Rare brazilgirl Posted June 22, 2008 #1 Share Posted June 22, 2008 I am completely divided-both seem like great ships...... I am looking at itineraries which are almost identical ( one goes to the Princess private island , the other goes to Labadee) and prices which are pretty much the same. The dates are almost the same too(Nov 29 or 30) Ruby Princess leaves from For Lauderdale and the Mariner leaves from Port Canaveral. I´ll take my kids who are 4 ,8 and 11.(and my parents who have never cruised) We just got back from the Celebrity Summit in the Med and the kids LOVED it....The FunFactory was perfect(there were only 40 kids on board under 18 and that was cool for them -lots of attention!) I don´t know what to do!Help! Kim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare brazilgirl Posted June 23, 2008 Author #2 Share Posted June 23, 2008 No one has any opinions if Princess or the Mariner of the Seas is better for a family?? Please help-any experiences on Princess or Royal Caribbean???Tell me about them!Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebeccalouise Posted June 23, 2008 #3 Share Posted June 23, 2008 Mariner of the Seas is going to be a very big ship with an indoor shopping mall and all sorts of activities. Ruby is smaller, more sophisticated. Of the two you have picked I haven't sailed either. I did Radiance of the Seas in 2007 and it was ok. I really am not a fan of RCL. The areas that were not up to par with me were the youth program- pushy counselors trying to bribe the kids with trinkets if they stayed each night until midnight. And the arcade was ever present- too much stimulation and money for my liking. Not a fan of the youth program on RCL. The other area was the pool. The indoor outdoor carpet around the pool smelled like pee. Never could sit by the pool. We went to the babypool with the waterslide instead. Interestingly, this area was cleaner. I have cruised Sapphire Princess, which is the same layout as Ruby. It was a nice ship but Princess is not my favorite. They do a good job with the youth program though. I didn't find the food or service to be very good on Princess. Food and service was excellent on RCL, however. If it were me, I'd do Celebrity. You already know you like it and I think Celebrity is better than RCL or Princess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare brazilgirl Posted June 23, 2008 Author #4 Share Posted June 23, 2008 Unfortunately , Celebrity is not going to be an option this time because of scheduling logistics... This cruise is kind of an "impulse" ,and I found some great deals on both these ships. Being that these cruises leave the weekend AFTER Thanksgiving is it possible there will be fewer kids on board? That is what I am hoping , as I can´t even sending my kids to the kids´club with 1000 kids on board.How do they keep track of them all?? I know the kids´club won´t be comparable to the Fun Factory , but... Thanks for responding , Rebeccalouise , you are always helpful! Looks like you are going to be busy in July!Have fun...Kim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebeccalouise Posted June 24, 2008 #5 Share Posted June 24, 2008 Food and Service are definitely going to better on Mariner. Do Mariner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ispooks Posted June 24, 2008 #6 Share Posted June 24, 2008 we have done both princess and rc... also, ncl... my kids ( boys who are now 10 & 15, we have cruised the last 5 years in a row, so they were closer to your older kids ages), much preferred ncl kids club and royal caribbeans kid club to princess.... they do more active activities, rather than more arts & crafts type, movies, etc... the counselors interacted more on those 2 rather than just kind of watching them on princess.... my kids like staying late, on princess they just kind of put on a movie, on royal and ncl they played games, did computers, and had them running.... any specifics please ask - we did large and small ships and are going on mariner this august - when there are lots of kids u usually do not even know they are there, but your kids are young enough that u need to sign them out of the kids clubs, they would not be wandering.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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