Carnival Cruise With Extended Family?

Question

I have been on two cruises - Celebrity on a honeymoon and a recent Disney Cruise with wife and daughter. My folks (grandma and grandpa) want to take the family (2 couples with kids - 4, 7 and 9 + my 40 year old sister) on a cruise.

We like the itinerary for a 7 day Carnival Cruise late this year, but:

a. my only reference on Carnival is friends who did the 3-4 night Carnival "drunken orgy" 10+ years ago

b. while I am not looking for luxury, I don't want to spend the weekend with Randy Quaid's family from the Vacation movies

c. The only resources I have found online seem to either be written by huge fans or haters - little middle ground to be found

Anyone have recent experience on longer Carnival cruises or on the Legend?

Any help appreciated. But references with kids in our bracket would be huge.

Answer 1

Carnival usually has more younger adults and is very kid friendly. Lots of gambling, drinking, and partying, especially during summer and spring break. The college kids like to go because the international waters have different drinking ages, and that way you can get alcohol easier. Anyhow, its very kid friendly, and has lots to do. The kid programs are amazing, and they have lots of ammenities, like the waterslides, and various other places to hang out. Teenagers have discos every night and the younger kids have sleepovers, and there is even an arcade. Lots to do for people of every age.

Carnival isnt the most luxurious but basically you get what you pay for. The rooms are fairly small like on any cruise line, and they dont have alot of space and can get quite crowded. I would suggest packing light and bringing only the things that you will need, and try to not overpack as you more then likely will. The suitcases take up so much room in an already crowded cabin so its nice if they collapse, but most of them will fit under the bed, and then some in the closet. Also balcony rooms are nice. If the kids are all going to be sharing a room then an inside room will be good, and the parents and adults should either consider balconies or oceanview staterooms. Suites might even be a good idea if you want everyone in the same room and have lots of space. Just an idea though. Those would be more expensive but you could pull your money together and save.

Carnival has great prices and its something that everyone should experience on their own. I've cruised numerous times, once on Carnival and liked it alot. The food was amazing like it is on any cruise, and the staff was impeccable. Nothing to complain about.

On formal night get a family picture. Be aware of the dress code. No jeans on formal night. No shorts or swimsuits period during dinner. Shorts are okay in the lunch or breakfast seating. No swimsuits period. Any other information you need just ask.

Answer 2

I've only been on Royal Caribbean with my extended family...it was awesome...very kid friendly....but great for adults too

if you decide to go with carnival....a great site for carnival promo deals is www.ticketsavvy.com   good luck and have fun!

Answer 3

Well, I do admit to being a CArnival lover, but I have aslo cruised on RCL. Last May we took our 12 year old on the Legend (Cozumel, Belize, Grand Caymen and Costa Maya ) The Legend isnt my favorite ship but we had a great time. There was plenty of room by the pools for my daughter to hang out with other kids, and Camp CArnival wasn't busy so she had alot of adult supervision and an small kid to adult ratio. I found thew service and food great, as I do with all Carnival cruises.

We did the pirate ship adventure out of Grand Caymen which my daughter loved, she swabbed the deck and got thrown overboard...lol

In Cozumel we visited Tulum, since I took her out of school to vacatiuon I felt something educational was important. Only draw back was the 10 min walk from Playa Del Carmen to the tour buses.

Costa Maya we had book a beach day but she got sick and just wanted to hang out around the pool for the day, With the hurricaine I'm pretty sure it stops somewhere else now.

Belize we snorkeled ( the year prior we took a crusie to St Thomas and my daughter developed a taste for snorkeling) We went to Goff's Cay, although the water was beautiful, I felt like we were packed in like sardines on the boat over. We were picked up at the boat (the boat tenders) and dropped back at the boat, we never saw Belize.

I havent cruised with one as little as 4 but have had great experiences with the past 6 cruises we have been on. Actually we leave in 38 days for a trip on the Mexican Riveria on the Pride

You can also check out cruisecritic.com, it has boards for roll calls, excursion info and questions. I am sure you guys will have fun, we met alot of other families on the crusies we have been on (the longer ones seem to be more family and less drunks...lol)

Answer 4

I've been on 5 Carnival cruises and I've enjoyed myself on all but one. That was the first one I ever took and I failed to take advantage of all the cruise had to offer so I have no one to blame on that one except me. A cruise will be what you make of it I have been on Carnival Cruises where the average age has been much younger than me (I'm 50) (The Conquest and Fantasy) and where they have been older (The elation) I recently went on the Triumph where every age group was well represented. I will say there really was not a "drunken orgy" but there is no question there was significant drinking and a lot of "partying" when the group was younger. The cruise will have non stop activities but you do not need to participate in all and if you just want to hang out on deck the rear of the ship will be relatively quite yet you can still get wait service. I'm not sure this will be of much help to you but if you enjoyed your two previous cruises I see no reason for you not to enjoy one with Carnival.

Answer 5

I always use Carnival and have never seen your reference on any ship now and that is a big thing as I and my husband use this as a family vacation, and happily those drunken days are gone, it is sad to think some would not even try a line because of 10+ years ago, but thing have changed for the better. Carnival is a wonderful family vacation, the food is 5 star,

We have booked the Legend for December and look forward to our next trip.

It has something for everyone including Camp Carnival for the children, and my boys love it.

the service is amazing and the ships are beautiful, as family cruises go Carnival it awesome.

and the towel folding demonstration is a must go to, so much fun!

Answer 6

Carnival Cruise is very good choice for the Family. It offers many different alternatives to different age groups. This would make the cruise very enjoyable to all.

Checkout this site

http://www.travelaroundsite.com

It is really good for comparing

It has some of the best prices around

We have used it several times

Answer 7

We have hosted two extended family cruises on Carnival.  

We hosted 19 guests on the Ecstasy in 2006 and 14 guests on the Conquest in 2007.  

We enjoy Carnival for the casual atmosphere, kid friendly and economical vacation they provide.  

Some tips for cruising with a large group...

- Don't expect to do everything together!  Everyone should be allow and expected to enjoy his/her vacation and work out his or her problems on their own....don't try to be everyone's cruise director or purser.

- Designate a general area in the casual eatery to sit that way you don't have to search for your family members to meet up for meals.

- Get the kids soda fountain cards.  They will pay for themselves since soda is $1.75 per can.  FYI...the cards are not good for soda ordered from room service.  You have to pay for those.

- Get a set of the 2-way radios to keep in touch while on board.

- Our trip included kids from age 18 months to 18 years old.  There are activities from Camp Carnival, an arcade, pool events.  My kids love the 24x7 pizzeria and ice cream, too.

- Make sure everyone understands what they are expected to pay for.

  

- Each guest or family should have a separate account set up for incidental purchases such as bar drinks, shore excursions, spa services, etc.

- We always tried to have dinner together in the dining room.

- Be sure to have a family photo made on the formal night.  Our family did this on the 2006 cruise and we lost our Dad 1 month after returning from the cruise.  The memories are precious.

We are taking a group of 7 on the Conquest in June.