Which ship sailing out of Port canaveral would you choose ?

[Chandra C]

I've been on 2 DCL cruises and loved it! But I have 3 children, and I simply cannot afford Disney prices when the kids are out of school. I am doing the double dip in May on Fantasy without them, so to ease my guilt I hope to find a summer cruise for all of us. Anyone have recommendations for a family friendly ship with kids activities? I have a 3, 8, and 11 year old, Thanks

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I've been on 2 DCL cruises and loved it! But I have 3 children, and I simply cannot afford Disney prices when the kids are out of school. I am doing the double dip in May on Fantasy without them, so to ease my guilt I hope to find a summer cruise for all of us. Anyone have recommendations for a family friendly ship with kids activities? I have a 3, 8, and 11 year old, Thanks

Out of Port Canaveral, you're most likely to have only two choices - the Dream (3 & 4 night cruises) or the Fantasy (7 night cruises).

The Magic typically heads for Europe in May, and the Wonder will probably be heading for the west coast around the same time.

 

[Chandra C]

Sorry PrincessShmoo, I probably didn't phrase my question properly. I am wondering which other cruise lines have good ships sailing out of PC, for families, as I am priced out with DCL in the summer months. I even contemplated trying the Carnival magic, but every time I start reading reviews I'm scared off basically

 

[mevelandry]

Sorry PrincessShmoo, I probably didn't phrase my question properly. I am wondering which other cruise lines have good ships sailing out of PC, for families, as I am priced out with DCL in the summer months. I even contemplated trying the Carnival magic, but every time I start reading reviews I'm scared off basically

Look for Carnival Vista... (Not sure she'll be sailing out of PC soon but it might happen at some point). We are sailing on her in October, from Miami. I'm on a Facebook group for the Vista and the reviews are great so far.

Where did you read the bad reviews about the Carnival Magic?

We've done the Victory and loved her but we do not have kids so I can't tell if it's a good value for a family with kids. But I know she'll be in dry dock in the beginning of 2018.

 

[OKW Lover]

I'd look at RCL then. More specifically, the Oasis of the Seas. Have sailed on her twice now and really enjoyed it. However, I don't have any experience with their programs for children.

 

[dclpluto]

Fantasy

 

[Chandra C]

Look for Carnival Vista... (Not sure she'll be sailing out of PC soon but it might happen at some point). We are sailing on her in October, from Miami. I'm on a Facebook group for the Vista and the reviews are great so far.

Where did you read the bad reviews about the Carnival Magic?

We've done the Victory and loved her but we do not have kids so I can't tell if it's a good value for a family with kids. But I know she'll be in dry dock in the beginning of 2018.[/QUOTE

I think it was on cruise critic, the reviews for Magic were better than some Carnival ships, but bad reviews just seem more commonplace with Carnival than with Disney. But I guess if it comes to Carnival or staying home maybe it's worth a shot, lol

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

I think it was on cruise critic, the reviews for Magic were better than some Carnival ships, but bad reviews just seem more commonplace with Carnival than with Disney. But I guess if it comes to Carnival or staying home maybe it's worth a shot, lol

We did the Vista last year and were pleasantly surprised at how much we enjoyed Carnival but it's certainly not for everyone. We walked away from it saying it wasn't DCL but man we had a lot of fun, neither my wife or I drink so it wasn't that kind of fun. I've also discovered the Carnival people on cruise critic are hyper critical of Carnival. They all say how much they love Carnival but man can they complain!!

The Magic is a Carnival Dream class ship with some great kids activities and awesome food options. NCL Epic also sails out of PC on Saturday's and Oasis sails on Sunday's, (I think).

We are really happy we gave Carnival a shot, it really opened up a whole new world of cruises for us. We still will be on DCL but are adding Carnival to the mix as well and hopefully RCCL soon.

Here is a link to my review on the Vista, it may be worth the drive down to Miami for you, https://www.disboards.com/threads/thoughts-on-the-new-carnival-vista.3521334/

 

[Dug720]

We did the Vista last year and were pleasantly surprised at how much we enjoyed Carnival but it's certainly not for everyone. We walked away from it saying it wasn't DCL but man we had a lot of fun, neither my wife or I drink so it wasn't that kind of fun. I've also discovered the Carnival people on cruise critic are hyper critical of Carnival. They all say how much they love Carnival but man can they complain!!

The Magic is a Carnival Dream class ship with some great kids activities and awesome food options. NCL Epic also sails out of PC on Saturday's and Oasis sails on Sunday's, (I think).

We are really happy we gave Carnival a shot, it really opened up a whole new world of cruises for us. We still will be on DCL but are adding Carnival to the mix as well and hopefully RCCL soon.

Here is a link to my review on the Vista, it may be worth the drive down to Miami for you, https://www.disboards.com/threads/thoughts-on-the-new-carnival-vista.3521334/

We DO agree on the fact that people on Cruise Critic seem to take CRITIC seriously - for pretty much any line I've looked at (HAL and RCCL when preparing to cruise on them; Celebrity and NCL when pondering them.). Whiny and complaining lot they seem to be!

 

[mevelandry]

I think it was on cruise critic, the reviews for Magic were better than some Carnival ships, but bad reviews just seem more commonplace with Carnival than with Disney. But I guess if it comes to Carnival or staying home maybe it's worth a shot, lol

It's worth a shot. As adults, we've tried the Victory and had so much fun! We're "Up at 5 AM, in bed at at 10 PM" type of people. But we enjoy 18+ type of humor (to be honest, I never thought it was offensive...)... The food was so good... And the staff was awesome! The only downside was some parts of the ship looked a bit old (but it's gonna change soon).

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

We DO agree on the fact that people on Cruise Critic seem to take CRITIC seriously - for pretty much any line I've looked at (HAL and RCCL when preparing to cruise on them; Celebrity and NCL when pondering them.). Whiny and complaining lot they seem to be!

I actually find it quite funny about the stuff they complain about vs the amount of money they pay versus the stuff people on DCL complain about vs how much we pay. I certainly didn't thing Carnival was perfect by any means but the stuff I heard people complaining about on board was freaking insane. Those people were nuts.