Family of Five / Cruise March 2015

We would like to do a 7/8 day cruise.

Children will be 10, 7, & 18 months old

Hubby & I cruised before on Royal Caribbean (alone no kids)

We don't have a preference, as much as we are looking for the best value for our dollar.

We also would probably not use or need babysitting.

Amy advice would be lovely!

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With a family of 5, your options are limited. Disney and Carnival have the most cabins for 5, followed by Royal Caribbean. Celebrity has a few. For every cruise line except Disney, you would have to call the cruise line to get pricing. The other option is connecting cabins. Most cruise lines have these. If you decide to go this route, make sure the rooms are connecting, not just adjacent. If you wish, you could split you and your husband up, and then you're not restricted to connecting or family staterooms.

The best bang for the buck will depend on many factors. Prices change all the time and vary with cruise line, ship, date of departure, itinerary, type of cabin, when you book, how well the ship is selling, etc etc. Don't forget to factor in airfare, if necessary. All of the cruises in my signature gave me the best value for the dollar at the time of booking.

I would get connecting cabins. That gives you two tv's and two bathrooms. Many kids won't settle down to sleep if you are in the room. They will want to play- so at least you can go into the other cabin to hang out and watch tv without disturbing the baby.

I would do Celebrity with this age- they have a wonderful youth program for the 7 and 10 year old. It's my son's favorite cruise line.

are you traveling with others? Maybe one of the kids could bunk with a grandparent or something so you don't need an extra room

Since you are asking for opinions.....

I would look for connecting rooms - five can be very crowded (not impossible) - but I would probably try to splurge for a balcony if I was only getting one room (again....it would provide a place to hangout while kids are sleeping).

My suggestion is to look for connecting interior (you'll get two bath

rooms and a separate room to hang out while the baby sleeps) - two OV or balcony are even nicer but of course the price continues to go up - only you can decide on your budget....

As posted already....with the ages of your children I would want connecting not adjacent rooms.

We are a fam of 5. I just booked us in connecting rooms on NCL for a Mar 2015 cruise. I priced out a variety of options, but since this is spring break, and all of Texas is out at the same time, the prices get high. We are just doing OV rooms. The cost of doing a suite was $6K!

I've done connecting cabins several times. You can leave the door open between the cabins if you like. Book early for the best selection. Connecting cabins go fast.

There are some cabins that can hold 5 of you but it will be tight.

Try NCL's 2-bdrm family suites. Relatively inexpensive considering what you get.

We're also in the same situation with 3 kids very close in age to yours. I think we've decided to book one of the Family staterooms on RCI, whether it be a promenade or outside, we're not sure yet. It only has one bath, but does have a tub, which is ideal for the younger kids

It also has bunks for the two older kids and are somewhat separated from the rear of the cabin. We've never booked this kind of cabin but are willing to give it a shot, and every time we have checked, this has turned out to be less expensive than 2 cabins.

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Ncls breakaway class family oceanview sleeps upto 5 per room and has a tub in the bathroom. We are booked of October in this catergory. First time with kids for us 15 & 11!

If your looking at child care/camp/babysitting Carnival is the only line that takes 2 year olds and they also change diapers. Just in case you find something when your youngest turns 2 and you want a couple hours of adult time. There's no extra charge also.

Other lines charge for children under 3 and page you when your child needs a diaper change.

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If your looking at child care/camp/babysitting Carnival is the only line that takes 2 year olds and they also change diapers. Just in case you find something when your youngest turns 2 and you want a couple hours of adult time. There's no extra charge also.

Other lines charge for children under 3 and page you when your child needs a diaper change.

Royal Caribbean and Disney both have nurseries for under 3's. Royal Caribbean and Celebrity both have babysitting for children 12 months and over. None of them page parents for diaper changing. In any case, the OP won't have a 2 year old on this trip.

I would recommend a stateroom for a family of 5 on a Disney cruise ship. They are only that age for a short time. We have cruised in staterooms for 5 and in connecting staterooms. At that age a stateroom for 5 will work fine. Our oldest is now 17, and we find it too crowded and prefer the connecting, but it was fine when they were younger. Also on Carnival ships they have some deluxe cabins for families of 5 that have 2 bathrooms. One has a toilet, sink, and shower, and the other has a tub and sink.

We are fresh back from a 5 day Carribean with a 3, 5, and 16 yr old.

We chose Carnival (I am halfway through blogging it starting here: http://frosthaus.blogspot.ca/2014/02/2014-family-vacation-day-1-2-buffalo.html )

Since we just got back here is what we found:

1. Carnival included the kids under 16 free on our ticket. Not sure if that is normal, but they just paid taxes and gratuities.

2. We had a single room with balcony. It was very crowded at night, but manageable when the pullout bed was put away in the daytime. Our 16 yr old was given a free pass and did not keep the same schedule as the rest of the family.

3. The balcony was a godsend. Either get a balcony or the second room mentioned already.

4. We scheduled shore activities outside carnival's suggested activities by using websites like this one and lonely planet guides. We were able to recreate Carnival's shore excursions for about half their price.

Pricewise, we flew from Buffalo for around $1800 and cruised for around $1500 (or vice-versa) making it a $3300 family trip. Hotels in Buffalo and Miami are on top of that.

We spent close to $1000 while on vacation. (Tips, shore days, etc.) Our target was to keep the vacation under $5000.

We cruised a couple years ago with our family of five and we did a family stateroom on RCI. We loved it. It was a good size for us. Our kids are still small.

It was a big family trip for us. Grandparents etc involved. We did not utilize any of the kids services and camps but I know people rave about them. It just wasn't right for us.

When they get bigger; connecting rooms will be the way to go due to having two bathrooms and such. But of course that is more expensive.

This summer we have another family stateroom booked; this time for our family of six. I'm am hoping it all goes as well for us this time. :-)

Good luck!

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