What do you think is the best cruise line for three generation cruises?

[Bridge Maven]

What do you think is the best cruise line for three generation cruises?

[OCruisers]

Princess is good "all round" for ALL age groups ... something for everyone to enjoy! :)

[loubetti]

Well, at least I gave the first vote to Cunard! Of course it is all about expectations / requirements, which the OP provided no such information. We're all just throwing darts at a board here.

 

I'd also vote for Celebrity.

 

However, I just have no other information to go on- I'm shooting from the hip!

[Love.II.Cruise]

What do you think is the best cruise line for three generation cruises?

 

What are the requirements from each generation?

[Bridge Maven]

When I posed the question, I was thinking of the cruise line you consider best for three generations cruising together. where the kids would have a great time and so would the adults.

 

Keeping in mind, that a person cruising with their adult children and grandchildren will have different priorities than when they are cruising with just their spouse or another adult couple.

 

I picked Disney because they have wonderful children's programs, beautiful ships, and excellent service, while their ships have so many adult only areas for times when they want a more adult cruising experience.

[boulders]

How old are the 3 generations? toddlers, 20's and 40's? teens, 50's and 80's? 20's, 40's and 60's? It makes a difference.

 

I wouldn't recommend Disney for those with teens or for all-adult cruises. With teens, I would go with Royal Caribbean. For all - adults, I would go with Celebrity. That's in the Caribbean. I would choose differently depending on the destination, length of cruise, time of year etc.

[Love.II.Cruise]

I've traveled with 3 generations... and I was the youngest generation. It was Alaska, and I had a blast on Princess. I was 21 and my Grandfather was in his late 70s was on board along with many middle aged family members. We had a wonderful time.

 

For our wedding, it was 3 generations again (us being the youngest) for a Hawaiian sailing round-trip out of LA on Princess. We had a wonderful time. Later we sailed Regent and saw 3 generations in Tahiti and it looked like they had a wonderful time.

 

I think no matter what line you choose, as long as you decide together and like to be together, you will have a great cruise. It is what you make of it! Good luck and good cruising! ;)

[Travelingclerk]

We did a RCCL with 28 people and 4 generations...the oldest was my DH and the youngest was our great-granddaughter (6 months) and all ages in between. Even though we were on the Majesty which is one of their smaller ships, everyone had something to do and a great time doing it.

[Essiesmom]

There are too many unspecified variables. For instance: How old are the children? Any under 3? Do the parents plan to have the kids use the childrens programs? Most lines do not take children under 3 in their programs. Some require them to be potty trained. Some lines you listed do not even have a childrens' program. Do some of the adults plan to dabble in the casino? Disney does not have casinos on their ships.

When do you plan to go, and where? If you say summer, and Caribbean, you have very limited choice. EM

[Putterdude]

I only have experience with HAL, Celebrity and Princess and of those 3 I would go with Princess.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Since we don't know the interests of the 3 generations -- I would choose between Princess and RCI.

[hubofhockey]

If it involves kids who are teens and below, I would suggest Royal Caribbean.

[DanJ]

We took our kids (7 at the time) and my wife's parents on the Carnival Pride, and a great time was had by all. For a 7 day Caribbean cruise, I wouldn't hesitate to do the same again on any of Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Princess, or HAL, (the lines we have sailed), or Celebrity and Disney, based on family experiences.

[Aquahound]

Of the 4 cruise lines I have sailed, RCI is the clear answer. Specifically, their larger ships....Voyager Class and up.

[Bridge Maven]

We took a three generation cruise on Disney Dream a few weeks ago with my husband, married daughter, son in law, five year old granddaughter, three year old grandson, and 8 month old infant.

 

This was the fifth cruise for our five year old granddaughter, third cruise for our three year old grandson, and first cruise for our 8 month old grandson.

 

As a frame of reference my husband and I have sailed on the defunct Leonardo da Vinci (Italian Line), Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Holland America, NCL, Carnival, and plan to book a cruise on Regent in the near future.

 

Even though I think Disney is the best cruise line for three generation cruises that include young children, we could take three Celebrity cruises for the price of one Disney cruise. So while I would cruise Disney again as an extended family, I would prefer to cruise Celebrity to save money, or cruise on a luxury cruise line, such as Regent, if we were cruising without children.

[EGG]

The grandparents will be happy if the children are happy. The parents will be happy if their children and their parents are happy and everyone has things to do and they are not nagging or criticizing or complaining.

