My turn! Advice on a Carnival cruise after a 5 year hiatus

[soccersharon]

Hi Tapi,

 

I've sailed both the Valor (1st cruise in 2008) and the Breeze last September.

 

I would personally pick the Breeze. The Waterworks area for the kids is awesome, and the spa for "couple time" is wonderful. Win-win!

 

Side note: I would sail more often if my airfare were $1,000! It's at least double from Montreal :(

[pamrose228]

I would go for the Valor. Next year the Vista will be in Miami and Breeze rates will probably come down ( that's if the Breeze is homeported in Miami it just might move to PC)

[Tapi]

We are spending Tapi's money by a landslide...lol...

 

 

I know! But I don't feel as if I'm being steered towards a bad decision! [emoji4]

[Tapi]

My question would be about your son's last day of school. At the age of 6 it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world for him to miss the last day of school.

 

 

We've taken him out of school with pre-approval for a day here and there, so I'm not against the idea. I just didn't think that could be a possibility on the last day of school. I guess it's worth checking into!

[mississauga]

I was going to suggest taking him out of school for one day also. If it's the last day of school, he won't miss anything at all, will he? Usually the last day is just fun and games, a big party to end the school year?

 

My vote is also for the Breeze. My favorite Carnival ship.

[Midwestgal]

Breeze⚓️⚓️⚓️⚓️

[Tapi]

Well Tapi -- it depends on how bad you want to make husband of the month!

 

You know when I wrote that someone will say something that will click in my head? This is the kind of thing that I was talking about! :)

[trvlgirlmq]

The kids do absolutely nothing in the last day. Heck the last week of elementary school is movies and parties.

[LSEA]

2 of my kids have finished elementary school thus far. Here's what I can tell you about the last day. NOTHING important happens. Where we live now, they don't even have the "end of the year" parties on the last day because so many kids are gone. Those parties are usually scheduled 2 or 3 days before the last day. Are you certain the last day of school is a full day? Could your child miss or leave early so you could drive to the Breeze? Waterworks would be a deal breaker for me with the little ones.

[Trish12345]

Anytime we can cruise to new ports without flying, we take that cruise. When we have to fly it adds costs, adds time out of our control, limits luggage which means fewer dresses, shoes, hats & jewelry.

 

I think your small children will be happy on the Valor with easier traveling.

And if the children are happy, Momma will be happy!

 

However, I am loving these journey cruises...

[Karebear98]

What I have learned over the years having 3 kids ( son 20 & twins 16 ) last week & day of school is puzzles, movies & saying goodbye to all. My kids don't even want to go the last day any more because it's well just boring. They work hard all year I always let them skip that day

Hope that helps

 

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[Retired_to_Cruise]

If you choose the Valor, it will be like your last cruise was yesterday. You went to other cruise lines to see what they had and how they measured up. Sailing on the Breeze when you have never sailed on a Dream class ship or a 2.0 ship, it will feel like another whole new cruise line. I find it difficult to look at anything less that a 2.0 (unless Alaska is involved). The Breeze is a great ship. I would also question if you really have to have a Spa Deck cabin. I think you can get Spa passes (extra cost) no matter where you stay on the ship. Will you really use the Spa facilities every single day; or just a couple of times through the week. Personally, I would get a balcony stateroom in the aft portion of the ship on deck 7 or deck 8 a little in front of or behind the aft elevators. But then, that is me!

 

Good luck and have a good time what ever you choose. But I think you will really like the Breeze, Guy's Burgers, a Blue Iguana Cantina Breakfast Burrito or lunch tacos, sitting out on deck 5 in the Lanai areas, trying some excellent sushi at Bonzai Sushi (extra charge), enjoying the New American Table menu, having a top notch Margarita at the Blue Iguana Tequila Bar, or enjoying the Red Frog Pub. All things you have never experienced on a Carnival Ship.

