Suggestions for affordable family of 5 cruise

[ohiowilly]

Hello all......

 

I've been lurking on this board for nearly a year, trying to absorb as much information as possible about cruising, and RCI cruising as possible. My wife and I celebrated our 20th Wedding Anniversary with a 4-day cruise on the Majesty of the Seas in September, 2007. I was one who wasn't sure that cruising was "right for me," so we started with a relatively short cruise. We both loved the Majesty, and cruising in general. Even with the smallish interior cabin, we had plenty of room, even though we made the first-timer mistake of over packing.

 

We would like to share the experience of RCI cruising with our 3 teen-aged children; they are 15, 17, and 19, so our window of opportunity for true family vacations is closing rapidly.

 

We'd like to book a caribbean itinerary for the 5 of us for June, 2008. I would very much appreciate any suggestions for the best way to make this dream vacation come true, without totally breaking the bank. From what I've read on here, adjoining cabins may be the way to go, or perhaps one oceanview and one interior across the hall.

 

I'd prefer to cruise from either PC, FLL, or MIA.

 

Any suggestions that the veterans and family cruisers on this board can offer would be greatly appreciated. I look forward to following this thread!

 

Thanks

 

"ohiowilly"

[emdia43]

Prices for Mariner, Freedom and Liberty are very reasonable right at the end of May - have a look at the E Carib routes, inside cabins go for around $899 and $699 for third pax in room, they go up by $200 or so right at the beginning of June as school vacations start. If that time frame is possible for you it might be a good choice. Pick any of those ships and your kids will love you forever, there is so much for all ages to do on the Voyager and Freedom class ships.

WE sailed Freedom last June and our price actually went down from the time I booked, by about $200 each- just keep checking prices online and if you see them drop ,call and they will refund you.

[Misnco]

We were on a family vacation on Explorer of the Seas- February 07 Western Caribbean with our two sons (ages 23 and 20), both of their grandmothers and many other family members. We had promendade cabins on the 7th deck (the final cost was around $800 per person) . It was a blast. We will always cherish the family time we spent with our children, our Moms and the rest of the family.

[mckinna]

On our upcoming spring break cruise, we booked a JS with an interior across the hall, and it is very reasonable. I would book as early as you can, though. The same cabins now on our cruise would cost over $1000 more than we paid! We always check the prices about once a week to see if they drop- if they do, you can get RCI to honor the lower price.

 

This cruise for us is cheaper than what we paid last year during spring break for a week at Disney!

 

Have fun- your kids will have a blast.

[fllady]

Go as early as you can in June because the closer to school closings and family vacations usually the higher the price. We have been on Mariner OTS, out of Port Canveral and it is a wonderful family ship, so much to do (or not for the lazy bones) it is great. If this is their first cruise, get inside cabins because they will hardly be in them. Don't miss the ice skating shows, fabulous!!! So get those tix early!

[Bakincakes]

Ck out "free" land based interests. There are some great things to see that don't have to cost a fortune. There are also many activities aboard ship that don't carry an extra charge.

 

Beyond the basics people rack up the $$ on souveniers...gambling..drinking..specialty restaurants..that sort of thing.

 

You can cruise and not spend a fortune above what your cabin prices are.

[cruiseguy1016]

I suggest a 7 night Eastern route on Mariner out of Port Canaveral. The prices are fairly reasonable this close to departure. Don't take them on Freedom or Liberty yet. They will be spoiled and won't want to try anything "less" later. The Mariner is a beautiful ship with lots of activities for everyone. If money is the big issue, get adjoining interiors. You seem to have been satisfied with that room. If you can afford it it, treat you and your wife to an oceanview and let the kids have an interior near by. We don't spend any time in our room except to change clothes and sleep so, IMHO, you don't need to spend big bucks on a bigger cabin. Your kids are going to love you for this. Make sure while you are at dinner with them some night on the ship that you drop hints that it would be nice for them to treat their parents to a nice cruise for their 25th anniversary.

