Carnival vs. Ncl Which would you do? Re: KIDS

We are trying to find a cruise with less kids on board for either Carnival or NCL for 2018. I had heard on one cruise there were 800 kids??? This was a Carnival ship! WAY to many kids for us. We'd rather stay home than deal with them!! Of these 2 ships which one would have LESS kids NCL or Carnival April or March 2018. We can do either line. Itinerary not as important as the many kids on board! The less the better!!!

March and April are prime spring break travel months for most cruise lines. Your only safe bet is to cruise on an itinerary that is longer than 7 days. Longer the cruise, the fewer kids.

Both of those lines will attract families. Your best bet to avoid them to is travel outside of school holidays (march and April is spring break) and/or on cruises longer than 7 days. For example we took a NCL cruise in mid-Jan for 10 days and there was only a handful of kids onboard.

If you are committed to march/April I would try celebrity or HAL; think they have a slightly older segment and they don't have all the bells and whistles that attract families.

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Go first week in March or lat week in April to avoid most Spring Break kids.

We’ve had almost kidless cruises September thru March when schools are in session. Our least kid cruise was a California Coastal cruise first week in March on Princess. Less than 10 onboard.

Our October Hawaii cruises have had around 20.

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Go with HAL, then your kids might be the only ones....

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Cruise during times when kids are in school...stay away from winter recess, thanksgiving time, Labor Day and summer recess. I cruise ever year in May, rarely see kids on a ship even on a mega ship like the Allure, Harmony, Magic etc.

Surely parents do tend to take their kids out of school but its least likely in May because that is the very end of the school year when they have exams, reports and such are due and school ends right around the corner. Another good month is September but stay away from early October as some states have a recess during a week in October, but its is never the last two weeks of October...the other good time to go is the first week of December....again, kids have reports and tests right after Thanksgiving and before Christmas/Winter recess.

I personally never will go NCL again, way too many things we do not like about their mega ships. I have been on 71 cruises as of this date and we do try NCL only to say never again, but after years figure things change and it be better, not! Last cruise was four years ago on the Breakaway, out of all my 71 cruises that was my least liked one, way too many negatives!!! Never NCL for us!

I didn't understand your title I thought you were looking for the best cruise for kids. If you are trying to sail I would not in March and April. Jan-Feb, agreed with the longer cruise 7 or more days.

We are trying to find a cruise with less kids on board for either Carnival or NCL for 2018. I had heard on one cruise there were 800 kids??? This was a Carnival ship! WAY to many kids for us. We'd rather stay home than deal with them!! Of these 2 ships which one would have LESS kids NCL or Carnival April or March 2018. We can do either line. Itinerary not as important as the many kids on board! The less the better!!!

I was on NCL Epic in March of this year. Although there were several younger kids on board it seemed they were off doing their thing in the kids areas most of the time. However, there were 450 spring break "kids" from Clemson University on board the ship with the Ultimate Beverage Package! For the most part they were pretty well behaved but the bars were jammed 6 people deep all the time, a lounge chair was not available anywhere on the ship, saw a wrestling contest at dinner one night and heard the University's chant or fight song or whatever at dinner another night! We are kinda go with the flow type people and remember what it is like to be that age so it really was not a big deal but if you are looking for Peace and Quiet March/April is probably not going to be the best time to find it! :(

Carnival and NCL (and Royal Caribbean) are going to have kids on their ships. They appeal to families. We make liberal use of the kids' clubs on all three lines. If you are trying to avoid children, you need to avoid times when school is not in session and consider more "upscale" lines such as Holland America, Cunard, and possibly Princess.

Let's see ...locally in early March 2 of the 4 college/ universities will have Spring Break, and several elementary schools still do the energy conservation break (it's really a buffer if snow days are needed that they don't impact Easter/Passover vacation). The other college/universities do a 10 day break that tries to encompass both Easter and Passover when possible. All 4 higher learning institutions will have at least the 4 days from Good Friday till Easter Monday off, regardless of the schedule of another week long spring break time.

