Baltic and kids?

[Robin122]

We have an 8 year old son (will still be 8 next summer) and we are thinking about a Baltic sailing as one of our options (since French Polynesia is out now as it's only Paul Gauguin in the summer and kids club is 9+). We want a longer sailing (11-14 days) to a new destination - (hubby says no to Asia and the Med)

 

I am primarily looking at RCCL's 12 Night Scandinavia And Russia Cruise from Harwich on June 20th, but am not locked on that particular date or line.

 

My question is - Will they have a kids club open on sailings like this in June/July? And will there be other English speaking kids for him to play with?

Thanks!

Robin

[Giantfan13]

We have an 8 year old son (will still be 8 next summer) and we are thinking about a Baltic sailing as one of our options (since French Polynesia is out now as it's only Paul Gauguin in the summer and kids club is 9+). We want a longer sailing (11-14 days) to a new destination - (hubby says no to Asia and the Med)

 

I am primarily looking at RCCL's 12 Night Scandinavia And Russia Cruise from Harwich on June 20th, but am not locked on that particular date or line.

 

My question is - Will they have a kids club open on sailings like this in June/July? And will there be other English speaking kids for him to play with?

Thanks!

Robin

 

Robin

 

I haven't sailed on RCCL so I cannot speak about the ship, but just be aware that the Baltics itself is really not a kids friendly type of cruise. It is more about history, old time cities, Palaces, Castles, Churches and more history. What interests you probably will not interest an 8 year old boy.

 

Now I'm not saying it shouldn't be done or that there will be nothing for him to do. You have Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, and there is something in most other cities for children.

 

But I have found that trying to find things that interest a young child may take some of the enjoyment from you and your husband.

 

A while back there was a thread on this forum about taking children to the Baltics and how to make it fun. Maybe you can do a search and see if it is still around.

 

Again, I'm not saying it shouldn't be done, just be aware of all the other elements involved.

 

Cheers

 

Len

[Aorinka]

We had a lovely cruise on the Baltics last summer with our 10 yo daughter. There are plenty of things to see and do there. Boys might enjoy seeing the Vasa ship museum and the changing of the guards in Stockholm, Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, the Peter-and-Paul fortress in St. Petersburg. We had a special family oriented tour with Best Guides in St. Petersburg and they took us to a secret passage in the wall and for a walk on the roof of the fortress wall. There is another fortress in Helsinki where you can only get by ferry which is quite enjoyable. There were not that many children on the Baltic cruise that we took, but there was hardly any time to stay on board anyway so catching the ports of call were.

[brazilgirl]

We had an excellent cruise to the Baltics with our 3 kids ( ages at the time :13 , 11 and 5 ). We enjoyed it so much that we are going back in 2013 (different itinerary-more focused on Norway , Ireland and Scotland). There were lots of English speaking children on board ( more than 100 in fact). We traveled in July on the Constellation , which is less "kid orientated" than RCI.

 

Here is a full review of our cruise , with lots of "kid" tips on what to do. It was fantastic!

 

Kim

[Keith1010]

Yes, the kids club will be open during those months and you will find other children on board.

 

Keith

[brazilgirl]

Oops , I forgot to include the link to my review:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1029709&highlight=complete+baltic+review+kids

[hencoll]

Oops , I forgot to include the link to my review:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1029709&highlight=complete+baltic+review+kids

 

Enjoyed your review very much! It's always fun to read how other families of 5 travel. :)

[brazilgirl]

Traveling as a family of 5 is always an adventure...the world is designed for families of 4! :)

 

But we always have an amazing time!

[nybumpkin]

Traveling as a family of 5 is always an adventure...the world is designed for families of 4! :)

 

But we always have an amazing time!

Just try to get a hotel room for a family of five! We end up booking a room for 4 and have one of the kids make do with the sofa or chair if we can't get a rollaway. Sometimes DH takes the chair - his back tends to give out around 3 in the morning.:p

 

We sailed our first nine cruises as a family of five, twice with all 5 of us in a regular-sized balcony cabin. We started when the kids were 4, 8 and 13. Then 4 years ago the oldest went off to college and our schedules could never match to cruise with him. This summer we're sailing as a family of five again - this time to celebrate oldest's graduation and our 30th wedding anniversary - to the Baltic. The kids are a little order now - they'll be 22, 17 and 13 this time - and they're really looking forward to it.

