NCL Mediterranean with kids?

[2littleprincesses]

We are thinking of doing a mediterranean cruise in June 2014 with 2 dds 13 and 10 at the time of cruising. Are there many other families with kids on these cruises? It will be on the spirit. Also, my girls don't speak another language so are the other families mostly European or American? At those ages they will probably not want to hang out with mom and dad, but want to make sure there would be some kids they could hang out with and talk to. Thanks for any help!

[Sauer-kraut]

They will be fine. There are several nationalities on board, but many do come from the United Kingdom. Also the kids clubs have english speaking crew members. I wouldn't worry about a language barrier -- most kids can sort out ways to get to know one another.

 

Med cruises are port intensive, you will be spending most of the time sightseeing anyways. Also join the roll call for your sailing, there will be opportunities for your daughters to chat with other teens/tweens and have friends they already know before they even board the ship.

[dijid]

When we did the Jade Med in Feb. 2011, there were less than 100 kids on board. Chances are, you will have more families onboard in June, but I don't think there will be tons. My kids enjoyed the cruise, but only had an OK time with the kids clubs. They combined all kids ages 5-12, and had a lot of "free play" instead of organized activites. Sometimes the family activities were cancelled because there weren't enough families to show up. Most kids onboard spoke English and the kids club employees spoke English. Only my youngest (7 at the time) really enjoyed the kids club, and we ended up doing a lot more as a family than on our previous CCL cruise. We did meet one other family on our Roll Call before.

 

We're doing the Jade again in March. No other kids or teens on the Roll Call this time, so I don't have high hopes for the kids clubs. Expecting we'll be spending time as a family on sea days.

[steph7021]

We'll be doing a Spirit cruise in June of 14....though my daughter will be 18. This cruise is all about the ports...if your kids are excited to see Europe..go for it! You'll be exhausted at the end of everyday and getting up each morning very early...and there is only 1 sea day I think (maybe 2) Anyway...it really won't be about the ship or other families IMHO

[rocklinmom]

We will be on the Spirit in June of 14 also. My kids will be ages 16, 14, and 10 by then. So there will be kids the same age :)

I agree with the others that you will probably spend a lot of time seeing Europe anyway, and in the afternoons there should be plenty of teens and tweens by the pool.

[conandrob240]

We did this last year. There were more kids than you can even imagine! Flooded with kids. But our kid, 13, had a great time. Most Europeans speak some English so language was not an issue and meeting kids from all over the world ( "they are so much more interesting than the boring kids from NY") was a highlight for him.

[trvlgirlmq]

You probably won't find too many European children on board as most schools don't begin summer break until July. You may encounter more US and Canadian kids who live in areas that finish school late May to early June. We live in an area where school is out before Memorial Day so can travel earlier than most of the country.

 

We are looking at the June 11 Spirit sailing and will have 2 recent HS grads (both already 18), an 11 year old boy and a 9 year old girl (she'll be 10 in July) (ages at time of sailing).

 

There are 2 full sea days and 3 kind of half days. You may also want to skip a port if you think it will be too tiring. A couple of ports could be easy beach days so can be relaxing as well.

 

I hope to book something soon so maybe you will choose this sailing as well and there will be a couple of kids built in!

 

Good luck with whatever you choose.

[steph7021]

You probably won't find too many European children on board as most schools don't begin summer break until July. You may encounter more US and Canadian kids who live in areas that finish school late May to early June. We live in an area where school is out before Memorial Day so can travel earlier than most of the country.

 

We are looking at the June 11 Spirit sailing and will have 2 recent HS grads (both already 18), an 11 year old boy and a 9 year old girl (she'll be 10 in July) (ages at time of sailing).

 

There are 2 full sea days and 3 kind of half days. You may also want to skip a port if you think it will be too tiring. A couple of ports could be easy beach days so can be relaxing as well.

 

I hope to book something soon so maybe you will choose this sailing as well and there will be a couple of kids built in!

 

Good luck with whatever you choose.

 

I think maybe I've read a post from you before about this....but,

I will have my 18 year old DD that will have just graduated from

highschool on this cruise! We have booked and today got

some OBC with the sale. Perhaps as it gets closer and

if you book this sailing--we should do at least 1 tour

with others and their graduated seniors....I saw on the June of 13

sailings that this is a popular graduation gift!

[trvlgirlmq]

Hi Steph,

 

Yes I have made lots of inquiries about the ship, rooms, etc as well! We actually did just book today. This is still going to be tentative until we get a few things finalized with all the parties going. Thank goodness for lenient cancellation policies!

 

The 2 grads will be my oldest child (boy) and his girlfriend. They are both pretty shy but warm up when they get to know someone and the adults aren't around. They are both into video games and he plays drums and she is in chorus so like music a lot.

 

I think the only organized excursion we will do is Ephesus. We've been to Europe several times so are fine with our own research and using public transportation etc. More than happy to have people join us though! I can carry an umbrella or stick with giant pom pom on it :)

 

I'll join the roll call once things are totally set.

[2littleprincesses]

Oh, can't you guys move your date to June 23, 2014? If we went on June 11 one of my dds would miss the last three days of school--don't know how crucial that is, but I think she would not be happy if we did that. So June 23 it is for us I guess.

