Which ship???

[flgatormom29]

Been quite some time since I've been on this board! My last cruise was a short trip on the ecstacy in december (WAY TOO LONG AGO!).

 

Anyways, My hubby and I are trying to plan our next trip, and we are looking at prices and all that jazz! And I knew this was the best place for opinions and advice :D

 

We DEFINATELY want a balcony, we have 2 small kids (8 and 3) and we use the balcony a lot at night when they are sleeping. We also want some kind of water works...as my kids don't like swimming in the salty pool water, but would be ok playing in that kind of water in sprinklers and smaller slides...

Also, after the ecstacy, which was a great trip....we have decided we do not like small ships....just wasn't for us. So we decided we want to do a big NEW ship this time...

 

I have narrowed down to 3 choices....the breeze, the dream or the Oasis of the Seas (RCC).

They all go to St. Maarten and St. Thomas. The dream and Oasis go to Nassau (which i couldn't care less about) and Breeze goes to Grand Turk and San Juan.

The breeze is 8 days (score!), which 7 is the longest we have been on.

It also has 2 sea days the last 2 days (which i would enjoy).

 

The breeze is only $200 more than the dream for the extra day (only $50 a person-not bad for another day!), but we would miss 4 days of school-my daughter will be in 3rd grade. The dream would be spring break...so does that mean a ton more kids running around?

 

The Oasis is also spring break, but it's $1800 more than the breeze and only 7 days. BUT if it is worth $1800 more I'll do it. It has the zip line, flo-riders, rock climbing wall and a carousel for the kids... and we like that RCC has organized sports (hubby loves dodgeball tournaments ect). We have been WANTING to do Oasis since it came out...but $6000 before tips and excursions and drinks is quite a bit...when I could do the 8 night on breeze for $6000 including the extras...?

 

So please give me your opinions :D

[Dmetrius]

The Oasis is also spring break, but it's $1800 morethan the breeze and only 7 days. BUT if it is worth $1800 more I'll do it. It has the zip line, flo-riders, rock climbing wall and a carousel for the kids... and we like that RCC has organized sports (hubby loves dodgeball tournaments ect). We have been WANTING to do Oasis since it came out...but $6000 before tips and excursions and drinks is quite a bit...

when I could do the 8 night on breeze for $6000 including the extras...?

And there -in a nutshell- is the reason I don't do Royal Caribbean! And I'm sure many others feel likewise.

[firefly333]

And there -in a nutshell- is the reason I don't do Royal Caribbean! And I'm sure many others feel likewise.

 

On the other hand I did Oasis twice for less than the cost of Conquest. Even if you dont like how I book with group deals for huge discounts, but I cant pick the cruise date, .. Ive seen tuesday deals starting at $399 pp.

 

People pick one date and see a high price and dont dig to find a better price for what they want to do and moan and groan. There are deals, if you can be flexible. Lets not get into sweeping generalizations which usually are not ALWAYS true. I did a inside for 2 people for $600 total on Oasis and about $1300 for a deluxe OV balcony for 2, total price. There are deals on these ships, but not if you cant be flexible with dates. Sweeping generalizations are almost always wrong.

 

OP on the other hand I would not pay such a high price for Oasis either, but I dont need to cruise with two small kids. I do think if you want to cruise with 4 in the cabin, Carnival is the better deal.

 

Dream has some serious flaws, that were fixed with Magic and Im sure with Breeze, though I have not been on Breeze as its just now out. Breeze will have the rope course that Dream lacks, and other food venues that Dream doesnt have.

 

If Breeze is one extra day for the $200 extra, that would be my pick. I choose by price and value. Breeze should have the ropes course on Magic that Dream will not have.

 

This is not on Dream but will be on Breeze if your kids would be interested.

 

[Herfnerd]

On the other hand I did Oasis twice for less than the cost of Conquest. Even if you dont like how I book with group deals for huge discounts, but I cant pick the cruise date, .. Ive seen tuesday deals starting at $399 pp.

 

People pick one date and see a high price and dont dig to find a better price for what they want to do and moan and groan. There are deals, if you can be flexible. Lets not get into sweeping generalizations which usually are not ALWAYS true. I did a inside for 2 people for $600 total on Oasis and about $1300 for a deluxe OV balcony for 2, total price. There are deals on these ships, but not if you cant be flexible with dates. Sweeping generalizations are almost always wrong.

 

OP on the other hand I would not pay such a high price for Oasis either, but I dont need to cruise with two small kids. I do think if you want to cruise with 4 in the cabin, Carnival is the better deal.

 

Dream has some serious flaws, that were fixed with Magic and Im sure with Breeze, though I have not been on Breeze as its just now out. Breeze will have the rope course that Dream lacks, and other food venues that Dream doesnt have.

 

If Breeze is one extra day for the $200 extra, that would be my pick. I choose by price and value.

