Help us pick a cruise!

[BCV23]

OK- we have taken our two girls on two Disney Cruises. One is a 4 day and the other is a 7 day Eastern. We are hoping to cruise the Summer of 2012. We have of course looked at Disney. Price will be around $7000 for seven nights in July balcony room...YIKES! The other family who is going with us has never cruised. They have 4 kids. Total for their two inside staterooms is over $10,000. As much I love Disney I just cannot justifiy these prices.

 

We are looking at the Oasis/Allure or Freedom class ships out of Port Canavral (I cannot find an itinerary for summer 2012 for Freedom ships), also looking at the Carnival Dream. Our kids will be one boy age 13, two girls ages 12, two girls ages 7 and one girl age 6. The kids love the kids club and the pools...these are two very imporant things. Not to worried about food or shows. Adults will love the pools also and a nice adult pool would be a plus!!

 

So...can you give me some advice on which ship would be best. Worried Oasis/Allure would be too big but it looks awesome, Freedom Class ships look very nice and seems to fit our needs, Carnival Dream looks fine but I am always leary of something that costs soooo much less. Both families are Disney Vacation Club members and love nice accomodations!

 

So with this info....please give me some advice!!!! Thanks!!

[Friend100]

I think it is a good idea to try Freedom OTS first. If you like the RCL product then Oasis/Allure can be next.

 

Have fun planning.

[alcie]

We chose FOS over Allure/Oasis because of the price. For us this summer it would have been over $1,000 more to go on one of the bigger ships. On FOS we also got one of the 2 rooms on deck 9 that have interior/balcony connecting rooms so our price on FOS was cheaper in 2 rooms than it would have been in one room on Oasis.

[sandytoes03]

If you have the chance to cruise Oasis, go for it!! Your children will have a wonderful time, and so will you!

 

I haven't done Oasis, but the reviews coming back have been good, and, the ship looks spectacular.

[milton333]

I'd go with a Freedom class ship. Plenty for the kids to do, pricing for summer is more reasonable,though summer prices are always going to be higher than at any other time of the year. If you have some flexibility, any chance you could sail late August/early September? That might get you a bit of savings over July.

 

Oasis/Allure look awesome, but we could not justify the price right now, maybe in a couple of years.

[Colorado Kat]

The Dream has a wonderful water-play area. Some good water slides. And an adults-only serenity area that is very nice. And some cabins that have 2 bathrooms - one with toilet/shower/sink, and the second with bathtub/sink.

 

I have always been very happy with Carnival.

[mackfam]

We were on Oasis in Feb with our 3 boys ( 12,15 & 17). We had fantastic time and would highly recommend it. Our 12 year old loved the Flow Riders, the table tennis and the rock climbing walls. The pools were nice and there was an adults only pool (small) in the Solarium. We enjoyed the size of the ship and didn't find it to be too big. Our kids didn't go to many of the Kid's club activities as they found enough to do with friends who were travelling with us.

 

We were on FOS three years ago and loved that too. Even though the 'Wow' factor wasn't as great as on Oasis, it had a lot of the same fun stuff for kids to do, nice pool areas, royal promenade etc. and I would go on one of the Freedom class again in a minute.