Cruise fare for 10 month old

[CruiseBride926]

On 11/13/2019 at 1:41 PM, Joseph2017China said:

Fares are based on the following:

First person = double price

First and Second per stateroom = main price

Third and Fourth per stateroom = lower price than fist and second.

 

Age does not matter.  Each person pays an equal share of fuel and payroll. 

 

Sometimes Kids sail free, but not really.  They raise the price of first and second to cover 3rd and 4th.

 

My husband and I sailed kidless on the anthem last month in a large balcony room. Next month we sail with the kids in the exact same room for less then a hundred dollars more thanks to ksf.

[Merion_Mom]

8 hours ago, SRF said:

 

The 12 night southern Carib cruises out of Baltimore are 3 sea days down and 3 sea days back.

 

 

You are right.  The Anthem's Southern Caribbean cruises have them, too.  🙂  

[Joseph2017China]

On ‎11‎/‎14‎/‎2019 at 7:35 AM, papaflamingo said:

Not necessarily. We booked 3 Crown Lofts in 2017.  For my "retirement cruise" I took both sons and their families.  We had 6 adults and 5 kids under 12.  I booked via an Interline Discount as it was a VERY good discount!  Then a Kids Sail Free promotion came out. I re-booked the adults at the non-Interline rate and did the Kids Sail Free, I saved over $2000! So I wouldn't actually generalize quite so much. You really have to check the bottom line, like with all sales. 

Sorry, but most people don't get 3 Crown Lofts and the assumption would be they are not sailing in the upper priced suites.  For the others, If you do a mock booking on a cruise for two people, and then do a mock booking for kids sail free on the same ship, and date, and in the same balcony, you will almost always find the price is higher.  Yes there are exception to every generalization, but unless you are booking crown lofts, or have other discounts it will be likely you will notice the price is not "completely" free.  (yes I know they are not technically the same stateroom, but to a struggling family with young kids, all they see is a balcony that looks exactly like the other balcony, or an inside, or outside room).  Most people that ask these questions are people that really need a true sale price.  (Not RCCL's fuzzy math).

[NateUpNorth]

17 hours ago, Merion_Mom said:

 

 

You are right.  The Anthem's Southern Caribbean cruises have them, too.  🙂  

 

Anthem out of which port? 'Cause this has my attention!..........

 

EDIT - New Jersey. And now it's on my "to do" list!

Edited November 15, 2019 by NateUpNorth

[Ourusualbeach]

1 hour ago, Joseph2017China said:

Sorry, but most people don't get 3 Crown Lofts and the assumption would be they are not sailing in the upper priced suites.  For the others, If you do a mock booking on a cruise for two people, and then do a mock booking for kids sail free on the same ship, and date, and in the same balcony, you will almost always find the price is higher.  Yes there are exception to every generalization, but unless you are booking crown lofts, or have other discounts it will be likely you will notice the price is not "completely" free.  (yes I know they are not technically the same stateroom, but to a struggling family with young kids, all they see is a balcony that looks exactly like the other balcony, or an inside, or outside room).  Most people that ask these questions are people that really need a true sale price.  (Not RCCL's fuzzy math).

You are completely missing one key point.

 

If you do a mock booking for 2 people you would be getting a price based on a double occupancy cabin.  Getting a price on the KSF you would be getting a price on a quad cabin.

 

They are two different categories and have different prices for the first 2 guests and cannot be compared.

 

The proper way to compare is to check the price of a quad cabin the day before the KSF and the day that it starts.  You will indeed find that kids are free other than taxes and fees anD that the price for the first 2 guests did not change.

 

 

[Merion_Mom]

1 hour ago, NateUpNorth said:

 

Anthem out of which port? 'Cause this has my attention!..........

 

EDIT - New Jersey. And now it's on my "to do" list!

 

@NateUpNorth - this January, there are three of them.  

[papaflamingo]

2 hours ago, Joseph2017China said:

Sorry, but most people don't get 3 Crown Lofts and the assumption would be they are not sailing in the upper priced suites.  For the others, If you do a mock booking on a cruise for two people, and then do a mock booking for kids sail free on the same ship, and date, and in the same balcony, you will almost always find the price is higher.  Yes there are exception to every generalization, but unless you are booking crown lofts, or have other discounts it will be likely you will notice the price is not "completely" free.  (yes I know they are not technically the same stateroom, but to a struggling family with young kids, all they see is a balcony that looks exactly like the other balcony, or an inside, or outside room).  Most people that ask these questions are people that really need a true sale price.  (Not RCCL's fuzzy math).

Ok.. I was just relating my personal experience.  Generalize away then.

Edited November 15, 2019 by papaflamingo

[mjkacmom]

27 minutes ago, NateUpNorth said:

That's not as bad as I thought! In fact it's pretty reasonable.  (shoulda looked it up before made the joke I guess.... LOL)

I was just curious, I was surprised it was so inexpensive.