[brazilgirl]

That's why I kove sailing Celebrity...they have an amazing Family Stateroom that accomodates all five of us and has a huge balcony!

 

On our fjords cruise next July , we had to get 2 staterooms ( HAL won't allow 5 to a room) and we had to book 2 hotel rooms in Denmark and Amsterdam. European hotel rooms are so small! Breaks the bank!

[hencoll]

Yes, hotels and standard cruise ship cabins are not ideal for a family of 5. Airfare is can also be bank breaker. We've been fortunate the past few years to use my husbands United miles but it still can be difficult to find 5 award tickets on the same flight. We haven't had to split up yet but we always consider it when booking award tickets.

 

Our adventures as a family of 5, have been amazing. It's been awesome to watch how our girls interests have developed based on their experiences. :)

[brazilgirl]

Last year we split up due to award tickets... My sons and I on United , my husband and daughter on Delta. International tickets , family of 5 , great savings! Sometimes just gotta do it!

[Al_Frescoe]

Just try to get a hotel room for a family of five! We end up booking a room for 4 and have one of the kids make do with the sofa or chair if we can't get a rollaway. Sometimes DH takes the chair - his back tends to give out around 3 in the morning.:p

 

We sailed our first nine cruises as a family of five, twice with all 5 of us in a regular-sized balcony cabin. We started when the kids were 4, 8 and 13. Then 4 years ago the oldest went off to college and our schedules could never match to cruise with him. This summer we're sailing as a family of five again - this time to celebrate oldest's graduation and our 30th wedding anniversary - to the Baltic. The kids are a little order now - they'll be 22, 17 and 13 this time - and they're really looking forward to it.

 

Still booking a "room for 4"? :)

 

Enjoy

[Hlitner]

There will be plenty of kids on any European RCI cruise during the summer months and the kids club will be in full operation on sea days. We first took our daughter to Europe when she was 9 (a month trip using a Eurorail Pass) and more then twenty years later she still remembers most of the details. My advice (we were given similar advice years ago) is encourage your child to do his own pre-trip research and help in the planning of port days, excursions, etc. Our daughter dictated her own "rules" which included that when we stopped for a glass of wine or beer it had to be at a cafe/restaurant that had ice cream. She also insisted on buying a pair of shoes while in Paris (and she has not changed this habit in over twenty years).

 

By the way, am curious as to why your hubby has ruled out the Med. Its a fabulous region for cruising (and land trips) and offers lots of things that would excite most kids.

 

Hank

[hencoll]

There will be plenty of kids on any European RCI cruise during the summer months and the kids club will be in full operation on sea days. We first took our daughter to Europe when she was 9 (a month trip using a Eurorail Pass) and more then twenty years later she still remembers most of the details. My advice (we were given similar advice years ago) is encourage your child to do his own pre-trip research and help in the planning of port days, excursions, etc. Our daughter dictated her own "rules" which included that when we stopped for a glass of wine or beer it had to be at a cafe/restaurant that had ice cream. She also insisted on buying a pair of shoes while in Paris (and she has not changed this habit in over twenty years).

 

By the way, am curious as to why your hubby has ruled out the Med. Its a fabulous region for cruising (and land trips) and offers lots of things that would excite most kids.

 

Hank

 

Your post made me smile! We have 3 daughters and they each have a specific request when we travel. Our oldest who is 16 insists on buying a cosmetic item from each location, she tries to stick to the local brands plus she takes pictures of any Sephora stores she sees in other countries. The look on her face when we stumbled upon one while wandering the streets of Lucca still makes me laugh. My middle daughter 11 is all about key chains or items she can make into key chains, she also takes some amazing pictures. Our youngest who is 9 loves potato chips and has got to buy and taste the local flavors. :)

 

I have to say that traveling with our kids has changed the way we see things. It's refreshing to see and hear their impressions of the places we visit.

[sbhdmh]

I think this is the thread that Len was referring to

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1077265&highlight=baltic+with+kids+5+and+7

 

I was a major contributor to it way back then. My daughter will be celebrating her 8th birthday later this month on a Panama Canal cruise. She got hooked on cruising - and on travel in general - as a result of her Baltic experience.