Ok- I did a keyword search and I am noticing that alot of you had a great time on carnival cruises, which are quite a bit less expensive than disney.

HELP!

Here is what I would like to experience on a cruise: I would like to have wonderful childcare for my kids a couple hrs a day and one day I would like to snorkel with dh. What ship has the most family oriented fun?

Thanks so much!

By Happynerdmom on Wednesday, June 8, 2005 - 10:47 am:

Okay, this is coming from someone who has only taken one cruise (on Royal Carribean), and we did not bring our children. However, I have researched them and have talked to many cruisers. IMO, Disney cruises are overpriced, compared to what you can get on Carnival, or Royal Carribean. But, of course, we are not crazy about Disney anyway. If you adore Disney, (or your kids do) maybe it would be worth the extra price. I suggest doing some online research on your own. (here's one link from cruisecritic.com re:family cruising.) Family Cruising
Have fun!! There is nothing I love more than planning vacations! And, no matter what you choose, I think you'll love cruising!

By Yjja123 on Wednesday, June 8, 2005 - 11:30 am:

I would never take a Disney crise. They are a lot more $$ and both Carnival and Royal Caribbean have child care and kids programs. We have sailed both Carnival and Royal Caribbean and have been on 5 cruises. We prefer Royal Caribbean simply because their newer ships (Explorer of the seas, etc) are larger and have more activities to keep us busy on sea days. If you like relaxing by pool, gambling, etc the newer ships will not matter (as they all offer this). We like the rock climbing wall, minature golf, etc offered on Royal Caribbeans larger ships.
Yvonne

By Monicamomof3 on Wednesday, June 8, 2005 - 12:16 pm:

Thanks for the validation! WOW! I just talked to buycruises.com and they quoted me about $2800.50 for a 7 night cruise and Disney's was $3,500 for a 4 night!!! OMG! The carnival kid's programs sounds appealing and they allow 5 people in one cabin!!! That saves us tons of $. Royal Car. sounds a bit nicer, but for our first cruise I think that Carnival would be great. Also- they said that Royal car. doesn't allow 5 in a room. So, we would have to get two connected rooms.

What is your opinion of the quality of childcare and kids programs on Carnival?

Thanks- you guys are awesome!

By Jackie on Wednesday, June 8, 2005 - 12:40 pm:

We have only been on one cruise, and that was Royal Carribean in Aug 2003. It was a 4 night cruise, and it was awesome. We had 4 of us in one room, and believe me it was a tight squeeze
We booked a cruise for Aug 2006, yes 14 months away. We booked with Carnival this time, as they are the only cruise line that will accept children as young as 2 and not potty trained in their childrens programs.

By Yjja123 on Wednesday, June 8, 2005 - 01:23 pm:

I think Carnivals kids programs are better. Well, I should say *my kids* think they are better. They no longer use them as they like to go on the excursions with us. I asked which they preferred and they said Carnival was more fun. Carnival definitely had more freebies (like they painted a shirt and got to keep it). Your kids will have fun! Enjoy your cruise. Let me know if you need more info.
Check out cruisecritic.com for lots of tips and info on cruises.
Yvonne

By Jackie on Wednesday, June 8, 2005 - 02:32 pm:

I go to Cruisecritic.com all the time as well.
Faith will be 2 yrs old when we go, so that is why we are waiting. We plan on taking the kids on the excursions with us. When we were on Royal Carribean, we would eat dinner with the kids and then they would go the kid program for a few hours we had sometime to go to shows or the casino. Aug 2006 cant come quick enough LOL

By Karefl on Thursday, June 9, 2005 - 09:25 am:

I've done both Disney & RC. In my opinion do Disney w/kids & RC w/o them! The DISNEY kids program is just SOOOOOO superior to the one on RC! My kids really wanted to participate in the Disney programs & the RC one looked really lame! If you have the funds to spend the Disney cruise is WAY worth it with kids!

By Eve on Thursday, June 9, 2005 - 09:56 am:

We cruised Carnival at the end of February and it was wonderful. We chose a new and BIG ship. It was wonderful taking our DD. They were so great with her! The Camp Carnival (Included, no charge!) was wonderful. It was all activity based, so the kids weren't just sitting around watching videos. She loved all the crafts. It looked even better for the older kids. We sat at a table with another family with 3 kids and they couldn't wait to leave dinner to go to camp! They even deliver the kids directly to your room if they stay the whole evening!

