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Help picking Cruise Ship!


dfsti
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Hope this is the right place to post this! First time cruiser and I am trying to choose a cruise to the Western Caribbean. Right now, I am going between the Carnival Glory and Norwegian Epic. Going with spouse and 2 kids (twins, 10). Trying to find a good balance between things to do ON the boat (kids are water dogs and love being in a pool or water park) and things to do OFF the boat. Kids would like wildlife and beach activities, not so much into ruins and historical places. I am a foodie and food is important to me, but noone else in the family is - they would be happy eating pizza and spaghetti every day, so that is not as important!  Cost is, of course, a concern, but would be willing to pay more to make sure kids enjoy themselves and get a more relaxing trip! The Carnival cruise goes to Montego Bay, Grand Cayman (Georgetown), and Cozumel while the Norwegian goes to Roatan, Harvest Caye, Costa Maya, and Cozumel. Thanks for any help!!

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18 hours ago, dfsti said:

Thanks CruiserBruce and  JimnKaren ! And I will remember to call them ships!


Call them whatever you want and pay no attention to the blow hards on this site. 
 

By only the narrowest of margins, I’d pick Epic. I have no love for either one of those ships but Epic’s itinerary is a little better. But do realize the shower is not private in Epic’s staterooms. 
 

Enjoy whichever boat you choose. 😜

Edited by Cruzaholic41
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On 10/22/2019 at 11:24 AM, dfsti said:

Going with spouse and 2 kids (twins, 10). Trying to find a good balance between things to do ON the boat (kids are water dogs and love being in a pool or water park) and things to do OFF the boat. Kids would like wildlife and beach activities, not so much into ruins and historical places.

I wouldn't be concerned about the excursions when making a decision.  If you can't find what your looking for with excursions, there are plenty others offered by 3rd party excursion sites or even good ideas on Trip Advisor.

 

That being said, I've only been on NCL and Carnival... I dreaded Carnival and love NCL but opinions are like (well, you know).  

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To be honest, I don't think it really matters which ship you go to, you will have a FANTASTIC time. Just make sure they have a nice pool on-board (almost all have) The kids will have so many things they can do. And research the different ports and what might be of interest on each island. 

And if the kids are enjoying, the parents are also. At least that is my opinion. When I am on vacation and the kids are having a good time, then all is good!

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On 10/23/2019 at 1:24 AM, dfsti said:

Hope this is the right place to post this! First time cruiser and I am trying to choose a cruise to the Western Caribbean. Right now, I am going between the Carnival Glory and Norwegian Epic. Going with spouse and 2 kids (twins, 10). Trying to find a good balance between things to do ON the boat (kids are water dogs and love being in a pool or water park) and things to do OFF the boat. Kids would like wildlife and beach activities, not so much into ruins and historical places. I am a foodie and food is important to me, but noone else in the family is - they would be happy eating pizza and spaghetti every day, so that is not as important!  Cost is, of course, a concern, but would be willing to pay more to make sure kids enjoy themselves and get a more relaxing trip! The Carnival cruise goes to Montego Bay, Grand Cayman (Georgetown), and Cozumel while the Norwegian goes to Roatan, Harvest Caye, Costa Maya, and Cozumel. Thanks for any help!!

The NCL itinerary is great, I prefer more ports than sea days. I have been on the Epic twice and the bathroom is an interesting situation but as long as everyone in the family knows that you will be fine. When deciding between 2 ships I always get my kids input. I show them the activities, pools and kids club the ship has to offer plus I also show them the ports and possible shore excursions we could take (that way no one complains or is shock). This works for my family and is just a thought. You mention cost,  just FYI if the price goes down before the final payment you can call for a price  adjustment if the pricing goes down after the final payment you can call for an upgrade or on board credit (OBC). Either way like someone mention you will be on vacation on a cruise so win win. Hope you guys have fun. 

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We only cruised with our kids (when they were kids) on Carnival, maybe six times? More often than not, they would get so wrapped up with the kids program and making new friends it filled their time on the ship. At dinner we would catch up on everybody's day and what they had planned for that evening.

Ten is kind of young, but we used dry markers on the mirror during the day to keep tabs on where everyone was going to be. Then when we got cleaned up for dinner I would clean off the mirror.

Once you decide on your cruise, use the specific port forums here to help decide on your excursions. You mentioned they like water, some ports of nice public beaches and then there are some very nice beaches you can get a day pass for. Those are more inclusive and I liked going that rout when my kids were younger.

Either way, have a wonderful trip making lifelong memories.

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