Freedom of the Seas or Carnival Liberty?

[ucfknight07]

Hi all,

 

We are currently debating what cruise to book for our upcoming honeymoon. The wedding date is July 31, 2010 in Orlando. We are considering Freedom of the Seas, eastern Caribbean, departing August 1 from Port Canaveral or Carnival Liberty, comparable eastern Caribbean itinerary, departing August 7 from Miami.

 

We are at odds on which would be the best option. We can get an OS (Ocean Suite) on Carnival Liberty for just under the rate for a D1 balcony on FOS. While I'd like to say I'm loyal to Royal, that's a significant difference in category type, although the OS is 275 square feet (110 sf balcony), compared to 214 square feet (68 ft balcony)for the D1. Being that this is our honeymoon we're talking about, we'd like to splurge to have entry level suite. But the entry pricing for a JS on FOS is out of our budget.

 

I am well aware of the differences in the ships themselves, amenities, etc. Although a little tough to surrender, we are comfortable sacrificing things like the rock climbing wall, promenade, and Studio B that we would have on FOS to end up with a little bit nicer/larger stateroom on Carnival Liberty.

 

For those of you who have sailed on both RCCL and Carnival, in your opinion, would you choose a balcony on FOS over a suite on Carnival Liberty, and if so, why?

 

Thanks for you input!

[rummenroman]

My partner has done both. While researching our next cruise i found a Carnival cruise that was half the price for a similar itinerary, and cabin. My partner said that he would NEVER NEVER NEVER cruise Carnival again. He said the entire feel of the cruise was MUCH better on Royal. You will find others that say Carnival isn't much different, but that was his opinion!

[mafig]

I would choose Freedom.

 

I was on Carnival Liberty last year, and while we had a good time, it'll be awhile before I go on Carnival again.

 

First off, let me say the food was excellent!

 

OK, that's it.

 

I found Liberty too crowded for my taste. We had air conditioning problems in our stateroom, which were semi-fixed, never completely.

 

Before Liberty we had been on two Carnival cruises and I was one of those who said there's really not a lot of difference between Carnival and Royal Caribbean. However, we went on Liberty because it was cheap for that particular week. I don't know if that's why, but we had the absolute rudest, loudest, druckedness group of fellow passengers ever! It was NOT spring break time. It wasn't summer time. Maybe it was just our bad luck, and this could happen on Freedom too, but it's made me want to avoid Carnival for a while.

[jmom5]

i agree with the above posters, the overall feel of a carnival cruise is different and when we returned from our cruise on carnival we decided that rccl is definitely worth the extra money, even my kids said they didn't want to go on carnival again. i've been on the sister ship of freedom and i think you will love it, beautiful ship.

[debshomespun]

Did you also ask this question on the Carnival boards? Here, you will get mostly Freedom votes, it is the RC board.

 

Some people will have problems with their cruise, rather it be RC or Carnival. It is hard to make the choice for you. You and your soon to be should sit down and write down all the pros and cons of each ship, difference in port stops (if any, times, etc) and try to make a decision by doing it that way. You can read alot about the ships on the reviews here on CC. Food is so subjective, it is hard to figure it out.

 

Congrats on the upcoming wedding. I am sure whichever cruise you go on, it will be a wonderful experience.

 

Also, since it is your honeymoon, you may spend more time in your cabin, and may enjoy the much larger space provided by Carnival Liberty. Even though I am loyal (mostly) to Royal, I think I would lean towards the suite on Carnival Liberty. I have only been on 3 Carnival ships, and they were the older and smaller ships. Carnival does have a very large following, so that should tell you something.

[debshomespun]

sorry, double post

[Aquahound]

I can not compare cruise experiences, as I have never sailed Carnival. However, I routinely board cruise ships here in Key West. While that price for an OS on Freedom may be attractive, do not assume that you are getting so much better of a room. It may be bigger, but not necessarily nicer. The Carnival Freedom staterooms are deigned with odd colors. Everything is orangish and the couch is vinyl.

