Cruise with children

[daystar]

Hi,
What is there for children to do on the cruise, well they'll be 6 and 13 at the time we think that we might be going???Also how far advance do you book your trip???What kind of room do you take with children of these ages???This may sound kind of dumb question but does anyone worry about their children going over board???How safe is this cruise for children??? What do you need money for on a cruise other than souvenirs....Need some opinions....
Thanks

 

[dzneprincess]

I will attempt to answer some of your questions Your children will have PLENTY to do. Your 6 your old can go to the 5- 7 old club where they have various age appropriate activities going on from 9am-midnight. There are alsovarious character appearances in the midship lobby, as well as a mikey mouse shaped pool on deck 9 with a slide ! They also have a club for the 13 yr old, but Ihave no teens so I cant advise you on it.
Book as far in advance as Disney will let you. Or as soon as you know you are going. DCL's prices only increase as time goes on. Right now I believe you can book thru summer of 2005. As far as room is concerned, honestly we spent so little time in our stateroom that we just try to go with the cheapest possible. We prefer at least a category 10 because of the split bathroom. This cruise is VERY safe fr children DCL has been cruising since 1998 and I have yet to hear of a child falling overboard HTH

 

[kcashner]

There are very safe rails everywhere...never heard of anyone going overboard. I don't see how you could unless you really tried. Rails is probably not even the right word....it is like metal heavy mesh stuff attached to rails.

There is the Oceaneer's club for ages 3-7 with tons of programming (in 3-4 and 5-7 age groups.) 13-17 are in the newly re-decorated area called The Stack. Their programming begins at noon and runs half the night...parties every night with a different theme, etc.

You can spend a lot of a little money on the ship. You pay for soda outside of the dining rooms, all alcholic beverages (except at the captain's gala), photos by the professional staff, spa treatments, shore excursions, souveniers, and tips.

All food is free except snacks outside the theatre (you can bring them from your room and have free snacks!). Milk, juice, lemonade, iced tea, coffee, etc. are free 24/7--just not smoothies or sodas. Keep reading here, you'll learn a lot. Also, check out www.castawayclub.com for a lot of great info. There's no sense in my repeating it here.

As to cabin...with 4 people, I'd probably opt for a category 10 or above, because at that level, you have a split bathroom. Category 5-10 are all the same size---the difference is whether you have a porthole, balcony, etc.

The kids will love it! Mine requested a repeat cruise for her 13th birthday.

 

[bahama97]

My dd was 12 when we cruised & I didn't hear "I'm bored" one time! She met a friend on the cruise and they chummed together alot. They went to movies, shows, the arcade, the clubs, the pool, there was a ton to do! Of course, they spent more than enough time (in my opinion) walking around checking out the other boys on the ship too! LOL Disney has enough activities going on that there should be something for everyone to do