Best Carnival Ship/Itinerary for Kids?

[wrighka]

WOW WOW WOW! I just priced a 3 night Bahama cruise on the Disney Wonder for May 2010. Price is OVER $1500for my granddaughter and I !!!!!! Holy Mary Mother of God! What do you get on that ship, GOLD for free?????????????????

 

Anyway, don't think Disney Cruising is going to happen. Which Carnival ship would you recommend for a 7 year old and me, her 52 yr old Grandma?? :p

 

Kim

[jimbo5544]

1st question is, how long do you want to cruise and from where?

[caribbean dreams]

:eek:WOW! you could pick up a 7 day cruise on Carnival for that!

[lindasuej]

4 years ago DH and I took two of our grandchildren on a 3 day Disney cruise. The kids LOVED IT. At that time they were 4 & 6. The dining rooms catered to the kids. The shows were all Disney themed shows and were fantastic. After 1 show my grandson hugged me and cried and said this is the best show I have ever seen. The rooms were slightly larger and all bathrooms had tubs. It was a wonderful cruise FOR THEM. The ships do not have casino's and every show is geared to children. I would NEVER recommend this cruise for an adult couple. The pleasure of the grandkids was the only part of the cruise DH and I liked. Am I glad I did it? Yes!!! Would I ever do it again? Not in this lifetime. As the previous poster mentioned we could have gone on a 7 day cruise for the price of the Disney 3 day cruise.

 

Linda

[wrighka]

DH and I only paid $700 total for our upcoming cruise on the Destiny! I just can't believe how much Disney charges!!!!!!!

 

Anyway, I'm looking for probably just a 3 night, don't care where out of or where to, as long as it's warm. Thought someone might be able to suggest a good Carnival ship/itinerary? Oh, probably not until May or June of 2010.....I can do the research, was looking for others that had taken a good kid friendly cruise and could recommend one.

 

Thanks!

 

:D

[jimbo5544]

DH and I only paid $700 total for our upcoming cruise on the Destiny! I just can't believe how much Disney charges!!!!!!!

 

Anyway, I'm looking for probably just a 3 night, don't care where out of or where to, as long as it's warm. Thought someone might be able to suggest a good Carnival ship/itinerary? Oh, probably not until May or June of 2010.....I can do the research, was looking for others that had taken a good kid friendly cruise and could recommend one.

 

Thanks!

 

:D

 

Some of the Carnival ships (specifically Fantasy class) have added a fun waterworks (kind of a mini water park) when they were in for drydock. I would have to check which ones have it, which I will do.

[jimbo5544]

Did a quick check and the following ships have waterworks: Inspiration, Fantasy, Imagination and Inspiration. They also have Camp Carnival and mini golf and I think all have 3 and 4 day cruises. It's a start

[spencercoop]

The Dream would be a great ship that will be doing 7 day eastern and western caribbean cruises out of Port Canaveral in December 2009.

 

Other Great ships would be: Carnival Fantasy (4 and 5 day cruises out of New Orleans until Nov. when she goes to Mobile for 4, 5, and 7 day cruises), Carnival Sensation (3 and 4 day cruises out of Port Canaveral), Carnival Imagination (3 and 4 day cruises out of Miami), Carnival Inspiration (4 and 5 day cruises out of Tampa), Carnival Fascination (4 and 5 Day out of Jacksonville, after Feb. 2010), Carnival Ecstasy (4 and 5 day out of galveston after Oct. 2009).

[LHP]

The Glory is currently going out of Port Canaveral and seems to be a very popular "family" ship. I would give it a try. We sailed her in May and had a great time.

[prttygirlmss]

Our family sailed The Inspiration on a 5 day cruise. The kids loved The Water Works area the best. This is a very family oriented ship. The prices are great too! I would definitely sail her again with the kids.

[Morebeer]

Just a second to agree with that last comment. Although my son is 14 we just sailed the Carnival Inspiration out of Tampa the week prior to the 4th of July on a 5 day cruise to Grand Cayman and Cozumel and had a great time. Would definitely recommend the Inspiration and it's large Waterworks area. They announced there were over 800 kids on the 5 day cruise. Hope this helps and good luck.

[TamLaiSang]

:eek:WOW! you could pick up a 7 day cruise on Carnival for that!

 

I recently priced a 7 day inside cabin cruise on the Disney MAGIC. Can't remember the exact price, but I could have gotten a cat 12 suite on Carnival (Same date, roughly same itinerary) for about the same...

 

Sure..Disney has shows like "The Mickey's" (Seen it at Hong Kong Disney) or movies like UP (Seen that too..) but for the price...I'm booking a week at Disney World, and a week on Carnival, and still coming out ahead.

 

OKay...lol...well maybe not exactly...but close enough...

[Lady_Jag]

What a nice grandma you are!

 

I know you mentioned a 3-night cruise, but my 3-year-old absolutely loved our 7-night cruise (Eastern Caribbean) aboard the Glory this past May!

 

I highly recommend it because it had only 3 ports, so we didn't "over-excursion," and the rest were sea days, which my daughter loved because of the pools and all the Camp Carnival activities.

 

I booked us on the Dream for May 2010 doing a Western route, and I have to admit that I'm already nervous about going to Belize and Roatan. I have plenty of time to decide, but after reading some reviews, I am seriously considering staying on board the ship with my little one in one or both of those ports.

 

Eastern route took us to Nassau, (then 1 sea day) St. Thomas, and St. Marteen (our favorite). The last 2 days were sea days, and we had a ball!

[arpie05]

You might consider a 4 day Sensation (It has waterworks) and take her to Disney for a couple days before. Sensation sails from Cape Canaveral less than an hour from Orlando. During the week it would be less of a party cruise than weekend. Fantasy out of NOLA on weekends is a more party atmosphere but I didn't notice but our traveling companions did.

