1st time with family of 6 - ship selection

Hi All -

I have a family of 6 - 5 from New England (3 adults, 2 7 year olds), and an adult in FL.

I am just looking for a recommendation for a ship that would entertain all - the children are fair skin, so would also like outdoor / shaded activities. Do ships allow swimming in early evening?

Activities are a concern - trying to please both adult & child. Was looking at eastern Caribbean - but am open.

Being 1st timers, would probably like more of a 5-7 day cruise.

Any recommendations for a child friendly ship? Looking for anytime in July/Aug.

Thanks!

On almost EVERY cruise line, the pools are open almost 24 hours! No worries about "off hours" swimming!

I think your kids will find either RCI, Carnival or NCL to their liking...especially the larger ships with all the "bells and whistles"....Your kids are at the perfect age to enjoy the kid's clubs...

I would suggest you head to a local travel agency, and tell them what you're looking for, pick up some brochures and start getting a "feel" for each line.

How many cabins will you need? Cabins are MUCH smaller than hotel rooms, so be prepared for that. The brochures will give sq. footage of each cabin type....

Hi All -

 

I have a family of 6 - 5 from New England (3 adults' date=' 2 7 year olds), and an adult in FL.

 

I am just looking for a recommendation for a ship that would entertain all - the children are fair skin, so would also like outdoor / shaded activities. Do ships allow swimming in early evening?

 

Activities are a concern - trying to please both adult & child. Was looking at eastern Caribbean - but am open.

 

Being 1st timers, would probably like more of a 5-7 day cruise.

 

Any recommendations for a child friendly ship? Looking for anytime in July/Aug.

 

Thanks![/quote']

I'd check out Royal Caribbean's Harmony and Allure sailing from Ft. Lauderdale. These ships have something for everyone.

the mass market cruise lines all have a complimentary children's program with plenty of activities. some even feature activities for the whole family.

One thing to be aware of is that hurricane season covers the summer. If you book a Caribbean cruise and it looks like a hurricane may pop up in the area your ship was scheduled for, you may find yourself going to a different area of the Caribbean (eg western Caribbean ports instead of eastern ports or vice versa)

RCL Freedom,independence, harmony, and allure sail from port Everglades, navigator and enchantment from Miami, and oasis and another of the larger ships from port canaveral. I'd avoid the majesty and empress as they are older and somewhat limited for activities. There are also several RCL shIps in Tampa. Of course there are carnival & princess out of all the same ports as well.

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Thank you! I am looking at 2 rooms with 2 adults & 1 child in each. To save, I probably won't get a balcony. :(. I will run compares with all the amenities for each ship. I now know that i should only be looking at the larger ships. Thank you!

Thanks to all - I have contacted a travel agent for suggestions. Hoping also for some credits of some sort to reduce costs. I didn't take into account that it was during hurricane season. I'll try to stay at the early part of summer. Appreciate your responses. If you think of anything i can do to reduce costs, please let me know. I didn't really want an inside cabin - but balcony is out of my reach, so i might ned to settle for the in-between ocean view.

We just got off Harmony - beautiful ship with tons to do for all ages, but be prepared for sticker shock as she is brand new ship so is commanding higher prices. As alternative, I would consider Independence or Freedom - we have sailed on Freedom, and she is fantastic ship. Plus I think both are doing 6 day cruises out of Fort Lauderdale, so that might bring price down a bit too.

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Hi All -

 

I have a family of 6 - 5 from New England (3 adults' date=' 2 7 year olds), and an adult in FL.

 

I am just looking for a recommendation for a ship that would entertain all - the children are fair skin, so would also like outdoor / shaded activities. Do ships allow swimming in early evening? with one or two high end exceptions, every single ship on every line would offer a wide enough variety to keep the kids entertained as well as the adults. the pols are only closed late at night or if some idiot brings their non potty trained child in to the water and there is an accident. alls hips will have at least some shade by the pools areas.

 

Activities are a concern - trying to please both adult & child. Was looking at eastern Caribbean - but am open. on board or off? the newest the ship on any lien, the more bells and whistles, ..pools lines, rock climbing, Flo Rider, etc. everyone has things like trivia, on board msucisans, theater shows, comedy acts, etc.

 

Being 1st timers, would probably like more of a 5-7 day cruise.

 

Any recommendations for a child friendly ship? Looking for anytime in July/Aug.

 

Thanks!

most ships do a decent job with on board kids club programming, but depending on when you sail, there may not be many other kids at all.

WHAT are wanting out of this vacation? relax? family time? go go go? some lines are better suited to certain demographics over others. cost is a concern. what sort of cabin do you want? will you want to squish together into one suite or have 2-3 cabins to spread out in is the NE family willing/able to fly or otherwise travel to FL where most ships sail out of? if not, can the FL person fly up to NYC? or split the difference and meet in Baltimore?

which is more important, the ship and its amenities, or the destination? then how large of a budget do you have( cruises start at $100 per person per day and only go up from there.)

There may be quite a difference in pricing at a small local travel agency compared to a large ONLINE discount cruise agency that gets volume pricing and gives onboard credits. Check several. Also look only at newer Mega ships. There are some old clunkers still at NCL,RCL,CCL with few family ammenities. There is a family cruise section here on CruiseCritic.