Onessa

At 13YO, your DS will likely befriend other kids his age. They will "hang" together. They may choose to want to go to some of the shows together. It is really your choice and your judgement if there are specifc shows you want to tell him that he may not go. As others have indicated there is likelyl nothing that will come up in the L&M show that he has not already heard.

There is a kids menu with the "usual suspects" of menu choices.

 

There is also always the nightly option of the plain chicken breast, you can always get some sort of plain pasta, and there is always a wide variety of steamed vegatables that you can always request ala carte.

Save your first Allure cruise for a cruise where you are willing to have the ship be your destination.

 

Following that logic...no one should book the new (almost as large as Allure and with all sorts of new toys onboard) Quantum class ships for any itineraries that include multiple/new ports...which will be most of them. Makes no sense.

 

We did Alaska on Radiance recently....with 5 stops...and still enjoyed the ship despite "multiple port excursions"...then on Indy just 6 weeks earlier...only 3 stops...still enjoyed both the ports and the ship...same holds true for every cruise ever taken.

 

These are cruises with excursions...not excursions and just "briefly hopping around on a ship in between".

 

A cruise experience is both the ship and any destination ports.

Your AK cruise experience underscores how smaller ships and port intenstive cruises go so well together. We've had the same experience - the Radiance and AK really are perfect together. We've done Spleandour and Brilliance in the Med and Baltic. There were very little on-board days, so we were able to enjoy the on-board amenities on not feel that we had "missed" anything on-board when we chose to spend every available moment in Stockholm or Athens or whereever.

 

When booking a cruise where the at-sea days are more numerous and when the ports are a bit more "relaxing" and less hectic; book the larger ships with the fuller complement of on-board activities.

 

And again for Med cruises, many of the ports themselves do lend themselves better to some of the smaller ships. Voyeguer even was a bit "big" in some ports (Mykonos springs to mind - we were there on three separate cruises - Voyeguer, Splendour and Solctice. Splenour and Voyeguer were were the only ship in port and on the Voyeguer cruise the town was a bit more crowded and several people were unable to book tours to Delios. Solctice were were there with another ship in port and it was kind of crazy)

 

Bigger ships have their place, but since the OP was looking for advice as to what factors should they consider in booking their first Med cruise, I really can only reiterate my experience -- in the Med, with the smaller ports, and with ports where you may need to travel an hour or more to many of the 'sights', where the itinerary has you getting into port at 6:00am and leaving at 6:00pm, my better cruise experience was on smaller ships.

I am of a similar point-of-view of RebeccaLouiseAgain, just because a line does not actively market to younger passendgers, does not mean that children are not allowed. Unless a line has a stated age restriction, children are allowed.

 

When I was a child, cruise lines had no childrens' programs, no buffets, no childrens' menus, but the $$ that my parents paid for passage for my sister and me, was welcomed as were we. In many cases we were among the only or very few children (and in one case my parents were considered "young" since the other cruisers were pretty much 15-20years their senior :))

 

Prior to starting our family, my DH and I often cruised. The mere presence of children did not impinge in any way upon our enjoyment of our vacation. Many of the cruises we took were primarily marketed to "mature" cruisers, so perhaps we were not welcome? (for we were at least young at heart :D).

 

Not all children enjoy all of the "hustle" of the current overly large, overly commercialized cruise ships. Many children have wide tastes and do not require a kid's menu. Many families are perfectly capable of enjoying each other's company and do not need special programs or activities, to have a great time.

 

These lines may not be the right choice for every family, but these same cruiselines may not be the right choice for everyone. I know many adults who would be "bored" on board these "mature" cruises. I know many adult cruisers who prefer pizza from the buffet or just the "plain chicken breast" on the menu to the nightly fare in the MDR.

 

We cruise primarily for the ports and have always been perfectly capable of keeping ourselves (including our kid) perfectly entertained, perfectly fed, etc. No matter what the line, the staff and our fellow passengers have treated us well and in most cases we have developed warm relationships.

 

Go ahead and pre-judge the family on your next cruise. Be openly rude to them, so that they may know to avoid you. It will likely be your loss, since many of the familes that choose these types of cruises are pretty wonderful people.

