RCCL Allure -vs- Carnival Breeze - Help Me Decide!

[rubysasha]

Okay, so hubby and I have been going crazy over which ship to choose for our November 2013 annual cruise vacation.

 

We're trying to decide between RCCL Allure and Carnival Breeze and there are many things we're wrestling over.

 

To give you a background, we have a 7yr old daughter and 2yr old son. Port stops don't mean that much to us. What's most important to us? Childcare, Entertainment/activities for kids and us, Great Spa amenities, Food.

 

What's our cruising past? We've been on Oasis, Disney Fantasy, NCL Epic, Carnival Dream, NCL Dawn, RCL Enchantment, Carnival lower class.

 

So you may ask - why do they need help when they've been on Oasis and Carnival Dream? We were on an inaugural sailing of Oasis and many things weren't ironed out on the ship yet; We were on Carnival Dream not that long ago and I forgot to write a review.... how soon we forget!

 

So, here's how I see the positives and negatives between the two:

 

Price:

Breeze wins.

Allure is about $900 more expensive for the sailing we're looking at, plus a lot of nickel and diming. That said, we could deal with $900 more if the experience will be that much better

 

CHILDCARE:

Breeze wins... in my opinion programming is comparable to allure and on allure, I have to pay $8/hr for my 2-year old, on breeze it's included.

 

SHOWS:

Allure wins hands down for their amazing shows. Carnival's are putrid.

 

ACTIVITIES:

Hot Tubs - Allure wins... alot more of them on the ship, nicer

 

Pool/Water - Breeze wins with their awesome waterslides my 7 year old would love. When we were on Oasis, their watersplash zone was always breaking or off for wind... not sure kids would love it anyway cause water is cold.

 

Other activities -

Adult stuff - comedy shows and trivia, game shows, Breeze wins - we love to do this stuff

Other stuff - Both ships have 3D theatre and mini golf

Breeze has ropes course

Allure has Rock Wall, zip line, wave surfing

 

Characters -

Allure Wins - they have Barbie Experience (although it costs $349) and Dreamworks Characters, Carnival Breeze has nothing. From what I've read, this is a real value add to kids' experience.

 

FOOD -

Allure Wins - I would say MDR / Buffet food is comparable; but Allure wins because of options all over ship. Although it will cost us.

 

SPA -

Breeze Wins - when we were on the dream, we loved the spa, we bought a spa pass and were able to enjoy their 3 types of steam rooms - spacious and comfortable, followed by the thalassotherapy pool - hubby and I had some really quality time.

I don't remember on the Allure, but from what I read, there is only a small sauna / steam room and no private special pool? Also, I always get a massage or two and Allure will be more expensive.

 

So please, help me decide!

[ShanteS]

Since you already know what to expect with CCL I'd go with them this year so your son will be able to participate with Camp Carnival at no extra charge. I'd do the Allure after he's three so he'll be able to participate in the Octonauts program. Aside from that I don't think you can go wrong with either ship as they've both had great reviews. RCI will have more entertainment options though.