Family cruise info

[mweger]

My husband and I are taking our four year old on our first cruise at the end of July. We are trying to decide which cruise ship to take and which ports would be best for us. Any suggestions would be great. Thank you !!

[ufyellowfin]

We really liked the Sunshine. We just got off her today with our 2.5 and 5 year old. Our room was in the aft, an OV on deck 5. I recommend something back there on that ship because the splash parks and camp carnival along with lido market and Havana are back there. Makes it a lot easier not having to walk the entire ship to get to the kids club.

 

The big slides have a 42" requirement but the splash park has two small side by side slides that don't look like much but kept my two happy for quite a while each day.

 

I have heard that the Camp Carnivals are bigger on the newer ships but we really enjoyed our time on the Sunshine.

 

Costa Maya was stop 1 and we did the ruins at Chaccoben. This was my least favorite port with the kids. If you do the ruins be sure to bring bug spray.

 

Isla Roatan was our favorite. We did Little French Key and everyone from the kids to us loved it. So much to do there and not get bored without having to really do anything.

 

I stayed on the boat with the kids in Belize as they were too young to do most of the good excursions and I worked in Belize for about 2 months before so I didn't need to get off. The kids had a fun day at camp and with dad at the water slides. My wife went zip lining and 4 wheeling.

 

In cozumel we rented a car from Hertz or Budget for 80 bucks including full coverage and drove out to Punta Sur. We climbed the lighthouse and took some great pictures then went down to the beach that's in a nice calm cove and played. Ordered some food and then went back to the ship.

 

My kids loved it , which I'm glad because I had already booked another cruise on a different kind going to Bermuda and Nassau next April.

Edited May 17, 2015 by ufyellowfin

[Sooner-Cruisers]

I'd choose a ship that has carnival waterworks (kids slides and spray ground) and the dr Seuss at sea. Our 3 year old had a blast!

[brookeq]

We sailed the dream when my son was 5. The water park area for kids was a big hit and so was camp carnival.

 

You can see a review in my signature below.

 

We did the same itinerary that ufyellowfin did.

 

Cozumel is a good port that has lots of different options to do. We went to paradise beach with the kids. Nice beach, and a big freshwater pool. Only a couple of bucks to get in.

 

Costa Maya has a large pool if you are just looking for something easy one day. Going to 4 islands is a lot for little ones. This was our last stop and our kids were cranky so we skipped our tour and hung out at the pool.

 

Belize was hard with little ones. We had to pay a lot of money to get to a nice beach. So maybe choose a cruise that doesn't go here.

 

Roatan has beach right where you dock but there is plenty of other great things to do.

 

some other islands we like:

 

Grand Turk is a huge beach right where you dock. Super easy with kids

 

Grand Cayman is easy to get around and has great beaches and snorkeling.

 

half moon cay Carnivals private island. Very nice.

 

We also enjoyed St. martin and st thomas.

 

I would not choose a bahamas cruise

[vwrestler171]

I would say Breeze, it also has the water works, plus the kids camps looked amazing when we sailed on her. We were planning on taking our kids on breeze until they moved her.

[Lerin]

Waaay too vague of a post.

 

Where are you coming from? Do you need to fly? Is there a certain port you must be near? How long to you plan to cruise? 3-day, 7+ days? Specific budget? What do you like to do (beach, shop...)

 

I personally would take Legend to Alaska, we've gone twice with kids and had a great time. But most Ccl cruisers are looking for the Carib.

 

 

They are all good and you'll have a good time on all of them.

Go to the CCL website and use the search for a cruise function to see what pops up.

 

Good luck and have fun

[johnritt]

if you want to go out on your own, I would lean towards a western Caribbean cruise and try to avoid Belize and Jamaica. I don't know about fun excursions like cave tubing with a four year old (Belize), and I personally don't care for Jamaica, though others do.

 

Eastern is a blast, but more work with a four year old, I think.

[RuthlessBoss]

My husband and I are taking our four year old on our first cruise at the end of July. We are trying to decide which cruise ship to take and which ports would be best for us. Any suggestions would be great. Thank you !!

 

My suggestion is give us a few hints on your hopes.

[mweger]

Thank you for those who have given some ideas. We are really not positive on destination. We were thinking Caribbean or Bahamas but we are open ( would like a beach vacation). I was just wanting to get ideas from other parents which places are best. When I spoke to a carnival representative they suggested the Carnival Victory to the Caribbean. I have read many good and bad reviews on this ship so I just wasn't sure. Or are there other ships that parents have had great or bad experiences with ? We are from Indiana, so we are open to go out of any port. Thank you again

[johnritt]

I personally would not travel all the way from Indiana just to go to the Bahamas. The Caribbean is much more fun (for me) and you generally sail on nicer and newer ships too.

[arpie05]

This will help figure out what ships have what https://www.goccl.com/~/media/GOCCL/content/pdf/FunShipFeatures.ashx

I think Cozumel is family friendly. Also Bahamas. Hard to beat private island of Half Moon Cay. Grand Turk is also awesome. Virgin islands family friendly. Look for for ships that go to these places. Larger ship like Breeze, Dream would be good and Dr Seuss prob would be fun unless your son hates characters.

 

 

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[sjcruiser]

We've done the Sunshine and the Breeze, and for the amenities, we prefer the Breeze. We chose the Sunshine again this year because of the itinerary.