[mrswright]

With kids that age I would do the breeze in a heartbeat.. They will have hours of fun at waterworks.. My daughter was 6 when we want on the breeze and she loved it after being on a disney cruise earlier in the year.

 

 

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[quickrate]

I know I am in the minority here but I have sailed both ships and wouldn't go on the Breeze again but if the price was right I would sail on the Valor a second time.

 

Why is that you may ask?

1)The décor of the Breeze was not interesting to us in the least. I like a ship that is not decorated like my home ie I love over the top Carnival-ie farcus décor or really beautiful finishes ie Disney dream décor. There wasn't one room on the Breeze where any of my family said 'Oh wow look at that!" It is all very nice and pleasant though-very much like a new Holiday Inn so not ugly just not interesting in any way.

 

2) That floor in the lido buffet area is slippery as hell so passing through I ended up with one foot on the carpeted area and one foot on tile to make sure I didn't fall and break a leg-no I am not elderly or infirm in any way

 

3)Trying to find a seat in the buffet area at lunch was problematic ie we had to get a table first then each go for our food.

 

4)Getting back on the ship took much longer than pretty much any cruise I can recall out of 20 cruises.

 

5)Room service took so long by the time it came (close to an hour 3 times) we were falling asleep.

 

 

I had no complaints about the Valor in any away. :)

Wow! Were we on the same ship? 3 times on this ship and never had any of these issues.If Lido is crowded center, keep walking aft and you will find lots of open tables. Never waited more than 5 minutes at any time to get back on ship.

Can't say much about room service, always have coffee delivered in morning and never waited more than 20 minutes. Intersting how things can change from week to week.

Pat

[JinxyB]

Having a 4 y/o myself, I would choose Breeze, no questions asked. Breeze has waterworks which was great for my child who can't swim yet, and they had a better mini-golf area, too. I would not choose a Conquest-class ship that has not had 2.0 upgrades, either. I personally find the Conquest-class ships kind of predictable and boring, and too similar (been on Valor, Glory, Liberty). I have been on the Breeze twice, and hope to sail her again next year before she leaves Miami-love that ship!!

[Tapi]

Tapi Have you ever thought of taking the train Kids love it easier than flying. Kids will love it.

 

 

They absolutely would! I can look into it, but don't know if I can squeeze it in before the cruise! Thanks for the suggestion.

[Tapi]

Congrats on your Valor cruise and enjoy the QM2.

 

 

Still debating even though my signature says Valor. [emoji5]️ If our Carnival cruise would be the only one for the year, I wouldn't be so torn, but part of me prefers to spend less on the Carnival cruise and more on the QM2!

[Tapi]

Personally, I think I would save that $1,750 and use it to book another cruise for just you and your wife...possibly an anniversary cruise or something

 

 

I'm all about the numbers, and my wife tends to be the same way. We're planning another cruise for the fall without the kids, so that may weigh in our decision about this cruise.

[gladimhere]

how much time will you spend in cabin

[Scooter McGavin]

Hello Tapi!

 

Frequent lurker, occasional poster here.

 

I didn't cast a vote, because I can most certainly see it both ways. I've sailed on both the Dream and Magic, love the ships and the spa...ahhhhmazing. I will be sailing on the Freedom soon and am really excited for the full 2.0 experience.

 

That said -- Sailing for the ship, Breeze wins hands down.

 

However, if it were me....$1750 isn't pocket change, and I know I'll have a blast just being on a ship with my loved ones. I would probably book the Valor, and "invest" in more fun things, excursions, chef's table, spa stuff...maybe a day or two at Disney or Universal on the back end of the trip with the kiddos? SURPRISE!!! :D

 

Just spit ballin' here...

[mikenhe]

The Breeze.. maybe even a cove balcony :D

 

lots for the kids to do on the breeze - and adults. We didn't try everything on our breeze cruise so we are doing it again this year!!

 

do the extra drive - you can easily do an hour or two extra then only be an hour away on cruise day. Not a problem.

