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Duck Soup

Ludo wrote: »

https://www.seascanner.com/cruises-from-dublin-t97

Exactly what I was looking for. Thank you to yourself and Davy. I've plenty of reading there to keep me busy.

The Davestator

Hi folks,

considering a cruise with kids next year. They will be 1 and 4. Has anyone any advice? Worth it? Wait until they are older?

Ideally do East Med.

I worked on cruise ships (In the gym) for a year so know the basics, but nothing about kids!

Thoie

The Davestator wrote: »

Hi folks,

considering a cruise with kids next year. They will be 1 and 4. Has anyone any advice? Worth it? Wait until they are older?

Ideally do East Med.

I worked on cruise ships (In the gym) for a year so know the basics, but nothing about kids!

I don't think kids of that age would really see much difference between a cruise or a land based holiday. Depending on the cruise line, the 1 year old wouldn't be able to go in the pool, even with a swim nappy, and you'd need to check the age for the kids' club. Probably varies between line to line, but something at the back of my mind says that 5 or 6 is the lower age for the clubs. Personally, I'd be inclined to wait until the youngest is out of nappies.

Stone Deaf 4evr

the other thing to bear in mind is that you'll probably have to pay for each child as if they were an adult, granted it'll likely receive some discount, but you could still end up paying a fair whack for a 1 year old that isnt going to be taking advantage of any of the dining aspect of it.

coylemj

One thing to bear in mind about an eastern Med. cruise - they're usually of 11 days duration and involve a run to Cyprus which means two days 'at sea' where you will be heavily dependant on good weather, otherwise the kids will be bored stiff with nothing to do.

Ludo

Stone Deaf 4evr wrote: »

the other thing to bear in mind is that you'll probably have to pay for each child as if they were an adult, granted it'll likely receive some discount, but you could still end up paying a fair whack for a 1 year old that isnt going to be taking advantage of any of the dining aspect of it.

Not if you go with MSC. All under 11s go free...other than port tax of a couple hundred euro.

Thoie

Ludo wrote: »

Not if you go with MSC. All under 11s go free...other than port tax of a couple hundred euro.

Does MSC charge the daily service charge for the free kids? If so, that could be another $200-300.

Ludo

Thoie wrote: »

Does MSC charge the daily service charge for the free kids? If so, that could be another $200-300.

There is a reduced service charge AFAIK (and you can ask them NOT to charge this if you please by going to the reception desk onboard to get the charges removed). But that's not part of the fare which the port tax is which is why I didn't mention it.

paul-2008

Hi all, Myself and my partner are getting married next June and are looking to go on a Caribbean cruise for our Honeymoon - is there anything in particular to look out for? Any advise previous cruisers would like to share? It is working out to be quite pricey but i figure this is something we probably wont do again, at least not to the same extent. Is it worth going through a travel agent? or have people found it better to book everything separate?

Thanks in advance

xraylady

I know you say it will work out v expensive but its funny, you'll find that med cruise at that time of the year can be more expensive.. I have been on many Caribbean cruises. My favourite cruise line is Celebrity Cruises. I would say that for Honeymoon it would be great. I always book flights separately. Best flights are the direct Aer Lingus to Orlando or Miami. My problem with Travel agencies is that I find they tend to give a total price, flight, cruise, transfers, hotel. I prefer to see things separately so I can see what each section is costing me so I can price myself. I have booked through agents here, Cruise lines direct but now always book my cruise through a large american agency. It pays to price with agency here, cruiseline direct and US agency. Then you can easily compare. Sometimes offers differ from US to Europe such as drinks package offers etc and need to look at this. Mind you, I needed a bit of experience booking to feel confident booking through US so I can understand for your first cruise it may be a bit daunting. The thing with them is that they generally offer extras such as on board credit as a sweetener for booking with them (It can be quite a lot) and some have freephone numbers to Ireland ( Vac****** to Go) .. Main reasons though are (1) that the deposit usually quite small and often fully refundable up to 3 months out. I then pay off by degrees (2) If you book and the price dips, you can phone them and they will reduce balance due for you. Its up to you to check for this. This can save so much. Last cruise for me was at Christmas and got reductions of about $600 on our two fares. Here, whatever you book at, you pay. Cruisecritic.com great resource for looking at pre and post cruise hotels/ports/transfers and give great reviews of any cruise lines you are thinking of.
All in all you will really enjoy it and can save if you look at all options. For first cruise, inside/ ocean view cabin would be high enough category if price a consideration. You will still enjoy the experience.
Any advice you need let me know

Looking at a 7 day cruise around the Med, departing from Barcelona, next March, on the MSC Meraviglia. 2 adults, 4 yr old and 1 yr old girls, so might stay on board a couple of days like Marseille and Rome Civitavecchia, and disembark at the smaller cities like Genoa, Palermo and Valetta.

