Which Cruise Line / Ship is right for us?

[Daruma]

Hello, folks,

 

This is a long post, and I apologize ahead of time, but for those willing to read and help with advice/info, I feel the information conveyed is necessary.

 

My family and I are considering a cruise during the Summer of 2016. It would be me, my wife, and our 14 yr old son, (1 month away from 15 at the time of the cruise).

 

We've pretty much narrowed it down to two cruise lines/ships, both of which more or less go to the same ports, so that's not a factor.

 

The Carnival Magic and Norwegian Getaway. The only comparison articles/reviews and such I've found compare the Getaway to the Breeze, not the Magic... however the Breeze and Magic are the same class ship, and probably about 90% the same.

 

I'm hoping that in telling you a bit about us, our likes and dislikes, folks here can help us choose one over the other or correct any incorrect perceptions we may have.

 

I will say though that we're leaning towards the Getaway and I'll explain why.

 

Dining... sorry but we just don't want to dine with strangers. I read over and over again on these and other forums threads where folks who express similar views are then barraged with replies about on how much they'll miss out not dining with fellow passengers, it's part of the fun, etc, etc. Vacations/Cruises are for our own family togetherness. That's just us... we'll take our chances on missing out on some "fun." :)

 

So... while you can HOPE to get "Your Time Dining" on CCL, there's no guarantee you will... so you're then relegated to the buffet only, at least as far as free meals are concerned, which is what we tend to stick with since we don’t feel any need to pay any more than we already are. We’re not “foodies” or “gourmets” by any means… so we don’t have any desire to pay any increased price for “better” food.

 

My wife and I cruised Princess before my son was born and just ate at the buffet, and on a Disney cruise about 5 years ago, we all just ate at the buffet, (even though we actually were given a table for just us) ... so we don't really mind that to be honest, especially since it was all very good, LOL. However, it's just nice to have other options too. It's nice that NCL has that freestyle dining available to everyone. Plus they seem to have more variety in their complementary dining options. Plus all of that aside… we don’t like to “linger” over meals. I’ve read that MDR dining can be about 90 – 120 minutes… nah… we want to eat, chat a bit, relax a bit, then get going. +1 for NCL

 

Activities... the two items, both ships have more or less in common, and really drew our attention, are the ropes courses and water park slides. We had no interest in those surfer simulators and such that are on RCL I believe it was, and those Quantum ships with the bumper cars and skydiving tubes don't depart out of FL, (where we live and from where we wish to cruise... no airfare, LOL). Although should they ever leave from FL, we’re on it !!

 

Now from what I've read, viewed on YouTube videos, and pictures... NCL has a better water park, better slides, and a larger, more extensive ropes course... DAT PLANK YO !!!

 

NCL has rock climbing walls and one of those bungee trampoline things as well. Now, my son may be too big/old to use the bungee trampoline thing, but still… NCL Getaway has it and it doesn’t look like CCL Magic does. Also, NCL has that O’Sheehans with bowling… yes you pay extra for it… but it’s AVAILABLE.

 

CCL Magic does have that doge ball game which my son would love, but that alone doesn’t seem to be enough IF what I’ve said above is true about the Getaway having better slides, ropes, etc.

 

So, assuming better water park/slides, better ropes course, rock climbing wall, bowling... another +1 to NCL.

 

Shows… we like the idea of going to shows and this one is a coin flip. It SEEMS like Getaway may have better shows, (though that’s subjective, I’m basing that on reviews from folks who’ve been on both and most seemed to think NCL had the better quality shows). However, if I’m understanding some things/reviews I’ve read correctly… with CCL you can just show up and take a seat, (assuming you can find one), whereas with NCL you must book a reservation, and they apparently fill up FAST !! Much like we’re not “foodies” or “gourmets” we’re not whatever you’d call the equivalent for shows… we’re easily pleased and entertained, so I’m thinking the ease of getting in to shows with CCL may trump the presumably better quality shows of NCL. CCL Magic also has that theatre that’s almost like a ride itself… forget what it’s called. So we’ll give a +1 to CCL

 

Rooms/balconies… almost to a person, every review I’ve read says CCL balcony rooms are better and bigger. Especially the Cove balconies. My wife, not being much of a sun worshipper and not having much tolerance for heat… born and raised in New England, as was I, but I’ve adapted and love the FL weather/heat… she doesn’t… so the fact that the lifeboats overhang the Cove Balconies and thus provide shade, making them cooler… is appealing to her. Plus she gets motion/sea sickness. We were on the Disney Dream when Hurricane Irene blew through and passed, (according to the Capt), within 120 miles… the ship was ROCKIN’ !!!! I never knew my wife could turn so many different shades of green… poor thing.

