Need suggestions on Cruise

[zetachi]

We are looking at a cruise out of Ft. Lauderdale for Feb 14-21 2009.

 

It will be myself,my wife, my 2 yo daughter (will be 3 at the time but not potty trained yet), my 6 yo son (will be 2 weeks shy of 7) and my sister.

 

We did the 5 day Disney Wonder last year and looking to try another line.

 

I've read around the board and looks like the best lines for kids are Carnival and RCCL we are just a bit worried about RC since the kids need to be potty trained for camp.

 

Any suggestions on ship and ports of call?

 

Thanks

 

Zetachi

[zetachi]

hmm 50 views and no suggestions?

[CeleBrat]

I'll bite...

 

If you check out cruisinmama's blog, you can find kids club info for just about every cruise line. You will also be able to see which lines require potty-trained kids, and which don't.

 

We have never chosen our cruise based on kids facilities. Rather, we choose by itinerary, ship, and price.

 

Do you want an older ship, or newer? What sort of itinerary are you looking for? Eastern, Western, Southern, or Bahamas?

 

Costa is running their KIDS SAIL FREE promo right now, so if you cruise on the Costa Fortuna to the Caribbean, you would only pay for the adults in your party. We went on the Fortuna last year and had a fun time.

 

We've also cruised NCL a few times--specifically b/c they have "Freestyle Dining", which means no exact dining time. With the younger kids, you might want to consider the flexibility that brings.

 

Lastly, don't forget that most ship don't allow diapered infants/kids in the pools. So, before chooisng a ship w/fabulous water play area, double check to ensure your little ones have a separate kids pool or splash area that will allow the diapers.

 

Hope that helps!

 

CeleBrat

[wrp96]

One thing I will tell you is do not limit yourself to just Ft. Lauderdale. Miami is right next door and will give you a lot more cruises to choose from. That is an EXTREMELY popular week to cruise so you may find pricing and availability an issue if you wait.

[CeleBrat]

EEK! Misread your 6yr old's age a 6 month old. (I'm a blonde....really!)

 

You only have one in (possible) diapers.

 

6/7 yr old can DEFINITELY swim in pools. He would also have a great time in either the Carnival Kids Club or RCCL Kids program.

 

Check the kids pages that have been posted....

 

CeleBrat

[abitaturbodog]

hmm 50 views and no suggestions?

 

I hadn't replied because I didn't want you to take this the wrong way, but my suggestion would be to spend the next 3 months potty training your daughter. :D

[zetachi]

Thanks all for your input. Looks like we we narrowed it down to RCCL and Carnival for a 6 day out of Miami or Ft Lauderdale Carnival has the Freedom, Triumph or Valor and RCCL has Independance of the Seas.

 

So of those which has the most for my little one if she is a) not potty trained and/or b) has no interest in the camps?

 

I'll bite...

 

If you check out cruisinmama's blog, you can find kids club info for just about every cruise line. You will also be able to see which lines require potty-trained kids, and which don't.

 

We have never chosen our cruise based on kids facilities. Rather, we choose by itinerary, ship, and price.

 

Do you want an older ship, or newer? What sort of itinerary are you looking for? Eastern, Western, Southern, or Bahamas?

 

Costa is running their KIDS SAIL FREE promo right now, so if you cruise on the Costa Fortuna to the Caribbean, you would only pay for the adults in your party. We went on the Fortuna last year and had a fun time.

 

We've also cruised NCL a few times--specifically b/c they have "Freestyle Dining", which means no exact dining time. With the younger kids, you might want to consider the flexibility that brings.

 

Lastly, don't forget that most ship don't allow diapered infants/kids in the pools. So, before chooisng a ship w/fabulous water play area, double check to ensure your little ones have a separate kids pool or splash area that will allow the diapers.

 

Hope that helps!

 

CeleBrat

While not deciding completely on kids itinerary, it is a big factor that the kids enjoy themselves and are occupied as that gives us some free time.

 

We've decided that 5-6 days is what we need and since we've not done any of the Caribbean except Bahamas with Disney any of them is good

 

One thing I will tell you is do not limit yourself to just Ft. Lauderdale. Miami is right next door and will give you a lot more cruises to choose from. That is an EXTREMELY popular week to cruise so you may find pricing and availability an issue if you wait.

 

Yep we are looking at both Ft. Laud and Miami but want a 5 or 6 day cruise

 

I hadn't replied because I didn't want you to take this the wrong way, but my suggestion would be to spend the next 3 months potty training your daughter. :D

 

It is a thought and we are working on it she goes on the potty occasionally we just don't believe in pushing it for our benefit and can't depend on it being 100% by a certain date.

[wrp96]

Independence of the Seas will offer you and your kids the most options, especially if you don't think your child would even go to the kids club. You'll still have in cabin babysitting available if you decide you want some adult only time. Plus, the Independence has an area of the H20 Zone for non-potty trained children.

[crusinmama06]

Hmmmm, let me think, if I were you......what would I do....let me think...this is a toughie ;).....ohhhh I know, I would go on Independence...LOL. :p

 

I AM going on Independence, so that's why I can say with 100% certainty...that would be my choice. :D:D:D

 

The Independence would have the H20 zone. And if she is not 100% potty trained by then, you will still have a section of the H20 zone to play in. :D

[dmtcc]

Hi,

We've taken our children (twins) on NCL twice and we've really loved it!

Both times on the Jewel.

Just recently, the Jewel (12 night repo NY to Miami) (they are 4 yo)

and a 7nt (carib. Miami to Miami) they were almost 3 yo then.

 

They really loved NCLs kids club. When they were younger and in the kids club, we were given a cell phone in case they needed to contact us for pull up change or whatnot (they were almost potty trained, but we decided to just leave them in pull ups for the vacation).

On our most recent cruise, we requested a cellphone in case the girls asked for us....they never did.

 

We had considered many lines (was very interested in the RCCL Independence), but the freestyle dining/ease of kids club were the tie breakers for a family vacation. (my husband is a big crystal fan, but i don't think we'll be cruising with them again until the girls move out =op

 

The itiniereary was not that important to us. The children's main interests were the beach, pool and kids club. There was always a choice for them. It just so happened that with both cruises, every stop had a nice beach to take them. I will say though that, on our most recent cruise 2 of the excursions invloved some travel time ("not very far" can be equated to 1 to 2.5 hours in commute time. Samana/Playa rincon and Belize/cave tubing...these were times we had to insure we had entertainment/snacks to keep them occupied)

They also did NOT appreciate the sightseeing in Aruba...sigh, oh well =o)

 

Also, we prefer a less crowded ship, and the repositioning was perfect! I was told there were less than 35 children on board. (the age group our girls were in 2-5, had less than 10 children at any given time, and they really got to know their crewmates.

We will definitely be doing more repos (or cruises with 12+ days) in the future.

Hope this helps.

Dawn

[guk]

I have just been on the independence with my daughter aged 2 years and 3mths when we travelled and would say the facillities for a 3 year old potty trained child are amazing, there is a small area for non potty trained children in the H2O zone but its really only entertaining enough for babies as its in the H2O zone and I know my daughter and most of the kids her age we met were not happy with just staying in that area when so much more on offer so close. I don't mean to sound negative but we were constantly feeling sorry for a daughters friends that she made who could not go in the H2O zone as they were no potty trained as their parnts were even told off for walking through with their non potty trained children. We only found out about the potty training policy 3 1/2 weeks before we went but managed potty train her in that time as we used it as an incentive for her. I also don't know how we ould of found the whole experiance if we had not potty trained her as she lived in the pool and it was the only place on the ship where we could freely and safely let her run off steam.