Independence Vs Mariner

[JoeFan]

So for about the same price I am looking at.

 

Independence - 5 Night  with CocoCay, Cruising, Labadee, Cruising

Mariner - 4 Night with CocoCay, Nassau, CocoCay

 

I did CocoCay last summer and loved it.

Is it worth going to Labadee and having the extra night.

How do the ships compare? On Harmony we loved Jamie's, but on Independence they have Giovanni's.

 

[cruisinghawg]

For me it is as I love sea days and Labadee is fun also. I love the Indy and it is my favorite class. 

I like Giovanni's over Jamie's.

[CTCruiser76]

I guess it all depends on your situation and how you are getting to the port. DH and I were contemplating the same exact itineraries, one leaves from Port Everglades and the other leaves from Port Canaveral. We are driving down from NC and Port Canaveral is 2 1/2 hours closer and a MUCH easier port. We left from Port Everglades on Freedom a few years ago and it was a disaster. We went on the Mariner this past fall, and it was SUPER easy and actually a pleasure compared to Ft Lauderdale. 

 

Based on that alone - we chose the Mariner and Port Canaveral. 

[Merion_Mom]

43 minutes ago, JoeFan said:

So for about the same price I am looking at.

 

Independence - 5 Night  with CocoCay, Cruising, Labadee, Cruising

Mariner - 4 Night with CocoCay, Nassau, CocoCay

 

I did CocoCay last summer and loved it.

Is it worth going to Labadee and having the extra night.

How do the ships compare? On Harmony we loved Jamie's, but on Independence they have Giovanni's.

 

 

I assume that you would be flying to either ship, so the post above wouldn't apply.

 

I find it easier (and generally cheaper) to fly into Fort Lauderdale and stay there overnight before a cruise than Orlando & Port Canaveral, which are considerably farther apart.

 

In my cruising world, more is always better, so I would choose your Independence option.

 

🙂 

[Ocean Boy]

Independence... awesome ship and extra day.

[JoeFan]

We are driving from NJ. 
 

[JoeFan]

We also have global entry which I read they might take in Port Everglades. 
 

[kruzerci]

The ships received very similar amplifications. Both are fantastic. I would pick based on the itinerary that suits you better. 

[cb at sea]

Independence is a bit larger...not a lot, but just a bit.  They are both great ships.

[ljmandelbaum]

22 minutes ago, JoeFan said:

We also have global entry which I read they might take in Port Everglades. 
 

Port Everglades has global entry, we had to show our global entry card.  I was glad I had read that so I had it.  

 

We loved Independence of the Seas, we were on it in February and going back in July.   But I live about 25 minutes from Port Everglades.

[taglovestocruise]

We have cruised on both. Mariner is one of our favorite small ships.  That being said, one extra day would tip the scales to Indy. 

[Merion_Mom]

4 hours ago, JoeFan said:

We are driving from NJ. 
 

 

 

😮😮😮

[Norwich Cruiser]

I’d go with IOTS

[Biker19]

6 hours ago, Heymarco said:

It’s still bigger than any ship in Carnival’s fleet. 

Mardi Gras is only a few months away.

[JoeFan]

3 hours ago, Biker19 said:

Mardi Gras is only a few months away.

And Matt is going to be CD. He’s a love or hate guy. We had him on our only Carnival Cruise in Breeze. It was good. Our first cruise ever. 
 

After that, Anthem and Harmony. We LOVED Harmony. So we do like the big ships. 

[mrpayroll]

We would pick Indy..( we are going in  May and late August on same itinerary )

[LuCruise]

Love both.  The ships are more similar that different.  Indy is a bit bigger, but similar layout.  Both have waterslides, Laser Tag, Sky Pad, etc etc.  

 

I would pick Indy

• 5 days vs 4 days
• Love Grease and Once Upon a Time shows

[Tree_skier]

We loved Mariner last year but five days would win out over four for me if I was choosing.  Very very similar ships so I really think it is a toss up ship wise. I've never cruised out of PC but we had no trouble out of PE.  Seemed simple and well organized when we were getting on and off Adventure in Dec. even with 9 ships in port that Sunday.  I think on and off day like Independence would be it would be a piece of cake.

[brillohead]

My vote would be Independence. 

 

• Freedom class is my favorite (more shade area in the Solarium than any other class in the fleet!).  
• Five days beats four days.
• Nassau is no big deal to me
• Sea Day = lunch in the MDR = Tutti Salad Bar!
• Labadee and Coco Cay are both wonderful beach days (especially as I look out my window at snow!) that don't have to cost a dime extra unless you want to spend extra money -- food, beach, loungers, all free!
• Transportation to/from ship/airport is cheaper for Fort Lauderdale (even when flying into Miami) compared to Orlando/Canaveral; same for lodging, generally.

[LuCruise]

31 minutes ago, brillohead said:

My vote would be Independence. 

 

• Freedom class is my favorite (more shade area in the Solarium than any other class in the fleet!).  
• Five days beats four days.
• Nassau is no big deal to me
• Sea Day = lunch in the MDR = Tutti Salad Bar!
• Labadee and Coco Cay are both wonderful beach days (especially as I look out my window at snow!) that don't have to cost a dime extra unless you want to spend extra money -- food, beach, loungers, all free!
• Transportation to/from ship/airport is cheaper for Fort Lauderdale (even when flying into Miami) compared to Orlando/Canaveral; same for lodging, generally.

To add to that, the Independence hot tub in the Solarium is by the window so great view outside.  Forgot about that.

[brillohead]

17 minutes ago, LuCruise said:

To add to that, the Independence hot tub in the Solarium is by the window so great view outside.  Forgot about that.

Yep, in addition to the larger size of the ship in general, the hot tubs being cantilevered off the side opens up more of my beloved shaded floor space for loungers in the Solarium!

[taglovestocruise]

8 hours ago, Biker19 said:

Mardi Gras is only a few months away.

Still 25% smaller than a Oasis Class but has the same passenger count. 

[JoeFan]

OK, I pulled a typical me and changed gears totally.

 

You know when you are looking at cruises and you see from lowest price $X.

Well Symphony of the Seas on 8/29/20, 7 night Western, 3 days cruising, Falmouth, Labadee & CocoCay, sailing was showing lowest price of $849, but when you click through the real lowest was $512 for Interior GTY. So including taxes and port fees, the actual cost per passenger came out to be $647 which is $201 less.

 

Which in contrast when I was looking at Oasis out of Port Liberty, it was showing $649 lowest PP which actually came out to be $1,069 PP or $420 more.

 

So feeling we got a bang up price on Symphony, for the 4 of us it came out to be $1,100 more.