When booking...

[TheCalicoCat]

Do you choose itineraries/lines with your kids in mind? Why?

[cb at sea]

To a degree....I wouldn't worry about itineraries on a Caribbean route....all stops are more alike than different.

 

If I were taking children to Europe/Med, etc...then itinerary becomes more important, IMO....that is a port intensive cruise and lots and lots of "sightseeing" is expected. Not so much in the Caribbean..that's more relaxed and fun.

[RCKM43]

How old are the kids - I think that makes a big difference. What do you want to do when you go?

 

For example - Caribbean and Bermuda are nice for families with smaller kids - because you have a lot of nice beaches. However those place still work well with older children too.

 

On the other hand if you want to go to Europe and want to do a lot of museums and churches type of sightseeing I would say wait until they are a bit older and can enjoy/appreciate it more. But this can be a great cruise with older kids.

 

We have our second Bermuda cruise planned for this summer. We sail on Celebrity. My older daughter (was 4 at the time) LOVED the fun factory and had to be dragged out of it. My younger one was able to do some activities with her sister provided we stayed with her because she was potty trained. She actually preferred to swim and explore the ship. This time she is looking forward to joining her sister in the 3-5 group. We like Bermuda because we 1) don't have to fly - it makes it so easy to pack the car -drive right up to the terminal, park and walk on. It allowed us to bring whatever we needed that we probably would have had to leave behind if we had to fly. 2) - it has many things for families. We enjoyed the zoo/aquarium and 2 beaches. It was a nice relaxing trip.

 

So yes I do think it is important to consider departure ports (whether or not you have to fly), the itinerary - I have to disagree with the above poster as I do think there is a difference in the islands. Having been to many of them - I definitely feel like there are some that are nicer and more family friendly than others. I have personal favorites and ones that I am not rushing to return to. But again this is a very personal decision. Some people are happy as long as they have blue waters, beach chair and umbrella drinks - others want the islands with the best sightseeing or shopping etc. So I think it is important to consider what type of trip you are looking for and what you want to get out of it.

 

As far as cruise lines. I think some are definitely more family friendly - but that does not mean that a child can't have a great time on a cruise that their parents enjoy as well. This will be our second sailing with Celebrity and our last trip my kids loved the ship, the staff treated them like princesses and the fun factory staff was fabulous. They asked to go again. I think there is a ship/itinerary/cruise line out there for everyone you just have to do some research and pick the one that fits your wants/needs the best.

[TheCalicoCat]

Good Points.

I asked because I have read questions that sounded like the choice was very child (baby to teen) centric, which suprised me.

(Especially, when they were worried about the kids being bored!)

[RCKM43]

Good Points.

I asked because I have read questions that sounded like the choice was very child (baby to teen) centric, which suprised me.

(Especially, when they were worried about the kids being bored!)

 

Well I liked the Summit because I felt like we got both - the kids had a great time, it was easy for mom and dad since we didn't have to fly, and we enjoyed ourselves without feeling like it was only for the kids. We only had 500 kids on our sailing but the NCL next to us had 1000 and we heard it felt like it had a lot of kids.

 

I would like to try disney someday but we happen to enjoy disney so for us it isn't all about the kids. I would also like to try RCCL but am waiting for the kids to get older so that they can enjoy some more of the activities. We sailed Princess twice before kids (we are elite with Celebrity) and it seemed like the families were also having a great time. I sailed one time with NCL and don't think I would want to try them again even though they are kid friendly from reading posts on here and speaking with people IRL.

[Onessa]

DD (now 16YO), DH and I have very similar priorities when traveling -- so we are lucky in that we tend to agree and we don't need to compromise much.

 

We cruise for the ports -- so the amenities on board don't matter too much. We are not "beach" people so we are looking for "stuff we'll do" when in port. DD and I "compromised" and did an HI cruise because DH had always wanted to go to HI, but while we were there we all agreed that volcanos, snorkeling, visiting the aquarium and zoo, biking, and hitting the national parks were our priorities.