 

Exactly what I was gonna say!! ;):D;):D

[mondello]

8 days on the Breeze, a big, new ship, sounds like a winner. A 3rd grader missing several days of school will hardly be a setback for most kids. I'm assuming all these cruises are next Spring; so, there will be lots of kids regardless with the variation between when everybody actually has Spring Break. Also, I think your kids will like the things on Oasis when they're a little bigger/older.

[lbow2006]

I haven't been on any of them, but I would go with the Breeze as far as prices go it seems like the best deal. I've been looking at trying to do another cruise in the next year or so and I have found a few Breeze cruises that I'd really like to try.

[flgatormom29]

On the other hand I did Oasis twice for less than the cost of Conquest. Even if you dont like how I book with group deals for huge discounts, but I cant pick the cruise date, .. Ive seen tuesday deals starting at $399 pp.

 

People pick one date and see a high price and dont dig to find a better price for what they want to do and moan and groan. There are deals, if you can be flexible. Lets not get into sweeping generalizations which usually are not ALWAYS true. I did a inside for 2 people for $600 total on Oasis and about $1300 for a deluxe OV balcony for 2, total price. There are deals on these ships, but not if you cant be flexible with dates. Sweeping generalizations are almost always wrong.

 

OP on the other hand I would not pay such a high price for Oasis either, but I dont need to cruise with two small kids. I do think if you want to cruise with 4 in the cabin, Carnival is the better deal.

 

Dream has some serious flaws, that were fixed with Magic and Im sure with Breeze, though I have not been on Breeze as its just now out. Breeze will have the rope course that Dream lacks, and other food venues that Dream doesnt have.

 

If Breeze is one extra day for the $200 extra, that would be my pick. I choose by price and value. Breeze should have the ropes course on Magic that Dream will not have.

 

This is not on Dream but will be on Breeze if your kids would be interested.

 

 

I know that wasn't towards me, but I'm not too flexible with my dates :(.

I didn't think about the kids being too young for the oasis and that's a good point. I was thinking my husband would enjoy it, but my lil ones probably wouldn't care except for the casousel...and a carousel is NOT worth $1800 for us!

 

I knew the breeze had something like that on it, but that looks neat!

 

I'm leaning with the breeze mostly because of the price. I like the price and it's something I'm OK with paying. Plus I really wanna do an 8 day! Plus since it's memorial day weekend my daughter would only miss 4 days and it would be after the FCAT testing....

 

I have just heard horror stories about the dream and how crowded it was and so that scares me a lil with the new ships.....

[realtyexecdeb]

Breeze....hands down:D

[Irishlinny]

Breeze...no doubt in my mind! Oasis is TOO big! Breeze is nicer than the Dream and has the extra day. And I will never cruise when school is out...WAY too many kids...

[flgatormom29]

Breeze...no doubt in my mind! Oasis is TOO big! Breeze is nicer than the Dream and has the extra day. And I will never cruise when school is out...WAY too many kids...

 

That's what I was wondering....

We always go in sept-ish when school is in...I know we can get away with that now that the girls are little, but eventually they won't be able to miss a whole week. In Florida tho, 3rd grade is important bc of the FCAT which if they fail they get held behind. It's a stupid test, but have to pass...they have been doing worksheets and practice tests for it since kindergarten!

 

But i'm thinking breeze, will just have to wait to hear about that ship....

Might even have to squeeze a short weekend in there, i'm having serious cruise ship withdraws!!!!

[mrpayroll]

My choice would be the Breeze.....:) More than enought to satisfy both you and the kids. Oasis would be overkill for the kids i think.

[abisha]

I just cruised mid-April, which is school vacation for many states, including the northeast where I am from. I figured the ship would be over-run with kids, but quite the opposite. I was shocked. There were close to 900 kids (this figure included kids under 18). I believe on my April cruise, they said it was just under 500...not really alot when you think about # of passengers. You just never know.

[flgatormom29]

I just cruised mid-April, which is school vacation for many states, including the northeast where I am from. I figured the ship would be over-run with kids, but quite the opposite. I was shocked. There were close to 900 kids (this figure included kids under 18). I believe on my April cruise, they said it was just under 500...not really alot when you think about # of passengers. You just never know.

 

That's quite a bit! Even thought I have small kids, I would much rather be on the sailing with less kids! I wonder about memorial day weekend...kids get 3 day weekend... But would that affect longer cruises?

The cruise we want to do on the breeze they only do twice next year. May and Aug. The one in August is the very first week of school...and I don't want her to miss her first week, that's when they meet everyone and makes their newest friends, so we can only do that one sailing... Makes it a little harder. It's kinda confusing to me how they did their sailings for the breeze...there are a lot of different ports and some itineraries are very short lived, like the one we want to do... Weird