Please help me choose

Planning a cruise with 3 kids (8,6,6) - first time cruising, single parent!

Narrowed down to 2 choices:

Choice 1) NCL Getaway 9 nights cruise from Warnemuende, Germany calling at Tallin, St. Petersburg, Helsinki, Stockholm, Copenhagen

Total price US$4,596 Balcony Room

Choice 2) MSC Meraviglia 7 nights cruise from Messina, Italy calling at Valetta, Barcelona, Marseille, Genoa and Naples

Total price US$4,636 Balcony Fantastica

Since we plan to be spending a lot of time on the ship itself doing ship activities rather than shore activities, which do you think would be better?

Ship/Room Quality and Activities

As far as I can see both ships are pretty much equal in terms of facilities and activities - the MSC seems to split up 2-6 year olds and 7-11 year olds which is not great as my kids are good friends and would be in seperate groups (6 year old and 8 year olds)! whereas the NCL seems to keep 6-9 year olds together. My kids are keen on cooking and would love to do cooking classes/demos on board.

Ports of Call

In my opinion (I've been to most of the places myself as a land/air traveller) the MSC - Med ports of calls are much more kid friendly than the NCL Baltic ones and it almost seems a shame to go to the Med and not spend time in those cities! As it's our first cruise, we really don't know how the on board activities are during the port days - and how many people stay on board during that time

Value/Extra Charges

As both cruises are about the same price, the concern here would be the extra charges (mandatory gratuities, drink packages, extra onboard spending etc.)

Based on these factors and considering the age of my kids - which would you choose?

Funny, I would have thought the Baltic ports more kid friendly...I equate the Med. with churches/ruins/history. What interests your kids? Also, with NCL you get two more nights for less money. Always a better deal for me. I think on NCL, English will be the primary language whereas on MSC there will be many more other languages.

If you are accustomed to drinking water with dinner, you will have to pay for it on MSC, but it is provided on NCL.

On MSC in a balcony cabin, the 3/4 guests share a foldout couch. On NCL there will be a sofabed and an upper bunk above it.

Drink packages are an attractive concept - but you have to drink a lot to get your moneys worth. Traveling solo with three kids you might not make it.

Check your times in port. MSC/Costa often spend less time in port because their clients have 'been there, done that' and often don't leave the ship.

You will have the gratuities on each, they will be about the same. There is no other 'extra charges' if you don't want them .

For those who have sailed Divina here from the US, it has been noted that many of the non-English speaking guests do not grasp the concept of the queue...

For further opinions, you might inquire on the MSC and NCL boards here at CC. EM

On port days, are there a lot of activities onboard?

On port days, not so many activities...the pool and bars are open, as is the spa, but most folks will be off the ship, so if you stay onboard, you will need to sort of entertain yourselves for the most part.

What time of year? If it's the middle of the summer, I'd choose the Baltics for more comfortable weather, and, like Essiesmom, I've always heard that itinerary is more kid-friendly. That said, I'm also a single parent and my twins LOVED our Med cruise at that age (though we did it in January, so it wasn't too hot). We didn't do any organized shore excursions - we either hired a guide in each port or just wandered ourselves - there's always a playground or fantastic site to explore, plenty to do without bothering with museums or shopping.