Cruises where kids are free?

[G's mommy]

I've had clients sail Carnival (Conquest) out of Galveston and like it.
For 2010 the 2 ships sailing from there will be Carnival Ecstasy and RCCL Voyager of the Seas.
Voyager of the Seas for me is a hand-down winner. Those Voyager class ships are awesome.

We sailed on Voyager of the Seas out of Miami a few years ago, it is a great ship! My son loved the ice rink, roller blade rink, and rock climbing wall. We went with extended family and there was something for everyone. I second the

 

[MMitchell29]

MSC Cruises. Kids age 17 and under as 3rd/4th pax in a stateroom sail free (you must still pay tax) on all sailings.

Costa had some kids sail free sailings a while back. We are cruising on Costa Atlantica out of Fort Lauderdale for Spring break for a ridiculously low price.

Can you please tell me what is an MSC cruise??

 

[4Seasons]

MSC Cruise line. They are an Italian line that sails the Mediterranean, Atlantic and the Caribbean.

 

[maggiew]

It doesn't look like MSC and Costa sail the caribbean during summer break.

Maggie

 

[4Seasons]

It doesn't look like MSC and Costa sail the caribbean during summer break.

Maggie

Nope, those ships go back and do the European itineraries.

 

[maggiew]

I'm not sure what you mean. I said it "doesn't" look like they sail in the summer in the caribbean. Are you agreeing?

Maggie

 

[jenseib]

Can you please tell me what is an MSC cruise??

I wondered the same thing. Never heard of them

 

[Green Tea]

With Costa in addition to kids sail free, there are no tips/gratuities for children under 12, and half price for 12-17. That might help someone, but I know the OP is looking for Galveston, so Costa isn't an option.

 

[Tiggs14]

We are looking at booking a cruise for September with Carnival but I'm a bit curious about Costa now. Has anyone sailed with them? If so how were they? I had honestly never heard of Costa until reading about it here.

 

[Aliceacc]

OK, just for fun:

Anyone with 3 kids cruise?? Is there a way to do it without taking out a second mortgage?

I love cruising, though at the moment it, like Disney, is simply not in the budget. But my kids are 6, 9 and 11. To the best of my knowledge, that would mean 2 cabins-- are there even ships out there with connecting cabins??

Really just a hypothetical question, but I thought I would add it to the discussion.

 

[jenseib]

Yes there are ships with connecting cabins

 

[lucigo]

OK, just for fun:

Anyone with 3 kids cruise?? Is there a way to do it without taking out a second mortgage?

I love cruising, though at the moment it, like Disney, is simply not in the budget. But my kids are 6, 9 and 11. To the best of my knowledge, that would mean 2 cabins-- are there even ships out there with connecting cabins??

Really just a hypothetical question, but I thought I would add it to the discussion.

Your choices are either a Carnival ship that allows 5 in a cabin, or to get 2 cabins. Your cheapest way to go would be to find a port close enough to drive to and get the least expensive cabin or cabins available. You might be surprised how affordable it can be. An example, Sept 2010 for 5 nights out of Mobile, AL...total price $1187 for 1 cabin or for 2 cabins $1266. Hard to find a land based vacation for 5 nights with all food included for that much.

 

[bethd]

Celebrity Cruiselines has family cabins that can sleep 5 as do some of the newer Royal Carribean ships.

 

[jenseib]

I've been trying to check out the ncl site, but it keeps freezing up on me? Anyone else have this problem?

 

[ekatiel]

Here's what you can generally find for prices out of Galveston:

The 5 day cruise on the Ecstasy tends to run the cheapest. You will most likely need a full work week off for this cruise b/c it runs during the work week.

The 4 day cruise on the Ecstasy is the next cheapest. It is usally a tad more expensive than the 5 day b/c part of the cruise is over the weekend, therefore you will need to ask off less days from work, so it sells better than the 5 day (at least that's my theory!).

The 7 day on the Conquest will cost more than than the 4 or 5 day carnival cruises (in general, depending on the time of the year). Royal's 7 day on the Voyager is generally the most expensive cruise out of Galveston (although they have been running some pretty good deals lately).

We are sailing on the Conquest at the end of February. We vasilated between Conquest and Voyager, since we could have gotten a January sailing on Voager for only about $50 more for the 1st and 2nd passengers. What sold us on Carnival was that the 3rd and 4th passengers were WAY cheaper (by $200 EACH!!). We'd like to try the Voyager sometime, but we decided to go with the Conquest for this cruise b/c of the price. This will be our first cruise with the kiddos. We're all really excited!

Prices are higher for sailings in Spring and early Summer months. They dip in August for hurricane season and stay pretty low (with the exception of holiday sailings) for sailings through February. In general, when kids are out of school, prices rise, just like Disney. Galveston sailings don't seem to offer as many good "last minute" deals like sailings out of Florida, so it is probably best ot buy in advance b/c prices are likely to go up, not down. Saving on airfare was a BIGGIE for us. Our entire 7 day cruise is costing us $1450 (total, taxes included) for my family of 4. You would be hard pressed to beat that with a land vacation! --Katie

 

[Green Tea]

OK, just for fun:

Anyone with 3 kids cruise?? Is there a way to do it without taking out a second mortgage?

I love cruising, though at the moment it, like Disney, is simply not in the budget. But my kids are 6, 9 and 11. To the best of my knowledge, that would mean 2 cabins-- are there even ships out there with connecting cabins??

Really just a hypothetical question, but I thought I would add it to the discussion.

On costa, as an example spring break (Easter) week. $3500 for 2 cabins for 2 A 3C in connecting balcony cabins.

I think Disney was over $11K for inside rooms that week. It has been a while since I looked at the DCL price though so I may not be remembering correctly.

 

[jenseib]

I don't know what the deal is today, but I keep trying to price cruises,just to see, and the carnival site won;t show me any prices except for 2 people, I I put 1 or 3 or any other number it tells me no info avaialbe?
And I can't get the norwegian site to work. It keeps freezing up, or just not loading. It is different than the last time I looked at it, so what ever they did, just doesn't work. LOL!

 

[Green Tea]

I don't know what the deal is today, but I keep trying to price cruises,just to see, and the carnival site won;t show me any prices except for 2 people, I I put 1 or 3 or any other number it tells me no info avaialbe?
And I can't get the norwegian site to work. It keeps freezing up, or just not loading. It is different than the last time I looked at it, so what ever they did, just doesn't work. LOL!

Orbitz actually has a really good cruise booking website. It highlights the available cabins so you can play around and look at various possibilities.

 

[jenseib]

I figured out my problem. I was in IE and evidently neither site likes it. Plus I have the older version. My computer won't upload the newest version. I tried in Opera and had no problems looking up stuff.

 

[Zion21]

I find that many cruises listed on orbitz offer kids for free. Make sure you look at some of the promotions as well as the small print.