Carnival Breeze Vs Royal Caribbean Independence of the Seas

[scoobychrissycruiser!!]

Hi! My family of four (kids 12 & 14) have been on 2 Carnival and 1 Royal Caribbean cruises. We are looking into an 8 day Southern/Eastern Caribbean for early 2015. Deciding between Carnival Breeze or Royal Caribbean Independence of the Seas. Any thoughts?? Thanks!

[Koiman1]

I have been on both ships. I like the breeze, but we loved the Independence of the seas. Why, the entertainment was so much better than Carnival. RCL controls crowds so much better than Carnival. We still cruise Carnival because of price.

[keishashadow]

Loved the IoS, especially the option for a 6 day sailing and easy out of FLL. Agree that the entertainment was varied and interesting and felt level of service & food was a notch better than what we've experienced on CCL (but we have always had a good experience on our sailings with them and am so excited to sailing the end of the month!).

 

no experience w/the breeze but the cove balconies are on the bucket list.

 

the sale date, itinerary & price would be the deciding factors for me.

[edinboro cruiser]

I've been on the Breeze and we are going again in January. I think the kids will enjoy The water works area and kids club. Sea day barbecue is also pretty good. The decor on the Breeze is awesome. We usually stay on Lido with balcony because of mobility issues with wife. Cove balcony looks interesting though

 

 

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[17andacruiseaddict]

For me, the pricing would be the deciding factor. I'm sure CCL would be cheaper. Plus, having been a pre-teen and teenager on both CCL and RCL, I think the kids would prefer the programs for them offered on the Breeze. And there is a "water park" on the Breeze. Plus CCL has the biggest rooms of each category offered on their ships compared to RCCL. So that is definitely important especially if you all plan on staying in the same room. A little bit more breathing room would help

 

Going on the Breeze in November. Last RCCL ship I did was Freedom of the Seas

[Tapi]

Plus CCL has the biggest rooms of each category offered on their ships compared to RCCL.

 

Not true. While it's still accurate to say that inside and standard ocean view staterooms are considerably smaller on the Independence, the tide turns in its favor with balcony staterooms and above. Stateroom space and balcony space are considerably more generous on the Independence, and there are many more categories to choose from.

 

To the OP: if price is the same, I'd go with the Independence. If price is slightly different, I'd go with the Independence.

 

 

 

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[S.S.Oceanlover]

For me, the pricing would be the deciding factor. I'm sure CCL would be cheaper. Plus, having been a pre-teen and teenager on both CCL and RCL, I think the kids would prefer the programs for them offered on the Breeze. And there is a "water park" on the Breeze. Plus CCL has the biggest rooms of each category offered on their ships compared to RCCL. So that is definitely important especially if you all plan on staying in the same room. A little bit more breathing room would help

 

Going on the Breeze in November. Last RCCL ship I did was Freedom of the Seas

 

You might be surprised. I have been looking at the IOS for next April 25th and the cheapest inside which we usually book is $607 for an 8 day cruise that goes to St Thomas, San Juan, St Kitts, and Labadee.

 

The Breeze also does an 8 day cruise leaving the same day that goes to St Thomas, Antigua, San Juan, and Nassau. Price for cheapest available cabin right now which is a 4B is $699.

 

Yes the Carnival rooms are bigger at 185 sq ft compared to IOS' rooms which are 160 sq ft.

 

I don't know how adventurous the 12 and 14 year old are so i can't say whether they'd like the water slides and rope course better than the flow rider,rock climbing, and ice skating.

 

Given these prices if YOU were going on April 25th next year i guess you would be sailing on RCI since it is the deciding factor.;)

 

Whichever the OP selects they are sure to have a great time.:)

 

Bill

[Fitzget]

Freedom class ships are awesome, 4 pools, water park area for kids, flowrider, so much to offer. Definitely my favorite class of ship.

[Mandy923]

My family has been on both Breeze and Liberty of the Seas (Indy's sister)

 

And although we prefer Carnival over Royal- in general. I liked Liberty much more than the Breeze.

 

THe Breeze ALWAYS felt insanely crowded to me. I haven't experienced that on other Carnival ships (Glory, Conquest, Paradise).

[Ramblin' Ma'am]

A couple weeks ago I was on Liberty of the Seas, which is a sister ship to Independence. I happened to meet a woman who had recently been on Carnival Breeze. She usually cruises Royal but liked the Breeze a lot. She said her grandkids liked the big waterslides on Breeze (the "waterparks" on Royal ships are more for small kids).

