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Post by jcmom04 on May 13, 2017 16:42:31 GMT
I've cruised twice on Carnival, once with my kids who were 7 & 10 at the time, and we were on one of the larger ships that time. Neither cruise seemed like a booze cruise (4 day and 7 day). My only "warning" was my kids at that age- and even now- swimming is a very big deal during vacation. The pools on any ship are tiny and on cruise ships are typically full on young adults who are drinking and may be PG-13. I saw nothing inappropriate but my 10 yo son who is just so uncomfortable with displays of affection really struggled. My 7 yo dd didn't pay any attention. They both were just bummed they couldn't really swim. So, one excursion we had to a beach my DH and I let them spend extra time in the water. That satisfied them and we were good the rest of the trip. (I won't cruise with them again until swimming isn't so important.)
Kristin
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Post by SockMonkey on May 13, 2017 16:54:20 GMT
I've been on both Carnival and RCL. I would say (for me, but it could've been the ports of call) that Carnival was more of a "party/booze" cruise line and was a little lower quality (in my experience) than RCL. RCL seemed like more families.
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peabay
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Post by peabay on May 13, 2017 17:01:15 GMT
We've done both. I'll be honest - I don't love Carnival. Just not our type of fun - and that's okay. We did think it was rather "boozy" (lots of buckets of beers floating around) and we're kind of quiet people. We did Royal Caribbean over Christmas and really enjoyed it. It was a little more sedate. I never once felt like they were trying to do sales pitches. Ever. I can't even remember an instance where I felt like someone was trying to sell me my next cruise (or maybe I just wasn't paying attention.) I'm sure you'd be fine with either. And we've also done Cunard, and that was very much our speed. Carnival's ads touted them as "the fun ship" and we joked when we were on it "we're not fun people." It just depends on your definition of fun!
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bethany102399
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Oct 11, 2014 3:17:29 GMT
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Post by bethany102399 on May 13, 2017 23:25:05 GMT
Isn't Norwegian Epic still sailing out of Port Canaveral part of the year? It's huge and has lots of youth activities. It's going out of PC, but not during the summer months. I'm bummed as Norwegian was my second choice after Disney.
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bethany102399
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Post by bethany102399 on May 13, 2017 23:26:48 GMT
Carnival's ads touted them as "the fun ship" and we joked when we were on it "we're not fun people." It just depends on your definition of fun! We apparently aren't fun people either. I still remember when Kathy Lee shilled for them.
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pridemom
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Jul 12, 2014 21:58:10 GMT
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Post by pridemom on May 14, 2017 1:53:40 GMT
Isn't Norwegian Epic still sailing out of Port Canaveral part of the year? It's huge and has lots of youth activities. It's going out of PC, but not during the summer months. I'm bummed as Norwegian was my second choice after Disney. It might be in the Mediterranean for the summer.
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Post by crittsmom on May 14, 2017 3:55:59 GMT
I've only been on RCL and Disney and would do a Disney cruise over RCL. but I love all things Disney. Both are great, and have great entertainment, food and staff. As far as Carnival being party, if you go over a weekend there will be more of a party feel that during the week. What ever you choose, have a great time.
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Post by Sharon on May 14, 2017 22:55:52 GMT
We've cruised on both Carnival and Royal Caribbean. We much prefer Carnival. We had such horrible experiences on Royal Caribbean that we will never cruise them again.
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Post by Meri-Lyn on May 14, 2017 23:59:03 GMT
Literally got off of RC today (Oasis). I've been on them about 12 times. I've never had a "hard sell." We were on Sovereign, which is Majesty's sister ship. Yes, it is an older ship. Fewer balcony cabins if that is important to you. But we still had a great time on it. Coco Cay is gorgeous. Private island with lots of activities. Nassau was on this week's itinerary. It's not one of our favorite spots, but we did walk around the shops a little bit, and had a good food/drinks at this little hole in the wall called the Bearded Clam. In my opinion, while Atlantis is gorgeous, and worth a look, it is very pricey to spend the day at. I've only done Carnival once. It was also an older ship. (Inspiration.) I think the food is comparable (slight edge to RC.) My boss's family has been on Freedom, which I believe is Liberty's sister ship, and they enjoyed it. (If you want to sail out of Tampa, my buddy plays guitar for Carnival Paradise. And Cozumel is way more fun than Nassau, again, just in my opinion.)
