Many parents may wonder if a cruise with kids is worth the splurge, especially with the hefty price tag that often comes with it. Is it truly a vacation worth the investment? After several cruises (we are on our sixth cruise as I write this), we’ve discovered that cruising offers a unique type of getaway that our whole family can enjoy.
Before you set sail on a cruise with kids, there are a few key ground rules to keep in mind.
1. Cruises may not be the best with babies and toddlers. Cruise passengers are often older and retired, so kids can sometimes be a bit of a mixed bag. Some may get frustrated by the noise and energy, while others might be charmed and shower you with compliments.
That said, some cruise lines offer special baby clubs and amenities designed specifically for younger children, which can be a game-changer. If you’re traveling with little ones, it’s important to carefully review the amenities and policies of the ship to ensure a smooth experience.
2. Kids clubs can be a fantastic option, but they do have specific hours and sometimes take days off. For example, on our current cruise, the kids club runs from 9-12, 2-5, and 7-10 pm. If you’d like a break while in port, you may be able to pay extra to leave your kids with the club during your time ashore. However, keep in mind that the minimum age for the club is usually five years old.
Sometimes, I’ve come across kids clubs with lower age limits, offering options for younger children. Another alternative is for parents to bring their little ones to a playroom, where they can play under parental supervision. Generally, the kids club staff has days off on embarkation and disembarkation days. However, I’ve been pleasantly surprised on this 12-day cruise to find that the kids club has been open every day so far, with no scheduled breaks.
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3. Choose the right cruise line. We’ve only sailed with Royal Caribbean and Celebrity. I prefer Royal Caribbean, but since we currently live in Europe, we don’t see as many options for their large ships.
I’ve heard nothing but great things about Disney Cruises, but the price has kept us from booking one so far. With costs nearly double that of other options and no extra amenities, I haven’t been able to justify the splurge (even though I’m a huge Disney fan!). Personally, I’d prefer concierge services over a character meal, but I might change my mind one day if we decide to treat ourselves to a Disney Cruise. On the other hand, MSC Cruises are also highly rated for families and might be a more budget-friendly option to consider.
4. Note the on-board amenities, especially if you are planning a more extended cruise with many sea days. Our kids have loved the hot tubs, unlimited ice cream in the buffet, the game room, slides and playgrounds, surfing, mini-golf, and basketball courts. Big ships can even have race-course tracks, zip-lining, and more!
5. Opt for a larger room. Not only will you have more space to spread out, but these rooms are often located closer to key attractions, like the dining room, making it more convenient for your family. This saves kids and parents’ frustration as you don’t battle the elevators as much, can run to your room for forgotten items, etc. It may not seem like a big deal, but splurging on these small things can make a huge difference in your vacation.
6. Embrace occasional room service. The kids tend to get progressively more tired as the days go on, so I occasionally mandate a nap for all. We save time and money by ordering room service, which is included in our room type. It’s a convenient way to enjoy meals without the extra cost!
7. Pre-pay for amenities on board. Booking your cruise well in advance often gives you access to great deals on these extras. For example, on our current cruise, we pre-paid around $1,000 for five specialty restaurants for our family of seven. While it may seem like a big expense, the quality of these meals has made it well worth it.
One of the restaurants on board is Le Petite Chef, our current favorite restaurant. In fact, we have one in our home city of Lisbon, and it costs us $100 per person in Lisbon. That’s $700 a meal!
On this cruise, we’re visiting Le Petite Chef three times for about the same cost as one visit would usually be! We also dined at Murano, an incredible French restaurant that would easily run us around $100 per person in any major city. We saved our last specialty restaurant experience for sushi with the grandparents. Of course, sushi for seven isn’t cheap, so we feel like the specialty restaurant package more than paid for itself. The pre-paid meal package has been totally worth it for us, giving us the chance to enjoy some amazing meals as a family.
We also pre-booked our wifi package (worth every penny as the standard wifi is worthless) and non-alcoholic drink package. With drinks running $7-10 each on board, this also has paid off very well.
8. Use an expert. I wish I could take credit for some of these tips, but most of what I’ve learned comes from our travel agent, Deb. I’m happy to share her contact information with anyone—she works remotely, and we’ve never even met in person! The cruise world, much like Disney, has so many details and intricacies that can be hard to navigate, with a steep learning curve. Travel agents also have access to exclusive package deals that regular travelers don’t, and they can often secure better deals than you’ll find anywhere else.