Normally the first 2-3 weeks of April are the prime Easter vacation weeks for our areas lower schools. Some towns around here take the week before Easter off returning the Tuesday after the Holiday. While others have a 1/2 day on the Thursday before and are off the week following Easter Sunday returning the next Monday. Passover this year starts March 30th and ends April 7th and Easter is April 1st, so many of our primary to secondary schools will have off from March 29th and return to class April 10th.

If March or April are you only months and Carnival or NCL your only 2 cruise line choices, the I would concentrate on cruises that leave the first week of March or the last 2 weeks of April. Also look at cruises that are 6 days or longer, on older ships of the line. The length of the cruises tend to price out college age "kids" from booking them as a party cruise, and the lack of the newest on board activities, bells, and whistles tend to discourage families with young active kids. Better yet see if there are cruise dates that leave and return mid week, rather than ones leaving on a weekend.

If able to change to other months after New Years till February are good for winter cruises without too many kids. The first week of May is also a pretty safe bet, as colleges and universities are doing final exams or graduation prep. September is another good month as schools are just back in session, while the 2 weeks following Thanksgiving tend to keep families away since they just had a long weekend break. While lines like Celebrity, Princess, and Holland America tend to attract less people with school aged children, due to a lack of many kid friendly activities outside of the children's club/camps. This will not exclude the possibility of having children on board because many times grandparents may take infants to preschoolers on these cruises and those that home-school their children may gravitate to the more culturally oriented tone on these cruises.

I can't speak to that time of year but I just got off the Norwegian Sky on Monday and I may have seen 4-5 kids the entire time we were on the ship. It was wonderful and felt like an adults only cruise! It may have to do with being a 3 day and being all inclusive with alcohol. Definitely seems more targeted to adults only!

Let's see ...locally in early March 2 of the 4 college/ universities will have Spring Break, and several elementary schools still do the energy conservation break (it's really a buffer if snow days are needed that they don't impact Easter/Passover vacation). The other college/universities do a 10 day break that tries to encompass both Easter and Passover when possible. All 4 higher learning institutions will have at least the 4 days from Good Friday till Easter Monday off, regardless of the schedule of another week long spring break time.

 

Normally the first 2-3 weeks of April are the prime Easter vacation weeks for our areas lower schools. Some towns around here take the week before Easter off returning the Tuesday after the Holiday. While others have a 1/2 day on the Thursday before and are off the week following Easter Sunday returning the next Monday. Passover this year starts March 30th and ends April 7th and Easter is April 1st, so many of our primary to secondary schools will have off from March 29th and return to class April 10th.

 

 

 

If March or April are you only months and Carnival or NCL your only 2 cruise line choices, the I would concentrate on cruises that leave the first week of March or the last 2 weeks of April. Also look at cruises that are 6 days or longer, on older ships of the line. The length of the cruises tend to price out college age "kids" from booking them as a party cruise, and the lack of the newest on board activities, bells, and whistles tend to discourage families with young active kids. Better yet see if there are cruise dates that leave and return mid week, rather than ones leaving on a weekend.

 

If able to change to other months after New Years till February are good for winter cruises without too many kids. The first week of May is also a pretty safe bet, as colleges and universities are doing final exams or graduation prep. September is another good month as schools are just back in session, while the 2 weeks following Thanksgiving tend to keep families away since they just had a long weekend break. While lines like Celebrity, Princess, and Holland America tend to attract less people with school aged children, due to a lack of many kid friendly activities outside of the children's club/camps. This will not exclude the possibility of having children on board because many times grandparents may take infants to preschoolers on these cruises and those that home-school their children may gravitate to the more culturally oriented tone on these cruises.

AZ schools have first two weeks in March for spring break, get out the last week of May, go back in August and have fall break in October.

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Either line will have a lot of kids during spring break.

Keith

We were on NCL last December (week after Christmas) and there were lots. Spring Break is different for many so it’s hard to say.

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Maybe try Princess. Never saw a kid on there.

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There are a lot of kids on both lines due to pricing, but I think Carnival does a better job of keeping them occupied.