If not Disney then.....

[Cooltrainer]

Other than Disney... What is the next best cruise ship?

 

[suzanp66]

I'd love to hear everyone's opinions on this one too!
I absolutely LOVED our Disney cruise, but due to the cost, the next one I think I'm going to try is the Royal Caribbean Mariner (I've heard they have a good kids club too.)

 

[BABYJOSIE98]

I am booked on RCL for Jan 05 on The Enchantment of the Seas.......I am excited to see how it compares...This is a girl trip with no kids and we got an awesome rate.....

Disney will always be my favorite!! I am REALLY looking forward to my 7 day in October 05....I have a while to wait.

My friend just got back from a Princess cruise on the NEW " Caribbean Princess" and they loved it.....

 

[hydster]

We have had GREAT times on (I can hear the groans starting already) Carnival!!! Our kids LOVED LOVED LOVED the kids clubs on Carnival because unlike Disney they are not overrun with kids. They also liked it because Mom and Dad were able to go down the waterslide with them even though the water was salt water we had a great time!

Princess and Celebrity are really "nice" cruises which rival Disney in the upper scale of service. Our kids thought those 2 lines were ok for the kids club.

Royal Caribbean is a lot of fun because of the rock climbing wall and the mini golf along with the ice rink and such and our kids did pretty well in the kids club there as well.

I think the only line we absolutely hated was Norwegian.

I also think you have to go into it remembering that all lines and ships offer a different vacation just in their own way and you really can't compare one line to another because what one does well another one won't and so on. We had fun on Disney but we had just as much fun if not more on our Carnival cruises for less money.

JMHO
Heidi

 

[tink5]

Just wondering what was so bad with Norwegian?

 

[Beechparty]

Carnival's teen program really had nothing. Our three teens 13,14,18 did nothing with other teens. There really was not a lot for them to do. If I had teens and wasn't going with Disney, I would go with Royal Caribbean.

 

[hydster]

Norwegian was terrible from start to finish for us. NOTHING went right from the booking until we got home and they did nothing to help us out of any of it.

We had brand new luggage (purchased solely for that trip) arrive in our room shredded from who knows what with 1/2 our clothes missing out of them and no offer to find the clothes or find out what happened with them. They offered no compensation for the shredded luggage and the Guest Services actually laughed at us when we walked up to them with it.

Our flights that they did for us were messed up and we had paid an air deviation fee to make sure we got the flights we wanted on the airline we wanted and they didn't honor it and put us on a flight from SLC to LAX and then from LAX to DFW and then DFW to MIA and we were on the red eye from DFW to MIA arriving in MIA at 6am the day of the cruise and they wouldn't change the air for us so we ended up booking our own air and then fighting Norwegian for 6 months to get the original money back for the messed up flights we paid to deviate on.

Our room reeked of smoke and vomit (not a balcony cabin either) and they would only move us to another cabin IF we paid the extra $$$ to "upgrade".

We ordered an embarkation gift for my parents to be in their room and they never got it and we got charged for it.

We ended up with someone else's charges charged to our room, and this was the only thing that was resolved quickly and fairly painless on the whole trip.

I think Norwegian was the most unhelpful cruiseline we've ever tried and for those reasons we will never go back. It was the cruise from ****!

Heidi

 

[TheWog]

Originally posted by BABYJOSIE98
I am booked on RCL for Jan 05 on The Enchantment of the Seas.......I am excited to see how it compares...This is a girl trip with no kids and we got an awesome rate.....

Disney will always be my favorite!! I am REALLY looking forward to my 7 day in October 05....I have a while to wait.

My friend just got back from a Princess cruise on the NEW " Caribbean Princess" and they loved it.....

We are also booked on the Enchantment in January of 05. The ship is almost idenitical in size and it had the itinerary (5 days) we wanted. We are going with another couple, no children, so we wanted the nightlife and casino and things like that. RCI for the price and ships seems to be my choice for the next best cruise line.

 

[tink5]

GeeWizz Hydster, that sounds like I nightmare! I don't think I would go on Norwegian.

 

[samoyed]

Funny you should ask that question. I was just reading the new Frommer Cruise's for the Caribbean book.

Let's face it Disney is the only Cruise Line with a 5 rating for children's programs.

The only two other lines that rated a 4 were: Carnival and Royal Caribbean (of course their newer ships --ie mega ships)

All other cruise lines were rated as a 3 or below.

I'm also looking for a cruise next year as my in-law will not cruise Disney.

