Need Help Choosing Ship & Itinerary

[patde44]

We're planning a 3-generation family cruise for 2012 & want to narrow to 3 options to present to rest of family. Some are active water people; some are not - about 50/50. I've already looked at general pricing, so have eliminated some with that. I'd love to hear your experiences on the too-many ships and/or itineraries that are remaining. All are all round-trips in the Caribbean (we'd all prefer Europe, but can't swing the air fare!). There are 3 Royal Caribbean and 6 Carnival, so will post on Carnival, too, as I definitely need some help from my Cruise Critic friends:

 

Carnival Dream - Port Canaveral, Cozumel, Belize City, Roatan, Costa Maya

Carnival Legend - Tampa, Cozumel, Belize City, Roatan, Grand Cayman

Carnival Magic - Galveston, Roatan, Belize City, Cozumel

Carnival Conquest - New Orleans, Roatan, Belize City, Cozumel

Carnival Valor (8 nt)- Miami, Grand Turk, (La Romana) Dominical Republic, Curacao, Aruba

Carnival Freedom (8 nt)- Fort Lauderdale, Grand Turk (La Romana) Dominican Republic, Curacao, Aruba

Enchantment of the Seas (8 nt) - Baltimore, (King's Wharf) Bermuda, Boston, Newport

Allure of the Seas - Fort Lauderdale, (Labadee) Haiti, (Falmouth) Jamaica, Cozumel

Oasis of the Seas - Fort Lauderdale, (Labadee) Haiti, (Falmouth) Jamaica, Cozumel

THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH FOR YOUR HELP!!!!

[yogimax]

Price! Price! Price!

[Mewissy]

I would try and narrow this list a bit further.

 

How about by departure port...

 

are there places easier to get to than others?

[bus man]

I also agree with narrowing the list. Your first four Carnival cruises all include Belize, Roatan, and Cozumel; so unless one of the "extra" ports (Grand Cayman and Costa Maya) would make or break it, I would suggest just picking whichever one of those has the most convenient departure port for you, and eliminate the other ones.

 

Conversely, I would break out Oasis and Allure to Eastern or Western Caribbean, so as to get a greater variety of ports into consideration. From what I understand, the two vessels are so similar that the variety in port calls would be more important than which particular ship you're on. (Unless, that is, you have already eliminated the Eastern run from your consideration, in which case I would select whichever sailing has a better date for your party, and eliminate the other one.)

 

Finally, I should point out that your Enchantment sailing is NOT going to the Caribbean, but instead would be Bermuda and New England. This is not a reason to eliminate this option (IMO), but if you're definitely set on the Caribbean, then yes, you can scratch that one.

 

FWIW, of the 9 ships in contention on your list, the Enchantment is the only one I've been on. I absolutely LOVED her, and would whole-heartedly recommend her.

[Marie51]

I would choose the Oasis or Allure any day over a Carnival ship. Have you considered the Freedom of the Seas out of Pt Canaveral? I just booked that for our family vacation in 2012. The price was the same as the Carnival Dream (we want to leave from PC) so we went with RC.

[bus man]

Here's another way to help narrow down your choices. What are your main interests in terms of things to do ashore? Hanging out at the beach? Shopping? Bar hopping? Water sports? Historical/cultural sightseeing? Gazing at the beauty of nature? Which ones of these are most important to you, and in what proportion? This might help knock some itineraries out of the running, or elevate some to top-tier contention.

[will773]

These are tough. I agree that the first three or four Carnival trips are virtually identical, so you should narrow that down a bit. The only ships that I have been on on your list are the Oasis and the Allure. They are AMAZING! I know that any family would be thrilled to be able to sail on these ships. There is so much to do for everyone, that they are really hard to pass up.

[CAT GIRL]

Wow, tough decisions. While I like RCCL better than Carnival,

given your choices, I like the itineraries on Carnival better.

The Enchantment is a nice ship but Bermuda didn't excite me.

The Oasis/Allure are both great ships and become the destination

itself but their ports of call don't excite me either. They are

also very pricey.

So given your choices I would pick one of the Carnival cruises.

I would also see which Carnival ships are newer and larger and stay

away from the older ones.

 

Are you all first time cruisers? If many of you have cruised

before then I would change my answer back to Allure/ Oasis

because the ship itself offers so many new things to experience.

You wouldn't even have to get off the ship. If you are all

new to cruising I would go with a less expensive option with

great ports.

[Cruisegirl6]

Patde I answered you on Carnival board :) but you see somebody here also mentioned to consider the Freedom of the Seas as I did. :)

 

My choice is always RC than to go with Carnival.

[wallie5446]

I see that you have a lot of Gulf Port's in your choices. What month in 2012? RCCL is bringing a Voyager Class back to Galveston, and Disney will start sailing from there the end of this year. What is the age span of the group?

[Texmike]

Carnival Magic will start cruising out of Galveston beginning in November and it's bigger than the Conquest that is there now.

 

We liked the Conquest when we cruised on it last July-Exactly a year ago.

