Carnival or Norwegian?

[wheresmypopcorn]

Hello everyone, I am brand new here. I have never been on a cruise and just got engaged on Thanksgiving after being together for over 12 years and totally shunning the idea of marriage...

 

He would prefer to just elope. I want my mother and brother to be with me when I get married... so we have compromised on the idea of a cruise (we have both always talked about going on one). My mom and brother will come and if any friends want to join us they are more than welcome but not necessary :)

 

I have narrowed it down to a Caribbean cruise in October 2011 (if there is still time...) and now trying to decide between Norwegian and Carnival. Having never been on a cruise I don't completely know the difference. The wedding cost on Norwegian seems to be a little bit higher but I don't know what is different. I have heard that Carnival is mostly for younger people - I am 37 and he is 47. My mother is over 60.

 

Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I would like to get the cruise chosen before the end of the week.

 

Thank you!

[Lipz]

Hello everyone, I am brand new here. I have never been on a cruise and just got engaged on Thanksgiving after being together for over 12 years and totally shunning the idea of marriage...

 

He would prefer to just elope. I want my mother and brother to be with me when I get married... so we have compromised on the idea of a cruise (we have both always talked about going on one). My mom and brother will come and if any friends want to join us they are more than welcome but not necessary :)

 

I have narrowed it down to a Caribbean cruise in October 2011 (if there is still time...) and now trying to decide between Norwegian and Carnival. Having never been on a cruise I don't completely know the difference. The wedding cost on Norwegian seems to be a little bit higher but I don't know what is different. I have heard that Carnival is mostly for younger people - I am 37 and he is 47. My mother is over 60.

 

Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I would like to get the cruise chosen before the end of the week.

 

Thank you!

 

Thus far I have only been on Carnival but will be taking my first cruise with Norwegian next July when we get married. However, I can tell you that had Carnival been a same-sex friendly wedding venue it was going to be our first choice. Since it was not, we were going to go with Royal Caribbean but decided that leaving out of our home port would make it easier for most of our guest. Since Royal Caribbean was leaving from New Jersey, and Norwegian from New York City, Norwegian won by default.

If cost is a factor, I would also go with Carnival as it is the most budget friendly. Budget wise Norwegian is the most costly of the top three (Carnival, Royal Caribbean & Norwegian). Since Carnival is the cheapest of the 3, I personally believe that's also the reason why it is known as the 'party' cruise and why the younger folks can afford it. However, don't let any of that scare you. We were 35 & 34 when we went on Carnival but now at 40 & 41 we would jump on that cruise line in a heartbeat. There were people of all ages on there and lots for everyone to do.

One of the best ways to decide would be based on your budget of course, but also deciding on how many days you would like to cruise and 'where' you would like to go. This will narrow down not only the cruise line, but the specific ship as well.

Lastly, in term of the 'wedding' part of your cruise I keep reading very good things about Carnival right here on this forum. Not saying that Norwegian doesn't also do a good job, but most of the brides here seem to be Carnival brides so you will really have a lot of resources and references to refer to.

Congrats on your newly engagement and happy wedding planning!

[wheresmypopcorn]

Thanks so much for the info! I think I might be settling on the Norwegian Sun for October 22 - 29th... The reason is that when I told my mother it goes to Puerto Rico she was excited about the possibility of seeing one of her friends who lives there... she lost track of that person and recently found them on facebook (of all places LOL). If we book before November 30th, the price of the cruise is comparable to a Carnival cruise going to the same destinations.... the only difference would be the cost of the actual wedding - which is more. I am going to call the wedding experience tomorrow. Will they talk to me without a booking date? I want to find out the differences in the wedding packages because there is about an $800 difference between Carnival and Norwegian for the wedding. I am from Ohio but have some friends in the Orlando area that can come to the wedding. I hope the cost of the cruise doesn't go up drastically as a couple of people have said they would go on the cruise with us... but I really am only concerned about my mother and brother coming. Thanks again! I can't believe I am planning a wedding... I have been so against marriage... LOL

[Lipz]

See how much easier it is to narrow things down once you know where you'd like to go!!! :D

I had no problems with getting information from TWE prior to paying for the wedding package. I was able to ask a ton of questions and get the answers I needed before making any decisions.

