2 grandmothers, two grandkids and us

[CCTES]

My son will be finishing highschool in 2025 and has been wanting a cruise as a grad gift since grade 6! We are happy to oblige, but...would like to invite both grandmothers, one has cruised and has travelled extensively, one has not done either and is less adventurous. We all get along well so I am considering one of the larger suites so everyone can stay together. Both grandmothers will be in their early 80's by then. Has anyone done this, have suggestions or recommendations? I'm also trying to determine which cruise lines have the larger suites that can accommodate 6 people but with space, we fear our 20 year old daughter will require space and so will we! I'm leaning towards the togetherness because of the added perks and for the comfort of the non-traveler 😀but adjoining would be OK as long as I can get everyone in two rooms comfortably. We are planning Mediterranean/Greece in May 2025

Thanks!

[Kerry's Girls]

NCL has a 3 bedroom suite that's wildly expensive.  They have more reasonable large family suites with 2 bedrooms + 2 baths + living room, but that doesn't work for you because two people would have to share the living room sofa bed.  My twin teenagers and I just did an NCL cruise in a minisuite and even that was crammed for 3 adults. I'd suggest 3 balcony cabins that allow the balconies to connect (some lines will remove the barriers between cabins on request), or even just three cabins near each other.  Having extra bathrooms, privacy and freedom to keep the hours each generation desires would be more important to me than all squeezing into one space.  But I'm sure others will be along to let you know what ships they know with 3 bedroom suites.  Cruising is a fantastic way to go multi-generation.   

Edited July 26, 2023 by Kerry's Girls

[CCTES]

21 hours ago, Kerry's Girls said:

NCL has a 3 bedroom suite that's wildly expensive.  They have more reasonable large family suites with 2 bedrooms + 2 baths + living room, but that doesn't work for you because two people would have to share the living room sofa bed.  My twin teenagers and I just did an NCL cruise in a minisuite and even that was crammed for 3 adults. I'd suggest 3 balcony cabins that allow the balconies to connect (some lines will remove the barriers between cabins on request), or even just three cabins near each other.  Having extra bathrooms, privacy and freedom to keep the hours each generation desires would be more important to me than all squeezing into one space.  But I'm sure others will be along to let you know what ships they know with 3 bedroom suites.  Cruising is a fantastic way to go multi-generation.   

That's a good idea and everyone gets there own space. Thanks 🙂

[kitkat343]

Adjoining is nice if the balconies can be connected.  Otherwise, nearby rooms are also fine. 

 

I'd also recommend private tours for just your family, but when we've gone on multigenerational cruises sometimes the grandmothers choose to go on ship tours.  The grandmas in our family like bus tours of cities, so sometimes we send them on that and we go on a private tour by ourselves.  Give everyone the ship list of excursions so they can see what they want to do, and arrange one private tour for yourselves, and anyone who wants to join you can and you can send people on ship tours who would rather do that.  And everyone meets up every night at dinner.

 

Edited July 27, 2023 by kitkat343

[jbrinkm]

23 hours ago, Kerry's Girls said:

I'd suggest 3 balcony cabins that allow the balconies to connect (some lines will remove the barriers between cabins on request), or even just three cabins near each other.  Having extra bathrooms, privacy and freedom to keep the hours each generation desires would be more important to me than all squeezing into one space. 

 

As long as the two grandmothers get along!

[mjkacmom]

Adjoining is next door, connecting had a door in between the cabins. You will not find 3 connecting cabins, just two. NCL does not allow balcony dividers to be opened anymore.

[Essiesmom]

Some MSC ships have three connecting cabins.  I am sailing on Seaside next month and was originally assigned one.  I have since been moved.  There are also quad cabins connected to a double.  On the deck plans, the double dots denote a bunk sofa, which is a sofa that turns into an upper and lower bunk.  With that configuration you could put the four of you in one cabin and the grannies in the connecting double.

 

 

[CCTES]

18 hours ago, jbrinkm said:

 

As long as the two grandmothers get along!

They do and they both wear hearing aides so it's great!

[CCTES]

18 hours ago, kitkat343 said:

Adjoining is nice if the balconies can be connected.  Otherwise, nearby rooms are also fine. 

 

I'd also recommend private tours for just your family, but when we've gone on multigenerational cruises sometimes the grandmothers choose to go on ship tours.  The grandmas in our family like bus tours of cities, so sometimes we send them on that and we go on a private tour by ourselves.  Give everyone the ship list of excursions so they can see what they want to do, and arrange one private tour for yourselves, and anyone who wants to join you can and you can send people on ship tours who would rather do that.  And everyone meets up every night at dinner.

