First Cruise Ever!! But I have concerns.

[Mickey13]

To all you Disboarders who responded, my wife and I really appreciate your responses. It definitely has helped us out more. We are really looking forward to this cruise. We will keep reading the disboards for more insight. Take care, God Bless!!!

 

[Keyser]

I know you got plenty of answers already, but let me just emphasize - yes, you'll have plenty of time to do things together as a family - up to 100% if you want! And, if and when you do decide to split up, you know the kids will be very close - the thing that took getting used to for me on the cruise ships was that you were never more than a few minutes walk from any other place on the ship.

We did the Alaska trip last summer. For me, my wife and I almost never have time for just the two of us, so being able to have dinner and brunch in Palo, plus a couple of other times when the kids were in the clubs, was really valuable. But, we still spent the vast majority of time together as a family - basically all the meals (except the two Palo meals), the shows, the shore excursions, and other activities on board from movies to just watching the scenery. Kids did visit the clubs almost every day, but the trip still felt mainly like a family trip.

The biggest problem will probably be convincing your kids to spend time with you and not in the clubs. You might want to make sure you set expectations for them ahead of time.

 

[TinkRose]

To help with your planning find the Navigators for a trip like yours and read some trip reports on the Disboards. The Navigators might be different from your trip but it will give you an idea of what is available. When you get on the ship it's hard to have time to focus on how they are laid out and how much info is available.

 

[gumbypee]

Wow. I guess I'm the only one bothered by OP comparing a silly cruise to being deployed in IRaq!

:/

 

[wdwwishes]

We've never used the kids clubs in the 6 cruises we've been on and have never done Palo or Remy simply because we are on vacation as a family. You can plan it however you want to. We did AK in 2011 and my DDs still talk about that one. Lots to see and learn about. Enjoy!

 

[Bella29]

Wow. I guess I'm the only one bothered by OP comparing a silly cruise to being deployed in IRaq!

:/

It was clearly about the anxiety level pre-trip, not comparing the actual experience, and probably an exaggeration. Since it was his deployment and it will be his cruise, not yours, I'm not sure why you feel the need to comment at all, much less disparage a vet?

 

[Bella29]

To help with your planning find the Navigators for a trip like yours and read some trip reports on the Disboards. The Navigators might be different from your trip but it will give you an idea of what is available. When you get on the ship it's hard to have time to focus on how they are laid out and how much info is available.

I agree, looking at the Navigators and the ship layout will be the best way to get an idea of how you might spend your time on the ship. Your kids may or may not like the clubs, but there are plenty of things to do either way!

 

[Patsydust]

It's up to your family and how you want your cruise to be! My first cruise when I was younger I spent mostly in the kids club and my family got a lot of alone time. We still did activities like dinner, swimming, islands etc etc together. In my more recent cruises everyone pretty much did most of all activities together! So much to do for everyone! Congrats on your first cruise! It will be amazing! And Alaska?!?! I'm so jealous!

 

[stephijh]

Thanks everyone for the tips, keep them coming. I'm thinking we are going to tell the kids they will have their time in the kid areas, but we will also have some fun family time as well.

Chernabog1940, my kids will be 13 and 16 during the cruise date.

Thanks everyone for the tips, keep them coming. I'm thinking we are going to tell the kids they will have their time in the kid areas, but we will also have some fun family time as well.

Chernabog1940, my kids will be 13 and 16 during the cruise date.

We are taking our third cruise this November with my 12 and 14 year olds. They know that we have expectations to do excursions and eat dinner together as a family, but if our spring break cruise in 2014 was any indication, that'll be all we see of them. My kids love the freedom of being able to do what they want when they want, and my husband and I enjoy getting to spend time on the adult-only pool deck without feeling guilty

 

[gumbypee]

It was clearly about the anxiety level pre-trip, not comparing the actual experience, and probably an exaggeration. Since it was his deployment and it will be his cruise, not yours, I'm not sure why you feel the need to comment at all, much less disparage a vet?

Because I have a lot of family and friends in the military and I dislike this comparison greatly. Apparently I am the only one. I'm allowed to voice my opinion here.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

Because I have a lot of family and friends in the military and I dislike this comparison greatly. Apparently I am the only one. I'm allowed to voice my opinion here.

You say you have a lot of friends and family in the military, but it sounds as if you yourself have not been in the military. I would defer to the judgment of the OP, who aparently has been deployed to Iraq, as to whether the comparison is offensive. I would guess that he was making the statement rather tongue in cheek. It seems he has a different sense of humor than you and definitely a different level of what he considers offensive.

 

[gumbypee]

You say you have a lot of friends and family in the military, but it sounds as if you yourself have not been in the military. I would defer to the judgment of the OP, who aparently has been deployed to Iraq, as to whether the comparison is offensive. I would guess that he was making the statement rather tongue in cheek. It seems he has a different sense of humor than you and definitely a different level of what he considers offensive.

Nope I am not in the military but I still find comparison utterly disgusting.

 

[asamklove]

We loved the DCL vacation because it allowed for SO many options all of the time! We did family things all together, and sometimes each of us (parents) would take turns taking each of our kids for 1-to-1 time to do special activities of interest to each child, my husband and I did Mixology together (alone while the kids did nursery/kids club) & had a couple "dates" - the opportunities to spend time together or in any combination of your family are endless. We love vacations because we love being together & doing fun things together - and not having to do the meal prep, having the daily grind of chores & errands removed, no school/work/iPhones - really gives us all a chance to focus on each other. Its a perfect family vacation (in my stay-home-mom eyes!). It really is easy to make choices throughout the day so everyone has a blast.
HAVE FUN!

 

[dotfurio]

Like everyone said, there's plenty of family fun activities to do from sports to trivia to movies. We also spent meals and excursions together. To be honest, in our case both kids loved the kids clubs and spent a great of time there (13 y/o and 6 y/o). At first I was upset, since vacations are usually big family bonding times for us because we don't have to work around everyone's crazy schedules. In the end, though, we figured it was their vacation, too, and we wanted to them to choose their fun. It let DH and I enjoy a lot of couple time, and we haven't had that in a while, so that worked out well for us <3

 

[mylittlebuttercup]

You can spend as much time together as you want. We just got back from our son's first Disney cruise (not our first), and we spent the whole time together as a family and found plenty to do. We were only on a three-day, so we actually didn't even get to do everything we could have. But you can just as easily enjoy some kids-only/adults-only fun.

 

[mmouse37]

I did not see this mentioned yet but make sure your kids go to the clubs the first night. That seems to be when all the bonding and the making of friends takes place. Especially for the 16 year old. It is easier to go the first night and have them see if they like it or not than to go later in the cruise when others have already formed relationships. This is of course just my opinion but it worked well with our kids over several cruises. That first night is common ground for the teens (all feeling a bit nervous) and easier to make friends onboard.

MJ