NCL or Carnival

[decruzer]

We have been on two carnival cruises, one with the kids and one with out, we are lookin at two different cruises for January 2009. We are taking our kids and they will be 13 and 10. We can't decide on what cruise the carnival new ship, Splendor or NCL Dawn. We have never been on NCL but as far as we can tell there is no water slides for the kids. We like the islands that NCL is going to because we have never been to any of them, but should we book the new ship for the kids to have water slide or are the pools on the Dawn fun for the kids without the slides? Any input would be great!!

[Cruzman]

This is a no brainer! NCL is at the bottom of the heap among mainstream cruise lines. Food, service, entertainment, are all far superior on Carnival.

[mousey]

I have a 12 1/2 DS and our last two cruises have been on NCL. Our DS has had a wonderful time on each cruise and so have the DH and I. I have sailed on both Carnival and NCL, and I honestly don't think one is better than the other. I think your kids are old enough that having a slide in the pool is not a really big deal. I would pick my cruise based on the ports you will be visiting. One thing I do like better about NCL is the Freestyle Dining. You pick the time and restaurant where you want to eat. We loved having the choice to eat early or laten and having a choice of what restaurant to eat in!:)

 

Whichever line you pick, I hope you and your family have a great cruise!:D

[Wilba]

This is a no brainer! NCL is at the bottom of the heap among mainstream cruise lines. Food, service, entertainment, are all far superior on Carnival.

 

I'm with you Cruzman!

[klct39lg]

We are a family of four and have previously sailed with Disney and Princess. We are looking forward to our first NCL cruise in March. My sons will be 17 and 13 so pool slides aren't an issue. This spring break we will be driving to New Orleans to sail on the NCL Spirit to Honduras, Guatemala, Belize City and Cozumel. The ports and shore excursions will be the draw for us. There are so many cruise lines out there and I hope to try them all...at least once. :)

[cruzeluver]

People make silly snap judgements about cruise lines so I tend to ignore those who swear any one line is that bad. Example: a crew member is rude to them, therefore the entire cruie line is terrible. Or they have one bad meal, therefore the food is the pits.

 

No significant difference between the mainstream lines. Anyone can have a bad experience on any cruise line. Period.

[first2008time cruiser]

I too am between Carnival and NCL. The one negative for us, when we planned to take the kids, was the kids club age groups. I can't remember specifics, but I did not like the groups for NCL. Too big of age spans, IMO. But now we are not taking the kids, so it is even harder to chose.