Cruise First Timers

StAy Away from cArnival. Not easy to cruise with toddler. I like norwegian. Do not like cruising big sips with 4000 of my closest friends

My wife and I are going on out 18th cruise in January. If you are having people come from both west and east coasts, I'd do the caribbean. There just isn't that much variation to Mexico. I like Alaska much better than Mexico.

The 4 best kid friendly cruise lines are Disney, Princess, Carnival and Royal Caribbean. You can go to their web sites and see what ages of children they have programs for. My kids went to the Princess kids program and the LOVED it. My grandkids went to the Carnival kids program and they loved it. Disney is the most expensive followed by Princess and then Carnival/Royal Caribbean.

Most cruise lines let kids sail free or at very reduced prices (like $99 for a week). If you are going to book 8 or more cabins you can get a discount. I don't know what you want to do for this reunion. If you book a cruise where you call on a different port every day, then any family reunion activities have to be done at night. If you book a cruise where you have one or more days at sea, then you can have reunion activities during the day while the kids are in the kids club. There are some 9-day cruises leaving out of New Jersey that sail down to the caribbean and back. You get two days "at sea" going down and back. Plenty of time to do reunion activities.

If you do the southern caribbean out of San Juan, Porto Rico, you will see a different island every day. If you do eastern Caribbean out of Florida, then you will have a couple of days at sea and can have reunion activities during the day.

Extra charges: port charges, gatuities for the cabin steward and his assistant (maids type of job), booze, souveniors. All the meals in the standard restaurants and entertainment is included. Shore excursions are not included, but you don't have to take expensive shore excursions. My wife and I have been on enough cruises that we seldom book shore excursions through the cruise lines. We get off the ship and go to the local taxi stands. On the way there are plenty of natives offering to take you all kinds of places for much less (If you know how to negotiate) than the cruise lines charge. For $50 to $75 you can lots of fun in any port unless having fun includes buying gems or getting drunk.

Based on what you have said, I'd go with Princess Cruise lines. Princess is the cruise line that was the setting for the TV series, "The Love Boat". And they try real hard to live up to that image. Carnival is for 35 and younger. Royal Caribbean is for 30 and older.

If you've never been on a cruise and have little or no experience hosting a reunion, contact a travel agent or contact Princess Cruise lines web site and tell them what you need.

NCL is the Motel 6 of the cruise lines. If you are on a tight budget, go with them. They'll leave the light on for you. BUT beware, they nickle and dime you to death. Example: The rockwall was free on Carnival and Princess. NCL charges for it.

If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me. I hope you have a wonderful time.

Good luck to you and yours.

I just got back from a cruise with my 4-y.o. and 16-month-old. We sailed on Norwegian. I don't know about it being the Motel 6 of cruise lines, but we chose it because it was a fit with the itinerary we wanted and the family-friendliness it offered.

We only had to pay taxes and port fees for the baby, but she couldn't take advantage of the kids club (their minimum age is 2). Some cruise lines will let your third and fourth passenger (per stateroom) sail for free.

As others have said, the prices are per person. The hidden extras will depend on which cruise line you choose. For Norwegian, they have freestyle dining, which means that you can eat at any time at their buffet or one of a few main dining rooms. They have specialty restaurants that charge a cover charge.

Drinks are obviously going to be expensive on any cruise. Typically they only serve juice at breakfast and water, coffee, and tea at every other meal for free. Soda and alcohol are extra.

Depending on your child care situation, you may incur additional costs there as well. Some cruise lines (not Norwegian) offer in-room babysitting for a fee if you and your spouse want to partake of any after-bedtime entertainment. Most cruise lines also offer childcare on port days if you and your spouse want to do an excursion on your own and leave the kids.

Norwegian charged a per person per day service charge to cover gratuity for your room steward and wait staff. Obviously, you can choose to tip extra if you feel the service warranted it.

There were other entertainment options that would also have cost extra. Norwegian had a rock wall, bowling alley, and casinos (of course) that all required an additional expenditure.

And any excursions that you choose to do will also be an additional charge.

If you can swing it, I'd recommend that you consider looking into a family style suite. It bumps you up to a whole other level of service for most cruise lines. Split among several family members, the cost may end up being close to the same as it would be for a less deluxe option.

I second the recommendation to check out the CruiseCritic.com forums. So much information there. And we ended up booking with a travel agent as well. As you say, it was so confusing, and it just ended up being easier to have someone do it for us. Plus, she was able to get us some on board credits that we wouldn't have been able to receive otherwise. If you want her contact information, private message me, and I'll give it to you.

