We have a courtesy hold on a 3-night cruise on the Disney Wonder in Oct 08. I think we'll be putting a solid booking through in the next few days.
It will be 5 of us -- DH, DD 10, DS 7, DD 3, & Me, or 6 of us if Mom comes, too. Either way, we have 2 adjoining oceanview staterooms.
Our kids have NO idea. They don't know we're planning a trip to WDW, they know nothing about us considering a cruise, and all along we've told them that if we went to FL we'd be driving. But hubby and I have decided that by the time we rented a car (don't want to use our own), paid for gas, and at least one hotel room along the way (driving from CT), we haven't saved that much money. Not to mention time, which is more critical when we're pulling the kids out of school...
Anyway, hubby and I are very excited and will be looking for creative ideas from this board on ways to tell our kids about our trip, when the time comes!
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Cari
mom of 3 and proud wife of a Marine
DCL Magic - 7-day-turned-8-day Western Feb 10 - family
DCL Wonder - 4-day Bahamas Oct 08 - family
RC Voyager - Canada 2004 - w/dh
RC Nordic Prince - Alaska 1993 - w/parents
we will be going on celebrity summit on may 11-barcelona , villefrance ,florence ,capri , rome , santorini ,athens , dubrovnik and venice. have never been to europe....soooo happpy! we are traveling with 10 yr old daughter and 2 sons-8 and 4. should be an adventure!love tips from anybody-first time cruise with family.
We are booked for The Adventure of the Seas Dec 18th Christmas cruise. Our son will be 17 months, and will be our sons second cruise (we just returned from his first at 6 mnths)
July 6 cruise on Zaandam from Vancouver to Seward (8 day). I'm going with my 15 yo son. We are exploring Denali and Anchorage on our own after that.
HAL would not have been my first instinctive choice, but I've read and heard their facilities and programs for teens are pretty good. I hope so, we were both disappointed with Carnival Paradise last year (4 day Baja).
HAL has great hang out facilities for the teens club. We went to Alaska last summer w/my then 14 year and 6 year old and they both loved the cruise -- especially the gorgeous scenery!
Smooth sailing,
Luisa Frey Gaynor
Family Cruise Editor
Luisa, thank you for the comments about HAL and your kids. Thanks to the reviews on CC, I figured HAL has good teen facilities in spite of their legacy reputation. We will probably be too amazed at the scenery, wildlife, and shore activities to notice anything lacking onboard.
We leave on Saturday for a 7 day eastern caribbean cruise on the Carnival Victory. It'll be Me, DH, DD (2 years old this Thursday!), MIL and FIL in 2 balcony cabins - it's our first cruise. After looking through the kids programming I'm very glad we are going with Carnival. DD is not potty trained and they'll still let her into the kids programming - this makes me very happy!
I would like to know a bit more about tipping the staff in the kids program - how would I go about doing that? I'm sure there will be many counselors so how should I handle making sure all of them get a 'thank you gift'?
We are going to Alaska in May with our 3.5 year old son! I am still trying to figure out some shore excursions. We have whale watching booked, but I am not sure if 4.5 hours is going to be too long for him.....
Hi! I am a brand new member here, and this is my first post!
We are booked on the HAL Amsterdam on August 22 from Seattle to Alaska (roundtrip) with our two daughters, 6 and 3. My sister and her husband who live in Seattle will be traveling with us. The HAL Kids club looks like it should be fun for our girls (we hope!). Most cruise lines we looked at seem to separate age groups something like 3-5, 6-8, etc. The Amsterdam has one area for 3-7, which I actually like because it would keep our girls together.
This is our second cruise, but first since we've had kids (I expect this to be a much different experience!). We have previously cruised from New York to Bermuda on Royal Caribbean (in 2000).
Booked myself, 4yo and 7yo daughters along with Grandma & Grandpa for the HAL Zaandam (Landtour first) on June 15. It's my family's third cruise...more for Grandma & Grandpa. Your article was great! Do you think there will be some kids on the ship? I'm betting no for the land tour.
Likely some - just see that your kiddos get into the HAL Club. More kiddos typically on RT Vancouver and RT Seattle Alaska cruises. Be sure the kiddos see the eagles, otters and whales and ride the Alaska RR. Bring your binocs for the critters.
