Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Children go free?

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Children go free?

Looking for experience taking young children on a cruise. I can't believe to take two small children (one of whom is breast feeding) is going to cost almost as much as the two adults. Are there 'kids go free' cruises usually and I'm just pricing too early? (going in Nov).

Sorry debbie. The kids now pay the 3rd and 4th adult rate. My nephew just went on a cruise (14 months) and had to pay the 3rd person rate, plus they had to updgrade to a bigger cabin that would accomodate the crib! A few years ago there was a childs rate, but now it seems all the lines make you pay the 3rd and 4th person rate, no matter what the age. The only kids free cruise is Windjammer, for the summer months, but the minimum age is 4 or 6 (can't remember).

Star Clipper (masted) has two for one adults and third pasenger free on 7 night sailings July 14 thru August 18. Haven't seen anything for November. Paul

Paul, Does Star Clipper allow children and infants? News to me!

Carnival has many specials in Nov where children pay a minimal rate. I have a group booked on a 4 day Sep 1 and the kids pay $232 including taxes. In the summer it is over $500. I have also seen some NCL Cruise where 3/4 are practically free. A good travel agent will be able to find these as long as you are not going at a prime time like Thanksgiving.

Hi Nina, I do not know the minimum age for Star Clipper but children definitely are allowed. There is no structured program for children but they are invited to participate in all shipboard activities depending on their ability. One can phone the cruise line and inquire about infants. I would guess 2 years old. Paul

Debbie (and Nina), the star clipper and the other two ships from this line only accomodate three people in their cabins. I don't understand how a man of Paul's experience could recommend this ship to a woman who says she has two small children; but then again, its Paul. The cabins themselves are quite small, some under 100 square feet. According to their website, families are discouraged and (as Paul pointed out) their are no children programs. It looks to me like they cater to the more adventurous couples looking for an active cruise rather than full service pampering.

Debbie, You might want to keep an eye out for 3rd & 4th passenger free or deeply discounted promotions. These are usually good for kids or adults and I see them advertised quite often. Just keep in mind that some cruise lines have a maximum number of children they will allow per sailing and once they reach this max number they cannot take any new bookings with children. In November I don't think this will be a problem as long as it's not over Thanksgiving holidays.

There's Peter picking me apart again. My deepest apologies, I should have not directed my reply to Nina specifically. Anything else? Paul

Actually Paul, its Debbie you should apologize to - she's the original poster who's looking for help finding a cruise for two adults and two small children.

You're right again Peter. Tell me, how many hours each day do you spend disecting each one of my posts and how many hours do you spend thinking of how to offend me? You are an interesting person. There is a nice Frank and there is a naughty Frank. I like the nice Frank much better. Were you Ghandi's teacher? Paul

Interesting…..don’t know about that, but this is who I am: A man who enjoys travel, especially cruising, with his family. A man of average financial means who needs to watch it some. One who is computer literate. Has a spirit of adventure and is not afraid to take risks. As a result, I feel quite comfortable surfing the net for travel bargains, advice from fellow travelers and research for ports of call. I don’t need a travel agent to book my airfare, cruise, hotel room or rental car. I don’t need the ship’s excursions; I can find and book ones that appeal to me and fit my pocketbook. Because I travel with my loved ones, I am always conscious of their safety and well being – I would never place them or myself in a situation that was dangerous or would result in missing our ship’s departure. My motives are simple. Any information that I share on sites such as Fodors or CruiseCritic is intended to help answer people’s questions and I always try to speak from experience and keep away from sheer opinion with the advice I give. I believe that Paul, on the other hand, is: A travel agent (or at least was one at one time). On some kind of retainer with several specific cruise lines. As a result, Paul’s motives are simple as well. He passes on information and opinions that is slanted to the benefit of a travel agent or the cruise lines that he favors. His interest is not for the poster, but for those he represents. Even at that, I wouldn’t necessarily have a problem with him if he would just leave it at that level. But he won’t – he has to embellish every opinion and piece of advice with words like: You can book your own excursions if you want, but please take into consideration your safe return to the ship. You can book your own excursions if you want, but remember the ship may sail without you. You can take a taxi from the airport to the port, but if you take the cruise line transfers, you will get on the ship faster because they have a separate line for those people. I sympathize with your problems, but if you would have used a travel agent, they would have told you which cabins have refrigerators and tubs. These are just a few of the recent bits of slanted information passed from Paul to unsuspecting travelers with legitimate questions or problems. Someone has to keep the playing field level – we can’t just accept Paul’s diatribe as fact because he says it in a refined and professional-looking way. It will be interesting to see how long this thread is allowed to last on this board. The mods are truly infatuated with this guy.

Geez .... I don't believe this. Peter has a data base of all my posts. Either he is in love with me or is a strange man. Or maybe both. Paul

OK - I take back the part about "a refined and professional-looking way".

Well, thanks to all of you - appreciate the info and this has been helpful

Debbie, I saw an email this morning that had the RCCL Voyager with a special where children went free (3rd and 4th only pay port charges) when a balcony was booked for the July sailings. I tried to find the email but couldn't - you should be able to confirm this with RCCL or an online TA.

Please let me know which line allows children to go free. I WANT TO STAY AS FAR AWAY FROM THAT CRUISE AS POSSIBLE. I DREAD THE THOUGHT OF SCREAMING KIDS RUNNING WILD ANYWHERE NEAR ME.

If anyone knows the details of the special John mentioned above... Please post it! It sounds good!