Best Port from Cape Coral and best company/ship for 8yo

Hi Everyone!

Just had a fantastic 14nt P&O Cruise around the Caribbean on Azura. Whilst we loved it we’re glad we didn’t take our 7yo as the only real thing to do was to dump her in the kids club and mostly exclude her.

We’ve been lucky enough to be given flights to Florida and a stay in accommodation in Cape Coral and are wondering what the best port to look at and the which cruise company’s/ships etc.

We are looking to go either June, August or November for hopefully 7 nights.

Whilst Azura was lovely it didn’t wow us and actually felt quite small and not what I was expecting. So somthing bigger with a floating city feel would be better.

But our BIG point is being family friendly where we can enjoy entertainment, dining and activities together on board rather than relying on a kids club. We enjoy First Choice Holiday Villages (if you know what they are and offer)

Cost is obviously important and if it wasn’t we’d be on a Disney Cruise in a heartbeat.

Thank you for taking the time to read my post and for any replies

Wow, Azura is equivalent to a Grand class ship of Princess. That's a pretty big ship to feel small. You are about equidistant from Tampa and Fort Lauderdale, but I think you can cross off Tampa because there are not any ships as large as Azura sailing from there. I suggest you go to http://www.cruisetimetables.com and check out sailings from Fort Launderdale and Miami in the time frams available to you. Then go to http://www.cruisedeckplans.com to check out the statistics for the ships that interest you. EM

Would a cruise with mostly port days meet your needs? We have taken our small children (2 and 6) on several cruises, spend all day with them on excursions in port and then dump them (as you would say) in the kids club while we are at sea. If that would work for you, there might be a lot more options. Otherwise, others might be able to help you more, since my family has always chosen cruises for their itineraries and not ships so we've never been on a newer ship with lots of amenities.

We have sailed MSC out of Port Everglades or Miami numerous times with our two children. !!! KIDS SAIL FREE !!! The Divina is a huge ship and they have recently added a larger ship the Seaside. MSC has been a good value for us, and although we prefer smaller ships, you might like MSC.