ChrisK2793

We were looking at the 7 night western Mediterranean for summer 2021 which this past year was Oasis and next year is Allure. I have a slight feeling that the new Oasis Class ship may get this run summer 2021. If so, I’d encourage you to possibly inquire about this, then book your other on a smaller ship. (Unless you want b2b same ship) 
Your son would have a blast on an Oasis Class. 
Id stick with Royal because of your Diamond status and more likely to have younger crowd. 

Just wanted to post an update in case it helps someone else out in the future.  I did have to contact RCCL and cancel our cruise.  RCCL will refund our Taxes, fees and port expenses as well as any add-ons that we purchased for the cruise.  (Excursions, drink packages, etc.)  I then contacted the Royal Rewards Department to see if I could save the credit card points.  They said that in a case like mine, they would hold the points and I would have 6 months from the date of cancellation to move the points to a new booking.  I then contacted the insurance company that RCCL uses for their Vacation Protection Plan.  I went to their website travelclaim.com and printed off the Attending Physician Statement which we will have completed by my husbands doctor at his upcoming appointment.  I then need to start a claim on their website and send in the completed Physician statement.  They said it would take 4 weeks to process the claim after they received the Physician Statement.  I then needed to contact Delta concerning our non-refundable plane tickets.  I explained everything to them and they said that if I provided them with either the doctor's information or the hospital's information (name, address and phone) that they would hold the value of the tickets and that I would have 1 year from the date that I purchased the tickets, to use that value to book other airfare.  
Thank you for the well wishes and @Ladyxsuebee, we will be thinking of you during your cruise.  We hope you have a great time.   

Yeah the pricing after 4 people drops significantly for each additional person you add.  The villa was 600 more for the entire trip than 2 GS and multiple rooms in some cases were close if not more than the suite.  I think the villa is a no brainer myself as we would want the Key added if not booking a suite.  I went ahead and booked the Villa for April of 2021.

For me the Villa would also be a no brainer if the price difference is comparable. You have 8, the Villa holds 14. That should be quite comfortable. And it has 4 separate bedrooms and 4 separate bathrooms. I don’t see how that can be very crowded. The Villa is the same as putting two 2-BDR Grand Suites together. 
I agree with @ChrisK2793, getting 4 balconies would not give you the extra living space. We did that with my family (4 connecting balconies) and it was ok but you basically just had the common balcony to share. With the Villa, you have more in space and suite benefits. 
If you go with your other strategy and get the Panoramic suite plus another suite, now you will be separated by decks as the VP is only in one location and there are no other suites on that same deck, unless both VPs are available. 
Villa is the best bet if the price is doable. And usually with a larger group, the price is more than doable. For example, with our Villa booking on Harmony next year, our per person cost is the same as an inside cabin.

I’d love to see We Will Rock You come to an Oasis class ship.  I’m with you on wishing they’d just get rid of Cats all together LOL

I’d also do the villa, if you’re going to be paying the money you’re paying, why would you not want to have all the perks and space it comes with?  Plus 2 points per night.
Booking balcony rooms, you’ll basically have bedrooms for everyone and nothing else ........ in a villa, you’ll have bedrooms PLUS all the extra living space outside the bedrooms ............ to me it’s a no brainer and it would be FOOLISH  to not get the villa with all the money you’re spending no matter what.

For me, the Villa would be my choice. 1300 sq ft is more square footage than you would have in 4 reg balcony rooms. I also believe there are 4 bathrooms. So unless you do 4 suites you will have more room & have everyone together. And I think the suite perks tips the scale! JMHO

I suggest also looking at other options like Mr. Sanchos or Nachi Cocum for a beach break. We will be trying Mr. Sanchos for the first time in November. We did the dolphin encounter last time and they were significantly cheaper than other ports. 

If you haven't been to Cozumel don't stay on the ship.  It is a great island and there is so much to do.  We found the dolphin encounters to be so much cheaper in Cozumel than in other ports.  If you'd rather do a beach break there are a lot to choose from.  We went to Playa Mia for an adult cooking class and enjoyed the water park while there.  It was not crowded and it was nice.

