First Time Cruise Recommendations

browser on 13/02/2015 - 02:42

Any recommendation for first cruise for a family of 4 (2 adults, a child, and a toddler)?

I guess a relatively larger ship would be ideal as it should be more stable. Looking for around 8 days during April school holiday, going over a few days shouldn't be a huge issue.

Being first time, I think budget is not a top priority, the overall experience is more important. A room with window and view is very much a must have, balcony would be nice but do not want to over do it.

Any sites or deals you know of? Or just go through the cruise companies direct?

Thanks in advance for any inputs.

Travel

Comments

  • Ramrunner on 13/02/2015 - 08:57
    +2

    Royal Caribbean. We did the Mariner of the Seas in December and it was hands down the best holiday I've ever had with or without kids bar none.

    • jason101 on 13/02/2015 - 09:02
      +1

      Mariner Of The Seas Singapore departure is awesome, we did it a year ago - Cheap, Dreamworks inspired theme, great for kids and adults alike and it departs from Singapore - so plenty of fun getting there and being there before the cruise.

    • travelwiz on 13/02/2015 - 09:25
      +1

      yes but compared to what other cruise lines ?

      Princess is very different to Carnival for instance.

      Any cruise in school holidays will be full of kids, but in general Princess is a bit more upmarket than say Carnival.

      It's also what you make of it.

      When we go on a cruise, we tend to do our own thing as far as shore excursion go. Some not all, cruise co. organised on shore excursions are a bit over the top pricewise. Some you can organise yourself, some you can't, as the cruise line might book out some options.

      Zig, when everyone else is zagging.

      Remember that most cruises ex SYD will have 2,000 people on board not inc staff.

      • Ramrunner on 13/02/2015 - 12:37
        +1

        Wow way to shoot down a "recommendation" which was asked for. He asked for a recommendation for a first cruise. I gave my opinion based on my experience. I've also been on the Superstar Gemini when that was still sailing and that was good also, but this smashed it.

        A cruise such as the one I talked about is only 5 nights/6 days. Perfect to see if you like it or not, as it won't be too long if the kids don't travel well. In my experience they will though as Kids Club has three two or three hour sessions during the day/night and your kids can choose to join 0, 1, 2, or all 3 sessions as they like. It also has mini golf, basketball court, climbing wall, cinema, table tennis, games rooms, TV, a video arcade bigger than a lot of Timezones I've seen, roller blading track, theatre, multiple pools and more. There's all sort of organized events like the mentioned Dreamworks characters singing and dancing down the promenade, poolside.

        "What you make of it" - wow you are hard to please - seriously. Yes, you can stay on board, take a tour, or go on shore on your own. Do whatever you want. How is that close to being a bad thing?

        Who cares how many people on board? The ONLY things we lined up for were the climbing wall one day and there was a small line at the ice skating rink (yes, they have that too).

        You only have to look up from your book to find a friendly staff speeding towards you to offer a drink. The dinner/lunch/breakfast services are fantastic. AND THE FOOD IS THE BEST I'VE EVER HAD BAR NONE. I've eaten at places such as Rockpool, C, Broadwater etc and they CANNOT match the quality of the food. Everything always had plenty of places to sit, stand, swim, whatever. Yes there's a lot of people but it never felt crowded.

        You are either a pessimist, have not even been on a Royal Caribbean cruise, or had some other bad experience obviously.

        And no I have not tried others at this stage, but I SO LOVE RC I'll probably book with them again.

  • browser on 13/02/2015 - 09:08
    +1

    Thanks, I should probably add departing from Sydney to avoid extra travel time and cost.

  • travelwiz on 13/02/2015 - 09:21
    +1

    April ? It's now 13 Feb. Are you talking April 2016 ?

    Seems very late to be even thinking of April this year.

    Anyway, price (not last minute price & 2 months out is last minute when prices might be very high during school holidays-many families will book over a year ahead for school holidays) often determines the crowd onboard.

    The cheaper the ship, the more "basic" the crowd.

    Some cruise lines have similar ships, but the cheapest hasn't been refurbished in a while, so cheaper.

    American cruise lines think we are like Americans & we're just not.

  • 2jzzzz on 13/02/2015 - 10:30
    -2

    We did P&O Dawn Princess out of Brisbane, doing south Pacific for 10 days.

