Balcony on Carnival or Inside on Norwegian for family of 4

[gordo619]

We are booking our first cruise to Alaska and first cruise with kids. We have cruised ourselves before and have been find with an inside room, but now with 4 of us I am nervous. Kids are 7 and 10, but my 7 year old loves her sleep and will not stay up late every night on the cruise. We can get a balcony on Carnival for the same price as an inside room on Norwegian. I am a little leery of Carnival for a few reasons - doesn't always get the best reviews, and the itinerary to Tracy Arm. Norwegian is a Glacier Bay itinerary. Any suggestions??? Are the kids clubs better on one than the other?

[Budget Queen]

We are booking our first cruise to Alaska and first cruise with kids. We have cruised ourselves before and have been find with an inside room, but now with 4 of us I am nervous. Kids are 7 and 10, but my 7 year old loves her sleep and will not stay up late every night on the cruise. We can get a balcony on Carnival for the same price as an inside room on Norwegian. I am a little leery of Carnival for a few reasons - doesn't always get the best reviews, and the itinerary to Tracy Arm. Norwegian is a Glacier Bay itinerary. Any suggestions??? Are the kids clubs better on one than the other?

 

I sailed both- Miracle (now will be the legend) and the Pearl last year. Each does a good job in Alaska, and I find far more similarities than differences. One difference is Carnival- has an outstanding ship naturalist that offers Alaska programs, NCL does not. But NCL does sail Glacier Bay which will have the option for the kids to get their Junior Ranger badges from the Park Service who boards the ship.

 

Even with the kids sail "free" promotion, Carnival is still cheaper?

 

I will mention- I am NOT as selective with the glacier sailing, as some people. I greatly enjoy sailing Tracy Arm- the tight twists and turns are spectacular. I am a firm believer in it being "necessary" to purchase the add on ship tour, since it is so much better than the cruise ship transit. So, with the Carnival pricing, and this tour, it may not be as significant of a price difference? ($183pp)

 

Things you need to determine with your group- what cabin- you want, what glacier viewing you want. Keep reworking this.

 

Not sure if you have other concerns about Carnival- I can tell you, demographics are going to be very similar on both lines. I spent 3 weeks on Carnival, and 4 on NCL- in Alaska last year, I'll end with the repeat, there were far more similarities than differences. :)

[mapleleaves]

If you read thru trip reports from last summer there were some strong comments about the kids clubs. Good and bad. You need to read the details of the complaints to see if the concerns are applicable to your family.

 

Trip reports/photojournals are in a STICKY near the top of the page. The first line indicates the ship, date, itinerary and who travelled.

[epixx]

I'll also add one more factor for consideration. We have sailed multiple times on Carnival and Norwegian as a family of 4 in one inside cabin (never a balcony). We found all the Carnival cabins far superior for 4 people when compared with Norwegian (although this was not on the Pearl). The Carnival cabins were laid out in a better, more efficient manner than the Norwegian cabins, and the beds were a lot more comfortable. I also agree with BQ. These lines have far more similarities than differences.

[deddans]

Just a couple of things we took into consideration when choosing balcony. There is so much daylight that there is always a view to look at whatever time of day so while the bathroom is being hogged by other members of the family when getting ready you can enjoy the Alaska scenery going by without feeling like you are missing out; and if anyone gets sick, then time in the room can still be used for sightseeing.

[tamirpr]

I probably shouldn't offer advice since we haven't cruised our Alaskan cruise yet. :p Personally, I'd go with the balcony. Like BQ said, the lines are similar. We have a party of 7 going this summer and we booked the Legend. I was able to get a wrap around suite balcony and the suite extended balcony next to it less than the cost of a balcony on other lines.

 

Now, I understand it's the least desirable route, being round trip. It's what we had to do this time for the first time. After we get a taste of Alaska, we might go back.

 

But I would go with the balcony. I don't think NCL is any more of a better line to justify staying in an inside. My kids have done Carnival four times, three different age groups, and they LOVE the kids clubs.

[chipmaster]

We are booking our first cruise to Alaska and first cruise with kids. We have cruised ourselves before and have been find with an inside room, but now with 4 of us I am nervous. Kids are 7 and 10, but my 7 year old loves her sleep and will not stay up late every night on the cruise. We can get a balcony on Carnival for the same price as an inside room on Norwegian. I am a little leery of Carnival for a few reasons - doesn't always get the best reviews, and the itinerary to Tracy Arm. Norwegian is a Glacier Bay itinerary. Any suggestions??? Are the kids clubs better on one than the other?

 

Glacier Bay versus Tracy Arm, hmm one is a National Park the other always discounted in comparison even though pretty can't compare. If you are going to do Alaska just once, I highly recommend Glacier Bay.

 

As to inside versus outside, again IMHO all about where you sail. We personally don't spend too much time in the cabin. We did have a suite on our last cruise and enjoyed it, but when we were tight with $ never hesitated to go inside even 4 to a cabin.

[zqvol]

Carnival with the balcony is the way to go. Larger cabin plus a balcony. Don't worry about Glacier bay vs. Tracey Arm, they are both great.

[nybumpkin]

Kids are 7 and 10, but my 7 year old loves her sleep and will not stay up late every night on the cruise. We can get a balcony on Carnival for the same price as an inside room on Norwegian.

For this reason alone I would go with the balcony. When our kids were younger and went to bed earlier, we loved having the balcony so we could still enjoy some space to ourselves. And we loved having a balcony in Alaska - it was well worth it for us. I realize with the Carnival itinerary we just barely scratched the surface of what an Alaska cruise has to offer - but we had a wonderful time. Maybe Tracy Arm isn't as good as Glacier Bay, but Tracy Arm was pretty spectacular. In that case, I'm looking forward to doing a one-way cruise that goes to Glacier Bay!

[Lerin]

Carnival for sure, no question. Not to mention food on NCL is dreadful.