3gentravel

Hello and THANK YOU in advance for all input/advice.

We are interested in taking a cruise, last week of July, departing from anywhere on the Eastern coast, USA. Our problem, finding a cruise for 8. 2 adults, 6 kids: ages 17, 14, 12, 12, 10, 6; and not breaking the bank. The 2 older ones can room alone, but we prefer their room is adjoined to ours. Also, with the age range, we feel we are out of the Disney type cruise. If possible, and a big hit for the kids, a ship with a aquapark would be great! A 5 day cruise would be ideal as we have 7 travel days. Again, thank you!

Eschew

There are a few things taht you should consider ...

The shorter 4 or 5 day cruise generally caters to "younger" crowd (not necessary family oriented) with slightly older ships (which is fine). Both Carnival and Celebrity have ships positioned there, leaving from Florida, going to Bahamas, or Mexico. Generally one or two stops on a 5 day trip.

There is an age requirement. The ship will want at least one person older (age 25) in each cabin. With 2 adults and 6 kids, that will mean 1 adult and 3 kids per cabin. Meaning the 17 and 14 year old can't have their own room.

Everyone must ahve a passport to travel. So you should start applying for the passport now and add the passprot expenses to list of "hidden" expenditures.

Check the Carnival adn Celebrity web site and you will find the 4 or 5 day crusies. YOu can cehck out what facilities they ahve on the ship and where they go before you decide.

Good luck!

DMBTraveler

With the age of your kids I would recommend Carnival although NCL usually allows the 3rd/4th passengers in a cabin to travel at a reduced rate.

Eschew, makes some valid points although I disagree with the "younger crowd" vs "family oriented" issues. There are many in the "young crowd" that also travel with kids.

Having taken a few cruises (2-3 per year) I prefer the ships with the "younger crowd". We typically do a 7-Day during Spring Break and those cruises have been our best experiences.

Key West,Cozumel,Nassau or Grand Cayman would be ports I would consider ahead of others and these are usually offered on 4-5 day cruises.

Not sure when in July you are planning your trip but the earlier the better. Jun-Nov is hurricane season although most storms come later in the season.

bonniejns

I would also say Carnival. I have heard nothing but very good things about their kid's program- you'll never see your kids!Carnival is a real 'family' cruise and they do have shorter cruises.
Royal Caribean is also good but Celebrity doesn't have as many kids and I think of then as a 'country club' type of cruise.
Go to cruisecritic.com and check out their reviews. They have reviews of every ship and is quite a cruise web site. They even have 'for families'. Also check out everything on their 'boards' at menu on top of page.

1965

I have 3 words for you-Carnival Cruise Lines. 3 more words-Check them out.

doug_stallings

I think the recommendation of Carnival here is a good one. But it is true that the shorter cruises (less than 1 week) are more party-oriented than the weeklong cruises. I'd strongly suggest looking for a one-week cruise if you can do it. But if you want a shorter cruise, then you have to depart from Florida. These aren't offered from the other East Coast ports. Look at Miami for the most options.

Depending on where you live this might not be the best choice. Is there a port you can drive to? A lot of ports like Charleston and New York now offer cruising year-round. Not all cruises leave from Florida.

However, I'm not entirely sure a cruise line will allow your older kids (who are just 17 and 14) to stay alone. Please ... I beg you ... get a good travel agent who knows cruise line policies and options before making your booking. You will need some assistance.

This is an unfortunate arrangement because I don't think you really have enough adults to deal with this many kids (because cabins are so small). You will need at least two cabins that sleep four people, and it's possible that an adult will have to stay in each cabin. Just keep that in mind. But some lines can arrange connecting cabins (usually through a door in the balcony ... the cheaper inside cabins do not generally connect).

Eschew

Doug, I was being polite to say "younger" rather than "party".
I have seen drinking to the excess that I am not sure if I want my kids to witness it, or get drinks dumped on them, or a mature looking tween getting courted and flirted.

We had 4 in a cabin before. The last time we done it was 2001. It was the first and only time, and would be the last. We don't spent a lot of time in the cabin, but the sharing of the bathroom was an issue, and the upper/lower berth was an issue as well; although they did a very good job to open them only at night time so it was out of the way during the way.

Our memory of that cruise was quite blurred as I can't even recall the room configuration now. It was on the Carnival Senation and the kids had a great time.

bonniejns

I have read that when there are more than 2 in a cabin they use the shower in the spa for which there is no charge and towels are provided there.

doug_stallings

Four people in almost any regular cruise cabin (even if they are kids ... or perhaps especially if they are kids), is a real stretch for me. Some ships do have so-called "family" cabins that are bigger and sometimes have a second bathroom (NCL has them). But they are often very expensive premium-category cabins or suites, and it sounds to me as if this is a family who is not wanting to spend $20,000 on a family cruise, but I could be wrong.

DMBTraveler

For me, cruising and vacations in general is about spending the least amount of time in the room. Rooms and cabins are about sleeping.

As long as the beds are comfortable when you close your eyes they are all the same even if there are lots of people in them.

I have taken 3,5 & 7 day cruises with up to 6 family members and they have all been affordable and fun.

We always enjoy having the young aka "party crowd" on board as they tend to participate in the ship's activities like "The Belly Flop" and "Hairy Legs" competition which can be very entertaining.

Meanwhile, the "Fuddy Duddies" are in their $20,000 cabins taking an afternoon naps waiting for the next over priced art auction.

