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Which cruise lines offer discount for kids up to 2?


twopugs

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I know that most lines have a policy that infants must be over 6 months. But which lines offer a discount from 6 months-2 years. I know that Carnival and RCCL both charge them as a 3rd passenger and I think that NCL gives a larger discount. Does anyone know of more with a discount or the specifics?

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I believe NCL only charges the port charges and taxes which I think was $140 for our upcoming cruise in March. I'll doublecheck for you. Not sure about other lines but most still charge the 3rd or 4th passenger rate. Also we booked directly with NCL and called them. We booked an AE but it lists as a 2 person stateroom, but they do allow the crib.

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NCL - charges only port fees/taxes

 

RCCL/Carnival - charges 3rd/4th person rate but you can find some deals on both cruiselines. I've had them start as low as $99 per person. Especially on some of the older ships.

 

Costa - kids sail free on certain sailings (some don't think Costa is very child friendly though. I haven't done them so I can't tell you from personal experience)

 

Disney - Reduced price for kids under 2. But it is negated by the amount you'll pay for the 2 adults in the cabin (will be more than most other mainstream cruiselines)

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Thanks so much for the info. I guess Carnival was our best choice (I was second guessing myself after the hefty 3rd passanger fee). RCCL was much more expensive for a balcony cabin, Disney was almost double for a balcony and we just had a bad experience on NCL in Alaska last year so I think we will stay away from them for awhile. (probably a great cruise line, just a bad experience on that particular cruise) Though, I think the freestyle dining would be great though on NCL for working around baby's schedule.

Cruisemama, do you know how someone can find out which dates they are running specials for kids under 2? The TA didn't mention anything and I would like to know for next year.

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Cruisemama, do you know how someone can find out which dates they are running specials for kids under 2? The TA didn't mention anything and I would like to know for next year.

 

No one knows, it's seriously anyone's guess. When they have them, you'll see us post about it here. The last one was just a couple of weeks ago, it was on Majesty/Sovereign/Monarch sailings (older ships)

 

A Superior Ocean View for my fam of FOUR was $742 total. But I decided against it. (It would have been a back to back with a walt disney world trip we were doing)

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You really may want to check out NCL closer. In addition to only charging port charges, they have freestyle dining. No set dinner times. So if the little one is taking a much needed nap after a long day, no need to wake him/her to get down to dinner on time. Let them sleep and do dinner when they wake up. Freestyle dining seems to work very well for parents with children.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I know that every sailing is different and hopefully this was just a bad experience, but I wanted to pass this on for those considering freestyle dining with kids....

On our NCL cruise last year, freestyle dining was a huge disaster. While freestyle dining was a great concept, in real life it didnt' work too well. When we went to dinner the first night people were packed in the hallway (+ stairwell) waiting for a table the next few nights we tried to go at different times thinking maybe we went for a popular dining time. Nothing worked, we were always stuck waiting in the hallway for at least 20-30 minutes to get a table. It was only DH and I so a table of 2 or to add us to another table should not have been hard. We saw very angry groups of guests that all wanted to sit together and were waiting a long time for tables with X amount of chairs. It was very hot in the stairwell and you literally had to sit on the stairs to wait, as there were not any chairs or tables.

We did manage to eat at the the speciality restaurants, but since we didn't make reservations (thinking it was freestyle and we could eat where we wanted) we ended up with very bad dinner times for those two nights. (if you cruise with NCL, please make sure you pick which nights you want to be in the speciality restaurant and make the reservation as soon as you get on the ship)

After we returned and talked to others, many have had similar freestyle dining experiences.

Because of this I simply can't imagine taking DS on NCL in the near future. Perhaps one of the brand new ships that was built to accomodate Freestyle cruising but none that are more than a few years old before this idea was developed.

I guess it depends on the child , but DS would do much better if we re-arranged his nap schedule a bit rather than making him wait in a hot, stuffy hallway for a long time before each meal.

I am sure we will cruise NCL again, but it will be once all of these kinks are worked out or only on one of the new ships.

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We have done two cruises on HAL with our daughter one when she was 5 months and one at 11 months. Both times they gave us an infant rate that was much less than the third person rate for the cabin. Enjoyed both cruises very much and found HAL to be a great choice for cruising with a baby.

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No one knows, it's seriously anyone's guess. When they have them, you'll see us post about it here. The last one was just a couple of weeks ago, it was on Majesty/Sovereign/Monarch sailings (older ships)

 

darn!

 

I was looking specifically for a deal on SoS this August....

What was the deal?

  • Do they run it often?
  • What are the chances of it being run again in the next 90 (or so) days?
  • Are they normally posted in "family cruising"?

Thanks for all the info!

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darn!

 

I was looking specifically for a deal on SoS this August....

What was the deal?

  • Do they run it often?
  • What are the chances of it being run again in the next 90 (or so) days?
  • Are they normally posted in "family cruising"?

Thanks for all the info!

 

Don't know whether or not you'll see it again anytime soon, but if Michele spots 3rd and 4th passenger deals she's really good about posting them on this board.

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MSC has excellent family specials in which all children under 12 go free.There is not a lot on the boards about them but apparently the new ships are very nice and they have some intereting offers and amenities as well as destinations.Check them out.

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darn!

 

I was looking specifically for a deal on SoS this August....

What was the deal?

  • Do they run it often?
  • What are the chances of it being run again in the next 90 (or so) days?
  • Are they normally posted in "family cruising"?

Thanks for all the info!

 

 

It was $742 total for a fam of 4 in the Superior Ocean View Category. My two kids were $99 each.

 

If you sign up at rccl.com you should be emailed everytime a sale is coming up. When I receive them I post them here.

 

Also bookmark these sites. They are the RCCL promo sites. I see some sailings on Sovereign $219 pp (Inside) and $259 (Ocean View) for 4 days. Just make sure you look at the states it is being offered to.

 

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

 

And check their sales events here...

http://www.creative.rccl.com/sales/RCI_Sales_Event/rci_sales_event.pdf

[url=http://www.creative.rccl.com/sales/promowave/RCL.pdf][/url]

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Michele~

 

If that sailing is in August, that would be EXACTLY what I was looking for.

 

Port Canaveral is about 30 minutes east of me.

 

Thanks for posting the info, and I am checking the boards frequently looking for similer deals.

 

:)

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We have done two cruises on HAL with our daughter one when she was 5 months and one at 11 months. Both times they gave us an infant rate that was much less than the third person rate for the cabin. Enjoyed both cruises very much and found HAL to be a great choice for cruising with a baby.

Interesting, since we just booked on HAL for a June 2008 cruise and we had to pay the full 3rd full fare for our then 13 month old... My brother and his family are going as well, and we paid exactly what he paid for the 3rd and 4th passenger who are 10 and 12...... Wonderig if they have changed their policy since you last cruised or if it's on certain cruises....

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  • Administrators
Interesting' date=' since we just booked on HAL for a June 2008 cruise and we had to pay the full 3rd full fare for our then 13 month old... My brother and his family are going as well, and we paid exactly what he paid for the 3rd and 4th passenger who are 10 and 12...... Wonderig if they have changed their policy since you last cruised or if it's on certain cruises....[/quote']

 

Or perhaps HAL's infant rate is only for children under the age of 1? The post you quoted referred to rates for a child of 5 months and 11 months. You could call directly, or have your TA call, to confirm.

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