Freedom of Seas or celebrity Summit Help!!

[NaplesBeachgal]

must decide between these 2 for november cruise. Group is 50's and 30. Both port intensive southern caribbean. Which has better experience for entertainment? Food? Specialty restaurants? Excursions? thanks!!!

[papaflamingo]

I've only done one Celebrity, on Reflection. I liked it... more "upper scale." Beautiful ship. But I've done 4 Freedom cruises. That should tell you something. For me, and I'm mid-60's, I found Celebrity too sedate for a Caribbean cruise. I thought the food was very good on Celebrity, but I like Freedom too. We had Aqua Class on Celebrity and it gave us Blu as a restaurant option and we did a number of the specialty venues and liked them all. Did not try MDR.

Entertainment...hands down, for me, Freedom. There is no piano bar on Celebrity, and the Pub (if on the ship) has no entertainment. Freedom has both. We found that except for the show, you really had no particularly "fun" entertainment. Remember, like food, entertainment is subjective.

Shore Excursions. We try to do private. Hard to discuss not knowing your itinerary. But if you're a "ship excursion" person, then either will likely be the same excursions.

So, for me, I lean strongly to Freedom for a Caribbean cruise because I enjoy the night life more. Since you say it's a more port intensive cruise, that my not factor in.

[Want2Cruise 701]

I've been on both. I like the Summit and Celebrity better, but that is my opinion. Food will be better on Summit. Entertainment on Freedom. The Freedom is larger than the Summit with more to do. There will not be the Flowrider, Rock Climbing, kids splash area, Royal Promenade etc. on the Summit. The Summit will have a better pool and Solarium, fewer children, great aft sunset bar and the rooftop terrace lounge.

 

The Summit will be a more relaxing, upscale cruise. The Summit will have a more ship feeling of being at sea. It depends on what's more important to you. Are you wanting more of a fun, active cruise or a more elegant, relaxing cruise?

 

Both itineraries are very port intensive so not much time on the ship. Excursions depend on the islands visited. What southern islands are visited on both itineraries?

[George C]

Recently did Summit and did freedom sister ships a few times, entertainment is so much better on rccl, ice show is amazing , freedom is a much larger ship that summit. Summit has a amazing buffet that even has steaks and seafood and we never had a problem getting seats , rccl buffet windjammer is preety bad. Specialty restaurants are equal .

[Russ Lomas]

I've been on both. I like the Summit and Celebrity better, but that is my opinion. Food will be better on Summit. Entertainment on Freedom. The Freedom is larger than the Summit with more to do. There will not be the Flowrider, Rock Climbing, kids splash area, Royal Promenade etc. on the Summit. The Summit will have a better pool and Solarium, fewer children, great aft sunset bar and the rooftop terrace lounge.

 

The Summit will be a more relaxing, upscale cruise. The Summit will have a more ship feeling of being at sea. It depends on what's more important to you. Are you wanting more of a fun, active cruise or a more elegant, relaxing cruise?

 

Both itineraries are very port intensive so not much time on the ship. Excursions depend on the islands visited. What southern islands are visited on both itineraries?

I agree with almost everything this person said above. We have done one cruise on the Summit and two on Freedom (with a 3rd cruise booked on the Freedom for this upcoming March). Everything said above is true regarding food, entertainment and activities. That said, we enjoyed Freedom more for the items mentioned like the rock climbing, ice skating, flowrider, etc. We are more active people (and usually cruise with our children). If you are looking for a more subdued cruise, the Summit is your best bet. If you want more physical activities to do on the ship, the Freedom is the best choice. Since the cruise you are looking at is in the fall, I would doubt a high number of children/students will be on either ship. My decision would likely come down to the ports the ships visit since you will be ashore for much of the cruise when sailing from San Juan.

[Qstrom]

Honestly the ships themselves you're comparing apples and oranges here.......we've sailed the Infinity (sister ship of Summit) same class ship and it's much smaller, more intimate. The Freedom class ships are quite large with a "mall" running the length of the vessel so it has a much different feel to it. As said you should choose the cruise based on how active you all want to be and what type of ship you want to be aboard.

[grace0803]

Summit! The food is way better!