I need help planning a cruise....

[nathaliabrown]

I Dont know where to look. The times we have available is November 17th - November 25th. It doesnt have to be that entire time but those are the dates we have to work with.

Its DH, me, SD 13, DS6, DD4. I was thinking about a Disney cruise. We have the Galveston, TX port by us so we would not have to fly. IT doesnt need to be a disney cruise but I think it would be fun!


Where do I go?

 

[neatokimmo]

I Dont know where to look. The times we have available is November 17th - November 25th. It doesnt have to be that entire time but those are the dates we have to work with.

Its DH, me, SD 13, DS6, DD4. I was thinking about a Disney cruise. We have the Galveston, TX port by us so we would not have to fly. IT doesnt need to be a disney cruise but I think it would be fun!


Where do I go?

I don't want to discourage you, but that is Thanksgiving week and it will be wicked expensive. If you can leave the Saturday after Thanksgiving you will hit one of the cheap weeks.

 

[Disney Addicted]

You might want to post your question over on the the Disney Cruise Line forum and read some of the threads posted there. The DCL forum is an amazing wealth of information when it comes to cruising!

http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=9

 

[Eastern]

Also look at www.cruisecritic.com

Click on "boards" to get to the forums.

 

[Acklander]

For cheap, last minute cruises I usually first go to vacationstogo.com and scroll through the last minute specials for an idea of what's out there and price range. Once I pick out what I want I go to cruise compete.com and put the info in there. That's where all the cruise specialists compete to give you the lowest prices possible. This system has worked well for me

 

[EPCOT is a verb]

I second the recommendation to go to cruisecritic.com. Cruisecritic is to cruising as Disboards is to Disney.

 

[phred52]

also, google 'discount cruise' and hit a lot of sites that come up. Put in your dates and departure city. Do your homework. Pretty quickly you will find exactly what is available for your limitations. Then for cruisecritic .... I state in my request that I can purchase 'this' cruise in 'this' category stateroom for 'this' price for 'these' people. "can you beat that price"?

BTW, When doing your homework you will find the rock bottom price pretty quickly. Comparing sites, a few are more $$ but many many have identical pricing. Keep in mind various perks that are offered for booking through different sites.

100% of the time when asking that question on cruisecritic I have been offered the identical cruise for less $$ available elsewhere.

 

[SnowWhite607]

We just got back from a Carnival cruise on T'giving Day....left the Sat before. Not expensive at all. I think the Carnival Triumph is out of Galveston now. Its a nice ship. We left from New Orleans and went to Prograso, Mexico and Cozumel. 5 days.

 

[buzz2400]

I use cruisecritic.com for info. Since you have a year to plan, you can go to carnival.com and look at early bird savings. I believe that is what they call it. The only setback is that it is nonrefundable but it is the cheapest. We are leaving in January on an early bird savings. We have been on a disney, carnival and royal caribbean. Disney was the best but it is really expensive. we prefer carnival over royal caribbean. RC lacks things to do for families

 

[furb & dez]

I second the recommendation to go to cruisecritic.com. Cruisecritic is to cruising as Disboards is to Disney.

*agree*

 

[webprinter]

DD preferred Carnival over Royal Caribbean when she was a teenager as the ages seemed younger and there was more to do. I think your prices from Galveston are going to be higher but because you wont have airfare, it may even out. We sailed out of Galveston on Royal Caribbean a couple years ago and really liked it, although I have heard of delays due to weather in the winter and spring. I'm not sure about late fall, but at least you wont have hurricanes to worry about. I agree with the advice to check out cruisecritic.com. We are regulars there and it is very helpful. Sometimes you can get an extra onboard credit when you book through Expedia and Priceline. Cruise411.com is also a helpful site usually offering pretty decent prices. The cruise lines will offer free upgrades and onboard credit off and on if you book during one of their "sales". Sometimes they also offer a discounted downpayment amount.

 

[mdsoccermom]

Carnival's newest ship, the Magic, is out of Galveston.

 

[NewCrew42]

We cruised out of Galveston on RC and on carnival. We have been to Roatan, costa maya, progreso, & Cozumel. We really enjoyed it.

 

[Darcy03231]

We cruise a lot. We've cruised on Carnival, Royal Carribean, Norwegian, Princess and Celebrity. I second the idea of using vacationstogo.com to see what's offered during the time you want to go and the price and then going to cruisecompete.com to get the best possible price. As others have also suggested cruisecritic.com is a good site for information, as is cruisemates.com.

When they were younger and using the kids programs my children preferred Carnival over any of the other lines. They really liked their programs much better, with Royal Carribean being a close 2nd.

Good luck and have fun!

 

[Macprincess]

Family of 5 here as well. We have done 4 cruise with all 3 kids. (My husband and I have also cruised several times without the kids.) You should be forwarned that cruising with a third child is going to be pretty darned expensive!

Almost all cuises are set up for 4 max in a standard cabin. On Disney's Dream & Fantasy there are a limited # of family cabins w/ portholes that sleep 5. They sell out fast! For us we have found this is the least expensive way to cruise even over RCCL and Carnival.

All 4 Disney ships also have the cat 4 (I think) that sleep 5 with a verandah. These are bucks. We often find it's much cheaper to book two inside cabins over these. Do keep in mind all lines require an Adult be listed on each cabin. (Most over look where you actually sleep though.) This means you pay full price for the first two passangers regardless of age in a cabin. The family of 5 thing really nails you on price. We have done great on kids sail free sailings booking a room that sleeps 5 but I doubt you will get this discounts Thanksgiving or for that matter anytime the kids are out of school.

My advice is to find a good Travel agent that knows all the lines and has experince with larger famlies on cruises.

We have sailed both Disney and RCCL with the kids. Disney wins hands down in my book when dealing with kids. RCCL would close the kids clubs at certain times during the day. This drove me nuts! My kids like to come and go to the clubs throught the cruise at a whim. We hated that they were not always open. Disney kids clubs are open from early am to at least midnight. RCCL also charged an extra fee for the clubs after I think 9 or 10 pm.

Disney is often more expensive for most but I'm not sure I would say that it is if you know how to book a family of 5 with them. They at least try to work to offer cabins that fit a family of 5 without having to do suites. We have found the other lines do not. I also like that other then tips, and if I choose excursions, spa, photos, adult beverages or adult dining everything is included in the upfront price. On the other lines we have sailed (Carnival & RCCL) I felt we were always having to pay extra for stuff.

Oh and Castaway Cay is the bomb!