FamilyFunCruising Posted August 18, 2023 Report Share Posted August 18, 2023 We are looking to book a 4 night cruise to the Bahama's with stop at Coco Cay April 1, 2024. We already have flights booked to Orlando because we anticipated spending the Easter break at Disney. Then our older daughter shared with us that 2024 will be her Golden Birthday. She will be turning 10 on April 10! I never heard of such a celebration, but I am learning that this is indeed a special occasion. Our daughters have had birthday cruises before so we thought since we will already be in FL, let's book a cruise! Our choices are the Allure of the Seas from Cape Canaveral or Freedom of the Seas from Miami. I was all ready to book Allure today until I learned, from my travel agent...thanks Matt we always book with an agent, that Freedom from Miami is half the price. On the Allure we will need 3 rooms for our party of 5. All of the 3 and 4 person staterooms are sold out so we will need 2 rooms for 2 people and 1 room for a solo traveler. If we travel on the Freedom, not only is the cruise fare almost half the price as the Allure, but we can book a 4 person stateroom thus only needing 2 staterooms. We can save on not booking 3 rooms on the Allure. I am excited for the Allure. We are trying to build up class by class. We traveled the Anthem of the Seas last Easter. Were looking forward to Allure in 2024 and Icon in 2025. I am worried I will be disappointed on the Freedom. However, if we book the Freedom there could be extra funds for a specialty dinner or fun excursion. I just want our daughters Golden Birthday to be one to remember. The zip line would be epic and would have made her lifetime on the Allure! Thank you to anyone who can share their thoughts or experiences on either. DDaley 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ampurp85 Posted August 18, 2023 Report Share Posted August 18, 2023 I personally think both are great choices. But for a 4N I would save my money and do Freedom. I personally feel like I need the 7n on a larger ship because they is so much to see and do. Freedom would be great for a 4N because there is a lot to do but not so much that you will feel like missed out. Montemy2419, Cactus527, PPPJJ-GCVAB and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokeybandit Posted August 18, 2023 Report Share Posted August 18, 2023 Go with Freedom and spend some of the savings to throw a heck of a birthday party. FamilyFunCruising and PPPJJ-GCVAB 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cactus527 Posted August 18, 2023 Report Share Posted August 18, 2023 I personally find the Freedom class much more enjoyable than Oasis class - go with the savings as well! PPPJJ-GCVAB, Montemy2419 and FamilyFunCruising 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshleyDillo Posted August 18, 2023 Report Share Posted August 18, 2023 Freedom has waterslides while Allure does not..go with Freedom. SebagoSue, FamilyFunCruising, DDaley and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanHardlyWait Posted August 18, 2023 Report Share Posted August 18, 2023 Go with Carnival and save some money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCSC Mike Posted August 18, 2023 Report Share Posted August 18, 2023 Freedom for several reasons mentioned above… but mostly the savings. P.S. What in the world is a golden birthday? Maybe I’ll find out next year when my niece turns 10. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LRMOM Posted August 18, 2023 Report Share Posted August 18, 2023 I would factor in the drive time from Orlando. Miami is much further than Port Canaveral. OCSC Mike 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobroo Posted August 18, 2023 Report Share Posted August 18, 2023 Icon of the Seas is designed for families with young children. Have you considered Royals newest ship? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCSC Mike Posted August 18, 2023 Report Share Posted August 18, 2023 1 hour ago, LRMOM said: I would factor in the drive time from Orlando. Miami is much further than Port Canaveral. Fair point. I live an hour from PC and I refuse to drive to South Florida, lol. Personal preference obviously. That said, it sounds like the amount of money the OP will save may make the drive worth it for them, but only they can decide that of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ampurp85 Posted August 18, 2023 Report Share Posted August 18, 2023 5 hours ago, OCSC Mike said: Freedom for several reasons mentioned above… but mostly the savings. P.S. What in the world is a golden birthday? Maybe I’ll find out next year when my niece turns 10. No a golden birthday is the date of your birthday being the same as your age. So, a person who was born on the 10th, turning ten. In my case I was born on the 21st, so my 21st birthday was my golden birthday. My brother's golden birthday was when he turned 27. OCSC Mike, WAAAYTOOO, Cactus527 and 2 others 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steverk Posted August 18, 2023 Report Share Posted August 18, 2023 You can't go wrong with either ship. Personally, I prefer the Freedom class over Oasis class, but that's just me. Both are great ships. