1st cruise: family: Caribbean

For my 40th I am thinking of bringing the family on a Caribbean cruise leaving from FL, as we will be in Orlando anyway. Thinking October 2018. The kids will be aged from 15 to 6 at the time, 3 boys, 2 girls.

What we like:

- Food

- Pools

- Activities

- Other cultures

- Surfing the internet (teenagers- sigh!)

- Dressing up (I mean in formal wear and so on)

What we don't like:

- Crowds- or masses of kids/ large groups/ tonnes of one age group (be that younger or older)

- Loud party atmosphere/ hard drinking

- Cheesy entertainment- even the kids hate the Butlins type entertainment

- Kids camps- kids not fans of "paint a tshirt and meet all the other lovely kids"

- Massive expense (me! although I appreciate with 7 on a Caribbean Cruise there is likely to be some expense!! :D )

I was thinking about 7 days or longer if necessary for Eastern or Southern Caribbean. I would be interested in seeing as many of the islands as possible for as long as possible. I like variety in activities, but I can get a bit overwhelmed if there is TOO much to do. Kids love being entertained- but this can be as simple as all day in the pool!

What lines would you recommend? I was at a holiday show rec ently where I met reps from Royal Caribbean which looks fun with the climbing wall and ice rink, but I wonder if it's really busy, busy? Celebrity X looks a bit too "adulty" for the kids.

Thanks for any information. :)

We've taken family cruises with kids for many years. My Grandson was just under 4 when he went on his first cruise and he's now 23 and still cruising with the family and taking friends. It's going to be hard to find a cruise with the activities your teens and kids will enjoy without finding a ton of kids and teens. My Grandson and the other kids in the family never chose to use the kid's club and that was fine. The loved the pool, arcade and when they got older, the rock-climbing wall, flow-rider, basketball court, and the ability to be able to do a bit of roaming without having an adult supervising.They were taught early to respect the other passengers and what would happen if they didn't...a LOT of adult supervision and restrictions. They found being respectful was easy and turned out to be great adult cruisers. Disney was too expensive and didn't appeal to the teens. Some of the cruise lines seemed to old and didn't have the activities that appealed to the whole family. We went with Royal Caribbean.They had the Solarium for those that wanted to escape the kids, the family pool area for the little ones, the tweens and the teens. We never felt we had to go to a cheesy show. We love the variety of the food and the fact that we didn't have the land-based dilemma of "where do we go for dinner? Steak? Seafood? Italian? etc." We always factored in gratuities and soda cards (kids) and drink packages (adults) as part of the price of the cruise...and YES...you do need to pay a gratuity for EACH child. Look at some ports of call here and itineraries. Some ports are beach friendly more than anything else. This is an inexpensive excursion and you can usually catch a cab to a beach with a small or no entrance fee. Decide by looking at the ports and the excursions offered by the cruise line if the cost is too much and go from there. Sometimes we use independent vendors for excursions. Sometimes if unfamiliar with a port, we might use the cruise line. We've cruised all the Caribbean itineraries and would cruise any of them again (and have another one planned for June). Deciding the time of the year is important when looking at the prices.They will vary from one week to the next. Then check with a reputable travel agent who can help you pick the cruise you want. I highly recommend using a travel agent that specializes in cruises. Enjoy...half the fun is in the planning.

For my 40th I am thinking of bringing the family on a Caribbean cruise leaving from FL, as we will be in Orlando anyway. Thinking October 2018. The kids will be aged from 15 to 6 at the time, 3 boys, 2 girls.

 

What we like:

- Food

- Pools

- Activities

- Other cultures

- Surfing the internet (teenagers- sigh!)

- Dressing up (I mean in formal wear and so on)

 

What we don't like:

- Crowds- or masses of kids/ large groups/ tonnes of one age group (be that younger or older)

- Loud party atmosphere/ hard drinking

- Cheesy entertainment- even the kids hate the Butlins type entertainment

- Kids camps- kids not fans of "paint a tshirt and meet all the other lovely kids"

- Massive expense (me! although I appreciate with 7 on a Caribbean Cruise there is likely to be some expense!! :D )

 

I was thinking about 7 days or longer if necessary for Eastern or Southern Caribbean. I would be interested in seeing as many of the islands as possible for as long as possible. I like variety in activities, but I can get a bit overwhelmed if there is TOO much to do. Kids love being entertained- but this can be as simple as all day in the pool!

