Which trip with first-time kids?

[newcruiser30]

Hi all,

My husband and I are 41, and will be celebrating our 20th anniversary next year, hopefully on a Royal Caribbean ship!  🙂 We have young kids though (Girls; 10 & 6) and no one to watch them, so we're thinking of bringing them along with us.  They are fairly timid, and have never had the opportunity to fly even. We live in Michigan.   So I was initially thinking just a quick  3-day to the Bahamas.  We'd much rather go to the Caribbean (we've only done the Western trip) though.   Do any of you have experience with kids on a 7 day cruise?  How did they do?  Was it too long for them, or did they enjoy themselves?  What do you recommend?  I'm sorry if I've posted this in the wrong spot...I haven't' cruised in 10 years!  😞

[jbethel11]

1 hour ago, newcruiser30 said:

Hi all,

My husband and I are 41, and will be celebrating our 20th anniversary next year, hopefully on a Royal Caribbean ship!  🙂 We have young kids though (Girls; 10 & 6) and no one to watch them, so we're thinking of bringing them along with us.  They are fairly timid, and have never had the opportunity to fly even. We live in Michigan.   So I was initially thinking just a quick  3-day to the Bahamas.  We'd much rather go to the Caribbean (we've only done the Western trip) though.   Do any of you have experience with kids on a 7 day cruise?  How did they do?  Was it too long for them, or did they enjoy themselves?  What do you recommend?  I'm sorry if I've posted this in the wrong spot...I haven't' cruised in 10 years!  😞

There are so many activities to do on a Royal Caribbean ship. If budget allows, try a 7-day cruise on the Symphony of the Seas, or Harmony of the Seas making stops at CoCoCay, and the Eastern Caribbean. 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

do the Royal Caribbean (Oasis class and newer, or the older AMPED ships like Independence), and don't do 3-5 day cruises (they are called booze cruises for a reason). Do a whole week - y'all will love it!

DS started cruising when he was 3 and totally loved it. He is 8 now, and still loves it! He doesn't do kid's club (due to some residual separation anxiety), but still manages to have a ton of fun with us.

Also, RCI often has a Kids Sail Free sale (like right now), so you can score a fantastic value, especially if you can travel during non-school breaks.

[Dulciana8]

Seven day cruises are great if you can swing the time away, and we have found that our son does great with that time frame! It’s perfect for unpacking everything, getting settled onboard, and taking time to explore what the ship offers without feeling overwhelmed with the expectation to get everything done/see everything within a weekend type timeframe, which is basically what a 3 day cruise is. Go for the whole week— your girls will love it! 

[Tapi]

My kids are 7 and 9, and they’ve already taken  10 cruises across 5 different cruise lines,  from 3 to 10 nights, from the Bahamas, to the Caribbean, to Alaska, to the Mediterranean.

 

If your kids are anything like mine, they’ll enjoy cruising no matter what you select! It’s a fantastic experience for the whole family. I do believe that you shouldn’t cruise for less than 5 nights, preferably 7 nights. It takes a few days for cruisers to get their bearings, specially if they’ve never cruised before or if they are on a ship they’ve never sailed on before. 3-4 night cruises are simply way too short. By the time you get into “cruise mode” it’s time to get off the ship.

 

Royal Caribbean will be an excellent choice for your kids first cruise. The ships are wonderful and there’s something to do for every member of the family, no matter the age. On Royal, we’ve sailed from their smallest ship (Empress) to one of their largest Oasis ships (Allure). And the kids loved every single cruise. But I would definitely lean towards one of their newest and largest Oasis ships. There’s just so much to do! 

 

Hope you have an excellent time! 

Edited October 8, 2019 by Tapi

[1025cruise]

I wouldn't fly from Michigan to Florida for a 3 day cruise.

[kitkat343]

A lot will depend on your children.  Are your children flexible about things like bedtimes, and do they like to explore and see new things (as opposed to being happiest when they are in their regular routines?)  There are some children who might struggle on a 7 day caribbean cruise, but those are children who generally struggle with vacations and being out of their routines.    Most kids will really love this type of vacation.

 

We've also never had anyone to watch our kids, so we started taking them on cruises with us starting at the age of 2 and I can honestly tell you that as long as your kids like to travel/like to do new things they will have a blast on a 7 day cruise.    

 

If you can afford it, it is really important to book private excursions for just your family so you can completely control the itinerary and return back to the ship if anyone gets overwhelmed.  It's really important not to waste your kids' limited patience waiting for 40 people to load/unload on a bus.  By taking strategic breaks, and feeding my son whenever he started to get tired/whiny on our private tour, my son managed to visit all of the major tourist destinations in St. Petersburg over two days at the age of 3.5.   You should look at the ship excursions, and then search trip advisor or the location forums on cruise critic to try to find local vendors who can duplicate the ship excursions.  Also, search trip advisor/destination forums for kids activities since there are sometimes some great kids activities that the ship excursions don't cover.  

