, stroller, etc.

 

My daughter was able to arrange for in cabin baby sitting almost every night, which gave her an opportunity to spend quality time alone with her husband on the ship, and that was a real treat for them. Then on the nights they couldn't get a baby sitter, grandma and grandpa sky sweet baby sat for them :)

[Sky Sweet]

we are doing a 3 gen cruise in june ages 2-72 and we thought the freestyle of NCL was the way to go. kids are 2-10 My parents are used to more formal dining, but are willing to concede the dining for itinerary and kids club.

 

Hi kat8944 :)

 

As someone who became a grandmother last year, I agree with your parents priorities.

 

We took our first three generation family cruise in November and plan to do this on a regular basis. Our main reason for this type of cruise is to spend quality time with each other and the enjoyment we get from seeing our children and grandchild having a wonderful time on a cruise is priceless :)

 

My husband and I take enough cruises by ourselves, where we can choose exactly what we want, to be very flexible about our three generation ones.

[Dr_DNA]

We did a 3 generation cruise (3, 34, 85) on the RCCL's Explorer of the Seas to Canada/New England. It was GREAT! There were plenty of activities in the kids club, lots of "active" things for my wife and I to do, and plenty of things for my grandmother to do. It was a great time all around.

[Sky Sweet]

We have 4 generations on our next cruise (ages 8 - 80), and we picked Royal Caribbean because the ship offered activities for all of us. We've never sailed RCI before so lets hope we picked the right ship! :)

 

Hi Sweetest Sin :)

 

That is wonderful that you were able to get four generations together for a cruise :)

[Sky Sweet]

We did a 3 generation cruise (3, 34, 85) on the RCCL's Explorer of the Seas to Canada/New England. It was GREAT! There were plenty of activities in the kids club, lots of "active" things for my wife and I to do, and plenty of things for my grandmother to do. It was a great time all around.

 

 

Hi Dr DNA :)

 

Thanks for sharing your experience with a three generation cruise. Your post was very helpful.

 

BTW - your screen name intrigues me. Are you involved with forensic applictions of DNA? I am curious because my husband is a forensic scientist.

[Dr_DNA]

Hi Dr DNA :)

 

Thanks for sharing your experience with a three generation cruise. Your post was very helpful.

 

BTW - your screen name intrigues me. Are you involved with forensic applictions of DNA? I am curious because my husband is a forensic scientist.

 

I have a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology and cloned several plant genes during my graduate studies. So, no, not forensic science. I work in agriculture science and bioinformatics today so no more cloning, but I work with many researchers that do. I adopted this screen name several years ago and have continued to use it ever since.

[Dr_DNA]

PS- If you want more details about our multi-generational cruise, you can check out the review of our Canada/New England cruise on the Explorer of the Seas last year. If you still have questions, please feel free to ask. As I said, we had a great trip and I'm working hard to try to get my grandmother on another ship. She had a wonderful time but it is really hard to get her to commit to travel away from home. I would love take her on an Australia/New Zealand cruise as she has always want to go down to the land down under. But, it is hard enough to get her to come up to Pennsylvania from Texas so I'm not sure that is going to happen.

[Sky Sweet]

I have a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology and cloned several plant genes during my graduate studies. So, no, not forensic science. I work in agriculture science and bioinformatics today so no more cloning, but I work with many researchers that do. I adopted this screen name several years ago and have continued to use it ever since.

 

Dr DNA - your career sounds very interesting :)

[kat89447]

I do think you have to pick your ship according to the youngest going. My parents cruise at least once a year by themselves so it is a treat for all of us to go together. Most of my side of the family lives in MO, but my family lives in NV and cruising is a really cost efficient way to have a family reunion. There is always something for everyone with actually very little concession on anything. Unfortunately my DH cannot go this time as he just started a new job, but I think having all of the family on board still gives the adults the advantage over the kids lol.

Thanks Sky for the comments, I too just became a Grandma in February and I already can't wait till he is old enough to take my (NV) family on a cruise. My DH has 3 grown sons all starting their own families and I would love to take them as my parents have taken us on a cruise.

