Vista, Breeze or Freedom with kids?

[Derbie]

We are looking at taking our son, wife and children on a cruise in the fall.  Wanting to take advantage of the free gratuities offer going on right now.  The kids are 14, 12, 10 and 4.  We sailed with them on the Oasis of the Sea RCCL last Spring, and on Carnival the year before. The kids all would rather cruise than do Disney World.  Would you say they are hooked?  :0) Anyway, we are trying to squeeze pennies this time. We can't afford RCCL this time, and I am not completely loyal to any one line.   All three ships look nice and I have been watching some youtube vlogs and as well as reading reviews. I will say I am not fond of the itinerary Please advise which ship would be the best for this little crew?  Thanks in advance, as I know there will be some good directives out there.  I would consider the Magic as well.

   Thanks all!

[ilovetotravel1977]

Wait. Where do I find the details about the free grats?  What sailings does it apply to?

[CarolSW]

I could be wrong, but I am guessing the OP may have mistaken the term “prepaid gratuities” with free gratuities?  No offense to the OP,  I just could not find such a mythical wonder in the cursory search I just did.  
 

That said, I would pick Freedom over Vista or Breeze.  But that is a personal choice, and I have no young kiddos to qualify my answer to the question.  I just think Freedom is an easier ship to maneuver.  
 

Whatever ship you choose, it will be a great trip!  How special to be able to cruise with grandchildren!

[Saint Greg]

Based solely on the best ship for kids I would rank them 1. Vista, 2. Breeze, 3. Magic, 4. Freedom

 

My reasoning is Vista has the skyride and imax which none of the other ships have. It also has the family harbor room option which none of the other ships have. Actually on Vista's deck 6 forward they have the Imax, thrill theater, arcade, and i think there's a kids club all  right together there. That's where I'd want to be if I were a kid. Vista also has bigger room TVs and better internet if that matters.

 

Breeze and Magic are basically the same ship. I pick Breeze over magic for kids because down on deck 4 they have a thrill theater.

 

I put Freedom below all of the others due to a lack of sports square and ropes course. I hate the location of the arcade on the freedom. It's right between the night club and the red frog pub. I actually came out of the night club at 1am once and almost tripped on a kid. On the other ships the arcades are away from bars. Vista is the best with that full entertainment area far away from where adults are at night.

 

Now you haven't given other details that may change things. If you're having to fly in it's going to be a lot easier to get to a ship in Florida than Galveston as you gotta get transportation from Houston to Galveston which is about 45 minutes to an hour on the interstate.

[AandBmom]

3 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

Based solely on the best ship for kids I would rank them 1. Vista, 2. Breeze, 3. Magic, 4. Freedom

 

My reasoning is Vista has the skyride and imax which none of the other ships have. It also has the family harbor room option which none of the other ships have. Actually on Vista's deck 6 forward they have the Imax, thrill theater, arcade, and i think there's a kids club all  right together there. That's where I'd want to be if I were a kid. Vista also has bigger room TVs and better internet if that matters.

 

Breeze and Magic are basically the same ship. I pick Breeze over magic for kids because down on deck 4 they have a thrill theater.

 

I put Freedom below all of the others due to a lack of sports square and ropes course. I hate the location of the arcade on the freedom. It's right between the night club and the red frog pub. I actually came out of the night club at 1am once and almost tripped on a kid. On the other ships the arcades are away from bars. Vista is the best with that full entertainment area far away from where adults are at night.

 

Now you haven't given other details that may change things. If you're having to fly in it's going to be a lot easier to get to a ship in Florida than Galveston as you gotta get transportation from Houston to Galveston which is about 45 minutes to an hour on the interstate.

I agree. My kids are around the same age and we love the Vista and the Breeze.  We're doing the Panorama next month.  We love Carnival for kids.  I feel like my kids would be bored on the Freedom.  Maybe look at NCL too. My kids have enjoyed the bigger NCL ships with lots for kids to do.  They often have good deals. 

[ABQrobin]

Having sailed on all the ships you mention...   I would recommend Vista, Magic, or Breeze.  My reasoning is the kids have much more to do, so there will be more of them onboard the ship.  Freedom is a fantastic ship, but its more for adults, no huge kid area with ropes, waterworks, etc.  Vista has the skyride which is awesome.  Vista and Breeze have the Thrill theater movies.  Vista has the IMAX movie theatre.  Just lots more to do for anyone who likes to "play".  

 

 

[Derbie]

11 hours ago, ilovetotravel1977 said:

Wait. Where do I find the details about the free grats?  What sailings does it apply to?

 I don't think I am allowed to mention specific travel companies on here.  I received the offer from three different cruise companies, and the offer expires Friday at midnight. 

[ilovetotravel1977]

Oh I thought you meant Carnival was having a promotion with free grats...

