Help us choose!

[EliteQueen]

hey there!
 

We took our 4 kids on a cruise in February of this year after a 10yr cruise hiatus. 
 

We lucked out on a great deal on Royal’s Symphony of the seas and we all had an incredible vacation. 
 

So now we’re trying to book another but we’re also considering Norwegian….
 

Question: Will we love Norwegian as much as Royal or should we stick with Royal? 
 

 

[wheezedr]

Everybody’s different. A lot will depend on your desire and expectations. Each cruise line has its loyalists and detractors as well. 

[EliteQueen]

That’s very true. What we loved most was the number of activities available for everyone on board (kids were 7,9,13,15), the options for food, and the size of the rooms. 

[Host Kat]

3 hours ago, EliteQueen said:

hey there!
 

We took our 4 kids on a cruise in February of this year after a 10yr cruise hiatus. 
 

We lucked out on a great deal on Royal’s Symphony of the seas and we all had an incredible vacation. 
 

So now we’re trying to book another but we’re also considering Norwegian….
 

Question: Will we love Norwegian as much as Royal or should we stick with Royal? 
 

 

 

2 hours ago, EliteQueen said:

That’s very true. What we loved most was the number of activities available for everyone on board (kids were 7,9,13,15), the options for food, and the size of the rooms. 

 

@EliteQueen

 

To help you out your thread has been moved to the Family Cruises forum where it will be on topic for your situation.

 

Happy sails,

 

Host Kat

[ldubs]

If you decide to stick with Royal Caribbean, understand that Symphony is among their larger resort style ships.  Royal's smaller ships, while still very family friendly, do not have all of the attractions found on the Oasis or Quantum class ships.    

 

I suspect NCL's larger ships have family style attractions, but having never been on an NCL cruise, cannot compare.  

[Szt]

I can’t speak to family activities. But I have found both RC and NCL to be very similar. It’s been a while since we sailed with RC. But NCL has the eat any time any where policy. Of course they have the same “specialty” restaurants that cost extra. We have found the quality of the food to vary more by cruise area than by cruise line. For example, our food on a southern European sailing was much better than on a Caribbean sailing- both NCL. Regular coffee on both lines was equally terrible. 
Look at cabin layouts in your desired class to see which you like better. These will also vary by ship. In talking with other cruisers on our last NCL cruise, a lot of people felt they were disorganized. I think it’s more a matter of not being as “scheduled”, which we like. Hopefully I have given you a few points on which to help make your decision. 

[mjkacmom]

Our family has sailed on 3 NCL ships, kids were 7, 7, 9, 12 and 14 on our first one. They had a great time, even on smaller ships without the bells and whistles. Their first cruise was DCL (ours was NCL without them) and I disliked fixed dining, too difficult with 7 people and 2 showers. NCL is the only line with real anytime dining, no reservations are needed in the MDR’s, we’d just show up. We haven’t sailed RCL yet (even though I can drive to a port in 20 minutes, same with NCL), but I’d like to.

[Albinroo]

we have sailed on both RCl (admittedly it was a long time ago) and NCL - I think they are comparable in most aspects - if lots of activities is what you're after the Escape, Encore, Breakaway, Joy, Bliss etc are the ones you should go for. The one thing I would say is that their kids clubs are closed when in port and they do have splash parks but no playgrounds on ship.