LOS vs AOS vs Carnival Dream

[licrzr]

We(I, DH and DS4) were booked for FOS last week but had to cancel as DS fell sick at the last min.:( To get over the disappointment, we are looking to book a cruise for Feb '11. Picking a cruise is so difficult! The last time around we got such a good deal on FOS, it was a no-brainer.

 

Our options are a

i) 6 day cruise on LOS out of Miami. Ports of Call-Belize City, Costa Maya, Cozumel

ii) a 7 day cruise on Carnival Dream from Port Canaveral. Ports of Call-Cozumel, Belize, Isla Roatan, Costa Maya OR Nassau, St. Thomas, St Maarten

iii) a 7 day cruise on AOS from San Juan. Ports of Call-Curacao, Aruba, Dominica, St. Thomas

 

We are looking for warm weather and a ship that will be fun with DS. LOS and Carnival Dream have the water play area that DS will love. From what I am reading, Belize and Costa Maya are better suited for older kids. I do not know much about the Southern POC. Are there things to do other than beach days? Though it will be nice to relax, DS will probably get bored if we keep him on the beach for all the port days.

 

Which one would you choose?

Thanks in advance,

licrzr

[Rob_Jen]

We just came back from the Dream. It was good for the kids (5 and 3). Belize and Costa Maya are a waste for kids unless you want to spend allot of money. Belize - any beach is a an excursion of some sort and ~$60 pp including children. Costa maya did not offer much.

 

Roatan - Awesome Island as its not comercialized yet. Cozumel is good for beaches (Mr Sanchos was nice).

 

We debated on this ship and the LOS. We enjoyed the Dream but not like our past cruises. It was a nice ship and clean - food was below average - shows were good. the water play area is small but good for the small kids. They have 2 very small slides and some water falls. I think the LOS has a bigger water zone area.

 

Our next cruise will probably be back on a RCCL ship or if we save enough money the new Disney ship.

[sandytoes03]

Have you priced out air fare yet? For me personally, Port Canaveral would be the cheapest to get to, but, if you want really warm weather, leaving San Juan is your best bet. I think I would avoid Belize until your son is a little older. You pretty much have to do an expensive excursion if you want to leave the ship, and it's a long tender ride too. Otherwise, I would want to do 7 nights over 6, if I could.

 

Enjoy!!

[epixx]

I agree completely with sandytoes03. We've sailed the Southern Caribbean from San Juan on both AOS and Carnival Victory with our kids (older than yours). This route is great for perfect weather and has tons of variety. Aruba is a beach day. Curacao has a lovely town to for strolling. Dominica is definitely not a beach island but has beautiful trails for hiking. St. Thomas is loaded with a variety of things that would interest a preschooler. Go to the Ports of Call section of this website for numerous suggestions. If you can find reasonable airfare, go for it!

[licrzr]

Thank you for your replies.

We are still in two minds-the Southern caribbean route has the more interesting POC but AOS does not have the H20 zone! Do you know if there are kid friendly pool areas on the AOS? DS is not much into the big slides etc.

Thanks for the reminder to check airfare. It is much more exp to fly from NYC to San Juan.

Since this will be our first cruise, I am thinking we should enjoy the ship first and worry about the POC later.

Decisions, decisions!

licrzr