Cruise with 4 year old.. prices and extra charges?

Hello all

New to cruise critic and looking at booking our first cruise to the East of West Caribbean and probably with Royal Caribbean for April/Early May 2014

We have a daughter who will be 4 by the time we are ready to travel and I'm currently trying to work out how much it will cost for her as most of the sites only show the costs for adults.

Are there any discounts for children and does anyone know whats included or an additional cost for a child and what to avoid?

Thanks in advance.

Gary

Hello all

New to cruise critic and looking at booking our first cruise to the East of West Caribbean and probably with Royal Caribbean for April/Early May 2014

We have a daughter who will be 4 by the time we are ready to travel and I'm currently trying to work out how much it will cost for her as most of the sites only show the costs for adults.

Are there any discounts for children and does anyone know whats included or an additional cost for a child and what to avoid?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Gary

YOu can go to the cruise line WEB's site and do a mock (fake) booking without purchasing/paying for the cruise. Most cruise lines will give your little one a 3rd pasanger rate. It all depends on the type of cabin you are booking. There are some cruise lines that do charge 3rd passenger/under 12 rate.

Your 4 year old would be considered the third person in the cabin, and would be paying accordingly. Sometimes you can catch a discount if the third person is under 12, but not all the time.

Hello all

New to cruise critic and looking at booking our first cruise to the East of West Caribbean and probably with Royal Caribbean for April/Early May 2014

We have a daughter who will be 4 by the time we are ready to travel and I'm currently trying to work out how much it will cost for her as most of the sites only show the costs for adults.

Are there any discounts for children and does anyone know whats included or an additional cost for a child and what to avoid?

Thanks in advance.

Gary

There is no discounts for children Even babies who are 6 months old pay the going rate of the 3rd passenger in the cabin.

Western Caribbean has much for children. Grand Cayman features swimming with stingrays,. turtle farms.

Price various cruises- do not rule out carnival. You can save a lot of money.

We were booked on Ruby Princess but for the same week going to the same places I swapped out and moved to crnival glory at a savings of over 1200.

THATS a lot of vacation dollars.

Once on the ship, the expenses for child are generally the same as adults. The child is subject to the same autotip as adults. Sodas or other beverages (including soda sticker) are the same. Some ships have discounts on excursions for children

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

If you child goes to the children's program on the ship -- you are expected to tip the person in charge.

Hello all

New to cruise critic and looking at booking our first cruise to the East of West Caribbean and probably with Royal Caribbean for April/Early May 2014

We have a daughter who will be 4 by the time we are ready to travel and I'm currently trying to work out how much it will cost for her as most of the sites only show the costs for adults.

Are there any discounts for children and does anyone know whats included or an additional cost for a child and what to avoid?

Thanks in advance.

Gary

the price for the first 2 people in a cabin is the same regardless of age.

persons # 3 and up will pay less.. sometimes a little less, sometimes a lot less. there are no children's rates unless the specific cruise line is doing a special.. for instance on occasion Disney will do a kids sail free in the same cabin promo, or another line may do a $99 special for the third person on up.

any time there is an extra fee( such as specialty dining, which allows children under 16 before 7 pm in most cases) the kid pays full price. there is usually kids pricing for shore excursions.

in cabin babysitting can be $10 an hour on up, and many times have a minimum number of hours. same with extra hours(late night) in the kids clubs like pajama parties. if the child is not completely potty trained, they cannot use the pools at all.

every passenger regardless of age is charged a daily fee to cover the room steward and the dining room staff. since kids that young generate a huge mess, it is inappropriate to consider removing or lowering that amount. especially when the DR staff will feed your child faster or have a plate of fruit/veggies for them when you sit down.

Once on the ship, the expenses for child are generally the same as adults. The child is subject to the same autotip as adults. Sodas or other beverages (including soda sticker) are the same. Some ships have discounts on excursions for children

Some lines do have child specific pricing. Carnival's soda sticker is $1.50 less per day for a child. It also includes juice at the bars.

Disney seems to have many child sail free promotions. Holland America at times offers 3rd and 4th passenger fares for $99 or free.

We recently booked a cruise for next year and our son will be 4 years old by then. We booked with Celebrity and his flight & transfer were the same as our adult price, and his cruise was about 50% of our rate.

We also priced a Costa cruise and they have a reduced child price. However overall, with the additional costs of flights etc it would have worked out as expensive for a 7 night cruise as it was for a 10 night cruise with Celebrity.

Sometimes Norwegian will have Kids Sail Free promotions, as well as reduced 3rd person rates. It pays to check for sales. Also with NCL's freestyle unstructured casual cruising it might be something to look into when cruising with a child.

Have a great time when you do finally take your vacation!:D

Keep an eye on the cruise line sales. As said earlier, sometimes NCL has a kids sail free deal and occasionally HAL has the 3rd and 4th berth sail free. Have an idea of when and where you would like to cruise so when you see the right deal you can jump on it.

Our 18 month is paying same price as 15 year old for August holidays. I think this is very steep but thats RCL

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Also check with MSC, who sometimes offer free places for children, and P&O who often offer low rates for under 12s sharing your cabin. Both do Caribbean cruises in autumn/winter.

Holland America has some cabins on some itineraries where third ( and some times even fourth) passenger - assuming children, sail free. You should call the line directly and inquire. You will, of course, be expected to pay the service charge ($11 or $12) per person per day for such a child -- which is appropriate because children almost always make more work for stewards and waiters.

We are booked on Carnival for November. We took our son on his first cruise last year, just before he turned 4. He will just turn 5 when we go on this next one. He is considered a 3rd person and was priced as such, not as a child. He is less than 1/2 the price of our individual tickets. He does not drink soda so there was no additional costs for him. All of the excursions we took last year were free for him. We are paying for two of the three excursions for him this year but at a reduced rate and the third one, he goes free due to his age.

We went Western Caribbean to Jamaica, Grand Cayman and Cozumel. We did a beach party in Jamaica. We had also honeymooned in Jamaica several years ago so we were excited that this was the first place our son had visited a beach. We had a blast. We did swimming with sting rays in Grand Cayman and a Dolphin Swim and Ride in Cozumel. They actually allowed him to ride on my back holding on to my life jacket while I rode the dolphin. It still brings tears to my eyes when I see the photo.

Carnival treated our son like he was a prince. Everyone was attentive and helpful and it really made his first cruise very special for us. We are so looking forward to our trip in November. We are going back to Cozumel but also Belize and Honduras where our son will snorkel for the first time.

Enjoy your trip. Don't hesitate to take your child! It will be a great time for you and them.