1st time cruise w/kids 12,11,8 - suggestions?

[mom3b]

1st time family cruise with 3 kids - 12 (13 beginning of sept), 11 and 8. Have read boards and they are helpful but it is hard to narrow down specific info for us. I have gathered that Disney may be considered overpriced and that Carnival and RCL are recommended for our age groups and general experience. We want to cruise this summer and for 5-7 days. We do not have a specific location in mind. Our kids love to explore so I expect we would love excursions. Kids love pools, computer/xbox (I know, what kids don't). Our youngest loves animals and I mention this in case there is a recommended excursion/kids program.

 

Thanks for your help in advance.

[Honbun]

Since you are cruising during the summer, all of the cruise lines are geared up for kids programs. With that in mind, my advice to you is to pick a cruise that will make Mom and Dad happy. The kids will have a blast no matter where they go.

[cb at sea]

I agree with that! YOU are the ones paying...you get to decide what YOU want to do! The kids will have fun, no matter where you go!

[lowestar]

We've been on Princess twice with our kids (now 9 and 6), and are trying RCL in January. On both Princess cruises there were only a handful of kids (partly because of the time of year we went), and they still had so much fun! They are very excited to go on the Independence of the Seas because of al of the "extras" that the boat seems to offer.

 

Maybe you could try narrowing it down to some ports that you are interested in, and then some of the people on this list could make some recommendations of which one the kids might like better, or which tours that might be good.

 

We've been on a Caribbean cruise and a Panama Canal cruise. Highlights of the port excursions for them were probably the Turtle Farm in Grand Cayman, holding a sloth in Costa Rica, tour of the banana plantation in Costa Rica, river tubing in Ocho Rios, and climbing Dunn's River Falls in Costa Rica.

 

Tara

[Lady_Jag]

My brother, who takes his family of 5 on a cruise or two every year, swears by the Carnival Children's program. So on his recommendation, my daughter's first cruise will be on the Carnival Glory this May. (I'll let you know how it goes.)

 

As far as Disney being overpriced, yes, they are notoriously more expensive, however I recently saw a "Kids Sail Free" promotion, which might actually make it more affordable. That being said, if your kids are the only kids you really care to be around, you should probably steer clear of Disney, especially in the summer. :D

[chipmaster]

1st time family cruise with 3 kids - 12 (13 beginning of sept), 11 and 8. Have read boards and they are helpful but it is hard to narrow down specific info for us. I have gathered that Disney may be considered overpriced and that Carnival and RCL are recommended for our age groups and general experience. We want to cruise this summer and for 5-7 days. We do not have a specific location in mind. Our kids love to explore so I expect we would love excursions. Kids love pools, computer/xbox (I know, what kids don't). Our youngest loves animals and I mention this in case there is a recommended excursion/kids program.

 

Thanks for your help in advance.

 

Welcome to CC,

 

Each cruise line markets a different angle and prices their product accordingly. I would say for a first cruise you can't go wrong with any of the lines you mentioned. I'd start out by picking the places you might want to visit; Eastern Caribbean, Western Caribbean, Hawaii, Northen Europe, Mediterrean or whatever. Depending on the destination the cruising part could be 90% of the fun or less then 10% and the ports 90% of the fun. Search the big cruise lines and find out what tour's they offer in respective ports to get a flavor of the activities the ports / stops have to offer. Also pay attention to the prices of these excursions, as activities for 5 ( say dolphin swimming, snorkeling excursions ) gets pricey pretty fast. Having sailed Disney, Princess, and Carnival, no question their pricing and product are different, none so much that it makes or breaks the vacation. For us its always about pick the destinations and find the line that offers the best schedule/cabin to fit.

 

As OP said, find the destinations, price that strike your fancy and budget. The kids will do fine. Kids clubs do vary, some better then others, but I find the enjoyment of the club activites has much more to do with the children's disposition/interest then the club specifically.

 

Also I wouldn't say Disney is overpriced, more appropriate they are Disney Priced. Their ships/ambience do offer a clear Disney experience, enough of a unique and special experience that they can fill their ships with their premium pricing. If you enjoy that kind of ambience then its not overpriced but value priced. This isn't comparing a Disney World lunch price/experience, but more the price of entrance/experience to Disney World versus some other amusement theme park.

 

If given a choice between Disney or Carnival/Princess/otherline with all other things equal; time, ports, etc. I would pay for the little extra for the extra that Disney provides everytime, and I'm not a Disney fanatic. Its too bad they don't have more ships as they would always be my first choice.

