Best boats with Kids? 1st time...

[cottonballs99]

We are considering cruising over Spring Break. I've literally JUST gotten the brochures, so I don't have any decisions made. We're looking at probably 6 or 7 days to the Caribbean. I have brochures from Disney, Carnival and Royal Caribbean, but likely will NOT do Disney.

 

We've NEVER cruised before (with or without kids). Our kids are 6 and 9.

 

Thoughts on what boats are more oriented towards families and kids? Does Western vs. Eastern Caribbean matter?

 

I appreciate any help!

[Marie51]

We are considering cruising over Spring Break. I've literally JUST gotten the brochures, so I don't have any decisions made. We're looking at probably 6 or 7 days to the Caribbean. I have brochures from Disney, Carnival and Royal Caribbean, but likely will NOT do Disney.

 

We've NEVER cruised before (with or without kids). Our kids are 6 and 9.

 

Thoughts on what boats are more oriented towards families and kids? Does Western vs. Eastern Caribbean matter?

 

I appreciate any help!

 

Royal Caribbean, both routes are nice for first time.

[punkin35]

We are considering cruising over Spring Break. I've literally JUST gotten the brochures, so I don't have any decisions made. We're looking at probably 6 or 7 days to the Caribbean. I have brochures from Disney, Carnival and Royal Caribbean, but likely will NOT do Disney.

 

We've NEVER cruised before (with or without kids). Our kids are 6 and 9.

 

Thoughts on what boats are more oriented towards families and kids? Does Western vs. Eastern Caribbean matter?

 

I appreciate any help!

 

We are going on our 4th Carnival cruise in 9 days!! yeah!!

 

This will be my children's 3rd cruise. They are 6 yo boy and a 9 yo girl.

 

We started cruisning 2 years ago when my parents bought my husband and I a 5 night for our 10 year anniversary. The minute we got home, we got online and booked our next one to take the kids for spring break.

 

We have gone for spring and fall break ever since. The first time we cruised with the kids was on the Glory. They LOVED camp Carnival. I mean, my shy daughter cried at 1am when I came to pick her up one night because she did not want to leave the party!

The next cruise was on the Fantasy (smaller ship) the camp was not as large and we went with a large group on this trip, so they did not spend as much time in the camp.

 

We have discovered that cruising is the best way to vacation with kids!! I still felt completely relaxed and rejuvenated after our trip. Unlike, the trip to Disney when I felt like I needed another vacation to rest!

We asked the kids if they wanted to cruise or go to WDW this year... no delay in response and they both said "A CRUISE"!

If you choose Carnival, I would go with one of the larger class ships since the camps seem to be bigger and the kids had a better time in those.

 

While I have no experience on other cruiselines, Carnival has been the best vacations we have had as a family. We still spend family time by the pool, dinner (oh, and the food is fabulous on these ships), and at the shows if they wanted to go. Then we also had our adult time while they are at camp.

 

I hope this helps in your decision. Cruising with kids... BEST VACATION EVER!!!

 

Can't wait until we hit the DREAM in 9 days.. and neither can the kids!

[cb at sea]

I really don't think it will matter with the ages of your kids...they (and you) will have a blast on ANY of the cruiselines!

I don't think the destinations matter much either....since you've never cruised, this will be an awesome experience and on your next trip (yes--there will be another!!!) you can go where you didn't go on this trip!

[Mack2]

My kids were 5, 7, and 10 on last year's cruise aboard the Carnival Legend, western Caribbean (Belize and Roatan) They had a great time!

 

Since it's your first cruise, any line would dazzle you! The service, the copious amounts of food, the entertainment, the SHIPS! You'll have a great time.

 

 

In my experience, cruising Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Princess, and Disney, I personally prefer the Royal Caribbean cruise experience. I felt that the Adventure Ocean kids program was a little nicer than the Camp Carnival program... the facilities aboard the Explorer-Class and Freedom-Class RCI ships were amazing compared to the Carnival facilities for kids. Plus, who can say no to a surf simulator, ice skating, rock climbing walls, H20 zones, mini-golf, and in-line skating as sea?

