Not sure which cruiseline to pick

[megnsamsgracie]

I have limited dates I can go as I have non refundable tickets for a Disney Christmas party. So I have to leave on 12/1 or 12/2. Any port in FL is fine by us.

 

I was first looking at Carnival Valor on 12/2. Not too bad.

 

Then I found Costa and the kids sail free. If I book inside rooms, the difference is almost $300. If I book outside on Costa, its only $20 more than the inside on Carnival.

 

I have 4 kids in tow (10, 9, 6 and 4) and Carnival was Nassau, St Thomas and St Marteen.. Costa was San Juan, Nassau, 2 ports in Dominican Republic and St Thomas.

 

This is my kids first cruise so I want to make it the best I can. Price is a bit of a concern but both of these can be done for under $2600 for 6 of us (2 rooms). Costa came in around $2090 for 2 inside rooms and Carnival was $2373 for 2 inside rooms. Costa was only $2400 for 2 outside rooms.

 

I have courtesy holds on both until Friday

[Çay girl]

The ports look better with the Carnival, but I like the price of the outside with Costa. I've never cruised either line, but I've heard bad things about Carnival - possibly unfounded, some people love Carnival. I love St Thomas and St Marteen, so I like the ports there on Carnival. But I like the outside cabin.

 

Good luck with your decision, have a great time! :)

[crusinmama06]

Here is the thread that talks about the Costa kid's program...

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=590323

 

We've done Carnival so I know what their program is like and my kids loved it (actually MORE than Disney, surprising huh)

 

We are doing the same thing with Disney in August. I have tickets to the Disney Pirate and Princess party then we are leaving onboard Carnival Sensation out of Port Canaveral.

 

Like I said in my other post to you, Costa is not known for being kid friendly. But I haven't sailed them so I can't compare.

[cruisinqt]

We've cruised numerous times with our two kids on Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Princess, and Norwegian. We haven't done Costa because even though the prices are good, their ships aren't that big. We've gotten spoiled on the huge ships that have more restaurants, more shopping areas, larger kids centers, arcades, more lounges, etc. It just seems like the larger ships have more things to do and more places to go and see. The Valor is a sister ship to the Glory which we are sailing on in about 3 weeks. They are both massive ships at 110,00 tons and they both have the signature 214 foot spiral slide that is loved by all kids old and young alike.:D We've sailed on the Conquest twice which is a sister ship to the Valor and Glory so we know it's gonna be a blast. We just got our docs in and I'm ecstatic.

 

One thing that I like about Carnival is that their standard cabins are much bigger than the average cruise lines. Most cruise lines basic cabins start out at 117 square feet, but Carnival's starts their cabins out at 185 square feet. Also, our kids vote Carnival's kids program the best, and they've got a lot of cruises behind them.;) Royal Caribbean's program is a close second but they've just priced themselves out of the market. Princess was nice but the average age on board was way up there and there wasn't as much to do. Norwegian had smaller ships, the kids program was nice but no where near what Carnival offers. We've found that Carnival offers the best bang for the buck, larger ships, top notch kids programs, larger than normal cabins, and a younger more hip crowd. Royal Caribbean is very comparable to Carnival, just not affordable for a family of four on a budget.

 

If it were me, I would go with the larger ship. There's always more of everything, food, activities, shows, shopping, etc.

 

And remember that people who knock Carnival or any other cruise line for that matter, is usually just loyal to one certain cruise line. On the Princess cruise you should have heard the horrible stories I heard about Royal Caribbean. While on Royal Caribbean you should have heard the horrible stories I heard about Carnival. The funny thing is that once I cruised with those cruise lines, I realized the stories weren't true. It's just like hearing my dad talk about Chevy. He's a die hard Ford man and is always badmouthing Chevy (even though he's never owned one.) Many people are biased because they have a favorite cruise line. Oh they'll tell you they tried such and such cruise line and it was horrible so they went back to their cruise line which is of course the best. Well my dad rode in a Chevy once and hated it, because he wanted to and went back to Ford. Chevy isn't any worse than Ford, he just has a favorite. It's the same way with cruising, most people favor a particular cruise line and defend it tooth and nail while flaming the other cruise lines. Bottom line, don't take everything you hear about the different cruise lines as gospel truth. Make your decision based on itinerary, price, and location and you'll have a fabulous cruise.:)

[megnsamsgracie]

I did.. I ended up paying only about $250 more on Carnival for 2 connecting outside cabins. I ended up finding out a co-workers sister owns a cruise store and got her honest opinion. She said she has many customers (with kids) come back disappointed with Costa and that she herself used Carnival with her young kids. She said they will love it. The ports are more kid friendly too. So I went with Carnival and booked with her. She spent about 20 minutes on the phone with me discussing all my options. If I went inside, all the connecting rooms are booked so I would have to do side by side, which is why I went with connecting rooms. I am happy with my choice. My concern lied in coming up with the dep of $1500 but she was able to book 2 triples and only put 2 in each for now since I had $1000 for a dep. I am so excited! I am going to pay her on Friday and get a bunch of brochures for my kids to look through! This itinerary and what the ship offered seemed a better fit for what we as a family do!

[surrocruiser]

I was contemplating doing the same type of thing you did with a cruise to lower the deposit. (Only book 2 instead of 4 to bring the deposit down) I was advised on the boards to be very careful of this bc if the ship were to sell out before I added the other 2 I was out of luck.

