<p>We have the opportunity to have a brief family vacation over the winter holidays. We are thinking of taking the boys (16 and 20) on a Caribbean cruise. We’ve never done a cruise before, and want to find one that is fun for kids this age. I’ve been reading cruise reviews on several websites, but thought my esteemed colleagues here on CC could share their experiences-- both positive and negative. We will probably do the eastern or western Caribbean - looking at probably a 4-7 day cruise. We can cruise out of any of the Fla ports, though older s needs to end up in S. Fla for New Years with the gf.</p>
<p>I’d appreciate hearing your experiences- good and bad. The horror stories are as important as the glowing recommendations. Anyone have a shecific ship they liked/hated or a specific cruise line they do or don’t recommend?
Thanks in advance, everyone.</p>
<p>Read cruise critic web site to get reviews and updates.</p>
<p>Many americans can be highly critical and outright rude to the help. i’ve found cruising to be just great and can’t say i’ve been disappointed. Treat everryone with dignity and respect and you’ll have a great time.</p>
<p>If you do the caribbean each island has a distinctive flavor.</p>
<p>try to avoid aruba if you can until they get it thru their heads re: Natalie Holloway and others.</p>
<p>Thanks, musictoad. I’ve been reading Cruise Critic and Cruise News so far. I am hoping to find a ship that will have things for both us and the guys. Don’t want one where (1) the average ages is dead or (2) where kids are running up and down the halls all day and night chased by their tatoo’ed biker moms. We realize that if we go for the cheapest, we’ll get what we pay for. Some of the ones that looked good are full already. Help!</p>
<p>I think you may have difficulty finding one not already booked at this time.Only the expensive cabins may be available. Carnival is good. Each place they stop there are offshore activities you may participate in for a fee.</p>
<p>I went on a Carnival cruise from Jacksonville, FL to Cozumel, Riviera Maya and Freeport with my parents and two daughters. </p>
<p>Cost was very reasonable; every cabin was sold out.</p>
<p>Food was pretty good (especially considering they were serving thousands) and lots of it. Wide range of ages on board. My then 13 year old daughter had a great time hanging out with other youths. 11 year old was less happy as there really wasn’t much for her to do. Shore excursions to Tulum etc. in Mexico were excellent.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, our cabin was directly beneath the disco, so I was unable to sleep until after 1am… pick your cabin location carefully.</p>
<p>Hi, my family and I have been on 8 Royal Caribbean cruises. My kids 16 and 20 always have a great time. My daughter has also been on Disney and Carnival with a friend. She says that Royal Caribbean is far and away the best. My kids still keep in touch with friends they have made on past cruises. We cruise every year spring break and this year we are taking a Christmas break cruise with 15 family members. My kids like the Voyager class ships better than the smaller ships. The people on board are a mix of old and young, depending on the week. Of course spring break is loaded with kids, but I never felt it was a problem. The kids have lots of structured activities to keep them busy and there is a teen lounge. The food is good, and always available. My sister says the food is better on Princess. If you want to work out, the gym on board is very nice. I work out before dinner, so I can eat more! Any specific question ask.</p>
<p>We loved our Disney cruises but the kids were little at that time.
Many of the Carnival ships are newish and all are big. Some have movie
theatres, casinos, discos and multiple bars. Keep in mind you have to pay extra for all drinks and for many activities. YOu are also expected to pay tips to EVERYONE when you leave. And be careful on all the ladders. Geesh, I have been frightened and thought a drunken person could get really hurt, or fall in the drink, if they fell while climbing one.</p>
<p>royal carribbean is the nicest affordable cruiseline. classier/cleaner/better service than the carnival boats. great for families with ‘older kids’ (i.e. under 25).</p>
<p>I thought they were adding in tips to the bill on some lines-- like $10 per person per day. More tipping to everyone is necessary on top of the built-in tips?</p>
<p>We have been on Carnival (this past Christmas) and Royal Caribbean (also Christmas holiday). Both were good- RC is nicer. You won’t have any trouble with the age level at the holidays. There are tons of families and tons of teens. My kids had WAY too much fun both times! There are special night clubs for the younger teens (no alcohol) and everyone makes friends. WildChild was running with a pack the first night. I recommend giving your kids a little more latitude than you might on dry land. Remember- it’s the “international waters” rules! We left from Galveston both times and did the Caribbean. First time was Key West, Cozumel, Belize. Second was Cayman, Cozumel, Jamaica. We enjoyed all the stops. We did an awesome sting ray expedition on Cayman (not one set up by the ship) but WildChild was afraid of the sting rays.</p>
<p>We have been on Royal Carib, Carnival, and Celebrity - but most recently in 2001 (Royal Carib). If your children are teens, and you want to balance fun with class - go RC, lots to do and good food, reasonable service. Carnival gives you a lot for your money, but it is definitely not in the same league with RC service-wise. Our kids were quite small when we took them, but the slide was the key, they loved the big slide and pool.