 

[skyhawk]

Went on RCL Majesty of the Seas last year - our first, and until this coming August, our only cruise, so nothing to compare it to, however, we had a fantastic time. It was only 3 nights, but the ship was clean, the crew helpful and attentive - no complaints at all, except we weren't particularly fond of our table-mates, but that's not RCL's fault. Jetblue lost our luggage, and RCL went out of their way to work on helping us get it all back (even though not their fault), and even gave us some 'consolation' gifts to help us feel better. Oh - tiny cabins, but what the heck!

 

[Minnie&Mickey]

Originally posted by Beechparty
Carnival's teen program really had nothing. Our three teens 13,14,18 did nothing with other teens. There really was not a lot for them to do. If I had teens and wasn't going with Disney, I would go with Royal Caribbean.

Just curious, which Carnival ship were you on? We are getting ready to put a deposit down on Carnival's new ship, the Miracle for next summer. The TA spoke very highly of it and said that it would be a great cruise for our kids. One will be 17 on the cruise and the other will be almost 21. My youngest loved the Disney Cruise and spent the entire time with teens in Common Grounds and at the teen beach. Our oldest didn't have anything to do, don't get me wrong, she had fun but there weren't others her age to hang out with. The TA that we spoke to yesterday assured us that we won't have that problem next year on the Miracle. I was thinking about RCLs Mariner of the Seas, but he felt like the Miracle would have more for them to do after dark. So, before I put down this money...what ship were you on?

 

[callahanjulie10]

We are cruising Mariner of the Seas in Oct 2004- this will be our 6th cruise- the other 5 have been DCL. We decided this because DD will be 13 and for the last 2 cruises on DCL she has been a little bored with the activities offered in the Lab. The had about 3 acitivities planned during each day- the rest of the time was Stormin' the Lab which meant play videos, computer games, listen to music. She enjoys more physical activity. Due to this- we decided on Mariner (also out of Port Canaveral). Not only do they have planned teen activities, but ice skating rink, putt putt golf, rollerblade track, rock climbing wall, etc. We are paying about the same for Mariner as we did DCL with the Florida resident rate. Good luck

 

[NJ Cruisers]

Carnival worked out great for us. Our DS4 liked the club much better on Carnival. Our ship had an outdoor playground (slide, pool, pirate ship). And I think the food was better on Carnival - it's not like it used to be!!! Disney has bigger rooms, better shows for kids, Mickey Mouse, and we love Castaway Cay. The waiters and everything about Disney is more kid-friendly.

We'll be doing the Magic one more time (we rebooked while on board) but after that we'll probably go back to Carnival again - because it is so much cheaper.

Diane

 

[JerseyMom]

Hi Cooltrainer,

I would recommend going to the cruise critic website (www.cruisecritic.com) and read their reviews as well as the member reviews. Also, pay attention to the member ratings. On the home page is a list of their member-rated top ten ships list. I believe that the RCCI ships are right up there in the top ten. I believe that the Magic comes in at about number 5 or 6.

My next cruise will be on NCL - mainly because it is out of NYC and my parents are going with us - they don't want to fly anywhere for the cruise. Not sure how I'm going to like Free-Style cruising. I happen to love DCL's dining rotation system. I wish more cruise lines did that.

 

[mmouse37]

We have been on DCL 10 times as a family and I have been on a few other cruiselines as well.

We just booked an extended family cruise with 15 cabins on the Carnival Legend built in 2002 for next June out of NYC. It is 8 nights and we are all looking forward to trying something different. The kids (17, 21, 20) are looking forward to more nightlife than they had on DCL). They loved DCL but would like something to compare it to. It sails from NYC to San Juan, St. Maarten and Tortola with 4 sea days...

DCL will always be my favorite but I am also getting excited about the trip. I have sailed on Carnival twice before and had wonderful experiences both times.

Minniemoms.....care to join us!!!

MJ

 

[jrose529]

We've sailed on RCL, Celebrity & Carnival. This trip in July will be our first on DCL. Out of the three lines, we enjoyed RCL the most and Carnival the least. In fact we hated Carnival and would never reccomend it. The first Carnival cruise was on one of their old ships that has since been retired. It should have been retired many years earlier! The second Carnival cruise, (we decided to give them another chance), was worse. We had requested late seating for dinner and when we arrived in our cabin, we found to our dismay that we were not scheduled for either seating. After standing on a rather long line to find out what had happened, we were told that there was no room at either seating and we should just order room service. My dh was less than thrilled. After much complaining, we were squeezed into a table with another couple celebrating their 25 anniversary with their family, only their family was seated at the other end of the dining room! Everyone at our table was annoyed that first night. We finally all got reassigned after much complaining, only to be seated with a group that included three very young children at the late seating who were much too young and tired to be eating at such a late hour. I won't go into detail about their unruly behavior. I love kids and have kids of my own, and I felt really sorry for them. They were too hungry to wait until 8:30 for dinner. That was just the begining of a terrible trip. The ship was so overcrowded that we never found deck chairs and had to sit on the deck floor if we wanted to read. The only free deck was the nude deck. That was not our idea of fun. We couldn't wait to get off.

