Advice if u have sailed Princess, RCCL, and NCL and have/had small kids

[andreaplants]

Hi! We are first timers essentially to cruising with kids. We can really use your help and I hope it is OK to post here. We went on Coral princess to alaska, and norwegian dawn to caribbean before kids, and we just did quantum of the seas with the kids but it included work time (conference) and also was a bit of a nightmare experience. SO. I have read lots, and read lots of articles about the different kids clubs, and read lots of posts including a fairly recent one about a princess ship kids club - and I am so confused!! We may look into disney to see if we can afford it but I think it is out of reach price wise. Also, aside from Frozen and Cars, our kids have no clue and don't really get much out of big dressed up characters - they just don't know much about it.

 

We are starting fresh and trying to figure out the best line/ship for us to try. Here's what we have learned is important to us, in priority order, based on our prior cruise experience. Is there a particular ship you recommend?:

 

Ideally, cruises out of NY or NJ port. We can drive there, and see family, and that makes it affordable and even more meaningful. Ideally, cruises that go south so we can have some warm time. Ideally, February/November/December type timing for cruises (so we are actively looking for end of Feb now):

 

1. Kids club - happy, engaged staff who love kids and make the best of every minute and can get to know the kids and what the kids will enjoy and what will engage the kids. Ideally, outside spaces the kids can go, and more than one room they can move between. High quality care - not babysitting but the best of nurturing and development. Great hours, including being open on embarkation day, and offering kids club lunches (with healthy foods) if we choose.

 

2. unobstructed BALCONY that is affordable to get two, or one suite or family jr suite etc - overall cost of accommodations (two balconies or one suite), taxes and grats preferably in the $4500 dollar range. two adults, two kids under age 7.

 

3. ability to communicate almost instantly - e.g. kids club gives phones you can use to call or text each other. or open enough boat that you can use walkie talkies. The latter really didn't work on our recent Quantum cruise b/c so much is inside and the ship is so big. Using the room phone and leaving/getting messages is fine but not if you are trying to do something quickly or spur of the moment and can't run to where the other person is (e.g. due to having the kids) We don't have a US cell phone that can do an international texting plan over the open seas.

 

4. Down to earth, middle of the line other passengers of all ages. We found this on Quantum and Princess. I don't remember Norwegian. We generally are able to find nice, happy, decent people everywhere but aren't looking for the extremes in either direction.

 

5. Decent, big enough shower preferably with glass door but at least with nice curved shower rod. (we can do duct tape) Quantum bathroom really was excellent.

 

6. Enough storage space - Quantum again excelled at this. With one adult and one child per inside basic stateroom, in one room we had some space to spare - and we always overpack!

 

7. Ideally, some good dancing fitness classes or other dancing type opportunities during the day. One of us is fine with lots of trivia, which we can always find, but the other needs active fun that is free and regular and easy like dancing. Quantum had latin dance fitness class and it was AWESOME!

 

8. Ability to not have formal night or to not do it if desired. But i think anywhere, you can skip formal night and go to buffet right?

 

Thanks in advance. If this is too much, please let us know. Our one TA we have used was basically useless (I'm sorry to have to say), so we continue to rely on all of you!!! And thanks for the recent M&M, cabin crawl etc. Cruise critic is the best!!

[boulders]

Whew! Lots of questions. I'll give some of these a shot.

 

You can see the cruise lines I've cruised in my signature. All of these have been with ds who was 7 or younger on all the cruiselines, as well as his two older siblings.

 

Hi! We are first timers essentially to cruising with kids. We can really use your help and I hope it is OK to post here. We went on Coral princess to alaska, and norwegian dawn to caribbean before kids, and we just did quantum of the seas with the kids but it included work time (conference) and also was a bit of a nightmare experience. SO. I have read lots, and read lots of articles about the different kids clubs, and read lots of posts including a fairly recent one about a princess ship kids club - and I am so confused!! We may look into disney to see if we can afford it but I think it is out of reach price wise. Also, aside from Frozen and Cars, our kids have no clue and don't really get much out of big dressed up characters - they just don't know much about it.

