Freedom vs Magic Which one and why?

[Jenniell]

We just crunched the numbers and our honeymoon cruise to Alaska must be postponed again. I should be used to it... it's our 10 year anniversary. LOL! So tell me which ship we should go on.

[jsglow]

We'll be on the Magic for the first time this Fall. Freedom is one of the newer ships in the Conquest class, probably Carnival's most successful to date. Magic is part of the next generation called the Dream class. We're huge fans of the Freedom and the entire class particularly for their large stadium style central pool area but we're looking forward to enjoying a new never experienced class with Magic. We're especially excited about experiencing our first cove balcony.

 

You won't go wrong either way. I'd look into your airfare for Sat/Sat vs Sun/Sun and make a decision from there.

[BallFour4]

The Cove Balcony solves why I like the Conquest class better. On the Magic you cannot see the water alongside the ship from the balcony. You can see a nice view of Deck 5, and they can see you.

 

The Glory and Conquest remain our favorites. We toured the Freedom but like the decor of the Glory better. Minor differences, but the darker wood looked like an old RV. I'll get flamed for that...

 

It's nice to have choices!

 

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Edited March 27, 2015 by BallFour4

[Jenny in TX]

I don't think you can go wrong with either ship. We have sailed the Magic and had a balcony cabin on deck 8. If you are standing up on your balcony and looking straight down, yes you will see deck 5 below you, but if you are just sitting on your balcony you see straight out in to the water. We were far enough above deck 5 that we felt our balcony was just as private as any other ship. We loved our balcony cabin and would not hesitate to book one again. We are hoping to sail the Freedom later this year since Galveston is 30 minutes from our house. I like that the Freedom has Guys Burgers and Blue Iguana.

[jsglow]

I'm glad we decided to go 'cove' on Magic. Is Deck 5 a nice walking area for that brisk morning walk that I like? It's possible on the Conquest class to walk a fairly long perimeter on 10 but when folks start to congregate it gets more difficult.

 

Any, she'll be something new for us so we're looking forward.

 

Truth be told, I still absolutely love my Spirit class. We sailed Miracle and I absolutely loved the ship.

Edited March 27, 2015 by jsglow

[forwardcabin]

The Magic Coves are really great and we decided to try one on our last cruise Mar 9. You are closer to the water and under the lifeboats for shade. The balcony has more leg room than a standard balcony and is very private--no glass, so your neighbors don't see into your balcony using a reflection. It's especially great when the ship docks on your side. You get to see all the action on the pier. We had 2260 on our last Magic cruise. It was a really good location--close to the forward elevators. Would recommend a cove anytime. On each of our previous 3 Magic cruises, we always asked for a Lido cabin port side. We are now thinking about a Freedom cruise for 2016.

Edited March 27, 2015 by forwardcabin

[ski_mom]

We toured the Freedom but like the decor of the Glory better. Minor differences, but the darker wood looked like an old RV. I'll get flamed for that...

 

 

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May I ask how you got to do a tour? We live nowhere near any cruise ports, so I'm sure we'd never get to do that, but I'd love to if the opportunity ever came up!

[ScottsSweetie]

The Cove Balcony solves why I like the Conquest class better. On the Magic you cannot see the water alongside the ship from the balcony. You can see a nice view of Deck 5, and they can see you.

 

The Glory and Conquest remain our favorites. We toured the Freedom but like the decor of the Glory better. Minor differences, but the darker wood looked like an old RV. I'll get flamed for that...

 

It's nice to have choices!

 

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I do not believe that any Conquest Class ships have Cove Balconies.

 

We just sailed the Freedom in November and will be on the Magic in 6 weeks or so. Some differences:

 

Freedom has Guys Burgers - Magic does not. Freedom has the more "traditional" balcony rooms (not overlooking a promenade area). Freedom never felt crowded to me, while many people have commented on feeling crowded on the Magic.

 

Magic has Cucina del Capitano, ropes course, food in the Red Frog Pub (Pub on the Freedom does not have a kitchen). Magic has cove balconies.

