NCL or Carnival Help??

[Nan-L]

Looking for a cruise in western carb. Carnival has 2 ships, Legend or Liberty that we can take but it's been forever since I've cruised on this line.

Then there is NCL Dawn..never been on NCL..we cruise holland Am. or Princess most of the time..

My grandson may be going too so kids factors in to this.

Which would you take and why??

[Oldgoat61]

A lot depends on what you enjoy on a cruise. CCL and NCL are very much alike as far as ships go. We have been to the W Carib on the CCL Legend and enjoyed it, but we will be going back in April/13 on the NCL Dawn....the itinerary is what we wanted most. Didn't care much for Grand Cayman, but that was us.

The cabins are smaller on NCL, but they have more variety of dining choices. Can't answer about the kids.....both of ours are grown, and out of the house.

But I have heard they have a good kids program.

The crew on NCL is exceptional, very friendly, helpful, and they seemed to enjoy what they were doing. I will give you an example.....on returning from an excursion (southern Carib), they had a group of the crew welcoming people back with a dance routine, cold water and cold towels, and they were having a blast!

But the one thing that sets NCL apart IMHO is freestyle dining. YOU eat when and were YOU want to, no set times or tables, and no formal dress (unless you want to).

Which ever chioce you make, you will have a great cruise! :)

[mpk218]

With kids , NCL . My kids have sailed most of the mainstream lines and love NCL's kids clubs the best. Aside from that there pretty similar with Carnival being a bit louder. ;) And NCL having the only true Freestyle..

[aprylstar]

I would say it depends when you are going. We sailed Carnival Freedom last year in January & there were only about 15 - 20 kids that consistently used the kids club. My son (10) used it for chill time a couple of hours a day. That being said,we still had a fantastic family vacation b.c there was so much to do! 2 days into the cruise my son declared it a better vacation than disney! lol

 

I am currently booked on Norwegian Jewel out of New York (we are expecting oodles of more kids b.c it is the Ontario March Break!), but the original plan was to book Carnival Dream (in Feb) out of Port Canaveral. It does a Western Caribbean. Both options looked great & we went with Norwegian to try something new. The ship looked great & my son doesn't have to miss any hockey or school!

 

I also taught a little girl (age 7) who went on the Liberty last January. She told me she had a fabulous vacation. So cute!

 

I haven't sailed Norwegian, but am very excited to! The kids club looks great.

 

Honestly, I don't think you can go wrong with a cruise! I have traveled all my life & went on my first cruise last year. When planning I kept reading that the only problem with cruising is you can't stop once you start. Now that I've been I can say Cheers to that! lol

 

good luck planning!

 

Looking for a cruise in western carb. Carnival has 2 ships, Legend or Liberty that we can take but it's been forever since I've cruised on this line.

Then there is NCL Dawn..never been on NCL..we cruise holland Am. or Princess most of the time..

My grandson may be going too so kids factors in to this.

Which would you take and why??