What line or ship for multi-generational family cruise?

DW and I are treating our kids, grandkids and my DS to a one week cruise in 2017. The GKs will be 16, 7, 5, 4 and 1.5. We are still considering Disney, but with the shrinking Canadian dollar, are looking for possibly less expensive alternatives. DW and I have only cruised HAL and Celebrity in the past, neither of which we would initially consider ideal for the GKs.

So for a group of 7 adults and 5 GKs, what lines or ships would you recommend? As this will be our first time cruising with others, especially the GKs, what important factors should we consider? I'm only now starting to look at alternatives to Disney, and will be review many of the more current threads here, but I'd really appreciate any advice that experienced family cruisers might be able to provide.

EDITED TO ADD: room configurations would be:

A - 2 adults, oldest three children

B - 2 adults, youngest two children

C - 2 adults

D - 1 adult

Disney, Rci, Carnival....will ALL be fine and dandy! Most kids prefer the clubs on RCI and Carnival to Disney...strange, but true! Disney is a very "loose" structure...and most kids appreciate a more structured plan. But...Disney has great ADULT areas....I would go with the opinion of whoever is paying for it...you can't go wrong on any cruise line!

For the 1-1/2 year old, you may want to look at a RCCL ship that has a nursery. The 16 year old would probably also love the bells and whistles of an RCCL ship, but if the toddler's parents don't care about having a childcare option, then I would just choose based on price/itinerary.

Best,

Mia

I agree with Mia. Talk to the parents of the 1.5 year old, and see if drop off childcare is necessary for them to enjoy their cruise. If it is, your options are the Norwegian Escape, all Disney cruises, and new or refurbished Royal ships. If you can wait until the child is two, Carnival and Cunard will allow 2 year olds in their drop off programs.

Note: we did take our 3 year old on HAL, and although it isn't our first choice for a cruise with a toddler, but if the price/itinerary are right we would sail them again. You will probably be fine with any of the mainstream cruise lines, and should just pick the itinerary/price that works best for you.

You can also narrow it down to ships tht have cabins for five. Also time of year and itinerary. Summer from the US will also narrow your selection. EM

I would take a look at RCI, Celebrity and Princess.

Keith

Royal offers prices in CAN $ which for us was a big savings as we didn't have to worry about the exchange rate. I would look at the newer/ larger ships.

Fouremco - you may want to consider putting less ppl in each cabin and getting a group. We just booked a family cruise and on Royal you only need to book 8 rooms to get a group (discount applies). We are getting two cabins for 4 ppl (2 adults and 2 kids) for less than the price of one four person cabin. Cabins are adjoining so we can keep tabs on our kiddies and have double the space.

We have cruise Celebrity, Royal and Disney. Loved them all but each offered something a little different. Given you have a really young one in the group you'd be best going with Royal or Disney given my experience. If the little one isn't potty trained keep that in mind. Most ships don't have spaces for them to swim. Disney and Royal do (select ships).

Thanks for all of the comments and suggestions so far. Very much appreciated.

I forgot to mention in the OP that this would be a March 2017 Caribbean cruise.

Fouremco - you may want to consider putting less ppl in each cabin and getting a group. We just booked a family cruise and on Royal you only need to book 8 rooms to get a group (discount applies). We are getting two cabins for 4 ppl (2 adults and 2 kids) for less than the price of one four person cabin. Cabins are adjoining so we can keep tabs on our kiddies and have double the space.

 

We have cruise Celebrity, Royal and Disney. Loved them all but each offered something a little different. Given you have a really young one in the group you'd be best going with Royal or Disney given my experience. If the little one isn't potty trained keep that in mind. Most ships don't have spaces for them to swim. Disney and Royal do (select ships).

I just want to clarify: is the group rate for 8 rooms or 8 people?

Eight cabins. That said; regardless of whether you hit the required cabin requirements it would be worth investigating whether two cabins that accommodate two people in each may be cheaper than putting four people in one cabin. I just booked today and it was much cheaper to do this versus buying one cabin. It may not work in all situations but in ours it did.

I just want to clarify: is the group rate for 8 rooms or 8 people?

Depending on time of year Carnival has groups for 5 cabins. These are usually times when kids are in school.

I think the multigenerational family cruise is a great idea. My parents have been doing it for years with their kids and grand kids. Most of the relatives live in Ohio but my immediate family is in Maine so it's great way to get together. Our last one this past March had a 17, 15, 11, 4 y/o grandchildren and a 15 mos old grand child. Plus adults in 70s, 40s and 30s. We have even had multigenerational extended family join us too.

Usually we go on Carnival but this last one was Celebrity and all the kids loved it. It was during the Midwest Spring Break so more kids than normal. But my 4 y/o loved the kids program because she got to know everyone. Even the teens loved it and would pick it again. As for the 15 mos old, we brought an inflatable tub and brought on deck and it was a hit. No need for a water area for kids as she didn't know what she was missing and had a blast. Also short attention span so we walked around a lot. Staff was awesome. I would recommend a balcony as its great for parents of a napping toddler to sit outside.

Also my parents always have taken one of my brothers three kids in their room so no need to find a cabin for five. It's always a big deal on who gets to be in their room.