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Post by brookeq on May 15, 2017 0:57:36 GMT
We love cruises and have been on many. I have never sailed Royal Caribbean so I can't comment on them. We have sailed Carnival many times and have never had a bad experience. Carnival, for their lunch options (guys burgers, the taco/burrito place, indian stand, pizza) is our favorite for food. (Celebrity had the best dining room experience to us) We have also sailed Disney once. The kids enjoyed it but no more so than a carnival cruise. There were plenty of drinkers on the disney cruise so you can get "boozers" anywhere. We enjoyed the disney cruise (we are disney people my sister works for disney and we visit her every year and go the parks). But the cost for our cruise was double the price of any carnival cruise at the time and was less days. It is not worth the price jump in my opinion. We did enjoy Castaway Cay.
If price and cruise length are the same, from what someone said about the ports, I would choose the Royal Caribbean cruise, especially if you just plan on visiting the beaches when you get off. A private island is so easy, no getting a cab to get to the beach, lunch is included, and usually loungers too.
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bethany102399
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Post by bethany102399 on May 15, 2017 16:54:45 GMT
If price and cruise length are the same, from what someone said about the ports, I would choose the Royal Caribbean cruise, especially if you just plan on visiting the beaches when you get off. A private island is so easy, no getting a cab to get to the beach, lunch is included, and usually loungers too. I agree, but here's why I say Disney is a better fit for US (in this case) our little 3 day to Nassau, private island, then back to Port Canaveral is around a thousand dollars difference between Disney and RCCL. However, when I added up RCCL's extras ( the app to communicate with each other, the charge for towels if we lose them, the beverage package (just pop) umbrella on the private island, playing on the inflatables on the private island) DH's response was they're not "free' on Disney you've already paid for them. My answer exactly and that ties into the all inclusive nature of what I want for this trip. Then add in the non cost intangibles, the room is smaller (a BIG deal as we're spending a lot of time on the ship) the kids club activities don't appeal to my kids as much as the Disney offerings. You can fly the millenium falcon on board the dream that has value to my kids. We can do Jedi traiing on the ship. Again there's no monetary value to these things and by themselves they don't come near the grand difference in price, but you add in the actual cost of the extras and it becomes "worth" the extra expense. That said, there are other places I want to go. RCCL offers more port intensive trips that would have us getting off the ship at every stop. If that's what we're doing then I'm not going to pay sky high prices when I can get there cheaper. If it's just DH and I then our needs are drastically different. it's the intersection of this trip at this point in our lives that makes the cost palatable.
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paigepea
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Post by paigepea on May 15, 2017 17:38:18 GMT
We have been on both and preferred RC. The standards were higher - better food, nicer ship, better entertainment, nicer room. I found the carnival ship to be more claustrophobic feeling - not as bright, more enclosed. The decks weren't as roomy or as well laid out. Also, we found the ship a bit louder - louder crowd, louder clubs, louder pools, louder dining experiences.
While we liked RC and have cruised with them a few times I've started to find their massive ships to be too big for us. Elevator lines, food lines, disembarking lined, etc. Felt like we were always waiting for something. The ships are huge and nice, food was great and staff was wonderful, and if your kids like the busy / hectic / activity vibe than it's good.
We cruised celebrity once and it is my new fav cruise line. Ship was gorgeous, food was incredible, staff was great, activities were plentiful, rooms were nice - and the ship wasn't a city on the water. With fewer passengers you didn't feel like you were crammed in or waiting for anything. Pools weren't crowded and there was always a chair on the deck. No disembarking rush or line.
But that's what i like.
Abd whoever commented about the pools was correct - cruiseships pools are not for swimming or playing in the water. They're for dunking quickly and then going back to your seat. If your family likes to spend a lot of time in a pool than a land vacation is great. We switched to all inclusive land vacations and fell in love. They're different though. Not as much site seeing and more pool / relaxing. Cruises are fun because you see different island and visit different beaches. And swimming at beaches at ports is super fun. That is where you do your swimming on cruises - at ports at the amazing beaches.
