What to pick out of Tampa?

Planning family February vacation. Our son (8) wants to spend a night a Lego land hotel and my husband and I want to do a cruise. Our 2 options are 5 night Paradise or 5 nt Brilliance(never sailed on Royal). We enjoy sailing on Carnival but wouldn't mind sailing on Royal to say we tried it. The stops and times are pretty much same. Royal is a couple of hundred more.

Any feedback?

Thanks

Danielle

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If the cost does not concern you then I 100% vote for the Brilliance. I love that class of ships. It is miles ahead of the Paradise in terms of style and layout. (I am sure I will get flamed by the fanboys and girls).

I will say that I have found the "free" food to be better on Carnival as well as the overall service.

Agree with Danielle about Carnival service being better and friendlier. The one place RCI betters Carnival is the buffet. The Windjammer Cafe is set up much better. On The Serenade we ate almost exclusively at the Windjammer, and it never felt crowded, unlike the buffet on the Dream.

Thanks for the in put

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I live in Tampa and do not cruise from here in the winter time. Fog closes the port way to often so depending on when you want to cruise.....

I live in Tampa and do not cruise from here in the winter time. Fog closes the port way to often so depending on when you want to cruise.....

We would be looking at February

Carnival Pride is also sailing out of Tampa in February 2017.

We would be looking at February

I don't sail from Tampa at that time of the year. Fog issues way too often. Look at choices from Canaveral after Legoland.

Thinking of maybe December cruise from Tampa. Might fog be a problem and how does this effect your itinerary? I'd never heard of that happening before. On a short cruise you don't want to lose any time!

Thinking of maybe December cruise from Tampa. Might fog be a problem and how does this effect your itinerary? I'd never heard of that happening before. On a short cruise you don't want to lose any time!

Tampa gets pretty foggy between December and April. They will close the port (really traffic passing under the Sunshine Skyway) to keep from having the bridge hit again. Delay could be hours and more than once multiple days.

If the price was the same, I too would do RCI. Having said that, I'll be sailing a five day aboard "Paradise" sailing the 3rd. (two days!) I always enjoy the "Paradise", but with the change in C.D., and the poor choice of Karaoke equipment, we'll see how it goes. I'll let y'all know at the end of next week.

"SKY"

We live an hour south of Tampa and cruise many times a year mostly out of Tampa. We alway try and do a cruise for either Christmas or New Years. Well a few years ago, we decided to try Royal for the first time and cruised on Jewel of the Seas out of Tampa for a Christmas cruise with the family. 3 balcony cabins with ages ranging from 14 to 50.

All I can say is that this was the most boring cruise we have ever taken. Our 14-year-old was put in the 16-18 group because "there weren't enough kids in her age group". Our 22-year-old daughter and her friend only had one good evening in the rotating bar.

As for my wife and I, we had a good time in the casino but the rest of the ship had a very much "better than thou" attitude and the average age was on the older side (65+).

We have since returned to Carnival and haven't looked back. Paradise is on the older side of ships and could use some updating but, she is in fine shape, clean as a whistle and has one of the best crews at sea. In the last 2 years, we have cruised on her over 8 times and another one coming up in 3 weeks!!

Hope this helps!

I usually go for the better price, but with a kid (God forbid :eek: ) I'd pick Brillance for all of the kid-centric stuff.

If you can wait until Pride comes to Tampa, her amenities are comparable.

Carnival Pride is also sailing out of Tampa in February 2017.

That would def be my 1st choice! We loved the pride and would love to see the updates. However we drive from RI and don't have the time to fit in the drive, 7nt cruise and a night at legoland.

That would def be my 1st choice! We loved the pride and would love to see the updates. However we drive from RI and don't have the time to fit in the drive, 7nt cruise and a night at legoland.

Book the Pride and bring a bunch of Legos. Call it Legoland at Sea :p

Also check out AllegiantAir for very cheap fares to Tampa.

Book the Pride and bring a bunch of Legos. Call it Legoland at Sea :p

 

Also check out AllegiantAir for very cheap fares to Tampa.

I like your idea!

My vote would be for Carnival. Royal Caribbean was kind of boring for me, plus I know all of the kids really love the Carnival camps.

Carnival Pride is also sailing out of Tampa in February 2017.

I love Carnival Pride. The staff is amazing on that ship.

I prefer Carnival, 14 cruises completed, 3 more booked, find the staff and crew better and the prices as well on Carnival. Have tried RCL three times and have yet to be Wow'd by them. Doing Paradise for a 2nd time next July.