. . .I have a real bug bear about children watching films or playing on games in the MDR which is very rare on Celebrity. I would much rather talk to my children!!! We go on family holidays to enjoy each other's company. I see a video screen for a child in a restaurant in the same way as a dummy (soother) for a toddler. . .

BTW, while I agree with you with the video games or movies in the MDR, I recognize that some kids just are not ready or whatever for the full MDR experience. We had a family at our table on one cruise where the younger (12YO) son was fine -- sometimes we all really "worked" to include him but it was a great experience for everyone. But the older one was completely unreachable (like some 15YOs get) having him glued to his DS-whatever throughout the meal was preferable to the heavy sighs, rolling of eyes, etc. that occurred when his parents asked him to interact. I'm sure he'll grow out of it :D

Depends upon your kid. My DD (now 18YO :eek:) has never liked amusement park type rides and has always thought that people dressed up like cartoon characters were "creepy". So she prefers the Hot Glass show on the Celebrity Solstice to a flow rider or zip line. Other kids really get into the fancy rides.

 

The kids clubs for the little ones are pretty similar. And if your kid likes participating in group activities, they will love just about any of the kid's programs. If they don't enjoy those types of group activities they will not like or dislike Fun Factory any more or less than Adventure Ocean or whatever.

 

What is your kid like if you go to a special prgram at the kids museum or what are they like on field trips or scouts. If your kid is the one refusing to participate or complaining they are bored at those events, they will not enjoy the kids' programs on board. And you will be responsible for entertaining them (by either booking a cruse with lots to do or by some other means.

 

For the older tweens and teens it is similar - if they live for video games, find a cruise with good video games, if they need skating or flow riding or whatever to keep them entertained, go with a ship that will offer that. If they are "social" it is much more about who they meet and hang with than the teen/kids programs so look for a cruise that is likely to have more kids their age on it.

 

Celebrity might work out really well for your family or it may be a complete bust! On the cruise when my DD turned 16YO we were in the Baltic - she met some kids from Portugal and Spain that she hung out with, there was great shopping in most of the ports (Copenhagen had a Top Shop and ModCloth), and all of the ports were places she had just studied about in European History. She was thrilled - did the lack of a ice skating rink bother her - not one bit!:)

Yup, my kid would sleep where ever, when ever, what ever. Even when she was 4 or 5 YO. she'd sleep in the frontpack when she was little, the back pack as she got older, and/or in the stroller. Bright, dark. loud, queit, smooth, bumpy - she'd sleep when she was ready to sleep! :D

 

So I never thought too much about it! Just make certain we had food at her eating times, and she could sleep.

 

You know what your kid needs, you need to plan accordingly

I hope I never want to go on a child free vacation. I was on Oceania and it was nice to see two happy well-behaved kids on board.

There's a big difference between two well-behaved kids and 500 teenagers. Even 500 well-behaved teenagers tend to be noisy and fill the pools.

Recently back from a land trip to a US located 4-dimond resort. There were 175 teens (from 14YO-18YO) staying there for a leadership conference. Not any noisier than most of the other guests. Pool and other common areas not any more crowded on the days when they were there vs the days they were not. They were "replaced" by a group of about 30 Korean War Navy vets and spouses. I'd prefer the 175 teens to the 60 older folks - bars were crowded, the vets were loud, and there were two of them who seemed to feel that they should be able to smoke anywhere on the grounds rather than the designated spots (including blocking doors, and directly below our balconey). Not all of these "older" guests were load and/or obnoxious, but it just goes to show that painting all of any group as "good" or "bad" is simply not accurate.

 

. . . .All I can say is that if I am sailing in a ship that actively discourages people from bringing along children, I won't be rude to you, but I will be quite cool, and do not expect to sit at my table during meals with your children. You are simply not welcome. . . .I don't hate kids, however I have a big beef with selfish parents who can't read between the lines and insist on imposing them where they are not welcome.

wow. Now that my kid is grown up, I'm tempted to rent a kid to bring with me so that I might recognize you by your "coolness" so that I can avoid you. With an attitude like yours, I sure you believe that their other groups who should be reading "between the lines" and know that you don't think that they belong there either.

DD is now 18YO but she's cruised with us all of her life. We typically cruise "off season", have cruised multiple lines, but have never cruised the Caribbean.

