When Cruising with kids..

[Miss_Mia]

did you actually get to "relax" on the cruise?

 

Are 10 year anniversary is coming up. We were going to do a cruise just the two of us.Then we got to thinking,maybe we should bring the whole family. Weve never had a "family" vacation bfore.

 

So this would mean our DS (7) ,DD (15) DD(13).

 

I know we can give our teens some freedom on the ship.They can entertain themselves for a while. DS is just 7,so we would have to keep him entertained the whole time.I dont see anytime where we could actually relax and have just "us" time and not worry about everyone being entertained and happy..kwim?

 

So,my question,did you actually have time for yourselves when you took a cruise?(even if it was just 30 minutes-1 hour)

[prttygirlmss]

My husband and I took the kids on our first cruise for our 40th b-days. I have to say I had more alone time with him than I have had in years. We had our kids with us ages 14,12 and 8 at the time. I saw my two oldest a total of 3 dinners and of course when we went off the ship. Other than that, they hung out with their "new" friends. They went to the teen club and met at other places. My DD who was 8 went to the kids club every night. She even hated to be picked up some nights. My husband and I had dinners alone, went to shows and just sat and enjoyed the night on deck. This by far was the best vacation ever.

We had such a good time we all went on another cruise this past Sept and are going on another this fall too! Cruising has been the answer we were looking for for our family vacations. Good luck in what you decide.

[RENMama]

oh yeah!

we just had a fabulous 10 day vacation to orlando and after spending 4 days in the car with our 3 kids and 3 days at universal, i am SO ready for our cruise in december.

dont get me wrong, i love vacationing and being busy and on the go, but a cruise is the only time where my husband and i can send all 3 away for a few hours each day. they have fun, we have fun. win win.

[cb at sea]

Send the 7 yo to the kid's camp---that's the age where they REALLY get into the crafts and activities. There's no reason to have to "entertain" them the entire time.

A cruise can be relaxing--you just have to "allow" it to be! Don't hover--don't stress! Kids SHOULD be able to entertain themselves---that's part of growing up and part of "childhood"---Let them!

[gt95stang]

Likely, the 7 year old will be the only issue. If she likes kids club, you'll be all set for some alone time. But if she doesn't, you'll be entertaining her all the time.

 

Many kids like going to kids club. My 6 year old thought she was going to like kids club, and she loves school, but it turned out that kids club was just a little too chaotic for her. She didn't hate it, and we probably could've told her that she had to go sometimes, but I just didn't want to do that when its suppose to be a fun vacation for her.

 

She did end up going to 2 sessions on our 5 day cruise. During an afternoon session, we didn't really get a chance to do much except go watch her circus performance. During the evening session, we did take in a show.

 

If you really want an "alone" vacation for your anniversary, I would suggest a different plan. But if you're willing to entertain the 7 year old most of the time, but would enjoy some "alone" time if it worked out, then a family cruise might not be a bad idea.

[cruizer4life]

Yes, and for us cruising is the best way to vacation, even with kids. We do some ship activities as a family first and then take them to the kids club. They don't want to leave when we pick them up or they can't wait to go back. They beg to stay till it close at 1am but I don't like them to stay up that late at their age so we just had to drag them out of there! They even don't want to get off the ship at ports so sometimes we leave them at the kids club and go off by ourselves. Sometimes we would take them to the buffet to feed them and then drop them off at the kids club and go for a dinner date by ourselves at one of the specialty restaurants. So we spend more time with each other on the cruise than we do any other times. Agree with cb at sea, relax and enjoy. Your cruise/vacation is what you make of it.

[mom2girls]

There are so many different activities on the various ships that you'll certainly find some time to relax. A cruise is an awesome vacation for families! :)

[imjoyful2]

We celebrated our 10yr anniversary last year. We took our 4 kiddos on a 12 night RC cruise (we homeschool so that's how we were able to take them along on such a long one). Their ages were 9,9,7,5. We got some time alone anytime they went to the kids clubs. We could've even gotten an in-room sitter or paid to have them stay late at the kids clubs for additional time alone, but we didn't. We thought this was a nice mix to having a family vacation, yet adult time also. :)

[crusinmama06]

Yep, we celebrated our 10th on a ship with our 2 girls.