3gentravel

Doug-Spot on, we do NOT want to spend $20,000 on a cruise (or any other vacation for that matter) LOL

DMB-no, we are not ones to want to be in a room all the time, we do like a "break" from the crowds or people in general with a little relaxation time, but we are not going to do that to rest up for the next art auction! LOL

I don't know, with the cost of 8 passports on top of all this, and keeping track of 6 kids on a boat-maybe we better look at a resort of some sort and see if we can get a better deal?

We usually vaca in the mountains, cabin or even camper-so small spaces is not really a prob. The cruise is also the kids' idea anyhow-and what do they know about funding the trip or the logistics!? LOL

I will do my searching with Carnival before I consider this vaca idea a complete wash. However, we like time to relax with the kidsl, reconnect without work or sports, and I'm not so sure a cruise is quite the best way to go about that. I know they are looking for something "new"...I will try, but the price & lodging is an issue.

We live in Ohio, so driving to any port is going to take some time-thus I am looking at airfare as well. Unfortunately, as much as I have loved the itineraries of 7 day cruises, his job will only allow us a total of 7 days to do our vaca-I planned flying one day before, then again one day after (if we were doing a cruise).

ah-onto more searching and brainstorming!

Thank you everyone!!!

Eschew

Other than Miami, you can also look at New Orleans. Both are about same driving disatnce from Ohio.

Carnival Triumph sails out of out of New Orleans to Progreso and Cozumel on a 5 day cruise. You can ballpark the cost to about $500 per person plus "extras".

If you have RV with 8 in a typical trailer, then a cabin is luxurious in comaprison. I have a 28 foot trailer which can sleep 6. If you do not find that crowded, you are in luck. A typical cabin is about 185 sq ft. just a touch smaller than a 26 foot trailer (26 x 8), with no kithcen to take up space, you may find it out right spacious!

If you plan on sleeping and showering in the cabins only, you should be fine. There are lots of common spaces and there are lots of things to do for the kids. As long as they have some basic safety understandings(and not too charge anything on their cruise cards), they will be very safe in the ship. Set meeting time to get together as a group. Meal time will be a good time for that.

I told my kids to go where they wanted to go, just leave me a note as to where they are going and be back at the meeting place (lobby/atrium or the buffet or pool or where ever) by a certain time. You two will have some quiet time.

There are movies, shows, teen/kids programs, pool, water slides, ping pong, and many other activities to keep them busy. Just exploring the ship, find all the various food outlets (free ice cream and burger and pizza) would be an adveture in itself for the kids.

Make sure you research what is included and what is not (soda is not free) so that there are no surprises.

You can wander around the ports as a family and not spent too much money on shore excursions and just do the beach thing. Of course, you can do the shore excursion and visit mayan ruins etc. It will be a bit more expensive than a RV holiday but it would be a brand new experience. So, don't write off the cruise idea yet.

Once you get it booked, post a new thread and ask quetsions,I am sure you will find answers here. You might like cruising so much that you are hooked and ditched the kids for the next cruise!

doug_stallings

Yes, Eschew has made a very good point that you aren't limited to the east coast. New Orleans cruises can be shorter. You might also look at Galveston or Mobile, but my experience tells me that it will cost you an arm and a leg to fly to Mobile. Though you could fly into Houston and take a shuttle to Galveston. I think that's something you should look into.

By the way, if you are traveling in the time of the year when snow is unlikely, you can fly on the day of the cruise and fly back on the day of return. I do that all the time because I want to maximize my vacation days. So don't necessarily count out a 7-day cruise if it can be worked out. Many cruises leave and arrive on Saturday or Sunday so I think it's a workable option if you can find the right cruise.

A cruise can actually be a good way to connect as a family. You go your own ways during the day and then reconnect for entertainment and meals. And the safety of a cruise (and kids clubs) mean you don't actually don't have to keep track of the kids all day (and they may not want to hear from you when they are having fun with their new cruise friends). The shorter cruises are also pretty cheap if you eat in the main dining room or buffet and don't do a lot of spa visits.

In your price range, look especially at NCL and Carnival. Both will work at the lower price points. Be sure to budget for the cost of tips and probably soda plans for the kids. But you can otherwise control your costs as you see fit.

If you don't go for a cruise, look into a condo or villa rental on the Gulf Coast. Because of last year's oil spill, rates are really favorable this year to try to entice people back. And the Florida and Alabama coasts have some of the best beaches in the U.S. I especially like Alabama, but it's a little more expensive to get to for you. I think you'd find it cheaper to fly to Orlando (for Tampa or the Indian River Coast of Florida), Fort Lauderdale, or Miami.

persimmondeb

BTW, I am pretty sure that Carnival will let you have your children in an adjoining or adjacent cabin. We are cruising with them in June (out of NYC, we live in Philly) and checked this out as an option for DS, before we decided on all three of us in an outside, rather than two inside cabins.

gail

Don't gloss over the "adult in each cabin" issue - we got in a real mess after being told by NCL that with parental signatures, signing waivers, etc that this would be possible when checking in or when on board. NOT. We were travelling with 4 adults and 3 19-year-olds in total of 3 cabins. Big mess - plan had been to put teens in one cabin and 2 adult cabins. All were adjacent but not connecting. Finally got worked out when a guy at Guest Services suggested we lie about losing a room keycard and then he gave us a "key only" card for 2 of the rooms (not able to charge on-board with it). Still confusing when checking out to sort out room charges.

So think about this and plan accordingly.

3gentravel

Yikes, what a hassle, and that really can draw some of the enjoyment out of the trip!!! So, NCL will make an issue, that is good to know! Especially since all of our kids are under 17! We don't have any other adults to take with us, just us for the 6 of them. Think I am going to look at resorts, waterparks, etc for a "different" vaca! lol