 

Disney is a great line. It's expensive, but your kids might still appreciate the idea of Character breakfasts, Disney Princess tea times, autographs, and pin collecting. The Disney cruise is a lesson in immersion marketing, they really get you! You can't help but to be part of the "magic". I'm glad we did it... TWICE... don't have to ever get brainwashed like that again. Their private island, Castaway Cay, is probably the best cruise owned beach/island out there.

 

Carnival is a fantastic cruise at an affordable price. Key word is AFFORABLE! The level and quality of the service for the price you pay is one of the best reasons to go. Sure, it might not have Movies under the Stars (MUTS), rock-climbing, surfing, etc... but it's got the water slide... and regardless of where you go on a cruise.... kids will love it, and love the time they get to spend with you.

 

--------------------------------

 

In terms of itineraries, I always have viewed the Western Caribbean itineraries to be more "adventure", while the Eastern has better "shopping".

 

You can find a great beach anywhere in the Caribbean, but the island highlights in the Western ports such as Grand Cayman, Belize, Cozumel, Jamaica, and Roatan all scream adventure to me.

 

Our last trip, we did the zip line tour in Roatan with the kids and the cave tubing in Belize. Previous trips, we've done the Dolphin Encounter in Cozumel (on our own, cheaper to book directly through them rather than the cruise line) and climbed Dunn's River Falls (with our eldest who was 7 at the time) in Jamaica.

 

Eastern Caribbean itineraries are wonderful for shopping. St Thomas, with it's high Duty-Free limit, St Maartin with shops on both the Dutch AND French side... the Bahamas, Puerto Rico... all great shopping destinations with great beaches and great sights to see.

 

 

 

 

Again, regardless of who you sail with, you'll have a great time!

Have fun!

 

 

edit:

 

Although, I did notice you were going during Spring Break.

The more affordable ships MAY have a few more college-aged Spring Breakers who are there to party... HARD.

You might want to consider that possibility.

[mrspjotter]

Hi we first cruised in 2009 with our son who was 8 and twin daughters 5 and we did the 12 night southern caribbean on explorer of the seas and this year we did 7 night western caribbean on freedom of the seas.

 

The kids complained the cruise this year wasn't long enough as we only had 2 full days at sea for the them to go in the kids clubs!!!!!!!!

 

They loved both ships and the adventure beach slide on explorer as well as the h20 zone on freedom.

 

We found great things to do as a family (not through the cruise ship) at all the ports and both routes were great.

 

The staff were amazing with the kids on both cruises - magic tricks at dinner time in the main dining room from our head waiter this year and the adventure ocean staff were brilliant.

 

That's just our experience :cool:

[Naomi John]

Here are the 7 day Camp Carnival schedule from the Triumph. They are somewhat the same for all 7 days on Carnival. The only difference would be the number of ports. This is a 3 port schedule.

 

With the child ages, I also agree to go western, but I have not gone eastern, YET!! (I want to do Puerto Rico and the VI's, but have to wait for now).

 

I say go with your pocket book. Disney I hear is the best for families, but RCCL and Carnival both have great programs for children, and less expensive.

scan0006.pdf

[Marie51]

I am of the opinion that Disney is not always the best for families. I took my grandchildren on Disney for their first cruise when they were 3 and 5 and they were terrified of the characters not to mention the fact that it is more expensive. After that we went on RC and Carnival and they liked those much better and had a great time. My vote still goes to RC.

[Naomi John]

I am of the opinion that Disney is not always the best for families. I took my grandchildren on Disney for their first cruise when they were 3 and 5 and they were terrified of the characters not to mention the fact that it is more expensive. After that we went on RC and Carnival and they liked those much better and had a great time. My vote still goes to RC.

 

Marie is right, Mikey Mouse to a three year old seem like a 6ft rat, :D:eek:

[Lady_Jag]

Hi!

I'm not sure how much help I'll be, since my 4-year-old daughter hasn't expereinced any cruise line except Carnival. (She's taking her 4th cruise with us in April.) She LOVES to cruise! It is a great family vacation, no matter what line you choose.

 

Anyway, our most recent cruise was on the Carnival Dream (review in my siggy) in May, and my daughter STILL tells me how she "misses the Carni-bull Dweem!" LOL! We all had such a GREAT time, and my DD had so much fun hanging out with us, that she spent very little time in Camp Carnival that week.

