POLL: Do you cruise with kids?

[MamaParrotHead]

The most recents "KIDS" post got me wondering. How many of us cruise Carnival with kids, and how many of us leave the kids at home? This is not meant to rehash any debates, and I'd appreciate it if people kept their comments to themselves, so this thread won't get pulled/locked. Thanks! :)

[DqALEX]

I take them now. DD 13, DS 12, DD 7. They are going on #4 over New Years. My 7 year old said she wants to try Disney. I told her to get a job

[Keke1031]

On our frist cruise in 2002 it was just DH and I. Our next cruise Oct 2007 we will be taking the kids on their first cruise they will be 13,8,and 5 when we cruise. I wouldnt have taken them before because they where too little and it was my first cruise. But now that they are older I will take them. My kids have always wanted to go to Disney like the other poster stated but for a family of 5 it would cost over 1000.00 per person with airfare,hotel, food and park fees. I just think that cruising is a cheaper vacation when you have a larger family. So from now on I either take 2 cruises a year,one for DH and I and then one for the kids or just take the kids everyother year....:rolleyes:

[finoky]

My daughter is now 13 and has been on every cruise with us. Wouldn't even think of cruising without her.

[rvrgirl]

Our son has cruised with us on our last 8 cruises starting at the age of 26. Now we have an addition of our beautiful daughter in law. They will be included on our sailing next month....and when the time comes for our grand baby.........I will volunteer to stay home and watch her/him.....

[nrdsb4]

We have taken our kids on every cruise but one.:)

[PA Dutchman]

All 4 have been kicked from the nest to fly on their own, if they cruise it will be on their own. We were way over budget when they were around. Now its just us. We retired last year and now its our time.:D

[mayabean]

I Intend To Take My Kids When They Get Older,but Travelling With 18 Month Old Twins Will Be No Fun For Anyone.

[jbags58]

It is a cheaper way to vacation without kids but in all honesty...we took our youngest (then 11) on a short 4 day cruise. It was a test to see how it would be on a 7 day...well I said to my husband "NEVER AGAIN!!" Mostly because I had to entertain him the whole time.

 

It wasnt that it was so bad...as I love spending time with my kids...but our other son 12 years older was unable to go.

 

So we went in March to Ensenada....not many other kids out of school was #1 problem, #2 we didnt bring any other kids with us or other people that had kids too, He was too old and didnt want to spend much time in Camp Carnival (again, mostly little kids), etc.

 

It was a learning experience and i'm not saying that i'd never do it again..I was just plan a little better.

 

Hubby and I prefer to take cruises alone because we like to have a suite for one thing (which is extra $$) and we like to go early and stay a night or so before we ship out and we also prefer to go the end of April or beginning of May and the kids arent generally out of school at that time. Nor do we want to go in Summer when all the kids are aboard ship.

 

This is just a personal preferance. We had looked into the Disney too and man..it is so outta sight on the pricing..fugetaboutit!! I wont spend that much to be around a zillion kids!

 

Again..just my 2cents! We have cruise #7 coming up and so far we havent had many kids on any of our ships!

 

Call it lucky or call it good planning. WE like it like that till the opportunity arises to do it differently..and we will go with different expectations. I'd LOVE for my parents and siblings and all the neices and nephews to go..I think that we would ALL have a blast!!

 

HAPPY SAILING!! :D

[finoky]

PA Dutchman, I don't mean to offend or anything but wondering if I am the only one that sees a big 8 inch blank space after your signature in your post.

[Vanessa L]

If we cruise with our kids it will be on a short 3 or 4 day. I have the utmost admiration for those that can stand to be with their kids for 7 straight days on a ship--I'm not that good. I think some people are just cut out to be parents. Don't get me wrong, I love my children dearly and we do vacation together once a year. The thought just occurred to me about the difference as I was thinking, "Yes, but you've been on a week's vacation with them before without difficulty, what is the difference in a cruise?" The difference is that I cruise to RELAX. I don't constantly want to be on the go like our Disney or other land vacations have brought. I want to sleep in when I want to, lay on a lounge chair soaking up the sun when I want to, and basically, not do ANYTHING (i.e. cook, clean, or direct children). I don't want to have to look after kids to "get ready, it's almost dinner", or, stress over where they are or who they're with or what they're doing. Our kids are 16B, 14G, 13B, and 9B. We have a ball together at our land vacations but the fact is, they are go, go, go. Cruising is for stop, stop, stop, IMHO and why DH and I try to take at least 1 each year sans kids. With 3 kids in puberty and 1 very active 9 year old little boy "stop" is not in our vocabulary. OK, that's it for my $.02.

