Affordable Cruise with 4 kids?

[Athankfulheart]

We are cruising again with our kids (8) in January. I ran a trial booking for the same sailing and found that you could do 2214 (double) and 2218 (quad) for $3000. This is the 7 day sailing Jan 4, 2014 on the Dream Western itin. These cabins are connecting but not ajoining. You could do adjoining rooms such as 1238/1240 or 1239/1241 for around $600 more. Those are the deluxe ocean views with the extra bathroom. Each room is a triple so you could maybe put the extra kid on the mattress on the floor in kids room for times that you would like privacy :o. Remember that when you do a mock booking at Carnival, only 10 of the applicable rooms will show as available but there are others that are available as well. They only show 10. I hate this fact, but you can call and ask what's available.

[williamson_ja]

We cruise with 6 kids and get two inside connecting rooms. Last year on Carnival, it only cost us $230 per person for a 7 night western caribbean. We always travel during school tiime and take the kids out of school. My kids get straight A's generally and haven't had a hard time with the missed school. We did sail Disney during a kids sail free promo when we only had 2 kids sailing with us once. Disney is a fantastic ship, but quite a bit more pricey even with the ksf promo! With 8 people traveling, we have to be pretty aware of the budget. This year, we have porthole rooms (which we got for the same price as an inside) on Carnival. I can't wait. It's going to be great. We find cruising to be a great vacation for big families as there is something for everyone to do.

[CorrieCJ]

Years ago NCL allowed kids under 2 to sail for free. We went with our oldest when he was 14 months, and then we went 3 years later when we'd had another kid (paid 3rd passenger fare for him and free for the baby). I don't know if NCL still has this but it was a great deal.

[RNShelli]

Check around. We have 4 kids and several times we found the "kids cruise free" deals. We just booked a family balcony room for 6 on the Allure of the Seas. Full fare for Mom and Dad and the other 4 kids were something like $400/each. I like balcony rooms but with 4 autistic kids I do worry about connecting rooms and the balcony. I was really happy when I found a room that would hold us all.

[loveysbydesign]

Check around. We have 4 kids and several times we found the "kids cruise free" deals. We just booked a family balcony room for 6 on the Allure of the Seas. Full fare for Mom and Dad and the other 4 kids were something like $400/each. I like balcony rooms but with 4 autistic kids I do worry about connecting rooms and the balcony. I was really happy when I found a room that would hold us all.

That's a great deal! May I ask what month you are sailing and how far ahead you had to book?

[Markanddonna]

Please remember that you need to factor in tips for kids too. Most of the lines, including RCCL starting in March, 2013 put them on your set sail pass automatically. That adds about $84 for each child.