Suggest a cruise for us ?

[MickeyMark]

I wanted see if any one has a suggested cruise for my family.

 

It's myself and my wife in our 40's / son 17 years old and another son 4 years old.

 

We've been on Royal Carribean / Celeb and HAL in the past before our youngest was born.

Since then we've been doing land trips to Disney and are thinking that our now 4 y/o is ready to cruise.

 

We'd LOVE to do a Disney cruise, but can't justify the HUGE amount of money we'd need.

 

We'd like to sail out of New York - End of April - beginning of May 2005 so we don't have to worry about airfare....

 

Any suggestions ????

Thanks in advance!!!!

[Krazy Kruizers]

:)

 

Try Bermuda.

 

A couple of cruise lines go there begining the end of May.

 

We had some friends this past May (either end of May or begining of June) who did an NCL cruise out of New York to the Bahamas.

 

:)

[mii]

Try Canada/New England. Beautiful scenery and I think Princess and HAL go out of New York.

 

 

Marilyn

[cruisinqt]

You don't have to be on a Disney cruise for your kids to have fun. When we went on our first cruise, our youngest was only 4 years old. We went on Royal Caribbean and all of us had a blast. Especially our children. We have been on other cruises since then and my kids always love it. In the kids area there's food, games, toys, and even video games to play. My kids have made their own volcano explode. They have also made their own rubber balls. They have gotten their faces painted as a pirate and went on a treasure hunt on the ship. They have also had ice cream parties and pajama parties too.

 

And the good thing about this is that the people caring for your child are college educated teachers with a degree. All of their fun activities are also educational. And this goes for just about all of the kids areas on all of the ships. My kids always look forward to their cruise vacation. And this is coming from a stay at home mom who is very close to her kids. Every evening you will get a schedule of events for the kids area for the next day. My kids sit around looking at it and talking about what activity appeals to them most. When I go to the kids area to pick up my children I always see kids crying because they want to stay.

 

If you're worried about your 4 year old needing to be on a Disney cruise in order to have fun, don't. He or she will have lots of fun on a regular ship in the kids area. Our kids favorite's are Royal Caribbean and Carnival. I think they like them best because of the rewards program. Every time you go to the kids area, you get a pretend dollar. Those dollars accumulate and your child gets to spend them at the end of the cruise. There are lots of things for your child to choose from. Our children usually buy stuffed animals and t-shirts with their pretend dollars.

 

I would just pick a cruise with a good price with the itinerary that appeals to you and your 17 year old. Don't worry about the little one. Just worry about how you are going to get him out of the kids area without him making a scene because he wants to stay.

[serene56]

Sometimes its cheaper to fly to Florida and do a cruise from there instead of "saving" the airfare.

Check cruises from Balitimore too. Dont keep your eggs in New York as there are other ports close to where you are located. The Royal has the Granduer sailing from Baltimore next year.

[jerseygirl3]

Royal Caribbean has their large voyager class ship sailing out of the NY area (they now use Bayonne as their port). Also Carnival Legend starts going out of NYC the beginning of May.

 

We took our four sons and four of their friends on the Carnival Legend out of NYC last May and they loved the itinerary (San Juan, St. Thomas, Tortola). It is an 8 day cruise, rather than a 7 day.

 

I

[banderboo]

I would definitely go with one of the voyage class ships on RCI. The 17 yr will have lots to do (make sure he goes to the first night meeting) and I've heard great reviews about ocean adventure for the younger one. I'm 37 and DH is 42 and we had so much fun on Voyager that we booked a cruise on Explorer for December. There is so much to do you will not be bored (nor will the kids). If you decide to do one of the voyager class ships and your 17 yr old has questions I can forward them to my DD who was 17 when we went last year.

[MoonBaby]

If you would like to cruise out of NYC, I suggest either the Carnival Legend or the Carnival Miracle. Had a great time on both! The kids program is great, and there will be enough to do for your 17 yo. Great Entertainment too.I saw lots of families on both these ships.

[laginog]

I would agree with one of the RCI Voyager Class ships. The children's programs looked neat and our teenage nephew had a blast!! There's a million things to do for everyone. The little one will enjoy the parades and arcade and pool. The older one will enjoy the rock wall and hot tubs, pools, and teen club.