Advice on line for family of 16

[Been There, Planning That]

We're organizing a family celebration for our family of 16, eight of whom are children who will range in age from one to twelve.

 

We plan to do round trip from Vancouver.

 

We've sailed on Celebrity, HAL and NCL. I've concerns about NCL because of all the fee paying restaurants. SInce it's to be our treat, we need to know our costs up front and not have to have too many limitations on our guests.

 

To date Celebrity has been our favourite but our cruise was a 14 day South American one of mainly seniors. So too was our 30 day HAL. So we have no idea how well these lines would meet our family's needs on a 7 day cruise in late spring.

 

I know nothing of Royal Caribbean.

 

• Which line would you feel would best suit our family?
  

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[Bethee99]

Royal Caribbean has a lot to offer for kids. Especially the larger ships. It is a good ship for all ages and each time I have sailed with them it was mostly families. I have been on Disney and RC. I personally would say go with RC but I haven't been on the other lines. I have been really happy with them though.

[Been There, Planning That]

Bethee, Royal Caribbean does have the best age groupings for activities for our family, but prices are much higher on the new ships with all the bells and whistles. And price does matter, given it's to be our treat.

[nothriver]

We chose Celebrity for our family trip to Alaksa. We'll be in port 4 days days and at sea for 2 so the "bells and whistles" aren't as important to us since we'll be very busy in port more often than we will be relaxing on the ship. When we booked, prices on Celebrity were better than Royal Caribbean. Food and service are typically better on Celebrity and since the price was lower, it seemed like a good choice. The children in our group are age 4, 5, 15, 22. The program for the younger ones is quite good on Celebrity and I think you'll be pleased with the programs for all the kids in your group. I do think other lines might have more to offer our 15 and 22 yr old boys. Celebrity, however, has more to offer their grandparents, who are paying for the trip!

 

Another really important consideration that you didn't mention is the actual itinerary. Take the time to compare all the ports and make sure none of the ships you are considering are skipping someplace you'd really like to see!

[wrp96]

If you are looking at a round trip out of Vancouver, my choice would be Celebrity or HAL - based on itinerary. Kids will usually have a great time no matter the cruise, but for Alaska itinerary really does matter.

[Been There, Planning That]

I guess I've been fussing more about ship board than ports to date. You're right with only two sea days ports are more important. I must admit we were leaning towards the known -- HAL and Celebrity.

 

Good advice to ponder.

[Budget Queen]

All your cruiselines have good kids programs, my opinion only, I would not base my choice on that for an Alaska sailing. Kids will have a great time on any line, involve them in the planning. HAL itineraries are overall, in my opinion, some of the best now sailing. I would choose their Glacier Bay/Tracy Arm itineraries, if you are going to Alaska for Alaska.

 

You may want to look at- ports, time in ports, glacier, route, ship naturalist, price.

[Been There, Planning That]

Budget Queen, since the wondergrandkids live in other cities and only the youngest ones live locally, we'll do most of the planning.

 

I have read on other threads that HAL is one of the best lines for Alaska but it does serve an older passenger grouping. Although the kids will be busy sightseeing, it would be nice to have an attractive programme with their peers for a bit of down time for the parents. Since we plan to save a bit of money and go either late May or early June, I don't imagine there will be many kids -- on any line, but especially on a HAL ship.

 

However, I plan to buy 'high end diaries' for each and will expect entries from when we book until their return home. What else would a retired teacher expect. The older family will be able to do some research but the youngest will simply be able to draw pictures.

 

Thanks for offering food for thought -- the only food that doesn't add to my girth!

[WeBCruisin]

New Beginner - we are traveling to Alaska with our 2 young boys ages 5 & 9. We are cruising Serenade of the Seas (RCI) roundtrip from Vancouver. I will admit that we chose RCI primarily because we are Diamond members - and the acquired perks really do help. We chose the Vancouver itinerary for convenience. My preference was to sail the South Bound from Seward - however I was afraid that the 10 plus hours of travel to get to Anchorage coupled with the the additional 3 hour transfer to the port was simply too much for my children at this age.

 

However, our first cruise to Alaska was 10 years ago with extended family on HAL (Maasdem) at this time we did not have children but we were accompanied by nieces and nephews ranging in age from 7 - 13. The kids really had a great time on this itinerary - I don't even think they used the kids program. The main draw for the kids (OK - for everyone) was the amazing excursions and the scenery!

 

Yes, the demographics on HAL ship was much older than we had experienced on our previous Caribbean cruises - but I think that is normal for the Alaska itinerary. It will be interesting to compare my HAL experience with my RCI experience.

 

One thing that I would look for in a ship to keep the kids happy is the existence of a covered pool. I know that on the Alaska itineraries RCI will open up the Solarium pool (normally reserved for ages 16 & up) for family use. I know that our boys will take advantage of this on a daily basis.

 

I would also check on the age range for the Kids program. I know RCI will only allow children who are 3 years old AND potty trained. I'm not sure but I believe HAL will take children as yound as 2 - if this is important to you I would definitely check with the cruise line.

 

I know you will have a wonderful time whatever you choose! Like your family we have been blessed to have been on many cruises with our extended family (also on the generosity of the grandparents) and the memories we have are priceless!

[VikkiGarcia]

New Beginer: We did an Alaskan family cruise (4 cabins) in July. When I was planning this trip it was interesting to see how much cost difference there was per cruiseline when I figured out the cost PER CABIN. I found that some cruiselines 3rd/4th passenger rates were significantly less than others. This made cruises that initially looked more expensive actually cheaper than others. We ended up going with the cheapest TOTAL cost...tax, tips ect. This was not the cruise I planned when first looking. To me initally it looked more expensive.