I'm a little lost on tipping, food and drinks policy. The drinks package adds €430 between us. Am I right in saying that without this we have to pay for all alcohol, the speciality restaurants and ice cream, and food and drink is limited to standard restaurant and buffet with water only? With 2 kids, we won't be whooping it up and the 4 year old means sushi 24/7 is not on the cards. But 2/3 glasses of wine and beer each at mealtime might be nice, and at least the option of speciality food to break up the routine might be worth it. And I expect a 4 year old to look for an ice cream and mineral or 2, particularly during the days on board.

And think there is a daily tipping charge that comes to €22 between us added at the end, would that make sense?

Thanks for any tips and pointers, apologies if this has all been raised before.

bilbot79

Is this not a thread for Irish inland waterways?

steve-o

bilbot79 wrote: »

Is this not a thread for Irish inland waterways?

It was... until post 38 when it started to veer off track. Maybe the mods might eventually clean it up.

mags1962

Hi Conor74 done this cruise myself ,drink package covers wine ,choice of 3 house wines red-white in restaurants ,bars, beer HEINEKEN is the only draught choice covered , speciality restaurants are not included in package but available to purchase separately at appx 81€ for 3 but only if purchased Before travel considerably dearer on board. ice cream is included but not in all places . There are 3 restaurants you'll be assigned 1 and 2 buffets to choose from . Its a fabulous ship and am planning to return ,your kids will have loads to do.

mags1962

mags1962 wrote: »

Hi Conor74 done this cruise myself ,drink package covers wine ,choice of 3 house wines red-white in restaurants ,bars, beer HEINEKEN is the only draught choice covered , speciality restaurants are not included in package but available to purchase separately at appx 81€ for 3 but only if purchased Before travel considerably dearer on board. ice cream is included but not in all places . There are 3 restaurants you'll be assigned 1 and 2 buffets to choose from . Its a fabulous ship and am planning to return ,your kids will have loads to do.

Thanks so much Mags, very helpful.

Would you know how much, roughly, is a glass of wine or a pint of Heineken, are they like Irish prices,.or more?

And when you say ice cream is included, you mean in the drinks package or anyway?

jhegarty

Deleted User wrote: »

Thanks so much Mags, very helpful.

Would you know how much, roughly, is a glass of wine or a pint of Heineken, are they like Irish prices,.or more?

And when you say ice cream is included, you mean in the drinks package or anyway?

You can see a drinks menu here:
https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/2496088-msc-late-2017-or-2018-mediterranean-bar-menus/


For ice cream cones is free for everyone. For the better gelato you need to pay or have a package.

jhegarty

jhegarty wrote: »

You can see a drinks menu here:
https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/2496088-msc-late-2017-or-2018-mediterranean-bar-menus/

For ice cream cones is free for everyone. For the better gelato you need to pay or have a package.

Thanks for all that.

Will sit down and crunch the numbers later.

The travel company are saying that if we don't take the drinks package, minerals and ice cream for the 4 year old will have to be bought and paid for separately, all that's free is water.

mags1962

're drinks package we found if you had 4 drinks throughout the day or evening you broke even e.g. cocktails,wine,beer also handy to have no other expenses.

Went ahead and booked with drinks package. With 3 days on the ship, as will pass on Marseille and Rome (been there, it's amazing, too much to take in in a few hours racing around), decided it's handy to not be counting the money each time we want a fruit juice.

paddy111199

I have 3 kids (6, 3 and 7 months) and would love to go on a cruise next summer in the Med. Only issue is that I am being quoted €9-12k for 1 week (Royal Car and Disney)!!!

Are there any liners which would offer a reasonable rate and a 2 bed suite/family room.

Maybe with 3 kids I am snookered! Would really appreciate any advice as the kids would love a cruise and so would I! Thank you

Ludo

Try MSC...much more reasonable price wise.

paddy111199

Ludo wrote: »

Try MSC...much more reasonable price wise.