[Derbie]

10 hours ago, CarolSW said:

I could be wrong, but I am guessing the OP may have mistaken the term “prepaid gratuities” with free gratuities?  No offense to the OP,  I just could not find such a mythical wonder in the cursory search I just did.  
 

That said, I would pick Freedom over Vista or Breeze.  But that is a personal choice, and I have no young kiddos to qualify my answer to the question.  I just think Freedom is an easier ship to maneuver.  
 

Whatever ship you choose, it will be a great trip!  How special to be able to cruise with grandchildren!

 

[Derbie]

Thanks to all for your recommendations!  There is lots to consider here, as we are going to have to fly in.  The only port close enough for us to drive is New Orleans, and nothing much going on there.  Anyway, I did use the wrong description on the gratuities. I should have said an offer for prepaid gratuities. 

 

 

 

 

[Derbie]

11 hours ago, ilovetotravel1977 said:

Wait. Where do I find the details about the free grats?  What sailings does it apply to?

I don't think I can say which companies sent me the offers.  They are big companies.  If the moderator says yes, then I would be glad to tell you. There is also one that is offering 10% back on the cruise cost in the form on onboard credit for all Carnival cruises.

 

[Cb1977]

Took my two teens on Breeze last July. They loved it. They were in the teen clubs a lot. Other than dinner and curfew time I didn't see them much on the ship. We had the chat feature on the Hub app so I could reach them anytime. 

[PhillyFan33579]

Based on kids only I would select Vista. Not considering the kids I would select Breeze. I assume your kids understand that none of Carnival’s current ships can compare to Oasis of the Seas when it comes to the amount of activities offered. 

[ilovetotravel1977]

11 hours ago, Cb1977 said:

Took my two teens on Breeze last July. They loved it. They were in the teen clubs a lot. Other than dinner and curfew time I didn't see them much on the ship. We had the chat feature on the Hub app so I could reach them anytime. 

 

Good to know!  We are planning on sailing the Breeze in April 2021 (first Carnival cruise!) and will have DD12 with us.  Does the chat on the app work pretty good?  

[Hoosierpop]

I’d also say Vista or Breeze, but I also think itinerary matters. Are the itineraries the same?

[Cb1977]

2 hours ago, ilovetotravel1977 said:

 

Good to know!  We are planning on sailing the Breeze in April 2021 (first Carnival cruise!) and will have DD12 with us.  Does the chat on the app work pretty good?  

I've only used it on the Breeze and yes it worked great! Well worth the extra $5 per device. 

[Derbie]

21 hours ago, Hoosierpop said:

I’d also say Vista or Breeze, but I also think itinerary matters. Are the itineraries the same?

The itineraries are not the same.  I like the ports for the Breeze better, but I think it is going to come down to the airfare and transportation for this group to the port.  Galveston could end up costing much more than getting from Ft. Lauderdale to the Miami port.  So, we may end up doing Breeze.  It is a 6 day cruise, and I can live with a day short, if need be.  

 

[Saint Greg]

4 minutes ago, Derbie said:

The itineraries are not the same.  I like the ports for the Breeze better, but I think it is going to come down to the airfare and transportation for this group to the port.  Galveston could end up costing much more than getting from Ft. Lauderdale to the Miami port.  So, we may end up doing Breeze.  It is a 6 day cruise, and I can live with a day short, if need be.  

 

Something I’d like to add since I now know a 6-day is under consideration. I recently did my first 6-day.
 

I’d say it was more like a long 5-day than it was a short 7-day. We didn’t get one of the production shows that they have on 7-day cruises.

 

Also on 5-day cruises you typically have two comedians and one day without comedy. On 7-day cruises you have four comedians and typically one day without comedy. On the 6-day we had two comedians and two days without comedy. I really felt like they were just taking a 5-day cruise and trying to squeeze an extra day out of it.

 

So for that one day you get another production show and two additional comedians with a whole slew of different shows....if entertainment value is important that 7th day is worth a lot. If you haven’t done a bunch of 7-days you may not notice the difference though.

[Derbie]

On 2/22/2020 at 6:57 AM, Saint Greg said:

Something I’d like to add since I now know a 6-day is under consideration. I recently did my first 6-day.
 

I’d say it was more like a long 5-day than it was a short 7-day. We didn’t get one of the production shows that they have on 7-day cruises.

 

Also on 5-day cruises you typically have two comedians and one day without comedy. On 7-day cruises you have four comedians and typically one day without comedy. On the 6-day we had two comedians and two days without comedy. I really felt like they were just taking a 5-day cruise and trying to squeeze an extra day out of it.

 

So for that one day you get another production show and two additional comedians with a whole slew of different shows....if entertainment value is important that 7th day is worth a lot. If you haven’t done a bunch of 7-days you may not notice the difference though.

Thanks a bunch. We have done a cruise shorter than 7-days, only one time and we didn't like it at all. We vowed no more short cruises.  I didn't realize being short one day, would cause this big of a difference. I will certainly take this into consideration.