[NightRN]

We're doing a family reunion trip to Alaska also. I chose Royal Caribbean for all the amenities on Radiance of the Seas. Rock climbing, sports courts & teen club for the kids (things that my family's kids are interested in yours may be different), self-leveling pool table and sports court for hubby, spa amenities for the women, etc. Look at what each ship offers for your families interest. Yes, Alaska will be beautiful and we will spend a lot of time off of the ship. But when all is said and done, we are doing it to spend time as a family, so we want things that we will enjoy doing together. DH and I will be able to go back to Alaska for the scenery etc, when the kids are grown up and out of the house and my parents are no longer around.

[Been There, Planning That]

It's great to read replies from so many happy families. It's encouraging that families do enjoy each other's company.

 

WeB Cruisin, we don't have gold or diamond credits with any line. We're relatively new to cruising and to date have experienced three lines, but just one cruise each -- loyal we aren't at this point. We didn't expect our newest wondergrandkid would qualify for ANY children's programme, but with three other doting sets of adults I'm sure the parents will get a bit of alone time.

 

Vikki Garcia, I'd be interested to learn which line you eventually chose. We'll require a total of seven cabins, two of which will have three bunking together.

 

Our ideal would be interconnecting cabins -- as a couple we're window steerage types. One set of children would be old enough for across the aisle cabins but the others will be too young. If we can get connecting cabins in steerage, we'll be able to treat for more excursions which seem to be on the expensive side of usual ship tours.

 

We're actually giving more thought and planning to this Alaska cruise in 2010 than to a cruise and land holiday we've booked for a cruise and longer stay in Spain this January. My husband just has to brush up on his decades old university Spanish.

[Been There, Planning That]

I suspect that the ship you chose will be beyond our modest budget as much as our older grandchildren would enjoy all those amenities. But once the lines post their dates of sailing for 2010 we'll sure put our great TA to work.

 

As I just said, I'm enjoying all these family stories.

[Budget Queen]

Budget Queen, since the wondergrandkids live in other cities and only the youngest ones live locally, we'll do most of the planning.

 

I have read on other threads that HAL is one of the best lines for Alaska but it does serve an older passenger grouping. Although the kids will be busy sightseeing, it would be nice to have an attractive programme with their peers for a bit of down time for the parents. Since we plan to save a bit of money and go either late May or early June, I don't imagine there will be many kids -- on any line, but especially on a HAL ship.

 

However, I plan to buy 'high end diaries' for each and will expect entries from when we book until their return home. What else would a retired teacher expect. The older family will be able to do some research but the youngest will simply be able to draw pictures.

 

Thanks for offering food for thought -- the only food that doesn't add to my girth!

 

Overall, in your timeframe, there is not going to be much, if any difference in passenger demographics on ANY line to Alaska, including Carnival. For clairfication, HAL has some of the best "Alaska" based kids programs and activites. Usually the ship naturalists are involved, which I have never seen on the other lines. There is in no way any comparism to kids programs sailing the Caribbean, which has vast differences in kids programs, depending on the lines.

 

 

You may want to consider adding another cabin, since you could consider getting a "group" rate, which is one person free with 8 double booked cabins.

[VikkiGarcia]

New Beginner: We ended up doing the NCL Sun out of Vancouver. When I found that they had inside cabins for 5 we put all the older kids (cousins) in it. The adults then had balconies across the hall. It was a much more casual cruise then if we had gone with our first choice RC. But the savings allowed for my parents to "treat" us to 2 specialty restaurants. I was worried that this ship did not have enough bells and whistles for the kids. But they just enjoyed having the whole family together. Alaska was really about the ports and scenery.

[Been There, Planning That]

Vikki Garcia, it never crossed my mind to group the cousins in two instead of three cabins. But the youngest are so young, quality sleep time might be a challenge. You've offered good food for thought.

 

And Budget Queen, our TA has said she might be able to find a client or two to flesh our our number of cabins to make a formal group, though I gather the benefits aren't that great.

 

I'm getting so many good ideas from you more experienced cruisers. Thanks

[VikkiGarcia]

New Beginner: Having 5 kids in one cabin eliminated an extra cabin we were needing on other lines. The 3rd/4th/5th passenger for the one cabin took our costs down considerably. I worried that the age range in that cabin 16-3 might be an issue. The younger kids enjoyed kids club in the evening and were exausted by the time we got back to the cabin. The rocking of the ship put them to sleep. We rotated one adult each night to pick them up from kids club, put them to bed, and stay in the cabin until the two teens(midnight curfew) arrived. When I compared this set up with any other arrangement on any other cruiseline the savings was over $2000. It became a nobrainer and it worked out much smoother than expected.

[Been There, Planning That]

I've been tidying up my subscriptions to various threads and I thought that I'd let those of you who so kindly offered advice know that we're back from a fantastic family celebration on the Zuiderdam.

 

You're right -- any cruise -- especially a first one for our families is bound to be great.

 

A cruise provided a perfect setting for a family reunion -- plentiy of time all together and plenty of 'alone' time for each of the four families.

 

Thanks experts.

[ailuro]

New Beginner - you sound like more of a 'wise cruiser' now.;)

 

So nice of you to come back and let everyone know how you got on - sounds like you did the right thing - plan plan and further plan to make for a smooth sailing once on board.:)