 

We are starting fresh and trying to figure out the best line/ship for us to try. Here's what we have learned is important to us, in priority order, based on our prior cruise experience. Is there a particular ship you recommend?:

 

Ideally, cruises out of NY or NJ port. We can drive there, and see family, and that makes it affordable and even more meaningful. Ideally, cruises that go south so we can have some warm time. Ideally, February/November/December type timing for cruises (so we are actively looking for end of Feb now):

 

1. Kids club - happy, engaged staff who love kids and make the best of every minute and can get to know the kids and what the kids will enjoy and what will engage the kids. Ideally, outside spaces the kids can go, and more than one room they can move between. High quality care - not babysitting but the best of nurturing and development. Great hours, including being open on embarkation day, and offering kids club lunches (with healthy foods) if we choose.

 

The cruiselines that offer lunches, ime, are Disney, Royal Caribbean and Carnival. None of them were what I would call "healthy". Chicken nuggets, hot dogs etc. Disney was free. There was a charge for Royal Caribbean, and you had to sign up. Not many kids did.

 

2. unobstructed BALCONY that is affordable to get two, or one suite or family jr suite etc - overall cost of accommodations (two balconies or one suite), taxes and grats preferably in the $4500 dollar range. two adults, two kids under age 7.

 

Royal Caribbean is the best for staterooms for families, imo. It's sometimes possible to get a "family" stateroom for 4 people, but usually you have to have 5 or more. Disney will say that their staterooms are larger,, but the extra space is in the split bathroom. Most of the bathrooms on Disney ships have 2 rooms - one with the bathtub and sink and the other with the toilet and sink. Both rooms felt tiny to me. The rest of the room - we were in a balcony- was the same size as a regular Royal Caribbean balcony.

 

3. ability to communicate almost instantly - e.g. kids club gives phones you can use to call or text each other. or open enough boat that you can use walkie talkies. The latter really didn't work on our recent Quantum cruise b/c so much is inside and the ship is so big. Using the room phone and leaving/getting messages is fine but not if you are trying to do something quickly or spur of the moment and can't run to where the other person is (e.g. due to having the kids) We don't have a US cell phone that can do an international texting plan over the open seas.

 

Disney might have this - they didn't when I sailed 4 years ago. All cell phones will be charged about $3/minute for calling on the ship- in addition to your carrier's roaming fees.

 

4. Down to earth, middle of the line other passengers of all ages. We found this on Quantum and Princess. I don't remember Norwegian. We generally are able to find nice, happy, decent people everywhere but aren't looking for the extremes in either direction.

 

The couple of times I've had issues with fellow passengers, it's been on Royal Caribbean - my kids being called racial epithets by other kids...This was on the one cruise we did out of NY/NJ. Another time out of San Juan - a woman threatened my 2 year old. :mad: and a larger child ran over the same 2 year old in the MDR. :mad:

 

5. Decent, big enough shower preferably with glass door but at least with nice curved shower rod. (we can do duct tape) Quantum bathroom really was excellent.

 

This will vary with the cruise ship, not with the cruise line. Overall the bathrooms have been fine on any ship I've been on.

 

6. Enough storage space - Quantum again excelled at this. With one adult and one child per inside basic stateroom, in one room we had some space to spare - and we always overpack!

 

Same answer as question #5.

 

7. Ideally, some good dancing fitness classes or other dancing type opportunities during the day. One of us is fine with lots of trivia, which we can always find, but the other needs active fun that is free and regular and easy like dancing. Quantum had latin dance fitness class and it was AWESOME!

 

HAL has Dancing with the Stars:At Sea which is a lot of fun. Royal has the reputation of being the most active cruise line.

 

8. Ability to not have formal night or to not do it if desired. But i think anywhere, you can skip formal night and go to buffet right?

 

You don't have to dress formally for formal night on any cruise line - and you can still go to the MDR.

 

Thanks in advance. If this is too much, please let us know. Our one TA we have used was basically useless (I'm sorry to have to say), so we continue to rely on all of you!!! And thanks for the recent M&M, cabin crawl etc. Cruise critic is the best!!

