Grand Caymen or oasis of the seas?

[vancouver79]

Hi,,

 

I need help we can not decide!!!!

 

Me ,my husband and our four year old daughter are planning to have our first cruise vacation this February, and love to go to the western caribbean itinery but we can not decide which ship to choose? Freedom or oasis ?our travel agent has recommended us the Oasis but we love to go to Caymen Islands.Is it worth it to sacrifice Grand Caymen for Oasis?

We are in our mid thirties we enjoy nice blue waters and off ship excursions and good food and some entertainment .

Your feedback means a great deal to us!

[Clarea]

I'd pick Oasis, she's a spectacular ship, and there's no comparision to other ships, except for her sister Allure.

[vafatboy]

I would do the Oasis. With a small child, this ship is great.

 

Rob

[dacsmom]

If you really want to stop at Grand Caymen choose the Freedom. She is a beautiful ship and I think perfect for a first cruise. FOS is a large ship and the crew is wonderful. You cannot go wrong with either choice but my vote goes to the Freedom.

[kbset]

Hi,,

 

I need help we can not decide!!!!

 

Me ,my husband and our four year old daughter are planning to have our first cruise vacation this February, and love to go to the western caribbean itinery but we can not decide which ship to choose? Freedom or oasis ?our travel agent has recommended us the Oasis but we love to go to Caymen Islands.Is it worth it to sacrifice Grand Caymen for Oasis?

We are in our mid thirties we enjoy nice blue waters and off ship excursions and good food and some entertainment .

Your feedback means a great deal to us!

 

My husband and I choose Freedom instead of Oasis because they offered cheaper, longer cruises and not being as crowded as Oasis. Plus my husband and I really, really wanted to go to Grand Cayman again (as we absolutely loved it last time) :D

 

But make a choice that is right for all 3 of you :) No matter what you choose, you guys will definitely have a good time.

[Jiffymom]

Well I vote for what ever itinerary makes you happy. Both ships are child friendly. Our granddaughters loved both freedom and the beach at Grand Caymen 7 mile beach is the best ! You won't be disappointed with either. We just booked our second time on Freedom

[Clarea]

My husband and I choose Freedom instead of Oasis because they offered cheaper, longer cruises and not being as crowded as Oasis. Plus my husband and I really, really wanted to go to Grand Cayman again (as we absolutely loved it last time) :D

 

But make a choice that is right for all 3 of you :) No matter what you choose, you guys will definitely have a good time.

Perhaps you were on another ship, because Freedom and Oasis only have 7 day cruises.

[trev71]

My wife and I just had this debate back in October and we ended picking Oasis again. We really enjoy this class of ship its just nice to walk on the Boardwalk at night or Central Park. (I could list tons of different things0 No matter what you choose though you will be happy.

Oddly enough the Oasis for us with a Ocean View balcony was cheaper than a Freedom ocean view balcony

[leaveitallbehind]

My husband and I choose Freedom instead of Oasis because they offered cheaper, longer cruises and not being as crowded as Oasis. Plus my husband and I really, really wanted to go to Grand Cayman again (as we absolutely loved it last time) :D

 

But make a choice that is right for all 3 of you :) No matter what you choose, you guys will definitely have a good time.

 

The ship size is very proportionate to the passenger load regarding the numerous venues on board Oasis. We have felt more crowed on several smaller ships than on Oasis as a result. And Oasis / Allure offer the same 7-night length cruises as with Freedom.

 

For the experience of the uniqueness of the ship, I would vote Oasis as well. Grand Cayman is very nice but you can book an itinerary with that port of call on your next cruise. :)

Edited January 7, 2014 by leaveitallbehind

[Eng23]

If you really want to go to Grand Cayman then the Freedom is the obvious choice. You have to decide what's most important to you for your vacation. Do you want to see a great port call or do you really want to experience a ship unlike no other out there (besides the Allure)?

 

 

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[Eng23]

My husband and I choose Freedom instead of Oasis because they offered cheaper, longer cruises and not being as crowded as Oasis. Plus my husband and I really, really wanted to go to Grand Cayman again (as we absolutely loved it last time) :D

 

But make a choice that is right for all 3 of you :) No matter what you choose, you guys will definitely have a good time.

 

Freedom of the Seas only does 7 day itineraries the same as Oasis. The main difference is Oasis does not stop in Grand Cayman.

You will also note that the Oasis is not a crowded ship. The Oasis is fantastic at spreading the passenger load out so as not to feel overcrowded. I have cruises Freedom twice and noticed a more crowded feeling than I did on Allure of the Seas.

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

Edited January 7, 2014 by Eng23

[cruiserdudebobby8]

Id choose Oasis

[kbset]

Perhaps you were on another ship, because Freedom and Oasis only have 7 day cruises.

 

 

Nope :D Definitely Freedom Class...we are doing a B2B cruise on the Independence. The first one being 6 nights and the next being 8. nights

[At Sea 4Ever]

Hi,,

 

I need help we can not decide!!!!

 

Me ,my husband and our four year old daughter are planning to have our first cruise vacation this February, and love to go to the western caribbean itinery but we can not decide which ship to choose? Freedom or oasis ?our travel agent has recommended us the Oasis but we love to go to Caymen Islands.Is it worth it to sacrifice Grand Caymen for Oasis?

We are in our mid thirties we enjoy nice blue waters and off ship excursions and good food and some entertainment .

Your feedback means a great deal to us!

 

I wouldn't book a cruise based on one port that relies on tendering. We have been on the freedom before where we had to pass up grand caymen because of rough seas. If u do decide to chose freedom though I would pick April over December better shot at not having tender problems.

