Southern Caribbean out of San Juan..Carnival or RCCL..Help!!

[alba216]

I posted this in the San Juans ports of Call group as well.

 

This will be our second cruise. We are a family with two young girls, 2 & 7 when we cruise. I am not to concerned with my youngest not being able to go in the pool, since we are going to be in port almost everyday. And the ocean does not care about swim diapers.. We plan on cruising Sep 2009. The two ships are RCCLs Adventure of the seas or Carnivals Victory.

 

On our last and first cruise, we chose RCCLs Enchantment of the Seas and did the Western Caribbean itinerary. Both ships leave around the same time period, and the price difference for a balcony in not much to sway me in either direction.

 

The Itineraries are a little different

Adventure of the Sea - Departs From San Juan, Puerto Rico visiting Oranjestad, Aruba; Willemstad, Curacao; Roseau, Dominica; Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas

or

Departs From San Juan, Puerto Rico visiting Bridgetown, Barbados; Castries, St. Lucia; St. John's, Antigua; Philipsburg, St. Maarten; Frederiksted, St. Croix

 

while Carnival Victory - Departs From San Juan, Puerto Rico visiting Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas; Dominica; Bridgetown, Barbados; Castries, St. Lucia; St. John's, Antigua; Basseterre, St. Kitts

 

If anyone has been to these ports or these cruises in particular, let me know which you think I should pick.Thanks all

[wrp96]

One thing to think about is that your 2 year old would be able to use the kid's program on Carnival but not on RCCL. But RCCL does offer in cabin babysitting.

[cb at sea]

Do either ships have a specific area for swim-diapers? If not, then the 2 yo won't be going swimming on the ship!

Both Aruba and St. Thomas have lovely, calm beaches--great for kids.

I would pick the ship where you get the most cabin for your money!

[RENMama]

we chose carnival for the same reason wrp mentioned. we will be cruising with them again in 2009 with the kids.

with RCCL they have to be 3 (and potty trained i believe).

with carnival, they can go to kids club at 2 yo and dont have to be potty trained, just have to leave diapers.

 

we were on the victory with our sons in 2006 and my oldest loved it (youngest was 15m at the time, oldest was then 5 yo).

our oldest asks regularly when he can do kids club (camp carnival) again.

 

when we cruised on carnival the kids program ran for most of the morning, took a short break in the afternoon then started up before dinner and lasted until 10pm. they will take your kids to dinner if you want (they hit a buffet on deck). we took our sons to sitdown formal dinner with us though every evening and the wait staff really catered to the kids. they do have late night babysitting in the actual kids club.

 

no matter what cruise you choose im sure you will have a great time!

[alba216]

we chose carnival for the same reason wrp mentioned. we will be cruising with them again in 2009 with the kids.

with RCCL they have to be 3 (and potty trained i believe).

with carnival, they can go to kids club at 2 yo and dont have to be potty trained, just have to leave diapers.

 

Yea Im leaning towards Carnival due to the age of the Kids club. So far the the fors I have for each cruise line is:

 

Carnival

- Only have to be 2 for kids program

- Cost of cruise is $400 less

 

RCCL

- Get a day at sea (not sure if Im gonna be exhausted by a stop everyday)

- Our first cruise was on RCCL & we loved it

- Second cruise on RCCL, closer to Gold, Platinum & Diamond Status :D

[RENMama]

we havent done rccl with kids yet (but have solo). we definately will when our youngest is a bit older (shes almost 16m now).

i know my kids will love whatever we choose because as long as theres a play room they are happy. but me, i like to compare.

 

youve obviously had to bring a young one with you most of the time on a cruise (as would happen again with rccl) so you know what its like.

but maybe it would be nice to see the joy of sending ALL your kids away for a few hours. i know my husband and i are looking forward to a little alone time. :)

 

plus i know with my kids (now 7,3,1), theres no way my younger 2 wouldnt make a huge fuss seeing big bro go into a kids club fun room and they couldnt. it was fine on the last cruise as it was just the 2 boys then 5 and 15m. ds2 was young enough not to care. but i know as a 2-2.5yo he definately would be sad he couldnt play with big bro. mom and dad are boring compared to the play room.

 

so maybe try the carnival one. youve only been on one rccl cruise right? so its not like you are totally cheating on them yet. :)

[crusinmama06]

If she is 2, then I would choose Carnival.

 

When my youngest was 2, we sailed Carnival. We started sailing RCCL with her on her 3rd bday...lol. ;)

[jam82]

We are doing the Victory is March with a 2 year old. I generally like RCCL better than Carnival. However, until my son is older I am committed to Carnival. If you want to use the kids program, it's the only way to go.

[boulders]

I cruised on AOS this past March with a non-potty-trained 2 year old. The itinerary was Aruba, Curacao, St. Thomas and St. Maarten. There are no pools on the ship that the 2 year old could go in. There was really very little for him to do on the ship. I found the pax ruder than on previous RCCL cruises. It was not a relaxing vacation and I wish I'd saved the money.

[siestakim]

I cruises that exact itinerary on Carnivals Destiny in May. It was a great cruise. All the ports are great. And Carnival has a wonderful kids program. But its ultimatley up to you and your family. Any cruise is a good cruise in my book.

[alba216]

we havent done rccl with kids yet (but have solo). we definately will when our youngest is a bit older (shes almost 16m now).

i know my kids will love whatever we choose because as long as theres a play room they are happy. but me, i like to compare.

 

youve obviously had to bring a young one with you most of the time on a cruise (as would happen again with rccl) so you know what its like.

but maybe it would be nice to see the joy of sending ALL your kids away for a few hours. i know my husband and i are looking forward to a little alone time. :)

 

plus i know with my kids (now 7,3,1), theres no way my younger 2 wouldnt make a huge fuss seeing big bro go into a kids club fun room and they couldnt. it was fine on the last cruise as it was just the 2 boys then 5 and 15m. ds2 was young enough not to care. but i know as a 2-2.5yo he definately would be sad he couldnt play with big bro. mom and dad are boring compared to the play room.

 

so maybe try the carnival one. youve only been on one rccl cruise right? so its not like you are totally cheating on them yet. :)

 

Yup this is our first cruise, & my wife and I would love to have some freetime to ourselves, even if it is only a couple of hours. So even though after one cruise my family has already developed a RCCL bias, I think were going to go Carnival. Looks like I got an extra $400 for the casino now:D