 

My favourite cruise line is HAL.

DD16's favourite cruise line is HAL. She says they have the nicest people.

DS19's favourite cruise line is Royal Caribbean.

DS9's favourite cruise line is Royal Caribbean. He doesn't want to go on another Disney ship - too crowded and chaotic in the kids club. He cried when it was time to leave our Princess cruise. He likes HAL.

Our Carnival cruise was when oldest DS was 12. He asked me to never take him on one of their cruises again. ;)

[RSLeesburg]

In winter months, if you sail out of NY/NJ, you are limited to three ships - NCL Breakaway, NCL Gem, and RCI Quantum. Celebrity and Carnival have ships in NJ and NY respectively for late spring thru early fall. If you want to fly to Florida, you have tons of ships to pick from. As you have been on Quantum, you can either go on this ship again, or try NCL. Of the two, I might try Breakaway, as it is newer and has a ton of bells & whistles. This might also give you and your family an opportunity to see which you prefer.

 

 

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[navybankerteacher]

Royal Caribbean out of Bayonne, NJ would probably be best fit for children's activities - I believe it is Oasis - a huge ship - but generally good service . NCL is the only other line sailing regularly from New York (Manhattan) - one mega-ship and one mid-size. Because NCL does not have assigned dining, which I feel would be better with children, rather than risking having to wait for seating, which can happen with NCL. My experience travelling with my own children, and now grand-children, is that they do better on a fairly regular schedule making assigned dining preferable.

[Cruisin' Chick]

You didn't say how old your kids are, and I think that is a major piece of info that might help posters here help you. That said and the fact that the only two cruiselines we were on were Carnival and Princess, I would not count out Carnival, even though some posters will tell you to stay away from that line.

 

And it could be that the TA you used was one not familiar with cruises. A "cruise specialist" would (or should) be familiar with the different lines and has done cruises on a variety of ships and itineraries.

Hi! We are first timers essentially to cruising with kids. We can really use your help and I hope it is OK to post here. We went on Coral princess to alaska, and norwegian dawn to caribbean before kids, and we just did quantum of the seas with the kids but it included work time (conference) and also was a bit of a nightmare experience. SO. I have read lots, and read lots of articles about the different kids clubs, and read lots of posts including a fairly recent one about a princess ship kids club - and I am so confused!! We may look into disney to see if we can afford it but I think it is out of reach price wise. Also, aside from Frozen and Cars, our kids have no clue and don't really get much out of big dressed up characters - they just don't know much about it.

 

We are starting fresh and trying to figure out the best line/ship for us to try. Here's what we have learned is important to us, in priority order, based on our prior cruise experience. Is there a particular ship you recommend?:

 

Ideally, cruises out of NY or NJ port. We can drive there, and see family, and that makes it affordable and even more meaningful. Ideally, cruises that go south so we can have some warm time. Ideally, February/November/December type timing for cruises (so we are actively looking for end of Feb now):

 

This is where a cruise specialist can help you narrow down which ships will sail out of the ports you've listed at the times you've listed. Be aware that if your kids are of school-age, more kids might be on your ship when school is normally out. And even if you have much younger kids, families with kids in school will tend to have to go in late December, around Thanksgiving time, or around President's Day (some school districts take a week, while others, like the one my daughter is in, just that Monday).

 

1. Kids club - happy, engaged staff who love kids and make the best of every minute and can get to know the kids and what the kids will enjoy and what will engage the kids. Ideally, outside spaces the kids can go, and more than one room they can move between. High quality care - not babysitting but the best of nurturing and development. Great hours, including being open on embarkation day, and offering kids club lunches (with healthy foods) if we choose.

 

If you can do a search for kids' program dailies (especially on the Family Cruising Board here, which may be a better place to seek info about kids' programs) you might get a better idea of what activities each cruise line has. (for my most recent cruise, I did scan in the pages from the program for my girl's age group, but that was the teen group on a two-week holiday-time Hawaiian cruise on Princess).

 

As far as I know, most programs have registration on the first night of the cruise (the kids can meet each other, so it's a good time to take them, but parents will be busy filling out forms and learning the rules -- usually not a drop off time), and the actual program starts the next morning. But again, I just have experience with two lines.

