First time cruising with kids, 5 or 7 night need opinion

[adt0330]

My husband and I have cruised a lot but never with the kids. With the current kids sail free promotion we are going to finally do a cruise with our 6 and 3 year old. Our options are either 5 day Independence or 7 day Allure. I am nervous about sailing with kids for 7 days for the first time but the Allure deal is better....only about $100 more for 7 day Boardwalk Balcony versus 5 day Oceanview Balcony on Indy. Need advice...should I take the better overall deal (Allure) or play it safe with 5 day (Independence). I will be taking advantage of kids club...to be honest I know my 6 year old will be fine it's really the 3 year old I am concerned about....what would you do? If the 3 year old doesn't do well 7 days could be a long trip! Thanks!

[leaveitallbehind]

I can only tell you from our experience (albeit years ago without Allure as an option) that our now adult kids were in that age range when they first started cruising with us and in a word, if we had to make that choice today - Allure! All or their cruise experiences with us has been with 7 night (or longer) cruises.

Edited June 11, 2016 by leaveitallbehind

[tropiclvrs]

From our own personal experience, I would without a doubt go with Allure! We've been cruising with our kids since they were 2&4 (now 9&11). We started out on Mariner which was fine for the time but having sailed on Oasis/Allure exclusively the last 5 years or so, I can confidently say your kids will love Allure and so will you. Although the the ocean balconies are great I think for kids your age they will love the Boardwalk balcony. Go for it...none of you will be disappointed!

[tropiclvrs]

I forgot to add that all our cruises have been 7 nights and never a problem.

 

Check out the family board and you will get a lot of great tips there.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=49

[Ourusualbeach]

Allure all the way.

[southnam]

We did our first cruise 2 years ago and our kids were 3,5,7. It was 7 day on FoS. The older kids were great and the younger took a bit if convincing but luckily his 5 year old sister was also in the kids program with him to calm him. After the first night he was loving the programs... Kids may take awhile to get used to a cruise so a 5 day would seem to just end when your kids are starting to get used to it. I would definitely do a 7 day. Also for $100 more it seems like a great deal. My 2 cents

 

 

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[martikus]

We prefer 4-5 nights when cruising with our son. Prefer 7+ nights cruising without our son.

 

We find 7 nights a bit long with him since he never loves the kids club (doesn't matter which line).

 

We recently did a 4 night on Independence with him and we all loved it. The pools, the free pizza & ice cream, etc etc. Time zoomed by.

 

That said - Allure is a great ship. The water show, the ice show, the pools, etc etc are great so if you decide 7 nights that is a great ship to do it on.

[cb at sea]

You know how much fun cruises can be! And, you know how your child responds to someplace other than home....base your decision on those factors!

[jsickels]

Definitely the 7 day allure .. We have been taking our kids on cruises since my youngest was 2 and have always done 7 days and they have loved it. The allure has so many fun things and RC's adventure ocean is top notch. We would go and pick them up and they would beg to stay.

 

 

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