Advise needed - 3 1/2 yr old, want best cruise for the money

[dotatdabbled]

Hi! new around here -- have lurked a bit, but felt the need to finally sign up an make a thread.

 

We haven't cruised lately, at least not since our son was born -- and I'm getting totally confused from my web research.

 

Here's what I'm looking for:

Something kid friendly - water parks or other activities to please a 3-4 yr old. Kids clubs that cater to the 3-5 age range

Something adult friendly - honestly we like smaller ships, nice food, nice atmosphere - but i'm afraid that and #1 may be mutually exclusive!

Something reasonable in price - who offers kids travel free--I've seen several--, or reasonable prices for all. I have no issue with searching the bargain cruise sites, but i need to narrow down the ships.

It seems some ships these days have tons of additional costs... I'd like to not feel like i'm spending a ton of money (other than alcohol) once i'm there. Do they all make the nice restaurants extra charge now?

 

Constraints:

We can do almost any travel dates, even last minute. (like 2 weeks)

Would like to go in March... or just wait til Sept if it will be tons cheaper.

we could do 4-7 day.

Airfare not issue -- we can get there.

 

I'm thinking somewhere warm right now. I've been most everywhere in Caribbean - grew up cruising - and i'm sure we could be happy with most ports of call.

 

We're just looking for a good vacation, where my son will be amused, and my husband (who's not a huge beach fan, he puts up with it for me) will not be bored.

 

So advice?

[fisherhum]

I have only crusied once with the kids (we leave in about a week for #2). The first one was RCL (Rhapsody of the Seas) which is a smaller ship with less of the "big" activities. (it has a climbing wall but no water park or skating rink).

When we shoose the cruise we looked at the number of sea days versus days in port. (We chose to try HAL this time in the Caribbean since it had 4 port days on the 7 day cruise instead of 3 that many of the other itineraries had).

As for the kids club, I found that my kids (who were 4 and 6 at the time) wanted to be in the kids club all the time. They chose that over swimming nearly every sea day. We would get them for lunch/dinner etc. but they were busy playing and doing activities the rest of the time. I would recommend planning out where you want to go and then pick the best cruise for the area. I personally believe that the kids will have a great time on most of the ships.

[CKEA_Cruising_Family]

We cruised the NCL Gem last year with a 2 & 4 year old. The 2-5 Kids Club activities were great and the kids had a blast. There were also a couple family activities planned that was fun. This ship does have a lot of alternate restaurants with surcharges (we only ate at 1) and overall we were very happy with the main dining room w/ no surcharge. The flexible dining was really nice because we would often feed the kids in the buffet, drop them at Kids Club then enjoy a dinner just the two of us. I did find that the service was not quite as personal with the flexible dining and sometimes seemed a bit rushed.

 

This year we're booked on the Carnival Pride and it sounds like Carnival really caters to families so we're all excited to try it out!

[Julienatul]

We have sailed 3 times with our DD, now 3 on Carnival Inspiration out of Tampa. (we live 20 min from port)There is a water spray park for kids, pool, kids club that starts at age 2-5. Its a smaller boat and has great prices. You could also try the Sensation and Imagination since they are the same class of ship. They also have fun family activities. The family welcome aboard party is a blast and the kids talent show is adorable.

[crusinmama06]

Julie - Sensation is the only ship I wouldn't step foot back on...lol. :p

 

Dot - you have the right idea. I would get rid of the "kids sail free" point though. If you need the child to sail free, then you may be sacrificing the rest of your points. NCL has kids sail free under 2 (or is it 2 and under), but you may be sacrificing service as CKEA mentioned.

 

Most cruiselines have "pay extra for specialty restaurants". We stay away from the specialty restaurants, they never impressed me anyway. ;) The food in the dining room is usually perfectly fine.

 

Try Carnival if you want a water park on a smaller ship. Camp Carnival is a wonderful program and the prices for the total cruise will be less than most other cruiselines.

[MNmomof4]

I would definitely do carnival. They have great prices and look for a ship with waterworks. My 3yr old loved it on the inspiration. The inspiration and the imagination are older ships that have been refurbished and they added the waterworks area. They also have 4-5 itineraries which are less expensive and they sail from miam and tampa.

[wrp96]

If you can handle hurricane season, I would recommend sailing in September instead of March. March is spring break time which typically means high prices and crowded ships. In September, when schools are back in session, the prices are usually lower and the ships, even the mega ships, are less crowded. You just have to be willing to accept the risk of an itinerary change if a hurricane happens to pop up.

[boulders]

I have a 3 1/2 year old too plus a 10 year old and a 13 year old. In looking for an inexpensive March cruise a few weeks ago, I found that the Carnival Glory had the least expensive oceanviews out of Florida. They have larger oceanviews on the Spa Deck - 200 sq. ft -with large floor to ceiling windows instead of balconies. I liked their Western itinerary with Belize, Cozumel, Costa Maya and Nassau. We paid just over $2200 for 4 people. Considering we spent about $5000 last year (different ship) for a March break cruise, I think this is a bargain!

 

We've only sailed RCCL before, but Carnival seems to have more things for the 3-5 year old set.

[14ersco]

On our first cruise DS was 4 and we could not pry him out of the NCL kids club. NCL has kids exclusive water parks on the Dawn, Star, and Spirit. They also have a kids buffet. Starting price for a third passenger is $99. For our March Dawn cruise the third passenger is $149 for all categories. On sea days the kid's club is open from 9 AM to 10:30 PM, with no closure times. With Freestyle you can feed your child when you want, not on a time set by the cruise line. Though if you want to be doted upon and have the staff know your name then Freestyle may not be your cruise style.

[lamolesky]

I totally agree with 14ersco, also the time of year will really determine the price you pay. Stay away from holidays and summer, the week after a holiday week is usually great (after Christmas/New Years, after Presidents week, etc.) Also during Sept/Oct, especially Bermuda, the week before Christmas. When searching for cruises and you see the absolute lowest price, see what time of year it is then search other cruises for the same date range.

Good luck!

[CruisinEurope]

if only choosing for your 3 y.o. and price - then I'd choose an NCL ship.

 

IMHO, they have plenty for little ones to do, great kids clubs, and kids pool/water slide on some ships.

 

we're kind of in the same "boat" with a 5, 7 yr old. I'm DYING to try some of the bigger RCCL ships and even Disney, but can't see spending the $$ on them NOW when my kids aren't even old enough to DO half the stuff on them.

 

The worst thing I can think of is having my kids SEE something they want to do (daily) and not being able to do it. That would be horrible beyond anything for us.

 

I enjoyed our trip on the NCL Jade - and would do it again. Though, I am booked on the Gem next just because I want to try another ship - and this one does have the bowling alley and rock climbing wall (both of which my kids can use).

 

So - for price and toddler happiness - I'd go NCL.

[cusyl]

Take a look at the Disney Cruise Line. They have a special through May, kids under 12 sail free.

It costs a little more, but you get a larger cabin with 2 bathrooms and of course the whole Disney experience. Their kids club is unmatched by any other cruise line. :D