[Shar27]

With three teenagers, I would definitely consider either the Voyager or Freedom class. Although I'm sure the Majesty is a lovely ship, it probably won't have enough activities to keep the kids busy. You will have the added bonus of the inline skating and the ice skating rink. Also, bigger and better pools. And you will love the Royal Promenade.

 

As far as cabins, probably the cheapest way to go would be two inside cabins side by side. If you could spend a little more, the Promenade cabins are really nice and give you a little less inside room feeling. I think they are only suitable for two people though.

[DonnaK]

I would recommend Mariner of the Seas. We usually book a "low category" balcony for my husband and myself, and a "low category" inside cabin across the hall for the kids. If this doesn't fit into your budget, look into connecting oceanviews or connecting interiors.

 

I wouldn't try to fit five of you into a larger "family type" cabin or suite because they cost more than two standard cabins, and you'd only have one bathroom for all of you.

 

I'm not sure when the summer holidays are in your area, but if they are at the same time as ours (end of June through Labor Day), then you might want to look towards the middle or end of August. Rates are much cheaper than June or July. Adventure of the Seas from San Juan has excellent cruise prices to the Southern Caribbean at this time of year too - another option you can look into.

[Heatherco]

Before you book a cruise..shop around with different agents to see what they will "give you" in terms of shipboard credits.

 

We are sailing Mariner for February break. Although the price of the cruise was the same with each agent since Royal Caribbean doesn't discount their cruises....we booked with an agent who is giving us $200 in shipboard credit for each cabin. We personally booked two...balcony for us and kids in a promenade. So that is $400 we get to spend on the ship.

 

We also have my parents and inlaws going ....so that is another $400. They each get $200.

 

So...shop around and don't be afraid to ask! This certainly helps cut down on the cost of the vacation.

 

Have an awesome time!!

 

Heather

[b72bronc]

We are in a similar situation. What we did is book early to save on prices. We booked two cabins an aft balcony for me and my wife and a interior cabin for my sons age 12 and 16. We have cruised twice before as a family but the window is closing in with college looming and sports activities taking a lot of our vacation time. We chose the AOS saved Amex reward points which paid for our airfare from sfo to sju and Marriott points for our pre and post hotel. We also applied for the RCL Visa card and got two $150 certificates for onboard credit. Booking early has saved us 25% on the current price for our cabins. The boy's are fired up and it should be a fun time. Good luck and good hunting. Garlicruisers.

[reallyitsmema]

I agree with those that said Mariner would be a good choice with teens. We sailed this past June with our 16 yr old and he loved it. The earlier in June you can book, the better though. We are on the June 15th sailing for this coming June and prices just keep going up and up. I wish we could book the week earlier since prices are almost $200 different for passenger 1 &2.

 

Last year, right before final payment there was a $300pp price drop that we were able to get. I am hoping that we have similar luck this year.

[royalcruz]

June tends to be an expensive month. I would recommend one of the larger ships and 2 inside cabins. If one of you is 55 or older you can qualify for senior rates on YOUR cabin if they are offered. You might qualify for a special offered to residents of certain states. These specials are added weekly so you have to keep checking, then you can book them directly or through your agent. Try the following link every tuesday and see what you can find: http://www.creative.rccl.com/sales/promowave/RCL.pdf

[royalcruz]

Try this link to specials offered each tuesday. The page changes weekly.

http://www.creative.rccl.com/sales/promowave/RCL.pdf

[royalcruz]

try this weekly ling to specials

 

http://www.creative.rccl.com/sales/promowave/RCL.pdf

[royalcruz]

Terribly sorry about the last 2 posts! My computer kept telling me that my message timed out befor posting, and I wanted to get you that website information!

[veryhotred]

I suggest a 7 night Eastern route on Mariner out of Port Canaveral. The prices are fairly reasonable this close to departure. Don't take them on Freedom or Liberty yet. They will be spoiled and won't want to try anything "less" later. The Mariner is a beautiful ship with lots of activities for everyone. If money is the big issue, get adjoining interiors. You seem to have been satisfied with that room. If you can afford it it, treat you and your wife to an oceanview and let the kids have an interior near by. We don't spend any time in our room except to change clothes and sleep so, IMHO, you don't need to spend big bucks on a bigger cabin. Your kids are going to love you for this. Make sure while you are at dinner with them some night on the ship that you drop hints that it would be nice for them to treat their parents to a nice cruise for their 25th anniversary.