The price listed is per person. I'm not sure about the rate for babies as we've only gone on our own. There are a lot of extra fees -- docking fees, cost for drinks (if you want booze or soda), cost for specialty restaurants, cost for any shore excursions, cost for Internet. You may also need to bring extra cash for tipping (practice varies by cruise line ... some auto bill the tips for you at the end).

Just about any of the major cruise lines will offer kid activities/childcare, although not for babies (although perhaps Disney does?). I'm not familiar with the higher end cruise lines. We've always done the traditional ones. I've been on Carnival and two on Norwegian. We like Norwegian because it's more casual. You can dine when you want (no assigned time), no assigned seating. Have had great experiences on all three cruises I've been on.

You might take a look at CruiseCritic.com. This is a super site for planning a cruise. Check out the message boards for tips on cruise lines, itineraries and planning for large groups.

In your case, you may find it helpful to talk to a travel agent, since you're really new to all of this. Our agent is the one who introduced us to Norwegian and we were really happy with her recommendation.

Have fun!

ETA: Norwegian is definitely not Motel 6 grade. Maybe that was years ago? But we've sailed with them twice in the past decade and they've been terrific. My husband and I are much more the Hyatt Regency types and we've done fine with Norwegian. You're going to find people from all walks of life on cruises. So much of the cruising experience is your attitude going into it. I think in this reunion situation, you'll do fine with any of the major cruise lines.

Prices are per person, not per room. Some lines discount for children, many do not. However, most lines do discount for the 3rd and 4th person in a room, so essentially you do end up paying less for kids.

Disney is the only cruise line that allows babies in the Kids Club. All other cruise lines require children to be three years old AND fully potty trained.

Extras - the biggest one will be gratuities for the staff (head waiter, assistant maitre d, room attendants, etc). Plan for tips to cost around $12 per guest per day. Sodas and alcoholic beverages are not included either, so this can add up if you drink a lot. Water, juice, milk and coffee are all included.

Check out the site www.cruisecritic.com You can get all your questions answered there. They have forums for all the cruise lines, each destination and, once you're booked, a forum for your specific sailing.

Some lines offer in-room babysitting in the evenings for children over age 1. This can be a nice option if you want to go see a show or something after dinner. The babysitters are usually maids. We sailed with my son on Celebrity and the babysitters were great. They also had toy boxes in the kids club that we got to check out and keep in our room (baby/toddler toys). That was pretty cool. My son was 12 months at the time.

All of our cruises have been through Royal C. - I was told to stay away from Carnival from many folks. I've gone with my 6 year old (her first cruise was at 2 1/2), family kids and elders...they loved it. Kid friendly - soooo much to do on those ships. Any island we went to was great. We're planning a South American one for next year and going with the same crowd & kids...We just choose places we were interested in going to & try not to repeat the same location every time. We've chosen the interior cabins cause it's less expensive and we figured we will not be in it the whole time (just sleep).

I love, love, love Royal Caribbean. Very clean, excellent food. Camp for kids 3 and over is fabulous and is included in your price. THey have play areas for kids under 3 to play supervised with a parent. There is babysitting for a fee.

I used a travel agent for my first cruise. She helped guide me a bit. She was a RCI specialist.

Also, look into booking a froup rate. Speak to a travel agent of the cruise line directly. The real key is to do lots of research and call each cruise line and ask lots of questions. You'll eventually "get it" and make your decision based on all of the facts.

Enjoy - you will love it.

if you live near a home port leave from there flying to miami or ny add lots of money on trip and long exhausting days

we cruise all the time since kids now teen 6 and 3 all cruise lines are good for kids they have camps ect . Price it on line love carnival, ncl,rcl most reasonable. price per person and tax and fees too. Hidden extra are soda alchol tour and tips a must can get pricy everything get charges to room so be ready for large charge card bill on last day.

But it is the best vacations for family food lots and entertainment included to did

I would also encourage going to a travel agent. They are really good at cruises and know all the answers to your questions and more! As CAWriter said the price listed is per person. She also had a good list of extras that are always extra. Nothing is really included unless you go on a high end ship and buy a package, but even then you're paying extra for it but you can at least do it ahead of time. You also have to tip everyone. Most often you tip only once at the end of the week and put it in a little envelope and give it out at the dinner service and leave it in your stateroom for your attendant. Cruises are really fun, but they are expensive, partly due to all that hidden stuff. I have heard Disney Cruises are awesome and if your reunion will have lots of families with kids, it's definitely something to consider. From what I've heard you don't necessarily have to have kids to enjoy a Disney one but you will be surrounded by them.

What a perfect idea for a family reunion. It is overwhelming to sort out the options but it will be a great time. Good advice below....Have fun!