2018 European Family Bargain

Just back from Western Med on Freedom and would love to take our 3 children (Age 3,3 &5) with us next year but everything looks astronomical In terms of price as we'd need two interconnecting cabins or one of the rare Family size cabins.

Would welcome any hints/tips as to how to cruise with our family without remortgaging the house .

Enjoy the ship as a floating resort so don't care about ports particularly and would be travelling from Ireland so I imagine it would be within Europe to keep things affordable.

All (helpful [emoji4]) suggestions welcome

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Get in touch with a local travel agent. Get them to do the work for you and present you with options. Then compare their price to that on the RCI website and see which is cheaper.

Wait for a few more years when the kids would appreciate it more and you can save more.

As your kids are young, maybe look at taking them out of school in May or September.

We just took the kids(5,5,8) on Freedom in April for a spring break cruise. It was a 6 night western Caribbean sailing, and the RFS cost $4800 with $400OBC. Gratuities were another $500. The suite was a great way to travel with the family, and i would definitely do it again. Not sure if that is above what you are willing to spend, but i was very happy with what i got for my money. Downside to the Family Suite is you have to call to book and/or get pricing. FWIW we booked this cruise almost 18 months before sailing.

Keep an eye on the prices and promotions. Occasionally you might get a kids sail free promotion (though that's quite rare in the UK) or the prices go down when a promotion ends for example if there are free drinks packages, free WiFi etc included, it's not really free they just put the price up a bit. Also agree with IrishComet's comment- if you can take them out of school the prices are a lot cheaper out of high season.

We just took the kids(5,5,8) on Freedom in April for a spring break cruise. It was a 6 night western Caribbean sailing, and the RFS cost $4800 with $400OBC. Gratuities were another $500. The suite was a great way to travel with the family, and i would definitely do it again. Not sure if that is above what you are willing to spend, but i was very happy with what i got for my money. Downside to the Family Suite is you have to call to book and/or get pricing. FWIW we booked this cruise almost 18 months before sailing.

OP is asking specifically about Med cruises which are generally a lot more expensive than Caribbean cruises. Plus we don't get OBC included over here unless it's part of a promotion.

OP is asking specifically about Med cruises which are generally a lot more expensive than Caribbean cruises. Plus we don't get OBC included over here unless it's part of a promotion.

Just sharing an experience where the pricing and cabin worked out for a family of his size. There is no rhyme or reason to pricing on any sailing regardless of itinerary. Keep looking and book when it works.

Not sure of the "Kids Sail Free" promo includes European cruises but we have booked a couple of Caribbean cruises using the promo and it saved us a TON of money. Hope you find something that works for you and your family!

I don't have any personal experience of booking with children but I do know that some of the Freedom-class ships (ie. Independence which sails out of Southampton) has two fantastic family oceanview rooms -- they are multi-room cabins but sold at the normal family oceanview rate. We snagged 8500 as a couple, because there was so little uptake on the family rooms owing to the time of year the cruise was (mid-June). The room was fantastic -- main room was a 'living room' with giant couch (sofabed) plus some extra side chairs, then there was a small bunk-bed room off to one side (completely separate) and then another room on the other side, which was the 'main' bedroom. The bunk bed was quite generous and I imagine if your kids don't age at all (ie. they remain 3 years old!) they'd fit fine. I will try to dig up some photos. No idea what pricing is like for 5 people though, but we paid less for the family oceanview as a couple than we would have done for an interior cabin (the only reason we managed to book it was that they opened it up to anyone to book nearer the sailing time since they hadn't gotten any families to fill it).

Here are photos of the family oceanview 'room' (rooms!) on Independence of the Seas - room 8500

View of living room area -- you can see into the bunk-bedded room off to the side.

Bunk-bed room:

Private bedroom on the other end of the living room area:

There is also a normal bathroom in the living room area.

Thanks guys. Great suggestions. Looking at a few off-peak options for 2018 with two interconnecting cabins (2nd bathroom will be good).

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I have a feeling European vacations for Americans are going to start dropping in price w/ all of the terrorism etc. We have a Baltic cruise booked for next May and just hope we actually get to go to St. Petersburg. The US & Russia are playing a lot of cat & mouse right now and we hope it doesn't escalate.

Thanks guys. Great suggestions. Looking at a few off-peak options for 2018 with two interconnecting cabins (2nd bathroom will be good).

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Also have a look at using a US TA, you may find it saves you a lot.

I have a feeling European vacations for Americans are going to start dropping in price w/ all of the terrorism etc. We have a Baltic cruise booked for next May and just hope we actually get to go to St. Petersburg. The US & Russia are playing a lot of cat & mouse right now and we hope it doesn't escalate.

I wouldn't count on anything like that. The only price drop will be somehow related to the ongoing currency fluctuations. As the £ has grown weaker against the $, the price gap between UK and US bookings has become almost negligible, whereas a year ago you might see a difference of 25% between the US price and UK price (US always being less expensive).

Just back from Western Med on Freedom and would love to take our 3 children (Age 3,3 &5) with us next year but everything looks astronomical In terms of price as we'd need two interconnecting cabins or one of the rare Family size cabins.

 

Would welcome any hints/tips as to how to cruise with our family without remortgaging the house .

 

Enjoy the ship as a floating resort so don't care about ports particularly and would be travelling from Ireland so I imagine it would be within Europe to keep things affordable.

 

All (helpful [emoji4]) suggestions welcome

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Hi, we're in a similar position. Family of 5 (3 kids) from Ireland. We've done 3 cruises with the kids and found the family ocean view stateroom the best way forward. There are very few of them though so booking early is crucial.

You can save a packet by arranging your own flights especially when sailing from Southampton.

In terms of getting a good price we find nextcruise is the best bet. Book a future cruise with the ability to preprice once. We've saved a lot of money that way. If the price doesn't drop enough then kick the deposit onto another cruise.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Took the headstaggers today and have booked two interconnecting cabins for next Autumn on Rhapsody.

Think the extra bathroom will come in handy and then when we put the kids to bed at night, we can keep the door ajar and watch Tv, have wine & cheese etc

Really appreciate all the helpful suggestions folks [emoji1303]

Sent from my iPhone using Forums