 

Freedom would be a good choice

 

The Mariner will also start cruising out of Galveston beginning this fall. We cruised on it out of Los Angeles to the Mexican Riviera. Loved it and the ports of call were out of this world

 

I think that the Oasis and Allure are just too big

[patde44]

Many thanks to you, who generously provided your input. I've spent some time reviewing your answers, as well as those on the Carnival Board. Considering your advice & suggestions, I've narrowed our options to 3 8-nighters that I THINK will provide something for everyone, but I still could be swayed. In all cases, I'm not convinced that my choices provide the best ships for the 15 & 17 year olds, but the itineraries seem to provide more of something for everyone. For RCCL, I'm leaning toward Enchantment OS, as we're from the west coast & the eastern seaboard is appealing. Bermuda would provide beach time for the water people. Our other family cruise (2008) was on Freedom OS, and that's tough competition. The Oasis/Allure are intriguing, as well; but in all 3 cases, I like the ship, but not the ports. CC input has confirmed my port inclinations. For Carnival, I'm leaning toward Valor & Freedom, for the stops in Aruba & Curacao. Ships & itineraries seem to be identical. In '08, we sailed from Miami, but found cheaper fares & flew into Ft. Lauderdale. The ride between cities wasn't a problem. Again, thank you for helping me narrow our options, so it will be easier to get group consensus. Any additional input is welcome, so feel free!

[slideshell]

have you considered the eastern itinerary of the oasis/allure - we just recently went through this same process of finding a cruise to suit 8+ people and finally settles on the eastern oasis cruise - it goes to nassau, st thomas and st maarten instead of labadee, jamaica and cozumel

 

add in all the stuff to do on the ship and something should appeal to everyone especially if you're traveling with teenagers

 

and you just can't beat st maarten :)

[Marie51]

Many thanks to you, who generously provided your input. I've spent some time reviewing your answers, as well as those on the Carnival Board. Considering your advice & suggestions, I've narrowed our options to 3 8-nighters that I THINK will provide something for everyone, but I still could be swayed. In all cases, I'm not convinced that my choices provide the best ships for the 15 & 17 year olds, but the itineraries seem to provide more of something for everyone. For RCCL, I'm leaning toward Enchantment OS, as we're from the west coast & the eastern seaboard is appealing. Bermuda would provide beach time for the water people. Our other family cruise (2008) was on Freedom OS, and that's tough competition. The Oasis/Allure are intriguing, as well; but in all 3 cases, I like the ship, but not the ports. CC input has confirmed my port inclinations. For Carnival, I'm leaning toward Valor & Freedom, for the stops in Aruba & Curacao. Ships & itineraries seem to be identical. In '08, we sailed from Miami, but found cheaper fares & flew into Ft. Lauderdale. The ride between cities wasn't a problem. Again, thank you for helping me narrow our options, so it will be easier to get group consensus. Any additional input is welcome, so feel free!

 

I've already expressed my opinion about going on Freedom of the Seas, but I will also tell you that I have sailed on the Carnival Valor and that ship is just way too crowded and also has a poor layout. People were jammed in like sardines around the pool chairs and sometimes the venues for entertainment were so crowded that it was standing room only. Same thing happened when I was on the Carnival Victory.

 

On another note I want to say that you should not base your decision on what the 15 and 17 yr olds will like best. I realize that nobody wants to hear this, but when I was 15 I never got taken anywhere. They are lucky to just be going on a cruise. OK, just my opinion; I am old fashioned.

[Cruisegirl6]

My daughter always have cruised with us she be turning 20 at the end of this year and we are going on the FOS next month. I have to say she never got involved as to which ship, itinerary, etc she always appreciated the fact that she still goes with us (knowing many of her friends not get the option from their parents at that age)... Two weeks ago we booked the FOS I was tossing between two different ships so I asked my daughter which one she want to go on and her answer is "I don't care Im just happy to be going, anyone is fine". LOL

 

But as a parent we/I care about what she wants and how she feels..I can understand your saying something like your the adult do what you want to do but this OP is just concerned and wants to make sure her kids will have a good time. :)

 

There is another post here thats been going on a few days about a mother that has a son 19 year old and he not want to go on a cruise and she trying to figure out which ship be best for her son....what happened she took him on his first cruise on a Celebrity ship which is geared for more "sophicated" people...and after 11pm it does get a bit boring on the ship her son because of that experience got turned off to cruising....I think the OP is right consider the kids as much as consider yourselves.

[funNsun4me]

The Explorer out of NJ is also a nice option. We have sailed her 9 day, 12 day and are booked for a 10 day in 2012 :D

[Pichu21]

If this were MY vacation, and I was looking for a ship, I would go for Oasis and Allure hands down. If its on the list, I would choose that as a ship. Theyre just so amazing and out of this world and they have tons of activities for EVERYONE and evey type of people...But, with that said, I already went on the Oasis and want to try out new places. The Carnival Freedom's itinerary sounds very exciting and I would love to try out those places. So thats my choice for ship and itinerary. If one of the Oasis class ships were to go on the Carnival Freedom's itinerary, I would be the first one on it!

 

If you dont mind the itinerary as much as the ship, go for Oasis or Allure. You wont regret it and it's the right choice

[bus man]

I would go with the Enchantment. You (the OP) said that your party breaks out about 50-50 for those who like water activities, so if you picked an all-Caribbean itinerary, those who don't enjoy water activities as much might get bored after awhile. The Enchantment cruise to Bermuda and New England gives you some water opportunities, but it's not the entire thing.

 

Assuming you're sailing in summer, there will be other teenagers onboard for your kids to hang out with. So I wouldn't worry about them being bored. Plus, traveling on a multi-generational trip to a variety of different types of ports will be a valuable experience for them, as they'll be "forced" to do things that might not necessarily appeal to them, but would to other members of your party. The ability to do things for the benefit of other people is a valuable trait, and one that they will do well to learn. (This assumes, of course, that they don't already possess this trait; I obviously don't know your kids, so I'm not implying anything against them specifically.) The reverse is true as well; your kids will see the older folks doing things that they might not have chosen to do on their own, in order to share in the experience with them.