Cruises are great for this. We have done Disney and Royal Caribbean. Disney is probably out of your price range plus your 2YO is to young for the kids club. The big Oasis class ships from Royal are fun. They are huge so I would recommend a scooter depending on how mobility impaired your parents are. The mid-sized boats might work well for you too since your kids are younger.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would much rather do a resort than a cruise.

OP here, which brand/location would you recommend for about 1 week on a 10K budget? I was thinking cruises are more affordable.

Cruises are more affordable and more fun. There’s no entertainment at a resort. You’ll be bored. And the food at a resort will be way more costly and probably not as good.

look at Tauck. It's very high end, but phenomenal. They have a line of excursions called Tauck Bridges (because it's designed to bridge the generations)

We did one land-based through Italy, and one river cruise on the Danube. Both totally work for both people with mobility issues AND kids and teens!

Side-note but awesome is you are not to tip because it's all included in the price. You never get out your money for anything (except if there is a free 1/2 day or something where you elect go into town by yourself). For those who have done the opposite, we know that this sounds small, but in reality it is really nice to not have to be fumbling for $$ and doing calculations and conversions in your head all the time.

Anonymous wrote:These threads always make me feel like I might be an a-hole because one thing I’m never gonna do is plan or take a multigenerational trip where most of the generations have mobility issues. There’s just no way that’s a fun trip or worth the stress.

Well…you might be then.

These threads always make me feel like I might be an a-hole because one thing I’m never gonna do is plan or take a multigenerational trip where most of the generations have mobility issues. There’s just no way that’s a fun trip or worth the stress.

And don’t sail out of Baltimore - all the ships sailing from there are older with less amenities.

OP, your best bet is taking Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas out of Cape Liberty in Bayonne, NJ

You’ll have plenty of options for the whole family including kids club, water slides etc for kids plus entertainment for the adults. Lots of food options from included options to premium options.

This video gives you a good feel for Oasis.

https://youtu.be/pITjPccKZSI

OP - we have done ~25 vacations with grandparents. Listed here are my thoughts:

1) if DC is 2, I would opt for a resort. We use Marriott vacations b/c ILs are members. Pool are great and easy to get around. There are minimal activities but you don’t need much. We liked Hilton Head a lot and usually went in late Sept or early October. We would do some meals in and some meals out. Always had a date night and sent parents out for a nice meal solo to mix things up. We picked some day trips to do on maybe 2 days. Rented bikes while there. There are plenty of resort options though- maybe select a place that had some great day trip options to do while you are there.

2) I would switch to cruises ~ 4. Disney is more expensive, but IMO opinion is worth the price. (~ 15 of those 25 vacations were on cruises). We did Disney for ~ 4 trips. Even today when everyone is older, they loved the Disney cruises.

3) Once you move beyond Disney there are many options. Personally, I will never do another Carnival Cruise (1 and done with them). We feel petty equivocal about Princess, Royal, Norwegian and Holland. We have been on all these and generally let the itinerary drive the boat.

4) Mobility- all have handicap rooms, when 1 in our party was in a WC we got priority exiting. You can ask what excursions are good for mobility concerns. For example, when we were in Alaska we rented a car for one day and took everyone on a trip out to the countryside. On some trips the grandparents go part way with us and may find a cool- comfortable location to wait for an hour or two. Other times they stay on the boat.

5) Food is not great. Best options for food are breakfasts and lunches in the dining room.

6) Look at the # of days on the sea. We went on two since COVID (both postponed for 2 years) and the daily itinerary is not nearly as diverse and interesting as they were. DH likes a few extra days on the boat. I look for as few days at sea as possible.

Cruises are more affordable. The poster who said go to a resort will never be able to come up with a nice resort in your price range unless everyone is crowded into a tiny place.

My brand recommendation is Royal Caribbean, particularly because you want kid-friendly and amenities.

The problem with your criteria is the depth of the Chesapeake Bay's shipping channel and the height of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. Today's large cruise ships can not get to Baltimore. Now, the ones that can are fine, and they're tons of fun, we've done them. They will have a pool or two. They will not have ALL the amenities of the largest ships that leave out of Port Canaveral and Miami.

NYC is in between.

Good luck, I think you'll have a great time. Disney is fine, but more expensive. If your toddler is too young to be super in love with Mickey, then I think Disney is a waste because quality-wise, it's comparable to Royal Caribbean. There's a 30% Mickey Mouse premium.

I've cruised a LOT. And we're doing a bunch more next year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would much rather do a resort than a cruise.

OP here, which brand/location would you recommend for about 1 week on a 10K budget? I was thinking cruises are more affordable.

Cruises are more affordable if you factor in the cost of activities and amenities and they are cheaper than most AI options. But PP is right that the pools are terrible so if you like to idea of swimming around a pool with your toddler and your parents enjoying that cuteness, it won’t happen in a cruise.
We really like the marriot vacation club properties because they have 2 bedroom units with kitchens but also have on site restaurants and bars and really nice pools. The grande ocean in Hilton head is really nice. The one in Aruba is also nice and has a lazy river. I haven’t been to the others. You won’t get shoes and such at a place like that and the restaUrants are not as convenient or with choices as plentiful as a cruise. But you can buy weeks from owners for $2-5K on redweek, or book through the marriot website for more like !5k-10K. A lot depends on the specific week and timing. Since you have a toddler it would save you a lot on either resort or cruise to go during school weeks. We pay through the nose now to travel on school breaks.

Just a second for a resort, like Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic (all-inclusive), over a cruise. The swimming pools on the ships are VERY tiny--you basically have room to stand, but not swim. Your toddler wouldn't have room to wander.
If you go to a resort, you would have a lot of freedom to be as mobile as you like (or not), and could dine and have family time together when you like, and then return to more spacious quarters. We did a Disney Cruise, out of Miami, and liked it ALOT but our kids were older and much more interested in the characters and interacting with them than a toddler might be. The cabins were SMALL! If your folks want to just hang out in their room, they'll be tripping over each other unless you spend a fortune. And the toddler would be bouncing off the walls.
Aside from Punta Cana, the only other resort we've tried was Tyler Place, in Vermont, and I don't think it's great for people with mobility challenges.

Anonymous wrote:I would much rather do a resort than a cruise.

OP here, which brand/location would you recommend for about 1 week on a 10K budget? I was thinking cruises are more affordable.

I would much rather do a resort than a cruise.

My advice would be to do one of the big Royal Caribbean ships out of Miami or Port Canaveral.

Miami or Tampa for better cruise options. The draw of NY and Baltimore departures are the convenience of driving to the terminal. But those cruises take days to get to the warm and calm waters and more people get seasick than cruises departing from FL.