Fascination, Freedom or Paradise, which would you choose?

Hi!

We are looking into a 5 day cruise this summer. It seems like we have 3 choices, the Fascination, Paradise or Freedom. We have been on the Fascination and loved it. We have loved all cruises! However, we like the Paradise's itinerary better than the Fascination's. (love Cozumel) We have never been on a big ship like the Freedom, and I worry that our special needs son would be overwhelmed with the amount of people. Does the Freedom get more crowded in the pools/hot tubs? Is Camp Carnival more crowded on the larger ships? I also hear the Paradise is older and doesn't have the Waterworks that my kids love. Is that true? If you were us, which one would you choose? Or any other recommendations would be appreciated. Thank you for your help!!

I have not been on the Freedom but have been on three of its sister ships. The hot tubs and pools mid ship get crowded but the aft ones are not too bad. The freedom is going into dry dock very soon and getting many upgrades that the Fantasy class ships don't have. The Paradise does not have waterworks. I have a friend that recently sailed on the Paradise and though she had fun said the ship was lacking. I would definitely choose the Freedom.

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I would choose Freedom because of the upcoming dry dock and the things it will offer that the other ships don't have.

Thank you! When is dry dock for the Freedom, and what kinds of things is she getting? thank you

Freedom! The other ships are much older. I'm not a fan of the Fantasy class ships.

Freedom would be my choice.

And about the crowds, the Fascination may carry less passengers but it's also much smaller, so IMHO it feels much more crowded and claustrophobic than Conquest class ships.

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Definitely Freedom.

I just booked Paradise to Coz, but if I had a choice I would have chosen Freedom for sure!

I've been on the Paradise twice now and would not recommend it. Only reason I went was timing and it was cheap. The Paradise is a small ship and very over-crowded.

I absolutely loved the Freedom and would sail her over and over and over!!!:D

I did a 4 day on the Paradise in November of last year for a friends wedding.

Put it this way, I disliked the ship so much that if Carnival were to offer me a free cruise on it again...I'd turn it down.

Too small, too old, hate to say it attracts a "bad" crowd due to the low cost of the cruises. Rude people, smokers smoking anywhere they wanted, that smoke being smelled just about everywhere on the ship. Long lines for just about everything.

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=5799

Article one Freedom dry dock and upgrades.

haven't been on any of them, but the Freedom is on our list. FLL port looks nice and I like their itinerary.

we live in jax and the fascination doesn't appeal to us. it might be one of those quick last minute trips if we did take it.

I've never been on the Paradise, but I've sailed on Fascination and Freedom.

In fact, I've only sailed twice before and both cruises were on those ships. We loved the Freedom so much we are booking it again this October. I never felt crowded on the Freedom...always plenty of places to eat and sit. My husband hates crowds and his first cruise was on the Freedom and he said he never felt crowded either.

I also loved the serenity deck on Freedom too because it takes over part of two decks. I thought the food was much better prepared on the Freedom too.

just my two cents! I'm sure no matter what you pick, it'll be awesome!

Go with the Freedom! I have been on Fascination twice and would go in it again. Have been on Freedom once, her sister ships 4 time and we are booked on freedom again in June. She will be in dry dock in a couple of weeks getting a lot of the 2.0 upgrades and a freshening up.

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Love the Freedom and she is getting the 2.0 upgrades when she goes into dry dock on 4/19.