10th anniversary ruins with kids at holidays

[psychtobe]

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1789995

 

This is being xposted at the suggestion of the Ask a Cruise Question board.

 

 

I am taking my wife and two kids on a 10th anniversary cruise in December 2014 (anniversary is 1/1/15). We will be 41 and the kids will be 5 and almost 8.

 

I am looking for about 10 days; must be warm weather. And we have to fly from Oregon to the port and pay for hotels, so that needs to be in our budget.

 

Priorities are:

 

food quality

kid friendly (but not kid-focused like Disney)

warm weather

 

Budget is flexible, maybe $10,000 for everything including airfare (which is typically $2000 roundtrip at the holidays) and hotels, etc.

 

We have cruised 4 days Royal Caribbean out of Galveston. That was ok but not impressive.

 

We cruised 7 days on Princess out of Seattle to Alaska, and that was great. Food was awesome.

 

If you can help steer me in the direction of a cruise line and an itinerary I will do some research and come back with some questions. Also please consider the best family accommodations given the constraints - a suite would be nice for the space but will eat up almost all our money. Would two adjoining rooms be better?

 

Thank you, this is such a great resource for those of us who don't know a lot about the industry.

 

My initial thought is Celebrity to the Southern Caribbean...

 

PS - if this budget is too low we can increase it.

[boulders]

Most of the itineraries are not out yet for December 2014. I would suggest waiting a couple of months until the itineraries are released. All of the major cruiselines will have things for kids to do and there will be plenty of kids on any cruise at that time of the year.

[rebeccalouiseagain]

I would do one out of San Francisco LA or San Diego to save on expensive air travel and aggravation and the time change.

 

Right now Princess does a 15 day to Hawaii out of San Francisco (mini- suite Dec. for family of 4= $10,396) and Princess does 15 night Hawaii cruises out of LA. (suites for Dec. 2013 mini suite for 4 pp total $9196)

 

Princess also does 7-night Mexican Riviera cruises out of LA. (Mini suite/4pp total $3856)

 

Holland America does a 12 night Mexican Riviera out of San Diego (suite 4pp $10,800) and does a 7-night Mexican out of San Diego (suite $8,700)

 

Celebrity does a 15 night Hawaii cruise out of San Diego (family oceanview with veranda $10,392)

[nothriver]

I vote for two connecting cabins, or some kind of family suite that has a separate bedroom so you can put the kids to bed in one cabin and enjoy your evening together. I'm biased because my child sleeps best in a dark quiet room - so on a cruise or in a hotel, I have to sit in a dark quiet room after she goes to bed. I'd pay more for my own space! Maybe your kids are better sleepers, however.

[psychtobe]

Hadn't thought of the Hawaii option, thank you for that. We have family and go already one or two times a year, also have never considered a cruise with so many consecutive sea days. I'll research.

 

What is HAL like for kids?

[rebeccalouiseagain]

On the 15 night cruises there will be very few kids on any of the lines. They won't attract as many school age children. So the kids will end up getting more one-on-one attention which is a good thing IMO.

 

On Holland specifically- my son enjoyed his time there but his favorite cruise line (and mine) is Celebrity. I think they have the best youth program at sea.

 

Princess has great pools and an outdoor movie theater which we absolutely loved. The youth program is good.

 

So I think you'd have a good time on all three cruise lines- but I'd give the edge to Celebrity for "luxury" and the youth program.

[mommaof 3]

What about the Norwegian Pearl on Dec 22 - it's 11 nights from Miami to 5 stops in the southern carribbean - St. Thomas, St. Kitts-Nevis, St. Lucia, Willemstad in the Antilles, and Aruba. Returns on Jan 2.

 

We fly a lot and know how much the airfare is during that time frame - hopefully this would be far enough from both christmas and new years to be more reasonable. However, I'd be concerned that airfare could be more than $2k.

 

On the "cheap" side a 285 sqft mini suite with balcony is $5000. Two connecting rooms in this case would also be in the $5-6k range. A 500ish sqft penthouse w/balcony is just under $8k. I love the 2 bdrm suites when you have kids, but it is $12k. One in the haven is $13.5k.

 

Anyway, can't comment on NCL, haven't been, but it fits your ranges and sounds like a great cruise. Love the Hawaii options and would go in a heartbeat, but if you go often and are looking for something new...

