Really need help in making decision!

[stewmon]

:) Not sure what to do! Planning my family's first cruise for March 2011 (spring break). Want to leave out of Florida so we can visit Universal (new Harry Potter exhibit) and want to stop at San Juan (son is so interested in history and he wants to see the fort). Kids ages will be 9, 14, and 16. I am looking at either the Carnival Liberty or the RC Liberty of the Seas. My husband wants connecting balcony cabins (we don't want an inside room across the hall). The cost for the Carnival cruise will be $4600 and for the LOS will be $6300. That's with everything, gratuities, exchange rate in Canadian dollars. (From BC, Canada - yeah!). We love the look and reviews of the LOS ship, but the price is so much more. It is an 8 day LOS cruise vs. 7 day Carnival cruise, but that isn't a factor. The ports are Carnival Liberty - HMC, St. Thomas, San Juan, Grand Turk (love the sound of these ports). RC LOS - St. Thomas, St. Martin, San Juan, Labadee. Which would you choose? My kids don't care about the rock climbing wall, skating rink (we do enough of that at home), or surf simulator, BUT they love pools (the pools on the LOS look so much more spacious and better design). Not sure if all this is worth the extra $1700. My husband is also a little concerned that Carnival will be more of a frat party environment from some reviews at spring break. Any advice or opinions would be so appreciated. Thanks in advance!!!

[cb at sea]

Since this is your first cruise, go with Carnival....for price alone! You seem to be more interested in the ports and you'll find both cruise experiences to be quite similar. And, as a bonus, Carnival's cabin are a bit larger than RCI's.

 

With a large family, $$ is important, and you can get better use of that money ashore, rather than spending it on the ship! Carnival is no more of a "party" ship than RCI!

[Cuizer2]

:) Not sure what to do! Planning my family's first cruise for March 2011 (spring break). Want to leave out of Florida so we can visit Universal (new Harry Potter exhibit) and want to stop at San Juan (son is so interested in history and he wants to see the fort). Kids ages will be 9, 14, and 16. I am looking at either the Carnival Liberty or the RC Liberty of the Seas. My husband wants connecting balcony cabins (we don't want an inside room across the hall). The cost for the Carnival cruise will be $4600 and for the LOS will be $6300. That's with everything, gratuities, exchange rate in Canadian dollars. (From BC, Canada - yeah!). We love the look and reviews of the LOS ship, but the price is so much more. It is an 8 day LOS cruise vs. 7 day Carnival cruise, but that isn't a factor. The ports are Carnival Liberty - HMC, St. Thomas, San Juan, Grand Turk (love the sound of these ports). RC LOS - St. Thomas, St. Martin, San Juan, Labadee. Which would you choose? My kids don't care about the rock climbing wall, skating rink (we do enough of that at home), or surf simulator, BUT they love pools (the pools on the LOS look so much more spacious and better design). Not sure if all this is worth the extra $1700. My husband is also a little concerned that Carnival will be more of a frat party environment from some reviews at spring break. Any advice or opinions would be so appreciated. Thanks in advance!!!

 

Why pay more for the extras on the Liberty of the Seas if you are not interested in them? I've been on six Royal Caribbean cruises and five Carnival cruises (plus three others). The passengers on a one week Carnival cruise are very similar to the passengers on a one week Royal Caribbean cruise.

 

Save the money, go with Carnival and have a good time.

[Essiesmom]

Half Moon Cay is believed to be the best of the private islands:

Grand Turk has a nice beach too, but not as nice as HMC

And when you have had enough of the beach, a few steps away is Margaritaville, with the best pool!

[jmom5]

None of Carnival's ships can compare to the Liberty of the Seas, but if you are more interested in ports, then it probably won't matter much. One perk for Liberty of the Seas that you may be interested in is that they have freshwater pools instead of salt water pools.

[CabinForFour]

Carnival is great for families. In fact, we prefer it, and we aren't "partiers" at all. Be sure to check the hours that each ship is in San Juan if seeing the forts is important to you. As I recall, the forts are only open from 9 AM to 5 PM, so if your ship is there at night, you won't really have a chance to enjoy them. Also, depending on your travel arrangements in Florida and your port of departure, you might also check out the Fort San Marcos in St. Augustine, FL. It's similar to those in San Juan and a nice half-day trip if you're going to be close.