[AngAndBoys]

I'm all about the numbers, and my wife tends to be the same way. We're planning another cruise for the fall without the kids, so that may weigh in our decision about this cruise.

 

I'm all about the numbers too! I voted Breeze. What I would do, if it was me, is find a way to get those numbers closer together. I would definitely pull the kid out of school a day early. As others have suggested, at that age, they do nothing on the last day. Take advantage of that while you can, when they hit middle and high school, they'll have finals that week. So, you're up $1000 of that already.

 

Next thing, I'd forget the spa cabin and buy a pass instead. This saves you in 2 ways, obviously the cash difference, but the other thing you gotta consider with 4 of you in the spa cabins is you are paying those rates for 2 people who cannot even use the service you are paying extra for. I don't know if they sell out fast? If so, you may need to get a FTTF pass to make sure you can get on early. I don't know the calculation on the savings there because I don't know the current prices of cabins.

 

Last thing I'd do to crunch those numbers is look hard at shore excursions. This is a very personal matter though. I'm one of those all about he ship people so it doesn't hurt me to scrimp here. My kids have always been perfectly happy to just go to a beach. As we've cruised longer, we're not adverse to staying on the ship in some ports or just getting off briefly. To me, ports are a money loser anyway because I already paid my fare which included food and entertainment. The minute I buy my kid a hamburger in port, I've lost money. Not to say I don't, I do, but I can give up extras in port with no qualms, especially if we're on a really cool ship with lots to do there.

 

Good luck with your decision and budgeting. Bottom line is, your family will have a great trip with wonderful memories either way.

[Tapi]

Next thing, I'd forget the spa cabin and buy a pass instead. This saves you in 2 ways, obviously the cash difference, but the other thing you gotta consider with 4 of you in the spa cabins is you are paying those rates for 2 people who cannot even use the service you are paying extra for. I don't know if they sell out fast

 

 

I priced out a regular stateroom VS a Cloud 9 stateroom. The difference in price for that was about $250. But we would not have a week pass to the spa. True, it would probably be cheaper to get individual passes here and there, but the last time we sailed on a ship with a Cloud 9 style spa, we used it every single day. It was awesome, but we've sailed in ships without those facilities after that and we still had a very enjoyable time.

 

There are savings to be had if we forego the Spa stateroom, but once again, we loose one of the incentives to make it all the way to Miami.

 

Decisions, decisions! [emoji43]

[AngAndBoys]

I priced out a regular stateroom VS a Cloud 9 stateroom. The difference in price for that was about $250. But we would not have a week pass to the spa. True, it would probably be cheaper to get individual passes here and there, but the last time we sailed on a ship with a Cloud 9 style spa, we used it every single day. It was awesome, but we've sailed in ships without those facilities after that and we still had a very enjoyable time.

 

There are savings to be had if we forego the Spa stateroom, but once again, we loose one of the incentives to make it all the way to Miami.

 

Decisions, decisions! [emoji43]

 

For some reason, thought you could buy a week pass. Maybe I'm getting confused with Norwegian? Anyway, at a $250 difference and buying the pass and FTTF, you probably could not save there.

[legion3]

You can buy weekly passes and they run, for an 8 day cruise closer to $300 per couple If I remember. Also the Spa cabins give you location to easily access the Spa.

 

We originally were going to do a cove and buy the pass but ultimately decided we might not use the Spa enough if we have to trek up 11 decks to get to the Spa.

 

the 3rd and 4th person in the Spa cabin is a negligible savings compared to other cabins.

 

With my price drops the Spa balcony came down enough that the savings made us consider getting a suite and then the Spa passes but DW nixed that idea, again feeling the use of the spa would suffer from climbing up 5 decks (and after an NCL suite she see's no reason to go Carnival suites) and DD 8 wanted an "up high" balcony.

 

I would do the Breeze and work out the trip somehow, if you can easily make port Canaveral then do that and drive the rest of the way in the morning.