 

We love Oregon btw!

[psychtobe]

One bedroom is probably enough for us as our kids love to sleep together on vacation. They can have a sofa bed, we can take the bedroom.

 

Will look at all of these options as schedules come available. Also we have plenty of frequent flyer miles and hotel points to at least get two airfares and pre and post cruise hotel, that may mitigate our costs somewhat.

[rebeccalouiseagain]

I really don't see the point in flying all the way to the Caribbean. The kids will be really thrown off with the time and coming home it will be another adjustment. Hawaii is far superior to the Caribbean. I haven't done the Mexican Riveria but I know that kids are going to have just as much fun on that itinerary as the Caribbean one.

 

So make you life simple- the ship is the best part anyway.

[alj1208]

I disagree that the plane ride to the Caribbean will be a problem. As a mother of younger children, I would say that extra sea days on a Hawaii cruise will not be fun if the kids don't take to the kids' club. If you want everyone to have fun, choose a Caribbean itinerary with lots of shore days (so you can all explore or go to the beach), or, one of the bigger ships that has lots to do (like Oasis of the Seas). We cruised Celebrity Eclipse in the Caribbean when our son was 4. We enjoyed the upscale, adult atmosphere (you and your wife need that for your anniversary), but the ship was very family-friendly. There was a family pool near the larger pool, and the kids' club was not crowded and had excellent activities. For a family that is content with a low key but very nice experience, Celebrity is the way to go. If you liked Princess, in my opinion, you will love Celebrity.

[rebeccalouiseagain]

Boston to Florida is not like Oregon to Florida. It will be an all day flight coming and going. Hawaii is so much better than the Caribbean. I wouldn't waste my money flying that far when Hawaii is just as close for them.

 

I agree with Celebrity being a great cruise line for kids and I can't see anyone being bored on the 15 night cruise. I love the sea days. My son loves the sea days and he did a 14 night Transatlantic on Celebrity when he was 4 and had an absolute ball.

 

There will be enough kids to keep the 5 and 8 year old entertained.

[alj1208]

Boston to Florida is not like Oregon to Florida. It will be an all day flight coming and going. Hawaii is so much better than the Caribbean. I wouldn't waste my money flying that far when Hawaii is just as close for them.

 

I agree with Celebrity being a great cruise line for kids and I can't see anyone being bored on the 15 night cruise. I love the sea days. My son loves the sea days and he did a 14 night Transatlantic on Celebrity when he was 4 and had an absolute ball.

 

There will be enough kids to keep the 5 and 8 year old entertained.

 

 

We fly a lot with our child (including long-haul), and I agree Boston to Florida is easier than Oregon to Florida, but to each his own. At least OP will have some varying opinions to consider and options to weigh. Let's face it, it's a nice problem to have!

[psychtobe]

I'm not worried about the flights, we've taken our kids to Israel, Hawaii several times, Japan, Spain, Italy - they fly great. I think they have less jet lag than we do!

 

I am definitely thinking Celebrity and I have been peeking at their suites. I also found the 'best suites at sea' article on the main cruisecritic website and it's got me salivating, so I think part of our itinerary may be driven by access to a special suite - not a penthouse kind of thing but something that will definitely surprise and impress my wife, who has put up with my general cheapness for 15 years already.

 

So let's say I'm up to $15k for a budget, and assume I can get two airfare for free, and hotels for free pre- and post-. That would leave maybe $1500 for two airfares, or $13.5k for the cruise including on-board spending and excursions.

 

I think she'd really be most interested in a SoCal to Florida trans-canal cruise, that made some warm weather stops in the Caribbean. Is that about a 2 week cruise?

[rebeccalouiseagain]

Yes the Celebrity Infinity does one November 22 from San Diego and it is 15 nights. We sailed Infinity in Alaska and loved that ship. The kids will have a great time. It looks like most of the suites have sold out. The cheapest on would be over $14,000 for a family of four. You could aways just do connecting balcony staterooms. That way you would have privacy (adult time) two tv's and two bathrooms- which I would prefer to a suite with four people.

 

Before deciding on the Panama Canal itinerary go to the link for ports of call Panama Canal because I have heard the locks are interesting but that the ports are poor and it is buggy there. So I'm not that interested in doing the canal for a relaxing vacation.