 

We enjoyed the Freedom very much and are looking forward to checking out the Magic!

Edited March 27, 2015 by ScottsSweetie
added info

[jsglow]

I do not believe that any Conquest Class ships have Cove Balconies.

 

We just sailed the Freedom in November and will be on the Magic in 6 weeks or so. Some differences:

 

Freedom has Guys Burgers - Magic does not. Freedom has the more "traditional" balcony rooms (not overlooking a promenade area). Freedom never felt crowded to me, while many people have commented on feeling crowded on the Magic.

 

Magic has Cucina del Capitano, ropes course, food in the Red Frog Pub (Pub on the Freedom does not have a kitchen). Magic has cove balconies.

 

We enjoyed the Freedom very much and are looking forward to checking out the Magic!

 

Correct. Conquest class ships (including Freedom) do not have cove balconies. As such, one has a view all the way down to the water line from any balcony. Apparently this is not the case on a Dream class ship where Deck 5 extends out. Of course the coves are below on Deck 2.

[cruiser fanatic]

I have done both. I like both but I prefer the Freedom. The food, service, and entertainment were better on the Freedom. The Freedom also has the 2.0 upgrades and the Magic does not. I thought the ship looked a little tacky but that didn't bother me. I am using my free cruise casino offer on the Freedom in May.

[Martini Mom]

We had to make the same decision and decided on the Freedom because

A) it has the 2.0 upgrades

B) it was cheaper

C) We cruised on it's sister ship, the Valor, and loved it,

D) everyone recommended it.

[Jenny in TX]

Is Deck 5 a nice walking area for that brisk morning walk that I like? It's possible on the Conquest class to walk a fairly long perimeter on 10 but when folks start to congregate it gets more difficult.

 

Any, she'll be something new for us so we're looking forward.

 

Truth be told, I still absolutely love my Spirit class. We sailed Miracle and I absolutely loved the ship.

 

Deck 5 is very nice to get a good walk in. The only issue we ran in to was it was very windy so they had the front of deck 5 roped off so you weren't able to make a complete loop, but it is much better than going around the tiny track over and over again!

Edited March 27, 2015 by Jenny in TX

[dave_k58]

The Cove Balcony solves why I like the Conquest class better. On the Magic you cannot see the water alongside the ship from the balcony. You can see a nice view of Deck 5, and they can see you.

 

The Glory and Conquest remain our favorites. We toured the Freedom but like the decor of the Glory better. Minor differences, but the darker wood looked like an old RV. I'll get flamed for that...

 

It's nice to have choices!

 

.

 

I have never heard of a Cove Balcony on a Conquest class ship

[BallFour4]

I do not believe that any Conquest Class ships have Cove Balconies.

 

They don't. In the context of my post you will see that I didn't say they did, the Magic with their Cove Balconies solves the shortcomings of the balcony cabins above deck 5. That is a deal breaker for us as a couple. We love to look over the rail at the water alongside the ship and the Magic doesn't allow you to do it. You get a close up view of the people on deck 5 and they return the favor.

 

Our favorite location on Conquest class ships are Lido Deck, port side balconies. They are easily accessible to the Lido and usually the best side to watch pier runners.

 

The Magic does offer some things the Conquest class doesn't, but we like the small ship better. The Glory remains our personal favorite of all, having sailed her to Canada from Boston and the Eastern Caribbean route last summer.

 

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Edited April 5, 2015 by BallFour4

[BallFour4]

I have never heard of a Cove Balcony on a Conquest class ship

 

And you won't hear me post about one either.

 

My point was the only way to have a balcony cabin where you can look ober the rail and watch the side of the ship in the water is from a Cove Balcony if you sail the Magic.

 

I'd rather be on the Lido deck, watching and listening to the waves cut by the bow. The Conquest and now the Freedom allow us to do that from nearby Galveston. So does the Triumph when we take shorter cruises.

 

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Edited April 5, 2015 by BallFour4