Cruising with 5 kids....

[sandi1967]

Hi,

We are planning to take our 5 kids on a cruise next summer. Is it easy to get two ajoining rooms.....or one inside and across the hall an oceanview room for us. Our kids will be 15, 13, 11, 6 and 3 at the time of the cruise. Tempted to leave our 3 year old daughter with my parents.....is that bad??

 

We would drive to a port on the East coast...we are in Maryland. It seems that the cruises that leave from Baltimore and NYC are very $$$$....easier to drive to Florida.

 

Just looking for hints. We will probably book on carnival, they seem to have the cheapest prices. Any good advice would be greatly appreciated!!:)

 

Thanks,

sandi ( only one cruise under her belt and one coming up in 11 months)

[wrp96]

RCCL has a room called a Royal Family Suite which can accommodate 8 people. You might want to call and price that room (it can't be booked over the internet).

 

Don't discount the NY, Philly, Baltimore, or Norfolk cruises. The cost of driving might outweigh the extra costs of those cruises. Also, do not assume one cruiseline will be cheaper than another. Prices and deals will fluctuate depending on how popular a cruise is.

[pg.]

If you all go , you will need a triple and a quad room, and finding these two rooms directly beside or across from each other may be a bit tricky. You should book farther in advance to request these types of rooms.

We booked an outside balcony and an inside directly across for our three kids, and on the deck plans it clearly showed there are fewer quads rooms then doubles.

Once you book the two cabins make sure the bookings are linked and marked "no upgrade"( because they may upgrade one cabin but not the other) .

 

It would be tempting to leave the three yr old, but I wouldn't as she is old enough to know she is being excluded, and it could really hurt her feelings. There are supervised kids clubs so you will get some time to yourself to relax ,,,so all is not lost.

 

 

Family suites are hard to get, they book first and are not cheap at all.

 

On the good side, Carnivals cabins are pretty good sized compared to some lines, still cramped , but hey anyone who has ever taken kids camping wouldn't complain. I mean the room is just for sleeping and dressing, all the cooking and cleaning are done for you, so it is easy to put up with the cramped space. ( we RV so don't get how some people think it is "impossible " to put 4 or 5 people in a small room)

[sandy l]

Hi Sandi...we have cruised with our 4 kids....last year we booked adjoining inside staterooms. This worked well...we had 2 bathrooms. Both rooms held 4 people so we had plenty of room. We also live in Maryland and we leave out of Florida too. The Baltimore trip sounded appealing but I like the amenities for the kids on the bigger ships. I just booked a cruise for us over Thanksgiving on RCI Liberty. It was about the same price if not a little cheaper than traveling during the summer and we get to be on the newest biggest ship with so much to do for the kids. I considered getting a family stateroom this time but I decided we really need to have the 2 bathrooms. Hope this helps. And by all means, take your 3 year old. The kids clubs are great...you get plenty of time on your own but you would really miss not having the whole family.

[sandi1967]

HI,

Thanks for all the replies. I just need to keep checking, not sure when the dates come out for next summer.

 

SandiL.....we live in QUeen Annes county about 15 minutes from Annapolis. Small world!! We will probably do a 5 nite one next summer.

 

I am sure we will take our little one also, I would feel guilty the whole time and it really does not add on to the cost of the cruise.

 

Thanks!!

Sandi

[Paleochick]

Sandi,

Does your 3yo dd go to preschool or something similar? Camp Carnival is supposed to be really fun for kids that age. If she's used to going places and being dropped off, you might seriously consider taking her. My 3yo is already looking forward to Camp Carnival. We'll be able to take him there and leave him with the camp for something like 2 hour blocks during the day. It's included in the cruise price. At night if you and the older kids want to see a show and the 3yo needs to go to sleep, hire a babysitter. I think Carnival charges something like $6/hr. What a deal!

 

As far as getting all the rooms you'll need, just book early. Then you'll also have the advantage of getting price drops credited to your account if they occur before final payment is made.

[teachnh]

We just got off the Liberty last weekend and my children loved Camp Carnival! My children (2,4,6,& 6) old had a great time! We had connecting staterooms and it worked out really well! You will all have a great time!

[deemk]

we just got home over the weekend from the carnival liberty. i would definitely take the 3 year old. she's probably the one that will enjoy camp carnival the best. my 4 yr old enjoyed it more than my 2 older kids (10 and 9). we also took an infant with us. we had 2 cabins with an adjoining door and i thought it was excellent. each cabin held up to 4 people so you should only need 2 cabins for the 7 of you. i liked not having to go into the hallway to talk to the kids in the next room. we could keep the doors open if we wanted to, or close them if we wanted to. it worked well. we actually paid for 2 inside cabins, then when the prices started dropping, we called and they upgraded us to 2 ocean views instead. we liked it.