Post by facethatsings on Feb 8, 2016 14:34:46 GMT -5
Hi All -
I'm looking to get some feedback on a kid friendly vacation. My husband is interested in booking us Norwegian cruise leaving out of NYC late April. Neither of us have ever been on a cruise and I'm really skeptical about them for some reason. Especially with kids. And the crowds in a contained space of a ship. I also suggested it would be smarter maybe flying to Florida and departing from there so we have less sea days but he doesn't get that concept since the boat takes only one day to get to Florida.
We have never been to an all inclusive kid friendly resort either. I really don't know which would be a better option for us and what a good resort would be.. preferably not breaking the bank. Our kids are 3 and 5. Any suggestions or advice?
We've done Princess and Cunard. Both have been great for the family. My kids were pretty young on Cunard but they had a great play area and staff so they always wanted to go. We basically dropped them off anytime it was open.
My kids were a bit older this last trip on Princess. My youngest (7.5) loved the play room and my two older two (9 and 10.5) liked having some freedom. They had a cell phone that worked on the wireless system (it was an app). They were allowed to sign out of the kids area if they wanted and come back to the room. They loved the "freedom". The kids activities were good and most of the time they wanted to stay for them.
Post by Champagne Supernova on Feb 8, 2016 17:52:13 GMT -5
NCL has a kid's club during the sea days. I'm not exactly sure how it works (I don't have kids.) but I think you just drop them off and they do activities until dinner time.
I've cruised with NCL many times and some areas do get crowded, like the pool area or the buffet area right before the ship docks on the port of calls but it's like that in every cruise ship unless you're on one of the luxury ones with a small passenger count. There are plenty of quiet areas all over the ships though.
If you can swing it, I'd get a stateroom with a balcony. I did a lot of my reading and relaxing out in the balcony.
Is it a cruise ship with a kids club and/or other kids activities? I took my 4y olds on a cruise and while I was terrified they would fall overboard they had a great time. They went to the kids club for about 2 hours on at-sea days and otherwise went swimming. It was fairly easy, as far as vacations with kids go.
Post by buckeyegirl on Feb 9, 2016 17:34:42 GMT -5
We have a 3.5 year old and he's done two RC cruises and we've done several week long all inclusiveS to Mexico. In our experience the all inclusives come out much cheaper. With the cruises we want to do an excursion in each port and it's more go, go, go. In Mexico we leave once for an excursion and it's much more laid back. I think it just depends what you're looking for and your budget.
We just did a week on NCL with a 4 and 7 year old. They loved the kids club. We left them in the kids club in port one day because the excursion had age restrictions.the kids club doesn't do meals but on port days you pay a $6 meal fee per child. Very easy vacation with kids.
We did Royal Caribbean, Freedom of the Seas to eastern caribbean in 2014 - it was awesome! we went with extended family, 7 kids age range 4-12. They all spent some time in the kids club, the pools were great, very kid friendly. the food was delicious. it was actually a very relaxing vacation. On two of the islands we did beach excursions (jet skis, water slides, etc), and in Puerto Rico we did the old forts (which surprisingly the kids tolerated and it was so hot). My kids were 5 and 7. we went over April vacation, and I thought it would be jam packed with kids, but it wasn't. Never had a hard time getting seats at breakfast or lunch, or the shows. The pool looked small at first, but even on at sea days, it never seemed overly crowded.
We did the set reservation dinner time at 5pm each night. it was great because we had the same waiter each night (good because a few of the kids had nut allergies). The only night we didn't make it was on day on island we didnt rush back to the boat for dinner, because the buffet is always open, and had tons of options. We sat 6 adults at one table and the 7 kids at the second table next to us. The waiters were awesome with the kids, cut their food, etc.
The room was small, but we got a balcony just to have a little more space. Although I dont know if I would spring for that again, because we weren't in room that often. And the kids stayed up really late each night that we all crashed together, so never took that time to hang out on the balcony at night. We could bring them into the bar areas when we hung out at night. There was more than just pools there for the days at sea. I would definitely do another.....we had no problem with motion sickness either, although if you do, i can imagine a cruise would not be enjoyable.
One thing I really like about cruising is DH and I get a date every night. We feed the kids at the buffet early and then send them to kids club and go to dinner on our own most nights.
DS is 5... and we've done 4 cruises with him. 1 NCL (from New York), 2 Disney cruises from florida, and another Royal Caribbean from NY. they really are great vacations with kids!!! SO SO easy because everything is right there, the food is included and you can always find some, and they have the kid's clubs :-) certain areas of the ship do get crowded (like the buffet in the mornings, and the pool areas on sea days... BUT its manageable, and you can always find quieter areas to get a little break :-) its usually not too much extra to get a balcony room-- and with kids its worth it just to have some extra space-- at night, DH would run up to the bar and get us drinks, and we would hang out on the balcny after DS went to sleep. the disney cruises are $$$, but SO nice and family-friendly. They do pirate night with fireworks off the ship, the kid's club does super cute stuff, the staterooms are great with a "split bathroom"-- so one little room with a sink and tub/shower, and another little room with a toilet and sink-so it makes it nice to get everybody ready at the same time, or if one of the kids has to pee while somebody else is in the shower LOL and their island is incredible!!!! they even have a drop off kid's area right on the island--- its basically a big sand pit with a bunch of sand toys HAHA DS spent a couple hours there while DH and i hung out on the beach. you can also rent bikes and ride their bike trail.... and the shows at night on the ship are great and definitely kid-friendly, too. as far as where to leave from, i think it depends on when you go. on one of the cruises, we left from NYC in December 2013---- and it was chilly for the first day on our way down to florida, so in that way i feel like we almost "lost" a day of vacation--- but going in the spring probably wouldn't be too bad.
I seriously contemplating taking my five year old daughter on a Disney cruise, just the two of us. Dh has airline miles that need to be used and I'm dying to take get on another vacation. Then I think that sounds crazy...