[Tatka]

MSC I believe is not charging for kids. At least not till certain age. Check them.

[HBE4]

Costa is another lines that I believe does not charge kids under 3.

 

There is a link to a website which lists 6 cruise lines where kids cab (almost) sail for free but it's in a TA's website, so most if I posted it, it'll probably be deleted.   Google "cruise lines that don't charge for babies".

 

Some of the lines are upscale and a bit pricey however.

 

EDIT:  Or I could list the 6 here:

 

Costa

MSC

Crystal  (kids  under 11 are half-price with occasional KSF sales)

Disney  (half price up to a certain age).

Seabourn (however not kid-friendly)

Cunard

 

 

Edited November 15, 2019 by HBE4

[DadPerson]

22 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Also, if you are family of 3 and your child is under 3 YO  you can book a double occupancy cabin and have the child added at the rate for guests 3 and 4.  This will save money because cabins with double occupancy usually have a cheaper rate for guests 1 and 2.

 

Is this one of those things that they offer, but not on the website? I’ve tried to do a mock booking with a 2 YO and they limit you to quad rooms. 

[Ourusualbeach]

1 minute ago, DadPerson said:

 

Is this one of those things that they offer, but not on the website? I’ve tried to do a mock booking with a 2 YO and they limit you to quad rooms. 

You must call 

[CruisingAlong4Now]

On MSC, kids cruise free only on some cruises, not all.  From website:

 

"... kids 11 & under sail FREE* on select cruises visiting over 150 destinations worldwide (2 years old & under in the Caribbean)..."

[Cruiser_1977]

Regarding a previous post. While infants/toddlers as the 3/4 passenger do not pay a fare to sail Cunard, they are assessed taxes, fees and port expenses.

 

"Children who will be under 2 years old at disembarkation, traveling in a 3rd or 4th berth will not pay a fare to sail, however they will still be assessed the Taxes, Fees and Port Expenses. Any child regardless of age sailing in a first or second berth will pay full fare."

[WeMissSeaView]

On 11/14/2019 at 3:32 AM, waterbug123 said:

People often think it should be cheaper for babies because "they don't eat much" so think it costs the cruise line less for them to be onboard.  But there are reasons it's generally the same price.  While they may eat less, they also don't contribute much to onboard spending...drinks, casino, specialty restaurants, arcade, spa etc.  Furthermore, the cruise has a limit of the total number of souls that can be onboard for lifeboat purposes.  So just because a baby doesn't eat much, can easily fit into a regular 2 person cabin with their parents, etc. they still count toward the total number of souls on board, thus displacing another adult.  And if it was free or cheaper for babies/kids to cruise, there would be a lot more of them onboard which means a lot fewer people spending money onboard.

Royal does not serve “baby” food, so you must bring your own food for a six month old.

[waterbug123]

23 hours ago, Joseph2017China said:

Sorry, but most people don't get 3 Crown Lofts and the assumption would be they are not sailing in the upper priced suites.  For the others, If you do a mock booking on a cruise for two people, and then do a mock booking for kids sail free on the same ship, and date, and in the same balcony, you will almost always find the price is higher.  Yes there are exception to every generalization, but unless you are booking crown lofts, or have other discounts it will be likely you will notice the price is not "completely" free.  (yes I know they are not technically the same stateroom, but to a struggling family with young kids, all they see is a balcony that looks exactly like the other balcony, or an inside, or outside room).  Most people that ask these questions are people that really need a true sale price.  (Not RCCL's fuzzy math).

 

23 hours ago, NateUpNorth said:

 

I'd wager your thesis is incorrect.

I spend more on my kids on a cruise than I do my wife/myself.

They also eat less expensive items in the Main Dining Room.

If RCL was losing money on all kids they wouldn't ever run the KSF promotion. 

 

That's your experience alone.  I can tell you from many cruises waiting at the bar for drinks, trying to schedule spa appointments etc. that while you might not spend much on yourself, the average adult is probably spending quite a bit onboard. 

As for KSF promotion, remember that when they run that, they are also getting a couple of adults onboard with them, which is the real goal.

 

20 hours ago, papaflamingo said:

Ok.. I was just relating my personal experience.  Generalize away then.

 

It was a valid point.  The crown loft and other luxury suites are super pricey, and remain available when junior suites and grand suites have sold out.  A promotion of those super high end suites may well be such that you can save money with KSF but that experience is more of an anomaly due to that particular suite category.

 

20 hours ago, Tatka said:

MSC I believe is not charging for kids. At least not till certain age. Check them.

 

MSC is also not nearly as popular, at least here in the US, as Royal.  Supply and demand you know...

 

20 hours ago, HBE4 said:

Costa is another lines that I believe does not charge kids under 3.