 

As far as fear of the characters on a Disney cruise, well, that depends on the child. We are lucky to be Disney World passholders and visit The House of Mouse 5-6 times per year, so I'm sure my daughter would enjoy a Disney cruise. Her first encounter with Mickey and the gang was when she was 2, almost 3, and she wasn't scared a bit! In fact, she and Goofy were cutting up like real pals at one of the chracters meet-and-greets, making it a priceless memory. So I guess it all depends on your child.

 

So the point of my rambling, I guess, is that you can't go wrong no matter what line you choose. Disney is expensive, but they usually have a "kids sail free" promotion from time to time (usually in the "off" season though).

 

Carnival is my "preferred" line because I was so impressed with how the Camp Carnival counsellors treated my daughter her first cruise, the fact that my little one can enjoy the cruise even if she doesn't want to go to Camp Carnival, and that they are usually the lowest priced.

 

I can't speak for Royal, but my brother and his family of 5 have sailed them many times and been pleased with the line and their children's program.

 

Hope this helps!

[cottonballs99]

Thanks to everyone for your feedback so far! Lots of good thoughts.

 

We are definitely looking at Carnival or RCI and not Disney. I don't think I was clear in the beginning - my kids likely will spend most of their time with us, not in the Camp. I could be wrong, but this is the more likely option.

 

Are there significant on board differences between Carnival and RC? It looks like we'd be on a 6 or 7 day cruise (at the max). I know that different ships have different things, but are they *that* different?

 

I am also still seriously wondering about Western vs. Eastern Caribbean. I don't know how adventurous we would be, but I don't want to be stuck just shopping either. Hmm..

 

Thanks again to everyone so far. If you have more thoughts, please share!

[imsulin]

Thanks to everyone for your feedback so far! Lots of good thoughts.

 

We are definitely looking at Carnival or RCI and not Disney. I don't think I was clear in the beginning - my kids likely will spend most of their time with us, not in the Camp. I could be wrong, but this is the more likely option.

 

Are there significant on board differences between Carnival and RC? It looks like we'd be on a 6 or 7 day cruise (at the max). I know that different ships have different things, but are they *that* different?

 

I am also still seriously wondering about Western vs. Eastern Caribbean. I don't know how adventurous we would be, but I don't want to be stuck just shopping either. Hmm..

 

Thanks again to everyone so far. If you have more thoughts, please share!

 

I don't think you'll be able to find any 6-night cruise, except to Bermuda. You can do 3, 4, 5, or 7 night cruises. 3-4 night cruises will leave from Florida and do the Bahamas and an occasional private island. (Eastern) 4-5 night cruises leaving from Gulf ports (Mobile, Galveston), will do Cozumel and maybe Grand Cayman. (Western) A 7-night cruise during this time will give you a more complete experience of Eastern or Western. If you want to get to St. Thomas or St. Maarten (the shopping ports), you'll have to do a 7-night Eastern. A good idea would be to look at a map. Carnival will be cheaper than RCI.

[Mack2]

Thanks to everyone for your feedback so far! Lots of good thoughts.

 

We are definitely looking at Carnival or RCI and not Disney. I don't think I was clear in the beginning - my kids likely will spend most of their time with us, not in the Camp. I could be wrong, but this is the more likely option.

 

Are there significant on board differences between Carnival and RC? It looks like we'd be on a 6 or 7 day cruise (at the max). I know that different ships have different things, but are they *that* different?

 

I am also still seriously wondering about Western vs. Eastern Caribbean. I don't know how adventurous we would be, but I don't want to be stuck just shopping either. Hmm..

 

Thanks again to everyone so far. If you have more thoughts, please share!

 

In terms of ships, I still prefer RCI to Carnival... just because of the WOW! factor of the ships.

This is for the Explorer Class ships (Explorer, Voyager, Navigator, Adventurer).. there is even more WOW!! on the Freedom class vessels (Freedom, Independence, Liberty) because of the surfing and H2O zone.

 

You'll find ships with mini-golf, ice skating, rock climbing, and the Royal Promenade.. which I think is one of the best things they could have put on a ship.

 

 

Not saying that Carnival would be fun, it is... but you'd be missing those extra amenities... I would also caution that Carnival may have more college aged kids there for a wild party during the Spring Break time... because the cruise is more affordable to them.

