Mardi Gras or switch lines?

[zzmmmommy]

We are on the sunshine now and super disappointed…I’ll write a full review when we get home. 

Kids and I were just trying to plan our next one. Any thoughts…Mardi Gras or do Oasis class on Royal? My kids are 13, 14, 16, 18. We like activity- basketball, running on the track, slides, etc. 

I would love to hear your suggestions!

 

[Thenagers]

I understand because you were supposed to be on Horizon.  Personally I would want more activities for my teens than Sunshine offers.  Honestly I did RCL Freedom and it had more or as much for my teens as Horizon.  Oasis class is another level but I have heard Mardis Gras is trying to keep up.  Honestly, anything Freedom class or higher on RCL will give you the stuff for the teens.  I think the next step up for me will be Odyssey level? Bigger but not too big!  

[jsglow]

Well, you haven't given any reasons WHY you are disappointed but everyone has different preferences.  I would think you'll find a fairly significance difference between Mardi Gras and a RCCL Oasis class ship.  If it's 'toys onboard' you want, that's probably the product for your family. 

[firefly333]

Allure isnt amped with the new slides like oasis if that's what you want. Oasis, harmony, one of those.

 

Right now for solo rcl costs more, but tbh I liked the food better. Pizza about the same but dinners were better. I fly is hard to book so I wouldnt book for something like that. I cruise for the shows and food, not the other stuff. I was supposed to do allure next march and transferred to liberty because terminal 3 was delayed in Galveston.  .. ie not by choice. I loved oasis which I did twice. I wouldnt book allure if you book for slides. Thanks covid. 

 

I enjoyed breeze too but not because of activities. Not in the same class or price range. 

[JaniceB]

I think you find lots to do for teens on both.  I would check the price and the ports and go from there.  

[crewsweeper]

For active things for teens, I agree with firefly...RCCL Oasis, Harmony of Odyessy.  MG has more food options I think, but only waterslides and sports court. 

[firefly333]

Oasis has a zip line, rock climbing wall, and the slides. No pay venues like I fly. 

 

I booked the very last inside boardwalk balcony. Here people say inside balconys, no. You can watch the high diving shows from your inside balcony and see out the aft and open to the sky but have to book early to get the very end.

 

Here you can see out oasis from the end broadway balcony .. the purple on the right someone was trying to get out of the shot is the new slides, purple abyss.  ..blocks view but if you want the new slides. ..oasis has them. I thickened out on the zip line. I'd had my shoulder broken twice. The rock climbing was to either side in the aft. Limited hours.

 

Oasis amped.

Edited December 30, 2021 by firefly333

[ohioNCLcruiser]

The Oasis class is in my opinion one of the coolest classes of ships ever built. I also thought it was the least crowded feeling ship we had been on. If its within your budget I would pick one of those. As mentioned above I would select Allure last since they don't have as many of the updates as the others. See if you can pick an itinerary that stops at CoCoCay their private island. 

[stobe1]

1 hour ago, dcsham said:

Here is my suggestion...NEVER cruise with kids.  😄

☝☝☝

 

Best crusing advice ever and I nominate this post for the prestigious "Post of the Year" award on Cruise Critic.

[CharmCity2000]

On MG now with kids, ages 14 and 11.  General consensus is that it is okay.  We docked with Harmony the other day and kids

asked if we could do that ship next.

 

We agree that the food on MG isn’t as good as we remember from Horizon.  Our last cruise was on RC Explorer of the Seas and the kids

mentioned the food was better on that ship.

 

For me, the MG is too much.  Forget something in your cabin and it could be 1/2hour to get back to the pool. It’s 19 floors and while there are 6 or 8 elevators across forward/mid/aft, there is always a crowd to get on.  We haven’t gotten off the ship so I can’t tell you what it would be like to board from a port day.

 

We will not be sailing on MG again.  May give Horizon another go.
 

As an aside, everyone is complying it’s masks indoors.  It’s really not an issue.

 

 

[RoperDK]

Our kids are out on their own now, so I have no actual word of mouth from teens.  The Mardi Gras does have top deck activities for them.  There are the sports courts, ropes course, slides and Bolt. We enjoyed our Mardi Gras cruise, but it wasn't over the top.  Granted it is post covid shutdown and they are just getting things up and running.  I don't think they have hit their stride yet.  However, Oasis class ships definitely have a WOW factor.  There are more activities for teens on those ships.  I believe that several venues are still closed due to covid so it isn't like the good old days right now on Oasis class ships.       

[silversneakers]

10 hours ago, zzmmmommy said:

We are on the sunshine now and super disappointed…I’ll write a full review when we get home. 

Kids and I were just trying to plan our next one. Any thoughts…Mardi Gras or do Oasis class on Royal? My kids are 13, 14, 16, 18. We like activity- basketball, running on the track, slides, etc. 

I would love to hear your suggestions!

 

Both have a great deal of amenities. Haven't been on MG yet but have done a couple of Oasis class and they are amazing if you like large ships with lots of people.

