Cruise with two kids...age 5 and 12...which one

[TulaSeoul]

Hi:

 

My husband and I are first time cruisers...we are hoping to book for spring break time 2012, but may need to look at summer 2012. Our kids will be 5 and 12 when we travel. Fairly flexible on where we depart from...either the Northeast or Florida or Galveston would be fine. Not too picky on where we go, we have been (pre-kids) to Mexico and the Carribean several times (but not cruising).

 

Questions:

 

Which cruise lines and ships would you recommend for kids' age 5 and 12? My "tweenager" likes to be busy, he's very active, would love waterslides etc...he's also very social and doesn't have a problem finding another kid to hang out with. He likes to be with kids close to his own age...he won't want to be grouped in with much younger kids as he all ready feels like his little sister is always clinging to him!

 

My 5 year old also likes to be busy but she is much more reserved and shy...slow to warm up to others. We would like a ship and cruise whose staff can be sensitive to that in the kids' club...she will do fine as long as she has a caring adult to help her warm up and feel like joining in, does that make sense?

 

My husband and I are just really looking for a vacation where we can balance family time with some time just for the two of us. We aren't really a big fan of dressing up (although we don't mind dressing up a little) and enjoy just RELAXING!

 

Even though we haven't cruised before we are experienced travelers (as are our kids), we are flexible and are the type of family who will have fun despite the small glitches which are a normal part of traveling with kids...budget is a consideration, I honestly don't have one set yet, but of course the less we spend on the cruise itself the more we will have to spend on the extras. I've been watching cruise prices and am amazed at the huge range of prices...and I get nervous about what appears to be a "great deal"...so things to be careful of when looking for savings would be helpful to know as well.

 

Thoughts? ANY input suggestions on which lines and ships to consider will be greatly appreciated! Thank you :)

[Babyberger]

I cant offer you a comparison between cruise lines which I know others can, nor can I offer you a lot of information about various ships, but I can offer you my experiences.

 

We only started cruising as a family 2 years ago when my parents took my entire family and my brother and his wife on Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas. We were spoiled with such an amazing ship and have decided for us, that a cruise is a perfect family vacation. We have 3 children, which are now 6, 8, and 18, so finding a ship that everyone has something to do is pivotal.

 

Royal Caribbean's children's program, Adventure Ocean is amazing! The staff members are caring, fun, and just truly amazing people. My middle child is on the autism spectrum (very high functioning) and needs just a little more understanding than a "typical" child his age, and my youngest has major anxiety issues, so the AO staff to us can make a huge difference in our vacation. I cannot say enough amazing things about the staff!!! Royal divides their kids programs into age groups, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-11. The teens program has a 12-14 age group with a ton of activities planned each day and a separate teen lounge.

 

As far as activities on the ship, it depends on which ship you choose. We have only sailed on the Freedom and Oasis, and the activities onboard are endless. Mini-golf, ice skating, rock climbing, flow rider (simulating surfing and boogie boarding), and on Oasis and Allure there is a zip-line and carousel. As well as full sports areas with basketball, ping pong, etc.

 

Even though we live in South Florida my kids still love to spend port days on the beach, so that is what we do. My older son and I parasailed in CocoCay, which was great, but we usually just pick great beaches and spend the day. I actually pack a small suitcase or duffel bag with sand toys ;)

 

Cruising for us gives everyone a chance to do something they love. We typically spend most of the days as a family, in the pools, mini golfing, etc, and then we ask the kids to go to camp after dinner so mommy and daddy can have some grown up time and catch a show, go to a bar, eat at a specialty restaurant, etc. Every night in the cabin you are left with tomorrow's activities on the ship and in the Adventure Ocean, so we always took a look at it and let the kids decide if they wanted to go for a session in the morning or afternoon. It works out great because we get the perfect balance between family time and grown up time.

 

We have fallen in love with Royal Caribbean and even though there are definitely better "deals" out there, we have decided to pay a little more and stick to them. We looked at Norwegian, but had read that they allow smoking in the cabins and the thought of walking into a cabin or walking thought the hallways and having that stale smoke smell made us take them off the list pretty fast. We also have to be a little more selective because of my son, we work with an travel agency who specializes in autism and they have suggested we stick with Royal or Disney for our needs. Besides Disney being more expensive, we have read that their children's program is not separated by age and we don't feel that will work well for our children. However, you will find people on these boards that LOVE the Disney line and wouldn't sail anything else. So it really comes down to preference.