 

Usually most programs (again, the same disclaimer) tend to close for lunch so staff can eat, with the idea that kids will eat with their parents. Some lines will have port-day kidsitting with the staff taking those kids to the buffet/casual dining room for lunch. That's something to ask about on the individual cruise line boards. I know that on Princess you can't drop off your kids all day on sea days -- the staff needs to eat. But you can sign up ahead of time for complimentary port day care. The various lines will have kid-sitting from 10pm til late for a fee.

 

Princess and Carnival both have kid dinners (usually on formal nights so parents have an adult dinner). You drop off your kids at the casual buffet (a part of the room will be roped off or otherwise reserved for the kids) and after dinner, the staff takes them to the kids' area for evening activities.

 

I believe Princess still has their science program while there's a decent number of kids on board. Some activities are tied in to the itinerary such as making a model of a glacier while on an Alaskan cruise. A favorite activity is squid dissection, but I'm not sure what the minimum age for that is.

 

2. unobstructed BALCONY that is affordable to get two, or one suite or family jr suite etc - overall cost of accommodations (two balconies or one suite), taxes and grats preferably in the $4500 dollar range. two adults, two kids under age 7.

 

Another time a cruise specialist will be able to help you. We've only booked insides or ocean views.

 

3. ability to communicate almost instantly - e.g. kids club gives phones you can use to call or text each other. or open enough boat that you can use walkie talkies. The latter really didn't work on our recent Quantum cruise b/c so much is inside and the ship is so big. Using the room phone and leaving/getting messages is fine but not if you are trying to do something quickly or spur of the moment and can't run to where the other person is (e.g. due to having the kids) We don't have a US cell phone that can do an international texting plan over the open seas.

 

Using a walkie talkie is generally frowned upon. And as you've noticed, not really practical on a cruise ship and is annoying to other passengers. When my daughter was a teen (previous cruise before that, she was 8, and we didn't grant her check out privileges), we would leave messages for each other, either on the door, or inside the cabin on the desk. My hubby and I would often do separate things (he would go to the gym, while I would take a hula class) and this method actually worked for us. On the last cruise, we had assigned dining (we hated "anytime" on our previous cruise) so my daughter knew when we would be in the cabin getting ready for dinner. The biggest ships we've been on have been under 115,000 gt so we can find each other. And sometimes, would run into each other even if we weren't looking.

 

When we were on Carnival (last time 2002), we could check out a phone from the kids' program. Even on Princess, we could call the kids' program or the staff can leave a message for us on our cabin phone.

 

4. Down to earth, middle of the line other passengers of all ages. We found this on Quantum and Princess. I don't remember Norwegian. We generally are able to find nice, happy, decent people everywhere but aren't looking for the extremes in either direction.

 

I think any one sailing on any ship could be a crap shoot when it comes to passengers.

 

5. Decent, big enough shower preferably with glass door but at least with nice curved shower rod. (we can do duct tape) Quantum bathroom really was excellent.

 

6. Enough storage space - Quantum again excelled at this. With one adult and one child per inside basic stateroom, in one room we had some space to spare - and we always overpack!

 

Princess cabins -- at least the ones we've been in -- always seem to have a lot of storage space in the closets and the drawers. And I excel in overpacking.

 

7. Ideally, some good dancing fitness classes or other dancing type opportunities during the day. One of us is fine with lots of trivia, which we can always find, but the other needs active fun that is free and regular and easy like dancing. Quantum had latin dance fitness class and it was AWESOME!

 

On my last cruise, I took some of the zumba classes. They also had hula (but that was on the excellent Hawaiian cruises that Princess excels in).

 

8. Ability to not have formal night or to not do it if desired. But i think anywhere, you can skip formal night and go to buffet right?

 

I think many of the mass market lines know that not everyone wants to lug fancier clothing on a flight. Carnival seems to have done away with formal nights, but you can still dress up on elegant nights. Princess has a lot of choices so you can eat in the buffet, or to the one of the other venues that you've discovered while on the Coral (if you were on it before they put in the International Cafe, you'll missed it...most of the Princess ships have this now in the Piazza, a set of display cases with various food items that will be plated for you and you can find a table there or take your food elsewhere).

