1st time cruise for 7 year olds

[TheFacts]

:)I want to take my wife( who has been on a cruise) and my two 7 year old boys( who have not been on a cruise) on a cruise in January or February of 16 but I really don’t know which cruise line to take for the boys. I’ve read so many blogs and went on to the individual lines like RCI, carnival, MSC and Norwegian. Disney right of the bat is way too expensive$$ right now. My boys love those slides and love too swim and throw themselves into a pool. Any ideas out there?

[snorkelman]

We brought our twin daughters from ages 6-10 on multiple Royal Caribbean ships and they loved the kids programs and the flowrider, zip line, mini golf, ice skating, rock wall...the height/weight restrictions on some of those so your kids may not be able to do some if they are too small.

[ladygal4.4]

Last year we took our four children on Carnival. Ages 4, 6, 9, and 10. They had an amazing time. The counselors really work with them with various crafts, activities, games, themed nights, parties. They would come home every day, look at the schedule for the next day, and plan out their day. My kids are ready counting down the days till our carnival sunshine cruise in February.

 

I really feel safe having them in camp carnival. They're very tight on their security, you only can get them out by showing your card. I also enjoy that they are open in the early evening and will feed the kids at no extra charge so my husband and I can have a quiet romantic dinner.

 

Depending on the port (if it's not something that they would enjoy) the kids may just stay in camp carnival the whole time and not even get off the boat. My kids despise shopping and sightseeing. They'd much rather be at a beach or playing with their new friends

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Cruisin' Chick]

One thing to be aware of is that if you're going when school is in session for most kids, there may be a low number of school-aged kids on board. May or may not be a big deal for twins, but they might want to make some other friends during their vacation.

[snorkelman]

One thing to be aware of is that if you're going when school is in session for most kids' date=' there may be a low number of school-aged kids on board. May or may not be a big deal for twins, but they might want to make some other friends during their vacation.[/quote']

 

We have only brought our twins with us in late September or October when we have cruised. School is in session. Plenty of kids on the RCI ships. One was 3 or 4 day cruise on the Majesty, and several -day cruises on the Allure and Oasis. The latter ships had 1000 kids on them each sailing in September/October. There has never been an issue for our kids about not having enough kids for them to have fun in the kids program.

 

We have always made their attendance in the kids program a mandatory aspect for us taking them on cruises with us. We always take them off the ship for excursions, because that is our preference, but you can leave them in the kids program if you like.

 

The kids also loved the kids program for dinner. 30 minutes and dinner is done...much better from their perspective than 2 hours in the dining room.

[OCruisers]

:)I want to take my wife( who has been on a cruise) and my two 7 year old boys( who have not been on a cruise) on a cruise in January or February of 16 but I really don’t know which cruise line to take for the boys. I’ve read so many blogs and went on to the individual lines like RCI, carnival, MSC and Norwegian. Disney right of the bat is way too expensive$$ right now. My boys love those slides and love too swim and throw themselves into a pool. Any ideas out there?

 

Welcome to Cruise Critic!

 

RCCL has lots of the feature and activities you're wanting.

As mentioned by Patty, there won't be too many children on the ship that time of year because of school.

 

LuLu

[tweetypie_67]

I would go with one of the bigger RCL ships. We started cruising with our kids in early elem. school ( always took them out of school for vacation) and they loved it! Never had a problem with a small amount of kids.... There are plenty of cool parents like us out there!

[Gardeneroflove]

It depends as well, on the ship, not just the cruise line.

 

We did RCL and CCL, and will likely not be back with kids. BUT RCL was an old ship. We also don't use the kids' clubs as it's a family vacation, not a drop off our kid vacation, so there's a difference.

 

There was a low number of kids in Jan on RCL and on CCL last week, but again, older RCL ship.

 

We're likely looking at going back to Disney next year or the following. I'd rather skip a year and do Disney, than do CCL or RCL.

 

Basically, it depends on what kind of vacation/cruise you want, and your reason for going.

Edited September 11, 2015 by Gardeneroflove

[mjkacmom]

We love sailing NCL out of NYC. Living in NJ, driving 20 minutes to our vacation can't be beat. The Breakaway is only a couple years old, with great slides, ropes course, rock climbing wall, and great kids clubs. RCCL sails out of Bayonne, but the sail away won't come close to sailing out of NYC.

[Ahmne]

We are going to be cruising with our 7 year old next year. We chose Carnival because it was a better value. It was $1500 cheaper for a cruise with an extra port vs Rci. Both had slides and good activities on the boat, kids programming but the cabins are bigger on ccl.

[Poop_Deck]

We will be taking our almost 7 year old on his first cruise next week. We will be on NCL Getaway. My husband & I have done RCI & Carnival before, but without kids. I would be happy to report back his thoughts of the ship if you are interested!?