Freedom vs navigator

[Clarea]

Bob, have you heard anything new about car rentals in Terminal 1?

No, not at all. We just missed using Terminal 1 last month on Explorer.

[griffy116]

Been on both ships but not out of Galveston. Without kids, you won't miss the H20 Zone or Dreamworks characters, so they are pretty much the same. We're familiar with Orlando and Cocoa Beach/Port Canaveral. Orlando requires a shuttle or rental car from airport but you can get the one-way deal where they provide free shuttle to the port. Very inexpensive, clean no-frills hotels such as Raddison and Country Inn & Suites within 5 minute free shuttle to port too. I don't think you'll be unhappy with either choice.

[nealstuber]

Looking at both ships in sept. They have the same stops except freedom has labadee and leaves orlando,fl. And navigator has 1 extra sea day (IN PLACE OF LABADEE) leaving out of TX. My cost with airfare is around $1,000 less on Navigator. Is it wort the extra to go freedom? Itd be our first RCI cruise.

 

 

Make sure you're looking at air into Hobby (HOU) not Bush (IAH) when comparing air and Ground Transport options. Also worth considering is Alliegient Airlines into Daytona for Freedom. They don't show up on the regular booking websites, but if they fly from an airport near you, you might save more than the $550 in question on air for two. They usually fly from alternate airports and more likely to offer a direct flight.

 

 

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[April-in-NC]

Make sure you're looking at air into Hobby (HOU) not Bush (IAH) when comparing air and Ground Transport options. Also worth considering is Alliegient Airlines into Daytona for Freedom. They don't show up on the regular booking websites, but if they fly from an airport near you, you might save more than the $550 in question on air for two. They usually fly from alternate airports and more likely to offer a direct flight.

 

 

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Allegiant is a very low cost carrier and has extremely limited flights (as in sometimes only one per day and not usually every day) so I would not recommend it for a cruise. If the one flight get cancelled you are screwed.

[bradleyk]

Looking at both ships in sept. They have the same stops except freedom has labadee and leaves orlando,fl. And navigator has 1 extra sea day (IN PLACE OF LABADEE) leaving out of TX. My cost with airfare is around $1,000 less on Navigator. Is it wort the extra to go freedom? Itd be our first RCI cruise.

 

I had the same dilemma for our cruise in October. It's just my wife and I (38 and 39 respectively). We live in Knoxville, TN and sailed out of Port Canaveral in September 2014 on the Enchantment of the Seas.

For that cruise we drove the 10 hours from Knoxville to Port Canaveral and stayed the night before in a hotel. There were a ton of low cost but nice places to stay for a night before a cruise. But this year I did not want to drive so flights were similarly priced for flying to Orlando or Houston, we are most likely going to drive to the 2.5 hours to Atlanta for fares that are half the price of flights from Knoxville.

So for us it came down to itinerary and price and the Navigator won. The Navigator has an extra sea day which I find relaxing. Also we booked on of the new balcony cabins on deck 12. These were added during the refurbishment. There are only a few cabins up there and there are no cabins above you.

We are booked in cabin 1826 for the October 18, 2015 sailing on the Navigator and are prepared for some issues with the port thanks to reviews on here. We will stay relaxed and go with the flow, but still plan ahead to make the best plans to limit those issues.

Happy sailing!

[Teacherloves2Cruise]

Some advantages of Port Canaveral over Galveston:

 

Multiple rental car agencies open event day (including Sundays) that accept one-way rentals with free shuttles to the cruise terminal.

 

Nice, reasonably priced hotels in the port area that do not require 2 night stays on the weekend.

 

Less chance for fog delays.

 

No liquor restrictions while in port.

 

Agreed. The car agencies is a real plus.