RCL on the other had was wonderful, and Celebrity was nice, but the kids clubs were nearly nonexistant. My dd who was 11 at the time, luckily had the daughter's of friends who were sailing with us. My ds (16) was bored to death! We are all looking forward to DCL. My dd is now 15 and hopes to meet many teens. My ds (20) won't be traveling with us this time. I hope we all have a great time.

Judy

 

[DMS_cruisers04]

Okay, I just gotta know, how is it possible that you even got a cabin if there was no room "at either seating" for you for dinner?
You can't honestly think anyone is suppose to believe that there was no room for you at dinner and you were told to order room service for the week. Not even on Carnival would that ever happen.

We've only done Carnival so far, and now that they're doing Mediterranean we may not have to change lines, and our first DCL will be this Halloween. DD has only been on one and she loved the kids club. It as a 5-day and I must say the serve was just average, nothing spectacular. Everything was just average. The two 7-day cruises we did prior were wonderful. Even the Mexican Riviera cruise, were we missed 2 ports and ended up in Ensenada because of horrible weather, ended up being a great cruise for us. Everyone was trying their hardest to keep us as happy as possible, even though weather is something they can't control, and that was the best service I think we've ever had.
JMO.

 

[hydster]

DMS--I was thinking the EXACT same thing..how is it possible that they wouldn't have room for someone to eat???? I find it very hard to believe that ANY cruiseline would tell you "sorry you have to eat room service because we can't fit you in". The late seating thing with kids is an issue on all lines as well! We were waitlisted for Early seating on our first DCL cruise and had to go to late seating the first night, although we did finally get it changed to early my kids were tired too. The PARENTS of the children you were eating with should have known how their kids were and fed them before dinner or tag teamed it and one eat one night and one the next while the other stayed with the kids and not blamed the cruiseline...it happens on ALL cruiselines even the beloved Disney. Now the deck chair issue is something else..heck even Disney has that issue with people saving so many chairs that you can't get one.

We love Carnival and our kids absolutely adore the kids clubs on Carnival mostly because there aren't 1000 kids in them on any given sailing! They have given us great service every time we've sailed on them. I guess it's different strokes for different folks but I'm glad I'm not the only one on here who enjoyed Carnival! Maybe I'm just "trailer trash" and have no idea what a scum hole Carnival really is?

JMO

Heidi

 

[CoMickey]

Originally posted by hydster

We love Carnival and our kids absolutely adore the kids clubs on Carnival mostly because there aren't 1000 kids in them on any given sailing! They have given us great service every time we've sailed on them. I guess it's different strokes for different folks but I'm glad I'm not the only one on here who enjoyed Carnival! Maybe I'm just "trailer trash" and have no idea what a scum hole Carnival really is?

JMO

Heidi

I used to be a travel agent and I have been on several cruise lines and one of my favorites was Carnival! I sailed on 4 Carnivals the last being the Insperation (I think that was the name...I'm getting old!) that went to Belize, Costa Rica and Panama. I think they have a different ship doing that route now but that ship was beautiful.

I have also sailed on RCCL, Premier (now let's talk horrible...that would be it! But it was free, so heck..why not?) and DCL. The most fun that I have had happens to be on the Carnival ships and only because they have more adult things to do at night then DCL. RCCL at the time was just too adult for us but I think now with the new ships that has changed.

Although the DCL cruises are more expensive I am a huge Disney fan and I like the layout of the DCL ships, and CC so that is the draw for me to sail DCL. We've had a great time on both of our DCL sailings even though on the first one we did not get to go to CC because of a hurricane. But I would not hesitate to sail on another cruise line as long as I can get my Disney fix sometime too.

I just sailed on the Wonder a couple of weeks ago the first time without my DD and the thing that I really liked about DCL over Carnival is that there are really adult only places so you can get away from the kids if you want. There was the topless deck on Carnival that was adults only of course, but then that's another issue depending on what you like. But other than that and the night clubs on the ships I have been on were the only non-kid areas. That may have changed on some of the newer ships as I have not been on Carnival since 2002.

I have never felt while cruising on Carnival that I was lowering my standards....So count me in if sailing Carnival puts me in the 'trailer trash' category....they sure do know how to have fun!

Vicki