Grandeur or Freedom for 2 people? Need opinions on itinerary/ship please.

[Melrosgirl]

Dh and I are going on a trip in April. Just the two of us. Can't decide between these two:

 

Freedom of the Seas - Western Caribbean (Grand Cayman, Labadee, Cozumel, Jamaica) (7 nights)

 

Grandeur of the Seas - Southern Caribbean (San Juan, Puerto Rico; Philipsburg, St. Maarten; Basseterre, St. Kitts; St. John's, Antigua; Tortola, British Virgin Islands; Samana, Dominican Republic; Labadee, Haiti; Baltimore, Maryland) - 9 nights

 

I think both have pros and cons. Freedom is very large, so more to do, but more people too.

 

Grandeur is smaller, recently renovated I believe and a really different itinerary. Less people, but less to do on the ship.

 

Any opinions are appreciated! Thanks!

[spookwife]

which is more important to you, the ship, or the ports? I assume airfare is a wash either way?

 

personally I am all about the ship and the longer the better. that being said, 2/3 of the extras on the larger ships would be of zero interest to us.

 

we do prefer the smaller ships so for us, we'd pick GR in a heartbeat

[DrD]

search "stinker of the seas."

[renee1222]

We have not sailed Grandeur, but we celebrated our 10th Anniversary on Freedom in December and it was amazing! Fabulous ship and crew! I would highly recommend it. The only time the ship seemed overly crowded was in the WJ during peak times. The shows were fabulous, but the theater was never too crowded to easily find a seat. You will need reservations for the Ice Show, but I think there are 4 shows available.

 

I agree the port stops on Grandeur are more unique, so if that's what you're looking for, go for it.

 

I'm sure you will have a fabulous trip no matter what you decide!

[FLACRUISER99]

Simple if the ship is important Freedom of the Seas. If it's the itinerary Grandeur of the Seas.

[funfamilyof6]

We have done the Freedom a couple of times already and are doing a third this summer. The FOS is a beautiful ship and never felt crowded. :)

[LookingForward2]

We did Freedom last year and said we would prefer to always do a larger ship....

with that being said, we are on this sailing of the Grandeur - why? the ports are great - love starting in San Juan - and the price was great (for an inside room).

I see you are from PA - we also got great one-way airfare into SJU. We had the choice to rent a car and drive home from Baltimore or fly back into Pittsburgh. We choose to fly on SW - the price was also very good.

 

Grandeur has been revitalized, lots of new restaurants, centrum entertainment, etc. It's a decision - ports or ship....

 

Let us know what you decide.

[JeffHatfield]

To us, 9 days is better than 7.

[Trekker954]

Without a doubt the ports on the grandeur itinerary are awesome.

 

Although the Freedom class ships are beautiful, big and normally have great entertainers. We are finding that personally, we do not flowride, ice skate, golf, volley ball, or wall climb. We do love the prominade but its not a decision maker.

 

so you need to decide what it is on the Freedom that you would miss not having on the Grandeur and decide if the ports outweigh the ship. They should in this case. We loved the Grandeur although its probably one of the smallest RCI ships we've been on, but had a wonderful time.

[RCI Cruisers 004]

We have done the Freedom cruise 4 times with one more in April and will be booking the same cruise for April of 14. This is our favorite ship and cruise. There are more people on it than Grandeur but it's so big it's not crowded. It does get hectic on excursion days at the windjammer but that happens on all the ships. We were on Grandeur in 09 for only a 6 day cruise and enjoyed it for what it was, but it's not the Freedom! Plus we enjoy getting to Orlando a few days before the cruise so we can go to Disney.

[Merion_Mom]

Simple if the ship is important Freedom of the Seas. If it's the itinerary Grandeur of the Seas.

 

Agree.

 

But being able to drive to the ship is a HUGE plus in favor of Grandeur.

[Melrosgirl]

Thank you! I think we are leaning towards the Freedom.

[Chicky2181]

I do really love freedom, but in your case I would pick grandeur. Its longer, has better ports, and you could drive to MD from PA and save a few bucks on a flight.