I don't think it will matter what line you pick. Everyone do there own thing and then meet up for drinks or dinner and talk and laugh about the day. You'll have a blast. We usually did assigned early seating and had a blast. And yes even the 15 mos sat in MDR and did great (FYI she is not an easy child either) but enough people to entertain and walk her. We got compliments on well behaved she was to my husbands surprise. It was great fun. We can't wait for our 2017 family cruise.

Princess would be our choice because there is something to enjoy for all age groups. :)

LuLu

Fouremco .... Since you and DW have cruised on Celebrity, you would not have "culture shock" by taking a Princess cruise ... yet there would be more for the children to enjoy. :)

LuLu

I'm the "organizer" for our family reunion cruise coming up in November 2016. We have 38 of us from 6 months old to 86 so we decided that for value, entertainment options, family friendly venues and destination ports, we went with Royal Caribbean on Liberty of the Seas. Some of the families chose to be in Suites, and others insides. It was an "on-sale" sailing at the time of booking so the prices were great and people have the flexibility to pay over time. Liberty of the Seas (our ship) has the Dreamworks characters on board and has programs for youth, from 6 months to 17 years. Nursery, toddler play time and babysitting services are great too!

Carnival may look like a great deal, but suggest you avoid the ship out of Charleston -- it is an older, smaller ship and when hubby took our sons (10 and 12 at the time), the food was okay for pre-teens but pretty sub-par compared to what Royal Caribbean serves -- but food is subjective, so eh, it is what it is.

Yes on the 8 room minimum for groups on Royal. We have three kids in our family so instead of being in a suite, we opted for one balcony and one inside (for our boys to share) so there's two bathrooms. They are right across the hall from us and our daughter (will be 2.5 next cruise) will be in our balcony room with us. There are pros and cons to booking suites versus two connecting rooms, or rooms in the same area. I just had to do the math and make an educated decision what worked for our family and budget.

For our family reunion cruise the majority of the 14 rooms booked are on the same deck and aft area of the ship. We did keep in mind my grandparents (in their 80s) would need to be in close proximity to the elevators, so their room is very close to the elevator banks. We used Royal's group reservations department to book and everyone called in with their room choices and deposits. Two families got Royal Suites with connecting balcony rooms, so the whole aft of that deck will be theirs, with lots of room for the little ones to play, take naps and family to hang out whenever. It just happened that way, with the awesome sale our booking was able to take advantage of and the lower price of our particular sail date on top of that.

Have a great time planning your family cruise! I think family reunions on the seas is great -- no one is cooking, cleaning, having to arrange daily entertainment or hosting people in their own home! And grandparents/aunts/uncles/cousins can help with the little ones so parents can get a little break on their vacation too :)

We have cruised Princess 4 times with our boys, starting when they were 8 and 9, and they love Princess.

For the 1.5 year old, we chose RCI because of the nursery option and some of the other family-friendly entertainment (parades, DreamWorks characters, minigolf, ice skating, etc.). There's also a splash area where kids with swim diapers can play. (Kids who are not potty trained are not allowed in pools onboard. Only a few ships have areas where babies/toddlers in swim diapers can play in the water.) If that's important to you, I'd consider RCI.

I'm planning a multigenerational cruise for next year, and we're considering Carnival, NCL, and RCI. We've sailed Carnival previously, and DH and I are taking our toddler on RCI this winter. Kids splash parks and waterslides are important to our extended family.

You're limiting your options greatly by having 1 cabin with 5 people in it.

Actually, looking at your room configuration, I would not have 1 person in a cabin by themselves. Most lines change a single supplement for those in a cabin by themselves, and drop what I have heard it can be very pricy. I would put one of the older grandkids in that cabin.

We are a family of 5. On every cruiseline we have ever booked or even looked at, (NCL, RCI, Disney, Carnival, Princess), it was ALWAYS more expensive and with significantly fewer options to put us in one cabin versus 2 cabins. We generally put the older 2 kids in their own cabin and the youngest in with us and get connecting, adjacent, or rooms across the hall.

I would highly suggest any families with more than the typical 4 people check with a travel agent of their choice who specializes in group cruises as those agents typically have group rates available and special perks, including tour conductor "free" spots depending on the number of people. Group travel agents also typically have contacts with excursion companies at preferred rates and can help you chose the right ship and itinerary for your group, and my experience is they can match prices so their expertise is basically free. Just call the cruise line of your choice and ask for a referral to a group travel agent or check your cruise line's website. It's a great way to save money and pick the right trip!

Actually, looking at your room configuration, I would not have 1 person in a cabin by themselves. Most lines change a single supplement for those in a cabin by themselves, and drop what I have heard it can be very pricy. I would put one of the older grandkids in that cabin.

Have tried many cruise lines and for your family i would definitely choose RCCL either freedom class or Allure or Oasis. Freedom class rates are better and you would have water slides, rock climbing walls, flow rider for surfing, character interactive opportunities etc. Allure, Oasis etc has face painting, carnival games, merry go round. They also do have a pool for the baby and babysitting in the "daycare" type center for $8 an hr by reservation. The rate would be cheaper than Disney and I believe would provide more cross generational fun.