An empty pocketbook.  

You can book Playa Mia directly for cheaper than that.  You need to grab a taxi but they are plentiful both ways.  The biggest advantage is that you can spent quite a bit more time here than what the ship offers and it is pretty quiet then.  
Food is ok but not great.  The waterpark is only those 2 slides and it isn't that great.  Admission includes the ocean inflatables which are a lot of fun.  If you have young kids, there is a really large splash area.  

No it is not better quality and taste!  Think buffet ribs sitting there to be picked or going to a restaurant and getting ribs where they are served to you when they are cooked.  If you go to MDR and say you need to hurry they will get you out in an hour or less.  We do this when there's something we want to do and dinner gets in the way.

Personally i think cabana's are a waste of money.  So you get a shade coverage, free water and food delivery service, for $500 and up. No alcohol unless you purchased the beverage pkg. I hate to sound negative but glad others like the idea. Here's why i see it that way..what you pay for a cabana, i can fly to our resort in Mexico and get just about the same thing.

I wonder if they will be doing more of their own productions like Saturday Night Fever.  While I am not huge fan of SNF I think they did a very good job of creating and producing their own show for that one I like it WAAAY more than Chicago, Cats or Hairspray.

I’d love to see We Will Rock You come to an Oasis class ship.  I’m with you on wishing they’d just get rid of Cats all together LOL

I would say Royal is slightly less fancy and a little more fun. I just find Royal attracts a more active crowed and as a new Diamond Member you will have the Diamond Lounge that in itself is a very nice perk.

I believe those were all the passengers who’s cars were in Miami.  They helped the people who flew into Miami but left the people who drove in to fend for themselves when they dumped them off in New Orleans.
I just don’t get whey they wouldn’t keep the ship at seas like Royal did and then bring the people back to their original port? I mean seriously ........ the ship STILL has to go back to Miami for its next cruise 

That’s just insane!!!!! I don’t get why they couldn’t just let everybody stay cruising on the ship until they could bring them back to the port in Miami??????  Like Royal Caribbean has done with their ships that were supposed to be back by now.

If one of you doesn’t go and you don’t replace them with somebody, ..... I THINK that as long as the person not going makes sure to cancel with Royal (they’ll still lose their money if no insurance) then the person going alone will get 2 crown and anchor points per night ....... can somebody else confirm that?

We have only sailed Royal, but in exploring Celebrity I would point out that they have a different loyalty program.  There is some reciprocity (explained under Celebrity/Azamara forum), but if you are trying to reach Diamond, you'd rather have Royal points than Celebrity points.   The costs for things like drink packages may also vary, as I recall.  However, I would look at the ship and itinerary first.  The ports may vary because of ship size or other factors.  We enjoyed the Med, including Greece, on Brilliance of the Seas.  That was a good size for us.  Best of luck whatever you decide. PS. Friends who sailed Celebrity in Europe said it was an "older crowd", but that also seemed the case for us when we sailed from Southampton to the Canaries.  The time of year would be a factor for college students, families, and kids.

Hello Fellow Cruise Lovers out there. My wife and I went on a vacation of a lifetime and got a spectacular rate on the Liberty of the Seas Royal Suite #1640. Since we were with a group of our friends, we decided to go all around the ship and in our cabin and shot a music video. I hope you enjoy.
 
If you have any questions about the experience or anything Royal Suite, I am happy to answer them. Cheers! YOLObookIT

Having done both I prefer Navigator, but Mariner is still a great choice.
I might let airfare dictate which you go to.

Have done both ships post refurb.  If your daughter likes slides, then do Navigator for sure!  El Loco Fresh is better IMHO than the Dog House on deck and the staterooms have been updated.

Doing both in May!  I'm pretty sure I'm going to enjoy Navigator more based on what I've seen!

Navigator's staterooms have been updated to that nice blue.  Mariner is still the depressing drab green everywhere.