Cruise in Europe with 10 year old?

[Maggie 3]

My husband and I want to take our 10 year old grandaughter on a cruise mid June or July in Europe. She has been on 6 or 7 in the caribbean with us and her Mom and Dad. Will she have kids around her age on board? we are thinking Princess, Royal Caribbean, Celebity or NCL. Any thoughts?

[kasi1979]

July is one of the prime vacation month in Europe.

You don´t say where you are wanting to go. So please keep in mind, that the Med can be really hot in the summer.

All ships will have lots of kids, so your gd should have company.

[chipmaster]

My kids were 8, 12 and 14 on our cruise and had a blast, both kids club and ports. YMMV depending on what excursions. ports and the disposition and interest of your child.

 

Pick a larger ship and I think the kids club will have lots of stuff going on. Just be aware that expect many europeans even on the US based lines, that was our experience at least 1/2 were speaking spanish.

 

My husband and I want to take our 10 year old grandaughter on a cruise mid June or July in Europe. She has been on 6 or 7 in the caribbean with us and her Mom and Dad. Will she have kids around her age on board? we are thinking Princess, Royal Caribbean, Celebity or NCL. Any thoughts?

[Alison1466]

We did the 35 day Holland America Voyage of the Vikings with our girls ages 7 and 9 last summer. There were 1250 people on the boat but only 27 kids since it is such a long voyage. All of the kids seemed to find friends and be happy on the ship. I don't think you need a ton of children for your grand-daughter to be happy. It only takes 1 or 2 friends to go to the kids club with or swim with. I had no idea what to expect from my kids but they absolutely loved it. They liked the old castles way more than I thought they would and gave the factory tours in Ireland (Guiness and Waterford Crystal) a huge thumbs up. If you are going on a northern route, Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen was their favorite activity of the entire trip. We are headed back to Europe to the Mediteranean this summer on HAL.

[Lizzie1213]

I'm sure she will enjoy the cruise. All of those lines have kids' programs; she'll get to interact with kids from so many other countries.

[graceinmelbourne]

Hi,

 

We went on a Mediterranean cruise in September with our 13 and 10 year old. We sailed on the RCCL Brilliance of the Seas and the kids loved every minute of the cruise. The kids didn't really use the kids club as it is not their thing but there was plenty to do. There were only 3 sea days though so we were kept busy the other days at different ports. We sailed in September so nearly all the kids were fellow Australians as kids from Europe, US and UK had just started their school year. There were only 30 kids on board but our kids didn't mind that as there they could hang out with the other kids if they wanted to or just with each other. We were told though that in August there were 500 kids on board! They were lucky as they got to enjoy the water slide, pools and rock climbing wall without having to wait in line. The food was great and they enjoyed eating in the main dining room every night. The crew loved the kids and the other passengers enjoyed them being around also. They went to 3 shows during the cruise which they enjoyed. We had a great time in the ports but we did not do any of the ships tours. I researched before the cruise and had decided what we were going to do in each port before we left. We decided to do each port (except for Rome) independently which worked out really well and gave us plenty of flexibility to do what we wanted rather than follow a tour group around. We did a private tour in Rome which was worth it there is so much to see in Rome that it is hard to squeeze it in to one day. The driver took us directly to each place and gave us plenty of time to look around. I would definately recommend RCCL - your grandaughter will love it. Our 10 year old daughter loved the cruise and all the amazing ports we went to. SHe never complained of being tired once even though some days we were on the go for the whole day. It was a wonderful experience for the kids. Happy to answer any questions you may have.