other cruises

[angela barklow]

What other cruises have you been on that are kid friendly? We would love to go on another cruise but aren't sure if we will be able to afford a Disney Cruise. We have three DD's 11,8, and 3. How do they compare with Disney's services? (ex. do they are baby siting?, activities for the children?) I would like to know before we take our first Disney cruise in Sept.

 

[lbgraves]

There are many threads comparing other lines both here on the main board & on the trip reports board as well. Here are a few from a title search for "line."

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1128537&highlight=lines

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1123281&highlight=lines

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1089927&highlight=lines

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=971137&highlight=lines

 

[ricka47]

Out of RCI, HAL, Princess and X, we found RCI to be the most kid-friendly after DCL.

 

[angela barklow]

What is RCI???

 

[NCRedding]

RCI= Royal Caribbean

We've been on RCI and Norwegian (older ships, not the new ones). The main differences: On DCL, the kids clubs are open continuously, and there is no charge for the clubs. On RCI and NCL, the kids clubs open and close at about 3 hour intervals, so you have to do a good bit of clock watching. They also charge after 10 pm--usually about $5 pre hour per kid (there may be a break for multiple kids, not sure).

On our RCI cruise (Radiance), and on our NCL cruises, the kids club was fairly small in space, so they did a lot of traveling over the ship with the kids using the bars, lounges, restaurants, etc.

I thought the NCL cruise grouped too many ages together--DD at 12 would have been lumped with the 6 years olds for part of the time, and the stuff they offered seems really too young for her. She liked RCI, but I thought the supervision was a little lax.

 

[tvguy]

On paper HAL kids clubs appeared similar, and about the same hours, and free. Difference is they move to different public rooms throughout the day, they don't have a kids only room. I say on paper, but my kids found the offerings in the Kids Clubs on both HAL and DISNEY boring compared to all the other options, so they never went.

I should also point out, we traveled in June, while school kids are on vacation. Not as many kids as Disney, maybe half as many. However, a friend went on the same ship in April when kids were still in school , and he didn't see any kids. Disney parents seem more inclined to take kids out of school for vacations.