Kids' first cruise- which would you choose?

[utseabee]

Spring break '10

Carnival Splendor, 7 days Mexican Riviera

HAL Oosterdam, 7 day Mexican Riviera

NCL Star, 7 day Mexican Riviera

Carnival Paradise, 4 day Mexican Baja

 

Dh and I went on our first cruise this past summer. I haven't even been home a month, and I'm ready to start planning again! This tme, I want to go as a family, whick means taking our 3 kids, from 4 to 7. The kid are so excited already, they are filling up our change jar with every penny they find. Not even the ice cream man has been temptation enough to sneak from the "cruise jar!" (I am sooo proud!)

So I'm looking at spring break next year, leaving from L.A. and the above are the options I have found.

Should we take the shorter "trial cruise" to see how they do, how the kids programs work, or just throw caution to the wind go for a week?

Also, it seems most of the kids options are 2-5, 3-5, etc. By then our youngest will be 5, will one of these cruiselines allow her to play with her siblings, or will there be so much fun going on that she won't care?

[cb at sea]

Kids love cruising...they don't need a "starter"! A week isn't too long at all. They'll have a blast and you'll have some wonderful, family time!

Don't worry about the age groupings...they will have so much fun on their own...and they won't be in the "club" 24/7...they'll have plenty of time with their siblings, too!

[Essiesmom]

Spring break '10

Carnival Splendor, 7 days Mexican Riviera

HAL Oosterdam, 7 day Mexican Riviera

NCL Star, 7 day Mexican Riviera

Carnival Paradise, 4 day Mexican Baja

 

Dh and I went on our first cruise this past summer. I haven't even been home a month, and I'm ready to start planning again! This tme, I want to go as a family, whick means taking our 3 kids, from 4 to 7. The kid are so excited already, they are filling up our change jar with every penny they find. Not even the ice cream man has been temptation enough to sneak from the "cruise jar!" (I am sooo proud!)

So I'm looking at spring break next year, leaving from L.A. and the above are the options I have found.

Should we take the shorter "trial cruise" to see how they do, how the kids programs work, or just throw caution to the wind go for a week?

Also, it seems most of the kids options are 2-5, 3-5, etc. By then our youngest will be 5, will one of these cruiselines allow her to play with her siblings, or will there be so much fun going on that she won't care?

The first think you need to think about is how you are going to arrange the cabins. The only ship on your list that will allow all five of you to be in one cabin would be Carnival Paradise. Otherwise, you need to look for connecting cabins...not just side by side, but with a connecting door. It will cost you more,because you will be paying full fare for the first two in the cabin. EM

[boulders]

If you can swing it, I would do Disney. They are great with kids that age. They have cabins that sleep 5 as well as plenty of connecting cabins. The kids will also be able to all be in the same place in the kids club.

[chipmaster]

I think for a "first" cruise NCL, Carnival will be great. After you find what you enjoy and what other styles or themes you enjoy you can give the others a go. Somehow I still have the image of HAL being a bit more stuffy, but who knows for Mexico and springbreak maybe they loosen up a bit :D

 

Spring break '10

Carnival Splendor, 7 days Mexican Riviera

HAL Oosterdam, 7 day Mexican Riviera

NCL Star, 7 day Mexican Riviera

Carnival Paradise, 4 day Mexican Baja

 

Dh and I went on our first cruise this past summer. I haven't even been home a month, and I'm ready to start planning again! This tme, I want to go as a family, whick means taking our 3 kids, from 4 to 7. The kid are so excited already, they are filling up our change jar with every penny they find. Not even the ice cream man has been temptation enough to sneak from the "cruise jar!" (I am sooo proud!)

So I'm looking at spring break next year, leaving from L.A. and the above are the options I have found.

Should we take the shorter "trial cruise" to see how they do, how the kids programs work, or just throw caution to the wind go for a week?

Also, it seems most of the kids options are 2-5, 3-5, etc. By then our youngest will be 5, will one of these cruiselines allow her to play with her siblings, or will there be so much fun going on that she won't care?

[tytan]

Take a look at Carnival, March 6, 2011 and March 27, 2011 the Carnival Spirit has a 5 day from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas and back.

 

We were looking for a cruise for spring break with the kids and I was surprised to find this itinerary as most of them seem to do the full 7 day Mexican Riviera or the 3 and 4 day trips out of Long Beach.

[Keith1010]

I would go with the seven day cruise and not the five day cruise. The family wll appreciate the extra days. Out of the ones you listed I would consider the Splendor as it is the newest of the ships.

 

Not sure if Princess is doing any itineraries that you are looking at but they have a strong kids program.

 

Keith

[jerin]

I, too would go for the longer cruise, especially during spring break season. We did a short cruise out of LA when my children were very young, and it ended up being a spring break 'booze cruise', and was not a good experience for my family. We were in connecting rooms, but the connecting door kept jamming, and the children got into a traumatic situation with a drunk man trying to get into their cabin. If I had it to do over again, I would make sure we got a cabin where we could be together, and would go for the longer cruise with less of the party demographic.

[beachchick]

Most of the cruise lines are extremely strict with ages in the children's programs. They have to be for insurance reasons. As well, the activities are geared toward specific age groups. Sometimes--and this is by no means guaranteed--they will allow an "almost" child to move up. By almost, I mean their birthday (in this case, 6) is within a couple of weeks of the cruise date. If your then 5-y/o will have just turned 5, your chances are extremely slim indeed. They have to draw the line somewhere and they must stick to it or the age groupings become meaningless. (Sorry, I really don't mean that to be heartless; I do understand why you asked.)

 

But the fact is that she will probably be having so much fun that she won't care. It may very well be good for her to be in a different group from her siblings. They can share their various experiences at dinner or during other family time. That's always fun too. The cruise lines work very hard at making the programs wonderful. She'll make new friends; she'll have many, many things to do; and, if she's going to school, it will be helpful for her to experience new situations.

 

beachchick

[zstell]

I would definitely try the longer cruise. We've only done one 4 day and that was w/our daughter after she graduated college. When traveling w/small children, it takes a lot of planning and can be very tiring. I think the extra days offer more time to really relax and enjoy each other. A 4 day trip would be very rushed, trying to not miss anything. I just hate all the packing/unpacking/repacking/unpacking and a week cruise makes it a little more worthwhile, imo

[fisherhum]

Hi

We did RCL with the kids when they were 6 and 4. I though my youngest would be upset not having her brother around but the activities were perfect for the age. We have also done HAL and soon to go on NCL... So far the kids have liked both. We have travelled in the school time (off season ) so there hasn't been a lot of kids around. They both LOVED the kids programs.

We have always chosen a cruise based on the ports and where we thought we would have fun, not based on the cruise line. We have tried to get a 7 day cruise with 4 port days.... This has worked well.

 

Also, as for rooms, with the kids I would try to get the biggest room you can afford, definately get a balcony as it is extra space that you will appreciate.