Houseboat rental--Kentucky. Need advice.

[Boo Mc]

We're thinking of renting a houseboat in Kentucky this August. There will be four adults and five kids ages 10-14. Any advice? Which companies are best? What size boat? How many days? Day trips off the boat or stay on the boat all day? Any idea of pricing? Have your kids this age enjoyed the trip and what specifically did they like best?

We have never done this before so we are starting from scratch. Have seen some websites but trust a DISers recommendation more!

Thanks so much for your help!!

 

[kydisneyfans]

What particular area of KY are you looking at?

 

[Boo Mc]

I was thinking Lake Cumberland but that's just because that's what I've read about. We're open to suggestions.

 

[kydisneyfans]

Lake Cumberland was my first thought, but there are several areas in southern KY where boating is popular. LC is a hot tourist spot for the northerners, especially from Ohio.

Outside of boating and relaxation/nature, there is not a ton to do in the area. Cumberland Falls is nice and not too far away. I would be a little concerned about the kids getting bored. There is a nice waterpark in Somerset and a few mini golf places sprinkled about too. Somerset also has movie theaters, restaurants, shopping, etc. I would find something close to the Somerset area just in case the women want to shop or the kids want to do something different.

I am familiar with Lee's Ford Dock in Burnside, Jamestown Dock just south of Russell Springs, and the State Park dock, all of which have boat rentals. All 3 are nice and clean. The Burnside dock just south of Somerset doesn't seem as well kept as the others. Depending on when you go in August, it may not be busy as the locals go back to school around the 10th.

My personal opinion is that LC is a great destination to relax and get away, but I wouldn't do it for a full week, especially with kids. Staying on boat or off is a personal decision, many people do both. There is adequate lodging near all the above docks.

 

[minniebeth]

We don't know much about Kentucky, but we have friends that go to Dale Hollow and love it, it seems to be another popular spot with people from Ohio and Indiana.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Do you go boating often? It is a different kind of vacation. We go on boating vacations every year on Tablerock Lake in Branson but we own our own boat and 2 jet ski's. We stay in a cabin.

My dh would love to rent a houseboat however I don't think I could do it with that many little kids.

Now a bunch of adults, ok that would be fun.

I would break it up personally.

 

[Liberty Belle]

Kentucky is a great place, but it makes me chuckle that you, Michiganders, are coming to Kentucky to spend some time on our lakes.

 

[Goldenbear6]

We're thinking of renting a houseboat in Kentucky this August. There will be four adults and five kids ages 10-14. Any advice? Which companies are best? What size boat? How many days? Day trips off the boat or stay on the boat all day? Any idea of pricing? Have your kids this age enjoyed the trip and what specifically did they like best?

We have never done this before so we are starting from scratch. Have seen some websites but trust a DISers recommendation more!

Thanks so much for your help!!

A houseboat in Kentucky, I hear dueling banjo's....

 

[DISFANSTHREE]

Hope you like the people that will be going with you. Also wait until the septic fills up half way through the trip and you need to go back and drain it. Go out having fun come back fighting... Fun trip just be prepared...

 

[Chelley00]

My ILs use to go to Cumberland every year, and we went with them a couple of times until it got to expensive. We went for 5 days the last trip.

Sitting on the boat all day long gets a little boring for the kids. Of course, you can fish, swim but after awhile that gets pretty boring. FIL had a ski boat, so we could ski and tube, but honestly, you can only do that so many times a day We took tons of board games and electronics and books, but by Thursday we were all ready to go home.

Also, unless you are lucky enough to get a dock with electrical hookup, you'll want to conserve the fuel to run the electrical because it's expensive. If you have to run back in to pump, it takes a ton of time. And it's a pain to pull the boat in to do something on land, then drive back out to the lake, not to mention expensive because of fuel prices.

With all that negative, let me say that had we not had kids with us, it would have been more fun and very relaxing, but the kids were just not that into it and we spent so much time trying to keep them occupied and out of the water when they shouldn't have been in the water

 

[Boo Mc]

Wow, you guys are making me re-think this whole thing! For a little background, we are meeting friends who live on the east coast which is why we chose Kentucky rather than stay in Michigan. (Plus I've never really heard of any houseboat trips here but maybe I'm misssing something). We had both heard about houseboating trips and thought it sounded interesting. My brother-in-law does them all of the time out west and loves it.

Our kids are Disney commandos but the other kids are not into theme parks at all. I can totally see them fishing and swimming and performing experiments all day. Even though our kids are commandos, they'll be happy on any vacation. Anyway, I was thinking a 3-4 night trip sounded OK especially if there were places we could dock along the way and get off to walk around or shop, explore etc. Not sure if there are areas for this with easy accessability to restaurants, stores etc. or not. Also, since our friends live so far away, we rarely get to see them so I actually thought it'd be fun to spend some quality time together. With all of your concerns though, maybe it'd be better for us to get a cabin somewhere and rent a houseboat or pontoon boat during the day if we wanted to.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Wow, you guys are making me re-think this whole thing! For a little background, we are meeting friends who live on the east coast which is why we chose Kentucky rather than stay in Michigan. (Plus I've never really heard of any houseboat trips here but maybe I'm misssing something). We had both heard about houseboating trips and thought it sounded interesting. My brother-in-law does them all of the time out west and loves it.

Our kids are Disney commandos but the other kids are not into theme parks at all. I can totally see them fishing and swimming and performing experiments all day. Even though our kids are commandos, they'll be happy on any vacation. Anyway, I was thinking a 3-4 night trip sounded OK especially if there were places we could dock along the way and get off to walk around or shop, explore etc. Not sure if there are areas for this with easy accessability to restaurants, stores etc. or not. Also, since our friends live so far away, we rarely get to see them so I actually thought it'd be fun to spend some quality time together. With all of your concerns though, maybe it'd be better for us to get a cabin somewhere and rent a houseboat or pontoon boat during the day if we wanted to.

If you are wanting to go shopping and exploring, a houseboat is not the right choice for you.

When you go boating, you are on the boat. That is your vacation, esp. with a houseboat.

I think you might be happier with cabin/renting boat. ESP if you are going with people that you have not boated with before.