Carnival vs. Royal Caribbean for 9-13 yr. old boys

[garianns]

I am trying to plan our family's first cruise--I have it narrowed down to Carnival Sensation and RC Monarch of the Seas. . . any ideas which is best for very sports minded boys ages 9, 12 and 13? Any input would be great!!! I am clueless!!

[earn]

Seems like we were unlucky, but my boys aged 9 and 11 were very bored with carnival Kids club. They thought Royal Caribbean was much better. hey wanted to be kept active, but most of the time they were doing crafts etc. They did combine the 6-8 and 9-12 groups for some reason, which was a bad move.

 

I would vote RCCL, though the boys did like the flume and big screen.

[jmom5]

The kids clubs are similar when the kids are young, but once you hit 9 years old and up, RCCL definitely has the edge, especially if they are into sports and being active. The sports courts are always open on RCCL, and they close at 6 on Carnival (at least on the Carnival Freedom they do). Also, the kids club activities for those age groups are more active in our experience. Our kids like both, but they like RCCL way more.

[akcruz]

Agreed, we did Carnival until my kids hit early teens, now no comparison, all they want is RCI.

[shellgoodman]

It's funny. We are opposite in my house. My girls 10 & 12 have been on 6 cruises in total and we've been 12 I think. They enjoyed the Carnival's camp over RCCL and stayed in the camp until the wee hours of the night. We were shocked how disappointed they were over RCCL Mariner of the Seas. They loved the rockclimbing and the ice show but the kids club seemed disorganized. I think it did revolve around sports so my girls said they do these activities during PE at school and they were looking for something different. They ended up hanging out with us which was fine and going back to the room late at night. We ordered room service for them and they were content to watch movies in the stateroom.

 

We're going on Carnival next month so we'll see how it goes. Last year we went on NCL to Alaska and that turns out to be our very favorite trip of all time. Go figure, I hate the cold but it was amazing!

[wdwfamily]

Its hard to give you a cut and dry answer based on our experiences. We have sailed both Royal Caribbean and Carnival. On our first RC cruise our oldest was 9 and loved the kids club on the Enchantment of the Seas. On our last cruise that same child was now 12 and his brother was 10 and we sailed on the Carnival Legend. Again, he had a great time and had a blast (as did his brother). Our next cruise is this fall and he will be 13 and we will be on the Explorer of the Seas. I don't think you'll go wrong with either ship but it might be worth looking to see if you can find a schedule for their age groups on each ship. That may help to make your decision ;)