[gnocchi_mommy]

Yes, but my answer isn't there- my kids are 5, 9, and 13.

[GoinCruisin]

Yes, but my answer isn't there- my kids are 5, 9, and 13.

 

Looks like others have been voting once in each category that corresponds to each childs age, just FYI... she made it so you can vote for more than one option.

[gnocchi_mommy]

ooh thanks for the tip!

[Vanessa L]

All 4 have been kicked from the nest to fly on their own, if they cruise it will be on their own. We were way over budget when they were around. Now its just us. We retired last year and now its our time.:D

 

Wavin' atcha from Carlisle!! :D DH works in Mechanicsburg.

[GoinCruisin]

PA Dutchman, I don't mean to offend or anything but wondering if I am the only one that sees a big 8 inch blank space after your signature in your post.

 

No, you are not the only one

[Lulie]

We are crusing with our kids next week. They are 4 and 7. We live near Galveston and got a great deal. The kids are out of school so we decided to go for it. I did read the Control your Kids post. I would like to think that the kids being written about are the exception! I don't think anyone would spend time writing a post about the other 99% of kids who were well behaved (in other words, being parented!).

 

Many people have told us that cruises are great for families. I would love to try Disney but it is just too darn expensive at this point in our lives!!!!!

[caribbean dreams]

My kids have been on every cruise with us, our next cruise will be our first with only our youngest (13)

[MrPete]

DW and I took our first cruise without daughter when she was 1. All we did while cruising was think of her and miss her.

 

When we returned, she was so happy to see us she broke down and cried, all while breaking our hearts. We did go one more time without her, but couldn't bear the thought of doing it again.

 

So she started at 4, and will be going on her 7th cruise next year, at the ripe old age of 8.

[EMTRa]

DH and I have taken our "kids" (29, 28, 20 and 12 now) as a Christmas/family gift several times. Might not save any money but it sure beats shopping..gives me an excuse to stay on CC. They have grown up cruising ..I have never had to worry about the craziness that others have talked about on the boards.

They all love to travel and have the "work hard/play hard" mindset just like us! Don't get me wrong..DH and I also cruise alone sometimes but I didn't see that as an option on the poll.

The oldest two have done cruises and traveled abroad on their own and with their mom too. It's bad when your kids get to travel more than you do!

[Upandadam]

We do both. While it's nice to do things like that for the kids, there are certain times when we need to have adult time. Our next cruise in March will be the last one we take kids on. We have 3 graduating high school and this is their present. From here on, it's just us!!!

[pacerzfan]

I have always cruised with my 2 DD's (starting when they were 4 and 11), I just can't see leaving them behind. Sometimes it is tough bring a single dad, but the idea of leaving them behind would hurt me too much. Some of our best times (my baby girl dancing on the tables on Glory, her befriending a couple from Japan and all the joy they brought her, my other daughter at 11 on Jubilee wanting to win a ship on a stick....and doing the dive into the pool and hitting her head on the side...then the young gentleman that won the trophy making a special presentation onf it to my daughter, she still cherishs that ship on a stick)....times I as a dad will remember as long as I live, fondly!

[kenspen2]

Our kids started cruising with us at ages 3 and 5, they have been on 7 cruises thus far including Disney, Princess and RCCL. Our first Carnival trip is coming up in April. I hope it is as enjoyable as the rest. I wouldn't think of going without them.

[first2008time cruiser]

I don't vacation at all without my kids. I am sure when they get older that will change, but we plan our vacations so the kids can go to. This will however be both our and their first cruise. If we don't like cruising with them, then it is on to plan a different kind of vacation for next trip.

[crusinmama06]

I refuse to go anywhere without my kids. My youngest started cruising at 7 months. She is 2 years old and will have been on 3 cruises by the time she turns 3. For my 6 year old, she is on her way to her 4th cruise.

 

Now my husband on the other hand...I have no problem leaving him behind. ;) :p