My husband and I just returned from a cruise on Celebrity...loved it, now are thinking of letting the kids experience a cruise. We are looking at 5 days out of Galveston (March 17th - 22nd. Good choice?? (weather, activties, food..) We felt pretty spoiled on Celebrity and wonder if we should keep this as our special trip (cruises) and stick to snowboarding spring break vacations with the kids. (All boys ages 8,10,14 & 15) Any suggestions are appreciated!

Hi,
If you want to take your kids on a cruise I would suggest RCCL over Celebrity. RCCL would be more geared for kids. You would be sailing on the Splendor which is a "Vision" class ship. There would be more for the kids to do. I think you will find the food really good but not great like on the Celebrity ship. The rooms are smaller on RCCL ships too. If it were my choice to make, I would choose making cruises my special vacation without the kids. I'm taking each of my Grandchildren on a cruise for their 10th birthday, (doing that next month) but, it's a special occasion. I'm just glad I can go along.

Sonny

Thanks for the advice. As I was doing my home work about this cruise it got sold out! So now we are looking at the next one which will make the kids miss a few days of school...which believe it or not may shoot the whole trip (per them not me!) We plan on having a family meeting to decide but I'm am inclined to agree with you about keeping the cruises for just my husband and I. But its so tempting especially since they have extended the requirements for passports for another 2 years. The extra money on passports sure makes the cruise a less expensive option.

good luck w/ your decision. my husband and i were in the same boat...went on a cruise, loved it and wanted the kids to experience it, too. we are booked on celebrity in april and were afraid there might not be enough for them to do. but a lot of posters here seem to think that during easter break, there would be plenty of other kids and that even celebrity ships make an extra effort to entertain kids during holidays. but now, we only have 2 and you guys have 4!!!! whatever you decide, good luck. but i bet they'd have a ball just being on the ship, no matter what! the NEXT cruise could always be the 'mom and dad only'!!

Hi Snokler8 I would also recommend the Freedom or one of the Voyager class ships over A Celebrity cruise ship for the kids. From my experience the RCCL ships are more geared for it than the Celebrity ships. Not that I think the Celebrity are bad ships its the other way they are great ships but they are just more geared toward the adults I feel. Another good one for the kids is Disney. But they can't offer the things a Voyager Class ship can or The Freedom. But all RCCL ships have programs for the kids.

1981 Dolphin IV
1983 Rhapsody
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1985 Dolphin IV & Carnivale & Mardi Gras
1986 Dolphin IV & Royale
1987 Royale & Oceanic
1988 Dolphin IV & Emerald Seas
1989 Norway & Regent Sea
1990 Norweigan Sun & Dolphin IV
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2005 Sovereign of the Seas (3 times) & Mariner of the Seas
2006 Sovereign of the Seas (3 times) Already Booked again for November and also booked the Radiance (FEb).

quote:

But its so tempting especially since they have extended the requirements for passports for another 2 years.

They extended the passport requirement for another 2 years?? I was completely unaware of this. Does this mean that if we sail into Cozumel from Florida (great adventurers, I know...but we had so much fun last year) we still don't need passports yet?
Steph

The passport requirements for cruises in the Caribbean have been delayed for one year. They take effect on January 1, 2008. Still no reason to delay getting a passport. Why are so many people against it? It is going to be a requirement for ALL travel sooner rather than later. At some point in the next couple of years nobody will be able to leave the U.S. without a passport.

I have been taking my daughter for cruises since she was 6 or 7. Mostly RCCL or Celebrity but also other lines like Regent ( then Radisson). She loved cruising and made lots of friends. Dont hesitate about taking your kids on a cruise. It is a great experience and teaches them a lot of things. I once went on a cruise where a 16 year old didnt know how to use a fork and knife! They learn table manners and social conversation and a whole lot of other things

Cruising has helped our son tremendously. He is 12 and has been on 14 (I think) cruises! Seeing other cultures, being exposed to new foods, etc., it has really been worthwhile.

I am taking my kids on a RRC cruise next week and we are so excite. What a better way to travel with kids, sure beats a resort where they can get board, or a road trip, which gets uncomfortable. What I am excited about is family shore excursions, two for the whole family, and a snorkling one where we get to leave the little one at the adventure club on the ship and don't have to constantly be worried about him. Looks like there are plenty of family activites on the ship and even more activities that the kids can do without us, so we can go play and have grown up time.

I would definately go RCCL with kids. Tom

Why have kids if you are going to leave them at home??? I may have misunderstood something though...but here are my 2 cents....
Yes - choose a ship geared for kids and choose a shorter Itin as there will be other kids. In this day and age there is no reason (other than finacial) for you not to take your kids but then I have to be critical again most people don't have enough time for their kids anyway so vacation times are really important family times...If you can't afford to cruise with them look for something else you CAN afford to do!!!

Beautifully said, moeve!

I agree that if you can only do one vacation a year definately take the kids with. However there is something terribly romantic about a 3 day cruise alone with a spouse, especially if you see much more of your kids than your spouse.

I like to keep the longer vacations of any sort for my whole family, but every now and then I like to do a night or two away with my hubby.

I think you made a wise decision on all counts. I also think that RCCL is the best cruise with chidren. Celebrity is definately not as good with kids. Tom

I have taken my daughter on two cruises (both Celebrity) and she really enjoyed both. The one concern I had was that a few of the children she met on board the first cruise were drinking alcohol (a group of 8-10 children, the youngest being about 12). The alcohol was brought on board by the parents of a 15yr old, who knew they were drinking. Needless to say I kept a close eye on my daughter who was 15yrs at the time.

We have cruised on Celebrity four times....with children. I love the Children's program on Celebrity. They do a great job.
And we have also experienced Carnival, RCI and Princess.

I think RCCL is you best bet with the kids. There is tons for them to do but be warned that you will probably almost never see them while on board if they are older. On our last cruise we traveled with our 16 yr old son and my brother in law's family that included 3 other teen agers (12-18). We ran into them on their way to the snack bar area in the promenade or Johnny Rockets but really only saw them other than that if we went looking for them (usually at the pool, on the sports deck or in the arcade) or at dinner and bedtimes whenever we were on the ship. They even rushed after we got back from excursions to meet up with the friends they had made on ship up in the kids area so they could share their experiences from the day. It was a great experience for all of them and they made some great friends. My son had such a great time he requested that our next trip be a cruise (booked for Alaska 06/07 on Celebrity).

I will also warn you that cruising with kids is VERY different than going without. We have done the exact same cruise both ways (Mariner of the Seas - Western Caribbean) and had 2 very different cruises. They both were awesome in their own ways but just very different. Our first cruise (ever I might add) was a belated honeymoon and that trip was all about us and what we wanted to do. It was nothing short of magical. When we got home and told our family about it, my brother in law's family decided that they wanted to do it as a family trip. We ended up going along with them, bringing our son. It was still an incredible time but we were not able to just focus on the two of us and do exactly what we wanted to do so it was a little different but still awesome. A long as you know and are prepared for not having that alone time that you had on the parents only cruise you will not be disappointed. It is well worth watching their faces the first time you watch the sunset together over the water when you are in the middle of nowhere or when you get to discover something new with them.