Hesitating between ships

[gi333]

Hi guys.

We are currently looking into cruises for August 2024

We are looking at adventure of the Seas Bermuda, freedom of the Seas and liberty of the Seas.  We did Oasis this past summer from NYC as our first cruise with our children and it was fabulous. Cococay is amazing.  Labadee looks beautiful and Bermuda Also. However I'm not sure what ship is the best. Price Wise Also.  We did compare to carnival and it's competitive however don't like their itinerary and half moon Cay looks very cheap.

I feel like fort Lauderdale is more affordable for hotels and airport transportation since free transfers are offered by some hotels .

 

Thanks for your help 

[smokeybandit]

At that point, forget the ship and let itinerary, ports and price make your decision.

[Ryan79]

Freedom gets my vote based on only taking the ship into consideration 

[OCSC Mike]

Just now, Ryan79 said:

Freedom gets my vote based on only taking the ship into consideration 

Agreed.

[dustfsu]

Those three ships are all pretty similar with the Liberty and Freedom a little bigger then the Adventure of the seas.  The Freedom is the newest in being cleaned up in 2020. But I would go by the ports if you can if it's places you haven't been and want to see.  Also compare the shore excursions.  Some ports offer good ones through Royal and some are slim pickens or sometimes aren't ones appealing to what you like to do. Ft. Lauderdale is really easier to leave out of, the port is nice and quick getting on and off the ship.  Anyone one of those three ships I don't think you can go wrong, but it is a step down from the Oasis class ship. Go around this site and read peoples reviews of those ships or even on his Matt's youtube channel and see if he has ship tour videos and go from there.

[barjpoe]

13 hours ago, gi333 said:

  We did compare to carnival and it's competitive however don't like their itinerary and half moon Cay looks very cheap.

 

One thing Royal's CocoDay vs Half moon cay is that Perfect day is docked half moon cay is a tender

[tonyfsu21]

On 12/1/2023 at 10:29 PM, gi333 said:

Hi guys.

We are currently looking into cruises for August 2024

We are looking at adventure of the Seas Bermuda, freedom of the Seas and liberty of the Seas.  We did Oasis this past summer from NYC as our first cruise with our children and it was fabulous. Cococay is amazing.  Labadee looks beautiful and Bermuda Also. However I'm not sure what ship is the best. Price Wise Also.  We did compare to carnival and it's competitive however don't like their itinerary and half moon Cay looks very cheap.

I feel like fort Lauderdale is more affordable for hotels and airport transportation since free transfers are offered by some hotels .

 

Thanks for your help 

No brainer on this one, Freedom 100%

[BobbieS]

Based on ships alone, I choose Freedom. She is in great shape with a great staff!

[gi333]

Hi guys.

I'm narrowing down my choices between freedom and adventure of the Seas. Almost same price for both but adventure from Orlando is 6 days doing coco Cay and Labadie Taïnos Bay Puerto Plata , freedom from fort Lauderdale doing 7 days Coco Cay San Juan St Thomas. 

Would love to see Labadi but Also San Juan. 

What are your thoughts and also we are considering inside cabin. Saving almost 1000$ on Total. We are with our children 9 and 5 . I know San Juan with young children Abit challenging. 

 

Thanks for your help 

 

[SpeedNoodles]

All other things being equal, I'd take Freedom.  It has Playmakers. Plus...7 days.

[OCSC Mike]

3 minutes ago, SpeedNoodles said:

All other things being equal, I'd take Freedom.  It has Playmakers. Plus...7 days.

Agreed and same reasons.

[gi333]

Inside cabin opinions? I don't care about cabin. We had balcony boardwalk view on Oasis in August it was awesome but we also had a big future credit voucher of 2000$.  

Ok San Juan any of you has done it and with small children any bike rentals anything to make less walking?

[OCSC Mike]

22 minutes ago, gi333 said:

Inside cabin opinions? I don't care about cabin.

They're almost all we book. When we've had a balcony we almost never used it. The cabin is just a place to sleep, shower, and change to us. My wife also likes how dark and cold they get for sleeping (including the occasional cat nap).

[Vancity Cruiser]

1 hour ago, gi333 said:

Ok San Juan any of you has done it and with small children any bike rentals anything to make less walking?

We looked for bikes on our last trip to San Juan but only found electric scooters. Not sure you want to pike anyway as all streets are cobblestone and it would be quite rough

[gi333]

In curious about adventure of the Seas. Since no El loco fresh where do you go to grab something to eat? Seems like a pain in the butt.  It's unfortunate because price is good and itinerary is amazing. However seems like the ship is not. 

[Ontariocruisers99]

We liked Freedom better than Liberty, our favorite ship probably until we sail Symphony in Feb. 

[CanHardlyWait]

2 hours ago, gi333 said:

In curious about adventure of the Seas. Since no El loco fresh where do you go to grab something to eat? Seems like a pain in the butt.  It's unfortunate because price is good and itinerary is amazing. However seems like the ship is not. 

I don't have experience with Adventure personally. However, I just have to say, please don't let lack of El Loco Fresh sway your decision. LOL. If you want to grab something go to the Windjammer. 