 

Depending on your flexibility, you also might want to include at least the 10 year old in the planning  - there might be an excursion or ship amenity they would love,  which will help increase the chances of them being excited about the trip overall.

 

Bring the kids to the open house at the kids club first night, so they become comfortable there.  If they are anything like my children, they won't want to leave!

 

If they aren't adventurous eaters, I'd recommend sticking to the kids menu (but if they are willing to try new foods the buffet is amazing for getting kids to try things you wouldn't imagine they'd like but you shouldn't fight with them over food if being on vacation itself is stressful for your kids.)    

 

My signature lines have reviews with more details about cruising with kids, but they won't be as useful as reviews for where you are visiting.  You can search reviews on cruise critic of the destinations you are considering and limit it to people who listed family as a qualifier in their review submission.  Have a great trip!

Edited October 9, 2019 by kitkat343

[Itchy&Scratchy]

9 hours ago, kitkat343 said:

Depending on your flexibility, you also might want to include at least the 10 year old in the planning  - there might be an excursion or ship amenity they would love,  which will help increase the chances of them being excited about the trip overall.

good idea.

 

Also a good idea is to be aware of the min and max height and weight limits on some of the attractions. If your kid gets very excited about trying the zipline on the Allure but you don't discover until when you are onboard that the min weight is 75# and your kid is too small for it, you don't want them to be disappointed. Same for the trampoline on NCL Getaway - max weight is 80#, so many kids over 10 were out.

[plaz70]

Explorer of the Seas 10 nights was our kids first cruise at 10, 9 &9.  They had a blast.  We took them to the kids club the first night.  They made friends with a couple boys and the 5 of them hung out together for the entire cruise.  They were all very well behaved.  We did shore excursions and a few dinners as a family.  We set a curfew.  Unless there was an organized activity at the kids club that ran later or with us, they needed to be in their cabin by 11pm.  No inviting anyone into their cabin and no entering anyone else's cabin.  There was one cruise we did where the kids did not like the club or most of the kids they met. Several of them were misbehaving in the restaurants....being rude, making messes intentionally, ordering food they had no intention of eating, ect.  A few kids were sitting on an outside railing at night, security was called.  My kids told me they didn't want to hang out with them.  At first, I couldn't get a clear reason why, but eventually they told me.  So, I make them go the first night, but I don't push it after that.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

19 hours ago, plaz70 said:

Explorer of the Seas 10 nights was our kids first cruise at 10, 9 &9. We set a curfew.  Unless there was an organized activity at the kids club that ran later or with us, they needed to be in their cabin by 11pm.  No inviting anyone into their cabin and no entering anyone else's cabin. 

my almost 9 yo does NOT have free roaming rights on the ship. And he won't for a few more years.

[plaz70]

It's not a huge ship.  My kids stayed together and they didn't exactly roam the ship freely all day and my 9 year olds were 1 month shy of 10 and my 10 year old 2 months shy of 11.  They stayed in public areas.  They could check themselves into the kids club, but a parent needed to check them out.  They stayed mostly at the sports court, arcade, ate without us at the windjammer and saw a couple shows without us.  We and the parents of the kids they were hanging out with checked on them from time to time.  They are now 15,15 & 16.  This December will be their 4th cruise and they have demonstrated to me on past cruises that they know how to behave.  They have told me about how they have refused to hang out with other kids who are misbehaving.  I would not let a single 8 year old roam freely either.

[chipmaster]

Congratulations on 20, waited a long time before taking the kids plunge, LOL.

 

I've sailed with two young kids, then three kids and then Adults and kid-adults, LOL.  My prospective maybe was cruise was always a "family" vacation never a couples thing. 

 

As others have said if I'm flying, I'd bite the bullet and do a week on a bigger ship.  They have full range of activities and clubs.   You hopefully know your kids well, they likely won't be in the same club ( check the rules, there are NO exceptions to allow siblings if they are not in the right age range ).    As to clubs, my kids varied in their enjoyment or even desire to go to clubs and it had nothing to do with their ability to be out going or social.  My most social and open hated it, my most passive and quiet loved it.   Go figure drop into a group of strangers that would have happened.   Regardless we always enjoyed our times.

 

As to ports, always did some thing all together; beach, dolphin, snorkeling, sail, etc. etc.  how this goes also depends on their and your thoughts on fun or couples time.  

 

My personal thought, if you are planning on having the ship be your 7x12 day care, you could be disappointed.  I have never brought kids expecting it to be that, it was always more like 7x24 amusement park family time.   Some meals and hours away most meals and time together.  I know everyone's thoughts about cruise-vacation are different here.