 

Happy planning

[Warmer Climes]

We have done RCI amd NCL (twice each) with our now 10 y.o. DD and she has had an excellent time on both lines. The larger ships have a lot to offer kids. We haven't gone in the summer (we live in NH so we always do February break) but on all of our cruises there have been a ton of kids and great kids programs to keep them all having fun. DD's favorite so far was the NCL Dawn because she loved the staff so much. I also understand that Carnival has a great kids program and we will probably try that at some point.

 

My thinking is that it's important to go with a cruiseline that caters to families because if DD isn't occupied she'll be with DH and me all week and we do cruises over land vacations because we enjoy some couple time that way. She loves the kids programs so much the problem is getting her to leave at 10:00 so I can go to bed!

 

As far as the excursions go, there are so many to choose from. We have ridden horses in the ocean on Jamaica; cave tubed in Belize; swam with the stingrays in Grand Cayman; kayaked through the mangroves in the Dominican Republic; visited Mayan ruins; snorkeled many times...On our next cruise we are visiting Lamanai ruins in Belize; going back to Chacchoben ruins in Mexico and spending time with a Mayan family; and riding horses in Roatan. Whatever your interests you can find excursions to match. You can go to the cruiselines' websites and look at the excursions they offer at each port to get an idea of what's on offer.

 

Good luck and have fun,

 

Barb

[cdnliving]

Let me begin by saying, no matter what cruiseline, your kids will love cruising - there is just so much to do, and a nice balance between family time doing excursions,activities and having nice family dinners, and time with friends doing some great activities. Our children are 12 & 14 and we have done two cruises - one with Royal Caribbean (Serenade) and one with Princess (Emerald). Both cruises were during March Break. I will share our experience....While we enjoyed both cruises, we preferred Royal Caribbean. We immensely enjoyed our Royal Caribbean experience even though surprisingly there were less kids onboard (maybe 20 or so that we saw). The staff seemed friendlier and knew our kids names, preferences etc. by the second day. Our kids felt safe, and welcome the entire cruise. The food was also far superior with better selection. The demographic was quite different. I would say the average age on our RC cruise was 45 and on our Princess cruise it was 70. We didn't see one wheelchair/walker on RC, but many on Princess. The atmosphere on RC felt more family/kid friendly - passengers seemed more accepting of kids being onboard than on Princess. We thought the entertainment on Princess was a shade better. Some people like the mega ships, but we found at 3000 passengers on the Princess ship, that we missed the smaller RC ship - far easier to navigate, and more intimate without feeling crowded (great design). In fact, we really didn't like the layout of the Emerald Princess, as it seemed too disjointed, with poor attention to detail & a lot of waiting in lines for things. Well, those are our thoughts based on our little experience, but hopefully you find them helpful. No matter what, Have a wonderful vacation - cruising is a great way to have a family vacation!!

[Garn]

Funny, we just got off the Ruby Princess, and thought that the kids were welcome and well taken care of. They loved the kids programs (although I thought that they relied too much on the equipment (video games, foosball) and less on engaging the kids in activities. But they loved the food and the experience.

 

I would differ with some of the others here, in that I very much consider the kids when picking the itinerary and port activities. My kids are 8 and 12, and thanks to the three cruises we've taken, they've been to more countries than states. More importantly, I think they've learned something at each of the ports. For example:

Nassau (Disney): This was their first foreign country. We saw the old fort, some other ruins, different architecture, different people.

Castaway Cay (Disney): Mostly a beach day, but we did discover how well Disney handles a lost kid (oy!).

Roatan (NCL): The kids got to zipline through a rainforest, hold a monkey, snorkel in crystal clear water, and spend a day with a lovely Honduran, who taught us about her island.

Belize (NCL): We took a river boat where we saw all sort of birds and animals to the Mayan Ruins of Lamanai.

Cozumel (NCL and Princess): Snorkeling, swimming in the ocean, practicing Spanish.

Grand Cayman (Princess): My kids held, fed and kissed wild stingrays with 5-foot wingspans.

Ocho Rios (Princess): the climbed a 600 foot waterfall, drove through a gully filled with exotic plants, met a Rasta man who let them sample a huge number of local herbs and fruits (no, not THAT one), played with some local musicians, and spent the day with a wonderful Jamaican guide who told them tons about the culture.

 

Sure, it's nice that they kids had fun in the clubs while we were at sea, but it's what they've learned in port that I think makes a cruise worthwhile.

