which cruise line for kids?

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leeza

Guest
hello, my husband & I are celebrating our 10th anniversary in '05 and want to plan a special family trip. we've never taken a cruise, though my parents convinced us that this is the best way to travel. our daughters will be 8, 7 and 4 yrs old. they love kids clubs and love to swim. we are deciding between rccl & princess cruise lines. which cruise line and/or ship is recommended for this age group. we want an elegant ship that is not just for seniors (ie: older guests may be less tolerant of young children?). any advice at all is appreciated!
 
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Capt Data

Guest
Hi Leez.. You can take either a Grand Class Princess cruise or Voyager Class RCCL.. Both have thing to do for kids. For me it would depend on itinerary. do you want beach time. Check out ports of call and decide. The Voyager Class vessels have all the gimmicks on it, rock climbing, ice rink, mini golf. The Grand class ships will have movies under the stars (one of which will be G or children's show) If your children like parades, Voyager has one a couple of nights but it is very late.

Now my preference would be Princess. It is more refined than RCCL. Food to me was better on Princess. The pools on Princess are fresh water not salt. The pools on Princess are open 24hr.

On RCCL The newer vessels have expand kids club areas. But there is a cost for Jonney Rockets now. I would pick a newer ship for the WOW factor. The bigger ships have more things to do in the age range you have for children.

Find out which one your parents went on because if it was Princess you and them can get ship borad credit if you are new to Princess. They have to submit your name first then you tell your TA that Mr & Mrs Leez recommended you and you would like the newbie credit. Since you have a family of five it would help out.
 
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Raven

Guest
I personally prefer Princess over RCCL but not by much. However, in your case I would highly recommend the larger and newer RCCL ships. In my opinion the kids will find much more to do during the evening hours on RCCL than on Princess where most of the action tends to be at the shows, bars and casino. This is the time of day where the extra offerings on RCCL really shine for the kids.

By the way not all Princess ships have pools open 24 hours a day. The Coral Princess pools shut down tight at 11 pm and the jacuzzis at midnight when we were on it this past January. For me food is a tossup between the two lines.
 
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