advice on cunard vs. royal caribbean and favorite cities in norway

[kitkat343]

My family is considering a cruise to Norway and have identified the following possible itineraries. We have a three year old son who loves cruises and riding on trains and boats. We are primarily interested in choosing the cruise with the best itinerary (which is why this question is also posted in the Baltic forum) but also are wondering if anyone here has any experience with Royal Caribbean or especially Cunard, since I haven't heard as much about families on Cunard here.

 

We can travel in late august and the options are

 

Royal Caribbean leaving from Oslo, visiting Stavanger, Geiranger, Alesund, and Hamburg, Germany

 

Cunard leaving from Southampton, visiting Stavanger, Flaam, Olden, Bergen.

 

HAL roundtrip from Dover, visiting Bergen, Geiranger,, Cruise Geirangerfjord, Alesund, Eidfjord, Cruise Hardangerfjord

 

Thanks so much

Edited May 15, 2014 by kitkat343

[RSLeesburg]

I can't comment on the Norway ports, but Hamburg is one of my favorite German cities, so for that reason alone I would choose RCI. Also, the ICE (Inter City Express) that the German Railway runs is a must for any child who loves trains :)

 

But if you do go with Cunard, arrive in England a few day early and take your son up to the National Train Museum in York. We are planning to go up there on our next trip over to London.

[rebeccalouiseagain]

I've done all three cruise lines. The youth program on Cunard and Holland are small but the kids will still have fun. If you are going after school starts there will be very few American families onboard but there will still be some Brits and European families. Royal Caribbean is the most family friendly IMO.

 

On Cunard my then 4 year olds son and our tablemates' toddler were not warmly received in the dining room. This was a first for us- since waiters usually love kids. On Cunard- the crew seemed overworked and unfriendly in the MDR. The buffet was better and we ended up eating all our meals there.

 

On Holland in Europe we had a great experience because the ships are smaller and more intimate. The food is very good, the indoor pool is nice and the service was great. There are very few activities onboard though. There is a nice library, small youth program, and not very good entertainment. However, you meet nice people and the poolside buffets are fantastic.

 

Royal Caribbean will have lots of kids and has a less formal vibe than the other two lines. The youth program is better on Royal.

 

I would go with the itinerary you like most and don't overlook NCL and Celebrity because we have had really great experiences on those lines.

Edited May 16, 2014 by rebeccalouiseagain

[cruisebabe19]

We too are taking a 3 year old on an Iceland/Norway cruise this year. We visited Aalesund and Stavanger last year. Aalesund has a little tourist train which he may like and it goes to an aquarium so that might be an option. In Stavanger we did an excursion so did not see much of the harbour side and old town which is what we plan to do this time.

 

Not sure if any of that's of any help :rolleyes: