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  1. #1
    lmh2402's Avatar
    lmh2402 is offline Diamond level (5000+ posts)
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    Default "best" caribbean cruise with young kids

    Last minute scrambling and considering - anyone have thoughts/feedback on which cruise line they like best with young kids.

    Must haves:
    - good food
    - kid friendly activities like water park or mini golf, etc, etc

    don't really care about actual kids club since my children would never go, but need to have other kids for them to see (kiddie eye candy ) and stuff on board for them to do with us other than just sitting at the pool

    quick looking around suggests that the "best" lines might be Royal Caribbean or Norwegian. I like the idea of the flexible dining with Norwegian - my kids eat early and I don't think I'd enjoy being locked into fixed dining slots. But I wouldn't make a decision based solely on this

    appreciate any thoughts!
    mama to my awesome sporty boy (4/09) , precocious little girl (7/12) , and loving doggies (10/05 & 1/14)

  2. #2
    Mali is offline Silver level (200+ posts)
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    We took a family cruise in March on Royal Carribean's Oasis. At the time, my DD was 25m, my sister's kids were 4.5 and 23m, and my other sister's kids were 4 & 5. We had a blast! The older kids loved the kids club and were begging to go back. Plus, there was a play room in the kids area that you could take your kids (and supervise them) while they played on/with the toys there which worked out well for all of the kids.

    There was a kids section to the pools with spouts and such, but we didn't go to the pool at all since DD was on antibiotics and they gave her diarhea. There was a carosel, face painting at various times, assorted parades with the Dreamworks characters, and meet & greets with the characters as well.

    Dining wasn't an issue at all. When we went RCI had rolled out "My Time Dining" (their Dynamic Dining had been postponed) so we were able to choose when we wanted to go for dinner. We opted to make reservations since we were a group of 17, but you could also just choose MTD and show up whenever and then wait for a table. I think the "classic" dining times are 6 and 8 pm, but we just made reservations for 5:30pm for the entire trip (you can make them in advance). We skipped Cats, but the ice skating show was fun and so was the diving show and all the kids went to them. The ice skating show even had 2 seats on each side reserved for children so if you got there early enough the kids would get to go out in a sled on the ice with the performers as part of the show.

    As far as excursions, we did a sandbar trip in Labadee (meh, it was only 2 hours), an all inclusive in Jamaica (Rose Hall iirc) which was great, and swimming with dolphins in Cozumel. The first two we booked through RCI, but the dolphin one we booked directly since my nephew was just under the minimum age for RCI but totally allowed according to the Dolphin Discovery people.

    I would totally go on a cruise with RCI again, but it's a lot more expensive to fly to TX or back east compared with using one of the lines that goes to Mexico out of SoCal.

  3. #3
    SnuggleBuggles is offline Black Diamond level (25,000+ posts)
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    My friends **love** Disney cruises.

  4. #4
    ArizonaGirl is online now Sapphire level (2000+ posts)
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    We just did a cruise aboard the Norwegian Getaway in October and my kids 3 and 6 had a blast.

    They had a splash pad and mini golf and a rope climbing wall as well as a does course and we choose the early dinner at 5 and it was great.

    Much better than the Alaskan cruise we took on princess in June.

    Would definitely recommend
    Lindsey

    Married to DH June 2005 gave birth to Shawn December 2008 and Lilian August 2012




  5. #5
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    The newer/bigger ships from Norwegian (Epic, Breakaway, Getaway, Escape), Royal Caribbean (Oasis, Allure, Anthem, and I think the generation before the Oasis class as well), and Carnival will have the features you are looking for. We generally do Norwegian, but would love to do Royal Caribbean again some time soon. Personally I choose not to sail Carnival, but tons of people love them too. Disney is also very popular but I don't have any experience with their ships and they cost a LOT more. You could get a nice 2 bedroom suite on Norwegian for the price of a regular room on Disney if you hit the specials right. But if your kids love Disney and it's in your budget it's worth looking into. Don't think Disney has a flexible dining option though.

    Edit: Not what you asked at all, but Bermuda cruises are fabulous!! Caribbean is nice, and if you're going in the winter or spring you should do Caribbean, but if you're going summer and are flexible on destination, check it out.
    DS 2/14
    DD 8/17

  6. #6
    Tondi G is offline Red Diamond level (10,000+ posts)
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    We loved Royal Caribbean. I would go for an Oasis class (Oasis, Allure or Harmony) or Quantum class (Quantum or Anthem) ship.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by ArizonaGirl View Post
    We just did a cruise aboard the Norwegian Getaway in October and my kids 3 and 6 had a blast.

    They had a splash pad and mini golf and a rope climbing wall as well as a does course and we choose the early dinner at 5 and it was great.

    Much better than the Alaskan cruise we took on princess in June.

    Would definitely recommend
    Why didn't you like the Alaskan cruise? Was it the cruise line/ship or the itinerary?


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  8. #8
    ArizonaGirl is online now Sapphire level (2000+ posts)
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    Quote Originally Posted by Chitowngirl View Post
    Why didn't you like the Alaskan cruise? Was it the cruise line/ship or the itinerary?


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    It was absolutely the cruise line.

    Princess just wasn't up to my standards.

    Food wasn't great.

    Entertainment was lacking both for kids and adults.

    Service was good, but no enough to make up for the not great food and crappy entertainment.

    Alaska itself was wonderful.
    Lindsey

    Married to DH June 2005 gave birth to Shawn December 2008 and Lilian August 2012




  9. #9
    reneed is offline Silver level (200+ posts)
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    We did NCL in August and my only complaint is that they only had a splash pad type area and a really small pool for kids under 18. The main pool was adults only so during the day on sea days my son was unable to really use the pool. I don't remember that being the case with Royal Caribbean.

  10. #10
    LD92599 is offline Diamond level (5000+ posts)
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    Disney, Disney, Disney!!! They might surprise you and like the kids club? My younger one LOVES the kids club but DS1 has NEVER liked the kids club on any line (Disney, Cunard, QM2 etc) and only really like the kids club with Holland America in Alaska (he loved it because it was so few kids - 12 on the entire ship in all age categories)!.

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