Three day Bahamas cruise: Carnival vs Norweigan vs RCI

Hello all,

This June we are considering a three-day cruise to celebrate my parent's 50th anniversary and I'm looking at the Norweigan Sun, Carnival Liberty, and RCI Enchantment of the Seas.

The Enchantment leaves from Miami and goes to Nassau and Coco Cay, the Liberty leaves from Port Canaveral and only goes to Nassau (1 sea day), and the Sun leaves from Port Canaveral and goes to Great Stirrup Cay and Freeport.

I know all these ships are older so won't be expecting a Celebrity Silhouette-like experience, but which ship is better-kept, better private island, etc? What about kid's programs (my brother has a 3-year-old, 5-year-old, and a 9-year-old; mine will probably just stay in the cabin and sleep all day :rolleyes:)

Port Canaveral is is sightly more convenient since my parents are driving down from up north. Also, what's the Lucaya Marketplace like from a cruise ship? We've only been there from our own boat after the cruise ships were gone and it's a ghost town then.

Thanks in advance

I would suggest to hold off and go for a longer cruise. 3-4 day cruises are a lot of work for only a few days of fun. I would save up or wait until your family has more vacation time and do a better, longer cruise.

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I’ve cruised all 3 of those ships and I think Enchantment is the best and nicest option. In order, I would pick Enchantment, then Liberty, then Sky.

Just a warning, the 3 day cruises tend to have more of a "booze cruise" feel. I'd seriously look into a longer cruise.

Agreed...a 3 nighter is a party cruise...the ship really won't matter. Pick by the best price for the best cabin.....Personally, none of the Bahama islands are great....so think...do you want a sea day, or not? Pick that way, if you must. Unless you live within driving distance of the port, a 3 nighter isn't worth the trouble....JMO!!

I agree regarding a longer cruise being a better option, but I don't think it could work since my brothers could only go longer in August and my sister-in-law will have just had a baby

Christmas couldn't work since the baby would be too young, same for Thanksgiving.

If it's really for their 50th anniversary you should think of something more in their line of country. A cheap three day cruise in June on any of those ships might be the kind of thing you'd get for a 22 year old new graduate who wants to party his brains out - but 70-year olds: not such a good fit.

I too have concerns with a three day cruise.

They tend to be drinking cruises.

Keith

Mid to late June will definitely have a lot of school age kids on board, especially from Port Canaveral; those weeks right after school year ends are peak of younger kids at Disney World as well. You will be past the break between spring and summer semesters of college. Which is not to say there won't be a platoon or two of the unlimited-drinks-package crowd onboard, but your demographic should be catered to as well.

One thing to consider if you do choose Royal Caribbean is that with their smaller ships they will often have two at CocoCay at the same time. I would look at the schedules for the same days on other Vision or Sovereign class ships to be sure this was not the case. Now I haven't been to Great Stirrup Cay since the SS Norway was in the NCL fleet but I'm pretty sure it was nicer than CocoCay which is pretty threadbare.

Just curious, would you entertain going on another sailing, with a different itinerary? Those stops are, well, meh... If those were my choices, personally I'd skip the cruise and go to the beach or something. I don't know, I just can't see spending that much money to go to Nassau or Freeport. Just a thought? Perhaps you could all take a better vacation somewhere else that would be more fun.

Tired of being told not to take a 3 day cruise yet? :rolleyes:;)

Anyways, to answer your actual question, I too have been on all 3. I recommend Enchantment of the Seas. Despite her age, EOS is still a beautiful ship with a great crew. Carnival Liberty wasn't bad, but the ship is designed very dark and somewhat hideous. I just hated everything about the Sky. I'll never set foot on that ship again.

The OP mentioned the Sun, but two responders have mentioned the Sky. Which one is it?

The OP mentioned the Sun, but two responders have mentioned the Sky. Which one is it?

Thanks for pointing that out. I'm so used to Sky being NCL's 3/4 night cruise ship that I somehow saw Sky.

