Best 7 night cruises for children....

blue_monkey_2 · 9 March 2012 at 3:23PM

We have never been on a cruise or looked at the brochures to be honest, this will be our first for 2013 and it will be around Xmas or August. We have 2 children of 9 and 11 (when we go) and one has Autism. We have been looking at a Disney Cruise but thought it might be worth expanding my options and seeing what else is out there that is suitable for them.

I've read about some that require you to dress up for dinner and things like that, we want to go on one that is casual with lots of other families (hence Disney which sounded perfect). So what can you recommend?

We have bought a package from our timeshare company and can choose from pretty much any cruise company and most trips are included so hence the need to expand our choices. Please give me some options to have a look at as I have no idea where to start. Thanks.

ellay864 · 9 March 2012 at 6:24PM

We've booked for our first cruise and I was also put off by the dressing up for dinner thing. But from what I can gather, most of the main family friendly lines have that in their main dining room, where some nights will be black tie, others semi formal. But they also have more casual buffet dining all the time - I think it's expected you'd wear clothes as opposed to swimwear, but don't have to dress in any particular way. That's how it works on the one we're on - we're going with Celebrity.
Try checking out cruise critic site as their forums have loads of people who will have cruised many times and you're bound to find somebody who can recommend good family lines

delwynshd · 9 March 2012 at 6:48PM

I would look at maybe one of the NCL ships

The NCL Epic is great for families

Thanks
Del

blue_monkey_2 · 9 March 2012 at 10:17PM

Great, thanks guys. I've spent tonight looking at Carnival. Royal Carribean and NCL. We can get a gorgeous suite on the Epic with our cruise package.... so hard to know which one to go for. The dates for Xmas 2013 are not released yet so that makes it more difficult too but we are tied to term times which is not helping.

cclarke12 · 9 March 2012 at 11:40PM

I would look at P&O too. The kids clubs are excellent and we met a family onboard that had nothing but praise for the support that the youth team gave to their family (their son was autistic). If you chose Oceana or Ventura the are more informal. RCI also have two ships sailing from Southampton in 2013.

getmore4less · 10 March 2012 at 9:38AM

blue_monkey wrote: »

Great, thanks guys. I've spent tonight looking at Carnival. Royal Carribean and NCL. We can get a gorgeous suite on the Epic with our cruise package.... so hard to know which one to go for. The dates for Xmas 2013 are not released yet so that makes it more difficult too but we are tied to term times which is not helping.

Which suite, Epic could be a good choice, Xmas will be from Florida.
dec 2013 itineries are available
http://www2.ncl.com/vacations?Ntt=I+want+to...&loc=undefined&date_from=12%2F13&date_end=12%2F13&dur=undefined&from=undefined&ship=N%3D4294963194%26Ne%3D11%26Nf%3Dp_Sail_Date_Epoch%257CLTEQ%2B1388534399%257Cp_Sail_Date_Epoch%257CGTEQ%2B1385856000%26Nr%3DAND%2528p_Record_Type%253AI%2529%26Nu%3Dp_Key%26q%3Dquery&qs=N%3D4294963194%26Ne%3D11%26Nf%3Dp_Sail_Date_Epoch%257CLTEQ%2B1388534399%257Cp_Sail_Date_Epoch%257CGTEQ%2B1385856000%26Nr%3DAND%2528p_Record_Type%253AI%2529%26Nu%3Dp_Key&older=no&latitudes=no&location=Where+do+you+live%3F

Most ships these days you don't have to dress up even on formal nights(might want a jacket on some)

Except P&O they are still hanging on to tradition.

All ships have alternatves for formal night if they have them even P&O.

blue_monkey_2 · 10 March 2012 at 12:40PM

Thanks for the replies. I spent last night and this morning looking at cruises trying to find the right one.

I looked at P&O but there is a supplement to pay to go on one of these - which I would have considered - but it is going to cost and extra 6k for a balcony stateroom for 7 days around the Med - ridiculous IMO. It's cheaper to fly to the US and stay in a junior suite onboard on NCL and go to the Bahamas.

On Dec 23rd 12 the Norwegian Jewel sails out of New York for a 7 night cruise to the Bahamas and the children have asked to go to New York so this would be an option for us - plus NY flights would be cheaper than flying to Orlando as well.

I am tied on dates to be honest as it either has to be July/August 13 or Xmas 13 - although we do have 3 years in which to take the package. I think that it would be too cold in December and too choppy in the summer. Thoughts?

