Carnival Valor vs. Royal Caribbean Navigator of the Seas

[AlexsDogPound]

We are traveling with 7 adults and 5 children. One 10 year old, three 8 year olds, and one 5 year old. My brother and his family have been on a RCL ship before, we have been on Princess and Windstar before but never with kids (mine are the 8 year old twins and the ten year old). My sister has never cruised, and my parents have been on Seabourn, Silversea, and Viking.

 

So you can see our dilemna, I'm leaning towards Carnival for the ports of St Thomas, Nassau, Tortula, and Antigua.

 

The RCL Navigator goes to St Maarten, Labadie, San Juan, and St Kitts.

 

Looking for any recommendations.

Thanks in advance.

[wantocruisemore]

We were on the Navigator this past summer with our family of 9 in the Med. The ages ranged from 14 to 78. All had a great time.

 

We have also cruised on Carnival's Triumph.

 

Carnival is a great line and we actually found more similarities between the two lines than differences. DD really loved the big screen on deck with Carnival, while another really loved the Rock Wall on NOS.

 

The food on both was good, as well as the service.

 

Honestly, I think you would be happy with either. The only thing that gives me pause is that you mention parents have been on the smaller, more individual service lines. They might prefer the way the NOS looks because it is a little less flashy than Carnival.

 

Either itinerary sounds great.

[AlexsDogPound]

Does anyone else have any other opinions?

[Starry Eyes]

Well, if they are typical kids, they will have fun anywhere, but Carnival does have a great rep for kids programs. children will probably like the dancing waiter and the gaudy decor. Lots of kids at heart do, too.

 

the adults in your group have, overall, selected classier cruise lines, which makes me wonder if they'd be more likely to enjoy Royal Caribbean more. Voyager series are nice ships, classier in my opinion than Carnival's.

 

I really do not think you can go wrong, but personally I would go on NOS.

[DanJ]

I haven't been on the Valor or it's sister ships but I have been on the slightly smaller Victory. I very much preferred the Navigator to that class of Carnival ship. The Nav is quite a bit larger than the Valor, but only carries marginally more people and I never found the Nav to feel like a huge ship.

 

Our kids (twins also, 7 on one Carnival cruise and turned 9 on the Navigator) enjoyed the Nav kids program more than on Carnival, but that may also have been a function of there being a ton more kids on the Pride in 2009 than we had on the Nav this past January.

 

I thought Labadee was a great port, and this from someone who doesn't really care about beaches too much. It's nice to have a dock there now, and it really holds it's people well. Much less crowded than we've found Princess Cay and Half Moon Cay to be.

 

It's hard to say what the parents will think. We took my wife's parents with us on the Pride, and they are RCI, Celebrity and Princess veterans. They definitely had a good time. Might have just been the fact they were with family, but I definitely didn't get the impression they were enduring the cruise just to be with us.

[silentbob007]

If the kids were a little older I would suggest Navigator just because all of the sports activities tend to fit well with teens. In terms of just the ship, I would definitely choose the Navigator ... I prefer its design to that of the Valor and I also like the extras like the ice show, etc.

[firefly333]

RCL's pools are way bigger than the tiny ones on Carnival. Both have children's programs similar. RCL has more outside activities. Without knowing the cost, assuming Carnival is much cheaper is why you are leaning that way. Obviously RCL usually costs more because people are willing to pay more for the experience.

 

I do Carnival mostly for the price but tend to come home thinking its getting boring. But you cant beat the prices.

[Whiskers1]

I was on the Valor a few years ago. It was a nice ship. But I do not think I would do it again. We had an Aft wrap around cabin right below the pool deck. There was noise continuosly above from moving chairs and late night partiers. Earplugs worked but when I expressed my concern nothing was done. My family (of all ages) whom had cabins in the same vacinity tried to get assistance with this issue, but you get the blank stare or smile. They could have roped off the area the was directly above the staterooms at a certain time as there seem to be only a few persons on deck at that time so seating was not an issue. It did not ruin my cruise. Just nip picky stuff that bugged me like the eye rolls from our particular server when you asked for cappucino after dinner or if you were a second late for your seating. I wanted an empty water pitcher for my cabin and I could not get one. The islands were great as usual. I find that these mega ships are always rushed as people think they are not going to get a seat at a show or in line on time for one thing or another. I understand that there are 1000's of passengers on these mega lines and time constraints come into play, but it just left a bad taste in my mouth. Just my 2 cents. I have been on Princess Golden, which we loved, Carnival Triumph was great and NCL Spirt was great too. We will be on the Dawn out of Boston in May. RCC I have not been on, but will try in 2013. I am sure you will have fun no matter what you choose.

[AlexsDogPound]

Thank you everyone for all of your opinions. It is greatly appreciated.