Newer Ships...New to NCL

[mscreneet]

My family cruises once a year and this year weve decided that we may want to give NCL a try.

 

None of us have ever sailed them before (only Carnival and RCCL)

 

Is there a list of all the ships according to age somewhere?

We would prefer to sail on a newer ship with tons of activites.

 

Many of us have kids that will be going.

Are their ships kid friendly?

[electricron]

My family cruises once a year and this year weve decided that we may want to give NCL a try.

 

None of us have ever sailed them before (only Carnival and RCCL)

 

Is there a list of all the ships according to age somewhere?

We would prefer to sail on a newer ship with tons of activites.

 

Many of us have kids that will be going.

Are their ships kid friendly?

 

Here's a list of NCL ships by the year they entered service. Newest ships are first.

 

Norwegian Gem 2007

Norwegian Pearl 2006

Norwegian Jade 2005

Pride of America 2005

Norwegian Jewel 2004

Norwegian Dawn 2002

Norwegian Star 2001

Norwegian Sun 2001

Norwegian Sky 1998

Norwegian Spirit 1998

Norwegian Majesty 1992

Norwegian Dream 1992

 

The Dream leaves the fleet in late fall this year, the Majesty leaves the fleet in late fall next year.

[CruisnGram]

My family cruises once a year and this year weve decided that we may want to give NCL a try.

 

None of us have ever sailed them before (only Carnival and RCCL)

 

Is there a list of all the ships according to age somewhere?

We would prefer to sail on a newer ship with tons of activites.

 

Many of us have kids that will be going.

Are their ships kid friendly?

 

I love NCL but I think you should really check this out before booking NCL.

 

You say you have kids and want tons of activities. If you mean activities such as the surfing pool that RCI has on some of their bigger ships, your kids may be disappointed. Don't know exactly which ones, but one NCL ship does have a bowling alley (extra charge) and at least one has a rock climbing wall, but none have a mini golf course. So if the kids are looking for a ship with tons of belles and whistles to entertain them, NCL may not be for your family.

 

They do have a great kids/teen club on all ships and of course, the newer ships have slides in the pool area. You're family can have a wonderful cruise on NCL but I just wanted to make you aware that you need to thoroughly check what each ship offers (and doesn't offer) before booking to prevent huge disappointment.

[coffeebean]

If you want bells and whistles for your kids, you will pay much more for the RCCL Voyager and Freedom class ships.

 

NCL's Jewel class ships (Jewel, Jade, Pearl and Gem) have lots for the kids to do but do not compare to RCCL Voyager and Freedom class ships.

 

Freestyle is definately an option you may want to check out though. Freestyle is the reason DH and I prefer NCL to any other cruise line but we don't cruise with kids.

[floridacruiser63]

We sailed on the Spirit back in 2005 and the kids program was excellent. My kids loved it and my younger one can't wait until we sail with NCL again next year for Spring Break.

Then again, we have also sailed Carnival as well as Royal Caribbean and their programs are very good too.

:D

[DAGVBSB]

The Star and Dawn have great kid pool areas on the back of the ships. They also have great kids club programs. Even though they are not the newest ships in the fleet, they are great.

 

In fact, the Star and everything youngers were purpose built for NCL's Freestyle concept and are all about the same.