 

Celebrity has a solid children's program with good hours and great counselors. It does not have a lot of the "whiz bang" attractions that the mega-ships have, but not all kids like those things! Since you had sailed on a somewhat smaller RCCI ship, the comparison as to "whiz bang" attractions should be somewhat similar.

 

So if your kids are looking for high energy distractions, they may be disappointed. But if they like the kids programs, you'll find Fun Factory fairly similar to other lines.

A pre-made commercial shandy or just ask for one when you order? Any good bartender can mix you a shandy. Just be clear what you want.

It isn't how well behaved they are to me. Some adults on cruises are much worse than kids. It is just that feeling like your going to a bar and don't want to be drinking around kids. Not the influence I want to have on the young but I'm on vacation and I'm gonna have several drinks. Nothing against minors I just think for those few hours it is an adult activity environment. I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks that way but I know others disagree. I'll be get my drinks there kids or not however.

If you are a responsible drinker the influence you have on any young people around you is a positive one. When all a child sees throughout their lives are people over-indulging on TV and in movies (Toga, Toga, Toga!) then they turn legal drinking age and think that drinking is all about getting wasted. Seeing 95% of the patrons enjoying one or two adult beverages responsibly is a good thing -- and even seeing how stupid the other 5% look and act can be a good thing.

 

Much of the reason there is so much of a drinking problem among teens and pre-teens is that we make it look "cool" by making it so taboo.

If X really wants to re-capture the excursion market, they must revamp their product to something that the pax want to take.

1. smaller group sizes. I do not want to be herded onto a coach bus with 50-60 other pax.
   
2. thoughtful planning. At the very least, when my coach bus with 50-60 pax drops me off at the Acropolis, I don't need to see 8 other coach buses with 50-60 pax each pulling into the parking lot at the same time!
   
3. competitive prices. Is there a benefit to boarding the train at the dock rather than walking 1/2 mile into town and boarding at the station - yes at small benefit. But is that benefit and a luke-warm bottle of water worth $65 pp more ($45 pp more for children). No! And since it was a train, the three cars in the back where the excursion were seated got "there" and "back" at the same time.
   
4. no forced shopping stops. If I take the ship's Florence-on-your-own I do not want to be held hostage in a leather shop 10 miles from city center for 45-minutes. I want to spend that 45-minutes in Florence. And don't give me a hard time if I choose to walk back to the ship rather than be forced to cool my heels inside Hilo Hatti's when I can see the ship from your forced shopping stop. Warn me if the traffic is bad or "you can't get there from here" but don't tell me we can't because we can.
   
5. some excursions should be not so "cookie cutter". My DH and DD are Orthodox Christians and are of Slavic heritage - so we are interested in the Orthodox Churches and Catherdals in our Baltic cruise's ports. So in Helsinki none of the organized excursions included the Orthodox Cathedral -- why not? "oh, we visit several churches in St. Petersburg" Are any Orthodox - I knew the answer, but the excursions desk did not know what Orthodox meant. They named the churches but had no idea what denomination they were.
   

If it is simple transportation from the dock to a city's center, I'll buy it -- anything else, based upon my very bad experiences, I'll do my own. If I want to do my own with someone we met on our roll call, I'll do my own with someone we met on our roll call.

Weirdest flight I took was SF to MSP to ATW to GRB. SanFran to Minneapolis made sense. ATW is Appleton, Wisconsin. GRB is Green Bay, Wisconsin -- you can literally drive from the airport in Appleton to Austin Straubel in GB in about 30 minutes or less (34 miles by land, less than 30 as the crow flies).

 

You are on the ground for more time and probably even physical distance than you are in the air. It used to be a regularly scheduled flight between ATW and GRB -- needless to say it was done away with years ago. But I had flown out of GRB so my car was there and this was my best option for a flight back after my original return flight had been cancelled.

Sorry, I don't care much about liquor -- but what I come home with is European Nutella. No made with "skim milk", etc. -- in Europe Nutella is a treat and does not pretend to be good for you :D

 

We also end up bringing home some of the Kinder Surprise eggs for the kids -- they are a plastic capsule containing a little toy inside a chocolate egg "shell". The toys are generally a tiny "build it yourself" kit and most are pretty cool. While you can get most Kinder products at specalty shops in the US, the US FDA "outlawed" them years back as a potential choking hazzard. They are widely available in Canada.

