My family was thinking about taking a cruise next year. We have children and was wondering what you guys thought was the best cruise line for this. We have heard that Carnival was pretty good. Also, any recommendations on cheapest way to go?

Without knowing the age of your children, I would probably suggest something in the Caribbean rather than Alaska, Mediterranean, Panama Canal, Europe etc. Go during a time when kids will be out of school and they'll make lots of friends right off. Disney, Carnival, Holland American and RCI all have good children's programs but I'd have to guess Disney would be the best (never been on Disney though). It's easy to get addicted to cruising!!

Two years ago we took a lovely cruise on Dawn Princess, eastern Carribean. Ship not only was lovely but the kids program was very good. My kids then were 6 & 4 years old. Babysitting was available. I recall one excursion where we simply went around with a taxi on Tortola and kids stayed on ship and loved their program. Now planning Alaska and looking into Celebrity and they have similar program, maybe slightly more camp hours. We again may use, of course not exclusively but nice to know it is there. I was informed Holland America offers Camp Hall, a program that also has excursions just for kids. You can see them in their Alaska handbook. Nice trips. But as my husband and I feel, we want our kids with us will all excursion as these type of excursions they will really enjoy.

The kids will be 11 and 12. I have heard that carnival is really good, but don't know anyone that went on with kids. I am looking for something where both adults and children will have a good time. We were thinking about the Bahama Cruise and then maybe stopping in Disney for a couple of days

I have a radical suggestion: visit a travel agency near you and sit down with the resident cruise specialist. (If the agency has no specialist, leave and find another that does). With your personal information, past travel history, your likes and dislikes, the agent should have several cruise lines to recommend. Fine tuning between you both should result in finding the cruise line best suited to you and your family's needs and fun. Alittle time in face to face discussion will help the decision-making process easier, and anticipation is 50% of the vacation.