I did find out that there was 'Freestyle cruising' offered by some companies which was not so much dressing up for dinner and more casual.

Thanks for your help, it has really been appreciated, it's nice to learn about these options. I had not considered them before and we did say that we would only go if it was a Disney Cruise but it is nice to think further afield and see what else is available. Royal Carribean has some good options and the Kids Club comes up with good reviews too.

getmore4less · 10 March 2012 at 12:50PM

NCL kids theme on the epic is Nickelodeon(sp) so SBSP.
http://www.ncl.co.uk/freestyle-cruising/family-fun/nickelodeon/

NCL don't have junior suites?

What is the package you have towards a cruise?

New york winter will be cold but then you have Xmas themes going on.

blue_monkey_2 · 10 March 2012 at 1:15PM

Sorry it was the mini suite with Balcony on the Jewel.

It is rolling out to 3 ships from Feb 12 and includes the Jewel and Gem as well as Epic: http://www2.ncl.com/freestyle-cruise/nickelodeon

We have a package of any 7 day cruise for 4 and 7 nights accomodation or 3 nights city break, they do not have to be taken together. Some of the cabins incur extra costs so we could not stay in a garden suite but we can for an additional fee. P&O additional fees were extortionate though, even for an inside stateroom, most of the Carnival, RC, Disney, NCL, Celebrity are included without an extra charge. We can even choose 11 or 14 day cruises without extra fee but we think 7 will be enough - plus the kids have got to get time off school. Hard to choose though.

getmore4less · 10 March 2012 at 1:28PM

blue_monkey wrote: »

Sorry it was the mini suite with Balcony on the Jewel.

It is rolling out to 3 ships from Feb 12 and includes the Jewel and Gem as well as Epic: http://www2.ncl.com/freestyle-cruise/nickelodeon

We have a package of any 7 day cruise for 4 and 7 nights accomodation or 3 nights city break, they do not have to be taken together. Some of the cabins incur extra costs so we could not stay in a garden suite but we can for an additional fee. P&O additional fees were extortionate though, even for an inside stateroom, most of the Carnival, RC, Disney, NCL, Celebrity are included without an extra charge. We can even choose 11 or 14 day cruises without extra fee but we think 7 will be enough - plus the kids have got to get time off school. Hard to choose though.

That looks good be great to find something that fits

I wonder what basis they are working out the extra charges? there are some good value NCL trips and some of the cabins above the minis are great, the 2 bed suites on the jewel class are very good for families.

We did 9 night at Xmas on the Jade ex BCN, cheaper flight than NY and longer than the 7days which will go very quickly(try to find a trip that does more) or put a stay at either end.

Is there anything that fits the school hols, is new year a blackout date?

blue_monkey_2 · 10 March 2012 at 9:10PM

No, to be honest I have been putting in dates for Xmas 2012 so we could see what was available for that time of year so we have an idea and only the Carribbean/Bahamas are coming up - I;ve had a thought that maybe I am putting in the wrong criteria. They have only released dates until March 2013 and I am just being a bit impatient and want to look at them all. LOL.

I looked the other day and all of the Disney cruises were showing for Xmas 2013, the only ones showing for then so I started searching for 2012 instead.

Amazingly there are no blackout dates and it includes Xmas and the New Year as well as Easter and all the school holidays too which is why it is such good value as the price doubles then but we do not need to pay more unless we stay in a big suite, however we still need to add time on to fly there and back, and even if we do not have our week holiday at the same time, it is still going to creep into 10 days to go on this cruise. And that is assuming we get back and disembark early enough to fly that day.

There are lots to choose from for this year but we are off to Florida in a few weeks time and I do not want to struggle to afford it or cut back on spends for this holiday, we want to enjoy the both of them and was intending to use it for next years holiday. We can use our timeshare for a mini break at the start or end of the cruise too.

There are loads that fits in with the school holidays - I have been checking for 2012 though, I will check the European cruises later, I think I must have had the criteria in wrong as I am pretty sure I remember seeing some that sail out of Barcelona down to Tenerife.

The extra charges are Port and Government Taxes - work out about £20 a day. If we want a bigger suite then we pay extra for that too - we can have one with a butler for an extra £600 for a week for the 4 of us, LOL.

I'll have a look later and I'll post up the additional charges for going with P&O. Maybe they just do not want people on their cruises who are using their timeshare breaks, who knows.

Best 7 night cruises for children....

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