Carnival, Royal Carribean, Princess, Norwegian oh my ......

[cougarcb16]

Aritey then ... after two months of reading CC and dreaming about how amazing a cruise would be I took my first cruise last week. And saying that it was amazing would be an understatement. Now I am in Post Cruise Depression and slowly getting better. Btw, PCD is horrible, just horrible. Now to help ease the pain I am starting to plan the cruise for next year.

 

Okay so my first ship was the Imagination. It was a nice ship I must say. But I thought it was too small for me. Also the wonder of the larger ships is something that is enchanting me. Now this is how the largest ships in my good looking companies fleet look like ....

 

RCCL Voyager Class- 138000 Tons

Princess Grand Class- 109000 Tons

Carnival Conquest Class- 110000 Tons

NCL - Couldnt find, but they do seem nice ......

 

Now here is where it goes down. I loved Carnival and the type of cruise they had. But I also want to try out the huge RCCL ships which Carnival cant compare to and also the Princess ships that have a lot of nice things. NCL also is a possibilty. There is a lot of information and I dont really know how the other lines compare to the amount of fun and things to do on Carnival.

 

Any input of any kind would be apprciated. Thanks.

[cougarcb16]

Anyone please?

[Lauri32]

I've sailed on Carnival, Disney, and RCCL. All were good for different reasons. I sailed on the Ecstacy & Imagination and then wanted something bigger. (Sailed Disney in between those 2) So we tried RCCL Navigator. Loved it wasn't too big for us. We took the kids on that one and they had a blast. Decided to give Carnival another try and sailed on the Glory. Enjoyed it, too. But as others have mentioned the layout is kind of weird. We did RCCL Mariner last year and weren't as pleased with it as the Navigator. Now have another Navigator cruise booked for this Oct. Sailed on Carnival Legend (which is smaller than Glory, but bigger than Imagination) in Jan and it was just perfect. Layout was great and the Legend has become my new favorite Carnival ship.

 

Personally, if I had to choose between the Conquest class or the Voyager class, I'd go with Voyager class.

[cougarcb16]

Thanks. Is there a real big difference with the activity levels between Carnival and RCCL?

[Lauri32]

Well it depends on what you're looking for. As far as the party atmosphere goes, it does seem to die down a little earlier on RCCL, maybe 1 or 1:30am. Other activities are pretty similar, though. They do all the games the same.

 

Of course, you have the ice skating rinks on Voyager class and the unbelievable ice shows. They also have a "dancing through the decades" dance in Studio B one night, which is always fun for the whole family. The Quest game is fun to watch (adults only) as some participants can get a little out of control.

 

They don't do the song & dance in the dining room every night on RCCL. Maybe every other night, if that. Which is fine with me. After awhile, you just can't watch them do the Macarena one more time.

[cougarcb16]

Arite thanks. The fun level is mostly for my kids as I like to sit back and relax. People say that no one can beat Carnival in fun but I know my boy would love the rock wall and the sports court. Would you recommend I go on another Carnival first or go and try RCCL first? (Iternararies arent that important for me, but I dont want to go to Grand Cayman again.)

[Lauri32]

We've never taken the kids on Carnival, just RCCL. I know people say that Carnival has a great kids program, though. But with the rock climbing, the inline skating, the mini golf, sports court, teen clubs, Johnny Rockets, the "mall like" promenade, I just don't see how kids could NOT enjoy themselves on a Voyager class ship.

 

How old is your son?

[cougarcb16]

I dont think he would go into the Carnival Program anyways. He is 15.

[Lauri32]

oh yeah, he'll have a good time on RCCL. My girls are 14 and they loved it. So many choices & activities.

[cougarcb16]

That sounds good. thanks for the advice.

[judyf]

I agree at age 15 I would also suggest the Voyager class. He would enjoy the extras provided and should keep him busy. I've read that Camp Carnival is great but I do believe for the younger children.

 

Both CCL and RCCL are great!!! We loved both lines and I will book another RCCL someday but our next cruise is in 18 days on the CCL Legend. I decided on the CCL due to a few reasons, price was great, 8 day cruise, different ports (we are doing the Exotic Western Caribben cruise to Panama and Costa Rica), and we enjoy the night life on the CCL.

 

You will like the ice show, the parades and the breakfast room service on the RCCL!

 

Have fun!

[UDcc123]

I've sailed Adventure of the Seas (Royal) and the Valor (Carnival). Both are in the classes of ships you've described. Here's the differences as I see them:

 

- The extra 20 tons on Royal IS noticed. You definitely could tell there were a lot of people on the Carnival ship (not a good thing), whereas it didn't seem as crowded on the Royal ship.

 

- The Carnival ship had more activities in general (trivia, etc), but almost no one went to them.

 

- I didn't see as many teenagers on Royal as I did on Carnival, but the teenagers that I saw on Carnival didn't seem to do that much, just kind of hung out. There is a teen program for them on Carnival (separate from Camp Carnival), but it didn't seem to be anything special...just a few separate activities for them each day

 

- Royal was more of a "relaxing" ship for adults. Less drunken college kids. It's own adult pool/hot tub area on the ship. On the other hand, Carnival had more clubs and more action going on around it. So it depends what you're looking for there.

 

- Why didn't you like Grand Cayman? Did you do a snorkeling/Stingray City tour? If not, I'd highly recommend it! And I would recommend going through a private company. We went through Captain Marvins and only had about 30-40 people on our tour (vs the 200-300 you see for the cruise tours). The guides were able to give a much more personal touch to each of us through the private tour (and they're cheaper!).

[JrMafia90]

We are looking to try RCCL and Princess next year. Princess has freshwater pools. I believe the only cruiseline that does have freshwater pools. Also, RCCL has Rock-climbing wall, mini-golf, ice skating, and in-line skating. Princess also had mini-golf. WE are going to book the Freedom of the Seas, that will be the largest ship in the world when it comes out next May, it is also a RCCL ship.

[pazooter]

As you can see by our signature, we jump back and forth between NCL and Carnival. We love them both, for different reasons. Tops for us has been price, which allows us to indulge more often in this addiction.

 

Good luck and go with a positive attitude on whatever cruiseline you choose next.

Cathy