No clue what to choose for family cruise

[mom2two2]

I will say I am sorry for rambling in advance.

 

A little background...DH and I have sailed twice with RCL...once 10 years ago and again this past January. We are wanting to take the kids (11 and 8) this coming winter (maybe Feb) and are starting the research. I am just SO overwhelmed!

 

We thought originally that we would try Carnival as it seems to be a fun line and I think the kids would feel welcome. Price is also right, I admit. We have looked at itineraries out of FL and now San Juan as well. There is not a lot of choice out of San Juan so on a whim I checked RCL. Out of FL does not work for us as far as ships/itinerary goes but there are a lot out of San Juan that interest me.

 

So it comes down to (I think) these choices - Carnival Victory out of San Juan (7 Day no Sea Days but we will stay onboard at one port to "make" a sea day)....Carnival Liberty out of Miami, (7 Day w/ 2 Sea Days)....RCL's Serenade of The Seas out of San Juan (6 Day 1 Sea Day) or last but not least....Adventure of the Seas out of San Juan (7 Night w 2 Sea Days).

 

I know, just PICK already...lol.

 

I am looking for opinions from anyone who may have sailed these ships with kids. We are not ones to put the kids in Camp so there need to be family friendly things to do on board. We also really wanted a balcony again (spoiled rotten last time!) but if we do AOS we will take an Oceanview because I just cannot make myself pay the almost $1000 difference between this one and the sailing on the Victory.

 

Can anyone help?

[cb at sea]

Go for the Carnival cruise....it is a better price, and both lines are more similar than different! You can do alot with that $1000! And, you'll still get the balcony!

There are plenty of things to do, and don't discount the kid's club...they may love it! It's their vacation, too! They don't have to stay all day, they can go to whichever activity suits them. But, there will be things for all of you to do together!

[4xcruisers]

I second the vote for the carnival one. My extended family did this one last summer and all enjoyed it so much we are booked on Carnival Legend for this summer. We are me, my dh, ds and dd, plus my fil, mil and bil. Our kids are now 8 and 11. Victory is a very port intensive cruise, and you have the right idea just stay on the ship one port if you feel it necessary.

We had some ports where we had things scheduled and other ones where we just went with the flow and did whatever.

My dh and myself have also done RCCL Adventure out of SJ, and thoroughly enjoyed this cruise as well, the kids did not come then as they were considerably younger so no feedback on kids for this one.

 

I also agree don't write off the kids program. Our dd meet a friend on the cruise last year that she still corresponds with via email on a fairly regular basis. Our ds who is reluctant to meet new people and try new things even thoroughly enjoyed camp carnival. Not quite as much as the almost 24 hour availability of hamburgers and french fries though hehe. Let them try camp once if they don't like it they don't have to go back. One thing both my kids loved was one night (for an extra fee) they did laser tag in one of the theaters. They had a blast.

[MamaParrotHead]

I have Liberty booked for January, so I'm admittedly biased, LOL. But I can tell you that I cruised with my kids last time when they were 6 and 10 and there's no way I'd do less than 2 sea days. I've sailed ships in both the Liberty and Victory classes and I prefer Conquest class/Liberty.

[youngestof9]

I just wanted to add that before you actually book - price out the airfare. I had to change from Adventure of the Seas out of San Juan to something out of the US (ended up in Miami) because of airfare price (I chose Norwegian Epic). I couldn't justify spending $700+ per person on airfare to San Juan (last I checked it was still in the $600s per ticket) when I could get $250 each to Miami).

 

I did however originally select Adventure of the Seas over Serenade (which I did in 1/09 and LOVED) because it had a few more offerings for the kids than Serenade did.

[mom2two2]

Thank you SO much for all of this feedback, these are the things I need to hear to help clear my head...lol.

 

We, too, were originally set on sailing out of FL as both times we have before and like it. We also are of the thinking that the airfare to San Juan is going to take a big chunk of change...

 

Right now I think as much as I would love to do Adventure out of San Juan, I think we are leaning towards Liberty. DH badly wants that balcony and I have to admit that we really loved having one last time.

[khm1]

I vote for Adventure or Serenade. I have done both with kids. The kids liked the Adventure the best. DH and I liked Serenade more (beautiful ship). As a matter of fact, we are booked for 1-15-11 on the Serenade with our 3 kids. The cruise fare for 2 connecting E-2 cabins came to around $700 per person. I got a great deal on airfare from BWI for $290 per person. PP is right, you should check airfare before choosing SJ. That being said, I absolutely LOVE cruising out of SJ! I have done it 4 times now. When you get to San Juan, it is always warm. Sometimes even Miami can be cold in the winter. I love the itineraries of the southern Caribbean. The islands that you get to see are so much nicer IMO. If you can swing it, go for the SJ itinerary. I definately vote for RCCL over Carnival. I haven't sailed Carnival, but I know a lot of people who have sailed both, and they mostly prefer RCCL. I went with DH last Nov for an adults-only cruise on Caribbean Princess out of San Juan. THe itinerary was great, but I definately prefer RCCL. RCCL just seems a step above in class. Good Luck! Please post and let us know what you decide!

[Keith1010]

Your kids will likely be happy on either of these cruise lines as long as there are other kids so that will not be an issue. The key is will you and your husband be happy? I would be sure that you read up on the other ships including reading what people have to say on Cruise Critic. Carnival can be even more of a party ship than RCI so just be sure you will be happy with them. Again, the kids will be happy on either line.

 

Keith

[youngestof9]

I vote for Adventure or Serenade. I have done both with kids. The kids liked the Adventure the best. DH and I liked Serenade more (beautiful ship). As a matter of fact, we are booked for 1-15-11 on the Serenade with our 3 kids. The cruise fare for 2 connecting E-2 cabins came to around $700 per person. I got a great deal on airfare from BWI for $290 per person. PP is right, you should check airfare before choosing SJ. That being said, I absolutely LOVE cruising out of SJ! I have done it 4 times now. When you get to San Juan, it is always warm. Sometimes even Miami can be cold in the winter. I love the itineraries of the southern Caribbean. The islands that you get to see are so much nicer IMO. If you can swing it, go for the SJ itinerary. I definately vote for RCCL over Carnival. I haven't sailed Carnival, but I know a lot of people who have sailed both, and they mostly prefer RCCL. I went with DH last Nov for an adults-only cruise on Caribbean Princess out of San Juan. THe itinerary was great, but I definately prefer RCCL. RCCL just seems a step above in class. Good Luck! Please post and let us know what you decide!

 

my dh and I LOVED Serenade too and really were looking forward to AOS (we had booked 1/9/11) but then the airfare from Newark was awful. So we looked to Miami. We're really excited about the new Norwegian Epic. It's brand new and will only be 6 months old when we sail her. Yay! I'm definitely going to do Serenade again though (or Adventure). I loved it!

[ljtee]

We found that the NCL southern itineraries out of Florida (9 days) are great - and instead of spending the extra $$ on SJ flights you get 2 extra days on board. Our kids liked the programs/camp on NCL and the ship has tons to do. The other nice factor on NCL is that for relatively the same price, you can get a mini-suite.... now its really a large balcony room - but has a curtain separating you and the kids, which is nice at night when you want lights or TV on and the kids are asleep.

 

We've also been on Princess and Carnival with the kids - they love it all.

Ljtee