[jimbo5544]

Done both, Oasis was not my cup of tea, but that is me.  There is no way that either would feel uncrowded

[SmoothFlying]

46 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

Oasis was not my cup of tea, but that is me.  There is no way that either would feel uncrowded

Nor my wife's. We did a E. Caribbean 7 day out of Lauderdale in 2013. If memory serves me correctly 52-5300 passengers and believe me you KNEW it wherever you went on the ship. But nowhere was it more crowded than the breakfast/dinner buffet ( the dinner most of all) w/4 LARGE long pig troughs (piers) there was no such thing as 'waiting in line' for food. People would elbow, knocking your plate aside, grab a spoon/tongs, rake food onto their plate/countertop/floor and be GONE ! I thought to myself,' Heck, Golden Corral isn't this Bad !'.Those attendants working the steam tables did a tremendous job keeping the food items coming out.

 

Mac

[keels81]

I love the Mardi Gras with all my heart, but I'd probably lean towards your family taking a look at the RCL Oasis Class ships, not just because there seems like there's more "to do" for the age group you're traveling with, but I'd try to get my hands on the Cruise Compasses for a sailing your considering -- I feel like more of the daily programming on RCL is geared slightly younger than what is currently being offered on the Mardi Gras.

 

Most of my friends have kiddos in that age range and outside of a couple outlying offerings (Family Feud, Deal or No Deal), they wouldn't be interested in much in the way of activities that the ship offers like the comedy club or the production shows. I feel like RCL offers WAY better movie selections than Carnival as well, if that's something that would be important to the teens as well.

 

As far as food goes, I do give the MG a slight advantage in the quick casual offerings that might go over well with the teen set -- Guy's, Blue Iguana, Big Chicken, Pizza, Paninis, Street Eats ... especially if they're like the kiddos in my life that are just CONSTANTLY hungry.

Edited December 31, 2021 by keels81

[Pellaz]

14 hours ago, CharmCity2000 said:

For me, the MG is too much.  Forget something in your cabin and it could be 1/2hour to get back to the pool. It’s 19 floors and while there are 6 or 8 elevators across forward/mid/aft, there is always a crowd to get on.  

 

If this is an issue, a really BIG ship like an Oasis-class would not be a good choice for you.  Not only are the ships bigger and much longer than Mardi Gras, but Royal's ships only have two elevator banks, while Carnival's ships have three...which means you have to do more walking overall.    

The number of actual guest floors is about the same for both types of ships, BTW.  Mardi Gras starts counting with Deck 4.  🙂  

[SNJCruisers]

On 12/30/2021 at 3:43 PM, CharmCity2000 said:

On MG now with kids, ages 14 and 11.  General consensus is that it is okay.  We docked with Harmony the other day and kids

asked if we could do that ship next.

 

We agree that the food on MG isn’t as good as we remember from Horizon.  Our last cruise was on RC Explorer of the Seas and the kids

mentioned the food was better on that ship.

 

For me, the MG is too much.  Forget something in your cabin and it could be 1/2hour to get back to the pool. It’s 19 floors and while there are 6 or 8 elevators across forward/mid/aft, there is always a crowd to get on.  We haven’t gotten off the ship so I can’t tell you what it would be like to board from a port day.

 

We will not be sailing on MG again.  May give Horizon another go.
 

As an aside, everyone is complying it’s masks indoors.  It’s really not an issue.

 

 

The MG is too much at 180,000 tons,  yet you want to cruise on the Harmony of the Seas, which is 25% larger at 226,000 tons. 🤔🤔🤔

Can you please explain the backwards logic with that.

[cruisingguy007]

On 12/30/2021 at 12:43 PM, CharmCity2000 said:

On MG now with kids, ages 14 and 11.  General consensus is that it is okay.  We docked with Harmony the other day and kids

asked if we could do that ship next.

 

We agree that the food on MG isn’t as good as we remember from Horizon.  Our last cruise was on RC Explorer of the Seas and the kids

mentioned the food was better on that ship.

 

For me, the MG is too much.  Forget something in your cabin and it could be 1/2hour to get back to the pool. It’s 19 floors and while there are 6 or 8 elevators across forward/mid/aft, there is always a crowd to get on.  We haven’t gotten off the ship so I can’t tell you what it would be like to board from a port day.

 

We will not be sailing on MG again.  May give Horizon another go.
 

As an aside, everyone is complying it’s masks indoors.  It’s really not an issue.

 

 

Are you reporting that there is not enough kids activities to keep them occupied? Just curious because for us it's crucial for the kids to have a excellent time too! 

[RhinoMomIL]

My two cents is my kids thought Oasis class was really cool but their food options were not as good in our opinion. The MDR are pretty similar but with Guys Burgers and BBQ and Blue Iguana - we didn't like the RCL stuff as much. I would go again on Oasis class but not if it was a lot more than Carnival. Our favorite ship so far may have been the Magic. Kids played basketball and dodgeball a lot. 

Edited January 2, 2022 by RhinoMomIL