We finally did it! We finally went on our first family cruise, another item checked off the bucket list. We learned a lot, had a lot of fun and can’t wait to do it again soon!
I felt very prepared for this first family cruise because I spent a lot of time researching. Today I want to share nine important things to research when planning your first family cruise.
Research Cruise Lines and Find One that Meets Your Budget
Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian and of course Disney are the most popular ships for family cruises. Although I dream of Disney, this first cruise for our family needed to be budget-friendly, afterall, I wasn’t even sure the kids would like being on a cruise ship. What if they experienced motion sickness the entire time?
Research Dates
Having school-aged children, I am mostly limited to peak-season travel which costs more unless I am willing to pull them from school. If you are able to travel off-peak season you can not only travel for less but also enjoy a less crowded ship. Luckily for our first family cruise, we were able to find one that occurred during fall break that fit our budget and schedule.
Research Port Departure Options
While looking at cost, it is also important to research your options for port departure. For us, living in Central Florida, we have several options for cruise departures that are less than two hours, including Cape Canaveral, Tampa, and Jacksonville. If we are willing to go to Miami and Fort Lauderdale, the largest and busiest Florida ports, we can potentially get better deals. However a 4-hour drive means an overnight stay to ensure we arrive on time, so I need to factor in the cost of a hotel as well. So my tip is to be sure to research your options for port departure to see what is the most cost-effective.
Research Ship Amenities
While researching ships, cost and departure ports, I also was looking at the ship’s amenities. Every ship and every port I saw offered different amenities on board. Researching the amenities is going to ensure both the kids and adults have plenty to do while aboard the ship.
Some of the important amenities I looked for on our family cruise included a waterslide, kid’s club, family shows, childcare and something for mom and dad to do while we had some free time.
Research What to Bring
One of those very helpful items I discovered on the FAQ page of the cruise line was what to bring. The list included what kind of clothing to wear during the cruise as well as the types of clothing that are needed for dining at the various establishments, both formal and casual.
I even discovered a handy list of suggested items to bring. Let me tell you, packing for a family of four is not the easiest and I always tend to forget something from underwear to swimsuits. This already made list really saved me some time and I felt that I had everything I needed.
Research Special Occasions
While researching what to bring I discovered that during the holidays Carnival has special events including an Ugly Sweater contest for December and Frightfully Fun in October. So this, of course, prompted me to pack Halloween costumes for the kids.
Many seasoned cruisers that we encountered were sorely disappointed as they had not packed their kid’s costumes. I was asked numerous times how I knew to pack costumes and of course I said I read it during my researching the FAQs. So no matter the cruise line, be sure to check if your ship will have any seasonal activities.
Research Beverage Options
Prior to our cruise departure, I spent some time deciding whether or not to purchase the cruise’s Cheers beverage program. With this beverage package you can enjoy alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks at a flat daily rate. There is also the Bottomless Bubbles package which includes soft drinks and juices for a flat daily rate.
Our family is mostly water drinkers and we really do not drink soda, although Mark and I do like an occasional adult libation. Going back to the FAQ page I discovered that Mark and I could each bring a bottle of wine or champagne with us in our carry-on luggage and that each person could also bring a small quantity of sparkling water, sodas, energy drinks, juice and milk in cans or cartons.
We evaluated the cost of the beverage packages versus what we estimated we would spend purchasing individual drinks coupled with the fact we could bring some drinks on board and opted to not purchase any drink packages. This ended up being a good call for us as we spent less than half of what we would have if we purchased the drink packages.
So be sure to research what is offered on your ship when it comes to beverage options so you can make an informed decision and potentially save some money.
Research Excursions
There is no short of excursions to choose from for your port of call. I spent a lot of time in the Carnival portal trying to decide what would be the best family adventure for our day in Cozumel.
If you see an excursion you think your family would enjoy, be sure to research it outside of the cruise line’s site on perhaps another travel site or by Googling it. Whatever the case be sure to read other customer reviews!
While reading other customer reviews, I discovered many of the excursions I was interested in required a lot of travel time. The last thing two nine-year-olds are going to want to do on their day off the ship is to be in a vehicle for two to four hours. I also discovered some of the excursions were only 45 minutes at the actual destination.
Since Mark and I had been to Cozumel before and I couldn’t find any excursion that I thought was a perfect fit for our family, we opted to spend the day off the ship exploring on our own. We were able to shop at the port and then we grabbed a taxi and headed off on our own adventure. This adventure took us downtown for some more shopping and eventually we ended up at a beach resort for snorkeling and kayaking. We did all of this cheaper than the excursions through Carnival’s site and it made for a perfect day for our family, doing it our way.
Research Ports of Call
This leads me to my last tip for today, researching ports of call. Although we had been to Cozumel prior, I spent some time researching the port of call to find out all I could. We were still in Cozumel but being on a different ship meant a different port and a different area then our last cruise. It is important to know the laws, currency, what is available in the area, and the area’s safety. Since I had researched the port of call thoroughly I felt prepared to take my family and venture on our own.
I hope you find these 9 things to research when planning your first family cruise helpful. Be sure to stay tuned for more about our first family cruise and our adventures aboard Carnival Cruise Lines.