[stewmon]

I like all the suggestions. I didn't know about the salt water pools on Carnival. Oh well. I am leaning towards it on simply money alone. My husband seems to be leaning to RCI as he has heard good things and believes you usually get what you pay for. I love the pictures of Half Moon Cay and Grand Turk - awesome beaches. Does anyone know how Club O2 compares with Fuel? Also, is there 24 hour pizza and ice cream on RCI (dumb question, but my son wants to know)? Any other tidbits of info is so helpful. Thank you:cool:

[Cuizer2]

I like all the suggestions. I didn't know about the salt water pools on Carnival. Oh well. I am leaning towards it on simply money alone. My husband seems to be leaning to RCI as he has heard good things and believes you usually get what you pay for. I love the pictures of Half Moon Cay and Grand Turk - awesome beaches. Does anyone know how Club O2 compares with Fuel? Also, is there 24 hour pizza and ice cream on RCI (dumb question, but my son wants to know)? Any other tidbits of info is so helpful. Thank you:cool:

 

Yes, you can get pizza 24 hrs (free) and there is ice cream, both soft serve (free) and Ben & Jerry's (extra cost).

[jmom5]

I'm not sure if your kids are interested much in the kids/teen clubs, but I found that the kids clubs (under 11) on RCCL and Carnival are pretty similar, my kids enjoyed both of them and it is hard to get them to leave either one.

The teen club/activities (12 and older) are much better and organized on RCCL. I know that some have had different experiences, depending on the time of year that you sail, but we always sail in the off season (after school starts) with not as many kids on the ship, and Carnivals early teen activities were close to non-existent. They would basically go sit in one of the adult clubs (because they didn't have a designated club for the 12-14 year olds) and talk. RCCL, including Liberty of the Seas, has a designated room for 12-14 year olds that is always open with game systems, computers, etc., that they can go in and hang out and that's where they meet for activities at the designated times.

[stewmon]

The LOS has so many positives, it's seems hard to beat. Cost is a big factor, but on the flip side we probably won't be a family that cruises alot (simply due to demographics and how far the ports are from BC, Canada). There are ships that leave out of LA but we have been to Mexico and it is not a favorite of ours (Pacific side anyways). We want this to be an awesome experience. I know that does depend on weather, health, attitude, etc. but LOS sounds so great for everyone. My husband wants a good fitness area as well and I think LOS has a good facility. Thanks for all the comments. Anyone recommend a good hotel to stay pre-cruise for family of 5 with ? continental breakfast and affordable shuttle in Miami?:confused:

[Essiesmom]

Check out the East Coast Departures under North America Homeports. there is a separate section for florida departures. EM

[Terpnut]

The LOS has so many positives, it's seems hard to beat. Cost is a big factor, but on the flip side we probably won't be a family that cruises alot (simply due to demographics and how far the ports are from BC, Canada). There are ships that leave out of LA but we have been to Mexico and it is not a favorite of ours (Pacific side anyways). We want this to be an awesome experience. I know that does depend on weather, health, attitude, etc. but LOS sounds so great for everyone. My husband wants a good fitness area as well and I think LOS has a good facility. Thanks for all the comments. Anyone recommend a good hotel to stay pre-cruise for family of 5 with ? continental breakfast and affordable shuttle in Miami?:confused:

Having sailed both ships (albeit on Western itineraries), I'd say if cost is a major consideration, then go for Carnival Liberty for your first cruise. We had a great time on both, and while we prefer RCI over Carnival, the "value proposition" for Carnival is indeed better. On these spring break cruises, there won't be any "party ships"--they'll be kid-infested ships. :)

 

If you're still at all undecided, you may want to consider another strategy: book both sailings and watch prices as they get closer to final payment. The cost differential right now is almost always higher this far in advance. With price drops likely closer to sailing, the final cost comparison will probably be lower than what you are seeing today. From my experience, it will be a much smaller final cost differential between the two sailings. For our 2010 spring break sailings, for example, the RCI sailings were only about 5-10% more expensive than comparable Carnival sailings. For comparable western itineraries, the RCI LOS connecting balconies (yes, we routinely travel just as you plan to!) ended up being just $769 pp while we could've booked a Carnival Conquest-class sailing at around $700 pp for similar connecting balconies. For comparison, our original RCI LOS booking 6-8 months out for the same cabins was over $1,269 pp. Good luck!