Convince me not to jump ship..allure to independece

I am having a mini decision crisis here and need your help! We are a family of five with kids ages 17, 15 and 13. Currently booked on Allure for Easter Break in two connecting CP Balcony cabins.

Have sailed Explorer a couple times, Enchantment, Navigator and Mariner and loved all of them.

Problem is ...just for fun I priced Independence for same week....six nights not seven, but for two inside cabins I would save about $2000! Even dropping down to insides on Allure, at cureent pricing would still save that amount.

I know it is one night less and I REALLY want to take kids on Allure. BUT that is A LOT of money.

Help convince me I should stick with Allure! Or should I? So torn....

Thanks!

PS. I know this is a good problem to have. :)

Only YOU can decide if the $2K is significant enough difference to warrant the change. It is a not inconsiderable amount of money, but I don't think anyone here can spend it for you.

Just your title alone suggests you don't want to make the change; so if you do not need to; don't? That's the best I have.

I honestly prefer Indy. So switch imo :)

I sailed the Indy last year and had an absolute ball. If you haven't sailed Allure or Oasis yet why don't you sail Indy and put the 2k towards a cruise on allure in the future?

Hope you have a great break whatever you decide :)

Haven't been on Allure, but I will say that if you loved the Mariner, you will love the Indy. We sailed on the Indy in March (6 day cruise) and loved the ship!

$2k is a lot, and I can't tell you how to spend it, but you could do Indy, splurge on excursions, specialty restaurants, and still be less than a bare-bones Allure cruise. I assume the 6 day Indy is Western Caribbean, which means Labadee? Book a cabana ($250), and live in luxury for the day. Take a stingray excursion in Grand Cayman.

But, I also understand Allure is a destination all by itself, so of course, only you can make that choice.

I love problems like this one!! Here is how I look at it: 7 days over 6 is always paramount. The Allure/Oasis is nothing like the Voyager or Freedom class. Love them both but you are comparing apples to oranges. If you really want to WOW your kids (and yourself) stick with the Allure. It is a destination in itself. The lay out and shows on the ship are just heads above the other class ships. Is it worth $2000? That only you can answer. Just remember, you really can't compare the Allure to the Freedom Class. You won't regret the money spent years from now.....looking at the ages of your kids, they will be gone from home before you know it....I know from experience and we don't regret any of the cruises with our now grown children;)

Have been on both and loved both! That said, your kids will LOVE Allure!

We booked with Allure for this past August

2 adults, 2 kids though... so we only had one room booked

While messing around I found Freedom, going the same week, but to better stops, and we jumped ship! Saved $1800 by doing just what your thinking. Going from a balcony to an inside.

It was WELL worth it. We loved every minute of it and used that extra money to stay 5 days in Florida after the trip.

I couldn't recommend it fast enough!!!

Chass

I should add that I am hoping the prices drop a wee bit with Quantum coming out. If that happens then we will return to our previously planned Allure sailing... who knows, maybe then we can do a b2b... We did that on Oasis and it was perfect... but we did it alone, not with the kids!

I would say stay with Allure. You were ok with the price when you booked it originally booked it so now you are second guessing. As someone else said with the age of your children this maybe a trip that might not happen again for quite a few more years. Your kids will have an experience they will never forget. We have been on both Indy and Allure and like them both. The Oasis class was not out when my boys were teens and they loved Freedom but now we are trying to find a time when we can get everyone on Oasis/Allure. Also the Central Park rooms are nice and you still have a balcony.

Independence is a Voyager Class on steroids. It's a similar design, bigger, and has a few more amenities. Allure is a completely different experience and apparently you were comfortable with the Allure price when you booked it. I say stick with Allure. As your kids get older, it may get tougher to get them all on a cruise ship together. Like Nike says, "Just do it."

By the way, we love the Freedom Class, of which Independence is a member, but if you haven't experienced Allure, it's almost a must.

Good luck and happy sailing on whatever you decide.

Haven't been on Allure, but I will say that if you loved the Mariner, you will love the Indy. We sailed on the Indy in March (6 day cruise) and loved the ship!

 

$2k is a lot, and I can't tell you how to spend it, but you could do Indy, splurge on excursions, specialty restaurants, and still be less than a bare-bones Allure cruise. I assume the 6 day Indy is Western Caribbean, which means Labadee? Book a cabana ($250), and live in luxury for the day. Take a stingray excursion in Grand Cayman.

 

But, I also understand Allure is a destination all by itself, so of course, only you can make that choice.

I agree with Todd's sentiments about Indy. You'll still be moving up to a new class of ship, and as you loved the others, you'll love her too. For 2K, I'd switch now, adding a day (or two:)) in Florida such that you could potentially switch over to Oasis or Allure if prices drop before final payment. Between land and sea, you'll have a great time.

