Caribbean ship opinions

After a disappointing Carnival Christmas cruise several years ago I've talked my Husband into giving cruising another go.

I've been on a RC cruise (Brilliance of the Seas) once before as a teen, back in 2003. I remember it being an amazing experience and wanting to do it again. Since then I've been on 2 Carnival cruises, the last of which with my husband, and they have come no where near to comparing.

I want to show my husband the amazing experience I know cruising can be. We've decided to hit up the Caribbean in either Jan/Feb/March 2018. I'm having a hard time picking which cruise though and hoping you can help as I'm so out of the loop.

What ship would you recommend to really wow? We will have our (then) 8 mo old with us, but would prefer a cruise without a ton of children. Ports of call are semi important (would love to go to Grand Cayman again), but the ship matters more for this voyage.

We both like newer, nicer things. We would be a getting a balcony room and likely a junior suite.

It looks like it'd be looking at one of these ships:

-Freedom

-Rhapsody

-Empress

-Liberty

-Oasis

-Allure

-Anthem

-Jewel

-Adventure

Any suggestions to make sure he really gets a good cruising experience?

Oasis or Allure for sure! Biggest ships in the world - amazing activities, high quality production shows, we loved everything about Oasis

My vote is also for Oasis class ships, Oasis and Allure. Newer, nicer, and tons of things to do.

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I would strongly recommend to stay away from Oasis-class ships as they are not really what makes a cruise-ship great!

They are just an amusement park and you do not need to be on a ship to have that!

They are for people that are not really into cruising on the ocean but just need to be entertained 24/7.

Pooldeck is crowded becuase of the cut-outs that take a lot of space away and the boardwalk and central park are useless and nothing we would need on a ship!

For a nice ship experience with a lot of wow I would recommend

Freedom, Liberty or Adventure.

The itineraries and embarkation ports will no doubt reduce your options from the list you have given.

You can then divide ships into ones that give you the traditional Royal Caribbean experience and something new and different.

The newer classes of ships (Quantum, Oasis) have lots of features, things to do and explore, lots of venues for entertainment and dinning and seem to attract a younger crowd. It is a different experience, more options in the evening and IMO requires effort to organise. Personally I love it and ships like Allure and Oasis are my favourite.

For a more relaxed cruise experience in line with Royal Caribbean cruises you might have done in the past, the older ships are better IMO.

One final point. I really liked Anthem because it was so different. I found some people on board who didn't like it because it was so different to what they were accustomed to. So perhaps that should be a deciding factor. Traditional or a totally different experience.

She did not like Carnival - that totally rules out the zoo that Oasis-class produces IMHO

If you like newer, nicer things then you should consider Allure, Oasis or Anthem.

Just avoid holiday periods and you won't have a ton of children.

We love Anthem. The Junior suites are very spacious, great balconies plus access to the fabulous Coastal Kitchen restaurant.

Anthem does 7-night Bahamas and 12-night Caribbean from New Jersey.

Allure and Oasis are among the largest cruise ships in the world, tons do on board.

Royal Caribbean is a terrific cruise, you'll all be Wowed from the moment you step aboard.

Jonathan

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After a disappointing Carnival Christmas cruise several years ago I've talked my Husband into giving cruising another go.

I've been on a RC cruise (Brilliance of the Seas) once before as a teen, back in 2003. I remember it being an amazing experience and wanting to do it again. Since then I've been on 2 Carnival cruises, the last of which with my husband, and they have come no where near to comparing.

 

 

I want to show my husband the amazing experience I know cruising can be. We've decided to hit up the Caribbean in either Jan/Feb/March 2018. I'm having a hard time picking which cruise though and hoping you can help as I'm so out of the loop.

 

 

What ship would you recommend to really wow? We will have our (then) 8 mo old with us, but would prefer a cruise without a ton of children. Ports of call are semi important (would love to go to Grand Cayman again), but the ship matters more for this voyage.

We both like newer, nicer things. We would be a getting a balcony room and likely a junior suite.

 

 

 

 

 

It looks like it'd be looking at one of these ships:

 

 

-Freedom

-Rhapsody

-Empress

-Liberty

-Oasis

-Allure

-Anthem

-Jewel

-Adventure

 

 

Any suggestions to make sure he really gets a good cruising experience?

