Kids aged 8 and 11?

I am so close to depositing for Spring Break 2010 on the MSC Poesia Western Carribean sailing. The price with Kids Sail Free is unbeatable - but my concern is the kids. Of course they'll have a ball in the ports and enjoy the pool - but it appears that the kids stuff seems to be really young or teen.

Has anyone sailed with kids aged 8 and 11 and been satisfied? I guess really there is just one day at sea and the rest are in ports, but I still want them to have an enjoyable time without having anything geared towards them. Plus Mom and Dad want to go to the casino! :-)

I appreciate any input!

I am so close to depositing for Spring Break 2010 on the MSC Poesia Western Carribean sailing. The price with Kids Sail Free is unbeatable - but my concern is the kids. Of course they'll have a ball in the ports and enjoy the pool - but it appears that the kids stuff seems to be really young or teen.

 

Has anyone sailed with kids aged 8 and 11 and been satisfied? I guess really there is just one day at sea and the rest are in ports, but I still want them to have an enjoyable time without having anything geared towards them. Plus Mom and Dad want to go to the casino! :-)

 

I appreciate any input!

Our kids are 8 (boy) and 10 (girl) and they had the time of their life on the Orchestra in Jan. (Western Carribean).

Our Review:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=918628&highlight=

Link to pics and daily programs:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=919366&highlight=

we're sailing with son, nearly 8, and daughter, 11, in two weeks, for two weeks aboard Orchestra. we are sailing again for two weeks over holidays in December on Poesia, and probably, again in March '10. we did it last year for two weeks on Costa Med, and before that on Magica. Best holidays ever. What are you worried about?

What are you worried about?

Just the fact that I've heard such negative reviews. But after reading the more recent reviews and going over the itinerary and price again - I just can't beat it. And if the cruise is bad....at least I'm in the Carribean and not at home!

But seriously...we have very open minds and just want to have a great time with our family and enjoy the trip.

Our kids were the same age when we booked a trip two years ago on MSC Opera. MSC hadn't been in the US long yet and the few postings about them were terrible...particularly about kids and kids programs and much ado about the "rude" Europeans. As my husband is European, although raised in the US for the most part, he whole heartedly agreed that they do have different standards as to their social manners. Still for the price of the vacation I figured the kids and I could elbow our way through the buffet lines if need be...it helps that husband is 6'7 so we just kept him nearby for the "butting in liners". It was an 11 day cruise going to some pretty spectacular ports and was one of the most exciting and fun trips we have taken as a family and we do travel everywhere with kids in tow. My kids participated in the kids club throughout the trip and had a great time...in fact, the leaders in the kids programs were also part of the evening entertainment and while on stage if any of the kids were in the front row the entertainers always had a wink and big smile to aknowledge them. As well, for the for the first time, they were given "space" to venture on their own while at sea checking in with us every hour or so and this was very exciting for them. They met children from all over the world some of which didn't even speak English...but children have a universal language all of their own. It was such a delight to see them all interacting with no pre-conceived prejudices or cliques forming. As much as my husband and I enjoyed the trip - the kids enjoyed it so much more. While they were out and about with their friends my husband and I did get a kick out of people watching on the ship. You gotta love the fact that Europeans have no body image issues as so many of us Americans do. We still have funny stories (and some pictures) of our fellow cruisers. And for all the complaints about the European travelers behavior back then - sounds like the ridiculous behavior of the all American Superbowl cruisers earlier this year far surpasses anything we could complain about before. Just reading the posts made me cringe and thank gawd we weren't on that cruise --- how mad would I have been to run out of beer...what kinda shoddy cruise line is MSC???!!!!:rolleyes:

The food is fine. I'll admit my two aren't particularly picky eaters and in fact my son who was 8 at the time decided that he would order one weird item that he's never had before at each dinner. Some things he loved - some not so much. On the bad choice nights he tried it and then simply ordered something that he knew he liked and they happily accomodated him with a new item. When all else failed - the spaghetti bolegnese(sp) is spectaclar and the pizza too! Would I say it's the best food I've ever experienced...no but I wouldn't expect that. For us, the food is not what the vacation is all about. It's the family experience and getting to go to such beautiful places! I honestly can't remember being overly disgusted about any food as some posters have expressed. The fresh fruit is always good and makes a great snack. I will say that after 11 days I was ready to actually have something different but I would feel that way eating at even a 5* restuarant for 11 days 3x's a day!

Now my posted response may have been better after our upcoming trip on the Orchestra on March 14th - but I doubt our opinions will change that drastically. The kids are now 10 and 12 and are so very excited about our Spring Break Trip. We know that there's probably going to be even more kids and probably not quite so many children from other parts of the world but I have no doubt that the kids on board will all connect and as kids do "become fast friends".

We've already booked for Christmas '09 as we had to cancel our planned trip this last Christmas due to scheduling conflicts...and I imagine as soon as the kids' '10 Spring break schedule is posted we will be again going on MSC somewhere. Actually, my husband and I would really like to take them on one of the Mediterrainen cruises on MSC! So don't over think it - and be open-minded about MSC and if you go I truly believe you will have a wonderful family vacation. One last thing - when you look at the negative postings it seems that most of them are from people that don't have kids and truthfully, if it was just my husband and me going I probably wouldn't make MSC my first choice but the cruisers with kids that have come back and posted all seemed to have a great time and you just can't beat the value. That's what MSC's target audiences are - families!

Okay - sorry can't spell check - Verizon Vios guy is here and is saying he has to shut down internet....so posting! Bye

Thank you so much for your response. I truly appreciate it. I imagine that the passengers will be more US than European on our sailing as it is Western Carribean ... but I hope my kids will get a little culture as well!

For grins and giggles, I went online and priced out different cruise lines and this sailing is $1000 cheaper with the kids sail free program. It just can't get much better than that!

Thank you so much for your response. I truly appreciate it. I imagine that the passengers will be more US than European on our sailing as it is Western Carribean ... but I hope my kids will get a little culture as well!

Actually, there is a post this morning from someone that broke down the passenger ratio - Sounds like the Europeans still are the majority on the ship...specifically Italians. But as I said previously - for us, this was a great part of our vacation.

Actually, there is a post this morning from someone that broke down the passenger ratio - Sounds like the Europeans still are the majority on the ship...specifically Italians. But as I said previously - for us, this was a great part of our vacation.

I saw that and was pleasantly surprised. After living all over the world growing up -- I agree this is a big bonus!