It's going to vary by ship, not just cruise line. The newest ships have ALL the bells and whistles, and the older ships might just have a water slide. The newer ships also tend to be HUGE, very crowded, and a poor layout in order to squeeze in all those bells and whistles.

I recently went on one of the newest Carnival ships (Mardi Gras) and absolutely hated it. The layout didn't make sense. For a family with kids it used to be nice that you can get food to suit any type of eater (other than a true food snob) in the buffet. But on this ship the buffet salad bar was sad and small (my preference for lunch), the burgers were upstairs (teen DSs preference), and the pizza was several flights downstairs (picky DD food of choice). It was painfully crowded and hard to manage. I'm hearing that about a lot of newer ships as well - just generally odd layouts. The older ships usually have a more manageable layout, and nicer, user friendly lounges.

Keep in mind all those bells and whistles can get very expensive - go carts or a roller coaster might cost you like $25 pp per ride. Mini golf, ropes courses, rock walls are usually included.

While I usually prefer NCL, I also browse RC and Carnival. They all have their slight differences, the ship (and itinerary and date) is probably going to be more important to a newer cruiser.

My family has been on cruises with Carnival, Princess, Celebrity and Royal Caribbean. We've enjoyed them all. We were a little apprehensive about Carnival but it was way better than expected and the food was surprisingly good too. It wasn't nearly as rowdy as I expected and was very kid friendly.

Anonymous wrote:We have cruises many times - kids have been on ~14. We select cruise by itinerary.

The last few cruises have been very different, post Covid. There are not as many activities. Many more pay to play activities onboard.

I want to hear more on this. We are going on a cruise in a few months but haven't been since 2018.

I don't think the premium price for Disney is worth it with teens, unless your budget is unlimited.

One thing you can do is definitely get two rooms, even if the adults have a balcony or outside,. and the kids are in an inside right across from you. Or two connecting rooms works too.

I would just pick where you want to go and go with it. keep an open mind and go with the flow. If Caribbean, book outside excursions.

I’m still so amazed that people fall for the Carnival marketing. Sounds like literal hell to me.

Disney Fantasy for 7 nights out of Port Canaveral. So awesome we did it twice (once eastern, once western Caribbean). Worth the price.

Anonymous wrote:We’ve cruised 7 times: half on Disney, half on Royal Caribbean.

My two cents:

-3 days is too short. Aim for 5-7.

-Cruise out of FL or Puerto Rico. Smoother sailing than if you leave from Baltimore, NJ, etc.

-Newer, bigger ships have more bells and whistles…but they also have more crowds. We prefer smaller ships for better service and less crowds.

-Are you getting 2 cabins? If you plan to squeeze into one, opt for Disney for the larger, split bathroom.

-Ultimately we base our decision on itinerary and cost—not ship.

-We prefer Eastern and Southern Caribbean itineraries over western (we don’t like Mexican ports, Grand Cayman is a tendered port (hassle), and Jamaica has serious issues.

-We are trying celebrity next. It’s supposedly a step up from Royal. Having said that, we’ve enjoyed every cruise on Royal (and they cost half the price of Disney).

-Carnival caters to party crowds. I’d avoid.

-Norwegian is hit or Miss from what I’ve heard.

I agree with all of this. Except we love GC, and were lucky to never have an issue, super smooth frequent tenders.
We did Carnival before kids, experience highly differed with home port of call. I don’t want to name the port, but a huge number of passengers were chain smokers, and the nightly entertainer was always cracking gay jokes to huge applause. Never again.

I cruise based on itinerary. We did maybe three cruises pre kids - Norwegian, Holland America and Carnival. We cruised twice with kids and are going on a third this summer. All carnival. For me, it hits my price point. I can get upgraded and adjoining rooms. There are tons of kids activities. And it’s more relaxed than other cruise lines so I don’t worry about kids bothering people - my kids are well behaved but kids on a cruise aren’t so popular on certain cruise lines.

We’ve been to Alaska and I definitely preferred driving and having lots of time to spend on land.

Have fun. Pick good shore excursions and book early.

I have only been one two cruises ever - Disney Dream and Royal Caribbean Independence of the Seas. We liked them both but probably don’t feel Disney is worth so much more money so we are more likely to try RC again.

We have cruises many times - kids have been on ~14. We select cruise by itinerary.

The last few cruises have been very different, post Covid. There are not as many activities. Many more pay to play activities onboard.

We always avoid doing excursions with the cruise ship. We always plan our own. It takes some coordination, but your kids can give input on what sure activities to do.

Disney is our favorite, even when they were young teens. Royal Caribbean was probably next. Then Norwegian in Holland about the same. I went on carnival once, and will never go again.

Only three places to cruise:

Alaska
Norway
Galapagos

I think they are all pretty similar and vary more by itinerary or specific ship. Within the same line, different ships will have very different activities and even food options.

For a three day I’d do Disney because the three days on other lines are sort of party boats.

We’ve cruised 7 times: half on Disney, half on Royal Caribbean.

My two cents:

-3 days is too short. Aim for 5-7.

-Cruise out of FL or Puerto Rico. Smoother sailing than if you leave from Baltimore, NJ, etc.

-Newer, bigger ships have more bells and whistles…but they also have more crowds. We prefer smaller ships for better service and less crowds.

-Are you getting 2 cabins? If you plan to squeeze into one, opt for Disney for the larger, split bathroom.

-Ultimately we base our decision on itinerary and cost—not ship.

-We prefer Eastern and Southern Caribbean itineraries over western (we don’t like Mexican ports, Grand Cayman is a tendered port (hassle), and Jamaica has serious issues.

-We are trying celebrity next. It’s supposedly a step up from Royal. Having said that, we’ve enjoyed every cruise on Royal (and they cost half the price of Disney).

-Carnival caters to party crowds. I’d avoid.

-Norwegian is hit or Miss from what I’ve heard.

There’s a ton of info online comparing the cruise lines. I think three days is way too short; do five if you’re unsure about spending an entire week at sea.

Also, while I’m a big cruise fan, you should know that most ships are fairly crowded and the food isn’t always great. It’s pretty good for all-you-can-eat but don’t expect Michelin dining.

Please recommend a cruise ship that you loved. Here’s what we are looking for, clean, great food, not over crowded and lots of entertainment especially for teens.
It’s our first time so we would like to take a 3 day or 7 day cruise.