carnival valor vs carnival liberty

[jocelysue]

For a couple with two children (4 &7) ,one sailing Aug 14 & one sailing Aug 15 out of miam & doing the Eastern Caribbean which would you suggest6

 

Lokking particularly for info re possibility of children's shore activites (snorkeling, closeness of beach, least tendering possible.

 

difference in itineraries: valor goes to Belize & Roatan, Liberty goes to Ochos rios. Other ports: Grand Cayma & Cozumel same.

 

Are ther more children's activities on one ship more than the other and which ports offer better kids' activities ?

 

TIA

[mommyto2kids]

For a couple with two children (4 &7) ,one sailing Aug 14 & one sailing Aug 15 out of miam & doing the Eastern Caribbean which would you suggest6

 

Lokking particularly for info re possibility of children's shore activites (snorkeling, closeness of beach, least tendering possible.

 

difference in itineraries: valor goes to Belize & Roatan, Liberty goes to Ochos rios. Other ports: Grand Cayma & Cozumel same.

 

Are ther more children's activities on one ship more than the other and which ports offer better kids' activities ?

 

TIA

 

Those look like Western Carribbean ports.

 

We actually were looking at both of those cruises. if you go on carnival's website you can look by each port and when you click on the shore excursions they will tell you the minimum age. You will probably be ok with a 7 year old, but we found most were at least 5 and up.

 

We actually decided against western carib and went with eastern Carib b/c we get to go to Half Moon Cay and Grand Turk which will both be beach days for our kids and San Juan and St. Thomas are both easy to navigate without an excursion.

[jocelysue]

My bad.

 

Of course, I meant Western Caribbean.

 

Thanks for your answer.

[RoadTripFanatic]

For a couple with two children (4 &7) ,one sailing Aug 14 & one sailing Aug 15 out of miam & doing the Eastern Caribbean which would you suggest6

 

Lokking particularly for info re possibility of children's shore activites (snorkeling, closeness of beach, least tendering possible.

 

difference in itineraries: valor goes to Belize & Roatan, Liberty goes to Ochos rios. Other ports: Grand Cayma & Cozumel same.

 

Are ther more children's activities on one ship more than the other and which ports offer better kids' activities ?

 

TIA

 

The ships layouts are pretty much the exact same and from what I recall offer the same activities.

In all honesty I would go for the Valor cruise. I personally do not like Jamaica. It's my least favorite port. It is one of the few places I have been in the world where I felt unsafe. If you are looking for snorkeling Roatan is the place to go. Roatan on West Bay has the BEST off beach snorkeling I have ever seen. Actually it's our favorite port of call. I love this island!!! Belize also has some good snorkeling excursions. Geoff's Cay is a fun one! The thing to know about Belize is that there are no natural beaches. The only beach is at a resort. If you want a good child's activity that does not involve water their zoo is amazing. It's located out of town and in the rain forrest. It's a small zoo but has some great animals! Grand Cayman is also wonderful! You can go snorkel with the Sting Rays, hang out at 7 mile beach or go to the Turtle Farm which is one of our favorites!

In Cozumel there is Chakanaab park. They have a beach,snorkeling,pool, beautiful landscaping.:), dolphins, manatees etc.

FYI- Belize and Grand Cayman you have to tender.

[camorelli]

I've never been to Roatan or Belize but I have been too Ocho Rios. I wouldn't take my own kids there - mine are 4 and 6. I didn't feel very comfortable in Jamaica because the local people got very pushy and then rude when we didn't buy there items. I wouldn't feel safe taking my kids off the boat in Jamaica. This is why we chose the Eastern Caribbean cruise for out family in the fall (same cruise as mommyto2kids above). It just seemed more young child friendly.

 

After doing tons of research though, it appeared that the Valor and Liberty would be the same for kids - same activities, same camp, etc.

[MamaParrotHead]

I'd take Belize and Roatan over Ocho Rios, not a big fan of Jamaica either.

 

I've sailed Valor and have Liberty booked. Same ship, same layout only difference is decor.

 

The other thing to consider is that there is one less sea day on the Belize/Roatan sailing (which I personally prefer 3 sea days to 2 sea days, more relaxing to me). That being said, I'd probably stay on the ship for Belize, tendering is a pain in the butt there and there really isn't that much to see (I was DYING to snorkel there, went through the trouble of booking/paying for/going on the snorkel trip and the water was too rough to even see 6 inches in front of my face). Roatan, however, Tabayana beach was AMAZING...did the ship's excursion there and it was gorgeous, probably tied for first on our fave ports of the trip (with Cozumel, where we went to Chankanaab and it was also great).

 

Hope that helps!

[nybumpkin]

We've sailed both ships. The Camp Carnival space is virtually identical and the activities are fairly uniform across the fleet. Our kids enjoyed both.

 

We like sea days, as do our kids. The main problem we had with the Valor itinerary is that it's four ports in four days - by the time we reached Cozumel, we were tired! But we loved all of these ports.

 

As for Ocho Rios - we haven't been there yet, but we have been to MoBay twice and are booked on Freedom with a stop in Ocho next February. To us, the key for Jamaica is having a planned tour - either a ship tour or an independent tour. Don't just plan to walk around. There are some nice-looking Carnival excursions listed for Ocho (the Bamboo Beach Club looks like fun), so we'll probably do one of those. And for those who have never been to either Ocho or MoBay - if you enjoy coffee, bring back some Blue Mountain coffee. That's a must for us in Jamaica.:D