 

Just something to consider maybe..... Best of luck.

[crusinmama06]

I REALLY think you made the right choice. I'm sure you will have a great time.

 

Congrats!

[megnsamsgracie]

Rachel, yes my TA told me this. There is another Carnival ship that I could book in case this happens. (the Carnival Victory has a neat itinerary too). I plan on adding my other 2 kids in about 2-3 weeks and my TA said that *shouldnt* be a problem but you NEVER know. So I am going to do my best to get that other deposit in within 2 weeks.

 

Thanks cruisinmama! I think I did too. I went and compared the excursions on all the ports of call and knowing my kids, the ports of call with Carnival are definitely more up their alley!

[cruisinqt]

Congrats on booking the cruise, both you and the kids will love Carnival. Carnival has a younger more hip crowd you'll love.:) We sail the exact same itinerary in 3 weeks. I've done a lot of research and we're booking our own excursions instead of Carnivals for 2 reasons. First, it's cheaper, second, it's a smaller group with more personalized service. We've always booked our own excursions through recommendations on the boards here at CruiseCritic and it's always been top notch tours. While in St. Martin we're using Bernard who comes highly recommended. For $30 pp you get 2.5 hours of seeing the highlights of the island, 2 hours at the beach of your choice, and 2 hours of shopping. Plus he offers free beer, sodas, and water in his air conditioned van. He's at sxmtours.com.

 

While in St. Thomas we're using Sunny Liston's tour. With him you get a 2 hour island tour, 2 hours of shopping and 2 hours at a beach for $25 pp. Everyone says he's a blast because he sings to reggae music as he takes you on the tour and everyone joins in and has a merry old time.;)

 

While in Nassau we're going to Atlantis Casino and Resort because they have an awesome aquarium, numerous pools, several beaches, lots of good restaurants, a water park, etc. I can't imagine not finding something to do there and it's only a short $2 ferry ride to get there from the ship.

 

I hope this helps with some of your excursions as I know you're on a budget like us. We really prefer our own private excursions because we hate being packed onto huge tour buses like sardines and getting very little personal attention (which has always happened on previous experiences with the cruise line). The price is just the icing on the cake.:D

[megnsamsgracie]

Okay.. just an update on the deposit and such.

 

I needed to upgrade to an oceanview as I didnt feel comfortable with 2 rooms next door, but the ocean view had connecting. So this time, when she took one person off, it kicked out the reservation. So she called Carnival and explained. They said to put all 3 in each room and just pay the $1000 deposit. It will take accounting 5-7 days to realize the dep was short and then they will email the TA and tell her she has 7 days to get the other $500. Which is fine, thats all I needed was 2 more weeks, if that. So she is taking the $1000 dep tomorrow and I will pay her the other $500 shortly after.

 

Cruisin, when you get back, PLEASE post an update on your excursions. With 6 of us, it will definitely add up doing the ships excursions! And I like that you get to explore the island as my kids will be missing school so maybe they can do some sort of report about the islands! Thanks for the tips, I appreciate it!

 

Oh gosh, I havent even had my first cruise and I cant wait for the kids to experience theirs in Dec!

[cruisinqt]

Oh, I always do a review and I'll probably do this one on the Carnival boards because people cruise the Carnival boards looking for recent reviews of the ship their about to sail on, I know I do.;)

 

We've taken our kids out of school for cruises too, but not lately. Now that we've cruised many times our past guest discounts are so good that we can cruise in peak summer time season. We're getting a quad cabin on deck 8 with a balcony for $2508 final price with taxes, gov't fees, etc. It really pays to stick with Carnival because the more you sail with them the more they discount your cruise to keep you coming back to them instead of sailing with someone else.:)

 

Just be aware that once you mention taking the kids out of school for a cruise, you might get flamed. Many people are very against it and will rake you over the coals for it. I'm in a very small rural school where everybody knows everybody. The teachers and the principal are okay with it. The principal asked me to bring authentic mexican blankets (our cruise had stopped in Mexico) so the teachers could use them while teaching about the mexican culture. I declined her offer for payment and brought numerous blankets as they were dirt cheap. My oldest daughters teacher asked her to do a report about the Mayan culture since we were visiting Mayan temples while in Cozumel. Everyone's situation is different and I don't judge anyone because I'm not in their shoes. But just know that when you mention taking the kids out of school, there may be some negative responses.:(

 

I would recommend that your children do a report on St. Martin (if their teacher wants them to do one that is). It is very fascinating! Half of the island is French and spell it St. Martin. The other half of the island is Dutch and they spell it St. Maarten. There is a lot of history there and the story of how the island was divided by two countries is really interesting.

[Onessa]

. . So I went with Carnival and booked with her. She spent about 20 minutes on the phone with me discussing all my options. . .

 

A great reason to use a TA, and a cruise TA at that!

[megnsamsgracie]

Absolutely! I like the fact that I dont hvae to double check prices every day as I know she will take care of price drops. Although $435 for an OV is a great price and most likely will not drop.. but you never know ;0

[Çay girl]

Looks like you'll have a fabulous trip. I think the ports look a lot more attractive on the Carnival. I need to just cruise Carnival sometime to see for myself! Have fun planning.