Cruising family of 6

[sjram]

I am looking to plan a cruise for our family of 6 and have a few questions for you experienced cruisewrs with kids. We have four kids 11, 8, 4, and 2. I have read enough to learn that we need to book two connecting rooms but have some other general questions that I am hoping to find answers to before narrowing down our search.

 

Which cruise line is better for kids?

 

What ports are more kid friendly? Older 3 can swim butt not the 2yo. Don't want to have to travel by taxi obviously.

 

Have you found it is better to have an oceanview with kids or should we save money and go for inside? Do any balcony rooms have coonecting rooms or balconies?

 

How do they price for kids? When I pretend book a room for three (and multiply by 2) Is that an accurate price? Is there a kids price or is it the standard third person rate?

 

Any other tips/info that is important to know that I have probably not thought of yet?

 

Our work schedules allow is travel during nonpeak times, so that should help keep the costs down. Dh and I have cruised alone before and could get a past guest discount from Carnival. Thanks for any info. It is much appreciated!

 

Julia

[cb at sea]

Almost any of the "mainstream" lines will do nicely for a family. Disney, of course, is the king, but can be pricey. RCI and Carnival both have great kid's programs.

As far as ports...all are just as "kid-friendly" as another. It really depends on what you like to do onshore! Get a guidebook and read up on each port that you're thinking of visiting--it'll give you a better idea of what points of interest there are, how to get there, safety, food.....

If you book an excursion through the cruiseline, you won't have to worry about transportation--they'll take care of all that. But, if you just want to go to the beach or shop, that's almost always best done on your own. (That's where the guidebook comes in handy!!)

Some folks love interior room--no me! I want at least a balcony! There are "connecting" rooms with balconies--on some ships, you can get a balcony that connects to an interior (a good way to say a few bucks!) Not all ships allow the balcony divider to be removed, so while your room may have a connecting door, you'll still have 2 seperate balconies.

Some line charge full rates for kids, some discount them. Depends on the cruiseline!

 

Your best bet is to contact a travel agent (go to a real one in your town--not online) and talk to them. They can help you get the most for your money! And, you'll get borchures, deck plans....lots of stuff that you should have!

[Dr_DNA]

Your best bet is to contact a travel agent (go to a real one in your town--not online) and talk to them. They can help you get the most for your money! And, you'll get borchures, deck plans....lots of stuff that you should have!

 

Agreed. Your best bet is to find and go to a good TA.

 

We had great luck with RCCL and our then 3 year old- Adventure Ocean was fantastic for him.

 

I'm not sure that all ports are kid friendly, but I'll leave it to others to discuss those that aren't. I can say that the ports on our Canada/New England cruise were extremely kid friendly. Portland had a great kids museum (Boston too- but we went whale watching which was really cool!), there was a steam train ride in Connecticut that was a big hit, and Tuffey the Tugboat and Amphibious boat rides in Halifax were made for kids, to name a few. I know that most think of the Caribbean or other warm destinations for cruises, but Canada/New England was a great family cruise. I would highly recommend it.

 

Enjoy!

[wonttell]

Personally I would pick one of the Freedom class ships on RCCL. They will have a small tot pool for kids in swim diapers. It is very small but at least the 2 year old will be able to swim!

[fisherhum]

I am looking to plan a cruise for our family of 6 and have a few questions for you experienced cruisewrs with kids. We have four kids 11, 8, 4, and 2. I have read enough to learn that we need to book two connecting rooms but have some other general questions that I am hoping to find answers to before narrowing down our search.

 

Which cruise line is better for kids?

 

What ports are more kid friendly? Older 3 can swim butt not the 2yo. Don't want to have to travel by taxi obviously.

 

Have you found it is better to have an oceanview with kids or should we save money and go for inside? Do any balcony rooms have coonecting rooms or balconies?

 

How do they price for kids? When I pretend book a room for three (and multiply by 2) Is that an accurate price? Is there a kids price or is it the standard third person rate?

 

Any other tips/info that is important to know that I have probably not thought of yet?

 

Our work schedules allow is travel during nonpeak times, so that should help keep the costs down. Dh and I have cruised alone before and could get a past guest discount from Carnival. Thanks for any info. It is much appreciated!

 

Julia

We travelled RCL before with the kids (4 and 6 at the time). Adventure Ocean was amazing. They didn't even want to miss out of "camp" when we were at ports. We spent the extra money to get a balcony and a slightly bigger suite room as with the kids we thought (correctly for us) that we would be in the room more then if we were by ourselves. It was really nice to be able to sit on the balcony and relax while the kids had some down time in the room. Overall I saw the kids way less then I had expected. They loved the kids program and had lots of fun. We are booked on the Eurodam Feb 28, 2009 so we will see how it compares.

[Catrin]

Our upcoming cruise is our second with 6, as my mom joins us!

 

We always cruise Carnival - price is usually the deciding factor.. but now it is the kids. They LOVE cruising and love the Camp Carnival activities.

