Horizon or Mardi Gras with kids?

[eburgmama]

My family (me, husband, daughter 12, son 10 and son 5) are new to cruising. Last year we went on Royal Caribbean Harmony of the Seas and decided we loved cruising. We all felt like we could use a little more action though and had heard Carnival line is more "fun" for young people. The horizon ship looks great for my kids who love karaoke with lip sync battle and the hasbro game show but Mardi Gras is a little less expensive for when we want to go and obviously is newer. It seems they've taken a bunch of the kid friendly stuff out though (lip sync battle, hasbro, imax, thrill theatre, etc.). Am I right? Or will there just be newer stuff that appeals to the kids? 

 

Thanks!! 

[crucero]

There will be a roller coaster on Mardi Gras. It has A LOT of stuff. 

 

[JaxsMama]

As the ship isn't totally built yet it's possible the list of features isn't complete. 

[PhillyFan33579]

I don’t know if there is a rule about it, but I have never seen kids participate in the Lip Sync Battle. I have heard lots of good things about the kid clubs on Carnival ships.  Can’t tell you anything about Mardi Gras because I haven’t sailed on her yet.  Carnival is fun for adults too, especially if you enjoy drinking.  

[stetucke]

On 1/15/2020 at 1:37 PM, PhillyFan33579 said:

I don’t know if there is a rule about it, but I have never seen kids participate in the Lip Sync Battle. I have heard lots of good things about the kid clubs on Carnival ships.  Can’t tell you anything about Mardi Gras because I haven’t sailed on her yet.  Carnival is fun for adults too, especially if you enjoy drinking.  

Kids were not allowed to do the lip sync battle on any of the cruises I've been on. 

 

As to the original post, if you want to travel during 2020 I would recommend the horizon

[Lee Cruiser]

On 1/15/2020 at 2:37 PM, PhillyFan33579 said:

I don’t know if there is a rule about it, but I have never seen kids participate in the Lip Sync Battle.

I haven't cruised with younger ones, but is there not a Junior Lip Sync Battle?  I may be wrong, but I thought I've heard that promoted before.

Edited January 17, 2020 by Lee Cruiser
auto correct error

[Sagittarius traveler]

Horizon - family harbor is nice. Many deck chairs which I was surprised maybe because some people are in serenity or in the Havana area lounging around . The outdoor play area is real fun.

 

Most new ships always have a malfunction I say wait a 2 months later and read reviews on here to see if the new ship had sewer leakage or anything.

[mylittleone2000]

On 1/17/2020 at 10:37 AM, Lee Cruiser said:

I haven't cruised with younger ones, but is there not a Junior Lip Sync Battle?  I may be wrong, but I thought I've heard that promoted before.

There is a junior lip sync battle, my girls did it on Vista twice!

[Jamesatgsu]

Mardi Gras will have nearly everything on the Horizon plus some.  I'd choose it everything else equal (We are doing Mardi Gras with 2 of our kids and Horizon without any). Either would be great though.  We've taken our kids on nothing but older ships because of the pricing for a family of 5 (we've cruised for as little as $1K for the 5 of us including taxes), but they love them even without all the extras that appear on the new ships.

 

The Hasbro & Lip Sync are part of the Cruise Director's itinerary, so they are always subject to change

Edited February 4, 2020 by Jamesatgsu