Eastern Caribbean vs Southern Caribbean...Princess vs Disney..with kids

Hi There! Im new to these forums...

A little on me, We have been on the Diamond princess pre kids for our honeymoon, Sydney to san Francisco....loved everything about the ship, so considering princess again.

We are looking at the Caribbean for our 10th wedding anniversary, in april 2016 (will also consider march or may if better itinerary)

By then our kids will be 8 and 6, im a little concerned at what our kids will do ashore (but it seemed like a better option over the diamond princess thru asia)

Im thinking beach days, island tours, look around towns, nature walks/hiking...I just hope they like it and find it a little interesting and fun!

Also, is the royal princess appropriate for kids? I know they all have kids club, but if its aimed at older people, I don't want 'those' looks.

We are also huge Disney fans, although pricey, I would love to do a Disney cruise, but the itineraries are basic. Ive also looked at royal Caribbean, and again the same old 7 day cruises/ports. Im also thinking princess would be less crowded kid wise than Disney or RC?

What would be a better 10 day combination of islands? (being from Australia, we don't know much about the Caribbean)

East- Princess cays, st Thomas, Antigua, Barbados, st lucia, st kitts

or

south- princess cays, st Thomas, dominica, grenada, Bonaire, aruba

(would love to do both, but 20 days will stretch the budget, time off work and we want to save time to go to Disneyland or Disneyworld post cruise)

Ive noticed st marten is popular, but missing from both these....is st marten a must see?

also considering 14 day, princess cay, st Thomas, st marten, ft Lauderdale, princess cay, ocho rios, grand cayman, Cozumel?

Any advise or recommendations will be greatly appreciated

thanks for reading!

You won't get "those" looks...all of the mainstream ships are family friendly nowadays!

Since you want to do Disney post-cruise, save the $$ and book a cruise on a different line...Disney is expensive! Everyone will get enough "Disney Magic" once you're in the parks!!

If you haven't been to the Caribbean before, ANY itinerary will do....the islands are more alike than different (with the exception of Aruba, which is a true "desert island"...very flat, not lush, little rain)

To help you, get a guidebook on the Caribbean...read it! That way, you will find all there is to do in each place...research is key to a good time!!! By narrowing down the offerings based on your family's needs, it will help you choose!

On April 8, 2016 the brand new Royal Caribbean Anthem of the Seas will be doing a 10-night Caribbean cruise round trip from Cape Liberty, New Jersey.

You can spend a few days in New York City and see the sights. Anthem will be the second Quantum Class ship and filled with dozens of things to keep your children busy from bumper cars, to circus school, water parks to miniature golf.

The port stops are nice too and include visits to St. Thomas, St. Kitts plus

San Juan, Puerto Rico: Old Town here is beautiful and fun to stroll, also nearby El Morro Fort, vast and fascinating.

St. Maarten: Great beaches particularly Orient Bay, our personal favorite for its soft white sands and turquoise blue water.

Jonathan

Either of those Princess itineraries look great! Royal Princess is a newer, larger ship which should have enough activities for kids.

thankyou, I checked RC and yes, I like the 10 day, and also 12 day.

I narrowed it down to 2 or 3.....but now I have 2 more added!

Well as someone said above, the islands are more alike than different, I guess it doesn't really matter what one I choose!

will I really be missing out if I don't choose st maarten?

is san juan nice? I read somewhere that's its not as nice as others?

St. Juan's forts and beautiful old town are right off the cruise port. I am sure the kids would love those forts. The local kids come to the wide lawn in front of one fort to fly kites.

The southern most islands Aruba, Curacao and Bonaire are desert. The eastern islands St. Kitts, St. Lucia, Grenada are hilly and tropical. When passing Monserrat, look for its capital buried in ash from the volcano. It's visible with binoculars.

On St. Martin, we did an excursion by truck to the top of a hill and walked down. However, you won't miss anything there that you can't have on another island. On Antigua, the kids would probably love all the sail- and motorboats in Nelson's Dockyard. Beautiful view down on the dockyard bays from the surrounding hills.

I bet you didn't know: China builds hospitals and sports stadiums on these islands. Most of them are independent nations with voting rights in the UN.

Spoke to hubby, and narrowed it down to 2! Eastern 10 night on royal princess from ft lauderdale and 12 night anthem of the seas from Cape liberty.

