Which cruise line for kids age 5 and 8?

[doggypaddle]

We have cruised without the kids on Celebrity Constellation and would like a similar experience as far as comfort, food and service. Other than Disney, which cruise line would get your vote? We are looking at a Caribbean cruise for a week to 10 days this winter. Timing is not important... we will pull them out of school.

 

Thanks for the input!

[ebtmsw]

We loved the attention our then 4 and 7 year old girls got on celebrity, summit to the western Carribean! The funfactory staff was wonderul- and the kids never wanted to leave. There was another family I became friendly with that said it was much better than disney becuase it was less kid crazy and the staff really got to know them... I loved it... going to Europe this may with them on Millie! Have fun!

[adamsmom]

The NCL Spirit has a fantastic kids facility--a neat pool with fountains and 2 small waterslides, a toddler pool, a huge arcade, and a really nice indoor play area. It has been my kids' favorite so far, (then 10 and 6) and we have done a couple of Carnival cruises too. I read somewhere that the NCL Spirit has the best kids facility outside of Disney.

 

The only thing that I didn't like is that with NCL's freestyle dining, you don't get to know a waiter that knows your child's likes and dislikes. You have to "break in" a new waiter at every meal. My kids always like the attention they get from a waiter who knows them and remembers that they like strawberry ice cream, or whatever.

[carribeansol]

I agree about the NCL Spirit. My kids compare every ship to the NL Spirit. They always talk about how awesome the kids pool was and the kids club. We did not like the freestyle dinning on NCL. The ship is always on sale! The only reason we have not sailed on it agin is it sails from NY now and not Florida.

[mom and wife]

This is our first cruise with the kids and did not what to go all out when they will love anything. Ours are going to be 5 and 7 years old.

 

We found a great deal for the four of us $598.00

They are having a one time deal.

5 nights 3 shores Key west , Cozumel and Grand Cayman 3 great stops for a family.

April 29th 2007 Magica Costa.

I think the deal is over January 31st 2007 and is filling fast!

 

See if the kids love it. Then move up

I have found things for them to do. With 3 stops we are not going to be on the ship alot. You are allowed to leave them at not charge on the ship. But it is a family cruise. So we are not doing that.

There is a big slide, kids fun 3 pools and I here the shows are family fun since they are magic, acribats (SP) and things like that.

 

Hope to help!

[lsnyder]

We just got back from our first cruise (Royal Caribbean Jewel of Seas) and can't say enough good stuff about it. My kids (6 & 8) LOVED the kids camp there (we could only get them to come off the ship one day at Costa Maya) and the counselors were great. They made lots of friends...there were enough kids to keep them all busy at camp and around the kids pool/slide area but not too many kids around which for us would have been too many kids (i.e. Disney!) I would never cruise over a holiday where there would be tons of kids on board!

[Ocean State]

We took our kids (boys 7 and 9) on the Adventure of the Seas (royal caribbean) last week and they loved it. I would highly recommend it. The kids program is excellant and the ports beautiful - Aruba, St. martin, St. Thomas and Curacao.

[OHCruisinDad]

We've taken our kids on several spring break cruises beginning when they were 7 and 10. Disney is great if they are younger but the ships are full of kids. Our daughter really liked the RCL kids clubs. We had to pry her away from the staff as she didn't want to leave. All they ask now is which RCL ship is next year. They can't get enough of the facilities and they love to dress up for formal nights.

 

All of the major lines have good children's programs. Your kids will have a great time on virtually any ship.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

 

Ian

[teachnh]

My 6 year old twins cried the last night on board because they didn't want vacation to end. They had a GREAT time at Camp Crnival. I couldn't have been happier.

[LSKC]

our children are 4&6 and we had a hard time deciding between Royal Caribbean and Princess.

in the end, Princess won out b/c they had anytime dining... a huge plus for our family. my 4 year old is not going to sit for a formal meal for a couple hours every night at supper. i know that much about her. we liked the flexibility of any time dining where you sit in a traditional dining room but are not set for a specific late or early sitting. it is more like arriving at a restaurant and asking for a table for 4, etc.

 

some nights we will eat with our children this way. other nights we will probably feed them ahead at the buffet and then go for a table for 2 at 7pm once they go to the kids klub to play for a few hours.

it just is such a good plan for families with young kids.

[CruiseInOnMama]

LSKC, I have a 5 year old boy and we're booking on Crown Princess Sept. 6. How was Princess activities for that age? What did you do at night? How was the babysitting. I like the flexible dining too and that's one of the reasons we picked it, plus we can drive to NY from PA and not fly. Which ship/itinery did you go on? Thanks!:)

[solly4]

Just got off Mariner of the Seas (RCI) with kids ages 4 and 7. They absolutely loved it!! My 4 year old cried when we left!! That was our first cruise so I can't compare any others, but I have heard only positive things about kids and RCI!!

[Sale Away]

I think the question should be which cruise line has the worst kids program? My DD's sailed with us on 3 different lines and liked each one of the kids' programs on board. I'd concentrate more on which line has the itinerary that you want with the dining features that fit your needs and cabins that will sleep you all comfortably. If Mom & Dad are happy, chances are the kids will be too. We really like HAL for the cabin space but they're lighter on overall activities (at least on their Mexican Riviera itinerary) than we've experienced on Celebrity or RCCL. But we don't like being overscheduled on vacation so it fits our needs. We thought HAL and Celebrity compared pretty similarly to each other in most areas too.

[CruiseInOnMama]

Hi. I just found this web page I had bookmarked previously about the best family cruise ships:

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/cruisestyles/articles.cfm?ID=2

 

We have been on Princess, Disney and RC. I just loved Disney. We took a 17 yold, 14 yold, and a 3 yold at the time. If we didn't want to do the dinners, we just went to the buffet. The kids programs, entertainment, and food was all great. I personally liked it best of all three cruises, just cost more. We're trying Princess again since we went w/o children then (2000)...plus the Crown has more kids stuff now than the Dawn.

[CruiseInOnMama]

Try this link:

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/cruisestyles/articles.cfm?ID=2