Best cruise line for kids besides Disney?

I hope someone can give me some advice. We just got off the NCL Breakaway which was great for adults but not for my 6 year old. We have done Disney before but I don't think we want to pay the high price for a summer cruise. Can anyone recommend a cruise line or a ship that compares to Disney in regards to the kids program (I know this might not be possible but am open to suggestions)

Thanks

Tons of them, most all the mass market lines, but what exactly was wrong with NCL? Many feel that line is superior to Disney in regards to certain age groups.

Tons of them, most all the mass market lines, but what exactly was wrong with NCL? Many feel that line is superior to Disney in regards to certain age groups.

My kids have been on 2 NCL cruises (Jewel and Breakaway), and loved them. The range of ages were 7 - 17.

Our kids love carnival. Ages 6 and 9. They've been on two and going on their third next year. We really like some of carnivals ships because of their waterparks. The waterparks are really how we choose the ship at this point. I wish more cruise lines would have them as my kids love them.

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The general consensus is that Carnival and RCI's kid's clubs are superior to Disney's....just a bit more structured, and kids seem to enjoy that more than "free for all" fun...especially the younger kids.

We have only done Disney and RCI.

My son had a hard time in Disney because he cannot tolerate screens of any kind, and all Disney has is a room full of screens and a tiny totally lame climber - so he only went when we were on the island, and for specific activities that he wanted to do (30min long or so)

I sailed just me and him on RCI earlier this year and he LOVED the kids room - to me it looked really basic, quite small (small ship tho), and not much in there, but he played games and did activities and science stuff all the time. He really enjoyed it.

RCI was just fine, we will try NCL next time

We have always sailed Carnival so I can only speak to them. We have taken our girls on several cruises from age one up, they are now 6 & 4. They love Carnival! The kids program is great and everything is very family friendly. They also love the dining room dinners, the shows, the splash pools and kids water slide areas depending which ship you are on. I cannot say enough good things about Carnival. They also have the new Seuss at Sea program which we are anxious to try out at our next cruise in March!

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I hope someone can give me some advice. We just got off the NCL Breakaway which was great for adults but not for my 6 year old. We have done Disney before but I don't think we want to pay the high price for a summer cruise. Can anyone recommend a cruise line or a ship that compares to Disney in regards to the kids program (I know this might not be possible but am open to suggestions)

Thanks

Because you need a SUMMER cruise, your choices are limited.

You might consider a RCCL cruise on Oasis or Allure. Lots for children to enjoy on those ships. :)

LuLu

Disney is "Disney" my children loved them for all the Disney touch but we also found Carnival and Princess also enjoyable for our kids. IMHO the counselors which can vary wildly and the demographics and timing can make or break the experience, while on Disney you do have that "Disney" underlying theme no matter when/where or with who, but boy do you pay for it.

General I pick the cruise for activities in port and value and less so the kids club even when my kids were small.

We have done both Disney and Royal. My daughter was 6 on the Disney cruise and 8 on Royal's Allure. By far her favorite kid club was Royal. She loved the activities and how the counselors made sure every child was involved. Lots of different activities to suit all interests. She even went with the club to the sports deck one night and sports aren't her favorite thing. On Disney, she felt like she had to entertain herself.

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We have done both Disney and Royal. My daughter was 6 on the Disney cruise and 8 on Royal's Allure. By far her favorite kid club was Royal. She loved the activities and how the counselors made sure every child was involved. Lots of different activities to suit all interests. She even went with the club to the sports deck one night and sports aren't her favorite thing. On Disney, she felt like she had to entertain herself.

 

 

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This is great to hear. We are strongly looking at Allure of the Seas vs Disney Fantasy ship. Both look great but its a $1500 price difference for same itinerary. Was a bit worried Allure isn't kid friendly enough..so am happy to hear you daughter actually prefers Royal

This is a link to my comparison of Disney vs. RCI.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1655634

Our last cruise was actually on Celebrity. As adults, we really liked Celebrity (food / service / atmosphere), however, our son didn't enjoy it as much as RCI or Disney. He actually really enjoyed the Celebrity kids club, as he loved the individual attention he received. All the counselors knew him by name after the first day and were great. Far, far fewer kids on board. He enjoys small group activities.

However, there wasn't really any other kid friendly facilities on board outside of the kids club area. The pools were over his head for instance.

Doing Disney again in two weeks!

The general consensus is that Carnival and RCI's kid's clubs are superior to Disney's....just a bit more structured, and kids seem to enjoy that more than "free for all" fun...especially the younger kids.

You never fail posting wacky stuff....I have never read anywhere RCCL Or Carnival has a better kids club than Disney...Maybe Allure and Oasis can be runners up but that is where it ends. My 6 year old has now been on 32 cruises, her favorites are any Disney, new Celebrity Solstice class ships, RCCL Oasis class ships and then the NCL Epic.

You never fail posting wacky stuff....I have never read anywhere RCCL Or Carnival has a better kids club than Disney...Maybe Allure and Oasis can be runners up but that is where it ends. My 6 year old has now been on 32 cruises, her favorites are any Disney, new Celebrity Solstice class ships, RCCL Oasis class ships and then the NCL Epic.

I have actually seen quite a few people post on here that Disney kids clubs seem crowded and unstructured and that their kids preferred at least the kids clubs on other cruise lines. Of course this opinion is not shared by everyone, but it is not unique.

I have actually seen quite a few people post on here that Disney kids clubs seem crowded and unstructured and that their kids preferred at least the kids clubs on other cruise lines. Of course this opinion is not shared by everyone, but it is not unique.

As I have said before, Disney caters to children. It is what they do. They are consistently rated number one in virtually every publication. The numbers speak for themselves.