[calikak]

Really interesting question, thanks for posting this topic! We did a cruise with some friends of ours who were a three-generation family (we met them when they were cruising as a two-generation family cruising together, they added the third recently) on Carnival. Personality-wise I'm more of a Princess girl, but I felt Carnival worked fine for the group--the crew were great with the baby.

 

I actually like having traditional dining when travelling with a group, because everyone can do their own thing during the day but we all get together at dinner time to reconnect and talk about our adventures. There's no having to schedule with everyone when and where dinner will be or worrying about conflicts in schedules--everyone just knows when and where to show up. That being said, we're talking about having our next group cruise on NCL due to itinerary, pricing and kids club availability for the ages of kids who are going.

[Sky Sweet]

Has anyone voted for a cruise line that is best for three generation cruises that is different than their favorite cruise line?

[Sweetest Sin]

Has anyone voted for a cruise line that is best for three generation cruises that is different than their favorite cruise line?

LOL...I voted royal caribbean...I've never been, but that is what we are going on...but it is funny how we all perceive our favorites as the best :D

[sharktums]

We just did our first three generation with my then 8 month old daughter and my parents on the Grand Princess.

 

My parents liked it (they are some super high level on Princess) but my husband and I were quite bored and there was absolutely NOTHING for the baby (although all of the staff loved her!)

 

We're doing Liberty of the Seas this December and we are all looking forward to it. My parents will have things to do, my husband and I can be a bit more 'active' and our then 20 month old will be able to use the infant pool near the waterpark and be eligible for in cabin babysitting and the Aqua Tots program.

 

Once she's two I'll think about considering Carnival again (since their camp starts at age 2) even though I swore I would never sail them again!!!

[Buffalofirsttimer4]

3 generations going on NCL Spirit in April- I'll let you know how we make out when we get back.:eek:

[Sky Sweet]

It is interesting that no one picked Celebrity.

 

My husband and I like Celebrity. However, we would be reluctant to take a three generation cruise on that cruise line because of all the posts on the Celebrity board from people complaining about the children who were on their cruise.

 

It appears that Celebrity has a lot of passengers who don't like children, and I wouldn't want my grandchild to ever feel that she is ruining someone's vacation.

[CeleBrat]

We are avid cruisers, and have done quite a few multi-generational cruises (us, kids, grandparents...) on many different cruise lines, including Carnival, Disney, Costa, and NCL. They each have their pros/cons and I can't say that any one cruise line is our favorite.

 

Actually--thinking about it, it is rare that we ever cruise just as a family of 4. We usually have at least 1-2 other cabins of neighbors, friends, or relatives with us.

 

Next up--our extended family cruise to the Mediterranean on the brand-new NCL Gem. Yahoo!

 

CeleBrat

[Sky Sweet]

It appears that Royal Caribbean received the most votes for Three Generation Cruises.

[lolakat]

We just did a 4 generation cruise (6mo, 29, 59, 92) on the NCL Pearl. It had something for everyone and the freestyle part worked well with the baby. Does HAL really have in room baby sitting for kids under 1? That would be good to know.

[VPIcruiser]

I voted for Celebrity before I saw the results or read your posts! We went two years ago with my parents and our then 14 month old son. We loved. We had an in-cabin babysitter two nights from 8:30 to 11:30 or so.

 

This year we are going to Alaska with our almost three year old son and our then 15 month old daughter. My parents and my in-laws will be joining us. It will be the in-laws first cruise.

 

I was looking for a ship with in-cabin babysitting at night so at least some of the nights, someone else can watch the kiddos sleep. Plus we have loved Celebrity in the past.

 

I wanted traditional seating so we can do our own thing during the day and meet back for dinner. Btw, I loved this about Disney World also. We went with the in-laws and another couple and their DD. Even if we did different things during the day, we met up for dinner every night because we had dinner reservations. It worked great and made it feel more like a cruise. LOL!