What to do?

[Rob_Jen]

We are still trying to decide on this falls vacation. We originally were going to go on the Carnival Dream and a day at Disney. Then we were looking into just flying to Mexico and staying at an all inclusive resort in the Riviera Maya area. Now with the Mexican gang/issues we do not want to fly there now.

 

We want to take our trip the week before Thanksgiving. Our kids are 5 and 3. last year we did the Disney Magic and LOVED it but its a little much in price for this year. We may look back into the Dream but also looking for other great vacation ideas? We need some sort of kids camp so we can enjoy some down time as well.

 

Any help?

[jam82]

Come with me and my 3 year old on the Caribbean Princess. :-) If not, another great family trip is Club Med. Some of their resorts have kids programs for the little ones and their children's program is second to none. We are big cheerleaders for Camp Carnival and in his 10 cruises my DS has loved every second he's spent there. That said, no cruises we've been on have any where near the level of service and child care that Club Med provides.

[RoadTripFanatic]

Aren't most of the issues with the gangs located in border towns??

[Rob_Jen]

Just skeptical of going to Mexico now.

 

We did a princess cruise a few years back and while it was nice it was not for us - too laid back and much older crowd. Great Itinerary though.

 

Trying to balance our fun and the kids fun. We like cruising but just looking for something different - I think.

[6rugrats]

Aren't most of the issues with the gangs located in border towns??

 

No - there have been problems in Puerto Vallarta and one just a couple days ago in Cancun, etc. I don't blame OP for wanting to avoid Mexico. If the drug cartel problem continues to get worse, tourism is going to really drop off.

 

OP - look into Beaches resorts or Club Med if you want all inclusive. But, not sure how much of a deal you'll get for the period in which you want to travel. You may also want to decide on an area you'd like to visit, and rent a condo. Pick someplace interesting, and then look at rental availability at vrbo.com. We just got from a land vacation in Hawaii and had a great time renting a condo. This works out well if you have children as they have room to move around and you can make most of your meals, saving $$$.

[Rob_Jen]

We would love to go to Beaches Turks an Caicos but I do not have $7K to spend for a week vacation. Same price for Club med in Punta Cana.

 

We thought about the condo thing but that does not give us time for the adults to relax/unwind. The cruise/all inclusives have camps for the kids so we could relax a little. We also want some adventure and really do not know where else to look. Been to Florida many times (Will move there one day) and have done the Orlando thing for the past 5 years. My kids are 5 and 3 and do not know where else to look that they would enjoy as well in November.

[imsulin]

The week before Thanksgiving is one of the CHEAPEST times for cruising or all-inclusives. $7K for a week for four at Beaches Turks & Caicos during this time? I don't think so. !!!!

 

Princess full of "older people"?? This may have been your perception on your one cruise, but it was certainly not on mine! The kids I saw were having a wonderful time, and I was probably the oldest passenger (age 60) on that ship!Have you checked out Royal Caribbean? Disney Cruise Lines? Two of the best cruise lines for your kids at their ages.

 

It sounds like you want an all-inclusive vacation which will take care of your kids for you.

 

Check out the Family Board.

[imsulin]

The week before Thanksgiving is one of the CHEAPEST times for cruising or all-inclusives. $7K for a week for four at Beaches Turks & Caicos during this time? I don't think so. !!!!

 

Princess full of "older people"?? This may have been your perception on your one cruise, but it was certainly not on mine! The kids I saw were having a wonderful time, and I was probably the oldest passenger (age 60) on that ship! Have you checked out Royal Caribbean? Disney Cruise Lines? Two of the best cruise lines for your kids at their ages. You've cruised on these lines before.

 

It sounds like you want an all-inclusive vacation which will take care of your kids for you.

 

Check out the Family Board.

[jam82]

I just got an email from Club Med today and they are having a sale. It is about $3000 for Punta Cana the week before Thanksgiving for a family of four. Their normal rate is about $7000. The $3000 rate includes a family room which is nice because there is a separate room for the kids. The rooms at Punta Cana aren't that big, but it's not as small as a cruise ship cabin. IMHO, the food, service, and child care a far superior to any cruise I've been on. The great thing about Club Med is that it is really all-inclusive. During the week we spent in Punta Cana we spent a fraction of what we would have on a cruise. Most of the money we spent was for tips for the excellent service, a hundred on the pajama club, a couple hundred on excursions (lobster lunch is a MUST), and then probably about $100 on photos. Also, they may charge extra for the kids program for kids under 4. I think that was about $400 a week, but it was worth every cent. They only take about 10-12 kids in the program so the kids get awesome care. I think from 4 and up it's included. Punta Cana Club Med is really all about families and they provide some great opportunities for adult time.

