Kids Sail Free

[pdreams]

In the past I've seen where cruise lines offer "kids sail free" promotions and I'm very interested in these options for 2017 leaving out of Florida (Miami, Tampa, or Port Canaveral). If anyone has any information or can point me in the right direction to get started that would be very helpful. Thanks.

[mjkacmom]

I think NCL still has 3rd and 4th passenger sail free.

[pdreams]

Thanks. Do you know if this is year-round or during certain times?

 

 

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[RSLeesburg]

MSC used to offer kids sail free, and other lines will offer it every now and then...BUT, and here is the kicker, most will jack up the rates of the first and second passengers, so there is no real savings. Over past two or three years, I have tracked prices on a few RCI cruises and in almost every case, the cost went up during a sale not down.

 

My advice is to pick time and location that you want to sail (e.g., summer and to Caribbean), pick port you want to leave from - one that is convenient for you, see what ships sail from that port and pick the one that fits your family best. Then price out the cruise and see if it fits your budget - if it does, book it. If it doesn't, keep tracking it weekly as different lines will offer different sales periodically. When you see a price you like, book it. Two other points - the further out you book your cruise, the lower the cost (in general), so if you want to take cruise over summer, look at 2017 and 2018 cruises - you may find better prices for 2018. Or, if you can drive to port, you may want to book last minute (30-60 days before cruise). You may catch some great last minute deals if the cruise is not sold out.

 

 

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[pdreams]

I greatly appreciate your advise

 

 

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[c-cruise]

I've typically found the best 3rd/4th rates to be on on Holland America, even when there is no promo going on. They are our go to line with the kids when we don't feel like paying the price for Disney. We've done Princess a few times with the kids as well, but they don't typically discount the 3rd/4th person very much. A lot of the promos you find for cheap 3rd/4th person rates exclude popular school break weeks, etc.

[goddardfamily524]

We are going on a cruise in April on Royal Caribbean and got the 30% off passengers and kids sail free promotion. I have sen RCI have kids sail free before. NCL is having a 3rd & 4th passengers sail free

[pdreams]

Great! Thanks you all!

 

 

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[southnam]

Yep will be going on my second RCCL cruise with kids sale free and 35% off. Periodically happens.

 

 

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[horsegal]

It was only 260 extra for my son on carnival. I did look at prices on msc with kids sail free but carnival was still cheaper overall.

 

 

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[Essiesmom]

MSC is running a BOGO offer, two for the price of one. The last time they did this, someone posted that they were able to add on the Kids Sail Free to it. But on MSC, be aware that in the quad inside and OV cabins the bunks are on the side walls, although the cabins are very spacious. The standard balcony cabin does not have bunks: the kids have to share a foldout couch. EM

[southnam]

BTW, I personally think RCCL has the best deal if you have 5 or 6 person with their dedicated family staterooms.

 

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[wilmingtech]

We are always hunting KSF deals as we have 4 kids and if we can get half of us on a cruise for free we jump on it.

 

As suggested above pick an itinerary, do a mock booking, watch the price like a hawk and jump on the deals when they show up. If your committed to going best to just book now and rebook later when there is a sale (make sure your TA doesn't charge a fee for that)

 

NCL seems pretty straightforward with their pricing. With RCI we do a mock booking for an inside, use that number for a reference as we have only booked family oceanviews and they don't show that price online (you have to call)

 

Our last two bookings we got the KSF from both NCL and RCI. But both sales were very short lived. The one from NCL I have never seen again and surprisingly the RCI sale repeated twice over the past summer but never saw a KSF sale all last year(2015) on RCI.

 

Our NCL sailing was booked during a 'guests 3-8' free promo. This allowed us to get a suite for all 6 of us on NCL Jewel for the price of just my wife and I. Because we chose Haven over a regular suite It wasn't really a cost savings for us but it allowed us to experience the Haven for the price of what we would pay for 2 normal staterooms. It was a once in a lifetime experience that we would do again but highly doubt we will ever find it that cheap again.

 

Our current booking with RCI was a KSF promotion and we were able to get a 2 bedroom family oceanview that averaged 650 per person including taxes and fees (insides on this cruise were at 699 before taxes at the time) . Then about 3 weeks later they had another KSF sale which applied to this cruise that dropped the price to under 600pp including taxes and fees. We jumped on that and it worked out for us.

 

As others have previously mentioned... sometimes its cheaper to book without the KSF specials. They don't always mean cheaper prices. If we went at a different time of year (2nd week of December) our current booking with RCI without the sale would be cheaper.

 

One last thing.... The RCI KSF sale did not apply to holidays or spring breaks. We tried booking a cruise with one day that fell on MLK day and they wouldn't give us the discount because it was a holiday which is why ended up with a week in March.

 

-Sean

[mikesteg]

The standard balcony cabin does not have bunks: the kids have to share a foldout couch. EM

 

Yes, that is one of the things that draws us to MSC. Our kids are too young to sleep up high, so the queen size sleeper sofa works much better than any option on Carnival (our other preferred cruise line.)

[skyking]

Royal had kids sail free promo back today:)

[sprockie]

I've typically found the best 3rd/4th rates to be on on Holland America, even when there is no promo going on. They are our go to line with the kids when we don't feel like paying the price for Disney. We've done Princess a few times with the kids as well, but they don't typically discount the 3rd/4th person very much. A lot of the promos you find for cheap 3rd/4th person rates exclude popular school break weeks, etc.

 

I will second this. We almost always said HAL for their great discounted and/or free 3/4 passenger in the cabin. We love cramming ourselves into the cabin for a week - my kids are now 10 and 15 but still love it. HAL doesn't have the rock climbing walls and the flow riders etc., but if you want a really nice, relaxing vacation with great food and service - choose HAL.