Which cruise and Boat would you recommend for a family of 5?

[jkbe321]

My wife and I are considering taking the kids (7,7&3) on a carribbean cruise next summer, but I have a few questions:

 

1. Connecting rooms or a suite? What would you recommend?
   
2. Which ship would in your opinion be best suited for the kids? Are all the kids programs the same?
   
3. If we do it we would do a 7 day cruise, would you recommend Eastern, Western or Southern? Which one would be the most "kid friendly" and have the best ports of call for families?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks!

[tomko2]

I don't really have answers except that the ships departing from Florida or Miami seem to have a good variety of ports of call for 7 night cruises. For the Eastern Caribbean - San Juan, St. Thomas, St. Maarten and Labadee offer a good variety of family activites and for the Western Caribbean - Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Costa Maya and Aruba again would be suitable for family activities.

Perhaps someone with experience travelling with a family will see this post and properly answer your questions.

[sea-cruise]

Connecting rooms=2 bathrooms & televisions, and more room for toys.

Southern route= longer flight on plane with kids from Southern California

Cruiseline=RCCL because there is so much more to do onboard for the kids, and the Adventure Ocean program is really good (according to friends who have small children).

Private islands CocoCay & Labadee will be fun for the kids with access to inflatible beach toys, etc.

Ship= Itinerary and your location of residence, plus any hot deals or discount fares you can find.

Personally, with small children I would choose Eastern Caribbean, but that's just me.

[Silvery Seas Cruiser]

I just have to say that I believe Royal Caribbean Freedom Class ships offer the very most for a family including ice skating shows, two Prominade parades, the famous Flow Rider surfing area, rock climbing, the fun and fabulous H2O Zone water park for children, putt putt golf, and so on.

 

Freedom Class includes Freedom of the Sea, Liberty of the Sea and Independence of the Sea. Freedom and Liberty are running alternating Eastern and Western Caribbean itineraries running from Miami. Independence will be leaving from Fort Lauderdale in late Novemeber 2008.

 

Freedom and Liberty stop at Labadee, a great day for kids.

[LostAgain]

We went on the Mariner last summer. The only thing missing from that class of ship as opposed to Freedom class was the flow rider. We didn't miss it -- there's so much to do, and the kids had a fantastic time. We did Eastern Carribbean.

[mloca]

We are a family of 5 and chose the Freedom. Our kids are ages (10,8,7). With children this young I prefered to all be in the same room. We booked the inside family promenade stateroom. It has a full bed, a set of bunk beds and a pull out sofa. Only one bath but that is OK as the kids are still pretty young. It seemed to be a cost effective option. There are only a few on each of the Freedom class ships so need to book early. They try to reserve them for families of 5. This ship looks to offer so much for kids and I have heard great things about their kids clubs. We are going on the Western Route as we have done the Eastern a few times. There is always something fun to entertain the kids, even if it is just a nice beach day. We are planning a dolphin encounter but besides that just beach fun. Good luck with your decision!

[srico17]

Freedom class is great! Just be warned that your 7 year olds, unless they are tall will not be able to use the flowrider! My 8 year old daughter was not tall enough and they were strict on the limit... it was Thanksgiving week, and there were a LOT of kids, but she was BUMMED!!! My 12 year old son had a BLAST on it. They did both however LIVE on the rock wall... they skated a few sessions, and enjoyed the kids club. They golfed a few times, but... between you and me, I was disappointed with the mini golf... it wasn't what I was expecting. We are looking forward to the Mariner which also has roller blading which we all do.....

[cb at sea]

Connecting rooms--you're as close as if they were IN your room, but you can close (but not lock) the connecting door for privacy--and on a cruise (so romantic) you NEED privacy!!!

Voyager or Freedom class are really great for families!

[askfrog]

We choose the Freedom of the seas for our family, kids will be 14,12,8,4 at the time we go. The H2o zone sounds great for the younger kids, and lots of other stuff to do too. we got one of the family oceanview rooms so we can all be in the same room. But there are only a couple of those type of rooms on the ship so you have to book early. We are going in December and I booked the middle of Feb.

[tiredmommy]

We loved our family oceanview stateroom on the Voyager of the Seas. I think you would be happy with any of the voyager class ships. With the age of your kids, you definitely don't need two rooms or two bathrooms yet. Mine are 13, 11 and 8 and we are just fine with the one bathroom. We LOVED this room. It really was huge.

 

I can't recommend any particular itinerary. We always head to the beach in any port. I wouldn't enjoy myself trying to shop with the kids and neither would they. You could also do a boat tour, or another activity that keeps their interest. I also recommend staying on the boat on one of your port days b/c the pool decks will be nice and uncrowded.

 

Have fun!

[4everafter]

First of all, I'm going to contradict myself by saying stay near the rear elevators and then I'll tell you that we always get a GS ( they are mid ship and towards the front) . they will bring in a roll away cot that fits by the closet. I like us all being in the same room. the bathroom thing is never an issue for the younger ages.

We just got back from Navigator and I was missing all the things that Freedom class offers - mainly the H20 zone for the kids.