happy cruiser1234

Hi Need help in deciding between these 2 cruises. I am traveling with a 5 Year Old Boy so the kids activity is the most important decision criteria

 

Carnival Vista - 6 Days Mediterranean Cruise v/s Allure of Seas 7 Days Mediterranean Cruise

 

Both the price is exactly the same and the dates are in March... We did had one cruise 3 years ago on Disney Dream.

 

Decided on these two as these are the newest ships with lots of kids activity... others i thought of were Celebrity Reflection and HAL Koningsdam and Disney Magic from San Juan in April..

You might be looking at an old brochure because i don't think Vista or Allure are scheduled to be in the Mediterranean any time in the next couple of years.

Good morning! We had a direct flight from Pearson with Air Canada. It's soooo hard finding a flight to San juan so flying in the day of was our only option. You should be fine flying in same day as long as it's a direct flight. Would recommend using the air canada 930 direct flight as its their air canada vacations flight so majority of the passengers on the flight are on your boat so they guarentee them arrival for the ship.

 

I was worried too but then saw flight history for that flight, it's only been delayed once in the last 2 years and it was for 20 mins.

Thank you for the fantastic information! We will definitely look into that flight!

Have a great cruise

Serena

Hi Josh

Curious as to your airline and if you had a direct flight or connecting and was it out of Toronto? We have Adventure booked for March 2018 but we are worried about flying in the day of the cruise.

Have a great time!

Great detailed review. Awesome that you remained positive with the whole ordeal of switching rooms.

We were on the same Tour with you in Grand Cayman. We were the family with the two teenage girls. It was a pleasure meeting you. I'm glad you enjoyed your other ports as well. We sure did have perfect weather!

Your quote above is not 100% accurate. While many are forced to stand outside for the muster, like in the ol' days, some people are sent to interior areas for the muster. I know this because we were assigned and sent to the MDR for the muster on the Freedom this past March. Not sure exactly how they decide who has to be outside, but I was glad it was not our family.

Maybe they only put the anal people outside. Every one else gets a comfy seat in a lounge:D....Hi Russ! Happy New year to you and the family!

Serena

Looks like we were in the same muster station Harry! I'm the blonde with the pink shirt and DH is behind me in the black T-shirt.

Fantastic pictures Harry! I've been looking forward to your report.

Hi, Serena,

 

Glad you made it back home safely.

 

We arrived at the pier around 10:15 and had very little wait and was on the ship by 11:40 - even as the lowly gold level people. Perhaps many people actually followed the RCI email that asks every to show up after 12:30 and that in of itself created a long line that RCI was trying to avoid in staggering people for checking in.

 

Our sailing was packed to the rafters as it's holiday season at 4,416 people or approx. 117% of double capacity. That had an impact of how crowded the ship felt.

 

I'll be uploading a few pictures from the cruise so please feel free to drop by and say hi.

Hi Harry,

I can't wait to read your report and see pictures from your perspective. We certainly lucked out with the perfect weather on this sailing. I was thinking about you when we were in Mexico, what a perfect day to go see the ruins!

That's not encouraging at all :( Only second cruise on on RC, so i'll be stuck in that Gold line. I wonder if I should just get there really early next month. For my 29th sailing.

 

Also, were any of the Sollarium hot tubs open at night?

Might be a good idea to get there early if you want to avoid long lines. And I'm pretty sure the Solarium hot tub was closed the couple of times we walked by at night. But the hot tub in the main pool area was open.

How was debarkation? What time did you get off?

We did self disembarkation and carried our own luggage off. We left at 7:45, we were off the ship and though customs by 8:15.

Thanks, we are heading out Friday. Weather looks bad on the Buffalo route so we will go through Detroit and add a couple of hours to our trip.

 

Must have been a nice surprise seeing Harmony knowing you will be sailing on her in less than 3 months.

 

What did you do in Costa Maya? We've booked the water park and my mom and sister are going to the all inclusive beach.

In Costa Maya we took a cab to the Malecon and went to Tropicante on the beach. We had a great lunch and drinks. They provided a shaded table to eat lunch and lounge chairs. They whole day with food and drinks cost $47 plus tip. Well worth it! The people on the island are so friendly and happy.

Hi Serena, welcome back.

 

Glad to hear that overall it sounded like the cruise was enjoyable despite a couple of hiccups. I agree about the Oasis class feeling less crowded.

 

See you in March.:)

Hi Ken, you must be getting ready for your Allure trip on Sunday! Have a great time! See you on Harmony in March....BTW, in Cozumel we docked beside Harmony and she is breathtaking! :)

We stayed at Springhill Suites in Dania Beach area. Hotel was very busy, it provided a free breakfast, free shuttle from the airport and free shuttle to the ship. Only problem with the shuttle to the ship was we booked a time of 10:30am but it didn't come until 11:25. By the time we were dropped off at the Terminal it was after 12:20. Next time I would rather spend the $20 on a Taxi and get there when I wanted to.

Check in was fast and painless. We are Platinum for Crown and Anchor and there was no line. We were on the ship in 20 minutes. However the line for Gold Crown and Anchor members was huge. Later we heard people complaining that it took a couple of hours for Gold members to check-in.

