Liberty or Freedom

[chieftd16]

I was just working on planning my next cruise and was hoping for a little advice. I'm looking at the following cruises:

 

Cruise #1 - 7 Day Liberty cruise leaving on Nov 24 out of Miami. Goes to Half Moon Cay, St Thomas, San Juan, Grand Turk

 

Cruise #2 - 8 Day Freedom cruise leaving on Dec 15 out of Ft Lauderdale. Goes to St Thomas, Antigua, Tortola, Nassau

 

Which would be the better option? The main thing I care about on a cruise is the itinerary and I've already been to St Thomas, San Juan and Nassau. How do Half Moon Cay and Grand Turk compare to Antigua and Tortola? Any other tips or suggestions on which cruise may be better? Thanks for any and all help!

[chieftd16]

I also should probably mention that both cruises are about the same price, so that isn't a big deal breaker.

[Irishlinny]

HMC and GT are much more laid back ports with less to do...great if you want to beach it, relax and save money on excursions. Both are great beach ports...HMC is heavenly! It's a private island so they also provide a BBQ lunch (included). Grand Turk has a Margaritaville with a massive pool, DJ pool party, swim up bar...we prefer to head up the beach to Jack's Shack where it's quieter and the beach is nicer. There are some good snorkeling excursions there as well.

We sailed Freedom and it was a good cruise...Tortola and Antigua were new to us and we enjoyed them. Plus there's the extra day, which is nice. I hated the decor of the ship...seemed like nothing matched...but that won't ruin a cruise for me.

Liberty has had the 2.0 upgrades, so there are additional dining options and such...not sure when Freedom is scheduled to get those.

If the prices are close, I would probably choose Freedom for the extra day:)

[gone_cruisin]

The Liberty.

The Freedom has a useless port (well to me it's useless) - Nassau.

[Irishlinny]

The Liberty.

The Freedom has a useless port (well to me it's useless) - Nassau.

That's the last day of the cruise...we used it as a packing day and an extra sea day and thoroughly enjoyed being on an almost empty ship!:D

[chieftd16]

The Liberty.

The Freedom has a useless port (well to me it's useless) - Nassau.

 

I've actually only been to Nassau once and I didn't totally mind it. Was able to do a excursion where you get to go snorkeling with sharks. Very cool.

 

All in all, I figure if I choose that cruise, I can use that day as a snorkeling/beach day.

 

As for the other ports, it sounds like everyone loves the beach at HMC. Any other opinions out there on the other 3 ports? Looking for all the advice I can get!

[nhraformula00]

We have been on both ships,and i would go on the Freedom again for the 8 days. We also loved Antigua and Tortola,beautiful Islands. If you go there take the island tour,we did on both and were breathtaking.

[JerseyGirlJen]

I did that exact Freedom itinerary last April. Tortola was my favorite port because we did an excursion (through Tortola Charters) to Jost Van Dyke. Simply beautiful!

I was not impressed with Antigua, and if fact I was disappointed. We docked in Antigua and you get off the ship at an outdoor shopping area. There are signs here and there saying "no soliciting"....well, let me tell you, when you get to the end of that mall area you can see the "threshold" and it's not very inviting to cross. Needless to say, my women's intuition immediately was picking up a bad vibe signal, and we decided not to pursue Antigua on our own, because I really thought "yeah, we will never be seen again if we go out on our own". I'm not an overly paranoid, nervous, person, but I do listen to my gut instincts. So.....just a thought for you to keep in mind. (My mistake for not booking through Carnival, but I was a newbie at cruising and had read many reviews on here that said Antigua was safe and that it would be very inexpensive and easy to get a taxi...needless to say, we learned our lesson ;)).

[MisterMom]

Liberty is an awesome ship with the 2.0 upgrades but since you go for the itinerary, I can give HMC and GT a big thumbs up! They are definitely worth experiencing (we've been to both twice and look forward to going again). I have a pretty thorough review of both with pics on the link in my signature line.

[Irishlinny]

I've actually only been to Nassau once and I didn't totally mind it. Was able to do a excursion where you get to go snorkeling with sharks. Very cool.

 

All in all, I figure if I choose that cruise, I can use that day as a snorkeling/beach day.

 

As for the other ports, it sounds like everyone loves the beach at HMC. Any other opinions out there on the other 3 ports? Looking for all the advice I can get!

We did Stuart Cove's snorkeling in Nassau a couple of years ago, too.

 

I love HMC...I cruise to relax with friends, and that is a great place to do it. Renting a cabana is even better;)

 

However, we also loved going to Tortola. We took a tour with BVI360 which drove us 25 minutes to another dock area (allowing us to see some of the island) and got on a boat to Jost Van Dyke...AWESOME! Spent the day at the Soggy Dollar Bar and beach....was just wonderful! You could also opt to go to the Baths from Tortola and swim among the huge boulders.

 

Antigua has 365 beaches...how could you go wrong?:) We went to Valley Church Beach...was fine, but not the best I've seen.

 

Honestly, I would be happy with either one!:)

[1PCcruiser]

I would choose the Freedom hands down. Favorite of all time. Probably because of the aft wrap. Never been on Liberty but I'm sure I would love it too, but 8 days is better than 7 even if it is Nassau.

[cruisedogs2000]

I was just working on planning my next cruise and was hoping for a little advice. I'm looking at the following cruises:

 

Cruise #1 - 7 Day Liberty cruise leaving on Nov 24 out of Miami. Goes to Half Moon Cay, St Thomas, San Juan, Grand Turk

 

Cruise #2 - 8 Day Freedom cruise leaving on Dec 15 out of Ft Lauderdale. Goes to St Thomas, Antigua, Tortola, Nassau

 

Which would be the better option? The main thing I care about on a cruise is the itinerary and I've already been to St Thomas, San Juan and Nassau. How do Half Moon Cay and Grand Turk compare to Antigua and Tortola? Any other tips or suggestions on which cruise may be better? Thanks for any and all help!

 

DH and I will be on the Liberty Nov 24th. We wanted to extend our vacation so we saw that the Breeze is doing a 2 day Thanksgiving cruise (11/22-11/24) out of Miami. It is going to Nassau but we don't plan on getting off the ship. So, if you want a long vacation and you can get the time off this is a option.

[chieftd16]

We did Stuart Cove's snorkeling in Nassau a couple of years ago, too.

 

I love HMC...I cruise to relax with friends, and that is a great place to do it. Renting a cabana is even better;)

 

However, we also loved going to Tortola. We took a tour with BVI360 which drove us 25 minutes to another dock area (allowing us to see some of the island) and got on a boat to Jost Van Dyke...AWESOME! Spent the day at the Soggy Dollar Bar and beach....was just wonderful! You could also opt to go to the Baths from Tortola and swim among the huge boulders.

 

Antigua has 365 beaches...how could you go wrong?:) We went to Valley Church Beach...was fine, but not the best I've seen.

 

Honestly, I would be happy with either one!:)

 

I know! I think that's the biggest problem. Both seem like great options. The Liberty has 4 good ports while the Freedom has a couple of new places I'd like to see with an extra day at sea. Decisions, decisions...

[chieftd16]

DH and I will be on the Liberty Nov 24th. We wanted to extend our vacation so we saw that the Breeze is doing a 2 day Thanksgiving cruise (11/22-11/24) out of Miami. It is going to Nassau but we don't plan on getting off the ship. So, if you want a long vacation and you can get the time off this is a option.

 

I have the extra time, so that's definitely tempting (especially aboard the Breeze), but as a solo traveler, I don't think I could afford the extra cruise.