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Cruise Line/Ship for Family


stl2012
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I'm trying to find a cruise line/ship to possibly surprise my step-daughter & her family.  So it's 2 adults and their 4 kids.  Ages of kids, 9 (boy), 7 (girl), 5 (girl), 2 (girl).  Would LOVE to do Disney but it is just WAY too expensive.  What is the best cruise line for kids to do things?  My husband & I have cruises Carnival and Celebrity before but it looks like Royal Caribbean has a good program.  

 

Looking forward to seeing what you all have to say.  Thanks!

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28 minutes ago, stl2012 said:

I'm trying to find a cruise line/ship to possibly surprise my step-daughter & her family.  So it's 2 adults and their 4 kids.  Ages of kids, 9 (boy), 7 (girl), 5 (girl), 2 (girl).  Would LOVE to do Disney but it is just WAY too expensive.  What is the best cruise line for kids to do things?  My husband & I have cruises Carnival and Celebrity before but it looks like Royal Caribbean has a good program.  

 

Looking forward to seeing what you all have to say.  Thanks!

I would choose between either Carnival (Vista Class), NCL (Breakaway Class) and Royal (Oasis Class) for the younger kids. You cannot go wrong with either line, but to prevent boredom, the lines I mentioned above are best.

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Yes...RCI is a great family line, especially on the newer ships.  Even on the Freedom or Voyager class there is PLENTY for kids within your age group.  (They won't be able to use the rock walls, or flow rider on the bigger ships, anyway)...

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It is extremely kind of you to want to do this, but the logistics of those children’s ages might be a concern.  Does your stepdaughter normally take her kids on vacations?  Are you prepared to help with childcare if the kids clubs dont work out?

 

The 2 year old concerns me.  It can sometimes be hard for 2 year olds to participate in drop off programs.   The kids club staff on Cunard was not impressive, and insisted they were too busy to help my 2 year old son with the 10 minute transition into the kids club one on one (which is a totally reasonable position in a busy kids club, but a problem when there are three kids total, and the other two are happily playing together).  We wound up having to complain and also telling our older son he had to help his brother out at the start of camp sincethe counselors weren’t really doing their job.  2 is a tough age - that 2 year old had been in daycare since 4 months so we didn’t really expect difficulties, but we did get them.  So you might want to talk to your stepdaughter to see what her thoughts are on this.  She might be fine without a kids club, might be fine trying it and if it doesn’t work she’ll be happy to pick up the slack or she might want to wait a year to travel with the kids.  But please don’t surprise her with a trip and make her spend her vacation chasing around a 2 year old if that isn’t something she wants to do on vacation.   

 

Some options to consider are that both Cunard and princess allow children under age 3 in kids club with adult supervision.  Cunard and carnival have drop off programs at age 2, and some rc ships and the Norwegian escape have nurseries you can pay to attend.  

Edited by kitkat343
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Thank You.  My husband calls me Mrs. Claus because 1) I get SO much joy out of giving gifts that people will like and 2) I do like to surprise people.  She's mainly a stay at home mom who works a part-time job & her husband or mom will watch the kids.  They have taken their kids on vacations before but just to one of those indoor water parks for 2 days.  I'll talk to her husband & ask him to keep this quiet.  So good point.  

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RCI would be best, followed by NCL (Breakaway and newer) and Carnival. We've never been on Carnival, so this recommendation is based only on reading cruisecritic.

 I wouldn't totally spring this on them without a warning. They should pick the dates (most likely during the school breaks), because they need to make sure dad can take time off work as well.

Edited by Itchy&Scratchy
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Another thing to consider is cabins.  Some lines have limited family suites that will sleep six, but sometimes that means at least two will be sharing a sofabed.  Two cabins connecting 0 with a door between, not just side by side, and with the ages of the kids, not balconies.  So before you obsess on ship amenities, you need to research cabins arrangements.  EM

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