[lamolesky]

Yes, and for us cruising is the best way to vacation, even with kids. We do some ship activities as a family first and then take them to the kids club. They don't want to leave when we pick them up or they can't wait to go back. They beg to stay till it close at 1am but I don't like them to stay up that late at their age so we just had to drag them out of there! They even don't want to get off the ship at ports so sometimes we leave them at the kids club and go off by ourselves. Sometimes we would take them to the buffet to feed them and then drop them off at the kids club and go for a dinner date by ourselves at one of the specialty restaurants. So we spend more time with each other on the cruise than we do any other times. Agree with cb at sea, relax and enjoy. Your cruise/vacation is what you make of it.

 

This is exactly what we did, we have a 2 and 5 year old and they feel the same way about the kids club. My husband and I haven't relaxed like this since they were born. The good thing is that we do spend a lot of time with them, we don't ship them off to the kids club all the time. But when we want to have some alone time they are more than willing to go and have a blast. It is the best of both worlds for us and the kids.

[chipmaster]

did you actually get to "relax" on the cruise?

 

Are 10 year anniversary is coming up. We were going to do a cruise just the two of us.Then we got to thinking,maybe we should bring the whole family. Weve never had a "family" vacation bfore.

 

So this would mean our DS (7) ,DD (15) DD(13).

 

I know we can give our teens some freedom on the ship.They can entertain themselves for a while. DS is just 7,so we would have to keep him entertained the whole time.I dont see anytime where we could actually relax and have just "us" time and not worry about everyone being entertained and happy..kwim?

 

So,my question,did you actually have time for yourselves when you took a cruise?(even if it was just 30 minutes-1 hour)

 

YMMV, we've cruised with kids when they were younger and older. They've always enjoyed formal dinners with us and pretty much do everything with us. But that was part of our agenda, spend quality time with them. There was always kids clubs, again YMMV, one of my kids loved it, two thought they were the stupidest thing and pretty much did their own thing. If they enjoy kids clubs you may not seen them the whole trip if they are like mine you might see them all the time and that could be :D or could be :eek:

 

Enjoy

[flsunnymommy]

Being a single parent, cruises are my only real time to relax. On one cruise my son spent almost every moment he could in the kids club. I had so much time to relax, I was at a loss of what to do. One the other cruise, he spent almost no time in the kids club and just wanted to hang out with me. We enjoyed both trips, but it depends on the kids. You will definitely get some time alone together even if you offer an incentive for time in the kids club

[fightingokra]

did you actually get to "relax" on the cruise?

 

Are 10 year anniversary is coming up. We were going to do a cruise just the two of us.Then we got to thinking,maybe we should bring the whole family. Weve never had a "family" vacation bfore.

 

So this would mean our DS (7) ,DD (15) DD(13).

 

I know we can give our teens some freedom on the ship.They can entertain themselves for a while. DS is just 7,so we would have to keep him entertained the whole time.I dont see anytime where we could actually relax and have just "us" time and not worry about everyone being entertained and happy..kwim?

 

So,my question,did you actually have time for yourselves when you took a cruise?(even if it was just 30 minutes-1 hour)

 

We just got back from a five day cruise with our two boys (7 & 6). We kept them with us during the day but they went to camp the last four nights. It worked out great for us. A nice balance of family time and mom/dad time.

 

Even the days were pretty relaxing on Carnival due to the waterslide area and easy eating at the buffets. We could pretty much just lounge around the waterslides while the kids had a blast during the day.

 

The best part was at night though because the kids weren't interested in the main dining room. They'd rather have dinner at camp with their friends anyway. We had from 6pm until midnight to ourselves each night. That's the way the kids wanted it and that is the way we wanted it too. It was perfect.

[Quilcruisers]

I knew before we went that I was going to let my son enjoy the vacation too. For him, that meant going to camp, meeting people, playing games and just doing what he loves to do. My son is very independent and he is an only child so he knows how to entertain himself. He is also very excited to meet other kids and play with them.

 

He was 4 yrs old on his first cruise last year. He is 5 now and points to the pictures of the cruise ships that we have on the wall. He will ask "are we going on that ship?"

 

Anyway, back to your question. A resounding YES!! We went to view the camp as soon as we got on the ship. We wanted to check out the area and see what they had to offer. I got lots of help from this board prior to going so I had an idea what to expect.

