Looking for cruise advice, big family

[JamesD]

Looking for advice. Never been on a cruise. Trying to pick a Caribbean cruise for this March for me, wife, 5 kids (ages 16 through 11 months.)

I am leaning towards Carnival and Royal Caribbean because of price. I get the impression that RC (more expensive) may have more for the family to do. Is this true?

I know I will need to get two cabins.

Any advice on which line would be better for kids?

I assume mass is available on board. Right?

Any other advice suggestions?

And yes, I know, I should be going on the Catholic Answers cruise!

 

[ack]

I’ve been on both a Carnival and RC cruise. I would say that the Carnival cruise actually had more for kids to do, but the RC cruise treated the whole thing with a somewhat more “mature” attitude (not catering as much to the college-student summer-break crowd.) If I get the desire to go on another cruise, I would choose an RC cruise for that reason.

Unfortunatly, you probably aren’t going to find Mass on either cruise line. I didn’t when I was on them. However, if the boat is docked on Sunday, you can find a Catholic church on shore if you do your homework.

 

[rlg94086]

Consider Disney. I know some people have a problem with the characters or certain Disney movies, etc., but their cruiseline has a few good features:

1. Very family friendly
2. Good variety of restaurants.
3. No Casino!
4. Good kid programs.

God Bless,

Robert.

 

[Scott_Lafrance]

JamesD:

Looking for advice. Never been on a cruise. Trying to pick a Caribbean cruise for this March for me, wife, 5 kids (ages 16 through 11 months.)

I am leaning towards Carnival and Royal Caribbean because of price. I get the impression that RC (more expensive) may have more for the family to do. Is this true?

I know I will need to get two cabins.

Any advice on which line would be better for kids?

I assume mass is available on board. Right?

Any other advice suggestions?

And yes, I know, I should be going on the Catholic Answers cruise!

Royal Carribean is more aimed at a bit older couples who are looking for a vacation FROM the kids. If you want a cruise line that specializes in cruises for families WITH kids, Carnival is your line.

 

[JamesD]

I really appreciate the advice, thanks.

I did notice that RC specifically mentioned SCUBA lessons on board. Anyone see this on the Carnival cruises?

Also is sea sickness a real possibility?

 

[rayne89]

JamesD:

Also is sea sickness a real possibility?

Yes sea sickness is possible. We hit some bad weather on our way back and we basically tried to sleep through the storm, to avoid the nausea. We were on Dolphin (this my Spring break in 1990 mind you.)
I don’t even know if Dolphin is still around but it’s ship was considerably smaller than the bigger cruise lines.

 

[ProudArmyWife]

I agree with the Disney choice.

We went on this last year and the experience was top rate. There are lots of things for just adults, just kids, or family. The choice is up to you!

Lots of excursion opportunities - and you can even do the excursions and leave the kids on the ship! Our kids cried (then 6 and 3) everytime we PICKED THEM UP from the kids rooms until we told them about the other activities we were going to! They give you the schedule (from teatime with Wendy and Peter Pan to Learning to be a Pirate) ahead of time to help you pick activities kids would/wouldn’t enjoy.

“Babysitting” ends around midnight!! They have mats for them to fall asleep on and everything. I even saw parents bringing sleeping kids down so they could have adult time together in the evening.

Just awesome. Can’t wait to go again!

 

[puzzleannie]

if it was me, I would ask grandma to watch the kids and make it a romantic cruise for just the two of us, but as you seem bent on bringing the kidlets, DD and family had great experience on Disney cruise.

 

[Almeria]

Do a search of these forums for cruises. I remember a thread a while back about masses on different cruise lines. If I recall correctly, there was a few problems at one point with a non-priest saying mass.