Personalities of the different cruise lines?

[tlmaule]

Hi!

 

I'm looking for feedback on what you think the various cruise lines' current "personalities" are. We're looking for a kid/family friendly feeling, and specific wish list items are:

 

--good with special needs kids - DS is 7 and high functioning ASD with SI disorder - so the camp needs to be flexible and accomodating, and provide phones on board

 

--availability of shallow pools (DS can swim, but needs to be able to touch the bottom at some point)

 

--railside casual/buffet dining - DS LOVES watching the water!

 

--ports that are kid-friendly - not too many adventure tours, just some nice relaxing beach fun

 

We just enjoyed a wonderful first-time (for him) cruise on Carnival - they have really turned into a family fun line as opposed to the old animal house reputation they once had. DH and I have cruised on NCL (for our honeymoon 17 years ago) and numerous HAL ships - back then they were more adult/grown-up feeling. I don't know about now?

 

We're planning next spring break's cruise, and are willing to consider new options as well as Carnival again. Any feedback would be appreciated!

 

:cool: Tamara

[Ellanora]

I don't have personal experience with special needs children, and I love Carnival (glad you had a good time!) but have you considered Disney? They have multiple pools, one of which is the Mickey pool that is more shallow for the smaller sized kids. I've read great things about the kid's clubs, and my own son, who is 11, loved it. They also give all parents a pager.

 

The buffet restaurant has lots of tables outside near the railing, and even lots of windows to look out over the water inside.

 

Disney always stops at their private island, Castaway Cay, which is absolutely amazing. Beautiful beach, lots of chairs, a tram to cut down on the walking, and the ship pulls right up to the dock, no tendering. Probably my most favorite port so far.

 

Edit - also wanted to say that Disney is exceedingly family friendly, and that every staff member I encountered was willing to go out of their way to make sure we had everything we needed and were having a good time. This type of service might be of benefit to you.

[honeywell]

Carnival is very kid friendly but don't know if any of the ships have shallow depth pools.

 

Disney, Disney, Disney!

[Travelitis]

Maybe a CCL with the Waterworks would appeal. I don't know about special needs kids, (try the disability boards for this info) but I'd check CCL, RCI, and Princess. The only reason I didn't mention Disney is the price. I'm a Disney freak, but I won't pay those prices. If you can go during the off peak times (during school) then Disney charges what others charge during school vacation, and it might be worth a look.

 

When we were on the Triumph, we noticed that CCL had added activities to the kid's program. There were some educational offerings and some that were pure fun like stuff a bear. I mentioned Princess, because I was looking at kid's programs for an upcoming cruise, and theirs looked really appealing. I would take my kids on Princess only during school vacation, though. The kid's facilities on the Grand were very nice, and I know my kids would have fun on that ship during vacation when there are other kids.

 

I have yet to see a buffet restaurant that didn't have windows to enjoy the sea view. All ships have casual dining, and if nothing else, you can take your plate out to a deck chair to eat.

 

HAL is not the line for kids. We went on the Big Z which was the only ship that had a kid's club. That might have changed, but it was Oct., and there was no kid's program being run. With no disrespect intended to seniors, the ratio of walkers to kids was about 10:1. If I add canes and wheelchairs to those figures . . . :eek: Suffice it to say, we went to the disco after our late seating dining not only to find it devoid of people dancing, but there was no D.J. or music... every night. It was a nice, quiet cruise that would have bored our kids silly.

[Ellanora]

The only reason I didn't mention Disney is the price. I'm a Disney freak, but I won't pay those prices. If you can go during the off peak times (during school) then Disney charges what others charge during school vacation, and it might be worth a look.

 

I agree that overall, Disney is much more expensive. However, there are some good rates for 3 and 4 night cruises on the Wonder during Sept/Oct and Jan/Feb if you are willing to get an inside room. Also, Disney currently has no fuel surcharge to add in, and no soda cards to pay for either. That helps them to be a little more competitive.

[crusinmama06]

OK Ill be the oddball...lol.

 

The Disney ship's shallow area is small and VERY crowded.

 

On Carnival, the camp counselors are awesome. On the older ships (ones that end with an -ION) they have a shallow children's pool that is virtualy empty. And some of the older ships that are undergoing the "Evolutions of Fun" have a water play area.

 

RCCL ships have a variety of different pool areas. Let me see if I can do this off the top of my head...lol

--Enchantment has a shallow children's area

--Freedom, Liberty, Independence of the Seas has a H20 zone which is pretty much a huge kid area, bigger than any other ship. There are varying depths in that area. Also, the main pool on those ships have shallow areas too. All the water is freshwater, not salt.

--some Voyager class ships have "Adventure Beach" which are shallow pools, small slides too. These ships are Explorer, Adventure, etc. The one without it is Mariner.

 

And I think the Princess ships have a separate children's area too. They are freshwater pools, but don't know enough about them to list them individually.

 

As far as child friendly, for us, the Eastern Itinerary is more family friendly.

[tlmaule]

Thanks for all the excellent input and good points - that's what's so awesome about these boards:)

 

As you can see, we've decided to stick with Carnival for next spring break - the pricing was great, and the Camp Carnival experience was top notch on our last trip (two whole weeks ago - it seems like a lifetime now!:p ). Although we chose the Imagination for the Waterworks part, we'll skip that for a few years - Zach loved the water slides but it was exhausting for mommy (come on, Mom, let's race again!) The Evolutions of Fun remodels remove the children's pool - a worthy trade-off for sure, but something we were not totally aware of when I chose this past trip.

 

Royal Caribbean looks like a great contender - my folks have been on their ships and say Zach will love the whole environment - it was just a little too pricey for us for the week we have open. We're thinking the end of summer if we can grab a great last minute deal, we'll try them.

 

Disney looks so awesome, but is so expensive! Although again, if there is a great last minute deal, we'd go for it.

 

Thanks again for all your help!!

:cool: Tamara