Coming back to Royal? After 6 cruises on Canrival, Looking for some input.

[tap_out]

Little background. I have cruised 11 times 10 with my wife. 5 Royal 5 Carnival 1 NCl. I am 34 and like to drink and have a good time. I am not brand loyal but more so a bargain hunter. Our first 5 cruises were on Royal. We have been on Explorer, Freedom and Allure. Freedom being our least favorite cruise. It was just very overcrowded and the food was not up to par. This was probably about 8 years ago. We switched to Carnival because it was more affordable. We liked there product and continued to cruise with them except one cruise on the Getaway which we enjoyed. We just got off the horizon were we had the cheers package and a Havana room so it was out best cruise to date. So we are not brand loyal at all.

 

This cruise is going to be a little different. My mom passed away about a year ago from cancer. We took one cruise with my father and mother. To my surprise my Dad mentioned to me that he wanted to take a cruise and get away. So I thought it would be a great opportunity for my brother, him and I to get to spend some quality time together. Being I will be looking to leave my wife and son at home I want to keep it short, 5 days or so. Ideally we would like to cruise out of NY/NJ but cruise prices in FL are so much cheaper we might be down to fly to Fl.

 

One option is a 5 day western on the Independence out of Ft Lauderdale. One concern is the crowding which we experienced on the Freedom. I was happy to read that the ship was just refurbished. On the other hand it seems to have increased the overcrowding. We are used to cruising in the summer with my wife being a teacher so I am hoping cruising in the winter/spring will cut down on the crowds. Is that a fair assumption?

 

Another option is Anthem of the seas. Looks like an awesome ship and I have been wanting to sail the quantum class ever since they came out. It is a little bit more expensive and only a 4 day cruise with one port in Bermuda. Its only available in December so the day down and back would be a waster. However I know the anthem has a ton of great things to do inside. Plus NJ is only a 2.5 hr ride. Also really wanted to save this ship for the wife and I. Seems like there is so much to do a 4 day cruise wouldn't do it justice.

 

Last option is the NCL getaway in April out of NY. Love that fact that the drink package is included. It is the most expensive. But drink and dining package kind of offsets that. 5 Day cruise which is a plus. Hopefully the weather in April will be ok for outdoor time.

 

Things that are important to me. Good bars and drink package. Comedy as well as shows. Movies on the pool deck at night. Hoping you guys could fill me in on the movies for independence and anthem although not sure we would be able to take advantage on anthem. Crowding issue on Independence? Deluxe beverage package? Is it true you can get exemptions for the other people in the room? My dad is a 71 year Diabetic so drinking isn't an option for him.

 

Thanks for any input.

[Thorben-Hendrik]

Independence will be more crowded than Freedom....

[roadburner]

Have you considered one of the smaller ships? Mariner, Vision, Jewel & Brilliance all have 3 to 5 days cruises out of Florida, as do others, We prefer the smaller ships.

 

Kay

[tap_out]

Honestly no. I am a big ship guy. We have never done a small ship.

 

I would look into the Mariner. We have done the explorer 3 times and loved it.

 

I will have to look into the brilliance class

[roadburner]

Brilliance belongs to the Radiance Class, along with Radiance, Jewel & Serenade. In our experience they are the best run, kept up best, and have the friendliest and most helpful staff. We love them!

[Grandma Dazzles]

Have you considered one of the smaller ships? Mariner, Vision, Jewel & Brilliance all have 3 to 5 days cruises out of Florida, as do others, We prefer the smaller ships.

 

Kay

 

Mariner is not a small ship. It’s still a Voyageur class ship - very similar to Independence and Freedom.

[MsOne]

Anthem in December might be pretty cold, especially for trying to enjoy a movie on a deck. I was excited about the price of an 8 day with 3 days overnight in Bermuda at a low price in January (I think under $600), but after researching I found out the weather in Bermuda for that time of year is a high in the mid 60s. Not horrible winter weather, but not the ideal visiting a tropical island weather. Also, past cruisers said leaving out of New York at that time was too cold and windy to enjoy being on the deck, so the first day or 2 is generally indoors until you're away from the NY area. A lot of people talked about the waters being rougher too, but of course others said they had experiences that weren't any rougher than other times of year.

[tap_out]

I think we settled on a 5 day on the mariner end of January. We loved the explorer back in the day. Looks like they have added some cool features after the refurbishment. Can anybody comment on the entertainment on the mariner 5 day?

[Clarea]

I think we settled on a 5 day on the mariner end of January. We loved the explorer back in the day. Looks like they have added some cool features after the refurbishment. Can anybody comment on the entertainment on the mariner 5 day?

Mariner does primarily 3 and 4 day cruises. If there's a 5-day cruise, it might be a special case due to some scheduling anomoly, like a charter. In other words, there won't be any reports on a 5-day cruise.