Best Med cruise line/ship with sons age 12 and 8

[PGV]

We would like to cruise in the Med, summer 09, with our 2 sons aged 12 and 8. Food isn't an issue as they are happy to eat from our menu. They both enjoy sport and adventure and we would like them to enjoy their on board experience as well as their on shore excursions. Which cruise line in the med is best for this age and which ship or itinery would you recommend? This will be our first experience of cruising!

 

Thank you,

 

PGV

[Keith1010]

I would recommend considering Princess, Royal Caribbean or Celebrity.

 

Having sailed in the Mediterranean several times there are many nice itineraries. I would look closely at the port of embarkation and disembarkation to look at the ease vs. the complication of flying to and from these ports.

 

There are many nice ports in Italy so if this was my first time to the Mediterranean I might consider a cruise that included several of them.

 

Also, I highly recommend flying in a few days prior to the cruise for several reasons. First, it will give you time to explore the area. Second, you will get over the jet lag and enjoy your cruise more. Third, should your plane be delayed or canceled you will ensure that you arrive in plenty of time and do not miss the cruise.

 

Keith

[PGV]

Thanks Keith. Will keep that in mind!

 

PGV

[SelectSys]

We would like to cruise in the Med, summer 09, with our 2 sons aged 12 and 8... They both enjoy sport and adventure and we would like them to enjoy their on board experience as well as their on shore excursions. Which cruise line in the med is best for this age and which ship or itinery would you recommend? This will be our first experience of cruising!

 

RCCL Independence of the Seas out of Southampton is probably the best ship for sports minded kids - rock wall, ice skating, flow rider, mini golf, sports court - b-ball and soccer, pools, water park, ...

 

RCCL out of Barcelona - Voyager, Brilliance - would be my second pick. More activities on Voyager but the Brilliance cruises are great

 

RCCL Navigator out of Rome.

 

Can you pick up my bias for RCCL and kids?

[PGV]

Thank you! We know a couple of families who cruised on the Independence this summer and loved it. We have heard that RCCL is good but wondered how it compared with the others.

 

PGV

[scorpiomum]

we went on our first med cruise on RCCL Brilliance last November and it was brilliant. it left Rome and ended in Barcelona and was so much cheaper than sailing out of southampton. we are going on the Navigator in october and looking forward to having the bigger ship with ice skating etc. having said that, brilliance was great and even though we went outside of school holidays the kids loved the kids program. can really recommend RCCL.

[chipmaster]

We would like to cruise in the Med, summer 09, with our 2 sons aged 12 and 8. Food isn't an issue as they are happy to eat from our menu. They both enjoy sport and adventure and we would like them to enjoy their on board experience as well as their on shore excursions. Which cruise line in the med is best for this age and which ship or itinery would you recommend? This will be our first experience of cruising!

 

Thank you,

 

PGV

 

I will sound in with a slightly different point of view. My prospective is of someone from the USA flying a long way to see some history.

 

The Med cruise for us was all about the Ports. We just finished one with kids age 7-14. Our 7 year old had a harder time appreciating all the ports offered and really enjoyed the on ship kids club and probably matter little to her if we were in Florence/Pisa or the Carribbean that day. Our older two really got something out of the ports and it was a once in a lifetime sharing. At the end of each day when we got back from port ( 4:30-5:30 or so ) the older two probably could have jumped in and done more ship activities ( shows, pool, guitar hero under the stars, etc. etc. ) but most days we needed to be up by 6:30am for another busy day so we had simple evenings on the ship. Sitdown down full dinner at 6:15pm, caught a comedian/magician/show at 8:00-8:30 and to bed by 10:30PM :D Of course our sea days we leveraged all the ship had to offer.

 

I would suggest you pick the Ports you most want to see/experience then find the ships/lines that offer them. We did see many Europeans that appeared to have done much less then us in the Ports. Of course if that is your approach the ship become more a priority.

 

Happy Planning

[FiggyWig]

We have booked our 1st ever cruise aboard Celebrity Solstice for Aug 17 2009 around earstern Med. We will have our (then) 12 year old son with us. We studied the various cruise lines (RCCL / Princess / Carnival) and the ship, itinerary and kids facilities on the Solstice cruise along with a very competative price for balcony cabin won the day.

 

It takes in many historic ports of call departing and returning to Rome, taking in greek islands, Athens, Turkey and back to Italy - plus this cruise leaving on the 17th is the only 12 night on Solstice in the Med.

 

One word of warning if considering the Med from Southampton, please bear in mind you will be travelling a few days through notorious lumpy seas (Bay of Biscay) before you find any decent weather :rolleyes: .

[Onessa]

Don't know your kids' interests but a cruise that would include Naples for a trip to Pompai or Herculium would be cool, Rome and the colusium ruins, or Kotocolon for the ancient Olympic site. Prep them with some recent movies depicting roman or greek historical periods and they should be able to better appreciate these historical sites. The leaning tower of pisa is always cool as are the walled cities and other fortresses dotted across Tuscany.

[PGV]

Thanks to everyonewho has replied! Lots of good advice as usual on this web site!

 

PGV

[CeleBrat]

We just got back froma Western Med cruise on the NCL Gem with our kids (aged 5 and 7, turned 8 on trip) and our extended family. I posted a review a bit further down on this board. Let me know if you want the link. Lots of good info about private tour guides and such.

 

FYI--we visited Barcelona, Malta, Naples (Pompeii/Amalfi Coast), Citivecchia (Rome), Livorno (Florence/Pisa), and Villefranche.

 

CeleBrat

[happy1]

We did a 12 night voyage on the Carnival Liberty. It was very port intensive and my children (11 & 14) never visited the kids club. Having previously cruised on Disney, Celebrity, HAL, NCL, and RCCL, they declared this trip "the best" due to the size of the ship and the food. It was much different than the Carnival experience of the smaller ships in the US.

[PGV]

We just got back froma Western Med cruise on the NCL Gem with our kids (aged 5 and 7, turned 8 on trip) and our extended family. I posted a review a bit further down on this board. Let me know if you want the link. Lots of good info about private tour guides and such.

 

FYI--we visited Barcelona, Malta, Naples (Pompeii/Amalfi Coast), Citivecchia (Rome), Livorno (Florence/Pisa), and Villefranche.

 

CeleBrat

Thanks Celebrat! Have already read and enjoyed your excellent review!!! Feel as if I was there with you...You should start your own web site! Quick question - which cruise line is your favourite and why????

 

PGV

[JsMom2]

We just got off the Independence, and you can't beat her for the shipboard experience. So much to do - my DD9 was on the flow rider everyday. But we purposely did the 10 day that had 4 and a half days at sea, and ports that we'd either seen before or were less than thrilling. Right before that we did a 7-day on Navigator to Greece, Turkey, and Italy. We spent more time in the ports there, so we didn't have time to do as much as we wanted on the ship. But since we knew we were sailing Independence a few days after our Navigator cruise, we were okay with that.

 

The days ashore in the Med are very long, and it can be frustrating when you're on a ship that offers all kinds of cool stuff. We were so exhausted from the 11 nt Disney Med that we booked a 7 nt Caribbean just to recover from the cruise!

 

So definitely think about what you're expecting from the vacation, and then plan accordingly.

 

Have a great time, Europe is awesome!