Thoughts on Cruises with Young Kids?

Some cruises do cater towards families with small children. We went on a Carnival cruise with kids ages 3 and up and they had a great time. They had areas specifically for the kids as well as water slides, putt-putt, and 'Camp Carnival' with activities.

My sister-in-law took her kids on a Disney cruise not long after. They had a blast, but she said that it wasn't worth what they were charging (she was given the tickets).

We liked the fact that the kids couldn't get too lost. They were on the boat and being entertained. They were never bored and met new friends. My eldest still e-mails one of the girls she met there.

Hi 3boys,

not sure how old your boys are so i'll assume all in the single digits. I've heard great things about Disney and that it can be very expensive. Bear in mind that it's not just the Disney characters but Pixar too so that might tip the balance.

Also, I understand it's a family vacation but I would recommend you book with a cruise that has child care available. Even if it's just for an evening to get away with your significant other for some alone time. I know you don't take famly vacations to drop your kids with a sitter but maybe just for a dinner alone it could make it that much more special and worth the price of admission.

Just my thoughts. Have a wonderful time and travel safely, S.

My kids were 5, 7, and 9 when we cruised with them. Best vacation ever, hands down, nothing has compared to it.

We did Carnival because it was 1/3 the cost of Disney...so if my experience on Carnival is as good as it was, I wouldn't see a need to up the cost. Most people I know do 5 day Disney cruises because it's the only way to afford it, we wanted the full week.

We did not care for the Bahama's at all and look to avoid it on future cruises. St Thomas, San Juan, and Grand Turks were all amazing!!

We are not a cruise family and you couldn't pay us to go on a cruise.

However, some friends love the Disney cruise and go every June for a week.

I'm not familiar with other cruise lines but many friends love it. I hear you either love it or hate it.

I read a FB post last week that a friend's family hated every minute of the 4 day cruise and it was a waste of money for them. She said there was nothing wrong with the food, activities, etc... They just hated being in a boat.

My brother had to pay $4000 before the cruise line would allow them off the boat for their ( paid in full) cruise. Know all of the facts ahead of time. Granted... My brother is an idiot and assumed everything was all inclusive
(not).

No way would I take my kids on a cruise with me.
Lame.
How do you relax? You always have to have one eye open. Plus, you are trusting people you have never met to watch your babies AT SEA and hope that a background check was run and the person is honest without you knowing them at all.
Nope.
Is there a way you can leave the kids with someone on land? Then you and the husband can just enjoy some time away! no dishes, no breaking up fights, no one eye open...just relaxing....that sounds awesome.

The Disney Magic has Marvel characters on it. Even if they are not Disney fans, Disney has amazing kids clubs, an arcade, pools, slides, and movies that can keep your kids busy. Also, for the adults, Disney has amazing adult only sections, you can bring on your own alcohol, and sodas, juices, some coffees, are all included and will not cost extra. Since you are only a few hours from Port Canaveral, you don't have to worry too much about travel costs. However, in Tampa, I believe you have a couple of cruise lines in your backyard. My sister likes Carnival, but be careful with Carnival. Since their prices are low, they tend to get a much younger partyier crowd. She had very young kids 4 and 3, I think at the time and they had a good time at the kids club. I think my friend went out of Norwegian out of Tampa, her kids were 7, 5 and 3 and they had a really great time as well. I've been on Princess and Holland America without kids and they were nice, but I can't speak to the kids club and it didn't seem like outside the kids clubs there was much for young kids to do. I went on Disney with a 5 year old and two 2 year olds and there was tons for the kids to do, all not Disney related. They have kids clubs up to age 17 at all different levels. My 5 year old who hated Disney, had a great time on board, even wanted to meet all the characters. They had a computer and science lab that she absolutely loved. I know Disney can be more expensive, but a lot more is included in the price that needs to be considered. I would cruise Disney without my kids that's how much I loved it, and I'm not a big Disney fan.

We are taking our first family cruise in October. Our boys are 5, 7, & 10. They love Pixar and Marvel, so the Disney cruise will be perfect. I have heard there are different levels of cruises--and Disney is near the top. We are doing a 5 night (Sunday-Friday), which fits perfectly with our Fall Break from school. Just to give you an idea of cost, it's about $1225 per person. The adults were $1530 each (we're taking 2 grandparents) and the kids were $560 each. With taxes, it average out to about $1225.