I would recommend doing some searching on the Internet for side trips rather than taking the cruise excursions - you will get better prices, and many of the cruise excursions will fill up fast on these holiday cruises. Just be aware that you have to get yourself to the boat on time.</p>
<p>Our best ever family vacation! as noted cruise critic rates cruise lines and each ship. For a great quick look at the ship’s rating and lowest current price look at vacations to go website. Do a search, not just best discounts choice. There are high rated Royal Caribbean 7 day out of FL for under 1000, and some high rated HAL and Carnival ships for under 800. Even a pretty low Queen Mary-Cunard 7 day under 1000. If I had the money for a holiday cruise now, I’d actually love to do Disney once - tons of family stuff and great food, or Royal Caribbean if we could do a 4.5 to 5.0 rated ship. Remember holidays can be as much as 3 times the usual price. Most lines have a range of ship ratings. The shorter the cruise, in general, the lower rated the ship. So a 4 day cruise will usually have younger folks, much rowdier people, and less quality food. The will most likely have more late night activities. We’ve done Holland America and Princess so far. HAL had far better food (at holiday time, but I think all year) Princess was disappointing food but a ton more activities, dancing til wee hours etc. Some lines do NOT have 4 people rooms, some do. If they do they can be close to the first 2 passengers price, or as little as half that.
Age 16 and 20 means the younger can go to the teen club to meet others - great time on ships at the holidays, no matter what line. the 20 year old, if party type, dancer, athlete etc. would find more to do on Royal Caribbean high rated ships. teen club - my D still keeps in touch with kids she met last Christmas on Holland America ship. RCL expensive/high rated ships have ice skating, mini golf, rock climbing wall etc. Some lines will let the 20 year old drink and gamble if out to sea (not sure if still true)
At the holidays all lines have a big age range as 2 and 3 generation groups are traveling.
I’d also think about where the ship stops and what kind of activities. If they scuba or snorkel almost all stops are great. If not, some places are dull, some not safe. I have read on trip advisor website that Cozumel and etc have a lot of topless women on the beaches and some parents of teen boys were not happy to find that out.
love cruising!</p>
<p>Don’t have any experience with the modern ships (they seem very topheavy, due to their hotel-like design, and are therefore apt to pitch and roll more than the liners of old did – of course they were built primarily for real ocean travel, not coastal cruising), but if they are like the old ones then try to get a stateroom amidships, as that is the most stable area on board.</p>
<p>I’ve been on three cruises but when I read your post the one that came to mind was the Windjammer cruise my husband and I took to celebrate an anniversary. These are large sail boats that also have engines. Dressing up means putting your t-shirt on over your bathing suit. <a href=“http://www.windjammer.com%5B/url%5D”>www.windjammer.com</a> It was absolutely the most relaxing cruise I’ve ever been on. You can choose to do land tours like conventional cruises. My husband went scuba diving a couple of times while I went snorkeling. These are not the ones where passengers do the work. Just something a little different…</p>
<p>just a fyi - newer ships absolutely do not pitch and roll more due to being top heavy. They have amazing stabilizers. After a few minutes you cannot tell the ship is on the sea. We hit moderate rough sea once and the max I could notice was occasionally felt like riding a train or subway. Usually feels like a hotel on land.
The biggest problem I have, due to mobility issues, is that megaships are a far walk. Someone wrote on cruise critic they averaged 7 miles a day on pedometer walking the Crown Princess. We were just on it and I used a scooter to get around.</p>
<p>I have only cruised on Royal Caribbean so I can’t give a comparison of different cruise lines - but I can HIGHLY recommend RC. I was especially impressed with the staff’s friendliness. I would suggest that if you decide to book a cruise with RC, you call them instead of booking online. Sometimes there are special rates that are not showing on the website and these can save some serious money.</p>