$2, 000 is a lot of money to our family, especially for vacation. I would switch for the savings. $2k is a whole other vacation. Having sailed both class ships with our teens, they were just as entertained on Freedom class.

If you kids haven't been on either ship, I would switch to Indy and do Allure another time. Take the $2000 and save it for an Allure trip. Heck, if you book the Allure while on Indy, you'll save additional $ and put down a smaller deposit. Plus you could book a date way far in advance and save because the price will increase as the date gets closer.

I think the kids will be impressed with either ship, but I'd do the "smaller" ship first and save Allure to WOW them again on another vacation.

PS -- There's a C&A coupon for the Indy sailing Easter week 2014. (Not sure if you factored that into your $2k savings.)

My opinion? Five or ten years from now will the kids remember whether it was Indy or Allure they were on? Or will they simply remember the great family vacation they had regardless of the ship? I'm betting the latter.

I'd save the $2k and go with Indy.

I think you boooked Allure knowing that it is a more expensive ship, so I would stick to it. Given that you have been on several ships, I wouldnt switch and try Allure which is way different to any other ship you have been to.

Im one of those "Never been on Allure but" people too. The way I see it, 2K is whole other cruise for me on a Freedom ship and some OBC. While I REALLY want to experience one of the Oasis gals one day, Id probably switch to IOS. Freedom class ships are awesome!

Im one of those "Never been on Allure but" people too. The way I see it, 2K is whole other cruise for me on a Freedom ship and some OBC. While I REALLY want to experience one of the Oasis gals one day, Id probably switch to IOS. Freedom class ships are awesome!

I agree! We had our hearts set on taking the kids on Allure/Oasis last year. But when pricing them out...$5,000 on Allure, $2,200 on Indy for the 6 day itinerary, we chose the Indy and weren't disappointed. That extra $, as others have said, is a whole extra vacation!

I keep pricing out Oasis/Allure for the four of us, and I still can't stomach paying upwards of $5,000. Then again, my kids had NEVER cruised, so they were perfectly content on Freedom class.

Best of luck- either way you'll have a great vacation!

Independence is a Voyager Class on steroids. It's a similar design, bigger, and has a few more amenities. Allure is a completely different experience and apparently you were comfortable with the Allure price when you booked it. I say stick with Allure. As your kids get older, it may get tougher to get them all on a cruise ship together. Like Nike says, "Just do it."

 

Glad you said it! Those are the two classes we've sailed and it's exactly the impression I got. Part of why I was 'meh' for splurging on the Oasis class this time around. I'm kind of glad to hear I may have been wrong!

OK -- it's a really long jump and you'll most likely hurt yourself, if not worse.

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What does the rest of the family want to do? If no one really cares, I would go for Indy and use the extra money for a couple of days in FL before or after the cruise, or put it towards a future vacation. You haven't been on either class of ships before, and both Freedom class and Oasis class are great. Allure is really amazing, but $2,000 is a lot of money.

However, I will say that we sailed on Allure over Easter this year and it was definitely our most expensive cruise. We did have a Bank of America Visa free cruise credit, which helped a lot, but when we booked we knew Allure was what we wanted and that was that...we booked lower class connecting cabins to save money and just said we're doing it at least once. If that's how you feel, then don't second guess it now, especially if this is your last cruise before your oldest goes off to college.

I'd switch. I love the Freedom class ships and if I was saving that much I'd change in an instant.

Have been on The Allure and The Mariner. No comparison for us. The Mariner was so-so, while The Allure was amazing. We actually prefer some Carnival ships to The Mariner. Not so with the Allure.

My husband and I were on it in February and really enjoyed it. The ship is so modern, technology driven and full of great things for teens that might give you and your spouse some alone time. Also, if any of you are contemporary art lovers, it is a delight for the eyes as is the Central Park area.

If you are even contemplating it, then you should do it. For me, I booked the Allure because I wanted to sail on that ship. I have never looked at any other ships or itineraries for the week that are are sailing. There could very well be a much cheaper cruise that week, but I don't care... I want the Allure. But if you are looking around at other ships, then there is a little dude in your head telling you to save the money.

It's similar to choosing a cabin type... I don't even consider the prices of inside or outside cabins. I only want a balcony. Damn the cost. My last cruise had balconies that were more than double the prices of other cabins (it was through the fjords, so $$$$ for the views). Price didn't matter. I wanted the balcony. Some people book a suite and never look at the prices of other categories.

Dropping from a 7 day to 6 day cruise would be a tough pill for me. I would move to an inside cabin, if I had to.