JulieM Posted January 16 Report Share Posted January 16 Hi Cruisers, We are looking at cruises out of Florida for December. The ships we can choose from are Liberty, Allure, Oasis, Insependence and Utopia. The prices on Utopia might be too high. We have been on Allure. Thoughts on the other boats with two teenagers? Considering Harmony out of Galveston? Thoughts on the port? I heard it’s far from the airport. thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted January 16 Report Share Posted January 16 Harmony from Galveston is a good value, but yes, it's an hour drive from Houston to Galveston. It used to be a bigger problem, but with Lyft/Uber it's far easier now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChessE4 Posted January 16 Report Share Posted January 16 There's nothing wrong with repeating ships. I lean towards choosing preferred itinerary. As a teen our son enjoyed youth groups, even on Vision class. Have done Galveston and Florida but have been to Mexico too many times. Hence we prefer Florida for itinerary options. Srp431 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCSC Mike Posted January 16 Report Share Posted January 16 It depends on your priorities... What matters most? Ship? Itinerary? Lowest price? PPPJJ-GCVAB, jbrinkm and Ryan79 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrimsonCruiser Posted January 16 Report Share Posted January 16 Those are honestly all great ships with lots to do for all ages. Galveston departures and Allure are bound to save you the most money, if that's a factor. But, I, like the others here, recommend choosing by itinerary. For example, we're repeating Harmony later this year but it'll be 2 new stops for us and one we like going to. We're excited about the new stops AND about getting to explore the ship more and try new things or do things we didn't take in enough last time (*side eyes mom sleeping through the aqua show*) jbrinkm, bobroo and WAAAYTOOO 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpeedNoodles Posted January 16 Report Share Posted January 16 I have to say that Harmony from Galveston has been our favorite sailing - ever. While it is a drive from the port, we just took a Lyft with no issues. We stayed at Harbor House (right on the water) for 2 nights - Galveston is a very nice city to visit. Take a dolphin tour, you won't be disappointed (about 800 live in the harbor). The crew on Harmony are fantastic. There's plenty to do, and lots of places to relax. A lot of the passengers will be from Texas, and we found them to be relaxed and extremely friendly. We actually took a post-cruise excursion that took us from the terminal, gave us a short tour of Galveston, and to the Houston Space Center for a few hours before dropping us at the airport (we had a later flight). Ryan79, Momof4crazytocruise, WAAAYTOOO and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokeybandit Posted January 16 Report Share Posted January 16 When you're that open ended on ship or even home port, go for convenience first: Cost/dates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cactus527 Posted January 16 Report Share Posted January 16 My teens absolutely loved Oasis class over Freedom class. So, I'd go with Allure or Oasis. Enjoy! Sev1020 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbrinkm Posted January 17 Report Share Posted January 17 I'd lean towards Oasis, or an amped Freedom class ship (I'd only do Freedom class if there was a significant price difference or better itinerary). I have a slightly different take than some others - maybe because we only cruise once a year during a peak time and it ends up being a little pricey. I'd try to go on a ship you haven't been on before. We did Allure two years in a row, once from Fort Lauderdale and once from Galveston. I thought we would enjoy Allure again for the second time because we missed stuff the first time, and I thought we would save money because the cruise fare was lower. We ended up not enjoying Allure quite as much the second time. That might have been because our ship was sold out and we had trouble being able to participate in certain events. We were planning to do things we hadn't done, so we weren't as excited for the shows and really hoped to fill in our time with the little trivia games at smaller venues, but the venues were sometimes too packed to get in. It just didn't have the same excitement for us like a different ship would have had. Also, we ended up spending most of the difference in fare on the higher cost of flying (about $100 more per person to fly to Houston vs. south Florida), and the transportation ended up costing probably $300-$400 more than we would have spent in Florida. We did book private transportation for the return trip from port to IAH, so that was part of the increased cost, but I read all of the issues that people were having trying to get a rideshare after their cruises and wanted to make sure we had something solid lined up. ETA: We travel as a party of 4, with two teenagers. PPPJJ-GCVAB 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biaggio Posted January 17 Report Share Posted January 17 Oasis is my favorite Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pat8635 Posted January 17 Report Share Posted January 17 I live in San Antonio and last trip, aos in June 23, I met family at hotel near hobby and drove them to ship. In February, I'm going on Harmony and will stay in. Webster and have easy morning drive for my 11am boarding. The terminal is new and amazing. I cruise for ship time. If they had a 7 day cruise with zero ports. I would be there in a heartbeat! Allure was hot and lots of Lines and waiting in june...looking forward to February! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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