George C Posted November 19, 2018 #26 Share Posted November 19, 2018 Way more activities on rccl , way more entertainment, great ice show , rock climbing wall, flowrider. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EeyoreRN Posted November 19, 2018 #27 Share Posted November 19, 2018 We are sailing a similar itinerary on Freedom in May. We can't wait! I had already decided to choose based on Southern itinerary, and Freedom and Carnival were our only choices that time of year. Beware, the airfare is pretty ridiculous to San Juan...well much higher than expected for our week (we are traveling over memorial day so that may be a contributing factor). I got somewhat decent fares on Jetblue but expected and hoped for lower. We are taking advantage of San Juan as a port and spending 2 nights there pre cruise, when hotels are also pretty pricey! Good luck with your decision and bon voyage! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cruiselvr04 Posted November 19, 2018 #28 Share Posted November 19, 2018 Freedom is more teen friendly with flow rider, water slides, basketball court and that kind of thing. I’d go south for new ports rather then repeating. It is port intensive and I know that can be tough when you want to relax. So choose a port to skip or a couple to do just half day excursions on to give yourself more relax time. Take the kids to see some new places! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fredflint Posted November 20, 2018 #29 Share Posted November 20, 2018 You forget one simple thing First this cruise is much better pick almost any port and compare and it wins hands down. Don't forget you don't need to get off at every port and usually those who stay onboard mention how easy is it to do anything You could skip St Kitts and in my opinion you would not miss much. St Maarten you can go to the beach and relax. St Lucia is just beautiful. Barbados i was there years ago and visited a wildlife park with green tailed monkeys that would make the trip worthwhile for me. Take the better cruise rather than throwaway ports and just do what you want to do. The kids are old enough to stay on the ship if they want to. Freedom (San Juan to San Juan) - every day a different southern Caribbean port with one sea day at the end. (Basseterre , St. Kitts & Nevis | St. Johns , Antigua | Castries , St. Lucia | Bridgetown , Barbados | Philipsburg , St. Maarten). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremiah1212 Posted November 20, 2018 #30 Share Posted November 20, 2018 I'd go with Celebrity if the lack of younger age geared attractions is not an issue. You can probably get drink packages/WiFi and prepaid tips on Celebrity too. Are you factoring that into the overall cost? On 7 day Caribbean cruises, I've found the overall value for dollar is always better on Celebrity vs. Royal for the past several years. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pipo Posted November 20, 2018 #31 Share Posted November 20, 2018 Freedom for the kids. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare brillohead Posted November 20, 2018 #32 Share Posted November 20, 2018 Are your kids basically 40yo adults in smaller bodies? Because Celebrity is NOT a young person's cruise line. If they literally never care if they never see anyone under the age of 30 and they never want to do anything but sit next to you reading a book, Celebrity is fine. For me personally, I prefer the more relaxed, less formal, more fun-filled product on RCI. Plus Freedom is my fave class of ship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare JamesEM Posted November 20, 2018 #33 Share Posted November 20, 2018 If the cost of air fare and per cruise stay is not a factor I would go with RCL, more to see and do, great itinerary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BNBR Posted November 20, 2018 #34 Share Posted November 20, 2018 (edited) 15 hours ago, micmacmissy said: Been to: Key West Grand Cayman Cozumel St. Thomas St. Maarten Bahamas Falmouth San Juan Calica Mexico Would not be thrilled to go back to either Bahamas or Falmouth. I'd go back to any of the rest, though. We've only been on 5 cruises total. Loved 7 mile beach in Grand Cayman, loved Nachi Cocum in Cozumel. We're big on beaches, paddleboarding, kayaking, etc. It's tough to recommend as you have been on Independence. So you know what a Freedom class has to offer. You said you have sailed Celebrity as well. So you know what they have to offer. It seems really based on what YOU want and only you know. You have sailed both ships. If