Our first cruise was on a very very old liner that had no options other than MDR. We were at a 6-top, with an elderly gentleman and his very "nebbish" nephew. DH and me, and then two young ladies in their early twenties who by all apperances all cruise were there to meet guys (this was a late-May Alaskan cruise in the late 1980s -- I think they chose cruises and cruiselines very badly :D). Needless to say, we were not exciting enough for them and they ended up requesting another table just about every evening of the cruise. That was the only time that we were "dumped" by dining companions!

 

On our first "modern" cruise, my DH and I (and by exension our DD) intended to avoid the MDR at all costs -- it was a three day "trial" cruise to see if DD was a cruiser. We had been assigned to a 4-top (alone) so DH informed the matre'de and that was that. We had the same intention on our next cruise but had been assigned a 10-top -- our family; another family of three; and a mother, grandmother, daughter and the DD's friend. We went the first night just to make our apologies - but the group and the waitstaff were so much fun, that we went every night and since then we have been hooked.

 

We request large tables and have met some really great people -- some very memorable, others just meh, only one set of "duds" among them: a middle-aged couple from Texas who only wanted to impress everyone else -- but even then we were on a six top DH, DD, me, a single female in her 30s, and this other couple. The four of us "clicked" and so we did not much mind the other two -- and once they realized none of us were impressed that they had flown first class and did not care what kind of car they drove, etc. -- they decided to do some of the specialty dining and we did not miss them a bit.

We've done several AK cruises - all either NB or RT. Two RCCI, one HAL, one Princess, one NCL, and two with two different lines that are no longer in operation.

 

My favorite was RCCI on Radiance of the Seas. That ship (Radiance-class) is designed for the inside passage! There is so much to see and Radiance has the glass through which to view it.

 

The Glacier Bay vs Hubbard Glacier debate will rage forever. Hubbard is HUGE, Glacier Bay is several glaciers. Eitherway it is a lot of gorgeous scenary! :)

 

I would book primarily based upon itinerary (that is where RCCI tends to be at a disadvantage, it that it does not cruise to my favorite port - Sitka). And then by size of ship (bigger is not always better).

 

For itinerary check ports and time in ports. If you can hit one or more of the lesser-visited ports (like Sitka or Petersburg or Wrangall or the like) put that up a bit higher on your list. Ketchikan, Skagway and even Junuea are getting way too touristy. I prefer NB over RT, and cannot imagine a SB - but that is me. The inside passage just seems to get more and more enchanting and beautiful as you head north. See if you can get a cruise that is scheduled to dock at most ports (tendering just wastes time)

 

I'd stay clear of the megaships. On RCCI for example, I'd go no larger than Radiance class!

 

But all likes do a great job in AK.

If DD "likes" riding in a stroller (ours always did), bringing a small easily collapsable umbrella type stroller is a great idea.

 

Be certain to invest in one that is comfortable to push (I test drove models at the local Burlington Coat factory with a huge heavy mixer as the "passenger" and just pushed them around and around -- for me most were too short. The tie breaker was ease of open/close - and particularly how easily it stayed closed). Price is another factor since it is likely to get some rough treatment if it needs to get checked for a flight.

Well we took a vote and the Fjord cruise lost and the Baltic cruise won.

My older kids want to see cities and not nature:p.

They said if they want nature they will go outside:cool:

 

So any suggestions on a Baltic cruise?

Thanks

Janelle

Yup, Wisconsin's got plenty of outside and nature so they should not go wanting!

 

Copenhagen - Tivoli Gardens (amusement park in the middle of the city), shopping (if any of the teens are girls), changing of the guards.

Stockholm - old city (Nobel museum is interesting, my DD had just finished AP Euro History and was fascinated by ALL of the historical stuff). The Vasu (well preserved remains of an old ship) was very cool. Helskinki we just did the "walking around", ate some of Rudolph (reindeer meat) -- can't help much there. St. Petersburg we did a 2-day private tour with a small group we had pulled together from our roll-call. No other teens or kids, but she really liked Peterhof, Catherinhof and the Hermitage. A boat tour of the canals is interesting. There are lots of churches, but the kids would probably like the church of the spilt blood with is the traditional Russian Orthodox church with the colorful onion domes. Be sure to do a subway ride - it is a lesson in Soviet society. In Estonia, Tallin's old town is a great place to explore, the little ones will find spaces to run and play and the older ones can poke and prod.