Do note, that you won't be able to book your wedding until AFTER you book your cruise. Once you book your cabin you will have a booking number and that is what you will have to give to TWE to book your wedding package. This doesn't mean you have to book for everyone in order to book your wedding, you will just need to book you and your fiance's cabin. You can just put the minimum down on the cabin in order to book the wedding, but the wedding package itself has to be paid in full.

Be mindful that a lot of people will say they want to sail, but the proof will come when people actually book. We have invited 62 guest and so far only 5 have booked. Like you, we just hope the most important people are able book and so far we are only missing 2.

Will you be booking your cruise through a TA? I've read many times that is the best way when you have booked a wedding cruise as they can help you manage your guest bookings better than the cruise line can, plus they may be able to get you some added perks depending on how many guest cruise.

[wheresmypopcorn]

I believe that I forgot to say congratulations to you on your wedding!! So congrats!!! I have already turned into Bridezilla... LOL

 

I was planning on booking through hotwire or something like that. I usually book travel through them. The price on the NCL cruise is the same on hotwire as it is on their website... due to a sale going on right now.

 

I found a very similar cruise for a few dollars more on Carnival. But it doesn't go to Puerto Rico. Instead it goes to St Maarten...

 

sooo... the choice is Norwegian Sun or Carnival Dream. Cruise price a bit lower on NCL and you get some shipboard credits. But, wedding seems to be about $800 more.

 

I have to look up reviews of Carnival Dream and if anyone here has an opinion, I would be very glad to hear it. Thanks

[WendyinOC]

Congrats !! I am the same age as you and I picked Carnival. My wedding is Feb 2011. I would choose Dream over Sun anyday. Dream is a really nice new ship so that does make a difference. I just went on NCL Star to Alaska in May and it was ok. The only perk I see is they have a lot of different dinning options. It was an older ship and showed her age. Dream is brand new and any line you can go new go new.

 

I feel Carnival gives you a better value when it comes to the wedding package as well. I am so happy I picked them and would recommend it to anyone.

 

Do they both have wedding chapels? Does that matter to you? You have to look at every detail before making your final decision.

 

Also I would go TA or Direct and not Hotwire. Its different when your booking only one cabin. Group its good to get assistance.

[wheresmypopcorn]

I think I have to change my mind... I am in a Master's program that meets on the weekends and I have to plan around my class schedule - of course the schedule is not out yet for October 2011 and I found out that they don't always meet on the same weekends due to Jewish holidays... I am *HOPING* that I won't have class October 1st - 8th due to Rosh Hashannah and Yom Kippur being those weeks. The coordinator for the program should be getting back to me... If that is the case, I am going to go with the October 1st - 8th Carnival Liberty Eastern Caribbean which goes to San Juan. The price is pretty good. The problem with cruises from Miami is that airfare is pretty high to Miami from Cleveland... but... it's reasonable from Pittsburgh which is about 2 hours away and not impossible... Hopefully he will get back with me so I can just go ahead and book it and then have one less thing to worry about... The Liberty is not as new as the Dream but hopefully that won't be as big of a difference... Thanks so much for your advice! I will keep you posted and probably become a frequent visitor to this site! I talked to someone at Priceline who was helpful and said they can merge reservations if anyone else wants to book with me. One downside is that I have some friends who live in the Tampa and Orlando areas who would have come to the wedding in Orlando but maybe they will drive to Miami... we'll see... I'm just concerned about my mom and brother. Anyone else is just icing on the cake. :)

[acireta]

the liberty is gorgeous, not neon, not tacky at all. i was on for new years 2008 and that's the ship on which we'll sail to our wedding! good choice, even though i'm a bit biased :D

 

*edit: not tacky... except for those damn giant feet in the dance club!

[WendyinOC]

Miami is high, but check Ft. Lauderdale. They are only 40 minutes from each other. So if your saving $100 a ticket its worth it.