 

There is a link to a website which lists 6 cruise lines where kids cab (almost) sail for free.....

 

EDIT:  Or I could list the 6 here:

 

Costa

MSC

Crystal  (kids  under 11 are half-price with occasional KSF sales)

Disney  (half price up to a certain age).

Seabourn (however not kid-friendly)

Cunard

 

 

 

Big difference between these and Royal.  Most of those are high end and don't cater to kids so marketing for those would be expected to be very different from Royal.  And Disney is kind of in a class of their own as far as being kid friendly, and is generally more expensive to start BECAUSE they do the "entertain the kid" thing so well.

 

12 hours ago, WeMissSeaView said:

Royal does not serve “baby” food, so you must bring your own food for a six month old.

 

RIght, that's pretty much my point.  People use that argument to say kids should pay less, but completely miss the point that babies also spend almost nothing onboard which is far more important to Royal's bottom line than the fact that they save a couple of bucks by not feeding infants.

[Tatka]

Of course MSc is still establishing their presence here, but people are trying.

This program is not only for US, but for Europe. Also used by other European companies.

I’m btw not a huge fan of it as we are looking for more adult experience

[gerif]

48 minutes ago, Tatka said:

Of course MSc is still establishing their presence here, but people are trying.

This program is not only for US, but for Europe. Also used by other European companies.

I’m btw not a huge fan of it as we are looking for more adult experience

I’ve not tried them myself but a friend’s granddaughter recently returned from her first MSC cruise. Said that the food was horrible and she often went hungry (they are Italian descent so used to this type of food). Begged her grandmother to have a good meal waiting when she got home. Quashed my interest in trying this line. 

[Tatka]

I’ve not tried them myself but a friend’s granddaughter recently returned from her first MSC cruise. Said that the food was horrible and she often went hungry (they are Italian descent so used to this type of food). Begged her grandmother to have a good meal waiting when she got home. Quashed my interest in trying this line. 

We sailed twice (Poesia & Divina) from US ports and while food is not their strong point and on the bottom of 8 cruiselines with which we sail(ed), we never were hungry. We also like Royal definitely for its food, better, but also not a strong point. MSc has amazingly beautiful ships and amazing entertainment. They are trying to hard to cater to us North American crowd and lost some of their Italian flare, but still daily production shows are great!
Also I’ve not experienced it personally, but they created Yacht club experience (zone includes even insides). Even Celebrity suite folks are living it, so probably food isn’t a problem there.
We won’t chase MSc on purpose, but won’t avoid it either. I think it’s pretty much in line with Royal, NCL with own pros and cons.

[CruiseBride926]

15 hours ago, WeMissSeaView said:

Royal does not serve “baby” food, so you must bring your own food for a six month old.

A 6 month old can eat a decent amount of “regular” foods. 

[ONECRUISER]

On 11/14/2019 at 3:13 PM, GalwayGirl03 said:

 Yes, I am right there with you adding the 3rd kid if under 4 in a room that usually sleeps 4....We got an unbelievable fare on the last navigator sailing in April to ABC...we added our 2 almost three year old to our quad room and he just slept in bed for with us...yes it was a tight squeeze for 5 of us in an interior..but hey a day on a cruise is better than any day at home!!

 

We have use the pack and play before on other sailings and they do provide linen per se but it is honestly just a regular flat sheet folded..so yes we brought our own pack and play sheets.  The Family Ocean Views are great for larger families...and we always save a bundle with KSF.

Been there, done that. Had OV set up like 2 bunk beds with the Pullman's. 5 of us, one kids was supposed be in Grand Parents cabin, but we had all 5 in 4 single beds. 2 Adults, 10, 5 and 2yr old. Youngest slept with Mom.

[mjkacmom]

1 hour ago, CruiseBride926 said:

A 6 month old can eat a decent amount of “regular” foods. 

Isn’t it recommended to start solids at 6 months, purées?

[CruiseBride926]

22 minutes ago, mjkacmom said:

Isn’t it recommended to start solids at 6 months, purées?

Baby led weaning has become a big thing now so rather then purées you cut whatever food into easy to hold pieces. My first refused and we packed purées but my second is a tiny garbage disposal. The only thing I’ve found that he doesn’t like is oddly enough ice cream 😂 

[WeMissSeaView]

2 hours ago, CruiseBride926 said:

A 6 month old can eat a decent amount of “regular” foods. 

Not all 6 month olds can.  My daughter had to bring baby food for my 6 month old grandson on a cruise.  One size does not fit all.

[CruiseBride926]

18 minutes ago, WeMissSeaView said:

Not all 6 month olds can.  My daughter had to bring baby food for my 6 month old grandson on a cruise.  One size does not fit all.

Correct and I should have said some. Like I mentioned my first would only eat purées however some kids (like my second) will eat a decent amount of food.