it helps your search, I think you would like Costa Maya. Check out a private day at Maya Chan Beach. You love beaches/paddboarding/kayaking... this place is AMAZING for that. You should probably just check out excursions and activities at the ports and see which gets you the most excited. As for sailing Fort Lauderdale or Miami, that should make very little difference. Miami is easy to get in and out of and the ports are barely 30 - 35 minutes apart. Edited November 20, 2018 by BNBR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_G Posted November 20, 2018 #35 Share Posted November 20, 2018 On 11/19/2018 at 10:28 AM, piescruises said: How about princess? We left Princess about 10 years ago because it was stale. I'm sure they've changed it up by now but we haven't given them another go yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steveru621 Posted November 20, 2018 #36 Share Posted November 20, 2018 Flying to San Juan will probably be more expensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
molsonschooner Posted November 20, 2018 #37 Share Posted November 20, 2018 17 hours ago, fredflint said: You forget one simple thing First this cruise is much better pick almost any port and compare and it wins hands down. Don't forget you don't need to get off at every port and usually those who stay onboard mention how easy is it to do anything You could skip St Kitts and in my opinion you would not miss much. St Maarten you can go to the beach and relax. St Lucia is just beautiful. Barbados i was there years ago and visited a wildlife park with green tailed monkeys that would make the trip worthwhile for me. Take the better cruise rather than throwaway ports and just do what you want to do. The kids are old enough to stay on the ship if they want to. Freedom (San Juan to San Juan) - every day a different southern Caribbean port with one sea day at the end. (Basseterre , St. Kitts & Nevis | St. Johns , Antigua | Castries , St. Lucia | Bridgetown , Barbados | Philipsburg , St. Maarten). we did St. Kitts a couple years ago. We did a tour that stopped at a beach(sorry, can't remember the name) that was beautiful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
micmacmissy Posted November 21, 2018 Author #38 Share Posted November 21, 2018 Added wrinkle: Celebrity Summit to Bermuda, which spends 3 days in port in Bermuda. Are the beaches wonderful? We've never been to Bermuda, or been on a cruise where the ship stays there. Is there enough to do in Bermuda for almost 3 full days? Do you miss the pulling into and out of ports each day? Bonus would be we can drive to NY - so no airfare at all. Thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chill6x6 Posted November 21, 2018 #39 Share Posted November 21, 2018 Of the ones you listed for sure the Equinox for your group. I might be inclined to go the Carnival Breeze out of Port Canaveral though. You would swap Key West and Grand Cayman for Mahogany Bay and Belize City... Cozumel- Mr Sancho's or Playa Mia Costa Maya- Short taxi ride to the Malecon Mahogany Bay- Beach and stuff to do RIGHT THERE Belize City- Actually go on an excursion! Zoo/River! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EeyoreRN Posted November 21, 2018 #40 Share Posted November 21, 2018 2 hours ago, micmacmissy said: Added wrinkle: Celebrity Summit to Bermuda, which spends 3 days in port in Bermuda. Are the beaches wonderful? We've never been to Bermuda, or been on a cruise where the ship stays there. Is there enough to do in Bermuda for almost 3 full days? Do you miss the pulling into and out of ports each day? Bonus would be we can drive to NY - so no airfare at all. Thoughts? I have sailed on 3 Bermuda cruises from NY. One Celebrity 7-day (long ago, not Summit) and 2 RCI 5-days. Bermuda is gorgeous and there is PLENTY to do in 3 days. I could spend 3 days in Horseshoe Bay alone and be happy, but there's a lot to do. We say the only thing wrong with those 5-day cruises is that they're too short! I can't compare to your other itineraries of choice since I haven't done those yet, but you really can't go wrong with Bermuda out of NYC. Happy sailing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BNBR Posted November 21, 2018 #41 Share Posted November 21, 2018 I don't personally get the point of a cruise that sits at a port for 3 days. Cruise ships are awesome but they don't make the best hotels. If just staying Bermuda, surely there are much better resort hotel options. Cruises are fun because you CRUISE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now