Cruise with kids - Norway or Med in summer hols?

[Sunnyside12]

Hi - just wondering if anyone has done similar cruises with kids as we have two options.

1 - cruise from Southampton to Norway (Fjords and the onto artic circle / Tromso etc) or

2 - fly to Rome and then do cruise including some Greek islands / Florence

It would be late August so I'm not sure the heat would work for the Med, but also not sure whether Norway would be interesting for the kids (age 8 and 12). Anyone have experience of either?

[Funf]

That was aNarrow escape P&O are not very good, Celebrity, Holland America, etc are much better

[Sunnyside12]

Thanks everyone! We tried to get the P&O canaries cruise but they only had 1 cabin left which they said ‘May’ be above the nightclub, so didn’t risk it.

Might need to weigh up just going for a week since the pools on Sky Princess are all outdoors.

[MobLife]

Yes the cruisemummy blog is brilliant! I also love the youtubers Ben and David (aka Cruise with Ben and David)-they do great reviews!

[FolkloreEvermore]

Also I would recommend the cruisemummy blog. She’s just been to the fjords with her children and she’s said it was fab!

[PaddingtonBearStareAgain]

Sky Princess is lovely

[FolkloreEvermore]

I adore Sky Princess, it has a great medallion system so you can find each other and it’s so family friendly. I‘ve been cruising with Princess since I was 12 and always loved it.
Having said that, Royal Carribean is the traditional “fun” ship for kids. Full of slides etc. but most cruise lines have fun kids activities!
As someone suggested above, I would go by ship not destination! Yes you get off but you spend the majority of the time on board so I would go off which ship would be most enjoyable.
I also agree with PP re flights. I would be terrified of a delayed or cancelled flight meaning I couldn’t get on board (it’s happened to me and it’s awful!). That’s why I’m going out of Southampton this summer.

[MobLife]

Hmmm not sure I'd want to go for 2 weeks!
Are you bothered by the heat is the thing? Med will be busy and hot, but if you don't mind hot then how about Southampton to the Canaries? The MSC Virtuosa sails that route and I think they have some deals on at the moment-there's a good few sea days so kids could enjoy the ship and you'd get the breeze on those days

[Sunnyside12]

Yup - that's what I'm worried about.

Norway cruise is on the 'Sky Princess' - it's for 2 weeks and heads into the arctic circle. Just not sure whether the Fjords get a bit 'samey' after a week?!

[MobLife]

Depends really on what the kids like doing-even in late August the climate in northern Europe is not going to enable making full use of outdoor pools on a ship because highly likely it won't be warm enough.
However, it will be stunningly beautiful so if they like wandering around places it will work!

In contrast the med will still be like an oven, but that could work well if you pick a ship that has great pools. I'd personally go for a port intensive itinerary then identify which places you're not too bothered about seeing-spend those port stops enjoying the ship while it's quiet!
Rome for example is a fucking pain for a cruise-the port is an hour away . Other places though you can literally step off the boat and you're in the town so it doesn't matter too much about the heat because you can just have a short wander around

[Figgygal]

Having had a holiday cancelledat half term i wiuldnt trust the need to fly to catch the ship and would go nordic from Southampton IF the ship was child friendly

[PaddingtonBearStareAgain]

@Nootkah

Id say make your choice based on the ship rather than the destination re:kids.

I would too.

[Nootkah]

Id say make your choice based on the ship rather than the destination re:kids.

[Funf]

We have done both, I would suggest Med for you're kids as plenty to keep them entertained and the weather will be better.
We took the kids when late teens they loved Norway but not as interesting for younger kids

[hopeishere]

We did the Med with similar ages. Heat is fine as the ship is really cool. You can do the excursions or just get off and do your own thing (need to check if that's the same with covid). Rome was ROASTING though.

Pick your ship carefully as some have more facilities for kids. Ours didn't want to use the kids clubs but they are meant to be good.

Having all the food included is great. No thinking necessary!

We were with RC. We would do another one.

[motogirl]

I did it with my kids when younger and then older. We went from Naples when I did the fly cruise which was so simple- TUI/marella so their plane, their coach, their ship, was seamless despite a hick up with the flight crew causing a delay (not tui's fault that time, run way closure to to fire causing pilot to be late back day before and can't fly for set period) because it was a package the transfer was sorted for us and drinks were at the port when we arrived as we had been travelling longer