NCL vs. Carnival, my son's opinion

[NYteacher]

We booked a 14 night Eastern Mediterranean cruise for August and I am totally psyched about the itinerary. While I have been to Venice, I have never been to any of the other ports.

 

My son has come with us to Bermuda on the Dawn and to the Caribbean on the Carnival Miracle.

 

My almost 8 year old was only mildly enthused about the trip. When I was by the computer and asked if he wanted to see the ship he nodded and then told me "You know, they weren't so nice at the kids' camp." I asked him if he meant the last (Carnival) cruise we had. He told me yes, so I explained that the upcoming cruise was on Norwegian.

 

His whole face lit up and he jumped up and down "We are going back on a Norwegian ship? Yeah Yeah Yeah!!!"

 

Apparently the kids' club really is outstanding.

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[crusinmama06]

LOL....so now he tells you that they weren't so nice to him. ;)

 

Enjoy your cruise!!!! :D Sounds like an awesome one!

[NYteacher]

I think it was one counselor in particular. He did seem to have fun in Carnival, and repeatedly asked to go to the club. Towards the very end (last two days) he didn't want to go as much, so we had more pool time, etc.

 

At the time I attributed it to the weird circumstances of this cruise, my mom was sick on the day of departure and I had to stay behind and them join them a couple of days later. I thought it was that he wanted to be around me more. (vain mommy).

 

One thing I thought was terrific about NCL is that the club hours are all day. Even though we never left him all day, when we picked him up for lunch and family time, or dinner and family time, it was on OUR schedule. At Carnival you had to adjust your times around the opening and closing hours of THEIR choice. I guess the negative is that some parents do leave their kids there 13 hours straight.

[crusinmama06]

Interesting! I can't remember the hours on NCL since it was so long ago in my personal experience. Do they close on port days? I thought that was the big debate, the charging on port days -- do they still do that?

 

Since Royal Caribbean is sending 2 Freedom classes to Europe and not to the North East - I may be doing NCL - so I am interested in the port days - any charges?

 

My kids always come with us to port - but if we are onboard during a port day, I was wondering if we will incur fees if they go to the club.

 

Thanks!

[NYteacher]

Yes, there is a charge for port days. I don't know what that is because my son always comes with us. I think it's the same charge as the "late night" group babysitting. I don't remember exactly what that is, I think something around $5-6 an hour.

 

I'm trying to prepare my son that this cruise will be different from the others in that the ports are our primary interest, and the ship is a great way to get to them. We are also doing things like reading greek myths, going to a local children's museum with a greek myth exhibit--and seeing "The Lightning Thief" (LOL).

[crusinmama06]

I just posted Mia's NCL Kids crew schedule for her Med cruise (she emailed it to me for the family board collection) and yep, the kids crew is a paid service for port days. But it doesn't say the prices.

 

So I guess if we stayed onboard during a port day or came back early, then the kids would just stay with us. :)

 

Thanks NYTeacher.

[14ersco]

Interesting! I can't remember the hours on NCL since it was so long ago in my personal experience. Do they close on port days? I thought that was the big debate, the charging on port days -- do they still do that?

 

Since Royal Caribbean is sending 2 Freedom classes to Europe and not to the North East - I may be doing NCL - so I am interested in the port days - any charges?

 

My kids always come with us to port - but if we are onboard during a port day, I was wondering if we will incur fees if they go to the club.

 

Thanks!

 

Last year the prices were $5 per hour for the first child and $3 for the second child for either port days and care after 10 PM. Also for port days you needed to sign up the night before, it was not drop-in. On sea days the kid's club was open from 9 AM to 10 PM at no cost. Around meal times on sea days the activities went into freeplay or family time. Freeplay meant that the various age groups were combined for the few kids who were not picked up by their families to go eat. Family time was when the activity during the meal hour required a parent to participate, for example pizza making. NCL also offered one night where you could sign-up and they would take your kids to the buffet.

[CanadianTwosome]

I guess I arrived late with my 'NCL Expertise'! ha ha ha

 

We've never stayed on board on port days, but we have come back early on a couple of occasions, and we've found that with most of the passengers off the ship, it's the perfect time for things like playing at the pool or doing other activities that can sometimes be less fun when there are crowds. The time flies by so fast, too... *sigh*

 

Also, as far as I know, there are no organized activities for port days - it's just called 'port play' I believe. I think it's pretty much 'free play' time with supervision - aka babysitting, rather than true 'Kid's Crew'.

 

NYTeacher, I think your assessment that your son's issue likely had to do with one counsellor in particular is probably right on the money. I really believe that all ships these days have the potential to have the 'best' experience for any particular child, but it's the 'human factor' that makes the difference - be it counsellors or other passengers.