Cruises for a Family Reunion? (cruise ship, best, regulations, vacations)

[grindin]

Has anyone ever done a cruise for a family reunion? I know that it's going to be our turn again eventually to host one, and my mom isn't too keen on folks just sitting around the house and eating us out of house and home. We figured that it would be funner if we did that on a cruise instead. It'll be a range of ages from 15 to 92.

Any reccommendations on the best cruises for family reunions? And advice on getting something like this 'together'? How long should I allow to get this together? A year?

Any advice will be appreciated!

[pfw]

Do some research on Cruise Critic - Cruises, Cruise Ship Reviews, Ratings, Cruise Deals, Cruise Forums and you'll be able to figure out what the best cruise line is for your reunion.

[westindian]

Originally Posted by grindin

Has anyone ever done a cruise for a family reunion? I know that it's going to be our turn again eventually to host one, and my mom isn't too keen on folks just sitting around the house and eating us out of house and home. We figured that it would be funner if we did that on a cruise instead. It'll be a range of ages from 15 to 92.

Any reccommendations on the best cruises for family reunions? And advice on getting something like this 'together'? How long should I allow to get this together? A year?

Any advice will be appreciated!

Yes. I have been on a family reunion cruise and we are planning another one for 2009. We are going on Royal Caribbean. My cousin is a travel agent, so we make her do all of the planning since she has more knowledge of the industry. I would plan it for at lease a year in advance. You want to make sure everyone has enough notice and will be able to make time for the trip. One word of advice is to not have too many people on your planning team. It is me, mom, an aunt, and my cousin. When you have too many people giving their opinion it will turn into a nightmare. My faimly is from the Westindies so it is easy for us to pick a destination. It is just a matter of picking a date and collecting funds.

Good luck.

[Boo2lowkey]

My family planned a family reunion on Carnival Funship. We had a travel agent in the family so that helps. It will be to your advantage to get one involve and give yourselve's a year in advance. It cost us $550 a person plus airfare. Be prepared to gain about 15 pounds. Pretty much all you can do on a ship is eat, sleep, eat ,eat oh yeah did I say eat.

[cb at sea]

Definitely get a good TA to help with this! And don't make plans for everyone--let each family do their own thing! You can meet for meals or something!
Cruises are wonderful, and Cruise Critic can give you a ton of helpful info!

[magnusiax]

Planning a family reunion, and your thinking of the best cruises for your family.
Better find cheap cruises vacation deals for the whole family and at the same time you can choose what comfortable for everyone.

[allforcats]

Where are you? -- east coast? west coast? That will determine whether you go to Mexico, the Caribbean, the western side of Mexico, or Alaska.

The big cruise lines, which carry 1800 to 2400 people per trip, will give you all a chance to meet new people. The small cruise lines carrying 150 to about 500 people will give everyone more individual attention. The food is fabulous on all of them nowadays. It's the large lines, such as Carnival, which will have activities specifically for the teenagers that can actually keep them happy. Given federal regulations nowadays, all cruise lines (except perhaps really small ones) can accommodate people with physical disabilities.

To avoid adding, as a previous poster said, 15 pounds, what I would hope to do is plan a cruise to someplace where the people could disembark and do touristy things. So that's another parameter to decide: is the cruise the destination? Or is geography the destination? What fun you're going to have!

[Racelady88]

Oh man, would I hate to be trapped on a boat with my relatives.......

[cmacf1]

My MIL took the whole family on a cruise for Christmas in 2006 on the Crown Princess. It was truly wonderful, though I'm not sure I'd cruise at Christmas again (I kind of like being home for xmas.) The best thing about doing a cruise is that there is something for everybody to do. We had relatives who were into sports and had teenagers and my MIL is not into sports. Our side of the family has small kids and we're more into culture and history. So the excursions were planned separately, except for one day when MIL asked all of us to do one particular excursion together. We all talked ahead of time and made sure we all recognized the fact that we have very different ideas of what constitutes a good time and that we would not encroach on each other's good times. We also made a pact to meet each evening for dinner and we met most mornings for breakfast. It was just wonderful!!!

Do get a travel agent -- they can run interference with any issues. And plan a good 9 months to a year in advance. If you want the staterooms to all be near each other, you will need to book way in advance. Personally, I liked having our stateroom on a different level (it gave us a little privacy.)

Have a wonderful reunion cruise!!

[grindin]

Wow, thank you all for your advice! Oh yes, I am defnitely going to have a TA to help with all of this, and I told my parents that if they are planning to do a cruise, make sure they plan at least a year in advance. My church had a cruise for Thanksgiving one year, and that was arranged a year and a half in advance.

Also, I like the idea of doing different activities and whatnot. As for meeting each other, are there facilities like conference rooms on board? We'll get together for meals, but anything else?

As for location, we have family scattered all over the nation. Mainly in California and the DC area, some family in Hampton Roads, VA as well. I also have family here in Atlanta as well.

I was thinking of either sailing out of New Orleans because of its central location (in relation or out of South Florida because my family may prefer the Bahamas over Mexico.

Also, any recommendation on cruises that will be suitable for the elderly. My Grandmother has severe arthritis and has to get around in a wheelchair. So I don't know if she'd be able to go on shore excursions or anything like that...