Carribean Cruise

M., I am a single parent too and when my daughter was 7 I took her on her first cruise and I did the Big Red Boat back in 1992 and then I started taking her on the Carnival Cruise Line. They are inexpensive and they have a fantastic childrens program. The only time I saw my daughter was when we ate and when we went on excursions.

One thing my daughter liked about the Carnival Cruise Lines was they had a 24 hour pizzeria. Even though she would eat her meals during the regular times, if she felt like eating a pizza she can get one anytime she wanted it.

Also depending on where you live you need to take in consideration in regards to the early or late seating. If you live on the East Coast, you will probably want the early seating because your body is on the same clock as the cruise but if you are from the west coast you need to do the late seating for breakfast which is around 9am with your body clock is telling you it is 6am. For dinner late seating is 8pm or 9pm which is 5pm or 6pm.

When you pack, do not overpack, less is more. You will buy t-shirts and clothes while you are on the cruise and you will need room in your suitcase to bring back souveniers.

Make sure the itenary includes Nassau Bahamas. They have a wonderful straw market with home made wares and commercial made items too. They also have tasty home made Carribean food that you can purchase.

But before you go to the straw market you should take a taxi to Paradise Island and go to the Atlantis Hotel. They have an aquaraium that is to die for and your daughter will love it. You can walk around the hotel and check out the manta rays and the giant tortoise. You can not tour the Atlantis Hotel underground Lost City because you have book a room to do that, but you can walk around and go to the beaches. The hotel is amazing in itself.

Another good place to go is Virgin Islands. Tour Black Beard Castle and go to the top of the hill and look down and look at the beautiful grounds below. The only thing is that on Wednesday it rains, don't ask me why but it does. Every time I go to the Virgin Islands the schedule is always on a Wednesday and it rains each and every time and I go different times through out the year and it still rains.

If you go to San Martin be careful, on the French side of the Island there is a nude beach, I was unaware and I had to cover my daughters eyes, but she told me that she already saw the man. LOL. But the history of the Island is very interesting.

St. Lucia is another pretty Island, but you need to be careful when you do a tour on this Island, it is best to go through the cruise line on this island. The history of this island is interesting to.

When you do go on the cruise, the must have things to pack are the following traveling items and you can buy the travel size at Walmart, Target or probably and drug store. Toliet paper, toliet seat liners, anti bacterial soap, wipes, and hand santizer. Whenver you go off the ship, just make sure these items are in your backpack.

Email me if you have any more questions. ____@____.com. Since the first cruise when my daughter was 7, I have taken her on a cruise every 2 years up until 2001. We are going on the Disney Cruise in September and I am so looking forward to it.

Just about any cruise line is good. Look at the stats of the ships and make sure they were built within the last 5 years - no refurbished but actually made. Compare prices and get the good deals. Caribbean is hot in the summer so most ships do not go there. Consider Alaska, Mexico or New England/Canada too in the summer. Look at the star raitings too. 3.5 is the lowest I'd go, 4 is great and 5 is unusual. Our favorite line is Celebrity. Princess, Royal Caribbean are good.Carnival does not have a good reputation but it is really fine. Holland America is fine but has a reputation of catering to older folks. Disney I believe is expensive, as are Crystal and Seabourne (spelling?). Look at the square footage of the cabins you are considering. It makes a big difference between 110 and 150 square feet! Norwegian has a reputation for having small cabins. Also think about inside and outside cabins, and whether or not you absolutely have to have a balcony. We like balconies but they are not essential. You won't be in your cabin that much. Have fun, fun, fun!

A cruise is a great option..I too am a single parent and cruising is Great. the kids get some fun time with friends in Kids Club, I get some relaxing "me time", then we get to explore together. My travel agent is AWESOME! I have used her for years an even when we do group trips, I always seem to have gotten the best rates and extras :) Her name is Margaret and her number is ###-###-####. She is always getting really great DEALS...even got us the hard to get 16 day Disney cruise for a fraction of what the published rates are now! :) she travels herself a lot so she knows which lines are the best fits for what age groups and activity levels. Have a great time and good luck!

Hi M. - Ahhh, to travel. That is my wish also. I have a referral for you to www.ytb.com/valleytravelconnections. They book through travelocity and have all of the cruise information you need. I check it out often and I see some great deals, especially if you are able to book close to departure and would accept an inside cabin. Good deals also on flights to departure destinations. Good luck to you and happy traveling! The world is a beautiful place, and I, as you, would love to see more of it! V.

we went on a 7 night western carribean cruise on royal carribean last year it was great! it would be perfect for your 9 yr. old, they have specific age programs for the kids. the liberty of the seas ship is a great ship, one of the biggest!! grand cayman island is now our favorite vacation spot & will be going back, i could stay there forever!! jamaica was not my favorite place but if you go to dunns river falls it is worth it. cozumel is wonderful & so is haiti. we did a great zipline excursion on haiti which would be fine for your 9 yr. old if you are into that. if you go to grand cayman make sure you do the stingray excursion & book it through www.nativewaywatersports.com they are the BEST! you really dont need a travel agent, you can book the cruise right on royal carribean's website & it was the same $ as our travel agent was. we went in late july & the weather couldnt have been better! have fun! i wish i was going!!

Went on Princess cruise lines with my young ones, we all had a great time. They had a great kids area. My kids kept begging to go the the kids zone. I had never been to the Carribean before. I learned that if you get off the boat in Jamaca, stay on the beaten path. It's safer to see the island with a tour or on a cruise approved activity. And, I know this my sound silly, if you want to let her get her hair braided, Mexico (Cozumel) was best place. There were people doing it on the islands but they charged alot and the work wasn't nearly as nice. I only mention it because every girl I saw on the boat from ages four to twenty had their hair braided during some part of the week long cruise. Enjoy!

I just wanted to say "kudos" to you for being a single mom with a 9 year old. I just recently became a single mother of a 7 year old and I don't know how my mom took care of 3 of us even with help from my dad. I am sorry I don't have cruise info. but I hope you have a great vacation-it's well deserved!!