How to afford to take a family on a cruise?

[chris&holly]

How do you get the best deal for a family? 2 people no problem . But 2 adults and 2 kids 4 0r 5 grand!!!! What am I missing? Is there a better way to book cabins with children? Can you book a balcony and an inside cabin 2 people in each? Or what HELP!!!!

[rebeccalouise]

You can book four to a cabin. Yes, as long as one adult is booked into the cabin- you can do an inside also.

[InAShoeBox]

How do you get the best deal for a family? 2 people no problem . But 2 adults and 2 kids 4 0r 5 grand!!!! What am I missing? Is there a better way to book cabins with children? Can you book a balcony and an inside cabin 2 people in each? Or what HELP!!!!

 

Keep looking around.....we just got off a 7 night cruise on Costa and we were able to get a balcony cabin and we paid less than $2500 total (2 adults 2 children). I think the trick is to really keep your eyes open, deals are always coming out, either your 3rd and 4th person will get a discount or you may be able to find them for free. I think your choice of cruise line will certainly play into the prices as well, we were very pleased with Costa and despite all the negative comments we found on the boards we had a great time.

[Crusin6]

Book early, if they offer an early discount, like Disney does

Don't drink, don't buy the soda card and don't over tip

Don't pay for anyone but your immediate family, if your child must bring a friend (why?), they pay for themselves

Get the best oceanview room you can

Eat on the ship and keep the port meals to a minimum

 

and finally, use your equity loan and enjoy, remember it is only a blink of an eye!;)

[ilovewdw]

We are a family of 4, too. I recently booked a 6 night cruise from New York (PERFECT since we live in Long Island!) on 4/27 for $2000. I think that's a pretty great deal. HOWEVER we have to take DS out of school for the week (he's off the week before for Spring Recess).

 

I am currently searching for cruises for NEXT summer (notice I am assuming DH and the kids will love to cruise as much as I do...it's their first cruise!:D ) and the CHEAPEST I can find is well over $5K. :eek: I guess I am going to have to continue to pull DS out of school!!!!! :confused: (he's currently in 1st grade and DD is 2 1/2)

 

Are there specific TAs that people use to get great deals? I don't mind booking somewhat close to the sail date. But I'd love to leave from NY, which limits my options. And in a perfect world, I wouldn't take DS out of school.

 

How can I find a somewhat DECENT rate during summer months? :confused:

[betsifur]

We are cruising with two adults and four kids over spring break. I saved about $2,000 by taking a cruise that leaves out of New Orleans, instead of Galveston. It means a 6 hour drive for us, but I wanted that $2K for excursions and fun on the cruise. At first I was going to book two interior cabins, but I spent an extra $400 to make one of them a balcony across the hall.

[Zaniac]

We feel your pain. We are traveling with our DD again only this time we are doing a B2B cruise aboard the Liberty. We missed this year so are justifying it somehow. We also upgraded to a Balcony cabin as we have always been in an inside and figured it was time to really enjoy ourselves. The balcony makes it easier as I like to get up early and have a coffee and now can sit on the balcony while the other two sleep. Expensive? Very. But will be well worth it as our DD will be turning 4 and will really have a blast this time around, as will we.

 

Our thing is that we do not do very many Family trips or adventures other than cruising so we save it all up for that and make the most of it. The memories far outweigh the cost IMO.

[Crusin6]

We are a family of 4, too. I recently booked a 6 night cruise from New York (PERFECT since we live in Long Island!) on 4/27 for $2000. I think that's a pretty great deal. HOWEVER we have to take DS out of school for the week (he's off the week before for Spring Recess).

 

I am currently searching for cruises for NEXT summer (notice I am assuming DH and the kids will love to cruise as much as I do...it's their first cruise!:D ) and the CHEAPEST I can find is well over $5K. :eek: I guess I am going to have to continue to pull DS out of school!!!!! :confused: (he's currently in 1st grade and DD is 2 1/2)

 

Are there specific TAs that people use to get great deals? I don't mind booking somewhat close to the sail date. But I'd love to leave from NY, which limits my options. And in a perfect world, I wouldn't take DS out of school.

 

How can I find a somewhat DECENT rate during summer months? :confused:

Try the last week of August. We did the Victory to Canada (90 degrees btw, we thought we were in the Carib!) and got a good price, we are a family of 6 btw.

[mjmalino]

I understand. Our upcoming cruise for the 4 of us will cost us about 6K for a 9 night cruise. (and it cost about that last year as well for Alaska 7 day). We have to pay airfare to fly cross country, however, this time, I am making the airfare pay off. We live in CA, and all of our families are in New York/ Pennsylvania. Since I make a summer trip back east the the kids (DH usually doesn't make this trip) every year, our cruise out of NY is a good way to do it both with one set of plane tickets (sort of, DH's itinerary is a bit different).

 

Anyway, what we chose to do last year, and will again, is pick our expenses. We bought 2 soda cards, if the kids wanted soda, DH and I drank water/iced tea. Since our excursions were right after lunch and left from the pier, we went back to the ship for lunch for free instead of in port. We chose 1 "splurge" excursion that we thought the kids would really enjoy, and then chose either no excursion, or a much more economical one for other ports.

