Need Help Deciding on Ship...

[LynnTH]

Ok - so have been on about 9 cruises. Kids have been on 4. Both Carnival and RCCL. Went on Allure a few years back. It was fun but kids decided they liked Carnival better (Allure was too big for them).

 

Looking at March 2016 during their spring break. At the time kids will be 17 and 14. Here are the cruises I am looking at: These are all inside cabins for 4 and the Carnival Cruises are on the Lido deck.

 

Carnival Breeze - 8 Day to Grand Turk, Dominican Republic, Curacao, Aruba with 3 Sea Days ($2847) Flys out of Miami

 

Carnival Liberty - 7 Day to St. Thomas, Barbados, St. Lucia, St.Kitts, St. Maarten with 1 Sea Day ($1872) Flys out of San Juan

 

Carnival Splendor - 7 Day to Nassau, St. Thomas San Juan, Grand Turk with 2 Sea Days ($2216) Flys out of Miami

 

RCCL Jewel - 7 Day to St. Thomas, St. Kitts, Aruba, Curacao with 2 Sea Days ($2142) Flys out of San Juan

 

RCCL Adventure - 7 Day to St. Croix, St. Kitts, St. Maarten, Martinique, Barbados with 1 Sea Day. ($2068) Flys out of San Juan

 

Leaning towards the Breeze as it is the newest and has lots of great options on the ship though it is the most expensive and airfare is cheaper into Miami. Liberty looks good but generally like having more than 1 sea day. RCCL's seem good too. But can't book a cabin on Lido deck. Was on the Adventure about 10 years ago without kids.

 

Any input or suggestions would be great. Thanks.

Edited January 27, 2015 by LynnTH
Add ports

[cruiser fanatic]

Ok - so have been on about 9 cruises. Kids have been on 4. Both Carnival and RCCL. Went on Allure a few years back. It was fun but kids decided they liked Carnival better (Allure was too big for them).

 

Looking at March 2016 during their spring break. At the time kids will be 17 and 14. Here are the cruises I am looking at: These are all inside cabins for 4 and the Carnival Cruises are on the Lido deck.

 

Carnival Breeze - 8 Day to Grand Turk, Dominican Republic, Curacao, Aruba with 3 Sea Days ($2847) Flys out of Miami

 

Carnival Liberty - 7 Day to St. Thomas, Barbados, St. Lucia, St.Kitts, St. Maarten with 1 Sea Day ($1872) Flys out of San Juan

 

Carnival Splendor - 7 Day to Nassau, St. Thomas San Juan, Grand Turk with 2 Sea Days ($2216) Flys out of Miami

 

RCCL Jewel - 7 Day to St. Thomas, St. Kitts, Aruba, Curacao with 2 Sea Days ($2142) Flys out of San Juan

 

RCCL Adventure - 7 Day to St. Croix, St. Kitts, St. Maarten, Martinique, Barbados with 1 Sea Day. ($2068) Flys out of San Juan

 

Leaning towards the Breeze as it is the newest and has lots of great options on the ship though it is the most expensive and airfare is cheaper into Miami. Liberty looks good but generally like having more than 1 sea day. RCCL's seem good too. But can't book a cabin on Lido deck. Was on the Adventure about 10 years ago without kids.

 

Any input or suggestions would be great. Thanks.

 

How many people is that for? I would go with Liberty. I would never pay that price for the Breeze.

Edited January 27, 2015 by cruiser fanatic

[PaulMedik]

Ok - so have been on about 9 cruises. Kids have been on 4. Both Carnival and RCCL. Went on Allure a few years back. It was fun but kids decided they liked Carnival better (Allure was too big for them).

 

Looking at March 2016 during their spring break. At the time kids will be 17 and 14. Here are the cruises I am looking at: These are all inside cabins for 4 and the Carnival Cruises are on the Lido deck.

