CCL vs RCCL for toddler

Looking at cruising with our little one and trying to decide on ships. In the past (17 years ago) i cruised with CCL and it seemed to be more of the "party" ship which has steered me away for family vacation option but it seems the more I read about it, it's much more family-friendly now. I've also cruised princess and it was a great ship but I didn't see it very kid friendly. For this vacation I was looking at RCCL but now leaning towards CCL but wondering for those that have done both what is more kid-friendly. We have a very busy and active 2-year old and needs entertainment and activities. We won't be utilizing the kids club so I'm not too concerned about the clubs. I want a ship that has fun water activists; water slides, splash pads, and another fun stuff. He won't be in swimmies so not worried about the off limits thing when it comes to splash pads. Looking at traveling around Sept ... What line would fit our needs better RCCL or CCL?

It might help if you list the specific ships you are looking at.

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Short cruises (3-5 days) are party cruises. The passengers go on these cheap cruises to kick up their heels for a few days. I wouldn't do a short cruise because of this. 7 day cruises attract families- especially over Easter, Summer and Christmas. Longer than 7 days there are fewer families, few partiers and a much older demographic.

If you do an off season cruise (the week after Christmas, May, Oct. early December for example) you will not encounter many children and mostly older people on any cruise line.

Cruises to Europe, Alaska, Pacific coastal cruises and New England/ Canada (7 or more days) will be more mellow than Caribbean cruises.

As long as your child is potty trained, they can use the pools and such. It's really an either/or thing! Pick the ship that fits your schedule and pocketbook!

Yes...shorter cruises have more partiers...on ANY line!

We chose Carnival for our 3.5 year olds. We've always done 7 day cruises and have never been bothered by the party-goers since we are up early and in bed before 11...so we just don't seem to run into them! We are doing the Dream out of New Orleans because of the port location only. I worry about the bad reviews, but I think we will have a great trip either way since we have a large group of family and friends travelling together. Our children LOVE anything Dr. Seuss, so the Seuss at Sea program was a real attractant for us to Carnival.

Royal Caribbean has some amazing activities, but most are not well suited for young children (ie ice rinks, flow riders, ropes courses, etc).

Thanks you! We are looking at RCCL or CCL just trying to figure out what would fit us better and struggling with that. He will be potty trained so I'm not to worried about the pools but I'm worried about hight issues/age limits with other activities (ice rink, Rock wall, water slides ect)

Shorter cruises tend to have more partiers on both lines, we tend to stay with 7 days if possible. Other than that it depends on age/interests. They both will have basic pools, basketball courts, jogging tracks. The larger rccl ships have swim areas for non potty trained kids which ia huge if u have a younger kid. Oasis class has amazing play areas for toddlers as well. Features vary by ship for sure. I would start by looking at which ships fit ur timeframe and budget and rhen researching what they have available : (

Should have been a : ) not frowny lol but it wont let me edit!

We did ccl with our 2 year old toddler. We went to kids club the first day so he could play with me there. He loved that. He went back twice during drop off only for 45 minutes each time but didn't like separating from me. We also went the morning if disembarkation when he could play with me and he loved that.

The waiter in main dining room loved him, they had a high chair ready for him after the first night. He ate with us in main dining every night. We brought things for him to play with during dinner.

Other things he liked-

Mini golf (he didn't play but liked to chase the balls, try to use the club, roll the bills, etc)

Toddler pool

Puppet Show where the towel animals come to life

Also we like comedy so we liked that most nights they had a family friendly comedy show... We wheeled him in his stroller and enjoyed a few laughs

Oh and he liked the all you can eat ice cream- he had a half filled cone a few times during the seven days

He liked tea time surprisingly

We also have purchased from Amazon the refillable snack pouches - he loves yogurt. So we'd fill one each morning as part of a mess free breakfast.

A lot of the staff seemed to know his name and would give him hi fives and hellos when they saw him walking throughout the ship.

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I can't speak for RCCL because it was not my favorite when I took my first cruise in 2000 with them; the staff seemed surely, the room tiny and the food just so so. We started cruising again in 2007 when my son was just shy of 3 and went Carnival. He has loved every cruise that he has been on, which is now more than 10, and includes a few Princess. Which BTW, my son preferred Princess (he was about 8-9 when we went). Carnival is VERY family friendly, especially for week long cruises in the Caribbean. They truly cater to all ages. Don't hesitate to try them. And as many many posters report, the mainstream lines like Carnival, RCI and Norwegian are far more alike than different. My advice is pick the itinerary and ship that appeals to you most and enjoy.