kids cruise free promotions -- which lines?

I've seen "kids cruise free" promotions on NCL. They also charge only around $200+taxes for infants (<2 years-old). I saw Disney had free kids fares on specific itineraries. HAL often has 3rd/4th passenger travels free promotions for certain routes/dates.

What about other cruise lines? Do Celebrity or Princess ever do these sorts of promotions?

Cunard, Costa, MSC. EM

Celebrity and Princess, no, never that I have seen.

I thought MSC always had kids sail free, but I have recently noticed some sailings that were offered with kids @ $99 each. Still a great deal!! :)

Cunard, Costa, MSC. EM

I am not sure how kid frendly thay are

HAL frequently has deals on certain cruises/sailings for the 3rd & 4th passengers in a cabin (essentially the same as a "kids sail free" promotions on other lines). We booked our kids on a January Eastern Caribbean for $99 + taxes/fees. Not too bad. Other sailings might have been free, but they were not at times we could go. The advertised prices were $0, $99 & $199 depending on the cruise for specific dates.

We're trying out MSC this fall--I'll let everyone here know what the kids thought. On the down side, with 3 kids we need two cabins, so only one child is free. :rolleyes:

I just checked out the MSC Peoria and it looks great. There is more than enough to keep the young ones happy. I am looking for something next April so this could be a good fit!

We're trying out MSC this fall--I'll let everyone here know what the kids thought. On the down side, with 3 kids we need two cabins, so only one child is free. :rolleyes:

We have the same problem. SO annoying. We usually can't go unless the grandparents are coming along for that reason. We stick one of the kids in with them. ;)

We have the same problem. SO annoying. We usually can't go unless the grandparents are coming along for that reason. We stick one of the kids in with them. ;)

That's a great way to do it. My mother-in-law would love to come...unfortunately we'd have to pay for her as well...and she'd want her own cabin so she didn't have to "worry about disturbing anyone with her snoring"...we just can't afford that kind of help! :rolleyes:

That's a great way to do it. My mother-in-law would love to come...unfortunately we'd have to pay for her as well...and she'd want her own cabin so she didn't have to "worry about disturbing anyone with her snoring"...we just can't afford that kind of help! :rolleyes:

lol ... we are taking mother-in-law this time because my 10 year old cant put up with dads snoring. She cant go in a cabin of her own so grandma will keep her company. So eventhough kids sail free (only pay port charges) on MSC its only when they are in the same cabin as two paying adults.

We've looked for kids cruise free promotions, too, but we never seem to find them. We've gotten some pretty good rates on RCCL and Celebrity, but definitely not free. We're currently planning cruises with a child and an infant, and while we haven't found free, the best rates we've seen for the routes we're interested in are currently at HAL. (We're trying out Disney next year, too, but the kids aren't cheap, much less free!)

We booked a family cruise in January 2010 (on Crown Princess) and I had to pay almost the full adult fare for 2 little grandchildren (aged 3 and 5) who shared a mini suite with their parents. So we paid for two minisuites so we could be side by side but the cost for the one with 4 was really high! Plus we had to pay $11 pp per day for everyone (ie 6 people) even though the kids really didn't use many of the facilities on board ( no shows, no swimming etc etc.). However they did use the kids centre and I paid the staff extra.

All in all although it was a good experience I thought some concession should have been made because the little ones (who ate very little) were sharing with their parents.

I am thinking of doing something similar but this time I would like a deal for the grandchildren. Does anyone have any recommendations for December 2011 or January 2012?

We booked a family cruise in January 2010 (on Crown Princess) and I had to pay almost the full adult fare for 2 little grandchildren (aged 3 and 5) who shared a mini suite with their parents. So we paid for two minisuites so we could be side by side but the cost for the one with 4 was really high! Plus we had to pay $11 pp per day for everyone (ie 6 people) even though the kids really didn't use many of the facilities on board ( no shows, no swimming etc etc.). However they did use the kids centre and I paid the staff extra.

All in all although it was a good experience I thought some concession should have been made because the little ones (who ate very little) were sharing with their parents.

I am thinking of doing something similar but this time I would like a deal for the grandchildren. Does anyone have any recommendations for December 2011 or January 2012?

HAL has 3rd/4th guest free promotions for Dec 2011 and maybe even Jan 2012.

HAL has 3rd/4th guest free promotions for Dec 2011 and maybe even Jan 2012.

Ours is mid-January, 2012. Kids were $99 + tax/fees. My daughter is in a deluxe verandah suite with my parents (we are in the poor man's cabin inside!) and she was still only $99. Wish I could sail with her instead of the husband and the other kids. :p

Ours is mid-January, 2012. Kids were $99 + tax/fees. My daughter is in a deluxe verandah suite with my parents (we are in the poor man's cabin inside!) and she was still only $99. Wish I could sail with her instead of the husband and the other kids. :p

Ours is 1st week of January when kids are still out of school. We paid $0 for 3rd/4th pax when we booked it but now they're charging $199pp for the same.

Has anyone taken children 4,5,7 to Alaska? Which ship. I have five grandchildren and need to find a cruise ship that will occupy them. Any suggestions? Any tours that they are capable of doing?

Thanks,

Sherry

Ours is 1st week of January when kids are still out of school. We paid $0 for 3rd/4th pax when we booked it but now they're charging $199pp for the same.

They must have a limited number they'll do for $0 then they go to $99, then $199, etc. We looked at the sailing that left the 7th of January and that was $199. Same cruise a week later was $99, so we went with that one (over MLK week, too, so the kids only miss 3 days).

Unfortunately my kids start school again January 2nd, so there were no January dates when they were still on Christmas vacation. Ugh.

Has anyone taken children 4,5,7 to Alaska? Which ship. I have five grandchildren and need to find a cruise ship that will occupy them. Any suggestions? Any tours that they are capable of doing?

Thanks,

Sherry

the major lines have kids' programs of varying likeability. we were on the Norwegian Star which has 5- and 6-person cabins, the kids liked their program a lot.

on our recent cruise, we saw Princess, Celebrity and Norwegian cruise lines in port; each of those lines contracts with local firms for tours. many tours have age/weight/height limits, most ports also have "family friendly" tours. we took our 5-year-old and his 9-year-old sisters to see a glacier, there were a lot of kids on the boat but it seemed like the most simple things interested them more, such as the piece of an ice floe that the crew pulled up on deck. also, in two ports we skipped tours and went to city parks, these were a big hit, plus two ports that had quality toy stores, each child had a little "allowance" for the cruise and spending this was alot of fun for them. I took them to several museums which they tolerated, some have more kid-friendly exhibits than others.

Has anyone taken children 4,5,7 to Alaska? Which ship. I have five grandchildren and need to find a cruise ship that will occupy them. Any suggestions? Any tours that they are capable of doing?

Thanks,

Sherry

the major lines have kids' programs of varying likeability. we were on the Norwegian Star which has 5- and 6-person cabins, the kids liked their program a lot.

on our recent cruise, we saw Princess, Celebrity and Norwegian cruise lines in port; each of those lines contracts with local firms for tours. many tours have age/weight/height limits, most ports also have "family friendly" tours. we took our 5-year-old and his 9-year-old sisters to see a glacier, there were a lot of kids on the boat but it seemed like the most simple things interested them more, such as the piece of an ice floe that the crew pulled up on deck. also, in two ports we skipped tours and went to city parks, these were a big hit, plus two ports that had quality toy stores, each child had a little "allowance" for the cruise and spending this was alot of fun for them. I took them to several museums which they tolerated, some have more kid-friendly exhibits than others.