Plus, at dinner every evening, the waiters all preformed and disco lights would come on and everyone would get out of their seat to dance.(My DD even liked the shows and went with us) The waiters were SO lovely!! They would come and take my DD by the hand to take her to see the dancers up on the platforms and they danced with her.

I don't think we will ever take a Disney cruise. We like Disney, but I think for the money I would rather take a longer cruise on another cruise line. Maybe when Disney comes out with more ships to add to their fleet, the price may come down a bit.

Whatever you decide, you can't go wrong! It's highly addictive!!

By Pamt on Thursday, June 9, 2005 - 06:45 pm:

We cruised a couple of years ago with a then 6 and 9 y/o on Carnival and had a blast. The boys loved sleeping in beds that folded out of the walls and we had plenty of room since we were only in our cabin to sleep. They did a few things with Camp Carnival ( a dance contest and a scavenger hunt), but mostly they were with us. Most of the kids in Camp Carnival are preschool-aged and younger, so don't expect older kids to want to spend lots of time there. We played LOTS of shuffleboard and swam, went to the shows, watched all of the goofy contests on board, and just hung out together on the boat. We stopped at Cozumel and Playa del Carmen. My MIL kept the boys while I went snorkeling "with the men" (DH, BIL, FIL) at Playa del Carmen---awesome fun! At Cozumel we didn't do any of the overpriced cruise excursions. I speak enough Spanish to get by, so we negotiated a driver and van and did our own thing witht he kids. Our driver took us to this remote beachside restaurant for lunch---sand floor, palm branch roof, one side of plexiglass facing the beach to block the wind and the other 3 sides open. We played on the beach while we waited for our food...paradise. Then we went to the Mayan ruins at Tulum (fascinating!) and swam in the Carribean there for awhile.

It was an awesome vacation with lots of good family time. My kids loved our waiters too and my oldest DS had his birthday on the trip and received the royal treatment from the waiters complete with a birthday cake on the house. They loved the unlimited pizza and ice cream or eating 8 pieces of bacon for breakfast . We are hoping to go again in a couple of years and by then I would trust the kids to do their own thing on the ship if they have walkie-talkies. The boys also made a lot of friends on the ship.

I'm with Michelle regarding Disney cruises...waaaay overpriced and I'm not a fan of Disney either. That would be at the bottom of my vacation agenda anyway, but if you're a Disney fan it may be your cup of tea.

By Alberobello on Thursday, June 9, 2005 - 07:18 pm:

Sorry i am afraid i can't comment on cuises as i live in the wrong side of the world for that (i wouldn't like to take a cruise in the North Sea to Ireland...too cold for me) I'd live to do a cruise on the Nile to visit Egypt, though...

I just wanted to say to Pam, I'm glad you liked Tulum, isn't it beautiful? I am from Cancun, but i prefer Tulum.

Do all the cruises that leave form Florida stop at Cozumel? if they do i would recommend everyone to do what Pam did, go to Tulum but also visit the "cenotes" which are fresh water wells in the middle of the jungle, some of them connect underground so it's possible to dive in the caves from one to another. They are amazing and the Tulum area is full of them.

Also Playa del Carmen is good for dining and shopping, there are some great clothes shops, one in particular that sells linen and cotton shirts for men. Like the ones they use in Cuba. They are also very common all over Yucatan, but now they have become very trendy.

And so many other things to do, but i think this is another topic, sorry!

By Feona on Thursday, June 9, 2005 - 07:18 pm:

The kids club on the disney boat was amazing.

The older kids had like a science guy show. The little kids had an amazing room with a huge slide that looked like a tree.

They had circus theme day.
They had story hour.
Crafts.

Personally I think they could have used more counselors, but I never think there is enough adults around.


John was too little to be in the kids program at the time, but the nursery was also very nice. I came by once and the guy was juggling for him.


But I heard only good things about carnival's kids club too.

By Monicamomof3 on Sunday, June 12, 2005 - 12:00 am:

Well- I think I may cancel the cruise, because we just bought into an incredible timeshare. They offer cruises at a very cheap rate. We will prob. be booking through them soon. I'll be asking lots of questions soon! Thank you so much everyone!

By Karen~moderator on Sunday, June 12, 2005 - 09:49 am:

Maria - MOST of the cruises that leave from New Orleans and Florida that go to the WESTERN Carribbean stop at Cozumel and/or Playa del Carmen.