What is the best cruise ship for taking a 5 and 8 yr. old on ?? thanks lisa?

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TINKERTOY ..... the 1 & only

If your kids are really enthused with the Disney characters and you think they will enjoy being around Disney Characters every day of your cruise, then Disney cruise line MAY be best. The drawbacks with Disney is they currently have only two ships and both sail from Florida ports and have very limited itineraries.

But Disney is not the only cruise line that has programs for kids. Pretty much all of the cruise lines have free programs to keep kids busy most of the day every day, and have places on their ships that are just for kids. The programs are managed and the kids supervised by professionally trained staff members who supervise the kids at play. The programs go by different names, like Adventure Ocean on Royal Caribbean ship, Navigators on Norwegian cruise line ships, and Camp Carnival on Carnival ships. But they are all free.

My recommendation is consider (look for cruises on and compare) Disney, but also consider Carnival and Royal Caribbean. If I were your travel agent my first choice for you would be Royal Caribbean

Both Carnival and Royal Caribbean cater to families and the ships will generally have a mixture of kids and adults, mostly ages 20 to 40 but also a few older. The major difference between the two is Carnival is the budget cruise line for first time cruiser and young folks who want to party. Both have programs for kids and areas of their ships where kids can hang out together. Royal Caribbean, however, has the most activities on its ships for kids. Things like ice skating, rock climbing wall, basketball court, roller blade track, mini-golf, and on the new Freedom class ship a surfing simulator called the ":Flowrider".

But not all ships are the same and they do not all have all of these activities. You should go to the Carnival and RC web sites and look at the features of the ship you are considering. The very best ship to go on if you want a lot of things to do on ship are RC's Freedom, Liberty and Independence of the Seas ( http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/ships/class/home.do;jsessionid=00008Zo7hqeZydSHByDtpRuDCWV:12hbiocus?shipClassCode=FR&br=R )and its Voyager Class ships (http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/ships/class/home.do;jsessionid=00008Zo7hqeZydSHByDtpRuDCWV:12hbiocus?shipClassCode=VY&br=R )

Your best cruise itinerary/destination is probably the Caribbean. However, just because you live in Ohio you are not limited to cruises from Florida. You can board cruise ships for Caribbean itineraries at a number of ports from New York/New Jersey, to Norfolk, Va, to Galveston, Texas, to name just a few. So consider which of these is cheaper for you and family to get to. You can drive to all of these and park at the port, except in New York City.

If you are still not sure then avail yourself of the free services of a travel agent and have him/her give you some options and prices from the ports I have mentioned as well as Florida ports.

tnincy

there is a disney cruise, which i have never been on. heard good things. carnival has "camp carnival" for youngsters where you can take them and drop them off for some time and the staff will watch after them and entertain them.

randy

i took my kids on the disney cruise they love it at it was fun for me good time

Hey Lisa!
Here are some of my recomendations:

Disney- They have a option where you can spend 4 days at the parks and 3 days on the boat. Your 5 year old would love it. However, they dont have many activites for kids 7+.

Carnival- Carnival is one of the cheapist Cruise lines. (in fact im on a cruise with Carnival now!) I think they do a great job with kids any age and still have a lot for adults. They have babysitting after 10:00 for $6 per hour while you go to bars, shows, restruants, etc. They also have Camp Carnival. Camp CArnival is where kids go for however long they want and do Kid Friendly Activites.

All others are expensive and have the same qualites as Carnival.

I'm attaching some pricing for you below:
http://www.carnival.com/find_a_Cruise/search_Results.aspx?src=ms&dur=D1&embkCode=MIA&dest=BH&dat=042010
-This link is for a 2-5 day cruise out of Miami to Bahams.

Need any more info-
haydn.lambert@gmail.com

jonasbrothers1202

Definitely Disney cruises are the best for younger kids. There are many activities for kids and the cruises were made essentially just for the children. Have fun :]

dee

I think the newer ships that Royal Caribbean has offer something for every age group. I would suggest the Freedom or Voyager Class. They have awesome programs for the young ones. They have a ice skating rink, they can go ice skating or they can watch the wonderful ice skating show. The programs they offer for the 5 year old would be the Aquanauts program, here is the link for that provides info for that programs http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/experiencetypes/home.do;jsessionid=0000Q3jW1TUzQ5rCSB1RKXjqcMT:12h3g0fq2?#/?detail=548&wl=0
The program that the 8 year old would be on is the Explorer program here is the link that provides info for that one http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/experiencetypes/home.do;jsessionid=0000Q3jW1TUzQ5rCSB1RKXjqcMT:12h3g0fq2?#/?detail=549&wl=0
The next link provide information for ship overall
http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/ships/class/ship/home.do?br=R&shipClassCode=FR&shipCode=FRe.do;jsessionid=0000Q3jW1TUzQ5rCSB1RKXjqcMT:12h3g0fq2?#/?category=107.
Hope this information helps. I'm taking my son next year on a cruise and it is so important that they have a good time too, and Royal Caribbean I think have some of the best programs and a good staff that keeps the kids well entertained.

david

You would want to check into Disney for the kids sake. If you are looking for the least expensive way out check out Carnival. Both have tons of things for the kids to do, but Disney sort of specializes in kids!

Good Luck and don't be afraid to park the kids at the kids areas and get some good fun in for yourself as well. Trust me the kids will be well looked after!

lucas

if u can save up enough money i would take cunard, queen mary 2 it leaves from fort lauderdale FL every so often

sally b

I believe the best for families is Royal Caribbean. Disney is much more expensive and the main benefit is the characters roaming around. Royal has a fantastic children's program and an equally good program for adults.
I have been on over 30 cruises and now I sell them.

I <3 Acting!

I would say a Disney Cruise. I heard those are a lot of fun and the adults can do there own thing at times.

Also, Nickelodeon Cruises are supposed to be fun!

You need to plan about a year in advance I beleive though.

Have a great time!

Brutal Baby

The Disney Cruise!
or if that is too pricey then Carnival is a good one also for the little ones, They have day clubs & they do activities such as scavanger hunts! they have a water slide at the pool.

& Then there is tons for the adults to do also, and the priceing is very reasonable!

Cele

I know the Disney and Carnival Lines are noted for family fun. Do not
forget about the Royal Caribbean Line...wall climbing, ice skating,mini golf, slides at the pools. even one of their ships have a zip line across
"central park"

Bugga B

wellllllll, there's obviouslyy the disney curise that peoples immediately think of
my 9 year old brother is going on that this april
but bear in mindd that its not all that its cracked upp 2 b...
if u want "parent" time ull havee 2 figure out sumfin 2 do with the kids
bcuz virtually everythingg on the boat uu need 2 have ur parents with uu
and there r different age grouped activities so it mitee b hard 2 find things 4 both the 5 year old and 8 year old...
but if it was a family vaca then it mitee b easier bcuz u could possibly split the family upp 2 go 2 certain activities after havign breakfast in the mornign 2gether, maybe somedays all go on an excursion 2 the idland they stop at, or maybe sit by the pool and relax while the kids swim then do sumfin in the evening liike dinner 2gether. its a lot 2 juggle, but its a vaca!! ;DD

That guy...

CARNIVAL that's the best one!!

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