 

Therefore I suggested Royal Caribean, but Princess would have been my second choice.

[Bridge Maven]

The grandparents will be happy if the children are happy. The parents will be happy if their children and their parents are happy and everyone has things to do and they are not nagging or criticizing or complaining.

 

Therefore I suggested Royal Caribean, but Princess would have been my second choice.

 

EGG - Your post brought a smile to my face because I said almost the exact same words to my husband. When we are cruising with our grandchildren, nothing makes me happier than seeing my grandchildren having a wonderful time at sea.

[Bridge Maven]

Thanks to everyone who participated in this poll. I have enjoyed reading your responses :)

[CruisinEars]

I also voted Disney. We have done 3 generation cruises on Princess and Disney. My kids have been between the ages of 7-13 on our various cruises and my parents and in-laws are in their late 60's. My mom loved our Disney cruise and it is her favorite next to their Oceania cruise. My kids and my hubs and I also loved our DCL and it is still our favorite to date.

[Cruisin' Chick]

It's kinda like ask everyone what their favorite cruiselines (ships, itineraries) are. It's a very general poll. Now if you wanted to plan a three-generation cruise and stated the ages, the types of activities everyone likes, etc., it may help. It's such a subjective topic.

 

What my family would like (if I was to bring along my 80-ish mother -- who's not into cruising, but did enjoy her one cruise because of the entertainment; my teen, who likes hanging out with kids her age, watching entertainment -- movies and the shows, nibbling, rather than dining; and hubby and I -- his idea of relaxation is playing his guitar in a quiet spot onboard, and mine is a spirited trivia match) would be very different than some other families -- maybe the kids are into rock climbing walls, the parents can't wait to zipline in port, etc. I think I would scream if taken on a Disney cruise. Not because of the lack of casino, even though I don't gamble, but because I know it can cost twice other similar cruises and because I'm just not into Disney. My daughter has grown out of Disney -- even though she wouldn't mind a trip to DL or DW. In fact, if I want to torture her, I can put on music from HSM.

 

For my family: Princess, as it seems to have what we're looking for in a cruise, but other families may have different tastes.

[Sailingpeace]

What are the ages ? Two, twenty and forty or fifthy, seventy, ninety ?

[Bridge Maven]

For those who asked - In a previous post I mentioned the age of our three grandchildren.

 

My husband and I have already been on five multi generation cruises within the past few years, on several different cruise lines, and plan to take more in the near future. I started this thread because I thought it would be interesting to see the opinions of other grandparents who have been on cruises with their married children and grandchildren.

[DonnaK]

Since we don't know the interests of the 3 generations -- I would choose between Princess and RCI.

 

We've done 3 generations on both RCI and Princess, and I would recommend either, with an edge going to RCI because of more to keep the young people interested

[7continentKaren]

Our family of 20, aged 5 to 75 picks Carnival everytime. And it is the young adults who nixed Disney. Too annoying, cloying. And, we also figured we could do 3 Carnival cruises for the price of one Disney. I saw a utube of Disney that really sealed the deal. Everywhere the family went there was a cartoon character wanting to have the kids in a picture. We find the regular ship's photographer intrusive but every few feet, you get Goofy? NO!

 

Our first family cruise was four years earlier with one child not yet 2. Carnival will take kids 2 and over in their Carnival Kids. The one year old was not happy at dinner, nor was the 2 year old. However, the 2 yr old could eat at Carnival Kids whereas we were stuck with the 1 yr old. Don't do the cruise with anyone who is not old enough for the babysitting.

 

This year, the kids were a pleasure, all old enough to eat in the dining room, be well behaved and enjoy all the dining room entertainment you only find on Carnival. Our only requirement is that we all eat dinner together. Otherwise, I arrange cabins all in a row and members can hang together on ship or shore or not. We all are in ocean view cabins, larger inside than balconies and MUCH safer for the climbing grandkids.

 

We have had only praise from our family for Carnival. Two years ago (we do one every other year), our 5 year old granddaughter was crying her heart out in the parking garage after the cruise. Why? She did not want to leave Carnival Splendor. Her sister on the prior cruise wanted to know if Carnival Glory could be her house.

[Bridge Maven]

Royal Caribbean got the most votes, by far.

 

Celebrity is the only mass market cruise line that did not get any votes.