Thanks a mill. Yes seen this company and much more reasoanable. Only issue I had was a number of negative reviews I seen online. I travelled previously (pre kids) with RC and they were super. Anybody got reviews from MSC, good bad or indifferent? Many thanks l

Ludo

paddy111199 wrote: »

Thanks a mill. Yes seen this company and much more reasoanable. Only issue I had was a number of negative reviews I seen online. I travelled previously (pre kids) with RC and they were super. Anybody got reviews from MSC, good bad or indifferent? Many thanks l

Been twice myself with 2 kids. They were 7 on first one and ten on second one. We all loved it and they are asking to go again. Never been on RC so can't compare which is what you really need to know. I'm guessing if RC is say 5 star then MSC is prob 4 star. If you are used to RC then you prob would not enjoy MSC as much as human nature is to constantly compare and you would end up with a negative review. I have nothing to compare it to so we thought it was great and very good value for money so would give it a strong positive review.

Went on the new ship (Seview) last summer and it was a huge step up from the previous one we went on (Musica).

xraylady

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g1-i10703-k10417144-Cruising_with_3_kids-Cruises.html

Try MSC or NCL . Both well equipped for kids and have less rigid cabin types. Been on N Epic and very good standard. I see Princess are putting on big push here for next Summer with good offers inc free flights - might be worth a look. By the way , I’ve found that booking two side by side cabins can be WAY cheaper than one larger family suite and these not usually available anyway as so few of them. Forget Disney pricewise. They’re crazy!
Good luck

Thoie

paddy111199 wrote: »

Thanks a mill. Yes seen this company and much more reasoanable. Only issue I had was a number of negative reviews I seen online. I travelled previously (pre kids) with RC and they were super. Anybody got reviews from MSC, good bad or indifferent? Many thanks l

I don't travel with kids, but having been on both Royal and MSC, I think they're both fine. I was worried before my first MSC cruise, as I'd seen a lot of negative reviews, but in hindsight they mainly seemed to be coming from Americans who didn't like the European way of service.

I believe MSC's newer ships are starting to cater more for Americans, but the times I went I preferred the food on MSC (more Italian, reasonable portions). Depending on your tastes, the entertainment on Royal is "better" - more showy. MSC had a lot of "light opera" nights, with piano playing and singers. I liked it - you could close your eyes and listen to the nice music.

Another thing that seemed to annoy Americans is that announcements on MSC go on for quite some time, as they do everything in a few different languages. Some people seem to dislike when Italian/French/Spanish speakers get to hear the same information as everyone else

Vic_08

steve-o wrote: »

It was... until post 38 when it started to veer off track. Maybe the mods might eventually clean it up.

The mods combined the two topics in the first place, effectively killing off the inland waterway discussion with the higher volume of ocean cruising posts.

I tried to explain that the two topics are entirely different but instead of dealing with it all they were interested in was deleting my post and sending me a snotty PM because I dared question a mod decision publicly. :rolleyes:

6541

Vic_08 wrote: »

The mods combined the two topics in the first place, effectively killing off the inland waterway discussion with the higher volume of ocean cruising posts.

I tried to explain that the two topics are entirely different but instead of dealing with it all they were interested in was deleting my post and sending me a snotty PM because I dared question a mod decision publicly. :rolleyes:

In fairness it is two completely different topics.

coylemj

Thoie wrote: »

I don't travel with kids, but having been on both Royal and MSC, I think they're both fine. I was worried before my first MSC cruise, as I'd seen a lot of negative reviews, but in hindsight they mainly seemed to be coming from Americans who didn't like the European way of service.

I believe MSC's newer ships are starting to cater more for Americans, but the times I went I preferred the food on MSC (more Italian, reasonable portions). Depending on your tastes, the entertainment on Royal is "better" - more showy. MSC had a lot of "light opera" nights, with piano playing and singers. I liked it - you could close your eyes and listen to the nice music.

+1 I've been on two MSC cruises and one RC, all in Europe (Baltic and Med.) and I'd agree with Thoie's observations.

To a European, the differences between a cruise on this side of the Atlantic with MSC and RC are very minor in terms of the ship and the food. The principal difference we found was that there was a lot more Americans on the RC cruise. The good news is that the American cruisers are couples and very small groups meaning that they don't know each other so they don't congregate together like Brits when they're abroad i.e. they mix with the Europeans and are quite social - as long as you don't mention you know who!

mel.b

I will be travelling as a walk on passenger with stena line Dublin-Holyhead rtn next yr. i’ve only caught the ferry ince before from holyhead to Dublin and remember it was a long drive from where you wait with your car to where the ferry was. How does it work as a walk on passenger? Do they bus you to there or do you walk all the way or do foot passengers enter from a different spot compared to cars?

goingnowhere

Its a bus to/from terminal into the ship