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCSC Mike Posted August 18, 2023 Report Share Posted August 18, 2023 4 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said: No a golden birthday is the date of your birthday being the same as your age. So, a person who was born on the 10th, turning ten. In my case I was born on the 21st, so my 21st birthday was my golden birthday. My brother's golden birthday was when he turned 27. Well crap... how do I go back 40 years and claim mine? Villageidiot, CrimsonCruiser, Ampurp85 and 1 other 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted August 18, 2023 Report Share Posted August 18, 2023 I guess I had the highest golden birthday that you can have....31 ! After that I guess it's all downhill.... CrimsonCruiser, Villageidiot, Ampurp85 and 3 others 2 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDaley Posted August 18, 2023 Report Share Posted August 18, 2023 Love that you’re doing it up for her Golden! I agree that you can’t go wrong with Freedom. It was recently Amped so the pool deck actually looks newer than Allure and I agree that I would choose the ship that had water slides over one without any day! I also agree that you should save sailing an Oasis class for a future 7-night cruise when you can take better take advantage of everything it has to offer. My only brush with OA class was only 4 nights and I barely scraped the surface!! FamilyFunCruising 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FamilyFunCruising Posted August 21, 2023 Author Report Share Posted August 21, 2023 On 8/18/2023 at 6:00 AM, OCSC Mike said: Freedom for several reasons mentioned above… but mostly the savings. P.S. What in the world is a golden birthday? Maybe I’ll find out next year when my niece turns 10. A Golden Birthday is when you chronological age equals the day of the month you were born. Our daughter will turn 10 on the 10th of April so it is her Golden Birthday. Our younger daughter was born on the 1st of March. Since she won't have recalled her Golden Birthday we will celebrate her Double Golden when she turns 11! I can't even believe that this is such a thing, but after our daughter told us about Golden Birthdays I did some research and sure enough, this is a legit occasion to celebrate. I never heard of such a thing before she told me. Kids will think of any way to make an already special day, their birthday, even more special . I am all for celebrating the life of our kids Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FamilyFunCruising Posted August 21, 2023 Author Report Share Posted August 21, 2023 On 8/17/2023 at 9:02 PM, FamilyFunCruising said: We are looking to book a 4 night cruise to the Bahama's with stop at Coco Cay April 1, 2024. We already have flights booked to Orlando because we anticipated spending the Easter break at Disney. Then our older daughter shared with us that 2024 will be her Golden Birthday. She will be turning 10 on April 10! I never heard of such a celebration, but I am learning that this is indeed a special occasion. Our daughters have had birthday cruises before so we thought since we will already be in FL, let's book a cruise! Our choices are the Allure of the Seas from Cape Canaveral or Freedom of the Seas from Miami. I was all ready to book Allure today until I learned, from my travel agent...thanks Matt we always book with an agent, that Freedom from Miami is half the price. On the Allure we will need 3 rooms for our party of 5. All of the 3 and 4 person staterooms are sold out so we will need 2 rooms for 2 people and 1 room for a solo traveler. If we travel on the Freedom, not only is the cruise fare almost half the price as the Allure, but we can book a 4 person stateroom thus only needing 2 staterooms. We can save on not booking 3 rooms on the Allure. I am excited for the Allure. We are trying to build up class by class. We traveled the Anthem of the Seas last Easter. Were looking forward to Allure in 2024 and Icon in 2025. I am worried I will be disappointed on the Freedom. However, if we book the Freedom there could be extra funds for a specialty dinner or fun excursion. I just want our daughters Golden Birthday to be one to remember. The zip line would be epic and would have made her lifetime on the Allure! Thank you to anyone who can share their thoughts or experiences on either. Thank you all for your advice! It is greatly appreciated. We booked the Freedom and will gift our girl a dolphin encounter in Nassau for the savings. Happy Cruising all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FamilyFunCruising Posted August 21, 2023 Author Report Share Posted August 21, 2023 On 8/18/2023 at 7:43 AM, bobroo said: Icon of the Seas is designed for families with young children. Have you considered Royals newest ship? We plan to sail the Icon for my 50th in 2025 WAAAYTOOO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FamilyFunCruising Posted August 21, 2023 Author Report Share Posted August 21, 2023 On 8/18/2023 at 12:04 PM, OCSC Mike said: Well crap... how do I go back 40 years and claim mine? You celebrate the Double or Triple Golden! OCSC Mike 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FamilyFunCruising Posted August 21, 2023 Author Report Share Posted August 21, 2023 On 8/17/2023 at 10:51 PM, smokeybandit said: Go with Freedom and spend some of the savings to throw a heck of a birthday party. Totally agree, we decided to gift her a dolphin encounter in Nassau! Can't wait. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FamilyFunCruising Posted August 21, 2023 Author Report Share Posted August 21, 2023 Thank you all for your advice! It is greatly appreciated. We booked the Freedom. We opted to take the drive to Miami and try something new! We have a place in Central Fl. We are an hour and half from PC, we just wake up a little earlier and let the kids sleep in the car. With the savings we will gift our girl a dolphin encounter in Nassau and do some fun things onboard to celebrate her birthday. Happy Cruising all! OCSC Mike 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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