 

What lines would you recommend? I was at a holiday show rec ently where I met reps from Royal Caribbean which looks fun with the climbing wall and ice rink, but I wonder if it's really busy, busy? Celebrity X looks a bit too "adulty" for the kids.

Thanks for any information. :)

I was going to recommend Celebrity, HAL or Princess right up until I read that last line. Everything you describe is upscale adult right up to that very last line. Given that, I suggest you compare Princess and Royal Caribbean and pick the one that is the best fit for you.

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

Keep in mind that Hurricane Season is still around in October.

7 people -- you will need 2 cabins.

October -- many children from the US are in school.

There will not be a lot of choice of ships at the beginning of October. About the 3rd week of October the ships will be returning to Ft Lauderdale, Miami and Orlando to begin their winter season in the Caribbean.

A cruise is really like being in a big resort hotel, albeit with smaller rooms and teensy pools. Pools on sea days are packed....just so you know that!

Aside from the pools and small cabins, you can do as much or as little as you like. The food is decent enough..you will not starve.

As far as your ports go, pick up a guidebook from your library, so you can determine what interests you in each place. If you can DIY, it will save you a bundle, and with 7 of you, that will be a HUGE bundle! Things like shopping or beaches and in someplace, points of interest are quite easy to DIY...IF you do your research!

Whichever ship you choose, you will have a good time!

Most cruise lines, except for Cunard, no longer do formal dressing at night. Everyone has demanded casual cruises and the cruise lines listened. They have different names for it, but some call it Chic Night, Elegant Night, etc. No real tuxedos and long gowns anymore. You'll see everything, even on the dressier nights.

You will have to tell the kids that surfing the internet on cruise ships is something they probably won't want to do. You definitely don't want to allow them to use their smartphones to do this because you're not only charged for the phone time, but download charges. My neighbor let her teens use their phones for texting and internet and they came home to a phone bill of over $2000 USD for the week. Using laptops or iPads for internet is possible, but can get very expensive if all the kids and you use the internet. Their are per minute charges (usually around $.65 a minute) or you can buy blocks of minutes (for unlimited internet you can pay as much as $200 to $300 for that) and each person will need to purchase internet separately as you can only sign on one person at a time unless each person has their own account. Plus, internet on many cruise ships is very, very slow and not what they're used to.

All mass market lines have kids clubs but there's no requirement to participate. Only the super expensive luxury lines don't cater to families and kids and have no kid's clubs.

All cruise ships are crowded, there's nothing to do about that. And, cruising in October you'll find an older crowd since US kids are in school. And, remember something very important.....October can be the worst time for hurricanes and tropical storms in the Caribbean. No one is saying that there will be a hurricane when you cruise, but you have to be prepared.

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone :cool:

Gosh, I thought late October /early November would be okay :( as Orlando is normally lovely that time of year. Might have to rethink times.

Would you really be cheek to jowl with people. We're sociable, don't misunderstand me, but prefer our privacy usually. For example, I'd join a dance or fitness class, but I /we wouldn't want to chat with people over dinner on a shared table every night or "make friends " by the pool, who you then keep bumping into all holiday. Do you think cruising could still be for us? :confused:

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone :cool:

Gosh, I thought late October /early November would be okay :( as Orlando is normally lovely that time of year. Might have to rethink times.

 

Would you really be cheek to jowl with people. We're sociable, don't misunderstand me, but prefer our privacy usually. For example, I'd join a dance or fitness class, but I /we wouldn't want to chat with people over dinner on a shared table every night or "make friends " by the pool, who you then keep bumping into all holiday. Do you think cruising could still be for us? :confused:

Test the waters. Take a short four or five night cruise and see how you like it.

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone :cool:

Gosh, I thought late October /early November would be okay :( as Orlando is normally lovely that time of year. Might have to rethink times.

 

Would you really be cheek to jowl with people. We're sociable, don't misunderstand me, but prefer our privacy usually. For example, I'd join a dance or fitness class, but I /we wouldn't want to chat with people over dinner on a shared table every night or "make friends " by the pool, who you then keep bumping into all holiday. Do you think cruising could still be for us? :confused:

Could be the line for you, if you pick one of the 'Oasis'(OR newer class) mega-class ships. Believe me, with 5400 passengers, odds are you won't be bumping into anybody you'll know on a first name basis. My wife and I did the Oasis of the Seas, in Oct of 2013 and while I'm not pool person I did notice they are a bit crowded. But I'm sure you and the family can find plenty to keep all occupied the whole trip. In seven days, you'll hardly scratch the surface of things to do and great food too top it all off. Which line you choose, WELCOME to Cruise Critic and have a FANTASTIC cruise !

