Hi Heidi,
Our family sounds similar to your in regards to the school situation and what you are desiring. We have been cruising faithfully twice a year with out children, ages 5,10, 12. I do take them out of school if I have to, but I know where you are coming from. In regards to a suggestsion, We've done them all, royal carribean is our favorite, whether alone or with the family. We have been waiting for two years for "freedom of the seas" to be built, it is the most magnificent ship in the world, take a look at it on line. Costa nor Carnival could or would ever compare. Anyways, I reserved a dozen units bc we have lots of friends and family we like to cruise with. Therefore I got a super rate. Most of the available sailings are sold out or highly priced for the next year. My agent still is holding a few until the last of March at my rate, ranging from about 900 p/p incl port and taxes for interior to about $1700 for a junior suite. The sailing is December 3 out of Miami and has a great w. carribean itinerary. Everything about this ship is spectacular. Go to freedomoftheseas.com to check it out. I am not an agent or anyone making anything off of this, I just have them held for my group, and they are left over. If they go back to r/c, they'll either go to the waiting lists or back on the market for more money. Let me know.
Neaco, sounds intriguing! I'll check it out; not familiar with junior suites, but I know each ship calls their suites something different. I'll get back to you...
Checked it out; it's a "member cruise"? Meaning? I see there are no suites available for this sailing. And the prices for sailings that are available are much higher than what you've quoted. However, the date isn't great - before vacation, and I'm not terribly impressed with what little I can see of the room. Looks like a glorified balcony room to me. Not a suite. Thanks though!
Originally posted by Heidi528:
Our room of choice is a suite.
Heidi, considering the ages of your kids, have you considered getting two rooms instead of one?
This gives you a lot of flexibility, and a lot of privacy when you want it! You could get a suite or large balcony room for you and your husband, and get a nearby or even connecting room for the kids. If a connecting room, the kids could have a balcony room, too, or if they're in a nearby room, it could be a different or less expensive type of room. I've sent clients on cruises in this type of arrangement, and both they and their kids have been very happy. It's more expensive than having the kids as the 3rd and 4th person in your room, but there are many advantages, too...
Sandy, great point. I did do that once with when we brought my oldest along; we had a suite and got her a balcony. With just the 4 of us, we keep the kids with us. Sometimes they're almost free. I never thought about a cheap inside room across the hall.
They're gone most of the time anyway, don't take up a lot of space, and there are some great activities on the ship that guarantee both kids will be absent at a certain time...
I've only been on 6 crusies...5 of which I travelled in a suite.....the Best....Holland America. the service is fantastic, good food...and i'm a vegetarian and when i made the reservation, i asked them to purchase vege meat products...they did!....my least favorite....Caranival
Sandy, good advice now that they are getting older. Dumb question: if we were to book a suite, and give them an inside across the hall, would both rooms have the same steward?
HAL sounds nice Carmen. Haven't tried them yet, but I'm sure we will!
Heidi, I'm not sure how the steward(ess)s are assigned to rooms. Sometimes suites have their own stewards, who don't take care of non-suites. It'll depend on the way that particular cruise line handles things.
In any case, you'll be able to meet and chat with the steward for the other room, even if it's not the same as for your room. S/he'll understand if you have any special requests, etc., even if s/he is not your room steward per se.
Not sure this would meet you requirements but I was on a Western Caribbean cruise on the Star Princess this February with my teenage daughter. (I have the same situation with the school that you have). The cruise was a seven day cruise, but we extended the vacation by spending extra time in Florida. At the time we went there were about 300 teenagers on board. The youth councilors were excellent. There is a supervised off limits zone, no parents allowed, for the kids to go to just hang out or participate in activities. There is a small video arcade, cyber golf, and two good size pools where the children can hang out with friends, (and two adult only pools). My daughter especially liked the airbrushed tattoos. The number of things that children and adults can do on a Princess cruise are way to many to list here. My daughter is a very picky eater, but we never had a problem finding food that she would like. She was able to get pizza without sauce, double cheese and double pepperoni. At dinner if she didn’t like the main choices, our waiter would bring her out three plates of different kinds of fruit as an appetizer, french fries with blue cheese dressing (a Buffalo NY thing) and fettuccini alfrado for a main course. Which are three of her favorite things to eat. Point being that the crew went out of their way to make sure enjoyed all her meals; breakfast, lunch and dinner. We had a great time at the ports. We went snorkeling in the Princess Cays, to the turtle farm and swimming with the stingrays in Grand Cayman, a dolphin swim and climbed the Dunn’s river waterfall in Jamaica, and had a relaxing day shopping in Cozumel. I have only been on Princess cruises so I can’t compare cabins to other cruises. But from what I heard from other passengers the Princess cabins are larger than on some other cruise lines. I have always enjoyed my Princess cruises and my daughter had, in her own words, “a mega good time.”
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