norweigan star vs.carnival conquest

[gratamama]

Hi, looking for thoughts here- i know we'll have a great time regardless, but i'm just curious!

 

Took our first cruise last spring break - 5 night out of tampa on Carnival Paradise. At the time, we didn't know if we were "cruise people," but we LOVED it!

 

Finally getting to thinking about spring break again, everybody wants to do a cruise. We're toying with driving to new orleans - so price wise, it's coming down to Carnival Conquest or Norweigan Star. Basically same itinerary at 7 nights. The Star currently prices out to about $70 less pp, so it's awefully tempting.

 

Our group is my husband, our 8-year-old son (active kid!) and myself. He is a swimmer and loved the paradise's waterslide, so i'm looking for a ship that at least has as good of a pool area. Can the Star fit the bill?

 

We noticed the conquest has the theater under the stars. We're curious about that - is it great or annoying? does ncl have live music (more or less compared to carnival?)

 

We were just fine with Carnival's mdr fare, so i really dont know what to think about NCL's specialty restaurants. We did anytime dining on Carnival and loved it. (Carnival desserts ruined my awemose dieting work leading up the cruise, lol!)

 

thanks for any thoughts and happy sailing to all of you!

[Tatka]

We only sailed on sister ships (NCL Dawn & Carnival Liberty).

 

We liked NCL overall much more than Carnival, the only thing that Carnival has better are the larger staterooms.

 

NCL has better entertainment, more live music. Ships are more beautiful.

 

Food is subjective matter, but we did like it more with NCL, but neither company is great in this regard.

[cheaperts]

We've only sailed NCL, but other friends and passengers have given us the impression that Carnival is much more of a party boat in general. We also considered the Carnival out of NOLA, but given spring break is already party time and we had Future Cruise Credits to use with NCL, we are on the Star march 17th. We too drive from Oklahoma to NOLA day before.

[woodmews]

if your going in a suite than there is no comparison, NCL all the way, but if its a regular room its a coin toss.

[mjrich73]

We debated this also. For us it came down to the fact that we prefer more days in port. NCL does 2 sea days with 4 port days, while CCL does 3 sea days and 3 port days. I am sure you will have a great time on either ship. We have sailed CCL 4 times and always had a great cruise, but we are SUPER excited to try NCL for the 1st time!

[pbxtech]

We have been on both of the Ships and liked them both about the same. We would probably pick the one with more ports. I am sure you will enjoy either one you pick

[toyotaford]

Hi, looking for thoughts here- i know we'll have a great time regardless, but i'm just curious!

 

Took our first cruise last spring break - 5 night out of tampa on Carnival Paradise. At the time, we didn't know if we were "cruise people," but we LOVED it!

 

Finally getting to thinking about spring break again, everybody wants to do a cruise. We're toying with driving to new orleans - so price wise, it's coming down to Carnival Conquest or Norweigan Star. Basically same itinerary at 7 nights. The Star currently prices out to about $70 less pp, so it's awefully tempting.

 

Our group is my husband, our 8-year-old son (active kid!) and myself. He is a swimmer and loved the paradise's waterslide, so i'm looking for a ship that at least has as good of a pool area. Can the Star fit the bill?

 

We noticed the conquest has the theater under the stars. We're curious about that - is it great or annoying? does ncl have live music (more or less compared to carnival?)

 

We were just fine with Carnival's mdr fare, so i really dont know what to think about NCL's specialty restaurants. We did anytime dining on Carnival and loved it. (Carnival desserts ruined my awemose dieting work leading up the cruise, lol!)

 

thanks for any thoughts and happy sailing to all of you!

We have been on the Conquest 3 times and the Star twice. We would choose the Star hands down. We found the beds to be more comfortable on the Star. The food was equal in our opinion on both. We found the entertainment to be better on the Star. Like someone stated earlier if you can go with a suite then their is no comparison. We are platinum with Carnival and will be with NCL after our cruise later this month. We have cruised with 5 different lines and NCL is by far our favorite. Have a great time, and, as a Louisiana girl, thanks for visiting our state.