 

Thanks in advance. If this is too much, please let us know. Our one TA we have used was basically useless (I'm sorry to have to say), so we continue to rely on all of you!!! And thanks for the recent M&M, cabin crawl etc. Cruise critic is the best!!

 

Again, you might want to ask friends, family, co-workers who have been on cruises for a recommendation for a cruise specialist. Not every TA is experienced about cruises.

[andreaplants]

Thank you so much for all of your replies!! Boulders I also really appreciate the in depth answers and wow re the experiences you and your children have had with other passengers. Ridiculous.. Did the staff handle it well at all or were they unaware when most of those incidents happened?

[KKB]

Honestly we found lines to be more alike than different and differences were often due to time of year traveled.

Horror stories above are very situational and I would not judge a ship or a line based on those.

DCL was great but so much more expensive and not worth the extra expense imo. Family suite had such a poor set up with the split bath so intrusive to the cabin size, the murphy bed that opened right in front of the balcony door & only 1 TV on the side of the room where the children slept. So when they went to bed we were unable to use the balcony or TV, great fun for us...:confused:

 

Honestly our children have loved every cruise. They love the pool, beaches & kids club, but that varies widely. I think they had the best time on a cruise that only had about 2 dozen teens sailing.

 

If you go to an online cruiseline TA (crucon, bestpricecruises, etc) they have great search engines that will narrow your choices based on destination, length, cruise line, departure port, etc. This will help you narrow based on your desires. Then perhaps come back for more questions.

 

Best advice? Skip DCL. I have not sailed NCL or Carnival so I cannot comment. Kids would give RCL the nod. As adults, our fav was Allure (Princess & Celebrity very very close behind), and Allure would be best for families (tho the kids have done Princess & will be doing Celebrity but they are teens now)

 

Children will have fun just about anywhere...particularly if they have a positive attitude about it instilled by you;)

[OscarMom]

We went on a 7 day cruise on the Carnival Legend last March with a 5 year old. We had 3 people in a large balcony room and we had plenty of space. She absolutely loved Camp Carnival and the kids water zone. We took dress clothes but never dressed up for dinner and it was totally fine. There were lots of other places to eat besides the MDR.

[andreaplants]

Kkb and oscarmom thank you!! After all of your input I looked at schedules for February and it looks like Norwegian gem is the best fit... I will start reading all about that ship and cross fingers we can take another cruise soon... Thank you!

[Hlitner]

We would not even try to offer a suggestion until the OP added a few more pieces of info. How old are your childred? and Why was the QOS a nightmare?

 

Hank

[andreaplants]

Thanks hlitner... It's buried under number 2.. Two kids under 7.. They are 4 and 6.. Forget what I said about qos... We had a badly handled serious noise issue but there was no reason for me to make that comment about it being a nightmare... It was still very fresh and I shouldn't have posted that unhelpful and cryptic line.

[CaptainFluffy]

We went on a 7 day cruise on the Carnival Legend last March with a 5 year old. We had 3 people in a large balcony room and we had plenty of space. She absolutely loved Camp Carnival and the kids water zone. We took dress clothes but never dressed up for dinner and it was totally fine. There were lots of other places to eat besides the MDR.

 

My daughter is also 5, well 5.5. She's always looking to meet kids in her age group. I'm sure they'll meet each other at camp.

[Hlitner]

Thanks hlitner... It's buried under number 2.. Two kids under 7.. They are 4 and 6.. Forget what I said about qos... We had a badly handled serious noise issue but there was no reason for me to make that comment about it being a nightmare... It was still very fresh and I shouldn't have posted that unhelpful and cryptic line.

 

No need to back-off the negative comment as we have also had noisy cabins and it can, indeed, be a nightmare :). With children of that age (our DD started cruising at 5) we would feel very comfortable recommending either RCI or Princess since both those lines have excellent children's programs. Cannot comment on NCL since we have not been on that line for many years.

 

Hank