My wife and I have four kids under the age of 10 and we were thinking of trying to go on a cruise this summer. Nothing too elaborate, just something out of Galveston for a few nights to see if it's something that the kids like.

Any recommendations on which cruises are best with young kids?

Royal Caribbean is good for kids. We did a cruise out of Galveston about 20 years ago with our three young ones at the time. I don't know if they go out of Galveston anymore though. If you've never been on a cruise, Carnival is good for a first one.

I recently moved to Galveston and can say that Royal Caribbean, Carnival and Princess all run massive cruise ships out of Galveston.

Last Sunday, there were actually 4 ships in port at the same time.

I'm still trying to figure out the schedules but I've learned to just skip Harbourside Dr when the ships are in port. I still can't get over how big these ships are compared to the ones I used to see in Sydney.

The new Royal Caribbean ships are massive. No thanks personally. I'm retired and it's just my wife and me. We prefer the Viking river cruises in Europe.

Disney

Disney does not cruise out of Galveston in the Summer months. In 2024 they are adding Galveston itineraries to Galveston in March and April. I have a lot of clients that cruise Royal Caribbean out of Galveston in the summer months. If you need help planning my contact info is in my bio.

Viking River cruises are great. Have you cruises on AmaWaterways? I have a lot of retired clients that love these and their itinearies.

We just got back from a Royal Caribbean cruise out of Galveston. Their new pier and terminal is great! We prepaid parking in the North lot and it was no farther than walking across the HEB parking lot. We left our house in College Station at 7:30am and we were on the boat by 11am. Getting off was just as easy. We're empty nesters so I can't comment on the kids program.

For kids all cruises except probably Princess are great options out of Galveston. Carnival and Royal will be the cheapest. Norwegian is new to Galveston and can price well. Disney is awesome but can be double the cost of the others. I honestly feel like water slides and fun stuff wise, Carnival and Royal have more stuff to do over Disney. Feel free to email me if you want a no obligation quote (email in profile).

God bless you for taking the kids. We have done three cruises, specifically WITHOUT the kids.

None of the cruises we have been on had a lot of kids, but there were designated areas on the ships for them, and I can't imagine that wouldn't absolutely love it.

We took our 8 yr old on a Royal Caribbean cruise out of Galveston last summer. We did 5 nights to Costa Maya and Cozumel. He loved it and it wanting to do it again this summer.

He didn't do anything with their kids club program. He was slightly too old to have fun in the club house with the little kids, and too young to do the teen program. But we took him to the rock wall, the surf rider lessons, ping pong, swimming, and his favorite, shuffleboard. He liked the shows at night and of course, loved all the food.

Our son loved the Royal Caribbean kids club. Drastically different as he's 2, but it was nice and allowed for some date nights.

We'd usually take him in the evening. He'd still be playing hard at 10 pm then crash when we got to the room. When he woke up in the morning he'd ask if he could go back to the kids club.

Just came back to this thread to add that there's a Norwegian Cruise Lines ship in port right now.
So that makes 4 brands I've observed during the past few months of living on the island.

HollywoodBQ said:

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Just came back to this thread to add that there's a Norwegian Cruise Lines ship in port right now.
So that makes 4 brands I've observed during the past few months of living on the island.

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Yes!

Carnival
Royal Caribbean
Princess
Norwegian
Disney (seasonal - Nov-Jan).