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paigepea
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Post by paigepea on May 15, 2017 17:42:01 GMT
If price and cruise length are the same, from what someone said about the ports, I would choose the Royal Caribbean cruise, especially if you just plan on visiting the beaches when you get off. A private island is so easy, no getting a cab to get to the beach, lunch is included, and usually loungers too. I agree, but here's why I say Disney is a better fit for US (in this case) our little 3 day to Nassau, private island, then back to Port Canaveral is around a thousand dollars difference between Disney and RCCL. However, when I added up RCCL's extras ( the app to communicate with each other, the charge for towels if we lose them, the beverage package (just pop) umbrella on the private island, playing on the inflatables on the private island) DH's response was they're not "free' on Disney you've already paid for them. My answer exactly and that ties into the all inclusive nature of what I want for this trip. Then add in the non cost intangibles, the room is smaller (a BIG deal as we're spending a lot of time on the ship) the kids club activities don't appeal to my kids as much as the Disney offerings. You can fly the millenium falcon on board the dream that has value to my kids. We can do Jedi traiing on the ship. Again there's no monetary value to these things and by themselves they don't come near the grand difference in price, but you add in the actual cost of the extras and it becomes "worth" the extra expense. That said, there are other places I want to go. RCCL offers more port intensive trips that would have us getting off the ship at every stop. If that's what we're doing then I'm not going to pay sky high prices when I can get there cheaper. If it's just DH and I then our needs are drastically different. it's the intersection of this trip at this point in our lives that makes the cost palatable. I understand what you're saying. When we book a land all inclusive I pay more to get the full all inclusive experience. I don't want to pay extra to reserve a table all 7 nights. I don't want to pay for a beach bed or be told the premium package travellers get the beach beds, and so on. I pick a holiday where everyone is treated the same and everyone gets everything. To me that is all inclusive.
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bethany102399
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Post by bethany102399 on May 15, 2017 17:53:50 GMT
When we book a land all inclusive I pay more to get the full all inclusive experience. Exactly. For me, one of the things that I wanted was all inclusive. That means I get an umbrella on the beach, I get as many towels as I need (I mean seriously if it goes missing once I'm OFF the ship ok but I don't want to feel like I can't leave a towel on my chair lest it go missing and now I owe money for it.) At the end of the day, I'd rather pay one up front cost than have to worry about what are we paying for along the way. But man I had to dig to get those details. We're getting a LOT of blowback from extended family about this trip and how much it's going to cost which has resulted in me second guessing it.
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bethany102399
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Post by bethany102399 on May 15, 2017 17:57:22 GMT
We switched to all inclusive land vacations and fell in love. I think this is my next big dream trip. I have a co-worker that goes to an all inclusive in Mexico with his family and they love it. It's near places I'd like to see but still offers the all inclusive perks I'm looking for.
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Post by rahnee on May 15, 2017 21:17:15 GMT
Are you only looking at 4 night cruises? Oasis of the Seas departs from Port Canaveral.
I've only cruised on Disney myself, but for our next cruise (June 22) we've booked on the Oasis. We really wanted Disney but with airfares from Australia, price wise, it just wasn't an option. At the time we booked, the quote for one ocean view balcony stateroom for 4 of us on Disney was over $9,500USD. We have booked 2 ocean view balcony staterooms on the Oasis and it was $5,200 USD. I'm disappointed that its not Disney but I know we are still going to have an amazing time.
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tanya2
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Post by tanya2 on May 16, 2017 0:09:13 GMT
out of curiosity, why can you only do port canaveral? isn't tampa about the same distance from orlando? that might open your options up more
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Post by megop on May 16, 2017 1:10:52 GMT
Been on both. Prefer RC. With that said, I do have to advise to really look at the ship you choose as well based on the experience you seek. Been on the gigantic ones and the small ones. I prefer the small because when I vacation, I'm not looking for mega entertainment, but supreme relaxation.
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