 

[OCSC Mike]

5 hours ago, CanHardlyWait said:

I don't have experience with Adventure personally. However, I just have to say, please don't let lack of El Loco Fresh sway your decision. LOL. If you want to grab something go to the Windjammer.

This matters to some of us. I had a fine time on Indy last year, but, like Adventure, there were no included food venues besides MDR, WJ, and Cafe Promenade/Sorrentos and that lessens my enjoyment b/c I like to eat a lot on cruises. It didn't keep me off the ship but I prefer having other options like on Oasis class (Park Cafe, ELF, etc.).

@gi333 It is a bit of a pain. For a snack you either pop into WJ or go to Cafe Promenade for pizza, sandwiches cookies, desserts, etc.

[gi333]

Ya but we agree in a bathing suit you don't feel like going to the cafe promenade or windjammer. That's why I'm saying pain in the butt 

[Eighty8]

3 hours ago, gi333 said:

Ya but we agree in a bathing suit you don't feel like going to the cafe promenade or windjammer. That's why I'm saying pain in the butt 

Understand, but you have to also understand that Adventure is quite a bit smaller ship than Oasis you were on.  Also the pool area is literally right next to the Windjammer on Adventure. 

[CanHardlyWait]

4 hours ago, gi333 said:

Ya but we agree in a bathing suit you don't feel like going to the cafe promenade or windjammer. That's why I'm saying pain in the butt 

I go to the windjammer every day in a bathing suit for lunch. Always keep a dry t shirt in beach bag by pool and drip dry for 20 min for swim trunks. I'm talking spring / summer Caribbean weather. 20 min and your good to go. 

[CanHardlyWait]

5 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

This matters to some of us. I had a fine time on Indy last year, but, like Adventure, there were no included food venues besides MDR, WJ, and Cafe Promenade/Sorrentos and that lessens my enjoyment b/c I like to eat a lot on cruises. It didn't keep me off the ship but I prefer having other options like on Oasis class (Park Cafe, ELF, etc.).

@gi333 It is a bit of a pain. For a snack you either pop into WJ or go to Cafe Promenade for pizza, sandwiches cookies, desserts, etc.

Oh I'm not saying food doesn't matter. But when looking at less than Oasis Class ships for price after first having been on Oasis, it's a go to the jammer and make lemonade out of the situation. Cost is so much less than an Oasis class ship or higher. A week on a cruise without El loco etc is still better than not at all. LOL.

[gi333]

Please tell me adventure is not as bad as it looks.. shows etc..how is it with kids?

[WannaCruise]

29 minutes ago, gi333 said:

Please tell me adventure is not as bad as it looks.. shows etc..how is it with kids?

We quite enjoyed Adventure...mind you, have yet to have a bad Royal cruise.

For Adventure, it was just DH and I, but they have the waterslides, and standard stuff like flowrider, mini golf, rock wall., ice rink.  If I remember right, it has one less pool than Freedom class but still a great ship.  I wouldn't hesitate.

[Eighty8]

33 minutes ago, gi333 said:

Please tell me adventure is not as bad as it looks.. shows etc..how is it with kids?

As bad as it looks? I'm not sure I understand this comment.

Adventure and Freedom are more or less the same ship...Freedom is just an extended version of Adventure. Big difference for you with young kids is that Freedom is going to have a large dedicated splash pad / kids water area. 

 

They are still mega ships and were all once the largest in the world when new. But compared with oasis they feel much more like a cruise ship rather than a floating mega resort. 

Do you care more about the ship or the itinerary? 

 

[gi333]

Both but we have to compromise 

[foxrunner]

By looking at my list below you can see that we have primarly sailed the two newestest and largest class of ship. The exception is Freedom and we didn't feel like we were giving anything up sailing on her. Tons of free food all over the place exept late at night, which is true on the big girls as well.  My preference is to choose the destination over the ship. If you really want Oasis class then book it, because you'll be comparing and second guessing the whole cruise. YOLO it you have my blessing if you need it. 

[CanHardlyWait]

3 hours ago, gi333 said:

Please tell me adventure is not as bad as it looks.. shows etc..how is it with kids?

Maybe think about not taking a vacation in 2024. Save and do Oasis class or higher in 2025. I would take any class ship over none at all. 

[craftycruiselady]

I preferred Freedom to Adventure but I would take a kayak to Bermuda LOL. I loved it, it was beautiful and I would go back. Adventure has sandwiches and pizza in the promenade and the windjammer, you can always find food. It is a bit inconvenient to not have food on the pool deck if you are wet and messy and want to get something though. 

There were kids on Adventure and there is the mini golf and splash pad etc, I have never taken my kids on a cruise though so I have no true idea what there is for them. I will say most of them must have been bored a little because they were running through the stairs and halls and other nonsense. I have not done Oasis yet and I'm of the I would rather take a crappy ship than no ship but with kids and the expectation of Oasis or better, then you may not like Adventure. My husband said it was his least favorite of the ships we have gone on, that said we are going again because the ports and price are more important to us. Entertainment was lacking IMO for adults but that could be the cruise director which is changing again soon so maybe that will get better. 

[gi333]

Noticed A price drop since yesterday. I had booked my August 2023 cruise in February 2023. I am wondering if I will see better rates. I am aware that I can reprice. Just curious cause last year I didn't look at prices up until January 2023.