 

Carnival Breeze - 8 Day to Grand Turk, Dominican Republic, Curacao, Aruba with 3 Sea Days ($2847) Flys out of Miami

 

Carnival Liberty - 7 Day to St. Thomas, Barbados, St. Lucia, St.Kitts, St. Maarten with 1 Sea Day ($1872) Flys out of San Juan

 

Carnival Splendor - 7 Day to Nassau, St. Thomas San Juan, Grand Turk with 2 Sea Days ($2216) Flys out of Miami

 

RCCL Jewel - 7 Day to St. Thomas, St. Kitts, Aruba, Curacao with 2 Sea Days ($2142) Flys out of San Juan

 

RCCL Adventure - 7 Day to St. Croix, St. Kitts, St. Maarten, Martinique, Barbados with 1 Sea Day. ($2068) Flys out of San Juan

 

Leaning towards the Breeze as it is the newest and has lots of great options on the ship though it is the most expensive and airfare is cheaper into Miami. Liberty looks good but generally like having more than 1 sea day. RCCL's seem good too. But can't book a cabin on Lido deck. Was on the Adventure about 10 years ago without kids.

 

Any input or suggestions would be great. Thanks.

 

 

LynnTH,

 

I would choose Breeze;

 

• Cheapest flights
  
• One day longer than all other options
  
• Great ports
  
• Breeze is our favorite ship (Although Liberty is our second favorite)
  

 

Bon Voyage!

[Pixelate]

Ok - so have been on about 9 cruises. Kids have been on 4. Both Carnival and RCCL. Went on Allure a few years back. It was fun but kids decided they liked Carnival better (Allure was too big for them).

 

Looking at March 2016 during their spring break. At the time kids will be 17 and 14. Here are the cruises I am looking at: These are all inside cabins for 4 and the Carnival Cruises are on the Lido deck.

 

Carnival Breeze - 8 Day to Grand Turk, Dominican Republic, Curacao, Aruba with 3 Sea Days ($2847) Flys out of Miami

 

Carnival Liberty - 7 Day to St. Thomas, Barbados, St. Lucia, St.Kitts, St. Maarten with 1 Sea Day ($1872) Flys out of San Juan

 

Carnival Splendor - 7 Day to Nassau, St. Thomas San Juan, Grand Turk with 2 Sea Days ($2216) Flys out of Miami

 

RCCL Jewel - 7 Day to St. Thomas, St. Kitts, Aruba, Curacao with 2 Sea Days ($2142) Flys out of San Juan

 

RCCL Adventure - 7 Day to St. Croix, St. Kitts, St. Maarten, Martinique, Barbados with 1 Sea Day. ($2068) Flys out of San Juan

 

Leaning towards the Breeze as it is the newest and has lots of great options on the ship though it is the most expensive and airfare is cheaper into Miami. Liberty looks good but generally like having more than 1 sea day. RCCL's seem good too. But can't book a cabin on Lido deck. Was on the Adventure about 10 years ago without kids.

 

Any input or suggestions would be great. Thanks.

 

Woah! I've never flown out of a port on a cruise ship before. I know that some Princess ships have decorative fake turbine engines but I've never seen one fly through the air. That's progress!

[loubetti]

I'd book Breeze, unless you want to see Joe Farcus interiors. :eek:

[k9_Cop]

I'm always a fan of the Liberty.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[Pixelate]

I'd book Breeze, unless you want to see Joe Farcus interiors. :eek:

 

OP wouldn't see the designs of Joe Farcus when sailing on the Jewel and Adventure of the Seas.

 

RCCL Jewel - 7 Day to St. Thomas, St. Kitts, Aruba, Curacao with 2 Sea Days ($2142) Flys out of San Juan

 

RCCL Adventure - 7 Day to St. Croix, St. Kitts, St. Maarten, Martinique, Barbados with 1 Sea Day. ($2068) Flys out of San Juan

[alabamaprincess]

I would pick the Breeze for all of the upgrades and waterworks.

[jimbo5544]

LynnTH,

 

 

 

I would choose Breeze;

 

 

 

• 
   
  
• Cheapest flights
   
  
• One day longer than all other options
   
  
• Great ports
   
  
• Breeze is our favorite ship (Although Liberty is our second favorite)
   
  

 

 

 

Bon Voyage!

 

 

We also would choose Breeze (our favorite ship, Liberty used to be our favorite as well), for the same reasons Paul mentions.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[izzydog]

We did the Breeze in 2013 for Spring Break. We had a blast and would do it again in a second.

