Symphony vs. Horizon vs. Breakaway

[SouthernAccent]

Hi guys! Long time fan of the boards and need some help. My wife and I are planning a cruise for maybe May or June of this year and these are the 3 ships we are looking at. We have previously been on 2 cruises - Carnival Sunshine and Harmony of the Seas. So we are only familiar with Carnival and RC and liked them equally! BACKGROUND: Mid 30s, will not be traveling with children, we like drinks, shows, relaxation, and good relaxation at ports along with some activities.

So this is kind of the breakdown of the options we have for these 3 ships and I would appreciate any help of votes of which to do!

 

Symphony with ports of: Roatan, Cozumel, Honduras, Costa Maya, and Perfect Day at Cococay - for this this ship we could definitely do a balcony oceanside or large balcony ocean OR MAYBE a mini suite BUT it is at the VERY top of our budget and not sure its worth it?

 

Horizon we have 2 options and we ONLY wanted to consider the Havana on Horizon - my wife liked the idea of added privacy by having these rooms

Grand Turk, La Romana, Curacao, and Aruba - this one a Havana Cabana room

Option 2 for Horizon is Cozumel, Grand Cayman, and Ochos Rios with either a Havana aft or maybe a havana wrap room but it too is at the top budget (I felt this set of ports was not as good as the rest)

 

Breakaway - Roatan, Honduras, Harvest Caye, Costa Maya, and Cozumel - room choices are a balcony, aft balcony,  or mini suite. 

 

I feel a little overwhelmed and not sure which is best. We have only been to Cozumel our of all of these ports so the rest are all new. Breakaway seems like the least nicest, newest ship?

 

Help! 

Thanks! 

Edited January 22, 2019 by SouthernAccent

[mizLORInj]

Haven't been on Symphony yet but have been on Horizon (when it was brand new in 2018) and also Breakaway many times when it was homeported in NYC.   I liked both ships.  

 

So let's talk ports.   We were at Harvest Caye last year on a Getaway cruise (in an aft balcony cabin).  What a fabulous port.  No tendering and lots of soft white sand.  Plenty of chairs.  Right up there in top favorite private islands.  (Carnival's Half Moon Cay is the all time fave--so far).  Roatan has nice beaches too and we also ziplined there once.   Costa Maya was one big shopping village--we didn't plan well for that port.   Cozumel we love the all-inclusive day beach resorts.   This itinerary would not take much convincing for me to do it.

 

Horizon's goes to the deep southern Caribbean and Aruba is a nice place, as is Curacao.   We are not fans of Grand Turk, but you get good photos of the ship close up--ONLY if you are the only ship there.  With 2 ships it would be way too crowded.  LaRomana we did a great excursion to an island.    Grand Cayman is nice though it's a tender port (I don't like those too much--waste of time) and Ocho Rios has Mystic Mountain which is awesome, great ziplining, and some beaches.   

 

I know CocoCay was supposed to be completed by summer, but we were at its neighbor island in November (on NCL Escape) and the dock was supposed to have been finished by then but it was nowhere near finished.  Mariner of the Seas was tendering people to it.  So they are behind in their construction timeline.   Not sure where it is but I'm checking into that myself because I want to sail Anthem one more time before it leaves NJ and Coco is on that itin.   

 

I really think you can't go wrong on any of these -- there are ports that are fun on all of them.   Breakaway is definitely the oldest of the 3 ships.  It launched in 2013 and I cruised it that summer.  It still smelled new.   Thought it was very nice.  I believe it's been refurbed or is getting one soon.  I liked Carnival Horizon a lot too and am very glad we did a short cruise on it.  Quite different than other older Carnival ships.   We were near the Havana cabins and though I didn't care for their decor, the Havana area was nice.   Aft wrap balcony is always nice just note that on this ship it overlooks open areas--not the ocean directly down.   Symphony I'm sure is nice as well and freshly new! -though the largest I've been on is Allure which is a bit smaller, but was fabulous too.  

 

 

 

 

 

[Trainer]

I am not familiar with Horizon but I' like the ports of Southern, like Aruba and
Curacao.  However, the Symphony s a great ship that I was on in December.  I would take her again no matter which ports.

 

[SouthernAccent]

Thanks for info. When I watch video tours of each ship Breakaway has the least wow to me, but probably the cheapest rooms of all 3. Symphony appears to be pretty much identical to Harmony that we have been on with a few restaurant changes. Horizon is totally diff than the Sunshine we were on it appears to me with more restaurants and stuff to do like Imax etc. 

