Torn Between 2 "Journeys"

Does is smell like Grandma's kitchen.

If your grandma's kitchen smells like a spice rack, then yes! [emoji39]

This really is the first time I have had such a hard time (1st world problems I know) in choosing a cruise.

I had the same thought when I posted my poll, but then I figured that this is what this website is for; to have fun, learn more about cruising, and take a break from everyday life's "more serious" decisions. So enjoy!

I'm beginning to think I should just go ahead and book the Liberty too (to get a good room). Then spend a couple more months researching the 6 ports and cancel the one we decide not to take.

There's nothing on Carnival's rules that prevents you from booking 2 cruises at the same time. As long as you're willing to fork over the deposit money, you're good to go.

There's nothing on Carnival's rules that prevents you from booking 2 cruises at the same time.

As long as you're willing to fork over the deposit money, you're good to go.

Buy both, cancel one in about 1-2 months time. ;)

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Yes, I would love that info even if it was from a few years back...if it is not too much trouble to find the link to your bygone roll call. Thank you.

Here is what I wrote on our roll call about our stop at Tobago after we returned:

We really enjoyed our stop at Tobago. We "negotiated" with a taxi driver to take us from the port to the fort (just long enough to take some photos of the view from there) and then to Pigeon Point and a set time for him to come back for us. We told him we wanted to do the glass bottom boat to Bucco Reef and Nylon Pool and he took us to where we could arrange that once we got to Pigeon Point. We had time at the beach at Pigeon Point before and after the boat ride. Swimming in the Nylon Pool was quite an experience - I am so glad we did it! I thought the facilities at Pigeon Point were quite nice - lots of shade and picnic areas as well as chairs you could rent. There were also water toy rentals and food and drink available. I would imagine it would be quite a popular place with the locals on the weekends.

I think Princess had an excursion to Pigeon Point but it didn't include the glass bottom boat. It was very simple to do on your own, and I wouldn't have wanted to get there and not go to the reef and nylon pool.

Unfortunately, I posted my photos to webshots which is no more. :(

Here is the link to the roll call thread. You can do a search for "Tobago" on the thread for more comments/information.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=982947&highlight=tobago

The jeep excursion was with "Tobago Now."

http://www.tobagonow.com/excursions.htm

Hope that helps a bit. I wish I still had my photos to post for you.

I'd give a slight edge on the ports to the liberty. But I'd take the balcony over an OV because the difference in ports isn't enough to make a difference. The difference in price is nominal, but it is in favor of the Dream.

What do you like to do? If beaches are your thing, dominica is not the place to go. It is, however, our favorite island. Hiking, rain forests, waterfalls, hot springs?.tons to do. Barbados is great too, if you are into snorkeling or beach time.

I am having a really difficult time deciding on which Carnival Journeys cruise I want to take next year. My sisters and friends just don't get it. But I know all of you here do and seeking opinions.

 

I actually have the Carnival Dream booked already for the 10 Journey January 14th thru 24th with the following itin:

1-14Th San Juan

1-15 F St. Thomas

1-16 S Dominica

1-17 Su St. Kitts

1-18 M at sea

1-19 Tu Grand Turk

1-20 W at sea

1-21 Th Falmouth Jamaica

1-22 F at sea

1-23 S at sea

1-24 SU New Orleans

 

But seriously considering switching to the Carnival Liberty for the 12 day Journey March 6th thru 18th with the following itin:

3-6 Su San Juan

3-7 M St. Thomas

3-8 Tu at sea

3-9 W Barbados

3-10 Th Trinidad/Tobago

3-11 F Grenada

3-12 S at sea

3-13 Su Aruba

3-14 M at sea

3-15 Tu Grand Cayman

3-16 W at sea

3-17 Th at sea

3-18 F Galveston

 

The Dream trip would be in a Cove balcony for $230 less than the Liberty trip in an OV (a Liberty balcony is $1200 more than the Dream on this trip - so ov it would be). We have been on the Liberty already though and DH would like to try a Cove (I get to next month :D without him). The Liberty trip is 2 days longer and goes to Aruba one of our favorite places to date. Both have 3 new islands to us which are in bold above.