[4U2C]

We had the same dilemma. I wanted to go on the Oasis and Dh wanted to go on the Breeze but I won:D.. We are planning on going on the Breeze Jan 31 2015 and can not wait. Our 1st cruise!!!

[3KDZ]

Great question. My family (3 children) and I cruised the Breeze last year for spring break. We have also sailed on Freedom of the Seas (sister ship). A big difference for us was the quality and presentation of food. Royal Caribbean was hands down the winner. The Breeze was the first cruise that I've been on where I was not happy with the food. Overall, I would some it up as bland. I would also say that the entertainment was better on Royal as was the service. I have been on four previous Carnival sailings that were very good values for the price. If price were not a factor, which it always is, i would choose Royal Caribbean every time.

[sunsetswizzle]

IOS gets my vote. I cruised the Breeze (twice) and FOS (sister ship to IOS). The Breeze is my favorite Carnival Ship, but I love love Royal Freedom class ships, no comparison to me.

[Cruzaholic41]

Hi! My family of four (kids 12 & 14) have been on 2 Carnival and 1 Royal Caribbean cruises. We are looking into an 8 day Southern/Eastern Caribbean for early 2015. Deciding between Carnival Breeze or Royal Caribbean Independence of the Seas. Any thoughts?? Thanks!

 

I have been on both ships more than once. Breeze is my favorite Carnival ship. However, I have to agree with the majority of responses so far and recommend IOS. The main reason is crowding. Both ships carry the same amount of passengers, yet IOS is considerably bigger than Breeze, making it a much less crowded ship than Breeze. I really like Breeze (hate the rest of Dream Class though), but I love RCI's Freedom Class.

[Cruisegirl6]

This is truly a difficult decision and we all are different, meaning we all want different things.

 

The Breeze is one of the ships I haven't gone on yet but I read all the reviews and people do speak about the crowding.

 

They both have mini golf course and theatre for movies, a sports court, pizzeria although I must say RC always is continuously making pizza where Carnival at night takes forever, they both have teen/kids clubs and video arcade. Both have very good bedding and both have specialty restaurants, the Breeze only has one the Steakhouse and the Indy has Chops (steakhouse) and Giovanni's.

 

Pros and Cons Breeze:

Pros- Cucina del Capitano (italian restaurant complimentary lunch fee for dinner), waterworks, ropes course, mongolian wok, guys burgers and Fat Jimmy's BBQ. Carnivals comedy shows are much better.

 

Cons- Serenity Deck no pool, past 11pm only food available is room service and pizza.

 

Pros and Cons INDY:

Pros- Viking Crown Lounge you get 180 degree view of the sea, rock climbing wall, golf simulator, wipe out, flow rider, ice skating, Johnny Rockets, ice cream parlor, cupcake cupboard, cafe promenade open 24 hours you can even get mini sandwiches, cupcakes, cookies, salads, etc in the wee hours. The Solarium is the adults area and the pool is very close to it. There is also a sports pool.

 

Cons- can't think of any

 

RC offers fresh water larger pools where Carnival has salt water pools. They also offer much better quality of shows/entertainment and the ice skating show is not to be missed ever! Service is a hit or miss on Carnival and the cocktail service in the MDR is near nonexistent, horrible in all my 28 plus Carnival cruises...the drink program has no limits to the amount of drinks you can order where Carnival has a limit of 15. (if you drink beer you definitely can consume much more than 15 in a day, if that is you). I also love the shower doors in the bathroom that RC offers and always hated that curtain that the Carnival ships have. Both have plenty of storage space but RC balconies are like double the size in its regular balcony cabins.

 

What would I choose...its difficult....I love RC service as its excellent overall, I don't do shows but if I did RC be my choice, I do love Carnival's comedy shows, love the fact Carnival has a rock n roll band playing at night somewhere on the ship and love RC offering different types of snacks/food to eat past 11pm. Carnivals casino treats you a lot better you can also earn the drinks on us card and depending upon your points you earn in the casino, they send you goodies to your room at night and bottles of wine during formal dinners. RC remains to offer live music at the pool during the day.

 

I think I made you more confused because I am....honestly RC is my favorite cruise line but the Breeze is probably one of the best ships that Carnival has (my favorite was the Dream) and what I know the better larger ships do offer more, if you were going on an older Carnival ship that was smaller which offered you a lot less, I wouldn't hesitate to tell you definitely go Indy, but these two ships I would have a difficult time in choosing myself. Whatever you choose you will have a wonderful cruise.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

I wonder if the OP ever went on this cruise since when she posted the question last May she said she was going early 2015 but has not posted on CC since December 1 2014.:confused:

 

Bill