Family Prices – Where to book?

[JillD66]

Our Son and daughter in law, with 2 children, aged 10 and 13, are looking for a reasonable cruise.

Being retired, we travel at short notice and often go at “off peak”times, so we're not fully au fait with the type of holiday they would prefer. We mainly go on adult only ships and have'nt booked a family cruise since the early 1990s! Our son mentioned the larger ships with plenty of childrens activities.

Which is the best agent or cruise line to get a good deal – Is it too late to get a deal this summer or are there still late offers? Also, given the age of the children, if they didnt get a family cabin (sorry stateroom!), then they would need 2 cabins next door to each other.

Any advice would be very welcome. Thanks, Jill

[david63]

If you are looking for this summer then I would guess that any available cabins could be a bit thin on the ground. Not only do you have to consider the accommodation but there is also the issue that a ship can only have a certain number of children in each age group.

All you can do is ask what is available and at what price but I would not expect to get any real bargain for a family of four at this late stage.

[Jan Rosser]

I presume your son wants to go in school holidays - I'd be surprised if you managed to get a 4 berth cabin for this summer - my son and family (2 daughters aged 11 and 15) book almost as soon as the cruises are available - we booked for August 2019 at the beginning of April 2018. The cruise we are going on during the Whitsun break next week was booked last August and the Christmas cruise this year was booked in March 2017.

Child places tend to get snapped up pretty quickly - as David says there are limits on numbers of children per cruise - may be this is why there never seem to be any late bargains particularly in school holidays.

As David says you can only enquire and see if there is any availability - hope you find something.

[towny44]

I agree with David & Jan and would further add that if they want the best prices on lines like RCI they need to book on launch, and do it immediately. We got prices for our Son & family and us for summer 2019 on Independence OTS in March as they launched, our Son &DIL took 24 hrs to decide and it cost us an extra £1000, since then the prices are £2500-£3000 higher than we paid, and even if they have special offers during next year's January "Wave" sale, it's unlikely there will be many, if any, 4 berth cabins available.

[Jan Rosser]

I agree with David & Jan and would further add that if they want the best prices on lines like RCI they need to book on launch, and do it immediately. We got prices for our Son & family and us for summer 2019 on Independence OTS in March as they launched, our Son &DIL took 24 hrs to decide and it cost us an extra £1000, since then the prices are £2500-£3000 higher than we paid, and even if they have special offers during next year's January "Wave" sale, it's unlikely there will be many, if any, 4 berth cabins available.

Our 2019 cruise is with RCI - first time for the family - they've only been on P&O and Princess. What swayed us was the unbelievable difference in price between P&O and RCI and the girls wanted to go somewhere different (they are fast becoming jaded with the Med ) so we are doing a Baltic cruise. I've no idea whether prices have gone up since we booked.

[towny44]

I agree with David & Jan and would further add that if they want the best prices on lines like RCI they need to book on launch, and do it immediately. We got prices for our Son & family and us for summer 2019 on Independence OTS in March as they launched, our Son &DIL took 24 hrs to decide and it cost us an extra £1000, since then the prices are £2500-£3000 higher than we paid, and even if they have special offers during next year's January "Wave" sale, it's unlikely there will be many, if any, 4 berth cabins available.

Our 2019 cruise is with RCI - first time for the family - they've only been on P&O and Princess. What swayed us was the unbelievable difference in price between P&O and RCI and the girls wanted to go somewhere different (they are fast becoming jaded with the Med ) so we are doing a Baltic cruise. I've no idea whether prices have gone up since we booked.

Check out Cruiseville.co.uk this site lets you track price movements on any cruise and will e-mail you with monthly updates. It only compares basic prices and does not take OBC into account, but it does give an indication of how the prices have moved since they first went on sail.
For JillD66's family this site might enable them to spot a downturn in a cruise they fancy, but for school holiday cruises it seems unlikely they would find a late bargain.

[JillD66]

Many thanks for the help and I've passed all the info on.

We took our two sons cruising when they were in their mid teens - late 1990s - and P & O had a scheme "take a chance" whereby you could get last minute deals but they might be anywhere! Cabins not always together but prices were good!

[JillD66]

Just to let you know that my son and family managed to book a family cabin (not balcony!) for the 4 of them on Venture of the Seas (?) - for July 2018! They are going for the last 2 weeks of term and paying the fines. Cost is under £5000 for all of them, all inclusive of drinks.

Sounds ideal for the children - only 5 sea days but plenty of activities and most of the ports are close to beaches!

[david63]

on Venture of the Seas (?)

Nope it is not Ventura of the Seas - anything that is ... of the Seas is Royal Caribbean not P&O and Ventura is P&O, especially when you say "inclusive of drinks" as P&O do not have drinks inclusive packages.

[JillD66]

Sorry it's Navigator of the Seas! Must be my age! Definitely Royal Caribbean.