To be or not to be?

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yeah

Disney if the kids are young, if not Carnival

lightningfastfords

Carnival's is better and cheaper and has kids welcome as well , the Disney is over priced and much small ship, remember the most expensive place on earth is Disneyland

TINKERTOY ..... the 1 & only

I have been on many cruises with 4 different cruise lines and here's what I suggest. Since you have both kids and adults in your group you should know that just about every line and ship has established FREE programs for kids. So you DO NOT have to think Disney or Carnival as the only options. The cruise lines have professionally trained staff who develop and run programs for kids by age groups. These staff people supervise the kids in activities on ship all day and sometimes into the early evenings. The kids are grouped by age. Some ships have special areas where the kids go to participate in the activities. ALL OF THIS IS FREE !!

Royal Caribbean Cruise line calls their kids programs "Adventure Ocean". Carnival calls its kids programs by different names for each age group but, for example, the one for 10 year olds is called "Camp Carnival". Norwegian calls its kids programs for 10 year olds "Navigators". Other cruise lines also have programs for kids as long as there are at least about 20 kids cruising.

In addition to the supervised programs, many ships have special areas just for kids including shallower pools, water slides and play areas. Royal Caribbean cruise line has some of the best on board activities for kids including on various ships, ice skating or roller blading, mini-golf, table tennis, rock climbing wall, basketball court and on the new Freedom class ships, Liberty, Freedom and Independence of the Seas the flowrider where you can body surf right on ship. These ships also have a special water park area just for kids called the H2O Zone which has a mini lazy river, a small pool, water cannons and lots of fun stuff just for kids.

I need to mention also that the "kids" programs include teens and on some ships there are special areas for teens and a teen disco. Royal Caribbean calls its teen disco FUEL. All of the cruise lines have things for teens; but the actual activities will vary by ship.

You can read about the kids programs on each cruise line's web site; just click on the "On Board Activities" tab or link and look for kids and family stuff. The best cruise lines to go on for kids activities would be Disney, Royal Caribbean and Carnival. My recommendation would be Royal Caribbean.

There are also a variety of activities on ships for adults. Lounges and bars with a variety of music, a nightly show that is usually presented twice so that everyone can see it. On all ships except Disney there is a casino. All ships will have a disco that starts lat in the evening and goes until the wee hours. There are gyms, pools and hot tubs and some ships have a cover pool and hot tub area called a solarium that is usually for adults only. The best gym that I have seen on a crusie ship is on the Royal Caribbean's new Freedom (also Liberty and Independence ) of the Seas ships.

Many cruises going to the Caribbean will spend a day at a private cruise line island. I have been to several of these and the best I have seen is the Royal Caribbean's private island on Labadee, Haite.

My recommendation is to go on one of the RC's ships, Freedom or Liberty of the seas. Both do Eastern and Western Caribbean itineraries out of Miami and include Labadee in their port stops. These ships have something for everyone, they are brand new and fabulous.

notyou311

Disney or Royal Carib. They both have lots of activities for kids.

Zef H

The Adventure of the Seas is a Royal Caribbean ship. Also, it currently based in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The Disney ships are usually based in Port Canaveral, which is just east of Orlando, Florida. However, the Magic will move to Los Angeles for three months during the summer.

The four most family friendly cruise lines are Carnival, Disney, Norwegian and Royal Caribbean. Any of these ships would be a good choice for a group consisting of both children and adults.

Disney can be expensive, and will be more expensive than the other three.

You don't list the children's ages. If you have grade school aged children, the Freedom of the Seas or the Liberty of the Seas (both based in Miami) are excellent choices because of the miniature water park, known as the H2O Zone. Here is a link to several pictures of it ...

http://www.webshots.com/search?query=H2O+Zone&new=1&source=chromeheader

If the kids are slightly older, then Carnival, with its great water slides might be more appealing. Here is a link to several photos of the water slide on the Carnival ships ...

http://www.webshots.com/search?media=photo&query=carnival+cruise+ship+water+slide&queryChannel=&sortBy=&source=search_menu

Several of the Norwegian ships also have water slides.

For teenagers the best ships are the Carnival ships that have club O2 and the four Royal Caribbean ships (Navigator, Mariner, Freedom and Liberty of the Seas) as these ships have an expanded teen center which includes the Living Room (a place for teens to hang out) and Fuel (the teen disco).

Ray L

If I were in your boat I would first look at the cost of both since they both have programs that cater to kids and then if they are close in price pick Disney but if one is much cheaper, I would do that one personally.

Noble Angel

Carnival has the lowest prices and has a lot to offer everyone starting with Camp Carnival for the children 2 - 14 and for the teens Club O2.
there are lots of things to do and the food and show are wonderful.

a little note that Disney has no casino, I have a friend that loves them for that reason, I would rather just ignore the casinos as the price is higher because of it

pirategrl

Carnival fun ships have TONS of stuff for kids to do, for about half the price of a Disney cruise. Most fun ships have a variety of things to do such as ice skating, movie theatres, rock climbing wall, arcade, kids clubs, magic shows, miniature golf..and so on and so on. Disney is good if you want to have interaction with Disney characters, and have the trip entirely Disney themed, but they are soooo expensive!

Yazzer

I don't see how the title of this question applies to your question but, since you asked, I would say Disney because there will be 4 kids attending this cruise, no?

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