sheree23

Cruising on all of the big main stream ships is really a excellent value for your vacation dollar. Its also easy, you know what restaurant your going to don't have to worry how much dinner will cost each night. There are so many different activities for everyone to enjoy.

 

You will see a reduction in staff since 2003 and less waiting on you hand and foot. They no longer scrap away the crumbs between each course. It takes longer to get your food. No table cloths and 8 pieces of silver wear and 3 glasses at each place setting. The bands are smaller and more recorded music. The shows are smaller with fewer cast members. Those are the little things to me and my family so life goes on.

 

Also check out NCL Escape or Breakaway or Getaway. So much for kids to do. Those are some of my kids favorite ships.

 

I agree with the PP look into what port you want to sail out of and take it for there. 7 people flying into a port will add a certain expense.

 

I was looking into MSC seaside and have not heard great things. What I have read is very limited entertainment, my friend said mostly operand pretty much all classical music but maybe they fixed that. The food choices where also very limited both in buffet and MDR. So please look carefully at MSC and make sure that's the cruise you want.

Thanks for the tips! We will be leaving out of Cincinnati, so we'll have to fly no matter where we leave out of as far as the ports go. I'll look into the NCL ones too. We were a bit concerned when we looked at the MSC website because it was SO gorgeous and upscale looking, that the ship might not cater as much to the kids but we'll research it some more. I'm glad we have some time.

It amazes me that when I go to look at the availability of rooms, so many cruise line websites show rooms as not being available when we're 2 years out. We just want connecting cabins and it's hard to find.

The entertainment on the MSC Seaside was outstanding. The best I've seen at sea including the Michael Jackson tribute "Timeless" which my kids and I were in awe at. The three buffets were outstanding and the issues with them were resolved after the first 90 days of the Seasides initial sailing. My kids also loved the NCL Escape. Simply wonderful with families with kids of all ages.

I am looking at the MSC website and it's a bit overwhelming since I'm used to the Carnival site for checking prices. Did you go through their website to book direct or did you have a travel agent find the deals? I'm not asking for the travel agent's name or anything but just curious if it's better to go direct to the website or somewhere else for quick price checking. We do have a Costco membership so maybe we'll check there too.

The ship looks AMAZING. Wow.

We'll check out some of the other Norwegian ships too!

That's a bummer that the fine dining at Carnival has changed since back in the day. That was such a neat part of the experience having the white tablecloths and the crumbs taken away. It's not a huge deal, but it's those little things that make it special and unlike the regular going out to eat experience. It seems that the cruise industry got such a bad rap over the past 10 years or so with issues happening and bad press being all over in the news so maybe that necessitated some cuts where they felt they could (although I remember the staff was paid very low for what they were doing anyway)

Your kids would like The Vista or Horizon with the Skyride, water park, Imax, Thrill theatre, etc. It may not be the cheapest though ..... If I may, I would suggest if you are on a budget you look at the new for 2018 MSC Seaside. Three of your five kids sail free and the MSC Seaside is the best deal at sea right now. A grand new ship with the best waterpark and kids pools at sea. We took our two daughters in April and it was fantastic. They do Eastern out of Miami. They have a zipline, bowling, 5D theatre, tons of gelato, games as well ...... I suggest you look at it. I booked it again and my kids were literally $14 a piece for a two week cruise. Try and beat that ......

Thanks for the recommendation! We will definitely look into that! It sounds amazing.

I should add that 2003 wasn't the last time my husband and I cruised - it's just the last time we cruised on Carnival. We went on Royal Caribbean on the Oasis of the Seas back in 2010 and then went on the Norwegian Pearl with the Impractical Jokers in early 2016. Oasis was nice but we felt rushed since everything was scheduled. The Pearl was older and a totally fun time with my husband and I since we were on a charter ship but the food wasn't the best and the rooms really needed an update (old green carpet, broken door handles).

