My family and I are travelling to the Hawaiian Islands with Princess cruises for xmas and new year 10/11. Our children are 12 and 6 yrs. If anyone has ANY advice on travelling with children once onboard I would like to hear from you. We travel from Los Angeles.
The few things that i have concerns about at the moment are that our son will only drink diluted drinks such as robinsons etc, this has been a pain in some places we've visited and we now usually carry it with us. Can we take this onboard? My other concerns are what clothes to take, I know about formal etc but any recommendations would be greatly received.
I would also appreciate advice on tipping in advance v at the end of the cruise and finally ...
What excursions to take ie DIY or through princess. No bad press please! I have already read that some passengers don't hold children in high regard on these ships and I truly hope that that's not the case...FOR THEIR SAKE
We went on a Princess Cruise around the Med last May and it was without a doubt the best holiday we ever had!
We have 2 daughter who at the time were 11 and 18
The 11 yr old is very very shy and quiet!
We went to the sign up meeting for the kids club and have to say it was the best run club I have ever come across
(obviously I can only tell you how it worked on the ship I was on...)
The kids club was run by an ex teacher who believed in kids having maximum fun and stimulation
they get their own itinerary once on board and tells them day by day hour by hour what the activity is to be.
You can sign them up to either come and go as they please, and so if they want to go for the 10am activity but dont like the 11am one, they can sign out and come and find you, but if you feel they wouldn't cope well with this then you can sign them up to only come out once you go and collect them!
As for the juice, I know in the buffet restaurant there was some kind of lemon squash available but not sure if this was something that was there all the time.
The clothing question, do you mean just like daytime wear?
Just normal holiday clothes are fine, shorts t shirts etc..
if we went in the restaurant (as opposed to the buffet) at night then hubby wore a shirt and trousers if it were just a normal night, and a suit on formal nights, we didn't take a tux or DJ or anything and he felt ok.
I wore what you would wear on a summer night out, light tops and trousers or cropped linen trousers or something and on formal night (I dont do dresses) I wore black smart trousers and a smart formal top!
They are quite relaxed and did see jeans and t shirts in the restaurants at night as well but not many people dressed like this, my eldest daughter sometimes wore smart jeans with heels and a night time top and no one bothered.
I never felt like the kids were being looked down on by obviously the eldest is an adult now and the youngest really is a quiet shy well behaved kid but there were some 'lively' kids and never saw any probs.
As for tipping, well this is a very personal thing
I travelled with my in laws who are very old fashioned and like to tip where they see fit, I was happy to go along with the set amount but felt paying it x 4 for me hubby and 2 kids was a little over what we could afford and so was asking if the kids could be removed from the daily amount, keep me and hubby on the set amount
however
when I went to the purser to have their set amount removed (they are both hard of hearing and wanted me to be there with them to hear what was being said) the purser was absolutely lovely, he gave them envelopes for the personal tips they wanted to leave for the steward etc.. and also said a general overall tip could be left for all the backroom staff.
I explained that we were in a different cabin and to have the kids removed, he removed all our tips and gave us the envelopes too
I neither felt embarrassed or tight fisted doing this, I was happy to have paid the $12 each per day but he insisted on removing it and letting us decide, so if you feel the tipping system isn't to your liking, then go and see the purser as soon as you can.
There were many many people there doing exactly thing while we were waiting.
As for trips, have a look and see if where the ship docks is where you wanna be, do you just want to have a wander or do you have a particular place you want to see and decide if it is do-able yourselves.
But most importantly have a wonderful holiday!
We have 2 daughter who at the time were 11 and 18
The 11 yr old is very very shy and quiet!
We went to the sign up meeting for the kids club and have to say it was the best run club I have ever come across
(obviously I can only tell you how it worked on the ship I was on...)
The kids club was run by an ex teacher who believed in kids having maximum fun and stimulation
they get their own itinerary once on board and tells them day by day hour by hour what the activity is to be.
You can sign them up to either come and go as they please, and so if they want to go for the 10am activity but dont like the 11am one, they can sign out and come and find you, but if you feel they wouldn't cope well with this then you can sign them up to only come out once you go and collect them!
As for the juice, I know in the buffet restaurant there was some kind of lemon squash available but not sure if this was something that was there all the time.
The clothing question, do you mean just like daytime wear?
Just normal holiday clothes are fine, shorts t shirts etc..
if we went in the restaurant (as opposed to the buffet) at night then hubby wore a shirt and trousers if it were just a normal night, and a suit on formal nights, we didn't take a tux or DJ or anything and he felt ok.
I wore what you would wear on a summer night out, light tops and trousers or cropped linen trousers or something and on formal night (I dont do dresses) I wore black smart trousers and a smart formal top!
They are quite relaxed and did see jeans and t shirts in the restaurants at night as well but not many people dressed like this, my eldest daughter sometimes wore smart jeans with heels and a night time top and no one bothered.
I never felt like the kids were being looked down on by obviously the eldest is an adult now and the youngest really is a quiet shy well behaved kid but there were some 'lively' kids and never saw any probs.
As for tipping, well this is a very personal thing
I travelled with my in laws who are very old fashioned and like to tip where they see fit, I was happy to go along with the set amount but felt paying it x 4 for me hubby and 2 kids was a little over what we could afford and so was asking if the kids could be removed from the daily amount, keep me and hubby on the set amount
however
when I went to the purser to have their set amount removed (they are both hard of hearing and wanted me to be there with them to hear what was being said) the purser was absolutely lovely, he gave them envelopes for the personal tips they wanted to leave for the steward etc.. and also said a general overall tip could be left for all the backroom staff.
I explained that we were in a different cabin and to have the kids removed, he removed all our tips and gave us the envelopes too
I neither felt embarrassed or tight fisted doing this, I was happy to have paid the $12 each per day but he insisted on removing it and letting us decide, so if you feel the tipping system isn't to your liking, then go and see the purser as soon as you can.
There were many many people there doing exactly thing while we were waiting.
As for trips, have a look and see if where the ship docks is where you wanna be, do you just want to have a wander or do you have a particular place you want to see and decide if it is do-able yourselves.
But most importantly have a wonderful holiday!
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