Best ship for children?

[Emrobo]

This will be the second cruise with the children - all other cruises were pre-children. We loved Ventura and felt it was a lovely family friendly ship, we are on Oceana soon and hoping that will be the same plus my younger daughter can now use children's club facilities

I have a few people telling me to try RCI but I do like P&O and we would like to try Azura next.

Those who have cruised with children what would you recommend and why?

[Kendhni]

I think most of the lines run great childrens clubs ... P&O's seem to have a very good reputation

[Quizzical Bob]

Our granddaughter (now aged 6) loves Aurora which she has been on three times, but she has never been in any other. Her parents like the area at the stern in deck 8 because the kiddies can play in a small outside pool which is protected by netting whilst they can use the sunloungers on the deck.

[Teepers]

Hi - we have only sailed on Aurora and on Oceana. Both have excellent facilities for the children, superb Reef Rangers and a wide range of activities.

However, if our 9 year old could choose it would be Aurora just for the fact that it has a covered pool. This was perfect on the sail to the Med when the weather was a bit iffy in the BoB - he could still swim.

But for us - it would probably be Oceana, just because they offered Freedom Dining. This suited us perfectly because the Children's tea was at 5.15 and we could then take a bit of time getting ready before dropping him off at the Children's club and then we would go for our evening meal around 7 - 7.30.

Last year on Aurora it was such a rush - we were on first sitting (second was just too late to tie in with collecting our son from the children's club around 10 - 10.30). The Children's tea would normally finish around 5.45 and then it was an almighty rush to get ready and back out again for 6.15! We ended up getting ready in shifts at the ridiculously early time of 4.30 so we could all get showered, primped and preened.

Will probably look at Ventura next time - but not too sure about the size......

[Emrobo]

Hi - we have only sailed on Aurora and on Oceana. Both have excellent facilities for the children, superb Reef Rangers and a wide range of activities.

However, if our 9 year old could choose it would be Aurora just for the fact that it has a covered pool. This was perfect on the sail to the Med when the weather was a bit iffy in the BoB - he could still swim.

But for us - it would probably be Oceana, just because they offered Freedom Dining. This suited us perfectly because the Children's tea was at 5.15 and we could then take a bit of time getting ready before dropping him off at the Children's club and then we would go for our evening meal around 7 - 7.30.

Last year on Aurora it was such a rush - we were on first sitting (second was just too late to tie in with collecting our son from the children's club around 10 - 10.30). The Children's tea would normally finish around 5.45 and then it was an almighty rush to get ready and back out again for 6.15! We ended up getting ready in shifts at the ridiculously early time of 4.30 so we could all get showered, primped and preened.

Will probably look at Ventura next time - but not too sure about the size......

Never thought to look at Aurora.

We loved venutra (which one pool can also be covered and was great on colder days). We booked second sitting on her as we took the children to children's tea, put the eldest (then 3) in children's club, got the other one off to sleep in her buggy and took her to the night nursery, went for dinner at 8pm and collected them anytime between 11-12.

We are trailling freedom dining this time as we felt we missed all the shows on 8pm club dining

[Teepers]

Freedom Dining works well if you have children - it's much more relaxing fitting dining around activities instead of cutting short an activity to dine!

If you want to spend a bit more time round the pool, or stay longer on deck for sail-away it's perfect.

We chose first sitting because it gave us more time after to watch a show or have a drink in the Crows Nest. Our son was 8 and he was too big for the night nursery but just too young to stay up too late so picking him up at 10.30 was ideal. It also meant that we didn't get up late and always made it down for breakfast in the MDR - our son loved choosing his breakfast from the menu.

[Emrobo]

Thanks for your input on freedom dining was beginning to think we had made a mistake with it - but hopefully not. I didn't really want 1st sitting on club, so it was either freedom or 2nd sitting. Plus I felt we had to eat in MDR everynight and I actually want to try out a few different places this time to eat

[Admiral of the Humber]

Dear Emrobo,

I would heartily endorse Aurora as a family friendly ship. We "rediscovered" her last summer after a couple of cruises on her big sister Azura.

She doesn't have the selection of dining options that the bigger ships offer but she has a more intimate feel to her, a lovely selection of bars and lounges, the usual kids clubs and a roof over the pool area and a quaint little cinema for the days when the weather is not too good.

Regards
Rob aka AOTH

[Ginaberlosconi]

Re P&O ships, I would say Ventura or Azura or the most "child" friendly.

[allatc]

Do any of the ships have linked cabins ?

Thinking about taking the grandkids but ideally would like them to have their own cabin with a connecting door.

[allatc]

Do any of the ships have linked cabins ?

Thinking about taking the grandkids but ideally would like them to have their own cabin with a connecting door.

[Quizzical Bob]

Do any of the ships have linked cabins ?

Thinking about taking the grandkids but ideally would like them to have their own cabin with a connecting door.

Yes, Aurora and Arcadia do, I'm not sure about the others. Linked cabins are shown by a black dot on the wall between them. Sometimes a suite is cost-effective and some people like to book a pair of opposing cabins, one balcony, the other inside.

[Ian Perth]

Hope this helps. We've done all the P&O ships and our favourites are Azura, Ventura and Britannia. We've been on Britannia twice this year with our little Sophie who will be three this month. We can highly recommend the surfers club for two to four year olds. The club and staff are brilliant. We would say the Britannia is slightly better than Azura or Ventura but this is mainly due to the facilities more than the staff as they are all brilliant. As far as we know they have ajoining cabins and have three and four berth cabins on Britannia. We were on her in April and August and would say it's a great ship for kids. Hope this helps.