NCL VS CARNIVAL W/KIDS

[kay e]

PLANNING A 7 DAY WESTERN CARIBBEAN CRUISE WITH OUR 2 BOYS (9 AND 14YOA) WHO LOVE SPORTS & POOLS. MY HUSBAND & I HAVE CRUISED CARNIVAL AND ROYAL, AND ALL 4 OF US HAVE DONE DISNEY. TRYING TO DECIDE BETWEEN NCL JEWEL AND CARNIVAL TRIUMPH. LIKE THE IDEA OF FREESTYLE DINING AND THE PRIVATE ISLAND OF NCL HOWEVER HAVE ALWAYS ENJOYED CARNIVAL AND WONDER IF CARNIVAL IS MORE KID FRIENDLY? ANY COMMENTS WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED!

[Love2Cruise2]

My husband and I have also cruised many times. Before the kids and with the kids who are now 12 & 15. We found that Royal had a very good kids program. 2 years ago we went on a Carnival Cruise and found that the kids program was lacking. There was no supervision at all! My kids were disappointed with Carnival. This April we will be going on NCL Dawn. How was the kids club and the teen club. Any info you can give would be greatly appreciated.

[LisaP]

Kay, in my opinion, you can't go wrong with either ship. Both have great pool areas with water slides -- although I give the edge to Carnival Triumph here. Norwegian Jewel has a pretty neat-looking hangout for teens, including their own Internet stations.

Some other considerations: cabin size (Carnival Triumph is better here, IMO), dining options (NCL Jewel is better, IMO), and itinerary. Note that while NCL's Private Island is nice, occasionally the sea conditions prevent the Captain from stopping there as it is a tendering port.

Love2Cruise2, I haven't been on Norwegian Dawn, so I can't help with the kids program. Yet, I've found it's pretty common for the programs to allow pre-teens and teens to sign themselves in and out of the program on most lines. Of course, you can do what we do and not give permission for them to do so... even though your kids might not be pleased with this decision.