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#1mamacruiser

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#1mamacruiser

#1mamacruiser

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Hi! So this is my first time posting on cruise critic. My husband and I are planning a cruise for summer of next year with our 6 boys. Ages range from 21 to 15. My question is do we go on the Carnival Splendor for 8 days (3 which are sea days) or do we go on the new NCL Escape ( 2 sea days).

 

Our dilemma is that NCL is a new beautiful ship but it only has 2 sea days and two of the ports are Mexico. My husband and I went to Cozumel and we were not impressed :eek: Butttt it's a new ship. Orrrr do we go on Carnival Splendor which is an older ship but more sea days and I think the ports are better.

 

Decisions, decisions....

 

NCL ports - Roatan Honduras, Harvest Caye Belize, Costa Maya Mexico, Cozumel Mexico, two sea days

 

Carnival - Grand Turk (we've been here), La Romana D.R., Aruba, Curacao, 3 sea days

 

Thanks for the opinions!! :)

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sail7seas

sail7seas

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I prefer the Carnival ports but have no idea what you like to do in ports.

Do you like to go to the beach? I see you list Miami as home so beaches are no 'treat' for you. :)

Do you like to see ruins? That's Mexico.

Do you like to snorkel, shop, ride four wheel vehicles, eat?

 

What you enjoy doing ashore likely would influence how much you enjoy various ports.

 

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Warm Breezes

Warm Breezes

Posted
Posted (edited)
Hi! So this is my first time posting on cruise critic. My husband and I are planning a cruise for summer of next year with our 6 boys. Ages range from 21 to 15. My question is do we go on the Carnival Splendor for 8 days (3 which are sea days) or do we go on the new NCL Escape ( 2 sea days).

 

Our dilemma is that NCL is a new beautiful ship but it only has 2 sea days and two of the ports are Mexico. My husband and I went to Cozumel and we were not impressed :eek: Butttt it's a new ship. Orrrr do we go on Carnival Splendor which is an older ship but more sea days and I think the ports are better.

 

Decisions, decisions....

 

NCL ports - Roatan Honduras, Harvest Caye Belize, Costa Maya Mexico, Cozumel Mexico, two sea days

 

Carnival - Grand Turk (we've been here), La Romana D.R., Aruba, Curacao, 3 sea days

 

Thanks for the opinions!! :)

 

If I had 6 boys those ages then I would choose NCL Escape and just stay on board at ports that don't interest us to enjoy the ship without all the people. We loved Carnival Splendor as a couples cruise but my kids in the same age range as yours would get more out of a ship with the newer amenities like NCL Escape.

Edited by Warm Breezes
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SuiteTraveler

SuiteTraveler

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Welcome to Cruise Critic.

 

I would choose Carnival.

 

Now -- a question -- have you thought about cabins? With 6 boys and 2 adults, you are going to need at least 3 cabins. Have you factored that into your costs?

 

Why do you say that? Even Carnival has cabins for 4 people. They can easily do 2 cabins and on NCL there are suites that sleep 8.

 

#1mamacruiser:

 

The NCL ship is elegant and sophisticated in decor and looks like a new Las Vegas Casino Resort (Aria comes to mind.) It has so much for both your sons and you and your husband including the best spa at sea. The thing to understand about NCL is about the specialty restaurants which cost extra (or may be included if you choose the Dining Package at least for a few nights.) For your sons, they might eat in the included venues such as Taste or Savor or the buffet (Garden Cafe) on those evenings or you may choose to bring them with you to a specialty restaurant - although it will cost extra for everyone. Some people only eat dinner in the free venues for the entire cruise, others only go to the specialty restaurants and others eat at both the free and specialty restaurants. That to me is the biggest difference beyond the decor. Personally, I don't mind paying extra for the specialty restaurants, but with a family of 8, that might make a difference to you. NCL has the largest, most comprehensive buffet at sea. They even have hand scooped ice cream at meal times. This ship also has the best spa at sea - well worth getting a spa pass for you and your husband. For the boys, there are 4 - 5 full scale water slides, a ropes and zip line course, rock climbing, mini golf, sports court - so much to do. There will be 1 or more Broadway shows, Howl at the Moon, Second City, probably Burn the Floor, 3D movies and other movies - lots and lots of entertainment. There is so much to do on these ships you cannot do it all in a week.

 

The Carnival Splendor is decorated in an extremely over the top, even gaudy way. The atrium has black wallpaper with big pink polka dots. The dining rooms are decorated with giant "pearls" that look like fried eggs. The whole ship reminded me a great deal of a Mardi Gras float. It was decorated and designed by Joe Farcus. When I was onboard, I fantasized that somehow the employees at Carnival had gotten mixed up and accidentally hired a Drag Queen to decorate the ship, only recognizing their mistake after all the money was spent and the stuff was being put in place. The spa offers giant blue Fu dogs. Strangely, the only place that is not decorated in some crazy way is the steakhouse, which is very blah looking and the only specialty restaurant onboard. Dining is more like traditional cruise ship dining - early or late seating or your own time in one of the two main dining rooms decorated with the fried eggs and with 8 of you, I'm sure you would be seated at a table together every evening. The buffet is divided up into mini-restaurants. There is Indian, Wok, deli, pizza, comfort food, salad bar and dessert bar. Then outside there is hamburgers and hotdogs and French fries. Plenty to choose from. There will be the piano bar and several comedians onboard and a couple of production shows that are so-so. Carnival's entertainment is not equal to that on NCL. Still there is enough. There is only 1 water slide on this ship and not so much to do physically compared to the NCL ship.

