CCL or NCL with kids?

Hi, I have 3 kids ages 3,4 & 7 when we cruise again. We are debating between Carnival Magic (porting into Amber cove, St. Thomas, Grand Turk, San Juan) or Norwegian Escape (porting Tortola, Nassau and St. Thomas). Both 7 days. We have cruised carnival before and enjoyed it (kids were 2,3 and 5).

My main concern is food. At carnival the kids loved the ice cream. I know so basic but my kids having 2-3 ice cream cones a day made them think they were in heaven! It was such an easy way out of the "I'm hungry" complaint. What free options are available on the NCL between meals? Also how are the other free venues on NCL compared to Carnival. (Me and DH are not foodies and doubt we will eat at many specialty restaurants.

And then there is kids camp. The kids (besides my then 3 yo) enjoyed it. We will prob only send them in the evenings mostly anyways, definitely not while were out at port. How are the kids camps on NCL compared to CCL. And other kids activities?

Overall any differences between NCL and CCL that will the effect kids? Any recommendations on the our ports also?

Btw DH wants to do Carnival just because we have done it and will know what to expect. But he is easily persuadable. (His original preference was a 5 day on the Ectascy out of Charleston but here we are lol). I want to do escape because, New Ship. I just don't want to be regretting it, lol!

I think Carnival's ports are better....

The actual cruise will probably be more similar than different.....all of the mainstream lines are similar!

I think Carnival's ports are better....

The actual cruise will probably be more similar than different.....all of the mainstream lines are similar!

From looking online the camps seemed pretty similar, just wanna make sure I didnt miss anything that was like a deal breaker. Also I am really looking foward to the Dr. Suess stuff, seems cool. I agree on carnivals ports too. I also like that there are only 2 sea days so kids will have a chance to get off the ship every day but the first and last.

I have gone on both cruise ships with children and find the activities on carnival outstanding. My son is 11 now and still asks to go on a carnival ship for the camps

Keep in mind that NCL Has been offering their beverage package for free and has some kids sale

Free promos too.....

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NCL kids clubs are closed from 12-2, and 5-7, which may be an issue if your kids nap. On the NCL star, there were substantial lines when the kids clubs reopened since everyone was trying to get their kids in the program and then get to dinner. The kids pools were also very crowded during the time the kids clubs were closed. Their actual kids clubs were great, and my 3.5 year old loved it there. The hours were a problem - we live near the breakaway and didn't sail on it, since my kid would have had a meltdown every sea day because the kids clubs would be closed when he woke up from a nap and wanted to go. It all worked out though, since we took a Baltic cruise, which was amazing - and ironically also NCL, but with a lot less sea days.

Done both with kids almost those exact ages and enjoyed both. They are really quite similar.

Assuming everything else is equal I would pick Carnival due to the ports.

We've done Both. My kids liked both. They liked the kids club on Norwegian quite a bit better. It was much bigger and more activities. However, this isn't really a fair comparison as it was the breakaway vs the pride. If it were me I would make my decision based on price (so many perks on NCL right now, we just booked for the kids sailing free & beverage package) and the ports.

We have been on both CCL and NCL and my kids like both lines equally. There are things they like on NCL more than CCL and things on CCL more than NCL. Both are very similar family friendly lines.