 

I had to convince my in-laws that my son would be happy at the kids club and he didnt disappoint. He didnt want to leave the facilities when we went on the tour!!

 

We went to the orientation the first night and then the next day, off to camp he went. We viewed the itinerary for the adults and always kept the kids club itinerary in our plans as well.

 

We took him to the club at various times each day, alternating that with other activities, gameroom, sleep, eating,etc. Some things that helped the most:

 

We brought a portable DVD player and several of his favorite movies. He would lay in his bed and watch movies to unwind. We would sit on the deck and he would watch movies while we read books or listened to music. We would take the DVD player to lunch and let him sit at the table while we hung around after lunch. He does not watch this much TV at home but it kept him interested and allowed him to relax a bit too.

We brought cards and games, coloring books and crayons too so that he could occupy himself.

My son loves animals and of course, we let him bring a bunch of animals with him. He would put them in the cubby at camp.

We took him to dinner with us each night and he was able to sit there during dinner the first couple of nights. The waiters were wonderful with him and he enjoyed placing his "order" every night. After that, we would let him eat with us for appetizers, then take him to the club. This would allow us time to linger over our meal, have drinks and socialize. We would then catch a show,, play bingo or go to the casino. He enjoyed dinner with us but also was anxious to see "his friends".

We took him to babysitting (after 10pm, there is a charge) about 4 nights out of the 7 so that we could do "adult" things--like the deck parties or even just sitting at a table eating pizza and drinking wine. The cost of babysitting for the week was even less than we paid at home for a week of daycare. It would cost about 20.00 to have him stay from 10pm until about 2am when we were winding down anyway.

 

All in all, it was a wonderful week for all of us. We spend a lot of time together as a family at home but we also have our individual time so this was not much different from home.

 

We made sure to tip the counselors at camp too in addition to the fees we paid because they too were instrumental in our whole family having a wonderful, well rounded vacation.

 

When we left the ship, he went with us because I didnt want to leave him there. We had to make sure that we took lots of breaks because it was hot and he got tired of walking. For the most part, we took tours by taxi or went to the beach and played. We chose not to do any long excursions, only half day ones that allowed us flexibility.

 

Of course, we took him to Vegas with us last year too--again, he had a BLAST! We just added some things there to cater to his wants too, small sacrifices.

 

Yes, you can have an adult vacation and let the kids enjoy themselves at the same time.

 

Angela

[Onessa]

In your situation, if you son doesn't want to participate in the kid's programs, you could always pay one/both of your older DDs to take him mini golfing and for icecream for an hour or two, or to dinner one night so that you and your spouse can be assured of some free time.

 

I know it is your DDs vacation too, but what teen couldn't use a few more $$ -- once or twice during the trip won't kill them!:D

[Miss_Mia]

Thanks for your advice.

What Im worried about mostly is DS.He would be going into the camp area alone. He is also on the shy side. If is older sisters would be able to join him in there,then I think he would be ok for a little while.

 

If he is alone and he doesnt like it,he will be with us the whole time.

 

DH really wants some "alone" time for well.....you know. :o

[smoothy]

DH really wants some "alone" time for well.....you know. :o

 

You must know my wife, she says I want alone time for the same reason (beers and NHL playoffs :p)

 

What ship are you on? If you look at cruisinmama06's signature, she has a link to her photobucket page with scans of the daily schedules from some of the different cruise lines. Show those to DS and get him all jazzed up to go

[Miss_Mia]

LOL,Thanks Smoothy! :D

Were going to be on Freedom,(Royal Carribean) for our Family Cruise.

Weve decided to take our "anniversary" cruise after all, this August,then take our "Family cruise" around November.

 

I will check out her link!

Thanks again!

[C. Anne]

We celebrated our 10yr anniversary last year. We took our 4 kiddos on a 12 night RC cruise (we homeschool so that's how we were able to take them along on such a long one). Their ages were 9,9,7,5. We got some time alone anytime they went to the kids clubs. We could've even gotten an in-room sitter or paid to have them stay late at the kids clubs for additional time alone, but we didn't. We thought this was a nice mix to having a family vacation, yet adult time also. :)

 

We are cruising on Carnival in November and are homeschoolers. Did you find that there were adequate enough kids to play with at the camp? Any chance you are going in November?