[Hoopster95]

Me ,my husband and our four year old daughter are planning to have our first cruise vacation this February

 

Hey Vancouver! Maple Ridge here ;):p

 

I think the key point is that this is your first cruise. most (all?) of us who have replied to your question are likiely very experienced and have been on many classes/sizes of ships. I'm trying to put myself in your shoes if I were to walk up the gangway on the Oasis compared to Freedom.... my first cruise was on Explorer and I couldn't believe what I was seeing my first time inside the Promenade.

 

As your very first cruise, I hands down would go with Freedom over Oasis. I feel the Oasis would be way too overwhelming with regards to getting to shows, dinners, learning the ship, etc etc etc. The Freedom would be much much easier to handle and navigate, yet you will still get the incredible WOW that Royal Caribbean megaships deliver. Plus the Freedom itinerary gives you 4 ports of call... if you feel sea sick or just plain trapped on the ship, this will allow you mentally to know you will be getting off to explore or go to beach in 4 ports. Plus it it goes to Cayman for you. You will fall in love with Freedom and RCL...and then you'll book the Oasis next time! :p

[vancouver79]

Oh wow thanx for the replies :)))

 

Maple Ridge , this is what we thought originally , to go with freedom and explore all the ports and enjoy the ship too, but now we think it might be impossible to explore all 4 ports as much as we would like to because of the little time we have on each port, and think we should just stick to the nicer ship.?!

 

what I would like to know is that is there any specific advantages to oasis over freedom that we should consider in making our decision or just simply oasis being a bigger ship than freedom?

[notsomadhatter]

 

what I would like to know is that is there any specific advantages to oasis over freedom that we should consider in making our decision or just simply oasis being a bigger ship than freedom?

 

Everyone is trying really hard to quantify what is, at the end of the day, a personal choice. Not only that but it's a personal choice that you can't really decide on until after you've experienced it. Then you have to do a few more classes of ships to compare! ;) Choosing the ship based on one port is not something I would suggest as weather or other extenuating circumstances can easily affect the amount of time you get to spend there.

 

However, if it were me I would choose Freedom, if for no other reason than I'd hesitate to start at the "top". The biggest/best/newest ship might make it hard for me to downsize after the fact.

[oshoguno]

I'd vote for Freedom. We did the Freedom first and the private charter for Stingray City in the Grand Cayman is still the highlight out of all our cruise vacations. After that cruise you would have something to look forward to, Oasis class for your next cruise!

Edited January 7, 2014 by oshoguno

[A&L_Ont]

I would go with Oasis as she is great for the young and young at heart. The other small thing to think of is, and it doesn't happen often, how would you feel if Grand Cayman was cancelled due to the fact they could not tender. You state it is the main reason why you would choose Freedom over Oasis. Just a thought to throw into the mix.

 

Andrew

[A&L_Ont]

Hi,,

 

I need help we can not decide!!!!

 

We are in our mid thirties we enjoy nice blue waters and off ship excursions and good food and some entertainment .

Your feedback means a great deal to us!

 

After rereading this part, I think any cruise will be great for you. Have fun deciding, and let us know which you choose.

 

Welcome to Cruise Critic as well. Hopefully you enjoy your time here as there is lots of great advice, some heated discussion and cruise reviews to read along the way.

 

Andrew

[Aquahound]

I'm not a big fan of Grand Cayman. It's ok, but it's flat with only a couple major attractions.

 

Thing is, if you like GC, you'll be on cloud 9 for 10-12 hours of your cruise. However, on Oasis, you'll be on cloud 9 the entire cruise because the ship is that awesome.

 

Freedom is a great ship, but Oasis is in another league. I recommend Oasis. You'll get plenty of beach in Labadee and plenty of tour opportunities in Falmouth and Cozumel.

[xacoberrr]

Hi,,

 

I need help we can not decide!!!!

 

Me ,my husband and our four year old daughter are planning to have our first cruise vacation this February, and love to go to the western caribbean itinery but we can not decide which ship to choose? Freedom or oasis ?our travel agent has recommended us the Oasis but we love to go to Caymen Islands.Is it worth it to sacrifice Grand Caymen for Oasis?

We are in our mid thirties we enjoy nice blue waters and off ship excursions and good food and some entertainment .

Your feedback means a great deal to us!

 

Any of them are awesome. I promise you will not forget.

[fletch1027]

Oh wow thanx for the replies :)))

 

Maple Ridge , this is what we thought originally , to go with freedom and explore all the ports and enjoy the ship too, but now we think it might be impossible to explore all 4 ports as much as we would like to because of the little time we have on each port, and think we should just stick to the nicer ship.?!

 

what I would like to know is that is there any specific advantages to oasis over freedom that we should consider in making our decision or just simply oasis being a bigger ship than freedom?

 

Saying Oasis class is a "nicer" ship is an interesting way to put it. Freedom is the 2nd largest cruise ship in the world, so it's not like it's a choice between the Oasis and a crappy cargo ship. :)

 

That being said, on the western caribbean, we LOVED Grand Cayman. It is by far the nicest of the four ports and for us we loved the experience of going out to Stingray City, just my opinion though, there is always the risk of missing the tender due to weather. We last went in March and didn't have an issue.

 

Going with either Freedom or Oasis is a win-win scenario. :)

[setsail]

Don't want to tender off of a freedom class ship if we can avoid it. So Oasis.

[Eng23]

Nope :D Definitely Freedom Class...we are doing a B2B cruise on the Independence. The first one being 6 nights and the next being 8. nights

Freedom Class but not the Freedom of the Seas. Freedom of the Seas does not do anything other than 7 day Eastern and Western Caribbean sailings. The OP was specifically asking about Freedom of the Seas and your first response indicated Freedom of the Seas did longer than 7 day sailings which could be misleading to the OP.