Norweigan or carnival?

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Red120404

Go on Carnival. I went on the Norwegian Gem in January and I am around your age and let me put it to you this way, I was making friends with couples in their 50s because there was no one my age there (besides 2 people I came with). I have been on Norwegian twice and I liked many aspects of it, but I had so much trouble finding people my age to party with or hang out with. Norwegian isn't considered a classy ship at all but I have not heard good things about the Spirit. My friend hated that particular ship.

Carnival is about partying and having fun and I think you should try that cruise. Your going only 7 days so going to only 3 ports is fine.

rick d

Norwegian. I have sailed on the Spirit several times and it is a great ship. Plus. with the Free Stlye Cruising you wear what you want, eat when you want and money is not a big issue but, better in your pocket than theres. Plus, like you say 4 ports instead of 3.
ENJOY.

SugarCube

Carnival. It's a fun ship for big groups in that age group. Great party atmosphere.

Have fun on your trip!

MomSezNo

Never been on Norwegian, but I know someone who tried it after several Carnival cruises. She said it's the "Dollar Store" of cruises - didn't like it at all. They don't generally have a good reputation for food, for one thing.

If you want to get opinions of past cruisers, go to CruiseCritic.com, click on "Boards" and/or "Reviews" [be sure to read both the professional and past passenger reviews]. You'll get all kinds of opinions, but you can get an idea of how the ships stack up in terms of what's important to you.

Serenely_Dreaming

CARNIVAL!

bigships

If these are the only two options, Carnival is your best bet by far. I have been on 7 different cruise lines and 21 cruises (ok I am a cruise junkie). Everyone will have an opinion but always consider the source.
Both cruse lines are fine and I have no doubt you will have fun either way. Your good time will depend a lot on the people you travel with and what you expect. If you want to stay up late and party all night, Carnival is the way to go. The Spirit is a fine ship, but you will find that adding a port of call will not make your cruise experience better; many times you will have better entertainment on the ship and when you are in port the ship pretty much shuts down.
Book the Carnival and don't look back. Enjoy your friends and have a great cruise!

John S

you might want to check with NCL regarding Costa Maya. i cruised on the Norwegian Sun just last week and we were supposed to stop at Costa Maya but way back in September we were notified that we would be going to Cozumel instead because Costa Maya took a direct hit from a hurricane last summer and won't be ready until this coming summer.

also, the upside of freestyle dining is that you go when you want. the 6 of us went to dinner between 7 and 7:30 and had to wait only once for about 10 minutes (on the first night). the downside is that the service was poor because you don;t have the same wait staff every meal as you do with other cruise lines. also, the food was so/so. we did pay an extra $20/pp and ate at one of the specialty restaurants one night. the food and service at the steak house was great but why should we have to pay more for great food and service?

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