[happybooker1]

My son was 7 on the first one & he'll be 12 on this one. We had a WONDERFUL time on Carnival 5years ago, and are anticipating the same this year. As a matter of fact, my son, for a Looonnnggggg time, wouldn't even TALK about the first cruise. He said it made him 'too unhappy' that we had to come back--LOL!

 

Since I've only been on Carnival -- I don't have any other perspective to give you. Our first cruise we did the swimming with the dolphins thing in Cozumel and THAT was the highlight of the trip. Although my son LOVED Belize (which Carnival doesn't do anymore I don't think), and we did Aztec ruins in Progresso. There are 'kids' activities in every port, or you can just 'do nothing'.....

 

The on-board activities are great! Game rooms, pool (although it was an initial shock that it was SALT water!!), eating all day-night, room service, Camp Carnival -- it was all good. Then the week was over & we were SAD!

 

This year we're doing Western Caribbean and I've already booked Sting Ray city for GC. Haven't decided yet what to do @ Cozumel and Mo'Bay yet, but it will certainly be something my son will enjoy also.

 

Things my son hasn't forgotten is the MAGIC of room service -- you call & order and THEY deliver it to your room! The 24-hour ice cream and pizza bars -- where you can get up @ 3AM & order a pizza just like you like it!! (Yes, we had to do that!) Riding up and down in the glass-front elevators. Looking out the portholes at the stars on the ocean. Walking around the ship @ midnight, just because we could.

 

Yep, it's all good on a cruise!!

[crusinmama06]

I agree with everyone, the kids will love whatever cruise you choose. Some have more onboard ammenities than others do. The newest Royal Caribbean ships have an H20 zone and a surfing simulator called the flowrider.

 

Carnival has water slides on their ship.

 

Caribbean (be it Eastern or Western) is a great first cruise for the kids. There is just so much to do in the Caribbean for the kids. And the excursions are usually priced affordably.

[arlsvera]

My family LOVES port days. We book 7 day cruises and I look for cruises that have the most stops. Two days at sea is just about right. Many cruises have three sea days, but for me, that extra sea day is a country we didn't get to visit! My kids love waking up in a different country each day. For kid friendly animal activities, I would suggest swimming with the sea lions at Coral World in St. Thomas (it's very gentle), swimming with the stingrays in Grand Caymen (book through a private operator -- not with the ship), and swimming with dolphins (several ports offer this). Have fun!

[Kristi Williamson]

I've got four kids ages 14,10,8,and 5. I'd suggest a 7 day simply because you just don't get the same experience from the 4 and 5 day cruises. They're great, but just not the same..."feel" as the 7 day ones.

 

Also, if you're looking for excursions, may I suggest the W.Carrib.? We've found it has more excursions that our kids enjoy and as you can see by my signature, we cruise fairly often. (by the way, we've actually been on more cruises, I've just been too lazy to post them on the sig! :eek:)

 

We like Fin and Flippers in Roatan, cave tubing in Belize, Chankanaab and swimming with dolphins in Cozumel or Grand Cayman. We also like Bannister Caye in Belize if the cave tubing/zip lining is more than you want to take on right now. We enjoy Blackbeard's in Nassau or even Atlantis, although we feel that Atlantis is somewhat overpriced.

 

There's also plenty of beaches and shopping on the Western side, so you really touch on all the great aspects of cruising in the Carrib. by taking this route.

 

We also LOVE the S. Carribean, but it's usually for a little longer cruising, unless you want to sail out of San Juan, which we've done. It's not the greatest experience for flying, but it was worth it to see those islands!!

 

We like the E. Carrib. and we're going back there in August, but it's just not as exciting to us as the Western route.

 

I would suggest RCI or Carnival for sure though. We feel as though they are more family friendly and we LOVE both of their camps. RCI has better teen experiences, in our opinion, but since you don't have a teen, that wouldn't affect you right now.

 

As a side note, we also rent the walkie talkie's that both lines provide for 50 dollars for the whole week. We've found them to be invaluable.

 

And as others have said, the kids will enjoy the cruise no matter what. It's you that you'll need to please. I'd suggest reading some of the reviews for ships that you're considering and then you'll be able to make a more informed decision.

 

Good Luck! :)

[mom3b]

Thanks for replying. I appreciate all the information.

[mom2girls]

My girls have been on 5 Carnival cruises. They've been to the Bahamas, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel. They've been to Cozumel 3 times. We've done something different each time. They have told me several times that this is their favorite port.

 

As for Camp Carnival, they LOVE it. They don't do all of the activities since I want to spend some time with them too. But, they do do many of them. They always ask "When can we go to Camp?" while we're on board.