Need help with choosing best ship for 5 day sailing

We recently returned from our Carnival Ecstasy Thanksgiving cruise with our two toddlers. For being one of the oldest and smaller ships in Carnival's fleet, we were very pleasantly surprised. Because we were able to get a great price we chose a Grand Suite. We loved the priority boarding lounge! That said we are really interested in trying a newer, more 2.0 updated ship which we've narrowed down to the Breeze, Dream or Sunshine. All easily accessible from Georgia where we live. However, we want to go in July and are very flexible on dates so we were thinking we could maybe wait until the end of June and book a last minute cruise for a good price. Thoughts? If the newer ships are just too pricey, we'd definitely be willing to try another 5 day cruise but we don't know which ships in the older/smaller fleets would be the best to book on. What do you recommend for a family with Toddlers? We must have Camp Carnival and some sort of splash park for them to play in. No need for waterworks because they are too small but something for them to play in and get wet. Yes, they are potty trained. Looking for a 5 day ship with the most 2.0 updates really. Suggestions?!

Thanks!

Problem with booking so close in peak season is that a quad might not be available. Could book two doubles, but they could be at opposite ends of the ship.

Thanks for the note. Which shorter route ship do you recommend?

Well, we sail almost exclusively on the West Coast so you wouldn't even consider my answer ;):D

The Sunshine has affordable 5-day cruises to the Bahamas if you want all the latest features. If you decide to not go with ship that has 2.0 updates, the Victory does a 5-day to Ocho Rios and Grand Cayman and has a very shallow splash pool for potty-trained toddlers. The Grand Cayman turtle farm is very little-kid-friendly and manageable on your own.

Suggest looking into the Fascination out of Jacksonville. It's not the newest ship, but it is still quite nice and we thoroughly enjoyed our 5 days.

Out of the ships you mentioned, I'd choose "Dream". "Breeze" is a good ship, and cruise as well, but seemed more crowded to me. "Sunshine" is simply WAY too crowded for me, and that would be my last choice.

I LOVE "Paradise" out of Tampa, for a 5 day cruise, but she doesn't have the 2.0 upgrades. It depends on what part of 2.0 you're looking for. I personally, feel that the pre 2.0 entertainment, and shows are far superior than the new 2.0 "Playlist Production" shows. Bottom line is that you won't go too wrong with any of the Carnival ships. Just decide what's most important to you, then research which ships offer that. Good luck, and see you aboard!

"SKY"

I second the vote for Fascination out of Jacksonville. It is close to you in Georgia and is the easiest on and off of any port we have been to. We have sailed Fascination on two b2b cruises and have done six altogether. Just off on Thanksgiving day and got on Liberty the next day out of Port Canaveral. You usually see some pretty good deals. The only drawback is most just go to Nassau and Freeport. Some itinerary's visit Half Moon Cay or Little Stirrup Cay.

The Breeze only has 6 and 8 day cruises. The Sunshine is newly renovated (you can find a few threads in that topic [emoji39]).

The Sunshine out of PC has 5 and 8 day cruises. I was pricing Sunshine and Breeze 8 day cruises next June and the Sunshine was coming up a bit more (I presume fuel) and tended to have one less port of call an 8 day cruise.

I would do the Breeze if you are willing to drive a bit further...if you haven't done it yet.

Good luck and enjoy.

Here are the facts as to what you're looking for. There are only 3 ships in the fleet that do 5 day sailings and have the 2.0 upgrades. The Sunshine out of Port Canaveral, the Triumph out of Galveston and the Conquest out of Fort Lauderdale. The Breeze does 6 day sailings out of Miami that has the 2.0 upgrades as well.

All of the other ships that do 5 day sailings are all older Fantasy Class ships, with the exception being the Victory out of Miami, which does not have the 2.0 upgrades yet.

Since you're traveling with toddlers that are not in school yet, I would recommend sailing in late August versus July because of the cost savings. Here are some numbers based on the four of you in 1 cabin.

Sunshine 7/26 OV 2935 Deluxe OV 3105 (only 1 left)

..................8/16 OV 2155 Deluxe OV 2325 (only 2 left)

Conquest 7/20 OV 2545 Scenic OV Sold Out

..................8/31 OV 1445 Scenic OV 1615 (only 1 left)

Breeze....7/12 DOV 3306

................8/23 DOV 2216

The Deluxe and Scenic OV cabins are really nice, they are on the Lido deck and at the very front of the ship with floor to ceiling windows. Best of luck with your decision.