 

Once you select a ship, it would help to find out the itinerary... throw the board some islands, and we can give you specifics.

 

This was from Belize - Cave Tubing, my daughter was 5

 

 

 

 

This was Roatan... my 7 year old

 

 

 

This was from '08, my eldest (has juvenile macular degeneration) aboard the Liberty of the Seas

[Mack2]

 

All from onboard the Liberty of the Seas, '08

[akcruz]

Here is a link to a site put together by a CC member (cruisinmama). It has many different kids activity programs by cruise line, age and ship. Take a look to see which items your kids would prefer.

 

http://s204.photobucket.com/home/cruisinmama06/allalbums

 

My kids started cruising on Carnival, then in their early teens we did RCI. We haven't gone back since. For the age your kids are most cruise lines will be great. We have found for my family, RCI is better for teens.

 

Carnival has water slides, RCI has ice skating, rock climbing, surfing machine and H2O zone on some ships. Since your kids are younger they may not take use of all those amenities, but only you know what would be important to you.

 

As for East vs West, usually East is beaches and shopping while West you can do different things (ruins, cave tubing, etc). Again, which is best for you depends on what your family prefers. Take a look at some of the excursions on the cruise line sites or in the ports of call section here on CC. Find the things you like, then do that route.

[Marie51]

I don't think you'll be able to find any 6-night cruise, except to Bermuda. You can do 3, 4, 5, or 7 night cruises. 3-4 night cruises will leave from Florida and do the Bahamas and an occasional private island. (Eastern) 4-5 night cruises leaving from Gulf ports (Mobile, Galveston), will do Cozumel and maybe Grand Cayman. (Western) A 7-night cruise during this time will give you a more complete experience of Eastern or Western. If you want to get to St. Thomas or St. Maarten (the shopping ports), you'll have to do a 7-night Eastern. A good idea would be to look at a map. Carnival will be cheaper than RCI.

 

Carnival is not always cheaper than RC. I just priced a cruise for 6/2011 on the Dream and the Freedom of the Seas out of Pt Canaveral and the Royal Caribbean cruise actually came out cheaper. Hard to believe I know.

[Ellanora]

I don't think you'll be able to find any 6-night cruise, except to Bermuda.

 

Actually, Carnival has a 6 night itinerary out of Fort Lauderdale, on Carnival Freedom, with stops in Key West, Ocho Rios, and Grand Cayman.

 

If it were me, then for RCI I would go with one of the newer, larger ships with the H2O zone for the kids - Freedom of the Seas, Liberty OTS, Oasis OTS, or Allure OTS.

 

On Carnival, all of the ships have at least one waterslide, but Dream has multiple, as do many of the smaller ships. Inspiration out of Tampa does a 5 night, so does Fascination out of Jacksonville.

 

I think most families would have a great time on either cruiseline. My son has been sailing Carnival and Disney since he was 9 (now 13), loves them both, and we would both like to try the larger RCI ships, too.

 

Do you have to fly in or do you live close enough to drive to ports? If you go to one of the many travel websites, you can find all of the cruises available for your dates, and once you see the prices, you should be able to narrow it to a few possibilities from the ports you are willing to travel to. Once you've narrowed down your options, it'll be easier to compare ship to ship rather than cruiseline to cruiseline.

[Cuizer2]

I don't think you'll be able to find any 6-night cruise, except to Bermuda. You can do 3, 4, 5, or 7 night cruises. 3-4 night cruises will leave from Florida and do the Bahamas and an occasional private island. (Eastern) 4-5 night cruises leaving from Gulf ports (Mobile, Galveston), will do Cozumel and maybe Grand Cayman. (Western) A 7-night cruise during this time will give you a more complete experience of Eastern or Western. If you want to get to St. Thomas or St. Maarten (the shopping ports), you'll have to do a 7-night Eastern. A good idea would be to look at a map. Carnival will be cheaper than RCI.

 

Carnival has a six night cruise to the Western Caribbean aboard the Carnival Freedom. In fact, I'm booked on it.

[Cuizer2]

We are considering cruising over Spring Break. I've literally JUST gotten the brochures, so I don't have any decisions made. We're looking at probably 6 or 7 days to the Caribbean. I have brochures from Disney, Carnival and Royal Caribbean, but likely will NOT do Disney.