[steph7021]

My daughter will have had graduated before Memorial Day but my friend that we are traveling with has to wait for her nephew to graduate....and they haven't set the date yet....so actually our date won't be sure until we find that out! I actually prefer the start in Venice.

[trvlgirlmq]

My daughter will have had graduated before Memorial Day but my friend that we are traveling with has to wait for her nephew to graduate....and they haven't set the date yet....so actually our date won't be sure until we find that out! I actually prefer the start in Venice.

 

That is so funny because I really wanted to start in Venice as well but my mom is worried about the heat going into July. We had wanted to do the May 30 sailing and were all set but noticed that the ship is in Florence on Monday when the museums are closed. As my oldest would say Epic Fail!

 

Our last day of school is always the Wednesday before Memorial Day and graduation will be over the previous weekend.

[trvlgirlmq]

Oh, can't you guys move your date to June 23, 2014? If we went on June 11 one of my dds would miss the last three days of school--don't know how crucial that is, but I think she would not be happy if we did that. So June 23 it is for us I guess.

 

Might be a tough sell to Grandma! Plus this sailing includes my 40th :eek: and her 60th birthday!

 

We are actually waiting to see what the other cruise lines will be doing as well and will make our final decision once they have released dates/itineraries.

[jdvmd]

We are thinking of doing a mediterranean cruise in June 2014 with 2 dds 13 and 10 at the time of cruising. Are there many other families with kids on these cruises? It will be on the spirit. Also, my girls don't speak another language so are the other families mostly European or American? At those ages they will probably not want to hang out with mom and dad, but want to make sure there would be some kids they could hang out with and talk to. Thanks for any help!

 

I think you will be surprised at how many kids will be onboard. This is a very port intensive cruise. Up early and not returning to the ship until late. Very full days. I don't think there will be that much time for kid's club activities.

[rocklinmom]

2littleprincesses, we are on the June 23rd cruise (out of Venice).

So there will for sure be my two teens and a 10 year old girl on your cruise.

I think there will be lots of kids.

[2littleprincesses]

Great Jennifer--glad to meet you. We have only been on one other cruise which was a Disney Western Caribbean 2 years ago and my girls didn't really use the kids clubs there. I don't know if they will use them this time either, but just wanted to see if there were other kids aboard. As with sisters it is a love/hate thing and sometimes they need their space from each other.

[Stella2008]

My kids, daughter 11 and son 18 will be coming with us, leaving May 22 from Rome. I'm glad to hear there will likely be other kids going to the mediterranean! My daughter is shy, so she will likely not mingle, but this is my son's first cruise. I am hoping he meets some other people there his age! At his age, hanging around mom and dad all the time is boring!

[trvlgirlmq]

Great Jennifer--glad to meet you. We have only been on one other cruise which was a Disney Western Caribbean 2 years ago and my girls didn't really use the kids clubs there. I don't know if they will use them this time either, but just wanted to see if there were other kids aboard. As with sisters it is a love/hate thing and sometimes they need their space from each other.

 

Once your roll call gets hopping you should also find more families. I think people are still thinking about THIS summer's vacation and us early birds will have to hang on for a bit for them to catch up!

Edited January 22, 2013 by trvlgirlmq

[conandrob240]

My 13 yr old was as shy as could be. Never liked kids clubs and didn't want to go to the one on our Epic med cruise last year. Made him go first night. He became a diff person- wanted to be in there every second and came home with an " award"- " most likely to be missed" voted by all 60 or so teens in the program.

[wnycruisefam66]

2littleprincesses, we are on the June 23rd cruise (out of Venice).

So there will for sure be my two teens and a 10 year old girl on your cruise.

I think there will be lots of kids.

 

We will be on this cruise too with you & 2littleprincesses. Myself, DH, DD who will be 19 & DS who will be 13. I'm thinking the same thing - that we'll be too exhausted after all the ports & that my son won't even bother with the kids clubs, but we'll see.

[wurking_girl]

Did any of you ultimately opt for the Jade cruise in June 2014? I'm planning a trip with several older teens and young 20s and they are concerned with reviews that say the median age on the Jade is typically 55+. We did a western Med cruise on the Epic two years ago in August and there were lots of teens from all over Europe, so I'm hoping a summer cruise on the Jade will be the same. Just need some ammo to convince my daughter!

Edited January 3, 2014 by wurking_girl
Corrected spelling

[steph7021]

We ended up booking the May 26 sailing out of Venice on the MSC Armonia! The price was really good. The girls (my daughter and her friend) will be 18 and so for better or worse they will be legal on this sailing and can go to the dance clubs. We just plan on monitoring their sail cards.

 

 

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[wurking_girl]

I'd love to go a bit earlier in the year as I know June will be HOT but daughter graduates June 6th... Have a great trip - I'm sure the girls will be just fine! I just tell myself that next year, she'll be at college and I won't have any idea what she's up to... ;)

[L3GWG]

Yep unfortunately you will find tonnes of kids on board !

 

 

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[TSJE4]

Hi . We are on the Spirit sailing out of Venice the 30 th of May with our two children who will be 12 and 14 years . Hoping there will be a few kids the same ages to hang with in kids club on this cruise . I think my kids are just as excited about meeting other children from other parts of the globe as well as seeing some of it :-) I think by the time we fly from Barcelona after such an extensive itinerary , for the 20 plus hours it takes to get home .... the kids should sleep like babies ..all the way lol