 

I think this is GREAT advice!!!! I have yet to go on the "big" ones and neither have my kids and we have all had GREAT times on each cruise!

[ohiowilly]

Thanks to everyone who posted suggestions from their experiences. Actually, I had been leaning toward the Eastern itinerary on the Mariner for our next cruise; it sounds like I'm on the right track. There were some great tips posted, and I hope we'll be able to arrange our family cruise. I'm a bit afraid that I might have started planning too late for this year, but I'll still check with my TA and RCI to see what is reasonably available.

 

Thanks again for all of the help!!

[BBowCruiser]

We're a family of five and we've booked the Mariner's Eastern itinerary on May 25. It was cheaper for us to fly to Orlando rather than Miami, the prices were a little cheaper than the Liberty, and we liked the ports on the Mariner better. We really didn't want to spend 3-10 pm in San Juan, we'd rather have the daytime hours in port. We booked ocean view adjoining rooms on Deck 2. The price has gone up $100 per person in the month since we booked. The price of our airline tickets has also risen $100 per person in that time!

[drewdie]

We always book an exterior and an interior cabin, but have noticed lately that side by side D1's or D2's are only a little more expensive. We love RCI, and have cruised with them 11 times with our children. Last year, we tried NCL- our 9 day cruise on the Pearl was less expensive than a 7 day on RCI. We left from Miami and did the Southern Caribbean. The Pearl is a new ship, which is always nice, and has lots for the family to do plus bowling. RCI will always be our first choice, but we were pleasantly surprised by NCL. Cruising is the way to go with teenagers- the food alone would cost a fortune at a resort!

[veryhotred]

We're a family of five and we've booked the Mariner's Eastern itinerary on May 25. It was cheaper for us to fly to Orlando rather than Miami, the prices were a little cheaper than the Liberty, and we liked the ports on the Mariner better. We really didn't want to spend 3-10 pm in San Juan, we'd rather have the daytime hours in port. We booked ocean view adjoining rooms on Deck 2. The price has gone up $100 per person in the month since we booked. The price of our airline tickets has also risen $100 per person in that time!

 

Orlando is a long way from Miami, about 3.5 hours driving time but then if you are renting a car, that is probably cheaper than flying down there. Try flying into Ft. Lauderdale, they are almost always cheaper than Miami and only about 30 minutes north of Miami. :)

[wrp96]

Orlando is a long way from Miami, about 3.5 hours driving time but then if you are renting a car, that is probably cheaper than flying down there. Try flying into Ft. Lauderdale, they are almost always cheaper than Miami and only about 30 minutes north of Miami. :)

 

 

I think they were saying they chose the Mariner over Liberty because it was cheaper to fly into Orlando. Not that they had looked at flying into Miami for their Mariner cruise.

[wrp96]

Orlando is a long way from Miami, about 3.5 hours driving time but then if you are renting a car, that is probably cheaper than flying down there. Try flying into Ft. Lauderdale, they are almost always cheaper than Miami and only about 30 minutes north of Miami. :)

 

 

I think they were saying they chose the Mariner over Liberty because it was cheaper to fly into Orlando. Not that they had looked at flying into Miami for their Mariner cruise.

[megnsamsgracie]

We are a family of 6. We went with Liberty after the kids were hooked after seeing Freedom on the travel channel. I booked us 6 into the family oceanview room (NOT SUITE) and my TA thought it was going to be cheaper. I looked on my own for a balcony with an inside, I thought it was $100 more BUT when my TA came back today, there was a balcony promo and I saved $167! Yes, Liberty is somewhat more than Mariner for our time frame (Dec) we only do ONE family vacation a year, so I splurged

[michigan tim]

You can save some dough by going on the Enchantment, 4 day western on June 19... showing $559 inside, $659 OV. It will be an upgrade from your previous cruise and the kids have nothing to compare it to, so it will rock them regardless.