    A few recommendations. Spend the extra and get a balcony room. If you don't feel like going out or weather is terrible, it made it good.

    Take on a carton of water per person. A bottle on board costs like 5 dollars.

    Maybe try sneak some alcohol on. Easiest way is to put it in strong plastic bags, just not bottles as bags get x rayed.

    Take some snack food with you. Main meals are included. Just not chips etc etc. We paid $1800 for 2 people for 10 days. Pretty good fun.

    • clarebear on 13/02/2015 - 10:45
      +1

      You can NO longer take plastic bottles onboard, this includes water.

      12 Soft drink cans loosely packed person is fine.

      People sneaking in alchohol was the reason why they are now more strict!

  • clarebear on 13/02/2015 - 10:40
    +1

    Too late to book with P&O as they limit the amount of kids, so you should book at least a year in advance. Unsure of other cruise liner companies though.

    Royal carribean, carnival and P&O will be more family friendly over Princess.

    Ozcruising site seems to have a good search option. I would reccomend booking direct via the cruise companies though.

  • TruckieGal on 13/02/2015 - 14:41
    +1

    Try a website called cruiseabout - they have great deals on all the time. If you can go on short notice - ie a month in advance, they are some fabulous deals around. I agree - I love Royal Carribbean the best. We always take an inside cabin -as well as being much cheaper, you are only in there to sleep and to shower and get dressed so why pay more. If you want to sit outside, go up on deck. Sailing Sydney top New Zealand, you get a day of fairly "swelly seas" that gets most people sick a day or so out of Sydney but after that,it is pretty good.
    For a first timer - and particularly with kids, I would make it a shorter cruise 5-9 nights to make sure that you enjoy it - (although I have never met anyone who doesnt like cruising). Just check your cruise companies - some have compulsory 'gratuities' that come in at around $10/person/day which can add a considerable chunk onto the price.
    My parents pickup short notice cruises al the time and save a fortune.

  • ms_caz on 14/02/2015 - 07:42
    +2

    Just google for online cruise retailers to look for the cruise you want to do, and then compare prices - different retailers can offer you different things, such as on-board credit, reduced deposits etc.

    If you are talking April 2015 you are most likely to be past final payment date and could have to pay in full rather than a deposit. A previous poster has already indicated that cruise lines do limit the number of children on board in line with the capacity of the kids' clubs, so make sure that this is something you specifically ask about first up when you make your enquiries.

    My first cruise was a 10 day P&O South Pacific - frankly we were a bit bored by about halfway through it, but I do think that it would be a great family experience. (We are giving it a second go though - this time 15 nights across the Panama Canal!)

    Finally - EVERYTHING you want to know about cruising can be found at www.cruisecritic.com There is an Australian/NZ forum and any question you have can be answered there!

  • sanmigueelbeer on 23/02/2015 - 14:57

    Go HERE. This will give you an indication what "ranking" your cruise ship is going to be.

    There are cruise ships designed as adults only (no kids allowed) and there are some that are kid friendly.

    Last year, I went on a 10-day cruise on Royal Carribean and it was a blast. I gained 10 kilos after the cruise.

  • Mamaof3 on 24/02/2015 - 18:41

    P&O generally rated the lowest of them all, full of 20 year olds that just wanna party and ship wise nothing compared to the other cruise liners. Its a budget cruise liner and i'd not recommend.

    Largest ship that departs from Australia was (i think there may be another ship thats bigger now) Royal Carribeans Voyager of the Seas. We went on that as our first cruise and had a blast. Its recently had a multi million dollar reno so should be pretty good. Kids club was great, open till 10pm which meant mum and dads could have dinner in peace lol :-)

    If you're willing to travel, Royal Carribeans Oasis of the Seas or Qantumn of the Seas (departing from one of the Asian countries) is one of their newer and much bigger ships. Amazing if you're willing to travel to jump on one.

    But the port where all the newest and biggest ships depart is Florida. They even have short 2-3 day cruises for like $200 so you could do a couple of those and experience a couple of different ships but i probably wouldn't recommend if this is your first cruise, do a proper one on a decent ship.

    Carnival ships are probably 1 up from the P&O ranking and is generally FULL of kids because its an affordable ship for families. When we were on the Royal Carribean, the passenger capacity was more than the Carnival ship and it had about 1000kids on there but we never saw anyone! Everything is spaced out beautifully and never felt crowded whatsoever.

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