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Originally Posted by catsy19
Booked myself, 4yo and 7yo daughters along with Grandma & Grandpa for the HAL Zaandam (Landtour first) on June 15. It's my family's third cruise...more for Grandma & Grandpa. Your article was great! Do you think there will be some kids on the ship? I'm betting no for the land tour.
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HAL:
1987 Rotterdam V, 1989 Nieuw Amsterdam II, 1993 Nordam III, 1994 Ryndam III, 1996 Westerdam III, 1999 Veendam IV, 2001 Maasdam V, 2002 Amsterdam III, 2003 Volendam III, 2003 Zuiderdam II, 2004 Westerdam IV, 2004 Oosterdam I, 2005 Zaandam III, 2006 Statendam V, 2006 Prinsendam II, 2007 Nordam IV, 2008 Eurodam I, 2008 Rotterdam VI, 2009 Veendam IV, 2009 Volendam
We originally were booked on NCL Pearl nine day Southern Caribbean over Thanksgiving. Due to them cancelling that itinerary, we are now booked on Carnival Freedom eight day, Western Caribbean, November 22, 2008. Family of five, daughters 15 and 10, son 13. We can't wait. We cruised Thanksgiving 2006. It was the best family vacation we have had!
We are booked for Dec 7, 2008 14-night cruise from Buenos Aires to Valpairiso/Santiago, on NCL ship the Sun, with our 3 boys ages 11, turning 8, and 3.5 (at time of sailing; yes, the 7 yr old will turn 8 on the cruise).
This is our 2nd cruise, 1st with NCL, and 1st 14-day cruise. The 1st cruise we took was a Carnival cruise to Cozumel out of Galveston.
If I can figure out how to pack for 14 days, all kinds of weather, no self-serve laundry, I'll be all set!
We're looking forward to it.
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upcoming: looking for S America cruise -- suggestions?
Past: Carnival Ecstasy - Sep 2006 - W. Carribean
Heather, wife of Quentin
mom to 3 great boys, ages 12, 9 & 4
Sounds like a great itinerary! I assume you realize there won't be tons of kids on that cruise due to the itin. length as well as the fact that it's school time/pre-holidays. But the youth/teen programs will be up and running evn though there won't be a lot of kids.
Smooth sailing,
Luisa Frey Gaynor
Family Cruise Editor
Sounds like a great itinerary! I assume you realize there won't be tons of kids on that cruise due to the itin. length as well as the fact that it's school time/pre-holidays. But the youth/teen programs will be up and running evn though there won't be a lot of kids.
Smooth sailing,
Luisa Frey Gaynor
Family Cruise Editor
yes, we realize that. It's really a plus to us, b/c it means better/more individualized attn. in the Kid's Clubs.
of course, S America has school break during that time, so there might be some sailing "locally".
I'm sure we'll enjoy it either way (our Carnival cruise was during school year too, and the kids did great being one of few on board...)
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upcoming: looking for S America cruise -- suggestions?
Past: Carnival Ecstasy - Sep 2006 - W. Carribean
Heather, wife of Quentin
mom to 3 great boys, ages 12, 9 & 4
Single mother of 3 boys (11, 10 & 7) will be cruising Disney August 7th-10th. This will be our very first cruise and I am so excited to be finally going on a cruise. This message board has been a wealth of information for me. So thanks to all who post their reviews, questions and answers.
Sounds like it'll be a great itinerary on a nice, new ship. Just keep in mind, though, there won't be too many kids on that itinerary since it's very long and it's while school is in session. The youth program will be in operation no matter how many kids are there -- it's just more fun when there's more kids for your children to interact with.
We will be on the HAL Oosterdam Thanksgiving cruise (Nov. 22) We will have our two boys ages 3 and 5 with us and the grandparents are coming too! Mexican Riviera is good for us because we live about an hour away by car from San Diego and I do not want to fly with my kids especially during a holiday weekend!
We've booked the MSC Orchestra December 16, 2008 for the 17 day transatlantic crossing. We're sailing with our two girls 8 & 17 and we are all very excited.
Either way, we have 2 adjoining oceanview staterooms.
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