Best for
Planning a luxury cruise for ten people: how many cabins, which ships have the connecting suites, where to go, when to book and how to split the cost. Blackbury's working method.
Ten people is where a family cruise stops being a booking and becomes a project: four or five cabins, two or three families, flights from different cities, and someone's eightieth in the middle of it. It is also exactly the trip we exist to plan.
| Criterion | Explora Journeys | Uniworld Boutique River Cruises | Regent Seven Seas Cruises | The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cabins | Usually four or five: a suite for the grandparents, a connecting pair per family with young children, singles or doubles for older teenagers. | |||
| Ship | Explora for ocean; Uniworld family sailing for river; Regent if the grandchildren are teenagers; Ritz-Carlton if budget allows and the party is adults plus a few children. | |||
| Where | Western Mediterranean in summer; Caribbean at Christmas; Danube on a family departure. | |||
| When to book | 12 months ahead. Five cabins near each other is the hardest thing to find late. | |||
| Cost | Planning figure from about £4,000 per person for the cruise; one invoice or split per family, as you prefer. |
Stars are Blackbury's editorial opinion, not independent ratings or customer reviews.
We draw the party on the deck plan before recommending a ship, hold the suites early, and build the flights from each family's nearest airport to a shared hotel the night before boarding. Private excursions in a vehicle sized for ten replace the coach, and the ship knows about the birthday before you do.
Tell us who's travelling and what matters most. We'll say which of these we'd book for you, and why.
The lines
Modern, relaxed, generous with space, and genuinely happy to see children.
Boutique river ships with lavish interiors and dedicated family sailings in the school holidays.
The most inclusive fare at sea, on all-suite ships that take elegance seriously.
Hotel-style luxury on yachts of roughly 300 to 450 guests, with a surprisingly warm welcome for children.
Good to know
Four or five, depending on ages. We work it out on the deck plan of the specific ship for your party.
Keep reading
Explora and Silversea are both luxury, both largely inclusive, and suit quite different parties. We compare ship size, formality, children, food, destinations and price, then say which we would choose for whom.
Regent and Seabourn both sell small-ship luxury with most things included. Regent includes more and is a little grander; Seabourn is smaller, warmer and more sociable. We say which we would choose for which couple.
Both are relaxed, modern and welcome children — one is a ship of around 900 guests and the other a yacht of 300 to 450. We compare space, price, children's programmes and where each goes.
Tell us who's travelling, where you'd like to go and what matters most. We'll recommend the ships we'd actually consider.