We were booked in balcony cabin 8278 and our daughters ages 13 and 16 were directly across from us in Promenade cabin 8279. They had a different muster station then us. I went to Guest Services to see if we could have the same muster station and they said the only way was if we changed cabins but the ship was sold out. Luckily my sister and brother in-law were travelling with us and they had the same muster station as my kids so I just left it. In the event of a true emergency our kids would have been on a different life boat from us.

We requested a foam topper for our bed before sailing and I'm glad we did because our mattress was rock hard, even with the topper it was still firm. My sister also requested a foam topper for her bed but she had an older mattress and her bed was much more comfortable then ours.

We were a bit concerned about the food quality in the dining room because of recent changes to the menus. But overall we were happy with the food in the dining room. The new cuts of meat although were a cheaper cut from the Prime Rib and Beef Tenderloin were still decent. We ate dinner in the dining room every night except one. The last night was December 24th and they had a special Christmas dinner with a better quality Turkey and stuffing then what is normally offered. They also had a really nice honey ham and lamb shank. Fried Brie, French Onion Soup and special desserts.

We have been on Allure 3 times and we found Freedom to be much more crowded. The day we were in Costa Maya from 12-7 most people took the opportunity to sleep in a bit and go for a later breakfast. The dining room closed at 10am so we went to the windjammer around 10:30 for breakfast, well so did 3,000 other people. It took us 20 minutes to find a table they finally sat us in Giovanni's. The lines for food were horrendous, people were cutting in line then Royal staff started to close the food stations. It took a good 15-20 minutes to get our food and sit down, and by then all our food was cold. It was so stressful you just felt like crying by the time you sat down with your food.

We loved all of our Ports: Grand Cayman, Costa Maya and Cozumel.

The entertainment was top notch and we all enjoyed the shows immensely! The ship was decorated beautifully for Christmas.

All the staff we encountered on Freedom were friendly and helpful. The ship was kept sparkling clean.

In the future I think we will stick to the Oasis class ships during busy travel dates. The Oasis class ships can handle the crowds much more efficiently.

Any questions please feel free to ask. :)

Serena

Thanks for your suggestions, perhaps we will take A1A going down and I-95 coming back.

What a fantastic review! Looks like you had a great time. Thank you for sharing.

Can you please tell me if they have a Britto store onboard Freedom?

Safe travels home,

Serena

Awesome! We are doing the same itinerary on Dec. 18th! I'll be following.

Thanks so much for the great information!:)

Lunch at News Cafe, Front Porch, or Havana 1957 otherwise the other places on Ocean Drive are rip offs. They'll charge you $20 for a coke with no free refills. Don't go in no matter what kind of deals they say they have.

 

As far as Dash, I didn't realize it was still open. Very small and VERY expensive. It's on Collins somewhere north of 5th but before 7th. Jeans over $200.

 

If you want to see South Beach, why don't you just stay there instead of Fort Lauderdale.

We've been to FLL beach many times and we are coming back in March. This December will be the first time we will have rented a car so we wanted to see something different. Plus my kids have always wanted to go to Dash, I was thinking maybe they could buy a Dash T-shirt. (something under $50) We might just decide to go to Hollywood Beach as we've not been there either.

Thanks for the restaurant recommendations!

Hello, We are getting off our cruise on December 24th in FLL and renting a car. Although we have a hotel booked for the 24th in FLL we would like to see Miami South Beach and go to the Kardashian store. (Two teenage daughters:))

Can someone please give advice as to where to park and a fun place for lunch along the beach? We would like to be back in Fort Lauderdale by 3-4pm. Is this even possible?

tia

Serena

Is it voom surf or surf + stream included in this offer?

 

 

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I see they updated the information on the package and it now says the VOOM Surf and Stream is included! This is a great deal :)

Thank you for posting all of the Menus! They look awesome!.....I wish they would have those menus fleet wide. I guess we pay a premium for Harmony so therefor Royal is offering premium food!

I sail on freedom on Saturday and I am not seeing that package as an option

 

 

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The new package is not showing up on my upcoming Freedom cruise either. We are on the December 18th sailing.

I noticed this promo earlier and went ahead and cancelled the deluxe packages and rebooked the deluxe plus voom. The deluxe was $48 plus grats and the deluxe plus voom was $49 plus grats. Whats really strange is that the deluxe total was $398 and the deluxe plus voom was $392 total.

They have lowered the gratuity charge for this new package. When you go to add the package to your cart there is a link for additional terms and conditions. It says that a 14.4% Gratuity will be added.

There's one on my cruise planner for my HOTS March too...deluxe drink package and Voom one device...starting at $49.00 per day...no other details from what I can see. I have already purchased the Voom surf/stream one device for $8.99 per day...Not sure I could drink enough drinks to make this a good deal for me.

Since I was buying the internet package anyway, it saved me $90 Cad on the drink package. I've been watching the price of the drink package and this is the best price i've seen yet.

There is a new package available on my cruise planner for our upcoming Harmony sailing in March. For $67 Canadian you get the drink package and voom for one device. The drink package on it's own is $65 CAD. I was on the fence about the drink package so this sealed the deal! Don't know if this is just a special for Black Friday or not?