Carnival Legend vs. NCL Dawn with Kids?

[aimathy]

I'm planning a cruise for a family gathering of 11 people in January. There will be 7 adults and 4 children (3-8 years old).

 

Due to timing and other circumstances, we only have 3 options available....the Carnival Legend, NCL Dawn and RCCL Freedom of the Seas. We have done the Freedom ALOT, and even though it probably is the best of the three all around, some people want to switch it up.

 

Can anyone give me some advice on which would be best overall? We were recently on Carnival Liberty and had a great time overall, but thought the food in the MDR was pretty awful. Without having as many "extra" restaurants (like Guy's etc), I'm worried that my parents won't like the food on the Legend. We've never sailed on Norwegian.

 

We've mostly been on ships that have had more "bells and whistles" and we're just wondering if we're going to feel disappointed at being on a smaller, less "wow" ship.

 

I guess our top concerns are the children's activities and the food, if I had to narrow the debate to two things!

 

Thanks so much for any advice you can give!!

[#1TravelMom]

With kids that age - I'd chose the Dawn. They can play in the enclosed waterpark for hours while you just sit back and watch. When our DD was 6, we spent hours there. Nothing else spectacular on the ship - but the slides were lots of fun.

[aimathy]

Thank you! I definitely think we are leaning towards the Dawn. I appreciate your help!

[Sparkygirl]

We are sailing the Dawn in January with 4 adults and 3 kids. It looks like it will be a great ship with something for everyone.

[tammy531]

We have only sailed Ncl, so I cannot compare to the others, but we did the Dawn with then 5 and 9 year olds. The pool area was great for them.. we spent hours there a day. It has a hot tub there for adults and plenty of chairs and loungers. It is close to the Garden Cafe so we would run there for food/drinks. The kids club was also great as well. I also like the freestyle with kids.. they did not have to dress up and we could eat based around their moods and activities.

 

sent from my Samsung galaxy s3

[Julienatul]

I'm planning a cruise for a family gathering of 11 people in January. There will be 7 adults and 4 children (3-8 years old).

 

Due to timing and other circumstances, we only have 3 options available....the Carnival Legend, NCL Dawn and RCCL Freedom of the Seas. We have done the Freedom ALOT, and even though it probably is the best of the three all around, some people want to switch it up.

 

Can anyone give me some advice on which would be best overall? We were recently on Carnival Liberty and had a great time overall, but thought the food in the MDR was pretty awful. Without having as many "extra" restaurants (like Guy's etc), I'm worried that my parents won't like the food on the Legend. We've never sailed on Norwegian.

 

We've mostly been on ships that have had more "bells and whistles" and we're just wondering if we're going to feel disappointed at being on a smaller, less "wow" ship.

 

I guess our top concerns are the children's activities and the food, if I had to narrow the debate to two things!

 

Thanks so much for any advice you can give!!

 

We have been on both and prefer the Dawn. It has a better pool area for the kids. My kids enjoy the kids programs equally (they were 3 and 7 when we sailed). The food is great on both. Better lunch buffet selection on NCL, better desserts on Carnival, MDR on Carnival is better quality food, but pay restaurants are better on NCL. Entertainment slightly better on NCL. Cabins better on Carnival (bigger rooms bigger balcony). We were worried the older Dawn wouldn't be enough since we had sailed the giant EPIC but it was such a great cruise we are booking again for March 2014.