First time cruising, 6 kids

[Mamaof6Blessings]

Hi yall  My husband and I have 6 children. We are hoping to take our first family cruise in 2023. The kids will be 14, 13, 11, 9, 6, and 2, or possibly 1 year older depending on when we go.

I went on one Carnival cruise with my parents and sister when I was a freshman in high school. Other than that none of us have been on a cruise.

So my questions are, which line is going to be the most fun for the kids and the best value? With 6 kids I know it is going to be pricey but we really need "best bang for the buck" vacation ;)

We live in NC and don't mind driving 8-9 hours to a port, but obviously closer is better. Looking at Baltimore, Charleston, Jacksonville, Orlando, or Tampa. 

The little one will most likely NOT be potty trained because he is incredibly stubborn LOL He turns 2 in November and is showing zero signs of being ready. 

I homeschool so we can go any time of year. What months are typically the cheapest for cruising?

Anything else I need to consider? 

[Essiesmom]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.  To make it remotely affordable, you will need two cabins for four. I would start with Carnival for price. And MSC with kids sail free in a cabin with two full fares.  As far as the amenities on the ships, any of the Carnival ships except Paradise and Elation.  They are the smallest, oldest, and have the fewest amenities.  You will also get many recommendations for NCL and Royal Caribbean.    
 

Pay attention to distance to the port.  Can you drive, or will you have to fly?  And you should go a day early so that means hotel rooms.  Be careful to read the kids in cabins policies for the cruise lines you are considering.  
 

Now that I have read the rest of your post, I recommend you look at anyone out of Port Canaveral (Orlando).  The least expensive times are right after Thanksgiving until a week before Christmas, and early January.  Once you have determined when, start telling the littlest that he can’t go into any pools or waterworks unless he is potty trained.  He would be able to attend the kids club on Carnival because they will change diapers.  EM

[Itchy&Scratchy]

15 hours ago, Mamaof6Blessings said:

The little one will most likely NOT be potty trained because he is incredibly stubborn LOL He turns 2 in November and is showing zero signs of being ready. 

mine didn't potty train till 3y4m, so he went on his first cruise with us after that. 🙂 There is no way he would have been potty trained at 2. 🙂

 

Royal Caribbean ships all the way. You can look into getting 2 cabins with 4 ppl in each. Kind of very crowded, but since each cabin may need to have an adult - you may not have a choice. Sometimes the cruiselines run kids sail free promotions - definitely look into that. Since it's their first cruise - they may not need all the bells and whistles, but I strongly recommend staying away from old small ships.

 

RCI has some older, but AMPed ships - bells and whistles galore - would be a go for me. Most of KSF promotions aren't offered during school breaks, but since you homeschool - it won't matter. Before DS was in school, we liked cruising during the first 2 weeks of December - cheaper and out of the hurricane season.

 

MSC is mostly very affordable and often runs a Kids Sail free promotion.

[mjkacmom]

Some of RCL’s ships have small splash areas for diapered kids, and have nurseries for under 3’s. Carnival allows 2’s in the kids club. We’ve sailed NCL with our 5, 2 connecting balconies. They don’t have any splash areas for diapered kids and only 1 ship has a nursery.

[scubaslayer]

I have only sailed on Royal and my kids are older but there is a lot to do on their ships. I would also look at Carnival and Norwegian. They would probably love Disney but that line is definitely not affordable. We also homeschooled and I will base some pros and cons on how my and some friends' homeschooled children are on vacations.

 

So a big con I see with sailing Royal is that the kids' club starts at age 3 and kids must be potty trained. There is often a small water area for diapered kids and they do have for a fee childcare.

 

Another con, based on my kids, is that they are so used to always being with us that they did not want to attend any of the kids club activities and said it was boring and like we were sending them to daycare. My now teens said they may checkout the teen club because it is come and go as you please and they have more freedom now. The not doing the kids' club was not a big deal to us, because we were not looking for a break  or a lot of adult time but I know this is a big deal for a lot of families.

 

Pros Royal seriously caters to families/kids. The kids' club and teen club have a lot of activities. I think all of the ships have waterslides, rockwalls, and surfing/bodyboarding but many ships also have far more.

 

Another pro is that they do have connecting rooms. We have connecting balcony rooms for our upcoming trip that ended up being the same cost as a suite. Each of those balcony rooms can sleep 4 people and yay for 2 bathrooms.

 

When planning costs look at all of the things you will need. Some lines everything is really included, while other charge for drink packages and other things that are deemed extra. Royal has multiple drink packages that you can purchase from a soda package up to includes all of the alcohol. Plus there are extra dining venues that may or may not be included in your price. Don't forget shore excursions are extra as well. Look for ships and itineraries that will meet everyone's needs and will be fun.

 

Personally we go with Royal because we can drive to the port and we like the ships more than Carnival options but if we saw something that interested us we would go with any line.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

20 hours ago, scubaslayer said:

I think all of the RCI ships have waterslides

not all. 🙂 Allure doesn't have waterslides. 

[scubaslayer]

6 hours ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

not all. 🙂 Allure doesn't have waterslides. 

Wait Allure doesn't have slides? Now my kids might not want to try that one next year since it is changing home port. I may have to continue to play dumb and pretend I still didn't know.