Single mother with 12 year old daughter ; Cruise recommendations?

Question

What cruise line and ship would you recommend for a trip out of New York for a single mom taking her 12 year old daughter on a first cruise this coming January ? ( No Disney Cruises , thanks )

Answer 1

nothing beats warm weather in january! try the bahamas or the U.S. Virgin Islands or bermuda!

Answer 2

If you want to leave from New York, then don't worry about Disney. Disney does not have a ship in the New York area.

Given the age of your daughter, I would recommend one of the family friendly lines, such as Carnival, Norwegian or Royal Caribbean.

Carnival does not have a ship based in New York year round. During the summer and fall Carnival has a ship that goes to Canada. These are four and five night cruises. This is a good length of time if you want to see what cruising is all about. During the spring and summer Carnival also has a ship that heads south from New York. Your daughter might enjoy this more, as the ship goes to the warm waters of the Caribbean, so she can swim in the ocean. These cruises last eight nights.

Norwegian heads south from New York year round. Soon the Norwegian Gem will be sailing from New York. The Norwegian Gem is brand new. Most of these cruises are one week. However, if you are already comfortable with cruising, the Norwegian Gem also offers some ten and eleven night cruises to the Caribbean. Ten and eleven nights are the perfect length (not to long, not too short) and offer a better chance to visit the islands in the Caribbean (because you lose a full two days compared to ships that start and end the cruise further south, such as in Florida).

Royal Caribbean sails from New Jersey year round. Royal Caribbean offers two choices, five nights or nine nights (repeating again each two weeks). The ship is the Explorer of the Seas, which is one of the Voyager class of ships. This is a very big ship with lots to do. Besides swimming, there is ice skating, rock climbing, inline skating and people watching in the Royal Promenade. The five night cruises only make it as far south as Bermuda, while the nine night cruises go all the way to the US Virgin islands in the Caribbean.

Answer 3

Carnival or Royal Caribbean would probably be your best bets for cruiselines, though I'm not sure that RC goes out of NYC.

Go to CruiseCritic.com, click on "Boards" at the top of the page, then browse through the various subjects. I think they have a board on cruising with kids. You can get a feel for various lines or ships by seeing what people are saying about them. You might also want to click on "Reviews" - there they have reviews by both pros and passengers.

Also, VacationsToGo.com will give you a list of the cruises out of NY and elsewhere - just put in the month and they'll list them for you. [I've never dealt with them for actually booking a cruise, but you can see what's available there.]

BTW - Be sure you check into sailing as a single parent; you may need written, authenticated permission from the father in order to take your daughter out of the country. [There's a lot of info about this at Cruise Critic; "Ask a Cruise Question" may be the board, or, just do a search.]

Have fun, whatever you decide to do!

Answer 4

Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas departs from Bayonne, NJ in January for 9-night and 12-night cruises. Royal Caribbean offers a good family-friendly product - there will be a lot for both you and your daughter to do (and they offer a Kid's club for her age group so she'll be able to meet other kids her age on board.)

The only downside is the seas may be a bit rough on the Atlantic during January, so be sure to book a cabin in the middle of the ship -- or consider flying to Florida for a cruise that eliminates the travel from the NorthEast.

Enjoy!

Answer 5

Although I am not single I have taken my daughter on 2 cruises just us. She will be 13 in Feb so I hope I can help. Both time I took her we have gone on Carnival. I think their children's programs are fantastic and she has alot of fun. I think the best part is she can choose what she wants to participate in and what she doesn't ( dance lessons with the Carnival dancers yes, scavenger hunt on deck no) During the days she enjoyed hanging out at the pool with other girls she met, while I was able to sit in the sun and read while still having time with her.

We have taken 2 different itineraries. Easter Caribbean ( Puerto Rico, the wanted to relive West Side Story, St Thomas and St Martin) and then this May the Western Caribbean ( Grand Caymen, Cozumel, Belize and Costa Maya ) We are planning our third for this May and she want to go back to the eastern, she was a little weired out with the armed guards we saw at all the Mexican ports .When we choose excursions we try for different things at each port, Mayan ruins in Cozumel, Pirate ship in Grand Caymans

She loved eating in the dining room and trying new foods( she now likes caviar)and loved calling room service the night she stayed in to work on homework.

I hope you have as much fun as we do, they are only young once

Answer 6

I would have highly suggested Disney.

But All Im going to tell you is dont pick carnival.
It WILL ruin your daughter's perception of cruises. Theres an awful lot of drunk party goers who stay up all night wandering around the ship. This makes you not feel safe when letting a child go off and do their own thing. Also the food is horrible, the service is bad, because they dont care about your needs, all they care about is that you payed & thats that. Also the rooms are ALOT smaller on carnival than disney or royal caribbean.

This was written to eliminate carnival from your overall options! good luck hope it helped! :]

Answer 7

you could try a cruise line with things to do together like swim,games,make-up etc. I recommend p and o cruises for the range of activities-they had an indoor ice rink, four swimming pools and a mini shopping mall-i hope this helps!

Answer 8

carnival cruise... i was on the ship ecstacy when i was 17 and it was a lot of fun. they have a lot of stuff that kids and adults can participate in like karaoke and there were several shows, like a sword swallower, hypnotist, and caberet style dancers. there was an adult club and a kids "club", 24 hour pizza and ice cream. i'm not sure about it leaving from new york you should definitely look into a carnival cruise.

Answer 9

Carnival would be your best bet. There will be other kids on board for your daughter to be with. There will also be plenty of opportunity for you to get hot and steamy with some guy. Just prepare your daughter that she might see Mom in an altogether new light.