We're not really set in stone on a date in 2020. We have some other vacations scheduled between now and then so we figure that will be our year to cruise again. :):)

My husband and I have been on 3 cruises and each time was a different experience but we both agree we loved Carnival the best. It was back in 2003 when we sailed Carnival and I'm sure a lot has changed since then but we think that for our next cruise, we want to be brave and take the kiddos in a couple of years, so probably some time in early 2020.

By the time we cruise in 2020, our kids will be 16, 13, 8, 5, and 2.5 years old. Gosh that seems SO far away! I'm so excited to plan something like this for them though.

What we loved most about Carnival the first time we went were our dining experiences and the food. It really felt like a 5 star restaurant just eating in the formal dining room. I'm not sure with all of the additional restaurants that have been added, if it's still like that or not. We also loved our room attendants and the workers. They really made us feel special and were so accommodating and FUN! We loved the decor as well (we were on the Pride when it was still new). Oh and I appreciate clear elevators since I'm a bit claustraphobic. We also have to have a balcony so I'm not sure whether we'll be able to get connecting balcony rooms or if we could get an inside room and a balcony room across the hall. I looked at the pics of suites but they don't look to be too much different form balconies in terms of spaces to sleep.

What are the best ships for families in your opinion? I saw the Horizon is new but the new style of elevators worries me (strange I know!) I do love the water park area in the pictures though. I've also been eyeballing the Magic and the Breeze. We went Eastern Caribbean before and had a lovely time. We went Western on the last 2 cruises and would like to go back to the Eastern again.

Price is definitely a factor since we'll be paying for 7 of us. I am always looking for the best value - not necessarily cheap - but value for our money. We are looking at 7 day cruises or possibly 8 day.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

I wish there was a "like" button on cruise critic. You all are SO HELPFUL!!! Thank you so very much. I'm going to write down all of these options and discuss them with my husband. We saw the Verizon plan of $40 for 100 minutes but I wasn't sure if the cruise line would tack on ADDITIONAL charges as well if we used our phones while on board. Also, now I'm wondering, do we really need that much after thinking about it?

Also, nbsjcruiser, your reply made me smile. Thank you for the advice and words of wisdom!!!! It definitely puts things into perspective! I'm going to read what you said to my husband too! :) Thank you!!!!!! We're so excited. I feel like a kid myself now with this anticipation.

Hi everyone! My husband and I are going on our first real kid-free vacation in oh, 11 years! Although we're super excited, we also want to be sure we have a way to contact the grandparents who will be watching our 4 children while we're away (our youngest is only 13 months).

What are your thoughts on the best way to communicate while on board? The grandparents aren't into texting, and they aren't good at communicating via email so phone is probably our best bet. I just want to try to avoid spending up the wazoo to talk with them maybe 1 or 2 times while on board. We have Verizon cells but I don't think we have international calling so that's probably something we should look into if we can get it for a month or so.

Do the phones in the staterooms cost a lot to use? We're only talking about maybe a few minutes for a couple of nights. Would calling cards work on those phones?

Also, is there a way they can contact us, in the case of an emergency? We'll be on the Pearl for 4 days with one stop in Cozumel.

Thanks in advance :)

The "best available" term you use must be a Sixth Man concept. When you book a cruise directly with NCL, they do not use that term. An NCL "guarantee cabin" will be in the guarantee category OR BETTER. But the definition of "OR BETTER" is defined by the cabin category structure set up by NCL and it is not necessarily the same as what YOU might consider a better category -- location, deck number, proximity to elevators, etc.

 

When you book a guarantee cabin directly with NCL (I have no idea if Sixthman introduces differences), you will get assigned a cabin sometime between when you book the cruise and the day of the cruise. During that time, NCL may be offering upgrades to other passengers to fill more expensive cabins. This opens up lower cost cabins. But these then might be offered as upsells to people with even lower cabins. So there is a fair amount of shuffling that can take place on a ship prior to departure. Especially if there is a significant number of empty cabins. At some unknown point in that process, NCL would assign a cabin to the guarantee customers. So, there's not really any way to predict where you would end up.