 

We cruised on the Liberty last February, and had two Ocean View connecting rooms. This was a PERFECT set up for us! It really felt as if it was one big room. This year, we have side by side balcony rooms, and we are hoping that the balcony dividers will open so we can have some common area.

 

As far as ports go, my kids have enjoyed the Western side the best. Paradise Beach in Cozumel is a blast. The Taxi's in Cozumel are BY TAXI, not by person, so it is the same for a family of 6, as a couple. There are also VAN taxis.

In GrandCayman, Seven Mile beach is nice, as is Stingray City, which you may wish to split up and have the older kids go there.

 

No matter what you choose, cruising is sure the Best Family Vacation for our family!

[boulders]

On Carnival, the 2 year old will be able to go to the kids club, not so on RCCL. RCCL does have cabins that will sleep 4 though. You won't be able to book them on the internet though. It's best to go through a TA or RCCL directly.

[teachnh]

Because you have a 2 year old I would go for NCL or Carnival. We have done both lines with our four kids and they loved both camps. We just got of NCL's jewel last week and the kids had a blast. We did connecting ocean view rooms. We debated balcony rooms but decided to go with the lower price oceanview. We had plenty of room. Here is a picture of how they set up the cabin for the kids

[eyegel]

By way of background, we have cruised with our three children (now 6, 7, and 8) since they were infants and have taken them on RCL, NCL, Carnival, Celebrity, and HAL.

 

Which cruise line is better for kids?

 

If you want to be able to leave the two year old in the camp, your only choices are Carnival and NCL. On RCL and Celebrity, you can bring the two year old in and they have some activities every day, but you must remain present.

 

Our children are such fans of the kids programs, that the (literally) refuse to leave the ship! On our last Celebrity cruise, they went to camp at 9:00 a.m. and remained there until 10:00 p.m. and were begging us to pay for group babysitting so they could remain until midnight.

 

On port days on RCL, Celebrity, and Carnival you can leave them aboard while you take the baby with you. HAL does not offer that option. It has been too long since I went on NCL for me to speak with authority.

 

HAL and Celebrity have a markedly older crowd. Some grandmotherly types are sweet, some alte kakers do nothing but complain loudly about why you have brought young children (even well-behaved ones) on "their" cruise line. You can usually put the latter in their place by pointing out that you paid just as much for your children as they paid for themselves.

 

What ports are more kid friendly? Older 3 can swim butt not the 2yo. Don't want to have to travel by taxi obviously.

 

I prefer Mexico and the Caribbean in the winter. If you are worried about taxis for safety reasons, please note that I have yet to be on a cruise line tour bus that had seatbelts. In my experience you are more likely to get seatbelts in a taxi/van.

 

Have you found it is better to have an oceanview with kids or should we save money and go for inside? Do any balcony rooms have connecting rooms or balconies?

 

I consider oceanview cabins a complete waste. No one sits in one and looks out the window. Balcony cabins are nice, but very pricey. We had a GORGEOUS "Family Ocean View" one on our thirteen-day fall foliage cruise on Celebrity last October which actually had a huge verandah, almost as big as the room. We took it because the price for that cabin was only $200 more than the cost of two inside staterooms. Cruisecritic has an article on family friendly cabins. Check it out. Note that neither you nor your travel agent can access that inventory online. You (or your travel agent) must call the cruiseline to check availability.

 

There are cabins with connecting doors in all classes. If you and your spouse do not mind splitting up to sleep, you might consider getting a balcony cabin opposite an inside cabin. You combine the benefits of a balcony (nice for Alaska and the Caribbean) with the costs savings of an inside cabin which serves primarily as a bunk room.

 

How do they price for kids? When I pretend book a room for three (and multiply by 2) Is that an accurate price? Is there a kids price or is it the standard third person rate?

 

There is no "kids rate". On NCL, children under two pay only the port taxes and fees. On MSC children under seventeen have the same deal as long as two people are paying the "adult rate". Almost invariably, you pay the standard third person rate. By chance, our next trip is to Alaska. Because she has more vacation time, my wife is traveling northbound on HAL from Vancouver in an inside cabin where the rate for passengers 3 and 4 was only $1.00 plus taxes and fees! I have never seen this before. [We are returning on RCL in two inside cabins with a connecting door. The FOVs on RCCL have only a window, and the cost of a balcony room was exorbitant. We would rather cruise twice as often than pay twice as much.]

 

Any other tips/info that is important to know that I have probably not thought of yet?

 

If you can travel at off-peak times, you can get a great rate. Historically, we cruise during the dead time between Thanksgiving and Christmas. We usually get the lowest rates of the year. The school is good about giving the kids an "independent study" package of homework. The kids get the benefit of a cruise and the school still gets its money from the state. It gets tough supervising homework from 5-7, but we all cooperate to get it done.

 

Enjoy!