RCL or Carnival

[strasfamily]

Hi, newbie here. I am looking to plan a cruise to the Mexican Riveria in 2006. Our daughter will be 8 then. Which cruise line has the best kids program, RCL or Carnival? She has only cruised on Disney before and loved the program, so I am hoping she will like RCL or Carnival as well.

 

Thanks!

[spdfrk]

Can't speak to Carnival, we've only done one cruise so far and it was Jewel of the Seas. Our DD (9) loved their program. She didn't spend much there during the day but was there when the doors opened each evening and wanted to stay as late as we would let her. After 10pm there is a $5 per hour charge and they can stay as late as 1am. My DD stayed until they closed on two nights and would have done it every night if we would have let her.

[Cruisin' Chick]

Just curious as to why you just listed two cruiselines. We've been on both Carnival and Princess (but not RCL) with our girl. There's good things about both of them. Daughter (now 7) has enjoyed the kids' program on both and there's plenty of activities. The post-10pm babysitting is $5 (or was last summer) per hour on Princess -- and I remember on Carnival.

[Laje]

Hi I booked my cruise in February on carnival however.. I also wondered in choosing between both ships...I really wanted RC however it was a little more exspensive on price and then i had found out that the rock climbing and the iceskating rink was not included into the price...whereas all the activities in carnival were...except the video arcades...

[BLUEICE]

RCCL does not charge a fee for the rock climbing or ice skating nor do they charge a fee to use the appropriate equipment.

 

For the ice skating you have to wear socks and long pants (unless you are a experienced skater or you bring your own skates).

[cruisinqt]

If you stated which specific cruise lines you were interested in it would be easier for me to tell you which one I liked. Comparing the two cruise lines is very difficult because both Carnival and Royal Caribbean have certain things I like about them. I used to think like you did, that one cruise line may be better than another one. But now I've realized it's really one cruise ship may be better than another one.;)

 

For instance, I went on both the Carnival Elation and Royal Caribbean's Rhapsody of the Seas out of Galveston. These two ships are about the same size and age so they would be a fair comparison. The Elation had good entertainment, good food, a 214 foot spiral water slide, and the staff and cruisers were very nice. But I liked the Rhapsody more because their dining room food was better and I liked the style of shows they had a little better. But when we sailed the Carnival Conquest out of New Orleans, it became my favorite cruise, I loved that ship!:D So my favorite cruise out of Galveston was the Rhapsody but my favorite cruise out of New Orleans was the Conquest. My two favorite cruises are from two separate cruise lines.

 

I have come across a number of cruisers that have stated the same thing to me, they don't have a favorite cruise line but they do have favorite ships. A lot of what makes the determining factor is how big the ship is (larger ships have extras like rock climbing walls and skating rinks) and how old the ship is ( some of the older ships are falling apart). I would keep these two things in mind when choosing your cruise. Is one of the cruise ships you're looking at a much newer or larger ship? That would be a big determining factor for me. Also think about what interests you most, RCI's rock climbing walls and skating rinks, or Carnival's 214 ft. spiral waterslides.

 

As for the kids centers, my kids now ages 6 and 8 have been on both RCI and Carnival and loved them both equally. They have been cruising for several years now and there are certain things they like about both cruise lines. I asked them which one they liked best RCI or Carnival and they couldn't choose. All I know is that they absolutely love the kids centers and never want to leave. They usually cry on the last day when we have to say good-bye to the counselors. I wouldn't hesitate to take my kids on either one of these cruise lines. We will be taking our first Princess cruise this December so I will soon have an idea about how the Grand Princess compares to the other cruises we've been on. I hope this helps, I'm sure you'll enjoy your cruise no matter which one you choose. But if you want more detailed info. mention specifically which cruises you're looking at taking, I think that would help a lot.:)

[msbr]

Our daughters will not go back to Camp Carnival. Our 10 year old hated it. She was one of three girls out of ten boys, one who scared and/or intimidated her terribly, and wanted to be with her 8 year old sister. They refused to move her and she refused to go back...Not to mention that the Camp Carnival facilities on the Legend were older, showing a tremendous amount of wear and tear.

We are back to RCI. The extra expense is worth our daughters enjoying their vacations.