Best non disney cruise with 5 year olds

[Guest]

Hi,
I am considering a 3/4 night cruise for the end of July. We have done Clearwater/St Pete/Key West previously, but now need an add on to Orlando that is more child friendly. We have travelled extensively, but never cruised. We did spend 4 nights in St Pete last year and enjoyed it, but felt it that it was lacking in the way of entertainment for young kids. We will have spent two weeks at Disney prior to the cruise(1 wk SSR and 1 offsite), so cannot justify a Disney cruise this time. What cruise liner is second best for families and where is the best place to book, for cheapest rates.
Thanks in advance,
Maitai

[disney_l81]

I have only ever cruised with royal Caribbean, we like it, our daughter who is 13 enjoys the kids clubs, the younger ones always look like they enjoy theirs. We have always booked direct with rcl. I would say that royal is geared towards families, lots going on. Of course there are also many other lines equally as good

[Guest]

Thanks for the info. The RC cruises look fantastic for kids. We will have a look at their website to see if dates suit.

[danisleigh]

My son also loves NCL and has had a blast on each one we have been on.

[eeyore2009]

We are going on our 2nd carnival cruise this month. We love it for the kids. The one we are going on this year has a splash park and waterside.

We did the carnival valor last time and it was fantastic. They had movies on each night and gave the kiss bags of popcorn to watch it. The kids all sat in the hot tubs watching.

The kids club was great for thrm, the good snd entertainment were great too. Definitely a good family cruise line