Good cruise line for family?

[ljandgb]

We are thinking about a cruise of the Adriatic and/or Greece. We're a family with 4 kids, ages 11-17. The youngest likes pools, the 14yo likes video games, and the oldest 2 don't need or like a teen club. The kids are good travelers and we've been thru the Baltics, Iceland, and southern Italy.

 

Dh and I have cruised on Oceania, and we've done two Disney cruises as a family. We're interested in a port intensive cruise and wondering what lines the experienced CC readers would recommend? We don't need super fancy, but do not want a party boat either.

 

I'm concerned about 4 kids and 2 adults, will that mean we'll only be able to get 2 rooms (1 adult per room?) We may be able to convince my parents to come, which would allow us to book more rooms then arrange the kids as needed.

[Morgans]

Any of the big popular lines would suit I'm sure. P & O , Royal Caribbean, Carnival, NCL are all good for families (especially Royal Caribbean) as they have superb facilities and also special cabins for up to 6 passengers but these get booked up quickly and generally can't be booked on line. MSC are good for children too and offer excellent pricing for children (used to be free on many itineraries but may have changed especially for summer cruises) - you would be travelling with a huge mix of Europeans from all over but especially Italy.

 

P & O are excellent for families but not quite as 'zingy' regarding pool and swimming facilities. They do generally have the itinerary choice you mentioned however. They do tend to be slightly more formal than the American lines tend to be.

 

I'm sure you'd have a great time on any of them - get the brochures and have a good bit of research.

[ljandgb]

I've looked extensively at MSC and P&O after posting the same question on another board. P&O looks interesting, especially since it looks like we'd have to fly into England first? That's a good excuse to stopover in London. I couldn't request a brochure as I couldn't get the site to accept my US postal code. Surely I'm doing something wrong.

 

MSC also looks very good to us, and is priced very nicely.

 

Thanks for the tips. We'll keep looking and hopefully make a decision soon.

[Morgans]

try this phone number - it's P&O's direct dial number from abroad:-

 

(+44) 2380 657064

 

I'm sure they could help you out. Good luck

[ljandgb]

Thanks!

[RoadTripFanatic]

You might check to see if they have connecting cabins or get side by side balcony rooms. That worked out really well for us when we travel in groups. The thing is you have to make sure that one of the rooms is a quad when you book it. Then you tell housekeeping that the kids are all staying in one room together. When you initially book the room you have to put an adult in each room. We did this when traveling friends with kids. We had three rooms in a row. They booked a triple in the middle of the rooms. The kids all slept in the same room. MSC and Costa are both good. I didn't see much difference between them. Food is more Med. fare and there are multiple languages spoken during the announcements.