Best cruise line pricing for couple adding one or two children?

Of ships leaving from USA ports, which cruise lines charge the least for two adults to add one or two children?

depends on the port, time of year & where the ship is going & length of cruise

Check Carnival , RCCL, & NCL to start with

Not only will that vary between cruise lines it can vary within cruise lines based on promo's or other special pricing that may be itinerary or region of cruising based. Not sure of any one cruise line that is consistently the least costly regarding this.

Your best bet IMO would be to determine where you want to cruise and then work with a travel agent on having them look at the various lines to see who has the most favorable pricing at the time for what you are looking for.

If you plan on booking directly the only thing you can do is contact each cruise line or look at their web sites to determine what their pricing is for any given itinerary at the time you are interested in cruising.

Also, take a look at MSC out of Miami. Kids sail free.

Also, take a look at MSC out of Miami. Kids sail free.

Not all kids and not on all sailings. Notice "select sailings" in the following from MSC website.

Starting from Winter 2018:

Children 11 and under at time of sailing cruise free on select sailings. Kids must sail as 3rd/4th guests when sharing a stateroom with 2 full-fare paying adults to qualify to cruise for free. Charges that apply (where applicable) for kids cruise free are taxes and port dues, flights and transfer fees, and add-ons. Kids cruise free offer is subject to availability and must be confirmed at the same time of booking.

*Starting Summer 2018:

Children 11 and under years of age at the time of sailing travelling in a stateroom with two full fare-paying adults do not pay the cruise fare on select sailings; they must still pay taxes and port duties, insurance, flights and transfers (where applicable). This offer is always available for children under 2 years of age; in other cases it is subject to limited availability, which varies according to the departure date, and must be reconfirmed at the time of booking.

Children from 12 - 17 years of age at the time of sailing travelling in a stateroom with two full fare-paying adults do not pay the cruise fare on select sailings in low and mid-season; they may pay the cruise fare in high season. This offer is subject to limited availability and must be reconfirmed at the time of booking. They must still pay taxes and port duties, insurance, flights and transfers (where applicable).

Not all kids and not on all sailings. Notice "select sailings" in the following from MSC website.

 

Starting from Winter 2018:

Children 11 and under at time of sailing cruise free on select sailings. Kids must sail as 3rd/4th guests when sharing a stateroom with 2 full-fare paying adults to qualify to cruise for free. Charges that apply (where applicable) for kids cruise free are taxes and port dues, flights and transfer fees, and add-ons. Kids cruise free offer is subject to availability and must be confirmed at the same time of booking.

 

*Starting Summer 2018:

Children 11 and under years of age at the time of sailing travelling in a stateroom with two full fare-paying adults do not pay the cruise fare on select sailings; they must still pay taxes and port duties, insurance, flights and transfers (where applicable). This offer is always available for children under 2 years of age; in other cases it is subject to limited availability, which varies according to the departure date, and must be reconfirmed at the time of booking.

Children from 12 - 17 years of age at the time of sailing travelling in a stateroom with two full fare-paying adults do not pay the cruise fare on select sailings in low and mid-season; they may pay the cruise fare in high season. This offer is subject to limited availability and must be reconfirmed at the time of booking. They must still pay taxes and port duties, insurance, flights and transfers (where applicable).

I never said ALL sailings. I was referring to the promos that everyone else is mentioning....Plus ALL of the promos for "kids sail free" have the same basic rules that you posted. Taxes, port fees, gratuities...etc...are not included. It is solely the "ticket" which is free. I do however appreciate you trying to call me out. :rolleyes:

We can never catch one of those MSC cruises...

What we do is catch Princess sales for $99 per 3rd and 4th passengers. So far we have only sailed out of FLL.

Royal Caribbean used to be very reasonable years ago and we even got a "kids free" cruise one, but in the last several years the prices even for the 1st and 2nd person are unreasonable, and even higher for the 3rd and 4th.

We can never catch one of those MSC cruises...

 

What we do is catch Princess sales for $99 per 3rd and 4th passengers. So far we have only sailed out of FLL.

 

Royal Caribbean used to be very reasonable years ago and we even got a "kids free" cruise one, but in the last several years the prices even for the 1st and 2nd person are unreasonable, and even higher for the 3rd and 4th.

That is a shame as they have so much to offer:

https://www.msccruisesusa.com/en-us/Discover-MSC/Family-Cruises.aspx

Hopefully one day you will find one that suits your needs. :)

That is a shame as they have so much to offer:

https://www.msccruisesusa.com/en-us/Discover-MSC/Family-Cruises.aspx

Hopefully one day you will find one that suits your needs. :)

every time I try to book one, all the 3 person cabins are sold out. ALL THE TIME.

every time I try to book one, all the 3 person cabins are sold out. ALL THE TIME.

Try booking over the phone next time....you usually have a greater range of cabins to choose from. Have the deck plans in front of you when calling.

Champagne123; I wasn't calling you out; I was trying to provide additional information to the OP rather than have the OP assume that MSC would provide free sailings to their children regardless of sailing. But since you took offense, I'm sorry I gave additional information for those elusive free kids.

every time I try to book one, all the 3 person cabins are sold out. ALL THE TIME.

As previously posted by another, the children's prom's are not on all sailings and maybe you just have been unlucky with that.

More than likely, just because a stateroom can hold 3-4 passengers doesn't mean each stateroom will be available to do so. Total ship capacity driven by lifeboat capacity will determine that mix. In other words, to allow the best options of mix, there are more total beds on a ship than the maximum booking capacity will allow.

So there may not have been any remaining 3-4 capacity staterooms left to book when you've checked.