S
scottandluan
Guest
Hello all, Happy New Year,
Advice greatly welcome for this cruise virgin couple. We are in our early 30's, cruising with a 2 1/2 year old and trying to decide between a February; NCL 7 day Eastern Caribbean (balcony room, Norwegian Dawn), 9 day eastern Caribbean (ocean view, Norwegian Jewel) or 8 day eastern Caribbean Carnival (ocean view, Carnival Freedom). We are thinking NAC or Carnival over the rest because they seem to have the best program for under three year olds....yes, better than Disney. We also love the fact that NCL's programs tend to have a better time ashore than at sea ratio than most others. We think it will be seeing the new places that is the real holiday but are eager to hear if we are being naive, are the port visits really just tourist traps (we are well seasoned travellers, but newbies in North America)?
Here is the kicker, we are getting a bit put off by what we are reading on customer reviews on various websites. They seem to be fairly negative, especially on NCL (and the Dawn in particular). We are not especially particular people so we can deal with overworked service staff who don't overly pamper us. I guess the major questions we would love some help with before throwing down the cash are;
1. With a young one, our love of partying with is now well tempered with a preference for ensuring the right things by our two year old. Some people say Carnival is the cruise for boozed up 20-somethings (us 5 years ago), other say that is rubbish and they have moved on. From what I can see they seem fairly family friendly, the truth lies somewhere in between?
2. The floor plan of the Norwegian Jewel Ocean view room seems to fit in a double and nothing else. Does anyone know what they plan for us to do with the 2 year old? The other rooms all seem to have a couch that turns into a bed. The NCL Jewel ocean view rooms don't seem to - I will call and ask the cruise line, but I'm sure they are going to say "no, its perfect for the three of you". From what I can see by small website photos it looks like the carnival rooms are a bit bigger, is that fair? I wonder if a NCL Balcony room is bigger then a Carnival Ocean view?
3. Could any cruiser with a 2-3 year old say what they found was a good cruise length?
4. What should one budget as a per day additional cost to your cruise?
General advice about Carnival vs NCL and indeed, cruising the Caribbean in general will be very much welcomed!
Cheers
Scott
Advice greatly welcome for this cruise virgin couple. We are in our early 30's, cruising with a 2 1/2 year old and trying to decide between a February; NCL 7 day Eastern Caribbean (balcony room, Norwegian Dawn), 9 day eastern Caribbean (ocean view, Norwegian Jewel) or 8 day eastern Caribbean Carnival (ocean view, Carnival Freedom). We are thinking NAC or Carnival over the rest because they seem to have the best program for under three year olds....yes, better than Disney. We also love the fact that NCL's programs tend to have a better time ashore than at sea ratio than most others. We think it will be seeing the new places that is the real holiday but are eager to hear if we are being naive, are the port visits really just tourist traps (we are well seasoned travellers, but newbies in North America)?
Here is the kicker, we are getting a bit put off by what we are reading on customer reviews on various websites. They seem to be fairly negative, especially on NCL (and the Dawn in particular). We are not especially particular people so we can deal with overworked service staff who don't overly pamper us. I guess the major questions we would love some help with before throwing down the cash are;
1. With a young one, our love of partying with is now well tempered with a preference for ensuring the right things by our two year old. Some people say Carnival is the cruise for boozed up 20-somethings (us 5 years ago), other say that is rubbish and they have moved on. From what I can see they seem fairly family friendly, the truth lies somewhere in between?
2. The floor plan of the Norwegian Jewel Ocean view room seems to fit in a double and nothing else. Does anyone know what they plan for us to do with the 2 year old? The other rooms all seem to have a couch that turns into a bed. The NCL Jewel ocean view rooms don't seem to - I will call and ask the cruise line, but I'm sure they are going to say "no, its perfect for the three of you". From what I can see by small website photos it looks like the carnival rooms are a bit bigger, is that fair? I wonder if a NCL Balcony room is bigger then a Carnival Ocean view?
3. Could any cruiser with a 2-3 year old say what they found was a good cruise length?
4. What should one budget as a per day additional cost to your cruise?
General advice about Carnival vs NCL and indeed, cruising the Caribbean in general will be very much welcomed!
Cheers
Scott