 

Also, if you like the casino, set a limit! DH and I would go in there with $20 each per day (on the days that we actually utilized it). It can go pretty far on a nickel machine.

[abitaturbodog]

Book a cruise on Costa or MSC. Kids traveling as 3rd/4th passengers cruise for FRREE! You don't even pay tips for them either.

[my4gals]

What is MSC?

[SelectSys]

What is MSC?

 

An Italian-based cruise line. It is a divsion of a larger shipping company - Mediterranean Shipping Company. Here is their web site:

http://www.msccruisesusa.com/home.asp

[scoshe]

We are always looking for deals and came across MSC while searching the web. DS is 15 and DD is 12. We booked the Ochestra for March 2009 and got a 7 night interior for under $1500. Haven't heard much about this line, but at that price we thought we'd give it a try.

[Dr_DNA]

I think that a cruise is about the best value that you can get for your money. In fact, I can't think of many other family vacations that can even match prices when you add up the TOTAL cost of the vacation. Sure, you can go overboard on the ship with all of the extras, but you don't have to spend another dime onboard (besides tips) and still have a great time.

 

For the person wanting to sail out of NY, I keep a close eye on all sailings from the area, especially those out of Bayonne on the Explorer. :D Deals are hard to find, but you CAN find them from time to time. NCL had some pretty good deals for Bermuda and the Explorer pops up on RCCL's sales from time to time. Good luck!

[Crusin6]

An Italian-based cruise line. It is a divsion of a larger shipping company - Mediterranean Shipping Company. Here is their web site:

http://www.msccruisesusa.com/home.asp

Just a note to the above. I believe the kids are free but are they free during peak summer months? Also, I have a fear ( and I have been told am right.)that there will be alot of Europeans on this line. Now, I love Europeans, especially Sicilians, as all 6 of us are 100% Sicilian, but I do not like the excessive cigarette smoke that I am pretty sure they cast off. No need for extra post regarding that topic, btw. But I am fairly sure I am correct on this.:D

 

And yes, I know they smoke on cruise lines frequented by mostly Americans and yes, I know that part of the pleasure of traveling is experiencing other cultures but we choose to not book on ships where the majority of cruisers are foreign. Just our preference. I hate having to post a proactive post here but from what I have seen in the past, it is needed.;)

[TravelingFamily5]

We're a family of five and grandma will b e joining us on a cruise to the Bahamas on March 22nd. I paid a little over $6,000 for the 6 of us in an oceanview cabin. I booked our cruise sometime in August directly with the cruiseline (NCL). Now we were upgraded to a balcony for an additional $300 per cabin which I believed was a good deal considering I was trying to get a balcony for about, I believed, $2500 PP for a balcony in January. But with the upsell I don't have to pay that much. Thank goodness. Now I have money for excursions.

[PrincessDreams4P&B]

We have been very lucky and found deals, but it takes alot of calling, checking website and doing your research. We are taking our family of 5 on a cruise in Oct. so immediately we are saving big for the time of year we are going but the kids have 2 days off from school that week, so they will only be missing 3 days (the school doesn't usually do very much when they have a short week). The cost of our next cruise was $2600 for a balcony, that works out to be $520pp for a 7 day cruise..not bad. I have also learned that the farther out you book, the better deal you get. We spent very little on our last cruise due to

 

a. we aren't big drinkers, stuck mainly to ice tea and lemonade - we don't give kids soda alot so they were happy with milk and juice

 

b. we booked all of our tours privately. We saved HUGE on this. For what it would have cost us to take 1 Princess excursion, we took 3 private tours (on different islands) - In Jamaica, what Princess wanted for 1 person, we ended up paying privately for 4..

 

c. Souviners - we made a rule, not so much to save $$ but to stop bringing home useless crap that sat in a box somewhere. Eveyone was allowed 2 souviners. Didn't matter if they were big or small..2 each. The kids were much more selective when they knew that they better pick something they really wanted.

 

d. One of those, now that I know..I will be waiting ntil the end of the cruise to buy pictures..I went so overboard. Now I will wait (I made sure to keep our pictures together) and make better choices.

[Iannie]

For us taking our 3 kids along was a major thinking process. Dh and I loved our last cruise without the kids but being this is to celebrate the 50th anniversary of thier grandparents we figured it was well worth the cost.

 

We booked almost a year ago. We used the military discount that Carnival offers! Love them for that! I checked prices of airfare every day until the fares dropped to a low and bought then.

 

We figure and have told the kids this is our family vacation for the year! We all will enjoy it and have lasting memories, so we think the money is money well spent.

[DaisyGirl55]

In August, we are taking our second family cruise: $5500 for 10 adults and 2 babies (19 mos and 9 mos)...all outside cabins. Average cost is only $550 each for a 7 day cruise. I did not think that was too bad as some of the prices I looked at were much higher. One of the TA's I have used in the past had a special going on with a $50 booking deposit, and this allowed us to hold the cruise and gradually pay the remainder of the deposits and balance. And, because we have booked with them in the past - they are throwing in $100 OBC for me and my DH, plus 1 formal family portrait.