But regardless, since Sun is a sister ship to Sky, my advice remains.

If your sister in law will just have had a baby in August, then in June she will be much to far along in her pregnancy to be allowed to board. A woman cannot be entering her 24th week of pregnancy any time on the cruise. I think you need to rethink...EM

I'd pick the Royal Caribbean ship.

Also, I don't think Lucaya is fixed yet (from the hurricane). Who knows if it will be by June.

Oops, just read on the Bahamas board that it is open. The hotel and casino is closed and apparently has been for some time.

If your sister in law will just have had a baby in August, then in June she will be much to far along in her pregnancy to be allowed to board. A woman cannot be entering her 24th week of pregnancy any time on the cruise. I think you need to rethink...EM

Oh damn, thanks for letting me know! We could probably do Easter, same ships.

I'm going to go ahead and remove Carnival from my list, partly because of the three recent ships that failed (and the nearly-failing grades a few others got) the health inspection, and partly because the Glory wasn't the most impressive ship even in 2011.

So Norweigan Sun or Enchantment. I'm leaning towards the Enchantment based on the helpful responses here.

Aquahound, what specifically did you hate on the Sun?

Thanks everyone

Aquahound, what specifically did you hate on the Sun?

It started with the design of the ship. I didn't find it to be nice at all. The decor, especially in the cabins, reminded me of a kid's playroom. It was very dated, worn, and was odd colors. The central atrium was very uninspiring, the food was awful and the service was not on par with other cruises. It just felt cheap on board, like they put no effort at all in to making it a nice ship. Furthermore, they used a dark, cramped lounge in the center of the ship for a lot of their evening entertainment....things like game shows, etc. If you don't arrive very early, you have no seat. RCI, on the other hand, uses their main theater for things like the Love and Marriage show.

Enchantment is a much more spacious ship with better service. Here's a small example of how much more beautiful EOS is over NCL Sun Class. NCL atrium:

Enchantment Atrium:

It started with the design of the ship. I didn't find it to be nice at all. The decor, especially in the cabins, reminded me of a kid's playroom. It was very dated, worn, and was odd colors. The central atrium was very uninspiring, the food was awful and the service was not on par with other cruises. It just felt cheap on board, like they put no effort at all in to making it a nice ship. Furthermore, they used a dark, cramped lounge in the center of the ship for a lot of their evening entertainment....things like game shows, etc. If you don't arrive very early, you have no seat. RCI, on the other hand, uses their main theater for things like the Love and Marriage show.

 

Enchantment is a much more spacious ship with better service. Here's a small example of how much more beautiful EOS is over NCL Sun Class. NCL atrium:

 

 

 

Enchantment Atrium:

 

Wow that's ugly (n)

I feel like NCL just really didn't care about, well, anything, until like 2010+ when they started the Breakaway class and the Norweigan Edge. Would've thought they would have improved it during the 2016 refit. When did you sail?

I'll check with my brothers to see if they want to do the Sun for some reason. Otherwise I think we'll do the Enchantment.

Wow that's ugly (n)

 

I feel like NCL just really didn't care about, well, anything, until like 2010+ when they started the Breakaway class and the Norweigan Edge. Would've thought they would have improved it during the 2016 refit. When did you sail?

 

I'll check with my brothers to see if they want to do the Sun for some reason. Otherwise I think we'll do the Enchantment.

My info is dated. I sailed in 2011 (twice). But looking at NCL's website and recent Google images, not much has changed.

I believe you are correct about NCL. I cruised Escape and loved it.

I just went through the same debate, and we booked the Sun. It was a close call for us between Sun and Enchantment. Sun won due to we have never been to Freeport (and went to Nassau a few years ago); we personally prefer NCL over Royal (mostly the food); price was better especially since open bar was included.

Thanks everyone, apparently my other sister-in-law is objecting to the cruise, so we may do something else. If we do the cruise, we'll do the Enchantment unless the family prefers Freeport for some reason.