How much do spend to Cruise 7 days with your children?

[DebBrown]

[quote name='steveaaaa']How does that answer help the OP?Or how does it apply?
Steve[/QUOTE]
And how does your post apply?

[VentureMan_2000]

Sounds like about $1200 per family member (or head count) on average. Does that sound correct?

[Augcruise]

2 adults - 2 kids

Cruise 1600.00 (Outside cabin)
S& S card 700.00 (included tips, babysitting, $200.00 cash at casino)
Stingray City $108.00
Car in Cozumel $78.00
Lunch in Cozumel $25.00
FLights $425.00 (for all 4 of us - SOuthwest)

Total - $2,936 - just under 3K -

Now if you wanted to know how much more it cost us with kids as opposed to going just the two of us

2 kids in cabin $600.00
Stingray city for 2 kids $40.00
Flights for 2 - $213.00
Lunch - 12.50
no babysitting on s&S - 65.00

Total to take kids - $930.00 - worth every penny!

[the_monkey]

$1200 sounds about right as an average. When we did the trip insurance, I said $4000 for the entire vacation of 11 days. (Oh yeah, and with the trip insurance we chose, the kids were covered at no cost.) But we got really cheap airfare - $99 r/t (and then the taxes :eek:).

Early planning is the key. We booked the cruise in Feb., and airfare in March. And we're sailing in 2 weeks, so the cruise fares were very low. And Priceline for hotels, of course. :)

[VentureMan_2000]

Another question. How do you all afford a family vacation like this? It would cost $6,000 to $7,000 for a week for a family of five.

Do you plan and save for years? I get the impression that families that cruise together cruise quite often. Just seems like a lot of money to spend on children that already get their meals prepared (thanks Mom! :) ), so no gain there. They don't drink, or plan on being waited on in order to get a soda.

The shows are probably six of one, half a dozen of another for the kids.

My kids would love to "feed coins into the arcade slots" all day as one of my children put it.

You could go to Disneyland and live it up just as well for half the price of a cruise, and there is a lot more for kids there.

Just trying to get some perspective on this kind of vacation.

[Momto5boys]

We are a family of seven who enjoys cruising. Why/how you wonder? No, it isn't cheap but all factors included, it's a great value for the money. Many cruises are cheaper than Disney if you factor a week's worth of Disney/area attracton tickets, hotel, transportation, good food, etc. We get hit a little harder because we need to book two rooms (paying adult fares for two kids) but I still think it's a good deal. We fly for free through our bonus miles, so that helps. We are fortunate enough that we can afford a cruise without borrowing or saving. Otherwise we wouldn't go. It's only been the past several years that we've started cruising because we had other priorities previously. I wouldn't advocate going into debt just to take a cruise or any other vacation.

For our last cruise, we gave our kids the option of Disney or another cruise and they chose another cruise quite adamently! I don't wait on my kids (ages 1-11) hand and foot (they set the table, help cook, and do the clean up) so dressing up and having "fancy meals" regularly on a cruise ship was a delight for them. They truly could appreciate it. And we all appreciated being able to relax and eat as a family with waiters that got to know us. My kids loved the ambience of being on a ship, enjoyed the shows, LOVED Camp Carnival and their ship-wide activities, were tickled pink to be able to eat ice cream whenever we felt like it, and most of all enjoyed our times spent in port when they got to swim in the ocean (we live in the midwest), snorkel (they are crazy about snorkeling), swim with stingrays, etc. Our last cruise was less than a year ago and our kids are already asking when we can go again! They are already addicted.

Not having to worry about transportation, where to eat, and other travel details is a real plus for us. And having your costs pre-determined makes for a much more pleasant time. Another advantage is being able to visit multiple islands/countries in one trip...there are a lot more educational opportunities than just going to an amusement park. And of course, having Camp Carnival at your disposal is great (esp. when it's so much fun for the kids). It's the best of both worlds...plenty of quality family time combined with just enough "grownup" time for the two of us. .

[the_monkey]

[QUOTE]Another question. How do you all afford a family vacation like this? It would cost $6,000 to $7,000 for a week for a family of five.[/QUOTE]One word - eBay.

But really, it's a matter of what's important to us. From the moment our son was born, we were a family. That was our committment, to our son (and then our daughter) and to each other. Spending a week together, without having to load the dishwasher or give the cat her insulin, is well worth the money.

Being frugal helps, of course. So we drive for 2 hours to the airport instead of flying out of the local one, and we sail in September instead of July (and let's not get into the school argument, not a one of them I've read here is valid for us, thank you very much :D ).

Oh yeah, and eBay. LOL!

[QUOTE]Just seems like a lot of money to spend on children that already get their meals prepared (thanks Mom! ), so no gain there. [/QUOTE]
Yeah, but now [b]Mom[/b] won't be the one preparing them for a whole week. For me (being that mom) that's a huge difference. (And actually, my kids *do* get a good portion of their breakfasts/lunches/snacks for themselves.)

[QUOTE]My kids would love to "feed coins into the arcade slots" all day as one of my children put it.[/QUOTE]The kids have been saving up their quarters since we booked in Feb. I will match whatever they save (trust me, I've checked their piggy banks and I'm in no danger of having to shell out more than $20 each). After all, I get to play those cool video games in the casino. Same rules apply for all family members here - you wanna play, you gotta pay.

[QUOTE]You could go to Disneyland and live it up just as well for half the price of a cruise, and there is a lot more for kids there.[/QUOTE]OK, this is not directed at anyone in specific, and certainly not the OP, so leave the flamethrower at the door - but WHY WHY WHY is the theme park occupied by an overgrown rat and his ilk seen as the Mecca for family vacations? I could just vomit even thinking about going to any of those resorts.

And honestly, it would be a HUGE waste of money for our family. We have a great amusement park not 20 minutes away where the 4 of us can spend the entire day for $35. And that's not counting the Six Flags that's 45 minutes away.

And I won't get into the political aspects of why we do not purchase Disney products. :rolleyes:

[QUOTE]
Just trying to get some perspective on this kind of vacation.
[/QUOTE]Hope I helped! :D