ZiGBiGDoG Posted April 19, 2006 #1 Share Posted April 19, 2006 We are looking into a family cruise with my in-laws going as well. There will be plenty of opportunities for my DW and I to get away and spend a lot of time with family. Any suggestions of lines, ships, itineraries??? We cruise RCCL for our Honeymoon and loved it but now we have to shift our expectations because we have a child now...Any suggestions and thoughts would be greatly appreciated!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mnmmom Posted April 19, 2006 #2 Share Posted April 19, 2006 I am getting ready to cruise next month (May 26 - June 3) when my son will be 18 mos. We are going with a large family wedding group on the Caribbean Princess. We will be stopping in St. Thomas, St. Maarten and Princess Cays. I will post on this board about how the trip went when we get back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZiGBiGDoG Posted April 21, 2006 Author #3 Share Posted April 21, 2006 I look forward to hearing back from you upon your return. Not quite sure what to expect cruising with an 17 m.o. but I hope I get to find out!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1tonysmom Posted April 21, 2006 #4 Share Posted April 21, 2006 Hi. My DD, 4, has cruised 4 times already since she was a baby. We can't imagine cruising without her. 3 of the 4 cruises were on Carnival. The last one was on Disney. If you don't mind, I would like to made a couple of suggestions that worked well for us. #1 - try to make sure your little one has a nap every afternoon before dinner. We found that keeping to her regular nap schedule really helped her to be a much happier little cruiser in the evenings. #2 - We packed all her disposable paraphenalia (diapers, wipes, juice boxes, snacks, etc) in a large cardboard box that we checked with our luggage. At the end of the cruise, we just threw the box away, as it was empty and so it was one less thing to carry off the the ship. Make sure you have enough diapers/wipes to get you through between ports. On one cruise, we ran out of wipes and had two days at sea before returning to Port Canaveral. The gift shop did not sell any wipes at all. Fortunately, my sister was cruising with us (and travelling with her infant son) had some extra wipes we could use. At the ports, we generally try to pick family friendly activities. We all like the water, so usually a trip to the beach is in order. On a visit to Nassau, we did tour the DIG at Atlantis, which my DD loved. We do the excursions on our own, which save a lot of money and we always make sure to bring her snacks and juice. This next cruise, DH and I are thinking we may leave her in Camp Carnival for a few hours in St. Thomas so we can get some snorkeling in, but will return to the ship by noon to take her to the beach. Going to have to see how she likes "Kids Club" this year. If you have any other questions, let me know and I will try to help. Joanne :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glen tev Posted April 23, 2006 #5 Share Posted April 23, 2006 We have sailed twice with our dd since she was 2 and are going with my son in sept who will be 19 months.Try to keep your excursions simple.beach days work well.RCCL has Labadee there private island which has always been a hit with kids.You don't want to drag a hot,tired child on a bus trip to the pyramids of Tulum.a pale and shovel with food and drink do wonders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katyjeka Posted May 3, 2006 #6 Share Posted May 3, 2006 Hi. We sailed the NCL Dawn last December, 11 day Eastern. My 3 DD's, youngest was just two, had a great time. We lived at the childrens pool, which had 2 bigger slides, that my 10 and 4 year old loved, and a smaller one for the 2 year old. Although they said the ship was sold out, we had a total of 90 kids aboard, a number given to us from the kids crew. We had the kids pool area to ourselves on many occassions. It was like we had a private resort at sea. We loved the freestyle dining, and everyone just went crazy for our girls. My oldest actually cried when she had to say goodbye to everyone, room stewards included. Needless to say we are anxiously awaiting our next cruise, 12/10/06 on NCL Spirit. I have read many mixed reviews on NCL line, but must say it was fantastic. We've done Disney 1 time. We also had a great trip, however my kids actually got more attention, and one on one activities, with NCL. I guess this is contributed to the fact that we had less kids on board. Happy sailing. Janice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katyjeka Posted May 3, 2006 #7 Share Posted May 3, 2006 I forgot to mention that we had alot of fun in the Western Carib. Swimming w/the dolphins, beautiful beaches, and very friendly people. I love to hear opinions and ideas from people who have sailed to the Eastern Carib. I guess w/kids, beaches are probably the best bet. They love to play in the sand, and wade in the nice warm water. Have a great time planning. Janice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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