Carnival Magic or RCCL Liberty of the Seas

Planning on cruising out of Galveston on 4/3/16. We are contemplating between the Carnival Magic and RCCL's Liberty of the Seas (sailed on her in 2008).

Traveling with me will be wife, 14 year old son and 76 year old uncle.

Itinerary Comparison:

Magic: Cozumel (been there), Belize (never been there), Roatan (never been there)

Liberty OTS: Cozumel (been there), Falmouth (been there), Grand Cayman (been there)

Price is similar between an inside cabin on Magic and Promenade cabin on Liberty OTS.

Liberty is going thru significant changes in upcoming drydock including new slides that my son will love. He loves the Flowrider.

Magic already has slides and other cool looking activities.

Please share your thoughts with me.

I am also going to post on RCCL's board.

We have been on the Magic before and booked again for 2/7/2016 (I'm calling it our Super Bowl, Mardi Gras, Elvis, and Valentines Day Cruise). Magic will go to dry dock and get some upgrades just after our cruise and will return to service just before the date you are looking at. We are also booked on Liberty OTS in September, but have only sailed on her sister ships before. Both ships offer lots of comparable fun things to do. Cabin square footage on an inside and promenade cabin are very similar. I like the Magic's itinerary better out of the two choices. Just my opinion, though.

Been on the Magic and the slightly smaller Navigator out of Galveston. If you can get a promenade inside for the same as a regular inside, that in and of itself would be enough reason for me to book Liberty.

Going back to same port has its advantages, you can usually do it cheaper and better the 2nd time around. Can see how 4th or 5th time back could get tiresome, but if you were taking a land based vacation you'd be at the same place for that number of days...

We enjoyed the Magic, but shows (especially the ice show) would make this a no brainier for me with the group you're taking.

I havenever been on Magic but I was on RCCL NOS several years ago. We loved the Navigator but in your situation I would choose Magic. You will be on after its Marcch drydock and it is supposed to get the 2.0 upgrades of Guys Burgers, the rum and tequila bar, Bue Iquana Cantina and Alchemy Bar.

NOS has had a drydock since I was on it, but it has the ice show, the rock wall. Johnny Rockets is an extra pay for burgers.

I also prefer Magics itinerary. We love Belize but realize some people don't. I've seen the best ever Mayan ruins there you can climb, and it has the best snorkling I've ever seen. If you are interested in either, definitely Belize.

Roatan is also beautiful and has decent snorkling.

So my vote is Magic. In fact, we're switching our next years cruise to Magic for next year.

We didn't care for the Magic. I would go with the LOS. Once you go to Roatan and Belize you may be like many of us and not get off the ship there anymore, especially Belize. Just be prepared to book excursions in both places or you will be sorely disappointed.

The ropes course and slides on the Magic were too easy for our 8 year old grandson when we sailed, so I imagine a 14 year old would quickly tire of them.

Entertainment on Royal Caribbean is far superior to Carnival too.

If cost of both cruises are even I would sail the Magic. Reason ~ new ports to discover.

If you can get a better cabin on Liberty for a lower price I would make the change. JMO

My favorite cruise line is RC for a few reasons, although as you can see my next two cruises will be Carnival (we take 2-3 cruises plus land trips per year and Carnivals prices always allows us to take multiple cruises during the year) and we chose the Magic for April 30.

I haven't been on the Magic yet but we were on her sister ship the Dream and the Dream was all of our favorite Carnival ship. She will be in dry dock before your cruise and getting guys burgers and a few other things on her along with routine maintenance.

When we go on Carnival we know the food in the buffet lunches will not be as good as RC is and RC offers you more things to eat late at night where Carnival only has pizza and room service. RC has cookies, salads, sandwiches, pizza, muffins along with other goodies. Carnivals casino is our favorite over RC and the pools are larger and fresh water on RC where Carnivals is salt water. For us we been to all the ports over and over done it all, but honestly we don't take cruises for the ports as 75% is being on the ship, but both ships are great. You can't go wrong with either.

What do you want to do or what are your interests in doing in ports maybe that can help me better answer your question?

I would go with the Magic. I just got off of her a few weeks ago for the 4th time and she is a wonderful ship. By the time you sail she would have already been to dry dock and received the 2.0 upgrades. Both are good itineraries. I used to not like Belize but this past cruise on the Magic changed my mind. I learned in order to like Belize you need to get out of Belize City. We took an excursion to Caye Caulker through Coral Breeze Tours and they were wonderful. They get you back to the ship well before the last tender. Roatan and Cozumel are very nice. Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel are also nice but you may want to visit some new ports.

Belize is lovely and has great snorkel and dive sites and amazing islands to boat too and they speak English which is a plus.It is not a walk off the ship port. You must have plans We love Roatan also but the crime rate is high and you're aware of the armed guards around the island. That being said , Liberty is a great ship and a promenade cabin is much better than an inside. So you need to decide which is most important.