What didn't he like on the previous cruise? If it was there was nothing to do, then pick oasis/quantum class ship, if it was too many people go towards the smaller ships

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I think it would help if OP gives a little more detail on why he didn't like the 2 Carnival sailings. Did they go on an older Carnival ship? Was it too loud? Etc!!! For example I've seen people with completely different experience on different Carnival ships, so this might also apply to RCL.

I would pick a ship that does have some things for your 8 mo old like the kids splash pad as well as the nursery program. This leaves only Oasis, Allure, Freedom and Liberty. I would eliminate Liberty only because getting to the port of Galveston can be less than ideal.

We've been on all 4 of the above ships and personally we've found the Oasis class to feel less crowded than the Freedom class ships

I would pick a ship that does have some things for your 8 mo old like the kids splash pad as well as the nursery program. This leaves only Oasis, Allure, Freedom and Liberty. I would eliminate Liberty only because getting to the port of Galveston can be less than ideal.

 

We've been on all 4 of the above ships and personally we've found the Oasis class to feel less crowded than the Freedom class ships

We second that motion!

We're taking our next cruise on Oasis (also been on Harmony & Allure), with the specific goal of having our grandson enjoy it as much as we do - there are so many things to do for everyone on these great ships. :D

I think it would help if OP gives a little more detail on why he didn't like the 2 Carnival sailings. Did they go on an older Carnival ship? Was it too loud? Etc!!! For example I've seen people with completely different experience on different Carnival ships, so this might also apply to RCL.

Agreed. My husband prefers smaller quieter ships and he's 33. Our first Royal cruise will be Freedom because of the itinerary and that's a huge compromise for him.

The new MSC ship looks like a lot of WOW factor I'm on her in March 2018. They have lots of different cabins to choose from too.

Don't rule out NCL either. You can often get your drinks included too. I especially like the Boardwalk on the Getaway, lovely to sit have a drink or ice-cream and watch the world go by. Baby in stroller, lovely. They have great shows too.

Seeing as you are bringing baby too I would look in to baby sitting services too. Also remember to look in to pool conditions, a lot of them don't allow babies in dipers.

Have fun anyway 😀😉

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RCI's "stellar service and product" that you remember from 2003 isn't quite the same anymore. The larger, newer ships do have more to do, activity-wise, but still, the crew to passenger ratio has declined, and so has meal selections, and other "nice touches" that you probably remember.

If you've been enjoying Carnival recently, then you will have a blast on the larger ships that RCI offers now.

Well, you have Liberty that sails out of Houston, but ,while I haven’t been there, I do not hear many good things about the port, and they tend to have fog issues that time of year.

Forget Anthem, I sails out of New Jersey, and if you fly that far, you might as well go to Florida.

That said, I would suggest Freedom , out of Fort Lauderdale. It has a baby wet area for children in diapers, and does a western itinerary that stops at Grand Cayman. That is a tender port, so weather can cause the ship to miss that port.

Oasis class ships also have the infant wet area but do not use tender ports. Harmony and Allure out of Fort Lauderdale allow you to choose between Saturday and Sunday sailings.

Adventure is a smaller version of Freedom, but no baby pool, sailing out of San Juan.

The other ships are smaller, but I find that they seem to be more crowded. Although there a lot of people here like them for their size, I’m don’t.

The junior suite is a nice option with a baby, since it has a bath tub and more room for a crib.

Where do you live and where would you like to sail from? If I missed this, sorry. But sailing out of NJ verses FL in Jan/Feb can be 2 different experiences.

Where do you live and where would you like to sail from? If I missed this, sorry. But sailing out of NJ verses FL in Jan/Feb can be 2 different experiences.

OP lists Arizona..I used to live in New England and cruised a lot on Explorer in January, escape the cold and snow without flying. Never sailed the new ships from NJ, I moved south when Explorer did. I did a couple of the seven day cruises though, and they went to Canaveral, Nassau, and Coco Cay.

BTW, those cruises started out as B2B but turned into B2B2B since it was snowing when we were supposed to get off the ship.

