Cruise with kids?

MrsRenee · May 2011

We have a wedding to go to next March in Naples. I figure if we're down in Florida, we might as well make a vacation out of this. I've always wanted to go on a cruise, but never have. Are we insane to do this with 2 kids who'll be 3-1/2 and 18 months? I did look into a Disney cruise, but holy expensive!

ballerina06 · May 2011

I don't think you are insane at all! I would just find a cruise that has children's activities to keep them entertained.

josefina022 · May 2011

We went on a cruise last month with our 16 month daughter. We did a Norweigan cruise, which was great because they have the freestyle dining. You go when you want, whatever restaurant you want, you can be at a table by yourselves if you don't want to sit with other people. It didn't seem like the dinners were as long as they are on other cruise lines.

We had a GREAT time, and my daughter was so good! They didn't have a lot of activities for her age, but she really enjoyed the kiddie pool and would take lots of naps in her stroller. The crew members were always making sure to bring her food first and would go out of their way to find stuff that she would like, even if it wasn't a menu option that night.

We looked into a Disney cruise too, but we knew she wouldn't remember this trip and it was just so expensive.

Let me know if you have any specific questions, thanks!

josefina022 · May 2011

Also, one more thing, another reason we chose Norweigan is because for children under 2, they only charged the port taxes & fees, so she was around $200 instead of other cruiselines that would have charged her the 3rd person rate for at least $400 or more.

stebbe81 · May 2011

We just took a cruise on Allure of the Seas and it was very family friendly. They have a carousel and the dreamworks experience. There were tons of kids on the boat and they had lots of family friend activites. If you want more in depth info cruise critic has message boards too and they were very helpful.

kjewell · May 2011

I don't think you are crazy if you pick a child friendly cruise and keep an eye on them. I was on a cruise and it was amazing the people that let their young child run around without supervision. Cruise employees aren't babysitters, they aren't safe just because they are on a ship with no where to go, etc, etc...

lilnephie · May 2011

Disney Cruises are expensive, expecially during Peak season (March-April). They do kids sail free options sometimes. When doing research with my SIL, we found Royal Caribbean to be the next best option. They sail out of Port Canaveral, Tampa, Miami, Fort Lauderdale and maybe Fort Meyers.

mardoll10 · May 2011

As someone who went on a cruise as a kid, I freaking LOVED it! However, I was around 10 at the time. I think cruises are awesome for all the kid activities they plan, and I think Noah especially would have a blast. I think Nathan is still a bit small to enjoy it, and it might be annoying for you and your DH to always be watching him and not able to get away for some alone time (take this as you will from someone who doesn't have kids). If it were me, I would wait until they were a little older...old enough to send them off with the cruise staff to have a jolly good time and not worry about them.

) Regardless, I'm sure you would have fun!

Cruise with kids?

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