9. Pack well. I’ll include more packing tips below, but cruises are limited in what you can buy. I forgot my tennis shoes and had to get some in port, which wasn’t ideal. There are also random things you might love to have with you on a cruise, such as card games, swim goggles, sunscreen, cold medication, etc. If you have any medications or items you need from time to time, bring them! You can’t get these things at all on a cruise ship.
The good news is cruises are used to passengers packing A LOT. With formal nights, casual nights, varied activities, and more, cruise passengers generally are not packing light. Go wild and bring lots of bags!
10. Never book the cruise excursions. You may get some online credit with the cruise ship and wish to apply that to a fun-looking cruise excursion. I’d recommend you don’t! Not only are cruise excursions really expensive, but they are often geared towards commissions by those running them.
We did a Turkish rug experience in Turkey thinking it’d be cool to see how these factories work. It was not fun at all. We felt very pressured to buy an overpriced rug, to the point that the guide was shaming those who did not buy in the group! We saw the same merchandise an hour later in town for less anyway. Avoid anything that says “factory” as this is simply a gift shop with a few workers nearby that may or may not actually make the product.
11. Book experiences outside the cruise. If you want to see something in port, book your own experience outside the cruise. You’ll save tons of money. Tell them you are from the cruise so they can be patient with schedule changes. Know that if the cruise changes its schedule for any reason, you may miss your experience and be out of luck. That is the risk with this option.
You can either wait until the last minute (booking the day before, for example) or expect some potential loss with this. However, you’ll save hundreds over what the cruise would charge you and get a much better experience. My parents took this route on our Greek Cruise last year and had much better guides and tours than we did when booking excursions through the cruise.
12. Stay onboard in port. If you aren’t going a bit stir-crazy, consider not even getting off! We didn’t get off for Rome on our Mediterranean cruise, as we had already explored the city when we lived there for a month. There wasn’t anything we needed to see, and we loved having a day on the less crowded ship to do some activities and hang by the pool.
13. Budget for laundry services. On this 12-day cruise, I knew we’d need to do some laundry. We are going to Orlando right after and won’t have access to laundry there either, so it’s inevitable. It’s also spendy! Thankfully, most cruises will offer a sale.
We cashed in on the “fit as much as you can in one bag” deal for $60 and crammed absolutely everything we could into that bag! However, this was mostly just underwear, socks, and a few pants for everyone. We’ve still washed our workout clothes in the shower to save some dough (since we are working out every day).
1. All In One Vacation. Logistics are a breeze with kids when cruising once you are on board. You don’t need to worry about your transportation, your meals, much of your entertainment, or even getting your bags to your room! Just get it booked, paid for, and show up!
2. Entertainment to the Max. Cruises offer nearly endless entertainment for a variety of crowds. You’ll get a printout in your room each night of dozens of activities, shows, games, etc. for the next day. I downloaded some movies to watch together as a family, but they aren’t that needed considering how much we have access to on this cruise. I’ve been pleased with the variety of things to do, as well as the option to just relax in the sun, take a nap in a sun chair or your room, or play a game in the game room.
3. Kids Clubs! Need I say more? Kids club is every parent’s BFF. Parents get a break for a few hours while kids get to make new friends who continue to be on the same boat for their entire journey!
We are usually too worn out to make friends with the other parents, but we did have one cruise in which we had a couple of meals with the parents of a new friend to our kids. Our kids have even stayed in touch with past cruise friends, and we had a meet-up in Lisbon later with a family we met on a cruise.
4. Family Bonding Time. One of my favorite parts of a cruise is all of the different versions of family time you can experience. Take a kid for a one-on-one date, take the older kids surfing, go on a romantic dinner date as parents, nap with the toddler in the room and give them some quiet time, etc. You can get all kinds of time together on a cruise. I also love the meal times together for dinner or the quick lunches on the go as we float to the next activity.
5. Dining Made Easy. With bountiful buffets, specialty restaurants, and food available 24 hours a day, there is no stress about what to eat. This takes a lot off your plate as these can be real concerns during regular travel. Picky eaters love cruising!! There is no need to worry about snacks while on the boat, either! You might want some for port days, however. I like to grab some croissants, cheese, ham, and apples and make some on-the-go snacks for walking around a new city.
6. Not Many Hidden Costs. While you can easily drive up your cruise bill while on board, there aren’t a lot of “sneaky” costs that are going to surprise you at the end. Most bills are going to consist of alcohol (which you can also avoid with a drink package in advance), laundry, or room service (if your room doesn’t include this). Or perhaps the minibar. The point is that you can easily avoid all of these. Cruises like to collect upfront and offer most services in advance in a package.