[SelectSys]

... We may look back into the Dream but also looking for other great vacation ideas? We need some sort of kids camp so we can enjoy some down time as well.

 

Any help?

 

What about RCCL? The price will be certainly lower than Disney and the ship activities are great. I'll bet the Freedom class ships have some really good deals now that Oasis is sailing. Freedom is great for younger kids as the pools are fresh water.

[Rob_Jen]

I just priced out Beaches - A basic room, air (from NYC) for us and the 2 kids was $7,200. The Club Med with air is the $5,500.

 

Airfare from NYC to FL is ~1,200 for the 4 of us. If we did FL we would add a night or two before and after the cruise.

 

We were on Disney Magic last year (Loved It) and paid $3,500 for an inside room (Got lucky with a free room upgrade to an Oceanview).

 

Carnival is ~2K for the same week.

We looked at the Liberty Of The Seas and liked it but its out of Miami and not near Disney - ~$2,500 What else is there for young kids in Miami to do?

[Rob_Jen]

The LOS has me thinking about that. Airfare is a little cheaper as well. Maybe we could fly down the day before - stay in Miami - Go on the Liberty then when that was over get a rental car and drive to Orlando for a few days.

[jam82]

Sorry the airfare to Club Med is so much. :-( It's such an awesome place. I don't know if you priced air by itself or through Club Med, but both times I did Club Med the air was way cheaper if I booked it through them. That's so opposite of my experience of cruise line airfare, so I thought I'd mention it. By the time you pay for a few days in Orlando and your on board account, Club Med really might not be that much more. OK, I'll stop with Club Med now. :-)

 

One great thing about LOS is the stop at Labadee. When we were there, RCCL brought out a lunch buffet to the beach. We still had to pay for our drinks, but it was an almost free port stop and a great day at the beach. I hope to get back there sometime. If you haven't been and like the beach, it's a must try.

[mjkacmom]

We're booked on our second NCL out of NYC (20 minute drive). We did the same itinerary with DCL, and although some parts were nicer, not even close enough to justify flying and the extra $. Nothing like leaving your house, and being on vacation 20 minutes later!

[Rob_Jen]

In November going out of NY is too cold. Going to be at least 2 days until you can wear shorts outside. I live ~30 minutes from the city/NJ ports.

 

Maybe in the summer it would work.

[imsulin]

I just priced out Beaches - A basic room, air (from NYC) for us and the 2 kids was $7,200. The Club Med with air is the $5,500.

 

Airfare from NYC to FL is ~1,200 for the 4 of us. If we did FL we would add a night or two before and after the cruise.

 

We were on Disney Magic last year (Loved It) and paid $3,500 for an inside room (Got lucky with a free room upgrade to an Oceanview).

 

Carnival is ~2K for the same week.

We looked at the Liberty Of The Seas and liked it but its out of Miami and not near Disney - ~$2,500 What else is there for young kids in Miami to do?

 

One of the thing my grown kids absolutely loved was the Everglades Tour. It's about a 30-40 minute drive from Miami, on a nice A/C bus with tour guide, and is an all-day adventure. You get to ride on an air boat and see real alligators in their natural environment. (That air boat ride is a blast!). There's also a very interesting talk about the native Seminoles, an alligator exhibit, and a small zoo. I've done this three times as post-cruise excursions (HAL, Princess, and RCI, but we always went to the same place). You can book this same excursion through any Miami hotel, and it's very affordable. Your kids would probably love it! I can't remember the name of the place, but all the cruise lines use it. There's also a (cheesy) gift shop and snack bar. For years, there was a tame wing-injured white crane you could hand-feed. A dollar would get you a few fish. Think his name is Willy. This place suffered some hurricane damage (2004/5?) but was up and running in 2006. My adult kids reverted to being eight-year olds!

 

Have you looked at all-inclusives in the DR? Some of them are very family-friendly.

