RCC vs Carnival - First Time with Kids

[CarltonFamily5]

Hi guys!

 

I'm hoping for some advice. My family of 5 (kids 8,6,4) are considering taking a 7-day western caribbean cruise for the first time at the beginning of October during the kid's fall break.

 

My husband and I did the Disney cruise for our honeymoon in 1999 and it's taken us 10 years to consider doing a cruise again because we didn't really enjoy the Disney cruise much. Nassau didn't appeal to us at all and we thought the food on the Disney cruise was mediocre at best - if you weren't around for a main seating of a meal, you had hamburgers, hot dogs and pizza to choose from and that was it. We couldn't look at hot dogs for months after getting back from that trip - so we've said never again to Disney. I will admit that we are on a more "normal" people schedule now that we have kids and don't sleep 'til 1 anymore, but still, we had heard about 24 hour buffets, delicious food round the clock and on and on in regards to cruise food, and that just wasn't the case on the DCL.

 

So here's where we're at for this potential trip.

 

We're looking at either the Carnival Legend or RCC's Liberty of the Seas.

 

Carnival, the pricing for connecting staterooms is incredibly reasonable, I think the itineraries look more interesting on the Legend than the Liberty, but not having been to the Caribbean before, I don't really KNOW and my husband says he doesn't care at all where they stop because it's all islands, sand, water and sun :)

 

RCC, connecting staterooms are more than double Carnival's rates but we could get the Deluxe Family Oceanview room for a price we're comfortable paying. The Liberty, by far looks like more impressive ship with great ammenities (my 8 year old daughter about flipped her lid when we told her there was an ice rink on board) but I've read the food on Carnival is better than on RCC.

 

On land we like deluxe hotels with all the trimmings - ie. we're more of a Marriott/Hilton family than a Holiday Inn family, and we're worried that Carnival wont have the same luxurious feel as RCC, BUT having not cruised before, I willingly admit that we could have a HUGE misconception about the whole thing!

 

Sooo...knowing great food is a priority for us and we lean toward a little more luxury in our vacations - which ship would you choose? I've read the kid's clubs are fairly comparable so I'm not worried there, but from your experience are there better excursions geared for kids and families on one itinerary over the other or are they all fairly similar?

 

If you've gotten this far, you're a saint! I know this post is sorta all over the place, but we'd appreciate any thoughts, personal experiences or advice you can share on which cruise to choose for our return to cruising :)

 

Thanks!

Robin

[cruisefanatic01]

If you're more of a Hilton Hotel kind of family, I would definitely suggest RCCL for you over Carnival. IMO, RCCL is a little more upscale than Carnival. However, like you said it does dig deeper into your pockets. I think the food is equally as good on both lines. I think since you have your 3 kids traveling with you, there will probably be more activities on Liberty of the Seas. If you want to travel with the kids next year, I would suggest you also looking into the Oasis of the Seas with RCCL. There is tons of stuff to do on that ship. However, I don't think it sets sail until December of this year.

[cb at sea]

I'm not sure why anyone without kids would take a Disney cruise, but whatever....

RCI's larger ships are great for families, but I doubt you'll find the food any different....Most think Disney's food beats RCI...

 

You might want to try a more "upscale" line, so you get the amenities you want. The kids are lucky to go at all, and they will have fun no matter what!

[Imani68]

I just made this very decision this past Friday. We will have a 7 year old and an almost 3 year old on our March 2010 cruise. This will be our 3rd family cruise. I looked at the mega RCCL Oasis of the Seas, Carnival Legend and Carnival Dream. I initially really wanted to do the Oasis because all of the new fabulous things onboard but the cost of a balcony stateroom for a family of 4 was kind of outrageous (also was not too excited about the number of passengers) so I moved over to the Dream. My husband thought that was expensive and wanted me to do research on an older, less expensive ship. I loved what I read about Legend so was planning to book that but when I told my husband that the difference was a mere $241 he gave me the ok for the Carnival Dream. I would have been happy on any of the ships.

[CarltonFamily5]

I'm not sure why anyone without kids would take a Disney cruise, but whatever....

RCI's larger ships are great for families, but I doubt you'll find the food any different....Most think Disney's food beats RCI...

 

You might want to try a more "upscale" line, so you get the amenities you want. The kids are lucky to go at all, and they will have fun no matter what!

 

We've always been Disney fans and the DCL was fairly new in 1999 so the Land/Sea thing sounded appealing to us. We've come a long way since then in our vacations but we still love to do the WDW thing every couple of years.

 

We actually looked into some other lines but no one is sailing western caribbean at the beginning of October. Fall break is 10/3-10/10 here in AZ and we were trying to stick within/around those dates - if you have suggestions on what other lines might be a good option, I'd love to hear them.

 

Thanks to everyone else for your replies too! Really appreciate hearing your thoughts.

 

R

[silentbob007]

Perhaps with your kids the price difference is worth it for the ship ammenities on RCCL. That ship does offer much more to do than the Carnival ship with the wall, ice rink, water park, etc. Just remember cruise-ship perspective, though, all of these things are fairly small and have either a wait or set times. The ice rink has a few shows, for example, and some open skating, but it is by no means open many hours a day.

 

With that being said, the Legend is in my favorite class of Carnival ships. It is new enough to have ammenities and small enough to still feel intimate. I personally don't see the Hilton/Holiday Inn difference between Carnival and RCCL in terms of final product offered, but people love those metaphors on these boards. RCCL does have great ships, no question about it, but from my experience, the lines have more in common than different once we start comparing.

 

It really, however, comes down to how much the money means to you (perhaps a cheaper cruise saves money for better shore excursions, etc) and what you really want to cruise for (the ship, the port, etc). I've had great cruises on both lines but perhaps one is more suited to your tastes which is why I'm not saying you should definitely pick one or the other. :)

[Aquahound]

.

We're looking at either the Carnival Legend or RCC's Liberty of the Seas.

 

I think Liberty of the Seas is your ship. After reading everything you wrote, this would be your better choice.

 

Food - you mentioned that you read the food was better on Carnival. I can not say for myself, but I have read a lot of conflicting reports on this matter. It seems to be a personal preference thing, not a generality.

 

Ammenities - LOS certainly has more ammenities. The kids may enjoy ice skating, but the ice shows are great for the adults also.

 

How do the kids feel about surfing or boogie boarding? LOS has the Flowrider.

 

Let's put it this way....DW and I do not have kids. If we were to book a Carnival cruise, we would most likely book Legend, or another ship in that class.

[Cruisin-Dad]

I would love to hear where CarltonFamily5 and Imani68 wound up going. My wife & I went on NCL for our honeymoon (15 yrs ago) and we docked next to a Carnival ship which looked like something from the 80's with purple neon lights and cheesy decorations. Now, with 2 kids we find ourselves booked on a Carnival. If either chose Carnival I would love to hear the experience!

[kelbre]

We've never sailed RCCL, however, we are sailing away three weeks today on what will be our third Carnival cruise all with our children in tow as well. We also sailed Princess three years ago and would probably only go back to Princess for a longer/different itinerary than the seven days. We found Princess to be a bit more stuffy and more of an older crowd compared to Carnival. So, I might be biased, but I would go with Carnival!!