Should we make the switch??

[Mollypuss]

Help, please!! Back in October we (myself, husband and 6 yr old daughter) booked an 8 night cruise on RCCL Liberty of the Seas. We sailed on her in April '10 and loved it. Well, in December we cancelled. The airfare from St. Louis to south Florida was outrageous. We are Disney vacation club members, so we decided to book 9 nights at Disney for spring break.....again. A little sad not to be cruising, but hey...it is Disney.

 

The past couple of weeks I've been trying to figure out how we can alter the plans and still cruise. The only RCCL ship out of Pt. Canaveral is in dry dock our week. We have cruised Carnival several times, but the last few have been on RCCL. So that leads me to my predicament. We can sail on the Dream for about what we would be out of pocket for the Disney trip. Or, we can sail on the Legend out of Tampa for about $400 less. Tampa makes me nervous because our flight home is out of Orlando at 12:45 the day we would disembark.

 

I'm asking for help because it has been a while since we've sailed Carnival. I know nothing about either ship but would need to get something booked rather quickly. Our daughter loves the kids club and swimming/water parks. What would you suggest?

 

Thanks so much and sorry for being long winded!

[falkcor]

i'd make the switch in a heartbeat :D

 

but then again i'm not a big fan of the mouse, either.

 

dream is carnival's newest ship, and has the most 'bells and whistles'. it has the 'carnival waterworks' - a complex of slides / splash park sort of thing. it also has what i'm sure are proportionally large kids facilities. it also has the seaside theatre (they play movies, etc.) and a laser light show. those are all very kid-friendly features. dream is the largest ship sailing in the fleet currently - at about 130K GRT...

 

legend is a spirit class ship - they're a favorite of many and have a different layout that many of the others - lots say they feel less crowded, and they oughta as they carry more than 1000 less passengers depending on overall load, etc. and while it does have the kids club and such - none of the other kid-friendly features noted above. also, after you pay for transportation, the difference may be even less? i'd also be weary of a drive before a relatively early flight, especially if you consider possible delays etc.

 

i'd definitely switch to a cruise, and in your situation, i'd probably pick dream.

 

here's the ship's page:

http://www.carnival.com/cms/fun/ships/carnival_dream/default.aspx?shipCode=DR

 

please note, however, that for some reason the picture of the ship at the top of the page is not dream. that's a spirit class ship (like legend)... don't ask me why lol.

[joybaby]

The Dream is state of the art, we just got off her. Huge, but wonderful.

The Legend, on of my favorites, since it is Spirit class, but it is a long drive to the airport, and there are usually tie ups on 1 4. I'd do the Dream, you won't be sorry. Your child will have a blast and you can go to the adult serenity deck while she is in camp!

[Mollypuss]

Thanks for the quick reply! You know, I found that most people either love or hate Disney....not a lot of middle ground. We were given the vacation club from my parents and have to pay the yearly assessment whether we use it or not, so we figured what the heck. But, this will be trip #11 for me....our daughter is 6 and has been 6 times.

 

The price for the Dream is so reasonable. We have been cruising on the Freedom class w/RCCL bedcause we love the Royal Promenade and layout of the ship. I think the Dream looks pretty awesome with the slides, though. Haven't been on Carnival since '05.

[H82seaUgo]

have you discounted a disney cruise? it's kinda like an extra land in the magic kingdom, on a base of a cruise. you get the service and friendliness of the disney cast while at sea, on a ship that rivals the classiness of an rccl vessel.

 

the land/sea packages are a plus, as everything is moved for you, with you having one account the whole time, and even have one key!

 

plus, you get a marvelous visit to castaway cay.

[fleckle]

Help, please!! Back in October we (myself, husband and 6 yr old daughter) booked an 8 night cruise on RCCL Liberty of the Seas. We sailed on her in April '10 and loved it. Well, in December we cancelled. The airfare from St. Louis to south Florida was outrageous. We are Disney vacation club members, so we decided to book 9 nights at Disney for spring break.....again. A little sad not to be cruising, but hey...it is Disney.

 

The past couple of weeks I've been trying to figure out how we can alter the plans and still cruise. The only RCCL ship out of Pt. Canaveral is in dry dock our week. We have cruised Carnival several times, but the last few have been on RCCL. So that leads me to my predicament. We can sail on the Dream for about what we would be out of pocket for the Disney trip. Or, we can sail on the Legend out of Tampa for about $400 less. Tampa makes me nervous because our flight home is out of Orlando at 12:45 the day we would disembark.

 

I'm asking for help because it has been a while since we've sailed Carnival. I know nothing about either ship but would need to get something booked rather quickly. Our daughter loves the kids club and swimming/water parks. What would you suggest?

 

Thanks so much and sorry for being long winded!

It really comes down to a matter of personal preference. Some people love the big ships while others despise them.

 

The Dream is a brand new monster sized ship with all the bells and whistles, so if you like the amusement park atmosphere of the large ships, go with the Dream. You certainly won't get bored on it. It carries over a thousand passengers more than the Legend.

 

Here are Carnival's descriptions of both

 

Carnival Dream

 

Carnival Legend

 

My suggestion would be to read some of the reviews to help you decide. Here is a link

Carnival Cruise Reviews & Ratings of Carnival Cruise Lines – Cruise Critic

 

Another thing to consider is whether you like one itinerary more than the other.

[zqvol]

If you are stuck with the flight that you mention, don't do the Legend, you will most likely miss your flight. It is at least 2 hours to the airport in Orlando from the pier in Tampa, and that is one airport where being there two hours early is a must.

[MamaParrotHead]

I'd switch. As a parent, cruising to me is a MUCH less stressful way to travel as a family. No worries about where to eat, how to get there, always a great combination of family time and adult time, and if you explore the islands/ports a bit can be way more educational and culturally valuable than a theme park.

 

I'd probably pick the Dream if for no other reason than I'd have this nagging worry in the back of my head all week about the early flight.

[yesaccasey]

I would go with the Dream! Great water slides for your daughter. Also, skip the drive to Tampa. I-4 is terrible and you don't want to have to rush.

[Mollypuss]

have you discounted a disney cruise? it's kinda like an extra land in the magic kingdom, on a base of a cruise. you get the service and friendliness of the disney cast while at sea, on a ship that rivals the classiness of an rccl vessel.

 

the land/sea packages are a plus, as everything is moved for you, with you having one account the whole time, and even have one key!

 

plus, you get a marvelous visit to castaway cay.

 

We have a little bit of a different situation. We are Disney vacation club members, so we can't use the land/sea package. It works on a point system...the nicer your accomodations the more points are used. We tried the Disney Wonder a couple of years ago.....did not like it at all. We felt like we didn't have time to settle in before we were getting off. We also had some other issues that were beyond control of Disney that just made the trip unpleasant. My daughter had a raging ear infection, so our first stop on board was to the medical center...cha ching. My husband left my suitcase on the bus at the port.....luckily the driver had it sent through to the ship but it didn't have any i.d. because we were hand carrying it. Our one day at Castaway Cay was nice for about an hour and then a huge storm blew in and we froze waiting in line to reboard for about an hour. Plus, a 7 night on the Dream is almost the same price as a 3 night on Disney.

 

What to do!!! Thanks for all of the replies.