Kids on a South America cruise?

[karenem]

Hi, all,

 

I've been eyeing the great deals on loooong cruises down the west coast of the U.S., ending in Chile (or the reverse route), and wondering if one would be at all suitable for a family with kids. I know it's *possible* to arrange for independent study to keep up with schoolwork and/or do independent projects (DS will be 14, a freshman, girls will be 6 and 4YO; they would miss ~9 school days). My question would be, could a cruise like this be truly educational? I'm not willing to take DS out of school for a tourist jaunt (nothing against a pure vacation, but if DS is going to miss school, it needs to be justifiable, education-wise, in my head). So, is there enough to keep kids interested, entertained, and learning? Would this be a "life-perspective-altering" trip or just an over-long boat ride with few other kids on board? Has anyone else taken a trip like this? Opinons please! (We've been on 1 cruise so far--Alaska, 10 days; everyone had a fabulous time.)

 

(also posted in the South America folder)

[Essiesmom]

Which cruise line are you considering? I have found on longer cruises, and to exotic places the cruise line with have enrichment lecturers on board to talk about the continent and countries to be visited. My long cruises have been on Princess, Celebrity and Cunard. Don't know about Carnival, as those have all been short cruises. Looking forward to finding out what HAL does on a long cruise. EM

[CeleBrat]

Did you see that the brandnew Carnival Splendor is traveling "around the horn" of South America in Jan to re-position to the West Coast. That would be a fun cruise on a nice, new ship. Just got an email for a crazy price of something like $3500 for 31 days. WOW!!!

 

CeleBrat

[karenem]

Actually, what got me thinking was a $675 cabin (not a typo) for an 18-day San Francisco to Santiago cruise on the Star Princess, across Thanksgiving. Holy ****! It'd cost more to fly home (literally--I checked). Other lines doing similar itineraries are Norwegian and HAL.

 

I suppose what it comes down to is trying to game the system a bit to get a fabulous deal on something that might not be my dream cruise, but would be a heckuva(n) experience. The Incredible! Carribean! Deals! are out because we're in the SF Bay Area and any "deal" would be knocked out by the airfare for five. So... what leaves from (or arrives at) the west coast that also gets deeply discounted? Not much, I'm afraid. That Carnival cruise is amazing, but is out of our reach both $$ and time-wise. It's fun to dream though.

[rebeccalouise]

That is a great deal and Star Princess will have much to offer. I just did Grand Princess and Star is very similar.

 

I think that if you are intent on making it a "learning" vacation, that the kids start reading books relating to all the places on route. This will give them something to grasp.

 

I don't think kids really are that into excursions at any age. They like to splash in the pool, meet other kids and that sort of thing. To make it interesting- make sure there are plenty of places for the kids to explore on excursions. Avoid excursions that allow for little down time.

 

There won't be too many kids on an 18 day cruise. I would guess that there might be about 50 including teens. Many will be pre-school age or teens, if it is anything like my 14 day Transatlantic in May of 2005 (50 kids total). Most working parents can't take that many days off- so there will be alot of seniors.

 

The lack of children may really work to your advantage. They won't be so excited by the ship that they won't want to get off with you in the various ports.

 

If you are interested in going to the places on the itinerary and the schools permit travel- go for it!

[SelectSys]

Hi, all,

 

I've been eyeing the great deals on loooong cruises down the west coast of the U.S., ending in Chile (or the reverse route), and wondering if one would be at all suitable for a family with kids. I know it's *possible* to arrange for independent study to keep up with schoolwork and/or do independent projects (DS will be 14, a freshman, girls will be 6 and 4YO; they would miss ~9 school days). My question would be, could a cruise like this be truly educational? I'm not willing to take DS out of school for a tourist jaunt (nothing against a pure vacation, but if DS is going to miss school, it needs to be justifiable, education-wise, in my head). So, is there enough to keep kids interested, entertained, and learning? Would this be a "life-perspective-altering" trip or just an over-long boat ride with few other kids on board? Has anyone else taken a trip like this? Opinons please! (We've been on 1 cruise so far--Alaska, 10 days; everyone had a fabulous time.)

 

(also posted in the South America folder)

 

I don't think that a cruise at age 14 will be a "life perspective altering" trip for your son based on the experiences with my kids. I am sure that your son would enjoy the trip and create some memories, but based on dealing with my kids considering it to be life changing is a stretch.

 

I don't think I would do this trip with my kids. My daughter is a sophmore in high school and the pace of work is such that I wouldn't want to miss 2 weeks.

 

Good luck with your decision!

[karenem]

Heh! Perhaps "life-altering" is a little much, but I got to do quite a bit of traveling from 14-18, and looking back, it really did contribute to how I view the world now, although at the time it was mostly just fun. Lots to think about!

[rebeccalouise]

I agree with the previous poster that the kids will probably remember the ship more than the locales. Kids aren't all that into sight-seeing but if you think you would like to go to South America- go- why not?

[Miss Jolly]

I disagree. It depends upon your own children and how you present things to them. We have taken our children to many places around the world starting when they were 11 and 12 years old. They have learned so much about the places they visited - and they remember it too. Last year we took them on a very port intensive 39 day cruise through Europe. Sure, they did have the most fun in teen club but they still saw, experienced and learned sooooo much. Go with your instincts.

[rebeccalouise]

I traveled to Italy with my then 14 year old in 2002. It was just he and I and we took the train from Bellagio-Venice-Florence- Rome and Naples. It was fantastic and we were able to cover alot of ground in only 10 days. 14 is a good age. Your 4 and 6 year old will love cruising.

 

Don't get me wrong, I have taken my now 8 year old all over creation because I wanted to see the world. He had a blast but when asked where he went last summer (we visited Turkey, Greece, Venice, Northern Italy, Salzburg, Southampton England, Ireland, Scotland and France)- he couldn't recall! He did love Merano Italy in the mountains. It was heaven there and we are returning there next summer. He liked it because of our suite and the 25 heated, thermal spring pools at the resort.

 

What I am getting at is the mountains and scenery didn't blow him away. He did enjoy the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland and visiting with some friends at Edinburgh Castle. But nothing really left a lasting impression other than the "talent show", the ice cream, the suite on Holland America and the kids he met.

 

We both enjoyed our trip very much but for different reasons but I am sure he would have had an equally good time just cruising to nowhere.