 

Travel will be cheaper in January (plus we will only use 8 days of vacation days vs. 10 for the March cruise) and it would be nice to get away during the dead of winter. One down side is we would be on the ship or in a hotel for the 2 NFL playoff weekends - which adds an extra expense by getting a hotel on the 24th instead of flying straight home because DH WILL NOT MISS the games (and God help us if NO hosts the NFC championship game:eek: because that would be on disembarkation day). I'm thinking the hotel expense would offset with the cost of transfers in Galveston and higher air fair in March - so probably close to a wash.

 

Both cruises have a few pros and cons to us and DH has left it up to me to decide. I would usually jump at taking an extra 2 days on the cruise, but I just can't decide and believe the deciding factor will be the itineraries and new ports.

 

So my question to you all, of the 3 ports in each set that are in bold, which set is more desirable to you and if you feel like posting beyond the poll, why? Is it Dominica, St. Kitts and Jamaica on the Dream - or - is it Barbados, Trinidad & Togabo and Greneda on the Liberty that you would choose?

I would totally pick the Liberty for the reason that Barbados, Trinidad Tobago & Grenada's itinerary is very unique. You rarely see routes heading that way; however, Dominica, St Kitts and Jamaica are much more common. You can easily find cruises heading into that direction or at least to St. Kitts and Jamaica for next time you cruise.

If you keep cruising (which I know you will), you will be picking a cruise later that will likely have one of the Dream's ports included, perhaps even two.

I understand the Dream is newer, but if you are cruising for the ports, the Liberty would be the one to choose. I understand you will not have a cove balcony, but I would keep an eye on prices, and you never know!

After 14 or 15 cruises (lost count:confused:), I'm cruising more and more for the itinerary and evaluating if which particular itinerary is more "unique" in case I don't see a similar itinerary next time I cruise.

I voted for the Liberty because it's going to some nice places and you'll be able to enjoy the new 2.0 upgrades on the Liberty.

Only when we have to, lol. We are from Southern Colorado and much prefer to fly out of COS. But there have been several trips we have had to drag ourselves up to DEN including our last trip and we used Southwest. Southwest uses Concourse C and all its gates are in it. They have "people movers" so you can get from one end to the other pretty quickly. As long as your flight is on time and you get off quickly, you should be fine. Maybe you will luck out and the gates are nearby each other - but just in case, use the restroom on the plane.

lol thanks

Here is what I wrote on our roll call about our stop at Tobago after we returned:

 

We really enjoyed our stop at Tobago. We "negotiated" with a taxi driver to take us from the port to the fort (just long enough to take some photos of the view from there) and then to Pigeon Point and a set time for him to come back for us. We told him we wanted to do the glass bottom boat to Bucco Reef and Nylon Pool and he took us to where we could arrange that once we got to Pigeon Point. We had time at the beach at Pigeon Point before and after the boat ride. Swimming in the Nylon Pool was quite an experience - I am so glad we did it! I thought the facilities at Pigeon Point were quite nice - lots of shade and picnic areas as well as chairs you could rent. There were also water toy rentals and food and drink available. I would imagine it would be quite a popular place with the locals on the weekends.

I think Princess had an excursion to Pigeon Point but it didn't include the glass bottom boat. It was very simple to do on your own, and I wouldn't have wanted to get there and not go to the reef and nylon pool.

 

Unfortunately, I posted my photos to webshots which is no more. :(

 

Here is the link to the roll call thread. You can do a search for "Tobago" on the thread for more comments/information.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=982947&highlight=tobago

 

 

The jeep excursion was with "Tobago Now."

http://www.tobagonow.com/excursions.htm

 

Hope that helps a bit. I wish I still had my photos to post for you.

Thank you. Pigeon Point sounds up our alley for sure.

What do you like to do? If beaches are your thing, dominica is not the place to go. It is, however, our favorite island. Hiking, rain forests, waterfalls, hot springs?.tons to do. Barbados is great too, if you are into snorkeling or beach time.

We do everything. On any given cruise, we like to snorkel at least twice. We like touring the islands and seeing the "must sees". Although I do admit, some of the must sees don't appeal to us because they are nothing spectacular to us (ie. the highest points/'hills' on islands for the view - we have the Rocky Mountains and yeah, we have views, lol.)

