Freedom vs. Allure

[irun5k]

Hi all, I think I've narrowed my cruising choices for 2011 to either the Freedom or Allure (Eastern sailings.) The other travelers are my wife and 3 yr old son.

 

First, the objective parts of the comparison. Both ships have/will have the Dreamworks experience. I know both have an H2O zone which is a major draw for us (although I'm not sure if they are identical.) The Allure is a 4.5 hour drive vs. a 2.5 hour drive for the Freedom. The Freedom would be a few hundred cheaper, although the exact amount is hard to say since there are so many balcony options on the Allure.

 

Honestly, I think the Freedom would be great for us BUT my wife and I are also have the capacity to be impressed & enjoy the sheer the vastness of the Allure- for us there might be an intangible bonus of being able to stroll the larger ship of an evening. The thing we don't like about the smaller ~70K ton ships are that strolling is limited at night- most of the shops and entertainment are usually along one small strip. I realize that Freedom is twice that size and both ships are effectively mega-liners.

 

The Allure's Boardwalk would probably be fun for DS, and honestly any things like that which we can do as a family are a bonus.

 

I am unsure of how different the Adventure Ocean experience would be on the two ships? Do both offer a meal option? In Camp Carnival, DS was able to eat dinner with his friends at Camp Carnival which was great for him and for us.

 

Also, I've read where the Allure requires reservations for almost all the shows. How about the Freedom? It is easier for us if we can be more ad-hoc with our schedules since we have no idea when DS will want to go to the kids club. Outside of perhaps the ice show, we wouldn't be taking him to the shows.

 

I've heard that the Windjammer on Allure can get crowded... we will eat there a lot. Is Freedom better in this regard?

 

As far as ports, Freedom is slightly better I think since DS would enjoy Coco Cay better than Nassau.

 

Are there parts of the comparison I'm missing? Right now it sounds like we'd be paying more, driving longer, and making a port tradeoff to do the Allure... but I'm still leaning toward the Allure for some reason?!? This is one of those cases where valuable comments from the peanut gallery could sway us either way. Thanks in advance!

[cb at sea]

Freedom is quite large enough to 'stroll'....alot! And no "reservations" for shows needed.

 

You'll get all you want and more out of Freedom...save Allure as a "step up" on a future cruise.

[irun5k]

Freedom is quite large enough to 'stroll'....alot! And no "reservations" for shows needed.

 

You'll get all you want and more out of Freedom...save Allure as a "step up" on a future cruise.

 

Thanks! Out of curiosity, can you compare Freedom with Voyager class? What does the bump in size get you? I know about the Flowriders, boxing rink, and of course the H20 play zone. But I was wondering what else might be pertinent especially in regard to family cruising. (I've cruised Voyager class but wife and son haven't.)

[sharktums]

We've been on two Freedom Class ships as a family (we have an almost four year old) and they are certainly a step up from the Explorer Class (Been on three of the Explorer Class Ships). The nice thing is, they are very, very similar to the Explorer class, just bigger!

 

Oasis/Allure are very different from what I've gathered.

 

I know for us, it was a *bit* depressing going from the Freedom Class back to the Explorer Class and we certainly much preferred the Freedom Class. We're doing Allure next month and Freedom in October so hoping not to run into the same problem of downsizing!

 

I agree with what others have said, do Freedom first, then Allure in the future!