[loveJake]

WOW WOW WOW! I just priced a 3 night Bahama cruise on the Disney Wonder for May 2010. Price is OVER $1500for my granddaughter and I !!!!!! Holy Mary Mother of God! What do you get on that ship, GOLD for free?????????????????

 

Anyway, don't think Disney Cruising is going to happen. Which Carnival ship would you recommend for a 7 year old and me, her 52 yr old Grandma?? :p

 

Kim

 

What you should do is check for different time frame, I did a quick check and found a 7 day Western cruise on the Magic for 12/12/09 for a total of $1398 for 2. I think a lot of people who post on here to harp on the price of Disney do not either look for specials, or a less expensive time to cruise. A granddaughter at 7 on a Disney cruise would have the best time of her life, we have taken our grandkids and they had the time of their lives.

[LEtue]

I would also suggest the Inspiration out of Tampa. No 3 day trips but the 4 and 5 day trips are reasonable and airfare to TPA should be priced right too. The ship gets great reviews!

[lolalow]

3-NIGHT BAHAMIAN CRUISE

October 29-November 1, 2009

(Ship: Disney Wonder)

Stateroom: 1 Adult and 1 Child (Age 10)

 

Cruise Price: $ 972.96

 

Maybe do this with a night at mickey not so scary halloween party at magic kingdom night before

[wrighka]

Thanks for all your great replies!!!!!! I originally told her we'd do Disney, but I thought a cruise might be more fun for her (and less walking for me!) I just read tho that children under 14 have to show up in person to apply for a passport?????? Does this mean the passport office (nearest is Chicago) or just the place where you get the paperwork???????

 

It might just be me and DG so I'll be IT for making sure she's entertained. Not that I MIND that, but I guess if she goes to Camp Carnival I can sneak into the casino! :D

 

Oh, and we won't be going until 2010.

[loveJake]

Thanks for all your great replies!!!!!! I originally told her we'd do Disney, but I thought a cruise might be more fun for her (and less walking for me!) I just read tho that children under 14 have to show up in person to apply for a passport?????? Does this mean the passport office (nearest is Chicago) or just the place where you get the paperwork???????

 

 

Why would you want the added expense of a passposrt for her? Just used her birth certificate. No body "needs" a passport for any closed loop cruise. A lot of people like the peach of mind in case anything happens and they have to fly home, and yes I do have one, but when we take our GK's we use their birth certificate.

[manmachine]

Did a quick check and the following ships have waterworks: Inspiration, Fantasy, Imagination and Inspiration. They also have Camp Carnival and mini golf and I think all have 3 and 4 day cruises. It's a start

 

Mine are 6 and 8 now... 5 and 4 cruises on Carnival under their belts now, respectively. The Sensation also has Waterworks, and was their favorite ship. You can do a day pass at Atlantis in Nassau-- pricey, but really great for kids in their pool areas-- and have a great vacation out of Port Canaveral. Add 4 days to Disney if you want and you have a great week still less than a 3 day Disney cruise...

[2plus2]

Yes, Disney is expensive. We took a 4 night Bahamas during Thanksgiving and it cost almost $6000 for 4. We just took a 3 night Ensenada cruise on Carnival last weekend for less than $700 for the two of us. In comparison, Disney made for a great vacation. The kids loved it and so did we. Not that the Carnival cruise wasn't bad but the food on Disney was better, the rooms were bigger and more comfortable and there was a lot more for the kids to do. There was more seating around the pool and we didn't have to deal with the people who got up early to put their towels on the chairs and then go back to bed (Carnival). Disney also had some great shows and the characters walking around the ship almost all the time. If your willing to spend the money, Disney is well worth it. I had a great time on the Ensenada cruise, too. I did like the anytime seating. I would rather go to the dining room when I was hungry and not when I'm told. The room was smaller but the beds were comfortable and the rooms were kept clean. Service was good, we even doubled the automatic tip. The Lido grill did have a better cheeseburger than the Disney Wonder. The Paris Buffet on the Carnival Paradise was pretty good and you could get the same thing there that they were serving in the dining rooms. The 24 hour pizza bar was nice since we would be hungry for a snack about three hours after dinner. Embarkation and diembarkation at

[2plus2]

Let me finish! The embarkation and the disembarkation were fast and easy. We were on the ship within 20 minutes of getting there and it took 15 minutes from leaving to getting on the road to go home. We go with the idea that cruising is fun and there is no such thing as a bad cruise, just different levels of great depending on what you pay. Have fun with your granddaughter!

[wrighka]

I thought everyone HAD to have a passport....well, now that I think about it, that's not right.....I don't have to get her a passport!!!!!! That makes

things much easier!!!!!!

[Essiesmom]

Is this your granddaughter's first cruise? She will have nothing to compare...Take a four or five nighter on Carnival or another line...Fascination out of JAX will be getting the waterworks in Feb. 2010. I would avoid the three night cruises...Just did my one and only, and you only have two full days, plus the evening of sailing...Seemed like everyone was in a frenzy to pack in as much 'fun' as they could. I think four days is too short, but three is almost wasted...You may find that the five day cruises are less expensive then the four, because the four are more in demand, people need to take less time off for them. EM

[wrighka]

Yes, this will DG's very first cruise, not to mention her very first REAL vacation! Probably would make more sense to do a 5 nighter......I really would like another adult to go with us (husband refuses to go with us - not his granddaughter and he was brought up in a strict home and expects 7 year olds to know their place!) I DON'T THINK SO BUCKY!!!! So he'll be staying home. :D

 

Ahhhhhhhh I've got alot of time to plan anyway!