 

The Liberty of the Seas is so much prettier. I would book that D1 and check every day for price decreases or residency discounts. The JS's are likely to come down a little in price.

[Aquahound]

BTW, what exact ships are you comparing? Granted they are sister ships, but you have the names reversed on the Carnival board. :confused:

[FireIce0010]

I was on the Freedom last year and loved it. I have cruised on the Carnival Glory which is a sister to the Carnival Liberty. Did not like the ship at all. Felt crowded the entire time. Horrible pool areas. Food on Carnival is good but not enough to make me pick them over Royal Caribbean.

[mrlddst]

I have been on both ships sisters(LOTS and the Carnival Freedom) Let me see....bigger room, less money, similar routes. If its a money issue than do the Carnival Liberty, if you want to enjoy the extra amenities do the FOTS.

 

I enjoyed both ships as they offered different selections. I'm a pool hound so as long as they have one, I'm good but if you think you will use the extras then pay the extra money. I can say that I did enjoy the Poolside movies at night but that doesn't really work out in the rain.

[ucfknight07]

Did you also ask this question on the Carnival boards? Here, you will get mostly Freedom votes, it is the RC board.

 

Some people will have problems with their cruise, rather it be RC or Carnival. It is hard to make the choice for you. You and your soon to be should sit down and write down all the pros and cons of each ship, difference in port stops (if any, times, etc) and try to make a decision by doing it that way. You can read alot about the ships on the reviews here on CC. Food is so subjective, it is hard to figure it out.

 

Congrats on the upcoming wedding. I am sure whichever cruise you go on, it will be a wonderful experience.

 

Also, since it is your honeymoon, you may spend more time in your cabin, and may enjoy the much larger space provided by Carnival Liberty. Even though I am loyal (mostly) to Royal, I think I would lean towards the suite on Carnival Liberty. I have only been on 3 Carnival ships, and they were the older and smaller ships. Carnival does have a very large following, so that should tell you something.

 

I did pose the same basic question over on the Carnival boards. I should have included that disclaimer here as well, as I did on that thread (the second of the two I posted). As you note, each board will probably be a little opinionated since some folks are loyal to a brand, so I wanted to get the opinion from members on both the Carnival and the RCCL boards.

 

Thanks for the idea as far as sitting down and writing the pros/cons of both ships, looking at the ports (especially the times). We compared the ports, but not the time spent in each port versus the other cruise, so we'll definitely do that.

 

Also thanks for the congrats! She's excited about the wedding planning... I'm excited about the honeymoon planning! (I really need a break from work... been about 4 years since I've had any true vacation time!)

 

BTW, what exact ships are you comparing? Granted they are sister ships, but you have the names reversed on the Carnival board. :confused:

 

I double-checked the names on both threads. They are correct - Carnival Liberty, RCI Freedom of the Seas... I just reversed the order on each thread to list the ship from that cruise line in the thread for that cruise line's board on here...

 

I have been on both ships sisters(LOTS and the Carnival Freedom) Let me see....bigger room, less money, similar routes. If its a money issue than do the Carnival Liberty, if you want to enjoy the extra amenities do the FOTS.

 

Money is partly an issue, since we are trying to get into a suite, and a JS on FOS is a little over what we were looking to spend for our stateroom. We're trying not to put all of our money into the stateroom so we make sure we've got enough to do any and all excursions we want to do (and to make sure there's a nice cushion for the bar tab!). On the other hand, I would really like to have some of the amenities on FOTS. Notably, the promenade. Beyond that, though, in my eyes so far, there's not a lot to convince me it's worth giving up a larger room or paying $1,000 more just to get a comparable stateroom on FOTS. We can rock climb or ice skate anytime... We don't have to take a cruise to find those things within a short drive of where we live. So that's kind of the root of the decision we face!

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks to everyone for their replies!