 

We've NEVER cruised before (with or without kids). Our kids are 6 and 9.

 

Thoughts on what boats are more oriented towards families and kids? Does Western vs. Eastern Caribbean matter?

 

I appreciate any help!

 

Western vs. Eastern does not matter to the kids.

 

I've been on five Carnival cruises and six Royal Caribbean cruises. As far as passenger mix, I don't see much difference between the two.

 

Carnival has several ships with miniature water parks, as does Royal Caribbean. All Carnival ships have a water slide that your kids will be willing to use (more than once). None of the Royal Caribbean ships have a water slide that your kids will be willing to use more than once. All the Royal Caribbean ships have rock walls. None of Carnival's ships have rock walls. Some of the Royal Caribbean ships have ice skating rinks. A few have Flowriders (surfing simulators).

 

I think your family would be happy on any Carnival or Royal Caribbean ship.

[cottonballs99]

Again, thank you all for your input. Many, many things to think about...

 

One more question, for now -- is 7 nights too long for a 1st cruise? I've been told to not go any long than 5 nights/6 days the first time. True?

[Cuizer2]

Again, thank you all for your input. Many, many things to think about...

 

One more question, for now -- is 7 nights too long for a 1st cruise? I've been told to not go any long than 5 nights/6 days the first time. True?

 

My first cruise was two weeks long. I'm going on my 16th cruise in about six weeks.

[Naomi John]

Again, thank you all for your input. Many, many things to think about...

 

One more question, for now -- is 7 nights too long for a 1st cruise? I've been told to not go any long than 5 nights/6 days the first time. True?

 

IMOP, I would do a shorter cruise, as it is your first. They are cheaper. But, they are usually on a smaller older ship.

 

Our first cruise was a 5 day w/o our children. Thier first cruise was a 7 day with us.

[crusinmama06]

I don't think 7 nights is too long for a first cruise.

 

And I am another one that prefers Royal Caribbean for kids. And we have done 6 nights on Royal Caribbean -- our Independence of the Seas cruise was 6 nights Western.

 

Liberty of the Seas is running a 6 night itinerary in 2011.

 

I can't explain the serious depression that my kids go into when they leave a Royal Caribbean ship. They miss the ships and the crew. It just a different experience for them. They haven't had the same kind of attachment to any other crew members on any other cruise line. The kids are known by name. And my kids know the crew members names. I don't know how the crew does it, but they do.

[shenaniganzz]

Well, we have only taken one cruise so far - Disney. (Though we are doing our second on a Norwegian in January)

 

The kids (our 2 y.o DD and 8, 11 year old nieces) had a blast AND they didn't join any of the kids clubs. FWIW our 2 y.o didn't find the characters at all - she LOVED it because she is a fan of Mickey Mouse Club House.

 

Anyway, the ship (Magic) was awesome, room sizes were fine, service was great and I didn't really have any complaints about the food.. really good. We did spend a ridiculous amount of extra money on photo ops with the characters, the onboard Disney store and those Disney pins.

 

From our perspective it was not relaxing at all. It is tough enough on a cruise to be on a schedule when in port. We found the set dining times to be far too stressful when trying to get us all ready, especially on port days. Also, we spent too much time running around to stand in line to get photos with certain characters at specific times. We just found we were far more scheduled than we'd like to be on a vacation.

 

We did the Western Caribbean and really liked it. We were told that itinerary is a bit better than the Eastern. Castaway Cay was a beautiful island - it was the best port day for sure!

[crusinmama06]

Also, we spent too much time running around to stand in line to get photos with certain characters at specific times. We just found we were far more scheduled than we'd like to be on a vacation.

 

YES! That is one of my big beefs with Disney. On the marketing DVDs they act like the characters are just leisurly roaming around the ships. What they don't show is mom and dad racing to get to the 5pm Photo Op with Mini/Mickey dressed as a pirate -- line 100 people deep. :eek:

 

We liked the Disney ships. But its a different kind of vacation. It does take a bit more patience -- something I don't always have...lol.

 

We do like to add Walt Disney World on to our cruises as a Pre-Cruise if we are leaving out of Port Canaveral. Then we can have the best of both worlds. We do WDW and then hop on a non-Disney ship.