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Soooo I've been granted task of finding a cruise that will keep fairly happy the whole family....from 3 years old to 65 years old. I have no idea where to start. Obviously want to make sure the kids are happy as that will yield happy adults, so a good kids/teen program and pools are important. The older folks are looking for shows, and flexabilty on shore. We are looking for either Easter week (April 2-10) or late June after school. I'm such a beginner here...let me know what I should be asking?!x
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Mutli Generational Med Cruise
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Go to a site like Travelocity, Expedia or a cruise website and do a search - you can enter dates, length, port of embarkation and some other features and it will create a list for you of cruises that meet your logistical needs. Work from there.
Or, if you have a particular line in mind, do same at their website.
What do you mean by flexibility on shore?
Cruise this site: CruiseCritic.com become familiar with the ships, and what they offer. Read their reviews. Determine what you want in the way of an itinerary, what ports are important to you and your group.
Go on a big ship, perhaps Carnival or Royal Caribbean or NCL. But any of the major cruise lines will offer what you want, though the bigger ships go to the same old ports that can accommodate big ships. So don't expect anything unique.
Easter Week will be mobbed with kids, so whichever cruise you pick you'll have tons of families. I'd actually recommend searching sooner rather than later. You may be surprised to find many of these cruises sold out since all Europeans are off the whole week and often flock to all the tourist destinations and to the ships.
I'm not quite sure what you mean by "flexibility on shore". You can always book your own shore excursions privately, which is the most economical way if you have a group of people, but don't necessarily flock to the guided-tour side of things. There are a lot of things you can do in most of the big European cities that won't require a guided tour.
If you've never been to Greece, then I might recommend an Eastern Med cruise. The weather should be ok that time of year (too cool for swimming, however), but it's also much more pleasant to explore the Greek Islands then, and you might even get to see Croatia, though of course there's more cost involved in getting to Venice or Athens than Barcelona or Rome. Occasionally larger ships sail from other ports, so keep an open mind.
You could also look at cruises leaving from the UK, but be aware that these itineraries (some of which go down to the Mediterranean) are longer.
Prices are starting to climb for cruises so I would book as soon as you can. Agree you need to look at the bigger cruise lines that cater to families as mentioned above. Check out cruisecritic.com under Boards, look at Ports of Call for ideas on private group excursions. Book the cruise first though and get that out of the way. Good luck - have a great family time.