Comparing Cruises…

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

I've been asking a lot about cruise comparisons, but we just can't seem to come up with a decision!! I keep coming across more itineraries that interest us, so I figured I'd ask for some more opinions...

 

Allure is one of our options, so if we can swing that, were definitely going to sail on her…

 

…but if we end up not going on Allure, here's my options…

 

8 Night Independence

From Ft Lauderdale, to St. Maarten, St. Kitts, San Juan, and Labadee

Like the 8 night itinerary, but that is not a major deciding factor. Like the ports also.

 

7 Night Jewel

From San Juan, to St. Thomas, Antigua, Martinique (New port for us!), St. Lucia, and Grenada

Love the ports and love the Radiance Class, but how about going before Jewel's refurbishment?

 

7 Night Adventure

From San Juan, to St. Thomas, St. Kitts, Aruba, and Curacao

Like these Southern Ports, but I was liking Jewel's better. This is the cheapest option, but not by that much.

 

The three options all fall into about the same price range when you factor in air. Indy is a little more, but air is cheaper to Florida then San Juan, so it about equals out.

 

I'm more worried about the ships and the ports… With that said, what would you choose?

[George C]

8 night is better than 7, also prefer leaving from FLL and good ports

[OCruisers]

8 night is better than 7, also prefer leaving from FLL and good ports

 

Completely agree with George! :D

LuLu

[Clarea]

I would choose the 8-day because it's longer, a Freedom class ship, and you don't have to fly to San Juan.

[mattshwink]

My favorite Caribbean itinerary is the southern. Adventure is a great ship too :)

[molly361]

I would choose the 8-day because it's longer, a Freedom class ship, and you don't have to fly to San Juan.

 

I agree with Bob (Surprise!!:))

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

Thanks for all the responses. Definitely a tough decision! Love the Jewel and her ports, but at the same time, would love to sail on a Freedom Class!

[tidygirl]

Have done both ships Freedom (Sept 2013) had more activities such as the flow rider and is a very nice ship

Jewell (April 2014) we loved the ports and the ship wasn't bad at all just didn't have the Royal Promenade and not as many activities. When we went they were offering St Kitts Barbados, St Maarten, Dominica (had been there years ago and forgot what it was like) we really enjoyed it and one other new port for us Tortola LOVED it.

We enjoyed it so much my hubby said we have to bring our young adult kids back so booked for April 25th!

[HiCSailor]

I would go with independence for the extra night and lower airfare.

[nednrom]

We love the Independence -- we've done the 8 day Eastern itinerary twice. Indy is a beautiful ship and the extra day doesn't hurt. We try to avoid flying when we can so we did the southern Caribbean ports out of Miami.

Edited October 30, 2014 by nednrom

[rummenroman]

Price being equal with flights and cruise fare, I would do the Jewel. Love the Southern routes, sailing from San Juan and last but not least love the Radiance class ships.

 

You can always extend your vacation in San Juan if you want the extra day. With that said, you really can't go wrong with any of them. If I needed an extra C&A point, I would have no problem with Indy.

[American Bear]

Thanks for all the responses. Definitely a tough decision! Love the Jewel and her ports, but at the same time, would love to sail on a Freedom Class!

 

Both good ships, but we agree Radiance Class is the best!

We disagree with others, flying into San Juan gives you flexibility to spend a couple days there pre or post cruise, and the San Juan cruises have more ports!

[cruiseapril]

Interesting choices.

 

If you do choose the itinerary with Martinique, be sure to book a ship's

tour if you do an excursion. Important to have a good guide on a French island, unless one speaks French.

[nelblu]

I've been asking a lot about cruise comparisons, but we just can't seem to come up with a decision!! I keep coming across more itineraries that interest us, so I figured I'd ask for some more opinions...

 

Allure is one of our options, so if we can swing that, were definitely going to sail on her…

 

…but if we end up not going on Allure, here's my options…

 

8 Night Independence

From Ft Lauderdale, to St. Maarten, St. Kitts, San Juan, and Labadee

Like the 8 night itinerary, but that is not a major deciding factor. Like the ports also.

 

7 Night Jewel

From San Juan, to St. Thomas, Antigua, Martinique (New port for us!), St. Lucia, and Grenada

Love the ports and love the Radiance Class, but how about going before Jewel's refurbishment?

 

7 Night Adventure

From San Juan, to St. Thomas, St. Kitts, Aruba, and Curacao

Like these Southern Ports, but I was liking Jewel's better. This is the cheapest option, but not by that much.

 

The three options all fall into about the same price range when you factor in air. Indy is a little more, but air is cheaper to Florida then San Juan, so it about equals out.

 

I'm more worried about the ships and the ports… With that said, what would you choose?

 

Time time of the year is important in any decisions. For instance, we cruise in Feb. and prefer cruising out of San Juan as the weather can be iffy in Fl.

 

My choice is the Adventure because of the promenade.

[sapphiregem]

no comment on the ships as I do not know them...but as far as the islands and your options i would go with the Adventure...love each of those ports for beauty and relaxation...

 

who is going on this cruise? what are you looking for out of the cruise? relax/adventure/mix...i think those are key factors when looking at the itineraries...maybe view the port of call page for excursion ideas and that may help narrow down for you...

 

Thats how i ended up picking my cruise once i did the whole price comparison with air, but i also looked at the times i would be in each port and realistically what i could do during that time...i decided w 2 kids i needed an itin that had longer stops to do something memory lasting. reaching a port at 1pm wasn't going to cut it for us.

 

Good Luck

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

Still deciding…but just saw some pics of the new Quantum and that really caught my attention!

 

On top of the options I already had, I found an 8 day Bahamas on Quantum.

It would be a March sailing from NJ, so it would be cold, but Quantum is supposed to be a cold-weather ship and we would mostly be going to see the ship.

 

So given this extra option, would you sail on the brand-new Quantum, which has some pretty bad ports (Pt Canaveral, Nassau, CocoCay) and will be chilly half the trip, BUT on what sounds like an amazing ship…

 

…Or stick with one of the other original options that I listed in the first post?

 

Not worried about the price right now, mostly about the ships/ports...

[rummenroman]

I sail for ports, so the Q would be out of the question for me.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Cruise Critic Forums mobile app

[HiCSailor]

I'll be on quantum in the next month or so, but for me the ports are all new and NJ is a short drive. I'm paying a premium to ride the new ship, which will soon head for a new homeport that I'm not likely to sail from.

 

If I were you, I'd stick to the trips you've been looking at and not be swayed by the glitter to do something you might not be very happy with.

 

If you really need to see the ship, I would hop on one of the short samplers or cruise it in Asia when it gets there.

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

I'll be on quantum in the next month or so, but for me the ports are all new and NJ is a short drive. I'm paying a premium to ride the new ship, which will soon head for a new homeport that I'm not likely to sail from.

 

If I were you, I'd stick to the trips you've been looking at and not be swayed by the glitter to do something you might not be very happy with.

 

If you really need to see the ship, I would hop on one of the short samplers or cruise it in Asia when it gets there.

 

I think you're right, I'm going to stick with my original options. I just wanted to get some other opinions as to whether they thought the new ship would be worth it.

 

Plus, I love the MDR, and since it appears that it will soon be deminishing from a number of RC ships, I'm going to enjoy it while I can ;) Don't get me wrong, I really want to try Dynamic Dining, I just love the MDR and the relationship you develop with your waitstaff.

[CubsFanRS23]

Indy! As others have said, 8 nights, FLL port is easy, you have the option of flying in to MIA or FLL, and the Freedom class is great!