 

I hope some of what I said helps to guide you a bit. I really think, getting on the websites, looking at the ships, itineraries, and really reading the reviews on Cruise Critic will help you make a great decision. No matter what you chose, it will be a great family vacation :D

[mjkacmom]

We looked at Norwegian, but had read that they allow smoking in the cabins and the thought of walking into a cabin or walking thought the hallways and having that stale smoke smell made us take them off the list pretty fast:D

 

Just want to mention that we've done 2 NCL cruises, and have never smelled smoke anywhere except outside of the casino (and I hate the smell of smoke).

 

That said, on NCL, the kids clubs for the OP's ds would be the 10 - 12, and my ds, who was 12 at the time, said it was too babyish. My 14 year old dd LOVED her club. She also hated Disney's club when she was 11.

[cantw8togo]

My first thoughts were for the Freedom class on RCI or the Norwegian Epic. They both have a lot of things to do if you want to be active; RCI's activities are more sports oriented (more challenging rock climbing wall, flowrider, which is a blast, but can ruin your pedicure ;), and the skating rink); Epic is more fun oriented with the three water slides, epic bounce (harnessed trampoline), the spider web climbing frame, the rock climbing and rapelling wall and the bowling.

 

I can't really comment on the kids club as my kids have never been big fans of the kids club on any ship. We would encourage them to to check it out, but usually they would want to spend time with us. When we were on the Indie of the Seas, there weren't a lot of kids onboard so they combined the different age groups, which did not impress my eldest DS as he was with much younger kids. This likely won't be a problem if you are planning on travelling during spring break.

 

The only place that seemed smokey on the Epic was in the casino which is somewhat hard to avoid as it is part of a major thoroughfare through the ship. As a nonsmoker, it wasn't unbearable, but it was annoying since so many other cruiselines have recognized that passengers don't want to have to pass through smokey areas.

 

I prefer the decor and the layout of Indie, but Epic has better entertainment.

[Keith1010]

There are lots of cruise lines for you to select.

 

A couple that I would look into are RCI and Princess. Both have really good children's programs. RCI ships tend to have many unique items not found on other ships that the children may enjoy. At the same time Princess has an excellent children's program.

 

Keith

[#1TravelMom]

I definately recommend the EPIC. We've been on 30+ cruises. We were with a big group on the EPIC last year with kids from 2 to 23 years old. This was our favorite ship for kids without a doubt!

[TulaSeoul]

Thanks for all of the input....my husband and I have definitely narrowed it down to Royal Carribean, or Norwegian--Epic if we do this...

 

I think we would lean towards Epic, but my only (small) concern is my son, age 12. He doesn't turn 13 until the end of summer. In comparison to RCI--I felt the age grouping on the RCI ships was a better fit for my son. I like the Nick aspect of the Epic though...

 

I'll also be looking at prices and itineraries...which I haven't yet done, this will likely help us make the decision--

 

Other thoughts on the kids' club on Epic for 12 year old boy who would rather hang with young teens than kids younger than him?

 

Thanks--this board is a fantastic resource for planning help!

[youngestof9]

We did Epic with those exact 2 ages - 12 and 5. But he will be with the 10-12 year olds. no exceptions. However that's not to say he won't meet a kid that he can hang out with in or out of the clubs. The waterslides are great. There's also rock climbing the Epic bounce and bowling not to mention the Wii wall and the kids club. In my signature you'll see a link to the dailies and the kids club info so you can see what they do.

 

Epic only does Eastern Caribbean starting in 2012 which is St. Thomas St. Maarten and Bahamas. Plenty to do in each port with the kids. The suites on Epic are amazing so if you could swing one I'd definitely say go for it. They also have "mini suites" which used to be called family balconies I think that are a little bigger than regular balconies.

 

I don't think you'd be disappointed with Epic - we loved it.

 

(and forgive the ridiciulous run-on sentences. my dog ate my comma key. LOL!!)

[youngestof9]

oh - looking at your dates Epic doesn't sail caribbean in the summer - she's in Europe. Guess that limits your choice!

[kassimer1]

I will tell you Oasis is awesome. DS asked if we could just live on the boat. He loved the teen club and all the activities. The only other line we were on was carnival and DS said it doesnt even come close to the teen stuff on Oasis. we are going on explorer of the seas this thanksgiving ( and we were not planning on another trip this year but had such a good time we couldnt help ourselves)

[fisherhum]

My kids have sailed on NCL (Star, not the Epic) as well as RCL. They LOVED the RCL kids club. The kids are 8 and 11. My son (age 11) said he would choose the Oasis over a trip to WDW! They loved all the things to do, as well as the shows and the camp.

 

We even stayed on the ship on one of the port days as we were having so much fun on the ship. If they like the water, the flo rider was the best ever!

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Do a Carnival cruise.