You would be flying from Arizona

1). Sail from Florida, San Juan, or New Jersey - Eliminate New Jersey - Anthem only gets to the Caribbean on the 12 day itineraries with at least the first and last days being cold in Jan and Feb

2) Jewel would be like the Brilliance you experienced many years ago. Adventure is the next size up - could be a good compromise between Jewel and Freedom. Both offer Babies and Tots programs and both are port intensive in the Southern Caribbean. Port intensive cruises with one sea day tend to keep people a lot busier off the ship instead of clogging up the activities on the ship.

3) Minimizing children - sail from Florida or San Juan in Jan or Feb before Presidents Day Week. Sail from San Juan in later Feb or March, but look out for Quinceanero groups celebrating a Latina girl's 15th birthday.

If your husband did not enjoy Carnival I would suggest Oasis class. If he is not wowed by the Oasis class he probably just does not like to cruise.

Thank you all! Sorry for the delayed response, as you noticed I'm west coast (AZ). We are okay flying anywhere to embark out of, but FL is probably easiest. East coast is fine as well as we tend to enjoy a little cold weather every now and then.

My first Carnival cruise was less than a year after my RC cruise and I just felt the caliber and class was seriously lacking.

The Carnival cruise my husband and I went on that was disappointing was the Miracle in 2010 over Christmas. We did not like all the kids running around (now, this could have been because of the time of year?), the lack of Christmas decorations (obviously no deal breaker, but I had expected it to be decked out), the food was mediocre, the ship didn't feel very nice, the staff didn't seem to go above and beyond... I'm not sure, we just really weren't impressed.

I think we're probably looking for something newer, nicer, and something we can feel a bit spoiled on. We like St. Regis type experiences where the service is top notch along with the amenities. We don't need to be overly entertained, but definitely want some things to do. We'd probably like to lounge by the pools, eat, eat, eat, see some evening shows, play some ping pong, go into port, etc. I doubt we'd take advantage of things like rock climbing, ice skating, and wave surfing since we will have the baby.

I'm not too worried about the baby as we'd be unlikely to leave him in child care. I do appreciate the point about having a pool that allows swim diapers as we'd definitely want to take him in a pool.

I really hate to disagree with all the "seasoned cruisers, my DW and I have only been on 4, 3 of our cruises have on Freedom class ships and 1 on the Allure, we DID NOT find the allure to be a "zoo" but the best of our cruises. Yes there is a lot to do and yes RCI tries to entertain you, but isn't that part of the cruise. What do you do at night? Drink? my thought would be to go on the Oasis class. Ports and entertainment, a great way to cruise.

I really hate to disagree with all the "seasoned cruisers, my DW and I have only been on 4, 3 of our cruises have on Freedom class ships and 1 on the Allure, we DID NOT find the allure to be a "zoo" but the best of our cruises. Yes there is a lot to do and yes RCI tries to entertain you, but isn't that part of the cruise. What do you do at night? Drink? my thought would be to go on the Oasis class. Ports and entertainment, a great way to cruise.

I don't think we'd find it a zoo either, so an Oasis class may work for us. I just worry about a ton of kids, which I know sounds hypocritical since I'll be bringing my own and I love children, haha.

I prefer the Radiance Class ships, which includes the Brilliance that you've already tried and the Jewel that's on your list. For me, they're the perfect size and layout. They've also been updated over the years, and still seem very "fresh" in that regard.

They've got all the good basics, pools, restaurant options and shows. But you avoid the more gimmicky things like ice rinks, surf machines and sky diving tubes. So you're still getting a more traditional cruise experience, but on a very beautiful ship IMO.

Nicer, newer ship with all the perks.

On RCL you are talking about the Oasis class and your best choices out of Florida are probably the Oasis or Allure.

By getting a junior suite you will have access to Coastal Kitchen - a very nice option for dining - breakfast, lunch and dinner.

For full perks look at a Grand Suite.

Go to RCL's web site and read what they have to offer for amenities. If you want that St. Regis experience this is DEFINITELY the way to go.

Your cost will be higher than a balcony on other RCL ship's, but if you can afford it I know you won't be disappointed.

Better food - access to Suite Lounge - priority seating for shows - concierge service for embarkation/disembarkation - private beach (Barefoot) access in Labadee - and much, much more.

A cruise that you will remember for a lifetime.