In case I wasn't clear...I vote Breeze.

[Manatee Mom]

What do you and your teens like to do? I have kids the same ages they haven't been on RCCL but they have been on the CCL ships and to all the Islands.

 

The reason I'm asking is if your kids are adventurous and like snorkeling, zip-lines & jungles things like that or just sitting at a beach or just sightseeing this will determine what Islands you and your family might like better than others

[Cruisegirl6]

Where are you flying from? How much is the airfare to fly into MIA and SJU? I assume you will be spending a night in the hotel the night before the cruise? Do you do the specialty dining? Do you prefer more port days or sea days? What do you like to do in port? (beach, sightseeing, etc?)

 

Things to consider:

 

If you taking a cruise out of Florida during that time you will have many more kids on board than if you flew from San Juan

 

Until I hear back from you regarding my questions I can only say this right no:

 

Out of San Juan- Liberty, Adventure and Jewel I take out the Jewel

Out of Florida- Splender and Breeze I take out the Splender

 

Please answer my questions I can give you more accurate advice.

[LynnTH]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I will try and answer all your questions.

 

1. Ports - Not into snorkeling. Mostly walking around towns or beach days. Try to keep costs down by not doing a lot of excursions as that can really add up with 4 of us. So, we like the ports that can walk around easily. Have done Mr. Sanchos before and really liked that. Open for ideas. We have done Eastern and Western Routes many time. Kids have never been on Southern. We have been but it has been 10 years.

 

2. Above prices are for 4 people in the cabin. I know a lot of you couldn't do 4 in a cabin but we have since the kids were little and it works fine.

 

3. We are flying out of Minneapolis. We do have Southwest Points for flights and looks like flying into San Juan is probably about double the points then flying into Miami. We will fly in a day early and stay overnight.

 

4. Ship wise - kids like to play basketball, dodgeball, mini golf, watch movies and swim. My son loves the Mongolian Wok and make your own pasta. Daughter is more adventurous and likes rock climbing and ropes course. I do make sure they go to the kids clubs the first night to meet people and they do a few things through out the cruise in the clubs but they are also fine just hanging out and doing stuff together also.

 

5. We like Port days and Sea Days equally. Love just hanging by the pool during the day and relaxing. We try to relax a bit more and not feel like we have to fit so much into a day. We used to feel like we had to go to every show - now we go if we feel like it, if not we do something else.

[WAHMto5]

We are taking the same Breeze one in September and our kids are very excited!

[Cruisegirl6]

I narrowed it down to two...Breeze and Adventure of the Seas this is difficult lol

 

The Adventure is nice because your flying in you also can see a little bit of San Juan but this cruise gives you a full sea day the day you arrive back home, this would be nice to have one entire sea day the day before you get off the ship.

 

The Breeze gives you an extra cruise day.

 

Both ships have a sports court, both have mini golf, the Adventure pools are fresh water where Carnivals is salt.... Adventure has rock climbing and the outdoor movie screen and since you have inside rooms, Adventure has the viking crown lounge so you can get to have a wonderful view out the sea or at the islands when you are docked there.

 

RC service overall is excellent, Carnival is a hit and miss especially in the MDR, Food on RC buffets are so much better in quality/selection/variety. If your into shows RC is definitely better than Carnivals.

 

My favorite cruise line overall is RC but putting that aside, but do know I feel RC offers you a better product overall...the Breeze is Carnivals newest ship.

 

You have to decide....better quality or one more day?

[Manatee Mom]

Ok - so have been on about 9 cruises. Kids have been on 4. Both Carnival and RCCL. Went on Allure a few years back. It was fun but kids decided they liked Carnival better (Allure was too big for them).

 

Looking at March 2016 during their spring break. At the time kids will be 17 and 14. Here are the cruises I am looking at: These are all inside cabins for 4 and the Carnival Cruises are on the Lido deck.

