we're seriously considering a cruise at the end of may or sometime in june or july while the kids are out of school.
flexible with where to go and departure port.
will we be happy with 5 or 6 days?
ship recommendations?
is a stateroom big enough for 4 of us? (i'm seeing lots of "2 twin beds that can be joined to make a king. ok, that helps for me and matt but where do the kids go?)
are there adjoining staterooms? if so, are we better off getting 2 adjoining staterooms with balconies than a suite?
ok, let me ask my cousin for you. She use to do Disney, but they raised prices so she just took her kids on one. They left out of FL though. I will let you know.
ok, let me ask my cousin for you. She use to do Disney, but they raised prices so she just took her kids on one. They left out of FL though. I will let you know.
meant she took them on a non-disney cruise that is
omg, I JUST booked another Disney cruise for January 5, 2013 (can you wait that long? Join us!! ) 5 days, out of Miami to their island and to Cozumel.
My 25c. - disney has higher upfront costs, BUT, does not nickel and dime you like some of the other lines. Once you are onboard, like charging for soda. AND their kids program is AWESOME I fully expect that we will put both kids in it for hours at a time, while we go to dinner, relax, etc. Kiera LOVED it, and I'm so glad Rhys will be old enough this time.
As for rooms, typical is inside, oceanview, verandah, suite. Suites are hella expensive anywhere, and not worth it. the others, depend on price/value/what you can stand. We got a pretty good deal on a verandah. I would probably want an oceanview at least, but, if the price is right, would do an inside- you just sleep there, right? Disney's rooms are set up a bit different, but, most rooms that sleep four pop a bunk or two out of the ceiling. Its tight, but the kids love it. For pricing, the price is usually full fare for two, then the third and fourth are half price.
Consider whether you want a huge boat (and lots of people) or a mid size boat (no ice skating rink etc).
As for time - a week is awesome, but I like the 5-6 nights, since we have to travel so far to a port, it is a whole day of travel and makes a 7 night trip, really like 10. So, a 5 night trip we can do in a week. This one will be going out of Miami, so we will plan to spend a night near a beach too. When we went in 2010-2011, we spent a day at Disneyworld before driving to Port Canaveral.
Disney's private island is in the bahamas, and it doesnt look like they have much going there in June/July. Could you swing May? Feel free to call me if you wnat more info on Disney. We did a Royal Carib one that was also awesome and I would do again if it was just Kyle and I.
Only Carnival goes out of CA now because Mexico has become so dangerous.
You don't need a suite, just a regular room with a king and 2 wall beds. If you type in that you will have 4 people then they'll put you in the right room. You spend so little time in there don't worry about size.
I prefer Disney and royal carribean. Did I spell that right.
Carnival is cheaper but then it attracts the 20something annoying partiers.
P.S. I highly recommend getting a room with an ocean balcony.
4 people pooping in one room for a week is not pretty.
You'll want to air that puppy out daily.
carnival is gross. the last carnival cruise i went on there were flies at the buffet and we were in the middle of the ocean. yuck.
royal caribbean is awesome. you won't spend much time in your room at all, so definitely save money there. i like the promenade rooms...you can see down onto the main shopping area of the ship where they have the parade, etc. i personally don't care for an ocean balcony room b/c that would make me nervous with little ones, but that might just be my paranoia.
do you have any vacation expos there? they hold a big vacation expo at the convention center in boston and we have got great deals at that.
carnival is gross. the last carnival cruise i went on there were flies at the buffet and we were in the middle of the ocean. yuck.
royal caribbean is awesome. you won't spend much time in your room at all, so definitely save money there. i like the promenade rooms...you can see down onto the main shopping area of the ship where they have the parade, etc. i personally don't care for an ocean balcony room b/c that would make me nervous with little ones, but that might just be my paranoia.
do you have any vacation expos there? they hold a big vacation expo at the convention center in boston and we have got great deals at that.
That reminds me. On RC they gave us a family room. Not a suite but bigger than a normal room. It had a queen and a couch that folded out to a bed and a closet sized room that had bunk beds in it. You pay per person so it was not more expensive. We had 5 so they had to put us where we'd fit.