 

Sorry about my comment re: Beaches T&C. You are absolutely right! There's also a Beaches in Negril, Jamaica. Neighbors took their grandkids there in May, and said it was beautiful and very safe.

[Rob_Jen]

Carnival Dream (Ocean View) - ~$2,200 (Belieze, Costa maya, Roatan, Cozumel)

RCI Liberty (Ocean View) - ~$2,600 (Belieze, Costa maya, Grand Cayman, Cozumel)

Disney Magic (Inside) - ~$3,200 (Castaway Cay, Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Castaway Cay)

 

We would fly down a day before the cruise and flights coming home on the weekend for any of these is $$$$$$ so we would need 2 extra nights in FL

 

Decisions decisions decisions

[jam82]

For me it would be between Carnival and RCL. (Sorry, but I just can't justify the money for Disney.) I like Grand Cayman better than Roatan, but do I like it $400 better? HMMM. Maybe, maybe not. I guess I would have to compare the amount of time spent in port and take the one with the longer port days.

 

You will have a great time on whatever you decide.

[quincytoo]

No - there have been problems in Puerto Vallarta and one just a couple days ago in Cancun, etc. I don't blame OP for wanting to avoid Mexico. If the drug cartel problem continues to get worse, tourism is going to really drop off.

 

OP - look into Beaches resorts or Club Med if you want all inclusive. But, not sure how much of a deal you'll get for the period in which you want to travel. You may also want to decide on an area you'd like to visit, and rent a condo. Pick someplace interesting, and then look at rental availability at vrbo.com. We just got from a land vacation in Hawaii and had a great time renting a condo. This works out well if you have children as they have room to move around and you can make most of your meals, saving $$$.

What were the problems in Puerto Vallarta...???

 

I mean besides a grenade going off in a local bar of ill reputation located quite a ways away from the tourist zone...a bar where no tourist or even someone from another country, who has relocated to PV to live, would have been found at??

 

From what I have been told by friends who live there it was a stupid very drunken person playing with something he shouldn't have (to say the least)

We go down to PV about 2-3 times a year, and plan on living there part time one day right now we have many Cand and Amer friends who live there full time.

 

I feel safer in PV then I do the States.

[Gatrcruzer]

How funny, I was reading this thread and was going to suggest the Liberty of the Seas which we are sailing on the week before Thanksgiving, and sure enough you found it yourself! :) I am wondering if we are thinking of the same dates, though - we are going Nov. 14-21, which is an eastern Caribbean itinerary.

 

We live in FL, so for us a cruise is a very easy vacation - no need to fly. I could see where you'd be considering an all-inclusive instead - if you have to fly anyway, what's the difference between flying to Punta Cana or flying to Miami? Plus, I do think they have better set ups for children at some all-inclusives compared with cruises....once the children reach a certain age. I believe there are some that won't take children under age 5, so you'd want to check on that and verify that both your kids could attend. My sister has done several all-inclusives, and she LOVED Beaches Turks and Caicos, but wow that's a lot of money. She also had really positive experiences at the Dreams resorts in Cancun (agreed - don't go there right now) and the Dominican Republic. If you haven't checked out the Dreams resorts you might want to consider them.

 

I love Miami, and think there are plenty of things to do with kids there, including the Seaquarium, Parrot Jungle, beaches, great nature parks and parks in general. Just a little further north in Ft. Lauderdale are other nice options for kids, including Wannado. Another option would be to fly into Miami for the cruise, then afterward rent a car and drive to Orlando, then fly back from Orlando. It is kind of a hike, though - probably 3.5-4 hours of drive time from Miami, and with 2 young kids might be quite a tough trip.

 

You need to think about what would work best for your family overall, balancing out cost, convenience and needs. I'd say cruise out of Miami, then rent a car, get a nice beach hotel for a couple of nights before you fly back, and if you can get in another couple of fun kids things while you're down there great, and if not enjoy the beaches before you fly back.

 

Just out of curiosity, what was it that made you change your mind from your original plan of going on the Dream and then Disney?

 

Whatever you decide, hope it's a great vacation!

[cruiseman40]

For me, Disney is nice but only 3 ports, C. Cay, Cozumel, and G. Cayman? Overly, price and would rather pick either RCCL or Carnival. You should also look at leaving from Port Canaveral because of 1 hr. drive to and from Orlando instead of 4 to 5 hours in Miami. We drove back and forth from Miami and Orlando to catch NCL Sky this summer(post and precruise and did Disney land package.)