As I have said before, Disney caters to children. It is what they do. They are consistently rated number one in virtually every publication. The numbers speak for themselves.

It's subjective - my kids preferred NCL'S clubs over DCL's clubs.

As others have pointed out, it depends on your child's age and preference. Royal Caribbean had a great nursery on some of their ships for children under 3; most other lines do not have something similar.

Before DCL and NCL started building their bigger ships, I used to tell people that if your child likes water slides, cruise Carnival; if they like rock climbing walls, cruise Royal Caribbean. It's not so simple these days. You really have to look at the amenities and program on each individual ship and then decide what would be best for your child.

For instance, some of Royal Caribbean's ships have a splash pad, but not all. Same with their characters that your children can meet.

Someone pointed out that it just depends on the crew. I was on a Holland America cruise before they started working on their children's program, and the crew worked VERY hard to keep the kids on board happy. It was one of their smaller ships that was used for long voyages, so there really wasn't a great space for children's activities. But for some reason, there were over 40 youngsters on this particular cruise. We never saw them though. Instead of running around the pool or riding the elevators, the crew kept them entertained. But you can't count on this happening all the time, obviously.

As I have said before, Disney caters to children. It is what they do. They are consistently rated number one in virtually every publication. The numbers speak for themselves.

Disney is Disney...and no doubt its about the kids. They are excellent.

We did a numbers comparison of Disney Fantasy and RCL Allure and for similar ship, room and itinerary, it's $2000 difference.

We decided to go with the Allure as it seems to be a big competitor and they have included tons of things for kids....DreamWorks characters and events, big splash area (no water slide though), parades, water shows, kids club (from reading here is supposed to be great), family activities, rock climbing, ice skating, mini golf, 3D movies, carousel, etc. (Oasis and Quantum as similar...and Quantum even has bumper cars).

As others hae said though, you'd need to look into each ship and see what it offers.

Didn't look too deep but Carnival seems like another good option for kids.

Interesting I looked at Princess, and wow...it seems so old fashioned and definitely not for kids.

I have taken a 6,10 and 14 year old on Disney and Carnival to be truthfull the 14 year old didn't want to go on Disney but went so he could get out of the snow for a week as it turned out he was the only one who liked Disney the other 2 went to the kids clubs once and then we couldn't get them to go back but on carnival they don't want to leave. Plus on carnival magic their waterslides are the best

I hope someone can give me some advice. We just got off the NCL Breakaway which was great for adults but not for my 6 year old. We have done Disney before but I don't think we want to pay the high price for a summer cruise. Can anyone recommend a cruise line or a ship that compares to Disney in regards to the kids program (I know this might not be possible but am open to suggestions)

 

Thanks

I highly recommend Royal Caribbean, the Allure, Oasis or second any Freedom class RC ship. They have wonderful childrens programs- that compare and beat the Disney ships!

Enjoy your cruise!

We are huge Disney park fans and spend tons of time in Orlando so were very excited for our 1st Disney cruise. It remains our most expensive vacation mistake ever!!! I guess we're glad we tried it but never again. We felt rushed with everything we did and I know ships can only hold so many passengers but the entire cruise felt crowded. My dh compared it to walking down main street MK at 9 in the morning. Everywhere we went we encountered lines. We have enjoyed every cruise we've been on and like several lines but Disney remains our least favorite and the only line we don't care to return to. Our 4 daughters love NCL, Royal, and Carnival and we love the price. We can take 2 cruises with the above to 1 Disney.

It's subjective - my kids preferred NCL'S clubs over DCL's clubs.

My four year old will have 4 cruises on NCL. I called Disney to see if we could cruise them, they are unable to accommodate her allergy in their free roam play area so we are sticking with NCL. What about NCL did your kids not like? We also sailed Breakaway and didn't like it as much as we have our trips on the Sky or Dawn, maybe it was the ship.

We have been on rccl twice (son age 5 and 6), disney (7) once and ncl (8) once. My son prefers rccl hands down & so do we actually. He disliked disney the most as it is geared so much towards the princesses. He did not like ncl because even though there were other activites in the room, they never got to use them-like play games, watch tvs or video games. They only ever read and colored-which doesn't hold his attention. rccl has a variety of options available to them at all times.

ETA: my nieces also travelled with us each time-same age as my son. Their opinions are the same, however, one would put disney above ncl because she really disliked the coloring on the breakaway.

another notable item-We almost always travel during spring break. We never had issues checking into the disney or rccl kid places at all. They were always properly staffed to accommodate all the kids on the ship of each age group. On Breakaway, if you weren't in line 10 min.before the kid place opened, you didn't get in for the session. Too bad for you if you had spa, show or specialty dining reservations. We would check back in throughout the session (and have the concierge check for us since we were in the haven) to try to get a spot. Sometimes it worked out and others it did not.

another notable item-We almost always travel during spring break. We never had issues checking into the disney or rccl kid places at all. They were always properly staffed to accommodate all the kids on the ship of each age group. On Breakaway, if you weren't in line 10 min.before the kid place opened, you didn't get in for the session. Too bad for you if you had spa, show or specialty dining reservations. We would check back in throughout the session (and have the concierge check for us since we were in the haven) to try to get a spot. Sometimes it worked out and others it did not.

When we went on the Breakaway, there were 1200 kids on board, and there was never a cut-off (but this was a year ago). The only problem was checking them it, because there were SO many kids. My younger ones were 10, 10 and 12 at the time, and although it looked like they were having fun playing an active game, they chose to leave and not return when I stopped by (our deal was they would try it, and I'd rescue them if they wanted).

I think it was the fact that my 12 year old felt it was too young for her, dd10 and she are VERY close, and ds10 wanted to go where they went. I think that if it were just dd10 and ds10, they would've had a great time.