Escape or Getaway or Carnival Magic

[Sunkissed Mommy]

We're going back and forth between three cruises.

Carnival Magic or NCL Escape or NCL Getaway.

 

We've sailed on Carnival and NCL in the past before.

 

It would be myself, husband, and our 3 year old. I do not have experience with the kids clubs on either line. As adults we like that all 3 ships have a nice water feature/slides/etc.

 

The Magic is the best price. Getaway is is $60 more. Escape is $200 more than Magic. Getaway & Escape include 3 specialty dinners.

 

We live 1 hour from the Port of Miami (Getaway & Escape) so family could drop us off and 2.5 hours from Canaveral (Magic), we'd have to drive and pay for parking.

 

I like the itinerary on the Magic because it goes to two places we've never been, but I'm not sure we'd even do excursions because of our 3 year old. (we like to be adventurous and he limits that sometimes!)

 

This won't be my son's 1st cruise, it will be his 9th, he's a good cruiser :)

 

So if you were me, what would you do? (also cross posted for even feedback)

[Time4wine]

I haven't been on the Magic or Escape but have been on the Getaway and have quite a bit of experience with Carnival's kids program. When our kids were younger they absolutely LOVED camp carnival. They do a great job engaging the kids and keep it fun all week. We sailed RCI a couple times and the kids hated the kids program and refused to go back. Now they are older so they didn't partake in NCL's kid program much when we sailed the Getaway last year. I know for me, one of the big benefits of cruising with kids was being able to get some time alone with my husband. So the fact Carnival had such a great program really drove our decisions back then.

 

 

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Edited March 18, 2016 by Time4wine

[Sunkissed Mommy]

Thank you, this is helpful.

 

My son has been on Royal many times and we were happy because they had a nursery onboard and he did well there. But now that he's 3 it opens up many more cruise lines with kids clubs.

 

I'm really conflicted. My husband is okay with whatever I choose (it's for my birthday). :)

[Time4wine]

Well whichever you choose hope you have a fantastic birthday and a fun cruise!

 

 

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[Noelle2375]

We are booked on Magic in August for my birthday! Will be our first time on Carnival. We just got off the Getaway in January. My kids are 6 and 4 and they had a GREAT time in the kids club and asked to go back every night. They also LOVED the water slides (they have one specifically for younger kids). We had a great time on the Getaway. We are booked on the Escape for January 2017 and heard great things about it as well. I really don't think you can go wrong with either. I do know that Magic just had the 2.0 upgrades in a dry dock a few weeks ago but I do like the promotion NCL is offering. Good luck with your choice!

[Trumpster]

Magic, like ccl kids club more. Escape's ports are pretty meh.

Suess at sea is a fun program.

 

Camp Ocean is open through lunch which allows you to have lunch more flexibly than completely closed splash academy.

 

Also ccl kids clubs have dinner for the campers, they can if they want eat with the club and friends, they can, then they take them to the club. Allowing adult dinners.

 

Again splash academy is just closed.

[beckyjohns]

I have not been on the Magic, but have been on many, many Carnival cruises (including Dream which would be very similar). Also been on both RCCL Allure and Oasis, and NCL Getaway. All times with my kids, who were between ages 3-8 on all those cruises.

 

I love the service on Carnival and I've always felt like the crew bends over backwards to make kids happy (in the dining rooms, etc). The kids love the waterslides and could spend all day there! They also love the kids camps. Beg to go there daily. Another nice thing about Carnival is that they are open over dinner time and will take the kids to dinner if you want to have a night to yourselves.

 

My kids HATED the kids camps on RCCL.

 

We went on Getaway last year, first trip on NCL. Loved the waterslides, ropes course, etc. My kids did enjoy the kids camp there, too. Downside is that they can't eat dinner with camp. Most nights, we all go to the dining room together, but it's nice to have 1 night alone and be able to drop the kids at camp for dinner, which you can't do on NCL. Other thing I didn't love about NCL was that, with freestyle dining, you never have the same waiter. Not the end of the world, but I always found it nice on Carnival because they would always be ready for the kids each night (highchair if you need it, crayons, glass of milk, kids menu). With NCL, you get a new waiter each night, which means waiting for a highchair, waiting for kids menus, etc. For adults, not such a big deal, but when it takes 30 minutes to get a cup of milk, it gets a little old.