 

 

 

For me it would be between Carnival and RCL. (Sorry, but I just can't justify the money for Disney.) I like Grand Cayman better than Roatan, but do I like it $400 better? HMMM. Maybe, maybe not. I guess I would have to compare the amount of time spent in port and take the one with the longer port days.

 

You will have a great time on whatever you decide.

[Rob_Jen]

What made us rethink the Dream to Disney?

 

Well our son will just turn 3 in October. I know he can go to the kids camp but I do not know what else he will do on the ship. My daughter is 5 and she should be OK with some of the water slides (I hope she is tall enough). Last year on the Disney Magic, my daughter loved the camp and the shows since they had the characters in them. I do not think my kids would sit through a musical/broadway show or a comedian at their age. Plus the Disney magic had a kids pool/slide for them. I do not think my kids would sit through a musical/broadway show or a comedian at their age. Plus the Disney magic had a kids pool/slide for them. Which means we will not get to see them. What would the kids do on a Carnival ship at night?

 

 

We are looking at other ships out of Port Canaveral like the Carnival Dream. The RCI (Freedom Of The Seas) does not go to great ports (Labidee -Been there nothing great, Ocho Rios - Been there - Will not get off the ship, Cayman, Cozumel). There is a NCL ship but not sure if I want to try them.

 

We thought about the LOS out of Miami but the 4 hour drive is something we really do not want to do on vacation.

 

The RCI ships may offer more for the kids to do but not sure.

[jam82]

My son loves going to Camp Carnival at night, and we love him loving it since it gives us some much needed adult time. They had fun activities like face painting, parachute, crafts and free play. They also have snacks. Around 10pm they put a movie on the big screen and set the kids up with pillows and blankets for the slumber party and most of the kids doze off by the time they are picked up. DS is 3.5 and is platinum so he's spent a lot of time in Camp Carnival. He doesn't go to day care and has never had a babysitter at home aside from Grandma and Grandpa, but he begs to go to camp. He would spend all day, every day if we let him. We love the staff and the activities they offer.

 

Since your son will be a young 3 when you cruise, I'd really consider Carnival because that way he wouldn't be the youngest in the 2-5 year old group and you kids would still be together. We only cruised Carnival when DS was 2 because of Camp Carnival. Now we have other choices, as do you, but we have yet to find another line that caters to the kids as well as Carnival. Our next cruise is on Princess so we shall see how we like their program.

[cbowler]

Have you thought about just doing a week long vacation at Disney? It sounds like you really want to have 1-2 days there pre/post cruise so why not just spend the week there? There are some really great deals on disney resorts (25-40% room only rates) right now. Having just priced out various cruises/vacation/all-inclusives, we found that a week at a deluxe disney resort including meals and park tickets and airfare, was significantly cheaper than any cruise and VERY significantly cheaper than an all-inclusive. Also, we've used Kids Nite Out nanny service a few times while at disney for various reasons (help during a wedding, parents night out, etc) and would not hesitate to recommend them if you and your SO want some down time without the kids. Just a thought to add to the mix... :)

[Rob_Jen]

We thought about that but do not really want to do that this year. We have been going to Disney every year for the past 5 years. We would only want to go to the Magic Kingdom. We like the Disney resorts and no need for a rental car. We are also looking for a vacation that us Adults will enjoy as well. The only reason for staying after the cruise is we can save ~$500 by staying 2 nights on airfare alone. Stay at a value resort for $100/night we are still ahead of the game and savings.

 

This is what we are thinking now

Fly down on a Wed night - go to MK on Thursday, chill by the pool on Friday and get a rental car. Drive to Port Canaveral on Saturday morning, drop off the car and get on the Carnival Dream. Enjoy the week then get a rental car when we get off the ship rent a car and drive back to Orlando drop off the car and stay at a Disney resort. No parks that weekend as its Thanksgiving week and the parks will be mobbed. Fly home on Monday.

 

This is what I am leaning towards but there is still some doubt on trying to find another $1k and go on the Disney magic again. I just want to make sure my kids will have a blast and we can spend time with them and get some R&R for ourselves.