bahamas with 2 young kids

[me&2kids]

I want to take a 3 or 4 day cruise from Port Canaveral or Jacksonville with my 2 kids (ages 3 & 6). I need a good kids program onboard and would like to avoid the spring break kind of crowd. I've only done NCL 10 years ago and have no further experience. Any recommendations?

 

Also, I'd like to go when it's warm enough to swim comfortably (I hate the cold!) but when prices are cheap. How's the temp in February? Should I wait til March, April or May?

 

Many thanks!

[Sting Ray]

We sailed on the Carnival Fascination in October 2008. Camp Carnival was great. They don't just babysit the children - they have activities planned each night.

Camp Carnival opened for the evening activities at 7:00 pm so we dropped the children (ages 4 and 7) off at that time. Then we returned at 10:00 pm to get them. Camp Carnival will watch your children until 3:00 am in the morning if you want, but after 10:00 pm they charge $6.00 per hour (and $4.00 per hour for additional children).

 

Most shows on the ship started at 8:30 or 8:45 pm and ended about 9:30 pm, so using Camp Carnival allowed us to see several shows and still make it back to get the children by 10:00 pm. The children had a great time every night and sometimes didn't want to leave at 10:00 pm.

 

If you're going to use Camp Carnival, select early seating (6:00 pm) for dinner so you can drop them off right after dinner. Keep in the mind the times I gave you were on the Fascination - they could be different on another ship.

 

The Fascination always visits Nassau and alterates between Key West and Half Moon Cay (pronounced "key") on the 5-day cruises. If you can, take a cruise that visits Half Moon Cay. It is an awesome port with a beautiful beach. It is much more entertaining for children than Nassau was. My two children swam for hours and practically had to be dragged out of the water to go back to the ship! Carnival provides lunch on the island that day so you don't have to go back to the ship for lunch.