Thank you! This is very informative and has given us some things to think about!

I looked at the ocean view rooms and they do look nice as well! They're right in the middle price-wise between the interior and the balcony rooms so you're right in that it would be a good compromise. There aren't any ocean guarantee rooms on this one so we would book the room that we want. It's something to consider. Thanks!

Hi everyone! My husband and I are very close to booking a cruise on the Norwegian Pearl. It's a charter cruise through Sixthman. The problem is, Sixthman are out this week for Thanksgiving so we can't ask questions! I'm hoping some of you cruising experts might be able to help out...

We are deciding between a balcony guarantee and an inside guarantee. Pro's and con's are: A balcony, well we love balconies for many reasons. Cons - price because we have 4 children to buy Christmas presents for and this cruise is in 50 days from now. Also this cruise will have a bunch of entertainers so I'm not sure how much we'll be in our room. BUT we LOVE the view. There is nothing like waking up to the ocean out your door.

We looked at the inside cabins and would book an inside guarantee, but I'm not sure how it works. The price is currently the same as the lowest deck that has 1 inside room available and the room is in a weird location - almost looks like you have to go through another room to get to it. I'm afraid to try the inside guarantee and end up with that one last room on that level. And I'm a bit claustrophobic.

Since we're looking at the "best available type of cabin" guarantee, does that mean they place people in the lowest cabins first, or the highest cabins first, and then try to fill the ship with the cheaper cabins closer to cruise time? There are a very small amount of cabins left on the lower levels and most are at the back of the ship.

Maybe NCL does this different from Sixthman. I'm not sure, as we've only been on 2 cruises in our entire lives. It's just confusing to me. We can afford a balcony but Christmas will just have to be smaller for our kids. Then I feel GUILTY. Ah the joys of being a Mommy who hasn't been on a kid-less vacation in 12 years!!

Thoughts or suggestions are welcomed. Thank you everyone!

Wow you guys are great! My DH just spent over a half hour with a cruise agent who couldn't give him these kinds of tips :)

We don't really want to wait until LO is 2, as I'm not due until this December, so we'd be waiting until after December 2016 to cruise! I'm dying for another vacation LOL

The idea of booking a 1a along with a suite is a GREAT idea. I'll definitely look into that. Some mentioned a family suite on the Breeze so we'll look into those as well and compare some prices. We have a lot of options at this point so we're just trying to figure out the best deals.

We cruised RCL when our son was 3 and the balcony wasn't a problem but I was extremely precautious in that he NEVER went out there alone and the door was kept locked the entire time.

Hi! It's been a while (wayyyyyyyy too long) since DH and I sailed on Carnival for our honeymoon cruise over 10 years ago on the Carnival Pride. The wonderful waiters kept telling us to have lots of babies and come back! Well, we must have listened because we are on baby #4 and after too much life and work getting in the way for a really good vacation, I'm really getting the urge to FINALLY plan our next Carnival cruise. We usually book well over a year, sometimes two years out, so we have a lot of time to plan and save $$$.

With that said, we LOVE balconies but know that with 4 kiddos, we're going to need two rooms most likely. How do families of 5 or more book the rooms? Can balcony rooms join together or will we need to have an inside and and an outside room? Kids currently are 10, 7, and 2 with babe on the way in December. We'll probably go in Jan or Feb of 2016 when our youngest is over a year old but prior to the "terrible two's" I'm looking into the Sunshine or the Breeze but am open to any ship. We love the Eastern Caribbean and definitely no less than 7 days.

Thanks in advance! I'm super excited to have another cruise to look forward to. Carnival was our favorite. I miss cruising so much. It's amazing how we can still remember little details too like they were yesterday.

After 2.5 years of counting down, we're down to 5 DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It doesn't seem real.