 

So, Cove Balconies are on Deck 2, lower on the boat, where motion is not felt nearly as much… another +1 for CCL.

 

Cost… sort of a bonus for CCL… getting a balcony room is $500 cheaper than the equivalent, (or as close as we can compare), than the Getaway… however that’s not that much money to spend if our experience would be better on the Getaway… so sort of a +1 for CCL, but really a negligible factor… which is why I didn’t bold it.

 

Kids' clubs … don't factor in either since my son never likes to go to the kids' camps that exist at our various vacation spots over the years. He usually tries them for a day or a couple of hours, and simply prefers to be with us. We're ok with that since for the most part, during the other 51 weeks out of the year, we barely see him, LOL. An exaggeration of course, but I think many parents of teens can attest to the fact that our teens don't spend as much time with us as we'd like. +0 for either.

 

Our family is pretty laid back. We’re not partiers, and neither my wife nor I, (nor son, LOL), drink alcohol. We don’t smoke, and we gamble minimally. We used to live in Reno, NV and would occasionally go into a casino with $20 each and when it was gone it was gone and we left… sometimes that was just 10 minutes, LOL. The lack of a casino on Disney didn’t phase us in the least.

 

Carnival has such a rep as a “party ship” that we’re not sure if it’s our cup of tea. NCL has a more sedate, low key, reputation. So, ASSUMING that’s true… +1 for NCL. But is it true? Are Carnival ships, the Magic in particular, crazy party ships?

 

So, am I missing any criteria worth considering? Are my views/thoughts/opinions of the two accurate?

 

Thank you for having made it this far and offering us some insight/advice/info.

 

Take care,

 

Lou

[Essiesmom]

I don't understand why you won't eat in the MDR on Carnival if you can't get Anytime. You can ask for your own table in fixed dining. Go to the dining room after you board to check out where you have been assigned, and make sure you have a table for four, or ask to be changed. If you don't want to have a fixed dining time, the Lido does have most of the same offerings, just not lobster on elegant night.

 

Carnival no longer deserves the rap of party crazy. The shortest cruises are the most active, but it is often large family reunion type groups that travel around the ship like schools of fish, pushing others out of their way. But this usually happens on the shortest cruises, 3 day and 4 day. The 7 and 8 day or longer cruises don't have that problem. EM

[Daruma]

Thank you very much for your reply.

 

A couple reasons we probably wouldn't eat in CCL's MDR if we did NOT get YTD.

 

1) Almost every post I've read where folks ask about getting a private table in the MDR, people reply with "Ask for YTD, it's your best chance, otherwise you they may not be able to accomodate you" or something to that effect.

 

2) And the bigger reason to be honest... even if we got a private table, as I mentioned, (though it probably got lost in the novella I wrote, LOL), we don't want to take 90 - 120 minutes for dinner... which is what I've read it takes to eat, (dinner at least), in the MDR. We'd rather just eat n' go. 45 - 60 minutes is about the longest we take at dinner when we eat out. We're just not that "into" food or the "dining experience" in general... food is mostly fuel to us; eat, fuel up, get out to something more fun, (to us).

 

So, #2 is probably the main reason, regardless of private table or not.

 

I do appreciate you taking the time to reply though, believe me. The MDR experience on ANY ship really, just isn't for us.

 

Thanks.

 

Take care,

Lou

 

P.S. Oops... and thank you for the insight on the party ship reputation... that makes us feel a bit better about considering CCL.

Edited August 18, 2015 by Daruma

[kelkel2]

I have never sailed any of the NCL ships, so I cannot compare. But what I can tell you is that we are very similar to you in not wanting to share tables with people on our cruise. It's not our thing and never will be. It makes me feel like I'm on an awkward first date with someone. We always opt for ATD and have always been accommodated with a table for 2 and have never had a waiting time when we asked that was probably more than 5 minutes.

 

As far as the Magic being as nice as the Breeze. I think the Breeze has a few more features, but like you said, they are both in the same class, similar in size and both offer quite a bit to do.

Some things your child might be interested in that the Magic offers:

Sports Square-mini golf, basketball, fooseball, pingpong,

Ropes Course

Water Works with 2 water slides & the dumping bucket

Arcade

The kids camp

Serenity (for mom and dad)

 

I feel like the Carnival ships offer plenty for kids, but then again, I'm not a kid and I don't have any of my own, so it's really easy for me to say that. But I do think Carnival does a great job with keeping the kids entertained.