I would totally pick the Liberty for the reason that Barbados, Trinidad Tobago & Grenada's itinerary is very unique. You rarely see routes heading that way; however, Dominica, St Kitts and Jamaica are much more common. You can easily find cruises heading into that direction or at least to St. Kitts and Jamaica for next time you cruise.

 

If you keep cruising (which I know you will), you will be picking a cruise later that will likely have one of the Dream's ports included, perhaps even two.

 

I understand the Dream is newer, but if you are cruising for the ports, the Liberty would be the one to choose. I understand you will not have a cove balcony, but I would keep an eye on prices, and you never know!

 

After 14 or 15 cruises (lost count:confused:), I'm cruising more and more for the itinerary and evaluating if which particular itinerary is more "unique" in case I don't see a similar itinerary next time I cruise.

The age of the ship doesn't bother us and lack of the big bells and whistles doesn't either. We just got off the Pride which is older than the Liberty/Freedom by quite a few years. We actually liked it better than both of them. We really have never truly considered repeating a ship, don't know why exactly - just doesn't appeal to us. That in part is why this decision is difficult. I do like the itin better on the Liberty, but....still have to think about it more and I know, eventually something will click that tells me "go there".

It sounds like time is not an issue - why not do what we're doing and take the Dream B2B starting January 3 NOLA to SJU and then back. 21 days, lots of islands, and balconies are a great rate right now. We upgraded from an inside on Deck 1 to a balcony for a total of $120 for the entire 21 days.

I am having a really difficult time deciding on which Carnival Journeys cruise I want to take next year.

 

I actually have the Carnival Dream booked already for the 10 Journey January 14th thru 24th with the following itin:

 

But seriously considering switching to the Carnival Liberty for the 12 day Journey March 6th thru 18th

 

The Dream trip would be in a Cove balcony for $230 less than the Liberty trip in an OV (a Liberty balcony is $1200 more than the Dream on this trip - so ov it would be). We have been on the Liberty already though and DH would like to try a Cove (I get to next month :D without him). The Liberty trip is 2 days longer and goes to Aruba one of our favorite places to date. Both have 3 new islands to us which are in bold above.

 

Travel will be cheaper in January (plus we will only use 8 days of vacation days vs. 10 for the March cruise) and it would be nice to get away during the dead of winter. One down side is we would be on the ship or in a hotel for the 2 NFL playoff weekends - which adds an extra expense by getting a hotel on the 24th instead of flying straight home because DH WILL NOT MISS the games (and God help us if NO hosts the NFC championship game:eek: because that would be on disembarkation day). I'm thinking the hotel expense would offset with the cost of transfers in Galveston and higher air fair in March - so probably close to a wash.

 

Wow. That is a lot of consideration. Not sure what to say since you have many considerations and other people involved in the adventure.

However, just tonight, I pieced together back to back Journey's for us out of New Orleans. We live in West, so many Caribbean ports/places we have NOT been to.

The reservation for back to back makes ours a 21 day voyage touching 11 ports (9 unique) on the DREAM.

New Orleans (start)

Nassau

Bermuda (2 days)

St. Marteen

St. Thomas

San Juan (B2B)

St. Thomas

St. Kitts

St. Marteen

Grand Turk

Falmouth, Jamaica

ports us back to New Orleans.

MY ONLY problem with this B2B is the time of year OCTOBER.

We will have to fly R/T to New Orleans which is priced at about $850 for 2 people.

The 21 day itinerary for 4J for us totals under $2,000 WITH ports and taxes.

That is amazing to me.

I am worried sick about October weather risks in the Caribbean for 21 days. A pretty high risk of a disastrous trip for us.

At least in January for you, you aren't in the hurricane season (that I know of).

It sounds like time is not an issue - why not do what we're doing and take the Dream B2B starting January 3 NOLA to SJU and then back. 21 days, lots of islands, and balconies are a great rate right now. We upgraded from an inside on Deck 1 to a balcony for a total of $120 for the entire 21 days.

Oh my gosh, I just reserved the same Dream but sailing October.

What was you total trip costs for balcony with ports/taxes?

Actually 21 days on a cruise would be heaven...but my coworkers would ring my neck and quite frankly, it would be murder on me to get caught up at work after missing that much. Two weeks is tops I can do until retirement.:( or until I win Power Ball.;)