Family Fun

[3delta1]

Hi all, looking to book a 3-5 day cruise out of Florida for me, wifey and 2 kids (13 y/o daughter, 7 y/o son). My 3rd cruise, 1st for everyone else. Only real requirement is getting an interior cabin that fits us all.

- Food: sure we'd like good food, but it's not our main priority. In other words, buffets and standard dining will be the rule.

- Activities: geared mostly towards family and kids. We like to do new, different things and explore !

- Excusions/Ports: again, best stuff for families and kids. 

 

We're not concerned if a ship is loud or a little crowded with kiddos- that's to be expected in the summertime. We're not concerned if the ship is older or dated, as long as it's fun !

 

My options: MSC Seashore, Celebrity Reflection, Carnival Conquest, Carnival Glory

 

Any advice, tips, suggestions would be so appreciated. Thanks !

[Essiesmom]

 Celebrity has kids programs but not the bells and whistles. Slides, etc no.  Seascape will be the largest and newest ship.  Carnival and MSC will all have quad insides.  The uppers will be hidden in the ceiling, not hanging on the walls.  When comparing prices and itineraries, check prices on MSC for OV as well and you may find them comparable to an inside on Carnival and the cabins ,agree, plus the uppers will be a bunk sofa…the seat lifts up to become an upper berth.  Very cool.  
 All will visit a private island.  Carnival will tender to Half Moon Cay or Princess Cays, while MSC docks at Ocean Cay Marine Reserve.  Have fun researching.  EM

[Essiesmom]

Need to correct my post…I misread seashore for Seascape.  I posted some Seashore pics on your thread in Cabin Selection.  EM

[jbrinkm]

I'd recommend Royal Caribbean. The Freedom Class ships (although I'm not sure which are doing 3-5 days from FL - two are amped with slides and one is not) have interior cabins with Pullman beds that come down from the ceiling and those were fantastic as first cruises for our kiddos.

 

We've since moved up to Oasis class, which are absolutely fantastic ships as well, but unless your kids would share a sofa bed, you have to look for which ones have the trundle style couches or pay more for the bunk bed rooms. Interior rooms are pretty small so it was fantastic to use some of the overhead space for sleeping rather than having another 2 beds set up on the floor and having to get around them. For your teen to have a little privacy (as mine always do), you could rig up fabric with magnets on the ceiling to wrap around the bed and block it off from the rest of the room.

 

Honestly, I'd suggest you contact a good travel agent who might have group rates and pose your question to them for a recommendation. We are not allowed to share TA info on this board, but if you decide to go with Royal, there is another blog - royal caribbean blog dot com - and there is a current thread about finding a good TA in the message boards over there. With cruising, the TA can book for you but you still have control over your vacation. You would still book all of your extras. The TA would just handle any problems that occur between you and the cruise line as far as your room, your fare, etc. 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

On 1/26/2024 at 9:50 AM, 3delta1 said:

My options: MSC Seashore, Celebrity Reflection, Carnival Conquest, Carnival Glory

On 1/26/2024 at 9:50 AM, 3delta1 said:

- Activities: geared mostly towards family and kids. We like to do new, different things and explore !

 

Celebrity is running the 3rd/4th person free at the moment, so I took advantage of that and booked the 3 of us for the price of 2. Score!

That said, Celebrity doesn't really have anything for kids aside from a kid's club. We are trying Reflection in 2 months, but our kid doesn't care about kid's club or activities (he will turn 13 right before the cruise).

New MSC ships do have more kid activities, including an aquapark. 

Have you looked into older RCI ships? Especially AMPed ones - they have a lot of fun stuff, but because they are older, they may not be as expensive as their newest ships (whose prices are out of control).

 

On 1/26/2024 at 9:50 AM, 3delta1 said:

looking to book a 3-5 day cruise

I would highly recommend not booking a 3-4 day booze cruise. They are called that for a reason.

[jbrinkm]

 

21 hours ago, jbrinkm said:

The Freedom Class ships (although I'm not sure which are doing 3-5 days from FL - two are amped with slides and one is not) have interior cabins with Pullman beds that come down from the ceiling and those were fantastic as first cruises for our kiddos.

 

Liberty is not amped; Freedom and Independence are. Both Freedom and Indy look to have 3-5 night cruises from Miami to different places.