Liberty or Dream???

[smyemar]

Which ship would you choose for your 40th Birthday trip? It will just be me and DH so the serenity area would be nice on the dream but I like the itinerary on the Liberty. We are doing the dream itinerary with one exception in September/2010. Any thoughts?:rolleyes: Thanks!

[toolgrl919]

I had this same debate myself.

My boyfriend & I had already been on Liberty & it is currently my favorite boat. Two of the ports we had been to & really enjoyed, the other 2 would be new stops.

One the other hand I had wanted to book Dream since she sailed, but when compared with other cruises there were so many more affordable ones that weren't the Dream, so we chose those instead.

Now we were looking to book for October 2011 and it was between the Liberty (4 ports[2 new 2 already visited] & 2 Sea Days) & Dream (3 ports[2 new 1 already visited] & 3 Sea days). The total amount only came to about a $100 difference, so we booked the Dream!

I'm excited to see the new ship & new things it has to offer. I've never been on a boat with the Serenity before, and of course have never stayed in a cove balcony room.

Since I haven't been on the Dream yet I can't say one is better than the other. But I can tell you I love Liberty. The staff was great, the boat was always clean, food was delicious. And of course we had a great time while aboard her.

[mizLORInj]

Been on both. Dream.

[smyemar]

Thanks for the responses!:)

[markstudy]

We enjoyed the Liberty, and I tend to pick my trips based on the most interesting itinerary. But last year I booked the Dream because I thought- bigger was better, and the newest ship would be the best.

 

After doing more research I canceled the Dream because I found two things that concerned me.

 

- Deck six, seven, and eight are going to see the lights of deck 5 all night and not look directly down at the ocean. So be aware of that if you are looking at a balcony cabin. Also less privacy, with the way deck 5 wraps around the outside of the ship. (We loved our private balcony on the Liberty, and looking out at night at the waves, moon and stars was very relaxing)

 

- The Dream looks like it added 600 more people, but didn't add more pools, or public spaces. I love a new ship, but I also look at the logic of a new ship. And the design of the dream tends to favor Carnival making more money and me standing in longer lines, and having a more crowded pool.

 

So new is not always better. Bigger (meaning more people) is not always better.

We booked the Ruby Princess last year as a last minute switch when we decided not to go with the Dream. And we had a lovely trip. This year we are back to Carnival but sticking with the older ship (Glory) which is in the same class as the Liberty.

 

Dreams new design- build a deck under the balcony rooms so people don't get drunk, sit on the rail, and fall in the ocean

[serene56]

With the Dream being the newer of the two-- Does it cost many more $$?

 

I like vacations and would chose whatever was the cheaper

[L_K]

Loved the Liberty, will try the Dream next january but i am concerned about the crowd.

[Beyondships]

Liberty is very nice but I prefer the Dream. The Dream is a further evolution of the design that began with Destiny. While Liberty was an improvement over Destiny, she is not as far along the evolutionary scale as Dream.

 

With the Dream, there is better people flow on the public decks. For example, you can get from fore to aft on Deck 4 as well as on Deck 5. Also the Lanai provides an alternative to the top decks for outdoor activity. The Ocean Plaza is a nice addition. The Spa is bigger. It has the Serenity. In short, the ship reflects the fact that Carnival has had more time to think about and improve the design.

 

One can certainly have a good vacation on Liberty, I found the staff there to be very good and she has a lot of good features.