 

Before we found this deal, we looked at 5 day cruises because it was more to our budget, but when the 7 day opened up at a lower rate, we just had to jump on it.

 

Just research your cruises, call several agencies, call the cruiseline direct, and have your deposit ready. This way when you do find the right cruise for the right price, you will be able to book it on the spot. Don't forget to go back and periodically check your cruise for rate reductions too! You can usually get a refund on the difference if the rate goes down.

 

Happy cruise hunting!

[crusinmama06]

What cruises are you looking at? :eek: lol

 

It all depends on the ship, time of year and itinerary.

 

How old are the kids? Where do you want to go? When do you wnt to go?

I've been on ships where the kids were $199 total. And we were able to get into the top category for $699.

 

The price you listed would seriously cover a Grand Suite on Liberty of the Seas for 4 people. And that's usually one of the most expensive ships.

 

So when do you want to go? Kids ages? And I can make some suggestions. :D

[megnsamsgracie]

We travel with 6, 2 adults and we have 4 kids (11, 10, 7 and 5). We took the kids on their first cruise this past December. We got kids sail free on Costa and paid $1629 for 2 OV rooms. PLus, no tips REQUIRED on children (we tipped anyway). Now, we didnt care for Costa.. the kids did though. They had a blast. But hubby and I said never again. So, best deal I could find (we LOVE RCCL!) was $4300 on Liberty for a balcony and inside. IT was cheaper than 2 OV rooms. Now, I was having a hard time swallowing that! We ended up finding a Princess repo. cruise out of Ny (we are in CT) for $3000! Thats for a balcony and an inside. And airfare back home from San Juan is cheaper than R/T to FLL! So we are saving all around. We are also taking the kids out of school for 6 (maybe 7) days too. So time of year makes a huge difference too!

[mindy2]

Summer looks pretty reasonable to me. We have booked a 10 xmas/winter cruise (first cruise) for a family of four - a balcony cabin and an inside for 11 grand.....now that's alot! However, almost $4000 is airfare. Had originally planned to use "airmiles" to fly, but of course when i called in February for flights, there are none left for December.

 

This is why i am glad that we have 90 days prior to departure to cancel with no charge. Seriously thinking a 14 day all-inclusive might be more value for that much money. We've been to all-inclusives before, really like them, but we really wanted to try a cruise. We'll have to take a good look when the pricing comes out for the all-inclusives in June.

[Heatherco]

Mindy2 - Would you mind me asking what all-inclusives you use? Would love to do one with our 3 kids, but have found them to be more money than a cruise. That is, of course, because we usually go school vacation weeks.

 

Thanks for any info!

[mindy2]

Heatherco - We also usually only travel during school breaks, which of course you know seems to be the most expensive. The all-inclusives for the same periods are not less expensive and actually I think might be a bit more. What I am looking at is the cruise is 10 days vs. 14 days at a resort. At this point, for 4 of us it is at $3000 pp. A 4.5 - 5 star all-inclusive would probably be at least $3500 pp. if I book early. But, that's for 14 days and everything included. The only thing extra might be a round or two of golf. Having teenage boys, I am worried about the bill at the end of the cruise. We are also staying a few days after the cruise in Ft. Lauderdale, which I havn't yet included in the cost of cruise.

 

If we do the cruise, it will be a nice change to be able to visit several ports on one vacation, and just the whole cruise thing seems like a really great experience. I just don't want to nag the kids about their spending. It just seems that there are so many extra expenses with a cruise. And all those "chair hogs"!! That is beginning to worry me.

 

My favorite all inclusive was the Barcelo in the Mayan Riviera. The beach there is so beautiful. Food was great. I'm also partial to the Iberostars. Would most likely go back to the Mayan, probably the Barcelo Maya Beach or Barcelo Tropical or one of the IBerostars and am also looking the the Bahia Principe. We are also considering the Iberostar in Cuba as we've never been there yet.

 

Are you booked on a cruise or planning one??

[Heatherco]

Mindy2 - We just sailed Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas this past February (WONDERFUL) and just booked Princess' brand new ship THE RUBY for next February.

 

I would love to do an all inclusive, but they do seem to be a bit more money. Plus...I would love to go to Mexico, but we like the 2 1/2 hour flight to Florida. (We're in Massachusetts)

 

I will definitely check those out though. How early can you book? Do you book directly through Barcelo or Iberostar or use a booking agency like Apple Vacations, etc?

 

Thanks so much!

 

PS If you have teenage boys, I would definitely suggest Royal Caribbean's Voyager or Freedom Class Ships. They are incredible and have a ton for kids to do. Rock climbing wall, surf pool, mini golf, golf simulator, ice skating, arcade, etc.. You can see a virtual tour on the Royal Carib. site.

 

Happy planning!