Cruising with the kids...What ship?

[JDSTURTZ]

My wife and I sailed on the Celebrity Constellation last month and had a great trip. Our next cruise will be with our three children, 16, 13, and 10 years old. No way Celebrity is the way to go with kids and everyone suggests RCCL.

Looking for any suggestions on the "right ship" from the experienced out there. You input would be appreciated.

Thanks

04/04 Celebrity Constellation
10/02 Carnival Ecstasy
01/91 Celebrity Meridian
01/89 Regal Sea
01/87 Carnival Festivale


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[jonsmom]

I would suggest either the Explorer, Mariner or Navigator. Those are all great fun!

Norwegian Dawn
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Explorer of the Seas

[birdyhunter]

Any Voyager class ship.

[img]http://home.tiscali.nl/t411310/adv/thadventure-ZDsc20077.jpg[/img]

[B]<MARQUEE>RCL Adventure of the Seas July 4, 2004 </MARQUEE>[/B]

Till we leave :
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Carnival Destiny 7/01
Carnival Pride 7/02

[img]http://i.cnn.net/si/images/basketball/nba/logos/pistons_65.gif[/img] NBA Championship 2004!
Win Pistons 4 Bucks 1 On to round 2
Pistons 3 Nets 3

[Florida Beach]

I vote for Mariner of the Sea [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img] It's new and clean, my 16 years old and her friend love the teen program [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img] When we sailed last time, there were lots of kids, but they were very well behaved.

Enjoy your cruise [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

March 28, 2004 - Mariner of the Seas
July 4, 2004 - Sapphire Princess - Alaska

[ccjb]

Your family will enjoy RCCL. We cruised this past February on the Voyager with a large group of families with kids from 12 to 18 and everyone had a great vacation. My husband and I have cruised on the Adventure of the Seas by ourselves and really enjoyed it. You can't go wrong with these ships as there is something for everyone. We also cruised on the Celebrity Millenium with our 2 teenage daughters and although memorable, it wasn't as fun for the kids. We are now booked on the Jewel of the Seas next February during school break with our daughters and their friends. Can't wait!

02/03 Celebrity Millenium
06/03 Adventure of the Seas
02/04 Voyager of the Seas

[Folgy]

Disney is always a good choice for kids.

Alaska (my BIG 50)Serenade of the Seas
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[natesfirewife]

Yeah but Disney is so expensive. Try any Radiance or Voyager class ships. We took our kids(7 & 9) on the Vision and it lacked the mini-golf, movie theater, and all the extra places to eat. But hey, they still had a great time.

Misty


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Diamond / Pac. Northwest / 09-20-04
Vision of the Seas / Mexico / 04-04-04
Radiance of the Seas /Alaska /07-05-03

[flagger]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by California Cruising:
My wife and I sailed on the Celebrity Constellation last month and had a great trip. Our next cruise will be with our three children, 16, 13, and 10 years old. No way Celebrity is the way to go with kids and everyone suggests RCCL.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

If you had a great trip, I am curious as to why you wouldn't sail Celebrity again?

[42trvl]

I wouldn't rule out Celebrity with the kids if you enjoyed it. Don't get me wrong - we too are planning to sail on RCCL next April with our kids, but we just sailed with them (and other families) on the Celebrity Summit, and everybody had a great time. It's true that RCCL has a great reputation for families, and that's why we want to try them also, but the kids were also more than satisfied with Celebrity and would gladly go back.

[rjg41]

As stated, the line depends on your kids. It sounds like you have already decided that Celebrity is not active enough for your kids. We just returned from a family reunion cruise with 18 of us including 8 kids. We did a lot of research.

We passed on Disney because of cost and that adult activities are more limited and we had 10 adults to think about. Further, I think at least two of you kids may be past the age that would find a Disney cruise special. We passed on Carnival, while it has a great kids program, we didn't want the rest.

As far as RC, we felt the only choise was a Voyager class ship; rock wall, ice rink, full basketball court, +++++++++. Of the Voyager class ships we decided on Mariner or Navigator becasue they are newer and had a larger Adventure Ocean area and since we were getting balconies we liked the glass design vs the steel of the older Voyager class ships.

I would suggest a seperate room for the kids either adjoining or across the hall. A two baby monitor will let you keep an eye on things.

The review link below might be of further assistance.

Carnival Ecstasy, March 1993
Celebrity Millennium, Caribbean, Jan 2002
Coral Princess, Panama Canal Feb. 2, 2003 [url="http://messages.cruisecritic.com/2/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=927093444&f=887097554&m=6683066607&r=6683066607#6683066607"](Review)[/url]
Celebrity Summit, Alaska Land [url="http://messages.cruisecritic.com/2/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=927093444&f=268097554&m=1763035447"](Land Tour Review)[/url] & Sea [url="http://messages.cruisecritic.com/2/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=927093444&f=147097554&m=2043034547"](Cruise Review)[/url], Aug. 15,2003
Navigator of the Seas, Family Reunion, March 13, 2004
[url="http://messages.cruisecritic.com/2/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=927093444&f=408097554&m=94910369&r=94910369#94910369"](Review)[/url]
Celebrity Infinity, Valparaiso(Santiago), Chile to Fort Lauderdale, via Panama Canal, Feb. 27, 2005
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