 

Carnival Breeze - 8 Day to Grand Turk, Dominican Republic, Curacao, Aruba with 3 Sea Days ($2847) Flys out of Miami

 

Carnival Liberty - 7 Day to St. Thomas, Barbados, St. Lucia, St.Kitts, St. Maarten with 1 Sea Day ($1872) Flys out of San Juan

 

Carnival Splendor - 7 Day to Nassau, St. Thomas San Juan, Grand Turk with 2 Sea Days ($2216) Flys out of Miami

 

RCCL Jewel - 7 Day to St. Thomas, St. Kitts, Aruba, Curacao with 2 Sea Days ($2142) Flys out of San Juan

 

RCCL Adventure - 7 Day to St. Croix, St. Kitts, St. Maarten, Martinique, Barbados with 1 Sea Day. ($2068) Flys out of San Juan

 

Leaning towards the Breeze as it is the newest and has lots of great options on the ship though it is the most expensive and airfare is cheaper into Miami. Liberty looks good but generally like having more than 1 sea day. RCCL's seem good too. But can't book a cabin on Lido deck. Was on the Adventure about 10 years ago without kids.

 

Any input or suggestions would be great. Thanks.

 

I'm writing this from my 13 and 16 yo boys point of view:

 

As for ships we haven't been on RCCL in a long time so can't comment. We did the NCL Jewel a few years ago, They loved their buffet so much better but food was basically the same every day there. They loved being able to get the free wings in the 24 hr restaurant. They were only 12 and 9 at the time but they did not like the camp reason being they like to pick and choose activities and not spend all day there. Even at 12 when they could check themselves in/out NCL rule is you have to say for min 2 hours. So they stopped going. They also found the karaoke rooms to have very limited hours and half weren't even working. Only 1 little water slide

my kids love CCL and their favorite CCL Ship is the Breeze. It has the water park, ropes course, out door workout area (other CCL ships don't have) and great activities for teenagers. Plus CCL has the free ice cream machine and pizza 24 hours a day.

 

As for ports your looking at alot of the same. so I go over the different ones

-Grand Turk - love - get off and free beautiful beach right there and nice shopping town to walk around right there

-Dominican Republic - did a boat ride to beach & sandbar. The water is so crystal clear. Kids loved sand bar because you could look down and see the starfish and pick them up and play with them

-Curacao did open bus island tour it was fun went to beach It was ok and curacao factory tour Kids liked because no drinking age and they got to sample (very small sample)

-Aruba - we did an island tour that dropped us off at a beach where all the hotels are - Kids felt like it was any beach in FL no big deal, they were not impressed with the island

-St. Thomas, Barbados, St. Lucia, St.Kitts, can;t remember except we did taxi tours or water activities maybe a pirate ship they were younger

St. Maarten cool island just beware of which beach are clothing optional they like MaHo beach right off the airport (not a beach to lay out and relax) when a plane takes off it blows you into the water!!!!

Nassau, St. Thomas San Juan, Grand Turk - only Island my kids would want is Grand Turk we don't even get off at Nassau

St. Croix, Martinique, my kids were little so wouldn't help you sorry

 

Hope this helps

[mum2bradley]

Breeze!! I have a 16 year old DS. So much for the kids to do.

 

We have done the Breeze 8 day and did the Victory out of San Juan a few years ago.

 

Less kids on the one out of San Juan for sure and it is a very port intensive cruise so not lots of down time. But you are pretty much guaranteed good weather.

 

But we have done the Breeze twice now and I would go back in heartbeat!

 

Enjoy!

[LynnTH]

I think I am leaning towards the Breeze also. We were on the Conquest last June and it was nice but wouldn't rush back to sail on that one again. We had another family with us so they had friends with also.

 

Yeah - the disadvantage of the Liberty is that there is only 1 Sea Day and it is in the beginning of the cruise. So, not a lot of down time. I like that the Breeze has 3 Sea Days and still 4 ports and we fly into Miami which is cheaper. (so kind of make's up for the more expensive cruise)

 

We have been to St. Thomas, St. Maarten and Nassau before so would be nice to have some different ports.

 

 

Now just waiting for the next "sale" with reduced deposits. Don't want to put down $1200 right now. Plus my husband has enough points in his work credit card to get a $500 certificate so would need that before booking. I don't anticipate the pricing the change much anytime soon since it is still so far out.

[Cruisegirl6]

It appears you have made your choice the Breeze it is an extra day too! ;)