[HeatherC430]

congratulations on your wedding!

 

i'm getting married on the Dream april 30th! (so obviously i'm pro-dream & pro-carnival!).

 

i agree with all the advise & other info provided to you! i think everyone's covered most of the bases...but there were a few things i wanted to comment on

 

i'm from pittsburgh & we've actually flowing into ft. lauderdale before (when leaving from port of miami) because the flights tend to be alot cheaper. southwest usually has cheap direct flights from pgh (and air tran is the other carrier thats usually cheap too!)

 

in terms of where/who to book cruise through...i always book my cruises through the cruiseline directly (if you think it would be easier to book through i ta then by all means...) but i did make the mistake of booking one past cruise through expedia. expedia was fine...but one thing to know (is that if/when you want to make payments or book shuttles through the cruiseline) you have to do it through the agent/site that you booked the cruise (so we had to call & have expedia do it for us as opposed to just logging onto the cruise website & booking yourself)...something to think about!

[wheresmypopcorn]

Miami is high, but check Ft. Lauderdale. They are only 40 minutes from each other. So if your saving $100 a ticket its worth it.

 

What I think I will probably do is fly into FLL and fly out of MIA. I checked prices on that and they were good. The times work out better because there didn't seem to be good flight times leaving FLL, they were either too early to be comfy or would result in waiting around for a long time with my mother who would be nervous but the MIA flight times were perfect. Thanks for the suggestion.

[wheresmypopcorn]

I feel like I am going to have a stress reaction due to my school coordinator not getting back to me about the dates for my class in October. I put a hold on the Welcome Aboard package on the Liberty - the higher package was taken. I don't want to lose out on the ability to have any reception because I don't know about the dates. (Friends are saying they will come, even if they don't cruise, so now I am wanting more than just my immediate family... this went from just wanting to elope to now picking out songs and bouquets... LOL) I called him and he said to send him an email to remind him which I did on Monday. I want to call him tomorrow to remind him to check for me but I don't want to seem bossy. This is a big deal for me but I'm sure its low on his importance scale.

 

Any advice from you guys? Call or don't call?

[Sauer-kraut]

I know you've already decided on the Liberty, but I wanted to let you know about the SUN. I was on her for 2 weeks on a transtatlantic and I really loved that ship. I can't speak for the Liberty but the Sun is a lovely ship, and the chapel was beautiful on her. Also, if you were to have a drink or two after the ceremoney to celebrate the Obersvation Lounge also quite near the chapel is great. Floor to ceiling windows with a panoramic view and nice chairs. Light and airy it was really nice and now I can't find my pic of it to show you.

 

 

NCL also offers freestyle dining so you have no assigned dining time as you might get on CCL. We found it to be really nice because we didn't have to rush around after getting back from a day excursion to make our mealtime. There are so many dining options offered on that ship and the buffet was excellent as well.

 

Congratulations on your wedding , I hope everything works out for you! :)

[wheresmypopcorn]

I know you've already decided on the Liberty, but I wanted to let you know about the SUN. I was on her for 2 weeks on a transtatlantic and I really loved that ship. I can't speak for the Liberty but the Sun is a lovely ship, and the chapel was beautiful on her. Also, if you were to have a drink or two after the ceremoney to celebrate the Obersvation Lounge also quite near the chapel is great. Floor to ceiling windows with a panoramic view and nice chairs. Light and airy it was really nice and now I can't find my pic of it to show you.

 

 

NCL also offers freestyle dining so you have no assigned dining time as you might get on CCL. We found it to be really nice because we didn't have to rush around after getting back from a day excursion to make our mealtime. There are so many dining options offered on that ship and the buffet was excellent as well.

 

Congratulations on your wedding , I hope everything works out for you! :)

 

Thanks! I did see the chapel pics and thought it was GORGEOUS. I think I will save a LOT of money with Carnival, though. NOTHING is definite until I get confirmation from the coordinator of my school program. If he doesn't respond soon I may go CRAZY! LOL

[acireta]

carnival has anytime dining now, its like a three hour window. i prefer a set seating time, but that's just me!