Mac

The very lowest prices of year to Caribbean are weeks after thanksgiving through second week December. I always do these times since Hurricane season has also passed.Always fine weather. And the top ships have returned from Europe.Look up Transatlantics on online discount agencies, you will see many in Europe till second week November.Miami and FtLauderdale have best selections and are closer to Islands.

Our last cruise with the kids (15,13,11) was on Princess. It was a Christmas cruise so it was really full and lots of kids. We book 2 rooms with connecting doors/balconies. The Princess line is a good choice and isn't a "party" ship.

I don't get the internet package and it is family time. We unplug and enjoy our vacation.

We are doing a Eastern Caribbean 8 day with 4 ports out of the port of Everglades. My kids have fun in the pools, kids clubs or just hanging out together. Your cruise is as good as you want it to be. Also do your research on the cruise stops and what you can do that will be great for kids. I don't like the party cruises and stops at bars.

The Royal Caribbean big ships, Oasis, Allure and Harmony, have the most activities of any ship. Carnival is very kid oriented but Royal's big ships are supposed to be the best for families.

Taking our 2 ages 11 and 7 on a 10 night eastern carribean in April on Celebrity for my husband's 40th. We hv sailed with them twice before....why?.....

We love the sophistication of the ship and staff.

We love the food.

We appreciate the outstanding service.

We love an impeccably CLEAN ship.

We love the mix of relaxation and just enough fun....

We love the itinerary.

Their Fun Factory seems very cultured.....culinary classes, science-based fun, some educational based activities! & since there aren't swarms of kids on Celebrity I know our kids will receive lots of attention.

2 pools and dancing fountains, basketball court and real grass to putt golf balls are plenty for our kids.

This will be their first cruise hoping not their last!

The Fun Factory has gotten outstanding reviews...

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Forums mobile app

You might want to rethink going to Orlando (guess to Disneyworld) and taking a Caribbean cruise in October because it's hurricane/tropical storm season and the reason cruise cost are lower that time of year. :o

just enjoying the irony of someone who wants lots of things for their kids to do, but doesn't want very many kids on the ship...lol

We have vacationed in Florida or the Caribbean for all but one of the past 10 years in either September, October, or November (only a couple times via cruise though). Yes, there is the possibility of a hurricane, but the good news is - you are on a cruise ship which:

a) has state of the art weather and communications gear - so is well aware of any major storms approaching, and

b) can move. Once we were to arrive at the Bahamas just as a Hurricane was looking like it might hit the islands. Our ship simply by-passed that stop.

We have in general found this time period to be an excellent time to cruise the Caribbean. not saying that no storm will arise, but that in general, we have encountered blue skies and calm seas.

Annually, there is a 7% chance of a Hurricane hitting Florida each September. Odds for October are slightly less. If you are in Florida for one week in September, your odds drop to under 2%.

Anyway - as to cruise lines - we have only sailed Princess and it sounds like you are describing them for the most part.

A 7 night cruise will have 2 formal nights, and you will see a good number of tuxedos and ball gowns, mixed in with a larger number of good looking business suits and dresses. And some will choose not to participate in formal nights, but the majority still do. Sometimes we do, sometimes we choose not to bring our formal wear.

In October there will not be many children on a Princess Ship. The demographic will certainly skew towards the seniors brackets, but there are always a few younger families.

Princess ships do not have waterslides, climbing walls, flow riders, or bumper cars. They do have plenty of hot tubs and pools, movies under the stars, and pretty good evening entertainment each evening. The vibe is just pretty relaxed and laid back. few silly "activities", but several different trivia challenges or Zumba or cooking classes if you like those sort of things. Royal Caribbean has more of the amusements that might appeal to children, but if these amusements are not critical, you sound like a good fit for Princess. We tried them for our first cruise (when approaching 50 years old) and have seen no need to try any other line since.

Most of the Caribbean islands offer the opportunity to snorkel or enjoy a beach and it just does not matter which line you choose, most kids and teens will enjoy a day of that.

Hope you enjoy yourselves.

Don

just enjoying the irony of someone who wants lots of things for their kids to do, but doesn't want very many kids on the ship...lol

I like kids, just couldn't eat a whole one.

Thanks for all the advice so far. I really appreciate it!