 

As far as Carnival having the party reputation, we really don't notice that to be true? We noticed it more on our short 5 day cruise. Which, I heard is more common on shorter cruises on any line. But honestly after doing a 7 day on Princess and a 7 day on Carnival I have not noticed a difference in the "partying", just an age difference really. Sure there are people drinking, but I never saw anything horrible.

[serene56]

Carnival does not have the party hardy reputation any more-- only by the people who have never sailed.

 

We have cruised 26 times mostly on Carnival but sailed Royal and Princess.

We do not drink. we very rarely gamble in the casino. Have NEVER been bored on any of our sailings.

 

The thing that keeps me from NCL is the sizes of the cabins. We toured a ship a few years back-- and thought the rooms (although nicely laid out) were just too small. (129 vs 185)

 

Kids club on the ships are NOTHING like the beach vacation kids club.

My grand kids dont do those either-- but on cruises they tend to do more kid activities.

 

on Carnival the camps/clubs are broken down to ages. your son will be in the 12-14 year olds-- who tend to hang out together instead of doing group activities- you find these kids sitting in the hot tubs or swimming in the pool. sitting around eating pizza playing cards or watching the movies

 

In our cruises we have always dined with my own family. Last cruise there was 2 of us and was put at the large table. We visited the Marte d and asked for our own table and it was easily switched.

 

I would not give up the dining room to eat at the buffet even though the food is the same as the dining room minus a few items.

 

 

I tried Anytime dining-- its not for me. I prefer my wait staff to know my likes and dislikes and have everything just right== without explaining it each night.

I prefer early dining.

 

The anytime dining people were like scarey to me-- why do you want Anytime== when you are there in the long line every night at 5:45 anyways? kind of defeated that purpose.

Edited August 18, 2015 by serene56

[Charlie4]

I LOVE NCL:

 

Dinner can take a hour or more on NCL, but not as long as Carnival. I have heard, when seated you can tell your server you don't want to spend a lot of time a dinner, hope that helps. You will always get seated as a group of your choice. They might ask you IF you want to share, and you ALWAYS can say no. I felt Carnival food.

 

I was very surprised at how big Carnivals OV rooms were, NCL does have smaller rooms.

 

I have seen many teenagers your son's age get bored on NCL. Bowling gets expensive and boring after a while. The lines and get long for water slide and rock climbing. I hope if you go during the summer there will be other Teenagers, as none of them seem to really like the ships Teen Club. (they are too cool for it)

 

 

If you don't go to THE show there are a lot of other things to do in the evenings o the Getaway. The shows are not hard to get into. First day on the ship, you just go and reserve them for the week, I have never had a problem getting the show I wanted on the day I wanted.

 

I don't think Carnival is a party ship either.

 

If I could save $500, I would go on Carnival.

[Ahmne]

I haven't been on either cruise line but they were the final three when we were comparing and deciding. (RCI being the third)

 

We went with Carnival on the Magic because

Although there were more dining options on NCL, most of them were an at a fee. The concept of anytime dining sounds good but one of the benefits for me on a cruise is the wait staff knowing your likes and dislikes and having things ready for you in the MDR. I was 10 weeks pregnant on the last cruise with nausea and by day 3 my waiter knew to have ginger ale ready for me at the table when I and ginger lemon tea for me at dessert.

We have a table for 4 to ourselves this time. If you want to spend less time at dinner just tell them or skip an appetizer or dessert and order room service or go to the buffet later if you get peckish. The reviews about the food on carnival seemed to be more positive than NCL and on par or a bit better than RCI.

 

The magic does have a ropes course, water park, sports square, movies outside at night. Although these things are great, when there is too many of them it's unlikely you'll get to do them all unless you stay on the boat during port days. This was a draw for us.

 

The shows looked better on NCL. Our kids are younger and we knew we wouldn't do many of them.

 

The rooms are bigger on CCL. We have 4 in a room so this was a big deal for us. (But went with an upper level balcony since we were afraid of noise and not being able to take the stairs to the kids club if we felt like it)

 

Cost- CCL was way cheaper with more included. That means more excursions and wine. Our youngest is 2 and we wouldn't have to pay for her to be in the kids club while on an excursion or limit the amount of time she was there. (I know that wouldn't matter to you).