Carnival Cruise Lines offers destinations to Alaska, Hawaii, Mexico, the Caribbean, the Bahamas, Canada and the New England region of the United States. Carnival Cruise Lines also has Transatlantic and European cruises. Carnival also has a special cruise to Bermuda and a cruise called "A Cruise to Nowhere," which are short two- and three-day cruises out to sea, with no ports of call.
Norwegian Cruise lines has destinations to Alaska, the Bahamas and Florida, Bermuda, Canada and the New England region of the United States. Norwegian Cruise Lines also has cruises to the Caribbean, Europe, Hawaii, Mexico, the Panama Canal, South America and along the Pacific Coast of the United States. Norwegian also offers one-night cruises out to sea and back in port for a night of dinner and dancing.
With Carnival Cruises, passengers have the option to dine at scheduled times in the main dining areas or to choose "Your Time Dining," which runs from 5:45 p.m. to 9:30 pm. With scheduled dining--breakfast, lunch and dinner--you'll need to make reservations, and the evening dinner has a dress code. For the formal dinner, Carnival offers an early dinner at 6 p.m. and a late dinner at 8:15 p.m.
Norwegian Cruises offer its passengers "Freestyle Dining," which means there are no scheduled times for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Passengers are free to eat whenever they choose, with whomever they choose at a variety of up to 13 on-board restaurants. There are no reservations, and there is no required dress code.
Carnival Cruise lines has 23 ships, which include the Holiday Class, Fantasy Class, Destiny Class, Dream Class and Triumph Class, as well as the Conquest Class, Spirit Class and the new Splendor Class. Norwegian Cruise Lines has 12 ships. According to Norwegian Cruise Lines, its fleet is the youngest fleet in the world, based on major North American cruise line. Norwegian's "Pride of America" ship is the first new U.S.-flagged cruise ship in nearly 50 years, according to the cruise line.
Carnival Cruise Lines prides itself on being the "fun ships" and mostly caters to young adults with many specialty cruises, such as singles-only cruises and spring break cruises. However, Norwegian Cruise Lines increasingly has become popular with all ages because of its "freestyle" cruising. Norwegian allows its passengers to choose their own schedules for dining, and there are no scheduled times for getting off the ship at ports. For families, Norwegian also offers extended Kid's Crew hours, so parents can stay out longer and later.
Rates for both cruise vary widely. Rates depend on destination and number of ports, length of the cruise, time of the year and type of stateroom. Rates can be as low as $190 for a one-night cruise to as high as $400 per person, per night for a deluxe two-bedroom ocean view stateroom. Rates for both cruise lines do not include airfare or ground transportation to and from the departing and returning port. However, air and sea packages can be purchased from numerous travel companies and agencies.