 

This is definitely a consideration, my mother can't do too much walking anymore. Thanks for  the insight!

[CCTES]

51 minutes ago, Essiesmom said:

Some MSC ships have three connecting cabins.  I am sailing on Seaside next month and was originally assigned one.  I have since been moved.  There are also quad cabins connected to a double.  On the deck plans, the double dots denote a bunk sofa, which is a sofa that turns into an upper and lower bunk.  With that configuration you could put the four of you in one cabin and the grannies in the connecting double.

 

 

OK, that sounds ideal actually. I will take a look at what they have to offer for itineraries. Thanks!

[kitkat343]

54 minutes ago, CCTES said:

This is definitely a consideration, my mother can't do too much walking anymore. Thanks for  the insight!

Given this and the fact that you are considering a Med cruise, if you are also going to Italy please keep an eye on the situation in Venice.  The government has banned large ships from entering Venice, and when cruise ships tried to tender in their passengers, it is a 1.5 hour tender ride  and Venice only let the cruise ships tender to the original cruise port, so once you finished the 1.5 hour tender you still have to travel to get to St. Marks.  The alternative is docking in a nearby port, a 2 hour bus ride from Venice.  People on the forums reported that the nearby port is a nice small town to explore, so that's something else to consider but I just wanted you to be able to research the situation in Venice prior to deciding on an itinerary so you can find the one that would be best for your family.

 

  We toured St. Peterbsburg with our 3 year old son, and had a private tour for just our family.  Our tour operator was able to get our car closer to the museums than where the large tour buses parked, and also she laughed at us when we got in line outside of Catherine's Palace because the lines were only for the people on large tour buses (the museums stagger large tour bus entrances so the there aren't bottlenecks inside the museum).  But the one concern in Europe is that some private tours are nonrefundable, even if you don't dock.  This is of particular concern if you sail NCL ( 

 ) but cancelled ports can happen on any cruise line, so carefully research the cancellation policy prior to booking.  Your credit card or trip insurance might cover this also.  

[CCTES]

5 hours ago, kitkat343 said:

Given this and the fact that you are considering a Med cruise, if you are also going to Italy please keep an eye on the situation in Venice.  The government has banned large ships from entering Venice, and when cruise ships tried to tender in their passengers, it is a 1.5 hour tender ride  and Venice only let the cruise ships tender to the original cruise port, so once you finished the 1.5 hour tender you still have to travel to get to St. Marks.  The alternative is docking in a nearby port, a 2 hour bus ride from Venice.  People on the forums reported that the nearby port is a nice small town to explore, so that's something else to consider but I just wanted you to be able to research the situation in Venice prior to deciding on an itinerary so you can find the one that would be best for your family.

 

  We toured St. Peterbsburg with our 3 year old son, and had a private tour for just our family.  Our tour operator was able to get our car closer to the museums than where the large tour buses parked, and also she laughed at us when we got in line outside of Catherine's Palace because the lines were only for the people on large tour buses (the museums stagger large tour bus entrances so the there aren't bottlenecks inside the museum).  But the one concern in Europe is that some private tours are nonrefundable, even if you don't dock.  This is of particular concern if you sail NCL ( 

 ) but cancelled ports can happen on any cruise line, so carefully research the cancellation policy prior to booking.  Your credit card or trip insurance might cover this also.  

I'm still in planning stages and have no real itineraries in mind, I am going to Italy in the fall but not Venice. Personally I would rather see Spain and the Canary Islands. It's also still two years away so anything can happen in that amount of time but I have no great desire to use Venice as the embarkation or debarkation site given all the other things going on there, my mom visited there in the in the 60's and again about 15 years ago and she was sad to see how commercialized it was. There is also a new visa requirement for Canadians travelling to Europe starting in 2024. I don't typically book excursions as they tend to be very expensive but I am also very cautious about cancellation rules. Thanks for the info about private tours, I think with a big group that makes good sense!

[Essiesmom]

You might invest in a copy of Rick Steves’ Mediterranean Cruise Ports to give you an idea of how you can do touring on your own.  It’s quite possible/probable that not all members of your group will want to do the same thing.  EM

[CCTES]

12 minutes ago, Essiesmom said:

You might invest in a copy of Rick Steves’ Mediterranean Cruise Ports to give you an idea of how you can do touring on your own.  It’s quite possible/probable that not all members of your group will want to do the same thing.  EM

I actually bought it from Chapters and it arrived 2 weeks ago, my mom is reading it now! It's a great guide.