carnival vs NCL Mexican Riviera

S

soupcasket

Guest
We are planning a cruise this winter to the Mexican Riviera. We are a family of 4: 2 adults, 2 kids ages 8 and 10. My sister's family will be going too: 2 adults, 2 kids ages 5 and 6; plus my parents in their 70's. We are trying to decide whether to take the Norwegian line or the Carnival. I'd love to hear comparisons.

So far I have learned that the mini suites on carnival have bunk beds. A plus because my girls would hate sharing a bed. I think the mini suite on NCL has a fold out bed that 2 kids would have to share.
Another difference I have heard is in regards to meals. NCL has more options and times, but they charge extra for a lot of restaurants. Carnival you have to eat at specific times. My sis is a real foodie so she would prefer more flexibility and better quality food over the bed situation.
I would love to hear from anyone who has traveled with 2 kids on either ship.

Thanks!

Julie
 
M

Mbandy

Guest
Hi Julie and =welcome to Cruise @ddicts.

In my experience, if you are booking a cabin for four people there will be a berth for a third and fourth passenger, not just a sofa bed. So if you book the mini-suite on NCL just make sure that is specified. I have also seen cabins that have one pull out sofa and one upper bunk.

I have never cruised "freestyle" but I have heard that you sometimes have to wait in line for dinner. Either that or make reservations in advance which seems to me negates the advantage of freestyle.

I think Carnival would be more "kid friendly" and would also be fine for your parents.

just my =twocents
 
C

Cruzman

Guest
If I may. My experience with NCL was not very pretty! The only dining venues that do not come with an extra charge, typically require long wait times and the food is only bad to fair. This, in my opinion, is by design so that passengers will be encouraged to dine in the extra charge venues. NCL cabins, except those at the very high end, are typically significantly smaller than Carnival, and the bedding leaves a lot to be desired. I also found the service to be quite impersonal on NCL, whereas on Carnival I have become accustomed to being recognized by name by many of the crew by the second day. Carnival simply does everything better, and usually at a very affordable price. And that's my tuppence.
 
C

Cruizer

Guest
I've been on two NCL cruises covering a total of 21 nights, including eight nights on the NCL Star to the Mexican Riviera in October 2005 (at that time it was eight nights and went as far south as Acapulco). I've also been on five Carnival cruises, including the Carnival Pride to the Mexican Riviera in May 2004.

First of all, I'm not sure what you mean by a mini suite on Carnival. You could be referring to a category 9A cabin or a category 11 cabin. Carnival doesn't have any cabins that it refers to as a mini suite. If you are going on the Carnival Pride, the category 9A cabins are bigger than the normal cabins (category 8 and under). However, that is only true for the Pride and the other three Spirit class ships. If you are going on the Carnival Splendor (starting on April 5), the category 9 cabins are the same size as the standard sized cabins (category 8 and under). The difference is a category 9 cabin is a rear corner cabin with a wrap-around balcony. On the Spirit class ship the rear corner cabins with wrap around balconies are category 11 cabins that only sleep two. NCL does have cabins that it refers to as mini suites.

Carnival has an alternative restaurant that your sister might be interested in. It cost an extra $30 per person. It is called the David Supper Club. I ate there one night. It was very good. The NCL Star does have many more restaurants, including the two main restaurants, an Italian restaurant, a Tex-Mex restaurant, an Oriental restaurant, a French restaurant, a steakhouse and a Benihana style restaurant.

To describe all the workings of NCL's Freestyle would take a while. I'll give you the short version. There are three kinds of restaurants:

1) Free - no reservations (the main restaurants)
2) Free - reservations recommended (the specialty restaurants)
3) Extra cost - reservations recommended

Sometimes the extra cost restaurants can be had for half price. If so, the time will be listed in the Freestyle Daily (the ship's newspaper). However, this will be during the slow time. When I was on the Star, that was the first hour the restaurants were open.

In my opinion the free food on Carnival is better than the free (main restaurants) food on NCL. It is about equal to the free (specialty restaurants) on NCL. The food in the David Supper Club is about the same quality as the food in the extra cost restaurants on NCL.

My experience in the main restaurant on the NCL Star was not good (not bad - just not good). I only eat there once. My first night I enjoyed the outdoor BBQ and one night I ate (for free) in the Italian restaurant (I don't know if it is still free). The BBQ chicken was great. The Italian restaurant was good. The other five nights I ate at extra cost restaurants. Yes, the food and service is better at the extra cost restaurants. Who is going to pay extra for the same quality food and service as you can get for free?

Otherwise, the two lines are very similar. The Pride has a water slide, the Star as two (right next to each other). The Star has a better kids pool than the Pride. However, the Star's main pools are not heated and cannot be covered. The Pride has at least one heated pool (the one we were in) and has one main pool that can be covered.

If I had a family like yours (two adults and two children) I would choose the Pride. There are two reasons. One, in my opinion, the overall quality of Carnival exceeds that of NCL. Two, with a family of four, the extra cost restaurants are going to add up fast (if you choose to eat there). On the Pride we let the kids eat early and sent them to Camp Carnival. Then the three adults had dinner in the David Supper Club one night. Of course you can do the same thing on the Star, however, I prefer the set dinner times of Carnival over the Freestyle meal service of NCL. So, you can either pay extra for every meal or you can deal with the Freestyle method of dining. As I said, I prefer the set dining times.

I didn't write a review for my cruise on the Pride. However, I will say that it is currently one of my two favorite cruises (I have been on twelve). I did write a review for my cruise on the Star. It is so long I had to split it into two parts. If you want to read it, click on the links below ...

Part one - http://www.cruise-addicts.com/reviews/readreview.php?id=176
Part two - http://www.cruise-addicts.com/reviews/readreview.php?id=177
 
F

fpslim

Guest
I have cruised exclusively on Carnival; I have never gone to bed hungry. I have seen the ads for NCL's "Freestyle" cruising, and as with most ads, exaggeration is used to get the point across. Carnival's crew does not herd passengers around the ship in jackboots with clocks in hand. When you book, you are usually given 2 to 4 (depending on the size of the ship and number of dining rooms) dining times to choose from. We usually choose a late seating, so we won't feel rushed if the ship is in port that day. Depending what you do on any given day, you may decide to skip the dining room altogether and either eat at the buffet or one of the delis. Or there is also 24 hour pizza and room service.
Just remember, you are on vacation, and trust me, you will have ample opportunity to eat!
 
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