[SouthernAccent]

Hey Trainer - thanks. Did you think if we have been on Harmony 2 years ago that Symphony would be a little redundant? I see it has some diff restaurants we may like! We LOVED wonderland! 

[mizLORInj]

 

Thanks for info. When I watch video tours of each ship Breakaway has the least wow to me, but probably the cheapest rooms of all 3. Symphony appears to be pretty much identical to Harmony that we have been on with a few restaurant changes. Horizon is totally diff than the Sunshine we were on it appears to me with more restaurants and stuff to do like Imax etc. 

Oh, you've been on Harmony.  I missed that part.   Yes, Symphony will be almost identical.  Like NCL's Breakaway and Getaway are almost identical.   Breakaway is less $ partly (or largely) because it's older than the other 2 you're looking at.  Horizon is different than Sunshine (have been on Sunshine too).   Horizon did have features like the track you pedal around on the top deck.  Come to think of it we did see an Imax film too.   I would go on Horizon again.   Yet, there are so many ships so I'd probably try a different one first. . . 🙂   

[SouthernAccent]

Something that is a bummer is that I am having a hard time finding a way to make the flights work with the better southern caribbean Horizon cruise due to me having a credit with a certain airline I am trying to use. Where this trip is an 8 day it would leave Saturday and come back a Sunday and that is proving to be difficult to contend with on the airline I am using. 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

3 hours ago, SouthernAccent said:

Breakaway - Roatan, Honduras, Harvest Caye, Costa Maya, and Cozumel - room choices are a balcony, aft balcony,  or mini suite. 

We just did this itinerary on Getaway, which is just like the Breakaway. The itinerary is underwhelming, to be honest, but we had no choice on the matter. Especially, Harvest Caye.

 

This other poster saying: What a fabulous port.  No tendering and lots of soft white sand. 

must be a joke. The sand is not white, but a light brown, and it's not soft. The water is murky. A very underwhelming port, indeed.

 

We liked the ship (had a large balcony room), the food was very average to below average in MDR/buffet.

Nice activities like ropes course, rock climbing, water slides.

We don't party and traveled with a 7 yo.

 

If you care for the itinerary, I'd go with "Grand Turk, La Romana, Curacao, and Aruba - this one a Havana Cabana room". I know nothing of Carnival, but if you liked Sunshine, you will like Horizon.

Edited January 22, 2019 by Itchy&Scratchy

[Ralphinsc]

I'd pick the Southern Carribean itinerary just because it isn't nearly as common as the Western route. The Havana cabins sound good too. 

 

With that said, we are cruising a Western route for the fifth time on Symphony this spring , and visiting ports we've been into multiple times each just because we want to try the ship. I wish our route was the Eastern one they alternate with, but we'll do with barely getting off the ship in Cozumel or Nassau and enjoying it more.

[SouthernAccent]

Thanks for the help so far! 

[Dave85]

Just to add some info on the Breakaway: A fun, lively ship with good nightlife, but the standard balconies are TINY (the actual balcony itself, not the room). This also goes for standard mini-suites. Way below industry standard size. I was on Breakaway twice and sprung for an extra large balcony (B6) the second time and didn’t regret it. 

 

Overall a a little more crowded and less wow factor than the Oasis Class, but still a lot of fun. 

[SouthernAccent]

Still deciding. We are trying to make a decision today. We are leaning most toward Symphony I suppose. Breakaway has the best price but seems the least appealing of the 3 I think? I love the Horizon ports the most and Havana rooms, however all they have are Havana Cabana and my wife is worried about the privacy with those little patios. Also we are having trouble coordinating flights with that one as well and work since it is an 8 day cruise.....decisions, decisions. 

[mizLORInj]

5 hours ago, SouthernAccent said:

Still deciding. We are trying to make a decision today. We are leaning most toward Symphony I suppose. Breakaway has the best price but seems the least appealing of the 3 I think? I love the Horizon ports the most and Havana rooms, however all they have are Havana Cabana and my wife is worried about the privacy with those little patios. Also we are having trouble coordinating flights with that one as well and work since it is an 8 day cruise.....decisions, decisions. 

 

If you mean the  larger balcony that is on the deck where the Havana pool is, yes, everyone above you can see down on most of your balcony.   We were a few decks above that deck and I remember looking down and noticing that and not liking it.  Other balconies are as private a regular balconies though.  I would think the aft wraps are gone already since there are only maybe 6.  Check back around final payment time though.   

 

Have fun--on whichever you choose!   😊