First cruise w/family - me, dh and dd (18 & 20)

[wrg]

Hi all,

Which cruise line would be best for our first family cruise in December 2023?   Dh and I are  mid-40s and dds will be 18 & 20.  Also, two of us are gluten-free.  Thanks.

[GTO-Girl]

2 hours ago, wrg said:

Hi all,

Which cruise line would be best for our first family cruise in December 2023?   Dh and I are  mid-40s and dds will be 18 & 20.  Also, two of us are gluten-free.  Thanks.

We love Royal Caribbean….

[LittleMissMagic]

Royal Caribbean and Norwegian are two cruise lines that are fun for families with teens/young adults. More important than picking the cruise line is choosing a ship. Your daughters would probably have more fun on the Royal Caribbean Oasis Class and Freedom Class ships and the Norwegian Breakaway Class and Breakaway Plus Class ships.

 

I see you're in the US where the drinking age is 21. Something to consider - on Norwegian, parents can sign for their kids ages 18-20 to be able to drink beer and wine onboard (go to Guest Services). That info could sway you toward one cruise line or the other.

[dchurchward]

I would say it depends on the interests you and your family have. Norwegian and Royal Caribbean are great. if you want more of a fast paced cruise, Carnival is also a great option. Like has also been said, the newer Royal Caribbean ships have a lot to do, with multiple activities for people of various interests. One thing to consider as well is if there are specific ports you are interested in seeing. I hope my thoughts are helpful.

[navybankerteacher]

Royal Caribbean would probably meet everyone’s interests.

[puppycanducruise]

Where do you want to cruise?

If Alaska , I'd recommend Princess or HAL (don't listen to anyone tell you they are a cruise line for oldies, in Alaska we met lots of families on board)

 

[1025cruise]

First off, since your kids are 18 and 20, the kids amenities won't make a difference. 

I'd also look at getting 2 cabins. Four adults crammed into a single cabin makes for a terrible vacation.

Next figure out where/when you want to go. At that point, narrow down based on the available choices.

[Essiesmom]

Also consider where you want to sail from. A re you hoping to drive to the departure port, or will you need to fly?  These days the most stressful part of a cruise vacation is the flight(s) to port, especially if there are connections.  Going in a day early seems not to be time enough.  To make it as stress less as possible, drive.  You would not have to worry about cancellations,  it also about amount of luggage.
  From NC, you could sail from Charleston, Baltimore, NY/NJ.   Any of the ships sailing from those ports will give you an awesome experience.  No, they aren’t the newest or biggest, but your girls won’t miss what they’ve never known.  
    As far as gluten free, all cruise lines are experts in handling that.  Just let the special needs dept. know ahead of time and when onboard, speak to the maitre’d onboard.  EM

[wrg]

Thank you all for your recommendations and insight.  We are looking at a vacation in mid-late December 2023 (both should be home from school then).  

[cruiserking]

If you sail from New Jersey you could book either the Christmas Eve December 24 or New Years Eve December 31, 2023 aboard Anthem of the Seas. Anthem will only be 8 years old by then. Gorgeous, state of the art ship with plenty to do on board from parachute simulators to bumper cars plus tons of great lounges, specialty restaurants and on board activities for your whole family. 

 

We cruise Anthem every year and adore this ship. It's a 7-night Bahamas run with stops in Port Canaveral, Florida - Coco Cay Private Island  Amazing) - Nassau, Bahamas. 

 

You will love Royal Caribbean. They will be able to handle your gluten free requests without a problem. 

 

Happy Cruise Planning. 

 

Jonathan

Edited July 19, 2022 by cruiserking

[mjkacmom]

We’ve sailed on NCL several times, our last cruise the oldest were 19 and 20 so we signed the beer/wine waiver. They’ve always been excellent with our daughter with celiac each time.

[OZ.]

@wrgDo you plan on making the ship your destination or do you want to get off on some unique islands? If you are looking to explore the Caribbean then I wouldn’t do a cruise out of New England unless it’s a longer one (8+ days) that makes it down to the southern part. Florida and Texas has ports for that. If you are looking for a theme park type cruise I’d go with one of the bigger ships and one that stops at Coco Cay.

[cruiseaholic777]

We cruised with a friend that is on a gluten free diet. We were on the Explorer of the Seas. The head waiter made sure every meal was perfect. He had extra thing made just for her diet everyday.