 

All of the city areas have grassy park type areas for some running around. If you are doing two days in Petersburg, you may want to have the littlest ones stay on-board for the first day. And Petersburg is where you want to spring for a small-group tour or private tour.

If they are teens they are old enough to police themselves (I just got back from chaperone duty for my DD's last band trip - I had two groups of four kids each on a seven day trip).

 

Keep an eye on it, but just remind them of the good stuff that others have mentioned in this thread (the room steward needs to be able to do his job, etc.). And if just one or two of the kids are causing the problem, get down on them (don't lump all the kids together).

 

Make them budget and be responsible for the room steward gratuity.

DD (now 18YO) has had issues with very winding roads and small boats her whole life. No problem on ships. Everyone is different and kids of all ages (even infants) can suffer from some sort of motion sickness problem.

 

I would definately be prepared with either an OTC appropriate for kids or talk to their pediatrian for a script. If they/you want to have them try without, I'd take the drugs with and also bring some candied ginger or other homeopath that the can use if they are having minor problems or, if they have major problems, that they can take to help them fell a bit better until the drug kicks in.

Why are you concerned?

 

Is it that you believe that the smaller ship will have more movement and that you will be more prone to motion sickness? At the size of the passenger cruise ships used by the bigger lines, there will be very little difference in the movement that you will feel. But, as other suggested, use your "favorite" preventive remedy.

 

Are you concerned with crowding? With a smaller ship, there are a proportionately smaller number of pax. In port, if you and maybe one other similar sized ship is in port, there will likely be fewer pax than if there were just one of the mega-ships.

 

Are you concerned with on-board activities? The Radiance-class does not really have the "whiz bang" activities that the larger class ships have. No flow rider, no ice skating, no zip lines. So if you participate in these types of activities, you may find the Brillance lacking. Similarly the number of specialty resturants will also be fewer.

 

Radiance-class ships are beautifully designed and a wonderful way to cruise. I personally enjoy sailing on smaller ships.

For Med cruises, smaller ships and a May or September sailing date, is ideal.

1) Med cruises are very port intensive. You will have less time than most cruises to enjoy the amenities on board the ship.

2) Many ports are relatively small and the fewer cruise pax in port the better your experience.

3) Most of the ports are too small to allow the very large ships to dock, so you will be required to tender. And some ports (like Santorini) have infrastructure where the tenders dock which would make handling one-ship with 6000 pax pretty much impossible. So your cruises itinerary could be limited by such issues rather than those ports that are most desirable.

 

Take a Med cruise on a smaller ship (Radiance class or less, we did one Voyeger class Med cruise and it was really less than optimal). Save your first Allure cruise for a cruise where you are willing to have the ship be your destination.

DD is lacto-ova but no fish or seafood. She generally has no trouble ordering off the menu -- nice selection of risottos and pasta dishes, which even if they normally "come" with meat, can be served without it. Sometime she will do multiple appitizers/salads/soups rather than an entre'. No problems at all in the buffet areas either. On one cruise our Indian head waiter "adopted" her and brought her vegetarian curries that he and/or one of the chefs were making especially for her ("try this, it is my grandmother's recipe")

I agree with Mia - the Med is very, very warm in summer. Baltic and/or fjords are both great. Baltic itineraries ports may appeal a bit more to your older kids if they are in to history

A little personal "chit-chat" is not a turn off. Since these are people with whom I will be neighbors with for a week or two, having some personal background can be useful. It can also help me decide whether an excursion being planned may be one in which I may be interested. But I do make a concerted attempt to keep any of my part in these sub-conversations brief and meaningful.

 

What bothers me is those rollcalls where anyone is left to feel unwelcome. If someone indicates that "he and his partner" are going to be on the cruise and the partner is evidently of the same sex as he is -- I have seen the folks who are normally quick to reply with a "welcome", silenced. Worse I've seen outright hostility - when a rollcall poster asked if any other kids would be on board - the poster received an earful (eyeful?) from one member who made it clear that he did not believe children should be allowed on-board. Those kinds of hostility toward other members can damper a roll call.