Cruises are awesome! If your kids arent' into Disney then don't bother spending the extra money. Disney cruises are expensive! Do Royal Caribbean instead. If you do an Oasis Class, you will not only never be bored but you won't have the opportunity to do everything. The camps are AMAZING on all Royal Caribbean ships. If you go RCI, go as big as you can. The kids will love it. Camp, flowriders, basketball, rock climbing so many pools, tons of entertainment.

The way I feel with Carnival is that you get what you pay for. They tend to have younger crowds and are a bit more "party" than RCI. But it all depends what suits you.

Depends on how young. If they are at least 3 - disney cruise all the way. So many great options for kids. You get family time, adult time, etc. I have friends that are non-disneyophiles and even they said they would love to go back, even without children.

We planned a cruise and after doing much research we picked Royal Caribbean. They have so many ports they go to and they have excellent reputations too.

If you take your kids to school aren't you trusting basically strangers to care for your kids in a room, all day, by themselves? Are they reputable people? What if they're a new teacher? What if they're a man? What if they're in a relationship with the same gender? What if what if what if.

The people who go to work on cruises and work with the customers and kids have to go through vast background checks and they're all in one area together. Doing activities, staying busy, it's like going to camp all day for them. You can have a lot of freedom away from the kids and plan day time trips off the ship into the ports. You can have a good time with the kids and then also with your spouse without the kids.

I think it's wonderful to have those options. You can go have a nice adult meal or take a walk on the deck or go to a show as a family or heck, go climb the rock wall or go ice skating together as a family.

There are lots and lots of options on cruises and leaving the kids with certified care givers with education to do this job isn't any different that leaving your kids at school or camp.

Cruises are great with kids. We have been on several.
I go where the best price is for the itinerary I want. We have cruised Carnival, Royal and Norwegian. I have been looking at MSC cruise line out of Miami as kids sail free(or at a junior rate, depending on age) which is a great deal as you only pay port charges for the children.
There is plenty to do and you meet the staff at the kids club on the first night to make sure you are comfortable with them and their program. We never had a problem. We cruised when my son was one for my parents 50th anniversary and we were able to utilize the ship's tiny tots program and he did great.
Disney is very expensive. I haven't been able to justify spending that amount for a 4 day cruise when I can get 7 days on Carnival and Royal. Plus, hubs and I like to gamble and you can't do that on Disney. Royal has the Dreamworks characters on it with parade/breakfasts/ meet n greets if your kids are into that.
Look on the website cruisecritic.com. It has tons of information on all types of cruises. You can even look up a specific ship/itinerary that you are considering and sometimes these people will have pictures or video and definitely a review of their time on that ship.
I tend to pack my own medicine chest when we cruise as Tylenol, band aids, etc. are very expensive on the ship. Balconies are great as you can order breakfast and have it delivered to your room while kids sleep, and/or you can sit there in the evenings with a glass of wine while the kids are in bed and watch the moon and listen to the waves.
Good luck and have fun!

IMO, depends on the cruise. Our only cruise was more fun for the teens and adults, but not so much fun for the toddler. The ship was able to accommodate our child for food and everything, but it was a matter of there not really being many other kids for her to play with and the little kid activities being poorly attended. She was also not able to go in the pool because she wasn't potty trained. Even with extra rubber pants it was simply verbotten.

I would look for not just a family-friendly cruise but one that catered to little kids. We had more fun when we left the ship to do things like go to the beach and see forts. Our particular Bermuda cruise was out of Baltimore and we spent more time on the ship than on the land. DH said if we do it again, we're flying. He would like to do a cruise around the Mediterranean or something if we cruise again.

We went on a cruise a year ago through the HI islands. My kids were 6 & 9 when we went and it worked great! They loved the food arrangements - ordering whatever they liked off the adult menu - snacks whenever you felt like it. They had a child care area we left the kids in for a few hours so we could enjoy an adult dinner & drinks - we actually ran into the kids out and about as they were doing a ship scavenger hunt - they loved it! The kids were up for all the ports. The kids absolutely loved it - swimming, exploring the ship, game room, evening shows and on and on. We went on Norwegian.

My BIL & SIL brought their toddler and it didn't look nearly as fun with a little one. Sorry, but I kept thinking I was glad it wasn't me following a toddler around keeping them out of trouble...

I say go for it if your kids are old enough. We already have another cruise booked for the winter.