[Sunkissed Mommy]

I really appreciate everyone's responses. I think the convenience and flexibility of Camp Ocean is definitely a huge benefit.

 

I have heard about NCL closing during those precious meal-time hours! My son isnt the best in restaurants, so we might really appreciate the 1 on 1 time!

 

Being that my son is 3, he might find Escape/Getaway more appealing when hes older and can do the crazy stuff.

The Magic has a Waterworks area identical to the Breeze right? We loved the Breeze and my son would love that area too.

 

I've also loved Carnival menus more than any other cruise line.

I think my mind is almost made up. ;)

Edited March 18, 2016 by Sunkissed Mommy

[bruadhin]

I do have to agree with beckyjohns about dinner service. A set dinner is nice when they have everything all ready for you and your child. It isn't as big a deal now that our son is older, but it was definitely nice knowing the highchair or booster seat and crayons were waiting on him.

 

Also I think the OP is right, a lot of the activities on the Escape and Getaway are geared towards older kids.

[Jim The Lizard]

Wait a minute - what time does NCL kids club open for dinner? When we took our child on Gem, we had no issues hitting the buffet with her, dropping her off, then getting dinner (Just us!) in a Dining Room well before they closed.

[Sunkissed Mommy]

Wait a minute - what time does NCL kids club open for dinner? When we took our child on Gem, we had no issues hitting the buffet with her, dropping her off, then getting dinner (Just us!) in a Dining Room well before they closed.

 

My friend complained about this same thing when she went on the Epic a few years ago. We were kid-less when we went, so it didn't occur to us then.

[beckyjohns]

Wait a minute - what time does NCL kids club open for dinner? When we took our child on Gem, we had no issues hitting the buffet with her, dropping her off, then getting dinner (Just us!) in a Dining Room well before they closed.

 

They open at 7. Yes, you can always feed the kids at the buffet, drop them at camp, then go to dinner afterwards. On Carnival, you can drop them at camp at 5 and they will take all the kids to dinner together.

[Trumpster]

Wait a minute - what time does NCL kids club open for dinner? When we took our child on Gem, we had no issues hitting the buffet with her, dropping her off, then getting dinner (Just us!) in a Dining Room well before they closed.

 

 

Splash academy is closed from 5-7

 

Yes you can drop them off at 7, after waiting in line, and you can still do an adults dinner if you want to eat around 7:30 or so.

 

Carnival is simply more flexible as they feed the kids special kids meals and allow and extra 1.5 (ish) hours to get eating done, that hour and a half can be the difference between making a show or not making a show.

 

Carnival's hours and policies are simply better in this regard.

 

With a 3 year old the Magic is the choice.

 

and yes the waterworks are identical to the breeze.

Edited March 19, 2016 by Trumpster

[breezy270]

I really appreciate everyone's responses. I think the convenience and flexibility of Camp Ocean is definitely a huge benefit.

 

I have heard about NCL closing during those precious meal-time hours! My son isnt the best in restaurants, so we might really appreciate the 1 on 1 time!

 

Being that my son is 3, he might find Escape/Getaway more appealing when hes older and can do the crazy stuff.

The Magic has a Waterworks area identical to the Breeze right? We loved the Breeze and my son would love that area too.

 

I've also loved Carnival menus more than any other cruise line.

I think my mind is almost made up. ;)

 

 

I have sailed Magic and Breeze...the water park areas on both are the same as far as I remember.... I agree with another post about the dinner on NCL...I cruised without kids. However, the waiters we had were amazing with the kids in our area of the MDR. They did tricks and entertained the kids and on nights that they danced and sang they got the kids up and participating. It was great. I have cruised NCL but not Getaway or Escape yet. I loved on Breeze that the entire deck was dedicated to the kids camps and arcade. The entire cruise the kids had this deck to themselves. For adults I feel NCL has more entertainment options and activities compared to carnival but for kids I think from what I have observed for kids carnival is better. The water park area alone is awesome with more than just water slides but a dump bucket and sprayers and slide just for the smaller kids. It is a hard choice to choose...good luck and enjoy your cruise!