Carnival Liberty or Freedom of the Seas

[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 Freedom of the Seas. 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 Junior Suite on Freedom of the Seas 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 Freedom of the Seas to end up with a little bit nicer/larger stateroom on Carnival Liberty.

 

For those of you who have sailed on both Royal Caribbean and Carnival, in your opinion, would you choose a balcony on Freedom of the Seas over a suite on Carnival Liberty, and if so, why?

 

Thanks for you input!

 

 

 

NOTE: I have posted a similar thread under the Royal Caribbean board. I am attempting to gather the opinions of those from each board, as I'm sure brand loyalty may play some role in the responses I receive.

[ucfknight07]

Really? No one yet? The thread I posted on the Royal Caribbean boards has 9 replies... No one will speak in favor of Carnival?!?

[Destiny2007]

I have been on two Carnival cruises one of which was my honeymoon and we went Royal for the first time in October on the Liberty and my honest opinion is although Royal did have a lot more amenties to choose from we will more than likely sticking with Carnival. I didn't care for the food too much on Royal and there is such a big gap on the price difference that I really didn't see where I would rather spend a couple hundred dollars more just to sail with Royal. We are glad that we have done both lines now so we have something to compare it too but from now on we will be sticking with Carnival. Also the crowd on the ship seemed to be more elderly although there was a variety it just felt that way. Please let me know if you have any more questions Hooe this helps.

[tammi0916]

I have been on both RCC and Carnival Glory - we stayed in the OS suite on the Glory and I absolutely loved it! Alot of people say you don't spend alot of time in your room so don't spend the money on the upgrade but I am guess that since it's your honeymoon you will be spending time in the room. We did spend alot of time in the room as we were traveling with our 9 yr old daughter and it was a great place to retreat to in the late afternoon after being out in the sun all day and hang out to get ready for the evening events! I would take the Carnival cruise over RCC - I too thought the food was much better on Carnival than RCC!

 

We loved it so much we are going on the Liberty for the July 10th sailing.....enjoy!:D

[serene56]

Since I am not up to date on Ocean Suites on the Liberty...

 

 

Ocean Suites used to be category 11 cabins. You get a bigger cabin with a tub instead of just a shower. This cabin will be a LOT bigger then a D1 on the Royal ship.

 

The only amenity you will get is priorty boarding. No other perk comes with that suite.

 

When comparing suites with other cruiselines you will see that there is a huge difference in price when looking at other suites. Which is that you are seeing with this OS comparing the JR suite on Royal.

 

Dollar for dollar- compare the D1 with a regular cat 8 on the Liberty.

 

If wanting a bigger balcony check out the 8M

or even bigger balcony check out the 9A on the corner afts

[serene56]

Carnival Suite balcony on the side:

 

a OS cabin:

 

[serene56]

Freedom of the Seas Balcony room:

 

 

balcony:

 

 

 

[serene56]

Now look at the Cat 9A wrap around

 

the 9A will cheaper then the OC and the D1 on the Royal. the balcony is a great plus.

 

 

 

 

 

click on any pic to make it bigger to compare