RCCL, NCL or Disney? 10, 8, 7 & 3 year old.

[TOMomof4]

I currently have a Disney cruise booked on Magic, 5 night western Caribbean in December. I may postpone it as it's so expensive compared to other cruises and Miami is not the ideal port for us to sail from (Port Canaveral/Tampa would be better). I've been looking at a 4 night cruise to Bahamas with Enchantment of the Seas (RCL), shopping around NCL as well. Considering 4-7 night cruises Bahamas/Caribbean, all comes down to money, and honestly I'm nervous to sail away from Disney, the brand name brings trust, but not sure they're worth that much more $....

We'd likely sail in December the week before school let's out for the holidays in order to save a little money. Any recommendations? Looks like my oldest will be in his own group, 2 middle kids in one, and then my nearly 4 year old in another. Best ships recommendations? Any I should stay away from? I'm assuming 2 connecting cabins will be pretty much our only choice again.

We've only ever done one cruise, 5 night western Caribbean on Disney Wonder, which is why we booked another Disney cruise, but I keep postponing it because of the expense (though have paid the deposit required, so it's inevitable we'll go eventually on Disney again!). I love/hate reading reviews as they make me nervous! I wonder whether people are being unreasonable or whether there's a reason why they're rating their cruise so badly. We have 4 kids, so I really would HATE to be lining up and waiting for hours in restaurants for food and so forth. Nothing like whiny hungry children to bring out the best in everyone, ha! :)

Did you do a cruise you loved with kids 4-10 years old? Please share! NCL, RCL or shoudl we stick with Disney? Don't want Carnival as I want the 3-5 age group, not 2-5, in our youngest child's kids camp to avoid crying toddlers.

[TOMomof4]

Let me be more specific :) RCL - Enchantment of the Seas, NCL Norwegian Sky or NCL Norwegian Star, are the cruises ships/cruises we're considering for this coming December.

[Canada22]

MY first cruise with my girls was also Disney. It was an amazing experience. I then did a RC cruise - my girls actually enjoyed the RC cruise better. The Disney cruise was just so crowded with children the pool area was not enjoyable for us. We are going on Freedom of the Seas (RC) in just a few weeks - I think my girls, now 9 and 16, are more excited than I am. I don't think I will spend the extra money to do Disney again - been there, done that...

[cb at sea]

Either/or...depends on your budget! Most kids prefer the structure of RCI's kids club....

 

But...no one entertains like Disney!

[LuCruise]

The cost of Disney made us look the other way too as we saw a $2000 difference (Fantasy to Allure...same dates and Eastern Caribbean). Disney is great but we looked into Allure and saw it was great for kids too (as are other NCL ships). If your kids must have Mickey and Princesses, then Disney may be your best bet, but if they are good with any kid friendly ship, then you can try the others. Some RCL have DreamWorks stuff.

[Kingofwylietx]

We did the Disney Magic in 2012 on an 8 day cruise. It was great and the kids had a blast. We would do Disney in a heartbeat.

 

I can only compare it to NCL and Princess. I would say that Disney really caters to the toddler - preteen kids. There seemed to be a bit less for me and my wife to do aboard Disney vs the others.

 

Having said that, any cruise will be fun. I don't think you can go wrong, just pick what works best for your schedule, needs, and budget.

[AandBmom]

I know Carnival wasn't on your list but my kids are 10, 9, 5 and 4 and they love Carnival for the activities. I find there is a wide range for all of their ages. Their water activities are all grouped together so you can watch the older ones on slides and the younger ones in the splash area at the same time. It wasn't possible on my NCL cruise. I found NCL didn't cater to the kids as much as Carnival or RCCL. Also with a large family we enjoyed the more space on CArnival. I recommend the Breeze. My kids also very much loved RCCL Freedom of the Seas. It was great for that age of kids.

[Marie51]

I have been on 2 Disney and 5 RC cruises with children. In my opinion RC is a better choice for the entire family and costs much less too. I would say pay the extra for Disney only if you are a Disney fanatic.

Carnival.....also been on with the kids....would be my very last choice.

[flhokie]

We did RCCL Allure when DD was 2, MSC when she was 3 and we just got off the Disney Fantasy today. Disney was fantastic--excellent service, less "nickel & diming" than other lines and just very special. That being said, the one major concern I would have with Disney is the children's program age groups---the 3 year old would be with the 3 - 12 group. DD did not want to go to Oceaneer because of "the big kids." The facilities & staff were great, but that is way too large of an age range to be together. I would go with RCCL in this case.

[14ersco]

For a NCL ship that has activities for your range of kids I would look at a Jewel class ship or newer. We were on the Sky when it was still the Pride of Aloha and the kids club was okay for our then 4 y/o, but would not want to use it for older kids. The entire club is just a large room in the bow; with the ages divide by partitions. What is called the kids pool is not much larger than a hot tub. As for the Star we have been on her sister ship the Dawn and it was a good ship for our then 7 y/o. No large water park, but still plenty to do. The kids club staff has always been good on NCL, but we found on our RCL cruise an even better kids club. Not sure if RCL still offers this but when we went you could request that your child got served promptly so that they would be done with dinner in about 45 minutes. Then the kids club staff would be waiting at the entrance of the dining room to whisk your kids to the club, while the parents went back to a leisurely meal.

[AandBmom]

For a NCL ship that has activities for your range of kids I would look at a Jewel class ship or newer. We were on the Sky when it was still the Pride of Aloha and the kids club was okay for our then 4 y/o, but would not want to use it for older kids. The entire club is just a large room in the bow; with the ages divide by partitions. What is called the kids pool is not much larger than a hot tub. As for the Star we have been on her sister ship the Dawn and it was a good ship for our then 7 y/o. No large water park, but still plenty to do. The kids club staff has always been good on NCL, but we found on our RCL cruise an even better kids club. Not sure if RCL still offers this but when we went you could request that your child got served promptly so that they would be done with dinner in about 45 minutes. Then the kids club staff would be waiting at the entrance of the dining room to whisk your kids to the club, while the parents went back to a leisurely meal.

 

RCL still was doing that last Feb during our cruise. It was really nice. On Carnival they have a Kids club dinner for no extra charge where you can sign your kids in at 5:30 and they have dinner with their friends and do activities while the adults are in the dining room. Our kids sometimes did this when they didn't feel up to a long dinner with us.

[moesyk4]

My personal vote? I would do a suite on NCL Star. If I am looking at the correct date, your 5 day on the Magic in the lowest category inside (2 rooms if I'm reading it right and you can't book 6 in a room) will cost approximately 4,200 dollars with taxes, not including gratuities or any spending. You can do a 7 day on the NCL Star in the family suite which sleeps 6 for approximately $4,100.

You get floor to ceiling windows and with their current promo through the end of the month, you get the unlimited alcohol package for the adults, unlimited soda package for all the kids, unlimited dining package for everyone in the cabin which includes all specialty restaurants as much as you want, $200 in OBC, and prepaid gratuities for the first two passengers. It's an amazing deal, plus you are getting all the suite perks such as priority boarding and tendering, a butler and concierge at your beck and call, priority seating at shows, a private suite restaurant for breakfast and lunch, etc.

You could even go a step further, book with NCL, and then transfer your booking to a TA within 60 days of booking. We did that with a warehouse store you pay to have a membership at, and they give you an additional $50 in OBC plus a reduced price. For our suite, it was another $210 off.

FWIW as well, just because you put a deposit down doesn't mean you have to cruise with Disney (unless you are out of the US as they have special rules) unless it's after the cancellation period, which you are far from. Just call, cancel the cruise, and they refund the money.