It will depend on what works out best for flights (which is a pain from aust...will probably opt for via lax, rather than Dubai) and if we decide on seeing miami vs NY....or both!

Spoke to hubby, and narrowed it down to 2! Eastern 10 night on royal princess from ft lauderdale and 12 night anthem of the seas from Cape liberty.

It will depend on what works out best for flights (which is a pain from aust...will probably opt for via lax, rather than Dubai) and if we decide on seeing miami vs NY....or both!

Both will be excellent cruises. It's a good idea to let cost and flights be the deciding factor.

Since you haven't been to any of the islands before, it doesn't really matter which ones are on your itinerary. They each have something interesting to see.

Personally, I think the kids would be more thrilled with the Anthem of the Seas, but there will be plenty for them to do on Princess.

St. Maarten is not an island I would worry about missing--there are many other islands that we enjoy more.

With kids that age I would try to do beach or active tours; most kids do not enjoy riding around sight seeing in buses or vans.

Have a great cruise! Quite an undertaking from Australia.

That Anthem of the Seas option is excellent. I'd say that was great advice and definitely something you should consider.

Otherwise, Disney is an excellent cruise line. If you're traveling with the kids, I highly recommend it. Their attention to detail and service far surpasses most of the mainstream cruise lines. I love Princess and think Royal Princess is a good option, but Disney is just in a class by itself.

Royal Princess has been getting terrible reviews. I would go with Anthem. The Princess kids clubs are good. But there is soooo much more to do on Royal Caribbean ships.

Anthem is over $2k more! That may be a deciding factor. Also first and last day being cold

As much as I'd love to, I don't think I'm considering disney anymore, I want it to be a more relaxing experience, I feel like there may be too much for the kids! And if we are going to disneyworld or land after, I don't want to be lining up for characters etc onboard. Plus I want more than 7 days, and I prefer anytime/flexible dining.

That's a shame about royals reviews, I wonder why? I'm going to have to check out the review page

It seems maybe the negative reviews are from people who have done several cruises and are more fussier (in a nice way) because they have more to compare with?

I do agree with the layout issues (having been on the diamond princess for 28 days in 2006) I would maybe prefer the emerald, but the royal dates and itinerary suit us more. I've ruled out the anthem being $3k more, and I'm not really into gimmicks, it all sounds cool and I'd like to experience it one day, but I just want to relax! Also there aren't many sea days.

As far as more things for the kids, they will be happy with any activities and swimming in the pool, they don't need fancy facilities or slides

Food, yeah maybe these reviewers have had nicer, but I'm sure it won't be too bad for us :)

Have cruised all lines and have settled for Princess. Will be on the Royal in November. Southern route for 10 days sailing from Fort Lauderdale.

In our opinion, with children, the East Carib. would be more interesting for them. Much more tropical. South is in general more flat and desert. West can be a little boring for kids unless they are into history and old ruins.

What ever you choose, the time with the children will be special and create memories to be never forgotten. Check the tours on all routes. Might help you decide which one would be best for you. Good luck and happy sailing. :cool:

If you are going to go to Disney World after the cruise I would stick with a cruise out of Florida. Otherwise you have to fly down to Florida from NJ. Florida is one of the few places that let you pick up a car in one city and drop it off in another city without an extra drop off charge.

If you want a ship with bells and whistles I would consider the Oasis or Allure or Freedom of the Seas.

I posted this in a topic I started about specific port, but thought I'd update my ideas here too

I have a soft spot for princess due to an awesome honeymoon, one thing that bothers me with the royal though is it seems there is less pool than grand class, a main one and just the little plunge pool (we probably won't use the adults only), where as grand has the 2 big ones, the aft plus the adults.

I've also been looking at shore excursions and RC seem to offer ALOT more and also more for younger ages, like horse riding and a tube river ride for minimum of 6 year olds!! My kids would love that!

So am maybe thinking would have to fly a bit extra. If we left from San Juan, we could do a 7+7 and that gives us heaps of ports so we don't have to pick!! But would the adventure OTS be satisfying enough for us after originally planning on going on a newer ship? the layout seems ok

We decided on 10 day royal princess, easier to fly to and allows to drive to WDW after :)

Have a great cruise. Thank you for posting your plans.

When you have some time (HA) you might want to check out the family boards. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=49

Also, you can get specific questions about the Caibben ports and excursions here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=587