On our last cruise, we did a glass-blowing class but used a bit of our onboard credit we got at booking. Our final bill was $23. This is amazing after 12 days at sea!
1. Cabin Size. Even family-friendly staterooms can feel cramped, especially on longer cruises. I recommend spending time outside your room (for a movie, for example) to cut down on these feelings.
2. Crowds. While transatlantic cruises are less crowded than shorter sailings, larger ships can still feel overwhelming, particularly around pools and buffets during peak times. We tend to time our visits to these places at off-hours or use room service.
If you have concierge services, there are sometimes specialty dining restaurants or suite-level restaurants you can use, pre-reserved tables in main dining, or other hacks to cut down on this. However, it can feel really crowded at times.
On our summer Greek cruise, we could rarely get a good chair by the pool to watch the kids while they swam. This was tough as a mom, trying to look between the older adults and monitor the pool (and trying to keep my kids from splashing all the adults).
On our most recent transatlantic cruise, we only had one lunch that was very crowded, and we circled the dining room, looking for seats. We finally asked to sit with a couple that had taken one of the large tables for eight. They weren’t thrilled when my kids all piled in, but what else was there to do? After this, we simply went to the dining room about 30 minutes before lunch and sat at the table we wanted. We did some planning or played a game.
3. Limited Port Time. As I said before, a cruise is not a good way to explore a new location. You are extremely limited in your time to explore (usually something like 9 am to 3 pm), so trying to see anything away from the port is problematic. Port stops often allow only a few hours to explore. Families with young kids may find this schedule stressful, especially when packing in activities or managing naps.
4. Excursions Are Expensive. I recommend not booking through the cruise as stated above. The tour operators are also often trying to take advantage of cruise guests for tips on back-end commissions.
5. High Cost. Cruises can be pricey, especially for families requiring larger staterooms or suites. Extras like shore excursions, specialty dining, and internet access can quickly add up. On a Royal Caribbean cruise, our family of seven can only fit in an Aqua Suite. While this is amazing, it’s expensive.
However, it’s the only room situation that fits seven people. Thankfully, our oldest is about to be 18 next year (where did the time go?!), and we can now have a child room with her in a separate room. If the rooms don’t connect, you cannot have kids in a room alone, and rooms only fit four people max. The rooms are generally small, so it’s a tight situation.
6. Motion Sickness. Long sea days, particularly in rough waters, can cause seasickness. This can be tough on kids, especially those prone to motion sickness. I’m prone to motion sickness and have felt it a bit on this long transatlantic adventure. Pack some Dramamine and patches that go behind the ears just in case! Other options can include bracelets for motion sickness, getting enough sleep, and keeping your eyes on the horizon.
7. Screen-Free Challenges. Internet access is often slow and expensive, which can be a downside for families reliant on digital entertainment. As we were cruising over Thanksgiving, I downloaded some Christmas movies to my tablet before the cruise.
There would be no way we could watch movies without downloading them. We opted for the premium internet and can download it over an entire day. On the flip side, it’s also a good excuse to unplug and connect as a family.
8. Over-Stimulation. With endless activities, constant entertainment, and bustling public spaces, kids (and parents) can become overstimulated. Planning quiet time is essential. Expect some tantrums… eating too much dessert can give you a tummy ache, and too much luxury can make even the best kids a bit irritable.
9. Unpredictable Weather. Weather can impact outdoor activities, pool time, and port stops, disappointing everyone. It’s good to have backup plans for indoor fun. Bring some games you’ve been wanting to play!
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Cruising with kids can be an incredibly rewarding way to vacation, offering the perfect blend of relaxation, entertainment, and family bonding. However, it’s important to set realistic expectations, plan ahead, and choose the right cruise line and itinerary for your family’s needs. From kids’ clubs and endless activities to easy dining and seamless logistics, there are countless reasons to consider cruising as a family-friendly travel option.
Follow these tips, keep your family’s priorities in mind, and don’t hesitate to consult a travel expert to maximize your cruise experience.
With a little planning and the right mindset, cruising with kids can be one of the most memorable and enjoyable vacations for your entire family. So pack your bags, set sail, and get ready to make some amazing memories on the open seas!
Transatlantic Cruising With Kids: What We Learned on a 12-Day Voyage
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