[bus man]

Do you choose itineraries/lines with your kids in mind? Why?

 

Yes, because happy kids = happy parents! :)

 

I haven't tried the luxury lines, so I don't want to sound like I'm knocking them. But from what I understand, they're not really geared for young children. I would rather sail on a line/ship that is geared for families, so that we can all have fun.

 

Same goes for the itinerary, to an extent. We (the parents) will pick one that suits us, but we'll look for kid-friendly activities in the ports. Thus, while I would love to visit the great cathedrals of Europe, my kids (ages 5.5 and 3.5) would be bored silly. So a Med cruise will have to wait.

 

My own opinion is, if you (meaning "you" in general) want an adult-oriented vacation, such as a cruise on a luxury line heading to ports where you want to enjoy grown-up activities, I think it's better to simply leave the kids with the grandparents and go by yourselves. If this is not possible, or if you don't want to do this, then I think a vacation with more kid-friendly activities is the way to go.

[lrowe70]

No, because our son is still an infant. When he gets older we may look for lines with good kids programs...but maybe not.

[TheCalicoCat]

Thanks for the replies. My son, 3.5, will be on his 3rd cruise this time next week:):):) & so far we have made choices based on what we wanted (but as I look back we did wait til he was 2 & we did choose Carnival because they change diapers) & so far he has been completely satisfied. He loves being on the boat - including the paddle boats that are back in our neighborhood lake...

[mitsugirly]

I don't exactly pick the cruise depending on the ports. I usually look at the ship itself. My 4 year old loves the water (of any kind) and 2 of the ships we've picked is because of the kids water park they had on it.

 

When it comes to the ports, a lot of research goes in to it to make sure it's something she can do and will hopefully like. But then again, she's an extremist and has been cavetubing, ziplining, swimming with the dolphins and stingrays, ate termites, held a tarantula and snorkeling all at age 3. I'm convinced there isn't anything that we could pick that she wouldn't do. :eek:

[crusinmama06]

I am with bus man. If the kids are unhappy then no one is happy. ;) So yes, I obsess over every aspect of the ship, itinerary and even the cabin to make sure it is perfect for my kids.

 

At this point, I haven't tried any of the more "adult" lines because of them.

[Mom2B&Z]

We make our choices together. We sit down with the boys and talk about our options, what ships are available when we are able to travel, the ports, possible activities, ship activities and such. The kids loved the NCL kids crew so much on our first cruise we have stuck with that line, but they know other lines are out there and are talking about RCCL Oasis and Allure as possibilities in the future :)

Our rationale is that we all go on the vacation together, so we should all be responsible for the planning and decision making that goes into making the trip a success.

[JennLuvs2Cruise]

DS will be 3 years old in September and will be sailing his third cruise next month. We have done Eastern, Western & soon Southern Caribbean itineraries. Mostly because with him, we are limited as far as excursions go so all these places provide beautiful beaches & have less restrictions / planning involved. We sail Carnival because they are a very family-friendly cruise line and we appreciate the amenities they offer to their guests. As far as next year goes, we may do another Southern Caribbean cruise on Carnival Breeze or we may do a Bermuda cruise on Norweigan Breakaway. We are dying to do a European cruise but we know DS is still quite young to deal with the flight and port intensive activities involved so we are going to hold off until he is about five or six years old. All in all, yes, we do think about the ports quite a bit before booking a cruise. We also take the cruise line & ship itself into consideration. We tend to stick to newer ships that have more activities and features, especially ones targeted towards families & children.

 

 

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[TheCalicoCat]

We sail again, I will probably choose HAL again if for no other reason than for the unlimited laundry package.

[rebeccalouiseagain]

I definitely have my favorite line. It's Celebrity but if they aren't going somewhere that I really want to go- then I choose between Princess, Holland America and Cunard.