 

If you go back to Cozumel, I want to suggest you consider going on an excursion to the Secret River to go cave swimming. Then, perhaps you will be impressed! Cozumel is by and large a scuba diving community. I'm not sure exactly what you wanted to do or why you weren't impressed, the diving there is absolutely great!

 

In my experience, the newer, larger and more elaborate ships with the best entertainment and stuff onboard do the less interesting ports.

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legaljen1969

legaljen1969

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Posted
In my experience, the newer, larger and more elaborate ships with the best entertainment and stuff onboard do the less interesting ports.
'

 

With the huge new ships where the ship is the destination, the ports are almost insignificant.

 

I guess the biggest decision for me would be how much the ship means to me.

 

We were going on Oasis, and then switched to Allure. I know they are sister ships with the same line. But I have a point here. I promise. We are doing a family vacation with multiple generations and households.

 

The Oasis was doing the Western Caribbean itinerary, which I love. I enjoy getting off and doing excursions in the various ports. While I was super excite about that itinerary, it would have given me less time to explore the ship.

 

Now, we are doing the Eastern itinerary. The only port we go to that my husband has not explored yet will be Nassau. I know that's one that most people don't care for. It's probably the only one we will explore-simply because he has not been there. The rest of the ports will be St. Thomas and St. Martin. We have done those before and I plan to take advantage of really exploring the ship on those days.

 

 

 

W

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taymiss2

taymiss2

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I have cruised with a bunch of teenagers twice. They were senior trips with 5 teens both times. From those experiences the bigger and newer the ship the better. I have cruised both NCL and Carnival recently. With the group you are taking I would do the Escape for sure. I did Western Carribbean with both groups, one on an older NCL ship and one on a newer Carnival ship. There was just not enough for teens to do on the older ship. I don't really believe it was a NCL vs Carnival thing, more the opportunity for things to do on board thing. I have been on neither the Splendor or Escape but that is my two cents, lol.

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SuiteTraveler

SuiteTraveler

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I have cruised with a bunch of teenagers twice. They were senior trips with 5 teens both times. From those experiences the bigger and newer the ship the better. I have cruised both NCL and Carnival recently. With the group you are taking I would do the Escape for sure. I did Western Carribbean with both groups, one on an older NCL ship and one on a newer Carnival ship. There was just not enough for teens to do on the older ship. I don't really believe it was a NCL vs Carnival thing, more the opportunity for things to do on board thing. I have been on neither the Splendor or Escape but that is my two cents, lol.

 

I agree completely. There will be a LOT more to do on the Escape for the boys than on Splendor. And these two ships are so drastically different in style and overall feel and the way the dining works is so drastically different on the two ships. But I think it's also about what the parents want to get out of the cruise. They might not like the idea of eating at different restaurants and want fixed dining or maybe they prefer the different restaurants every night and don't mind paying extra to eat in the specialty restaurants on Escape. Or maybe they would go on Escape and only eat in the included restaurants. So my thought was if I could tell them enough about each ship to differentiate between what the time onboard would be like it might help them to choose what was best for their whole family.

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Karysa

Karysa

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If NCL still has live music on the pool deck and Carnival still has that big screen video set up I would choose NCL. 3 seadays with that video screen blaring would be no fun for me.

 

The Escape is new and has a ropes course so I think that your boys would like that. Excursions for 8 can get very expensive so having fun and adventurous things to do on board would be good.

 

Also if drinking alcohol matters at all to your kids while on vacation I do remember sailing NCL when our oldest was 19 ( legal drinking age at home) and we signed a form that she could consume wine and beer while on board.That wasn't a deal breaker to us but DD liked having the option.

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zoncom

zoncom

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For me cabin configeration, pricing would be deciding factor. Spend some time on this with several discount cruise agencies to get a good deal. Prices will really vary, especially which week you cruise.

Remember, unless you can find a big enough family suite. one bathroom only per cabin.And none down the hall!

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05mak05

05mak05

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Costa Maya is our favorite port! Hop on a golf cart at the cruise port and motor a few miles along the coast line to Mahahual. I'd suggest booking your day at Tropicante http://www.sandalsandskis.com/ You'll find lots of reviews on this board under the port section and also on Trip Advisor. There are also lots of good suggestions on Trip Advisor under "things to do" for Cozumel. As you say "decisions, decisions ... "

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