Help Choosing - RCI Allure or Freedom or NCL Getaway or Escape?

[mosul809]

I booked getaway for 11/6-11/13

My son will be 10 and my daughter will be 7

I booked for the waterslides and the balconies have a pull down bed. My friend said her kids loved the illusion magic show dinner!

If you are going that week, kids can play! [emoji6]

[Jenjer]

We have sailed all of those with the exception on Escape she is coming up next just 3 more months.

 

Our kids first cruises where on Disney Magic and it was wonderful but very expensive. So we went with Freedom next and the kids where 6 and 8 at the time. They almost immediately said "we don't have to do Disney anymore this is so much more fun"

 

They loved the Royal promenade. Look for the dog....it became a joke for us, Someone left their dog.

 

The pools, the water park spray thing was heaven for my DS. My DD being older fell in love with the flowrider.

 

For us coming form Ohio flying into Orlando us easy and cheap so that's nice too.

 

Getaway was 2 years ago for us the kids 8th cruise. They where 12 and 10 so a bit older. The water slides where heaven. They run up and down those stairs non stop. The ropes course something I really thought was a do once and get over it like min golf became a huge attraction. I cannot tell you how many times they went up there. The spider web thing was cool but not really that great. The trampoline jumpy thing was fun for DD my thrill seeker not to much for my DS.

 

I defiantly felt more crowded on Getaway than I ever did on Freedom or on Allure or Oasis. Disney was defiantly the least crowded of any ship I have been on.

 

Allure is just Freedom bigger and if you getting a lower price for Allure I would pick that one with your kids ages. When they get older more adventurous I think Escape and or Getaway would be a good choice.

 

 

I found the entertainment be more fun for the kids on Freedom and Allure. Kids love the Aqua show. Book it early because it can get canceled and then you still have a chance to catch it later. They enjoyed Getaway's entertainment a little but not as much. With all the entertainment changes going on I do not think Escapes shows will keep your kids attention.

[soup23]

We are in the same dilemma and are down to Allure and Getaway.

 

It will be my wife and I (both 28) with no kids on this cruise. We have only taken one previous cruise with Carnival and had an enjoyable experience. Neither of us are big drinkers on land but we did splurge for the drink package on the Carnival cruise. I broke even but my wife wasn't even close. As a result, we are thinking if we choose Allure, I will buy a drink package and my wife will be pay as she goes. When you add in the alcohol cost out of pocket on Allure, it equals the price of the Oceanview on Getaway (where we also will get Specialty Dining). We do prefer the Ports on Getaway as it stops in Ochos Rios instead of Falmouth saving us some money on the Dunns Rivers excursion. It also has one extra port in Grand Cayman. Does anyone have an opinion of Stirrup Cay vs. Labadee? One other thing I was concerned with was utilizing Nextcruise or CruiseNext to maybe obtain us a 3 night cruise at an optimal price. Using this method, it seems like RCI has the better program and combining the total cost of three night cruise in August with the cruise in APril on Allure, it would only be around $100 more than the 1 NCL cruise in April.