hp1018

Hi, We are planning on a 10 day caribbean Christmas cruise for a family of 4, 2 children (boys) are 13 & 14. We have not been on a cruise before. We are looking at Holland America, Carnival, MSC Cruises, and Princess Cruises. I have been looking at Cruise Critic as well. My question is; Does anyone have any suggestions about which line we should go with or should we look at price as a big deciding factor. We are not really interested in a party boat for the twenty something crowd but we also want a cruise where our boys are going to have fun. Any advice would be much appreciated.

happycruiser

Why don't you include Royal Caribbean?

etc0414

Royal Caribbean cruise line would be perfect for you and your family. The boys would love all of the activities on the ships; rock climbing, golf, fitness room, table tennis, etc. Investigate the Navigator of the Seas or the Mariner of the Seas. Good luck and let us know what you decide.

jerseymaxx

We just returned from our Caribbean cruise on Holland America Line Westerdam. We took our three children aged 14/12/8. Our 14 year old son had to be convinced to go on this trip. He was still complaining when we boarded. Thanks to Club HAL (the childrens club on board) we had our second honeymoon without our planning to do so. The kids left at 8:00 a.m. and did not return until late at night. They made many new friends and ranked this vacation as our best ever - even the 14 year old. They want to cruise again next year instead of our annual Disneyworld vacation. There were 150 kids on board and Club Hal was expecting 400 the following week for spring break.

We chose Holland America Line because of the high staff to passenger ratio and because of the reputation of not attracting the college crowd (eg. Carnival). We can't offer enough praise for the food, the entertainment/activity opportunities, the public areas, etc. The staff were amazing! I have not experienced levels of service as high and we frequently stay at Four Seasons, Ritz Carlton, etc.

Also I recommend you continue to post questions when you choose your cruise regarding ports of call and shore excursions. You can greatly enhance your experience and reduce costs as learned from others. eg. snorkelling in Cozumel was $49 US pp. We jumped in a taxi (as endorsed by the ships shore excursion personel as safe) for $20 US return for 5 people, rented the equipment for $8 US pp, and saved $37 US pp. We even met numerous people from our ship.

Enjoy your cruise!

hp1018

Hi,
We will look into RCL and we like what people are saying abour HAL.

We are date sensitive so we have to pick a cruise that offers the itenary we want during the dates that we can travel.

Once again, thanks for the advice and keep it coming!

SUNSHINE1223

I can tell you that most boats during the holiday season are not party boats.
I have cruised the last 3 ( 2 carnival and 1 rccl ) years during xmas with my sister/brother in law and their kids, my other sister, parents and friends.
It is mostly filled with generations of families all having a good time together.
We are already booked on the 10 night with RCCL on AOS. We did this one last year and my nieces and nephews loved the climbing wall, the volleyball courts, miniature golf, and of course Johnny Rockets. The ages of my nieces and nephews are 15-21. On AOS they had a 1 am curfew for anyone under 18 per the captain.
Good luck in your picking

kgn

We cruise with another family over Xmas for the last three years, kids ages now are 8/10/11/14. It has been the best family vacation that we have done (and we do like to travel). The first year we went on RCCL. It was ok. The ship was really big and we spent a lot of time waiting for things ie. rock climbing, games in the game room etc. Last year we went on Celebrity. It was perfect. The kids loved everything and were very busy in the kids club. The teenager made some friends and went off with them adn we were free from 8 - 11:30. This year we are going on Princess through the Panama. I will never go on such a large boat as the RCCL Adventurer again. I will stick to the mid size ships. I feel more comfortable, we do not wait in lines as much and you get to know other passengers so you do not mind allowing your children to walk back to the cabin to get this or that (with the walkie talkie etc). What ever you decide cruising is great with the family!