Weekend Cruise on Freedom out of Miami vs. Indy out of Port Canaveral?

[CruiseMelissa]

3 night cruise, family of four with kids 9 and 11, which ship/departure port would be better?   DH is concerned that these weekend cruises attract a party crowd, if that's the case would Miami or Cape Canaveral be a better fit for a more family-friendly cruise?

 

We've never sailed above a Radiance class ship so feel free to dumb it down for me 😃

[flamingos]

Where are you coming from?  That would make a difference as well.

 

[Biker19]

8 minutes ago, CruiseMelissa said:

We've never sailed above a Radiance class ship so feel free to dumb it down for me 

Neither of the ships you listed in the title are Radiance class.

 

Spring breakers are gonna spring break - doesn't really matter where you sail from. To lessen the chance of having spring breakers you'd have to go on a sailing less popular with them - expensive, out of the way and  longer sailings.

[ChanaC]

I agree, whatever port is closest to you or easiest to get to is probably the best option. Honestly it's probably a wash between the two in terms of families vs partiers. I doubt there would be much of a difference. The ships are the same classes and seem to be fairly similar as well. Maybe see what the ports of call are, and if they are different look at where you would rather visit.

[CruiseMelissa]

24 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Neither of the ships you listed in the title are Radiance class.

 

Spring breakers are gonna spring break - doesn't really matter where you sail from. To lessen the chance of having spring breakers you'd have to go on a sailing less popular with them - expensive, out of the way and  longer sailings.

Huh?  😃  I was saying we've never sailed on a ship above Radiance class so comparing the two ships would probably need more details than someone familiar with the bigger ships.

 

And this would be October, not spring break.  

 

Too bad I cant edit my original post, I obviously wasnt very clear!

Edited February 25, 2022 by CruiseMelissa

[CruiseMelissa]

28 minutes ago, flamingos said:

Where are you coming from?  That would make a difference as well.

 

We'd have to fly in from Baltimore, prices seem to be the same for both MIA and MCO

[CatDad2012]

We went on Indy back in November on a B2B (3-night over a weekend and 4-night during the week). The atmosphere was definitely more of a younger, party type college crowd on the 3-day weekend portion, but still wasn't overly rowdy.

[CruiseMelissa]

8 minutes ago, CatDad2012 said:

We went on Indy back in November on a B2B (3-night over a weekend and 4-night during the week). The atmosphere was definitely more of a younger, party type college crowd on the 3-day weekend portion, but still wasn't overly rowdy.

Thanks!  I feel like we'd never be in the same places as the party people because we're kind of boring? 😃

[Crism]

I'm always partial to Miami. Great sailaway, beautiful scenery, and MUCH easier to access than Port Canaveral. Miami prices may be higher for hotels but it's usually a wash in shuttle service to/from Orlando.

[metachal]

I don't know if there would be much difference in party crowd, but I do know that it is much quicker to get from the airport to the port in Miami than Canaveral. 

[homedepot124]

I agree about the airport situation.  It is a long, expensive haul from MCO to PC and back.  And the crowd going through security at MCO is awful. 

[molly361]

40 minutes ago, CruiseMelissa said:

Huh?  😃  I was saying we've never sailed on a ship above Radiance class so comparing the two ships would probably need more details than someone familiar with the bigger ships.

 

And this would be October, not spring break.  

 

Too bad I cant edit my original post, I obviously wasnt very clear!

I understood you

[BirdTravels]

1 hour ago, Biker19 said:

Neither of the ships you listed in the title are Radiance class.

The OP said that they have never sailed on anything bigger than a Radiance class ship. They are acknowledging that the ships listed are not Radiance class ships. 

[BirdTravels]

1 hour ago, CruiseMelissa said:

3 night cruise, family of four with kids 9 and 11, which ship/departure port would be better?   DH is concerned that these weekend cruises attract a party crowd, if that's the case would Miami or Cape Canaveral be a better fit for a more family-friendly cruise?

Either port is fine. We were on the Freedom a few months back and it was fine for families. There will be a short period over spring break where you will have a younger crowd, but we have never found it to be a "problem". It is a longer distance from Orlando to PC, so that may factor into your decision. 

[jalves]

1 hour ago, CruiseMelissa said:

We'd have to fly in from Baltimore, prices seem to be the same for both MIA and MCO

There will be a difference in cost to get to/from the airport.  MIA is ~5-10 miles from the port but MCO is ~45 miles from the port.  

[bigque]

Actually MCO is 45 minutes to the port not 45 miles. 

[time4u2go]

35 minutes ago, bigque said:

Actually MCO is 45 minutes to the port not 45 miles. 

Actually it is 45 miles.

[bigque]

12 minutes ago, time4u2go said:

Actually it is 45 miles.

My bad You are right. But it still takes about 40 to 45 minutes. 

[John&LaLa]

2 hours ago, jalves said:

There will be a difference in cost to get to/from the airport.  MIA is ~5-10 miles from the port but MCO is ~45 miles from the port.  

 

Traffic in Miami can be a bear. That 5-10 miles took me 35 minutes yesterday😉

[John&LaLa]

1 hour ago, bigque said:

My bad You are right. But it still takes about 40 to 45 minutes. 

 

Q5 Express can do it in 35 minutes😉

 

But that's from exit to exit, not the airport.

Edited February 25, 2022 by John&LaLa

[5soonerfans]

My vote would be Freedom out of Miami. We just went in October and November and will be going again in March. 

[time4u2go]

Miami airport is definitely closer to the port than Orlando airport.

About 9 miles versus 45 miles.

 

Edited February 26, 2022 by time4u2go

[Cel_cruise]

I know that Freedom was revamped and has El Loco Fresh and Line and Coconut now right?   Does Indy?  
 

also I think the Flowrider on Freedom was recently updated?  
 

If airfare is really the same - I would opt for Freedom for the slightly updated amenities and the ease of getting from the airport to the port.    I even think the Fort Lauderdale airport is closer to the Miami peer than MCO is to Pott Canaveral! 

[deliver42]

You're talking about 1 hour from Orlando airport to Canaveral, as opposed to 10 minutes from Miami airport to the port and about 30 minutes from FLL to Miami port.

[Biker19]

18 hours ago, CruiseMelissa said:

And this would be October, not spring break.  

 

Too bad I cant edit my original post, I obviously wasnt very clear!

Read it too fast and there have been lots of spring break related threads recently.