Better ship or Itinerary?

[rob&tam]

If you did not like Cozumel, please do a lot of research over on the ports of call section about Nassau and Freeport, because after 25 cruises they are the bottom of the list of ports I have visited and many others on here feel the same way. YMMV

 

 

Ocho Rios is low on our list with Nassua and Freeport. Funny thing is both Ocho Rios and Jamaica as a whole are beautiful. We like Dunns River Falls but did not like the constant selling and hustling. It is a shame that so many have to work this way for a dollar and most cruise passengers are taken past Jamaican owned business to the shopping compound for protection that we didn't like. Traveling with kids we would not venture off and do it ourselves as we like to do.

 

 

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[ray98]

Itinerary. I can have fun on any ship. Interesting ports are my top choice.

[Cruzaholic41]

I think we are in agreement Breeze is the better ship by far and the Pride has clearly the better itinerary in our opinion.and 7 days cruising is always better than 6.

 

I think this paragraph answers it for you. That's 2 points Pride and 1 point Beeze. Come day 6, you're going to wish you had one more day. I would choose Pride in this case.

[Cruisegirl6]

What exactly made you choose only the Breeze and Pride, is there a certain reason there are other ships/cruises.

[DKNE]

We are just off the Breeze 6 day the Jan 11-17 sailing. We were two families with 5 kids. 6,8,9,10,11. We loved the 2 sea days and so did the kids. Our son spent the whole entire last sea day in the sports deck area, playing soccer, mini putting, fooze ball, doing the rope courses, with friends he made while on board. We never once worried about him.

We always sat on deck 12 to see the pool below as well as the waterworks area, as the girls loved the swimming part better. We even gave the room keys to the girls to wonder back to the room to get something on their own and they all stuck together.

 

Jamaica we pre booked a tour, and felt completely safe (would not have done Ocho Rios alone though). Grand Cayman, we took the city bus to Seven Mile Beach with no issues and felt completely safe, we walked to the bus stop, and also later after the beach walked around town with no hassles or anyone begging you to buy this or that. And in Cozumel we walked off the ship and booked a local tour guide and felt safe the whole time as well. We went along the shores of Cozumel, a Tequila rum factory and to Paradise Beach.

 

Although a '7' day is better because it is that 1 day longer, we felt having 2 sea days was some pretty great down time for the adults.

 

Remember the more islands you go to, the more money you spend in tours and off the ship!

 

We loved the Breeze and how much it offered the kids with things to do ! For us adults a lounge chair and a fru-fru drink and we were set !

[Cruisegirl6]

I gave this some more thought:

 

I don't know whether you like to do tours, beach or both....

 

Ocho Rios you can hire your own private cab that will show you the main sights

Grand Cayman definitely beach

Cozume, the beaches are really nothing to me, perhaps because I live in Florida, but there isn't much for the children to see and do there.

 

Costa Maya don't like it as its in same category as Nassau to me

Belitz, only go with the ships tour or a private tour don't go around yourself can be dangerous trust me....but there is so much to see and do here in both beach, water sports and sightseeing.

Rotan I liked had a private tour booked to show me around unfortunately due to bad weather it had to be cancelled but eventually it let up got off the ship very nice beach area there right near ship and no fees.

 

You also have to consider the amount of time you actually are in port and the time your on the ship.....Breeze much better ship more options as far as things for the kids to do and more food choices, but Pride gives you the extra day so if I were in your shoes I choose the Pride.

[rob&tam]

One family choose the Pride based on an extra day and extra port, the other hasn't decided but I think is leaning heavily to the Breeze. It may be that we decided to do different cruises..

 

 

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Edited January 26, 2015 by rob&tam

[asalligo]

This would be a tough decision for me also. The Pride has one of the lowest passenger to square footage ratio of Carnival ships. I know many people do not care about that, but I find that it greatly increases my enjoyment of the cruise. That one extra day at sea is a really big draw also.

 

The Breeze though has so much more onboard compared to the Pride and that might tip the scales for me. If we are talking same price, I think the Breeze wins, even with one less day.

[Cruisegirl6]

So whichever way you all decide its all good

 

Breeze better ship

Pride extra day

 

Its a toss of a coin lol

[emtnmare2]

Breeze in a heart beat. Was on her in May. In Jamica we went to a beach thru Carnival. http://www.carnival.com/Activities/Excursion/425123

 

It was a very pleasent experience. The young children that were there cried when they had to leave.

[A&Jfamily]

We are now debating 6 Day Breeze (Ocho Rios, Grand Cayman, Cozumel) or 7 day Pride (Costa Maya, Belize, Roatan, Grand Cayman).

 

4 adults and 4 kids. 9,9,9 & 7 so kid activities are important but both cruise have only 2 sea days.

 

I think we are in agreement Breeze is the better ship by far and the Pride has clearly the better itinerary in our opinion.and 7 days cruising is always better than 6.

 

 

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I haven't been on the Pride but her sister ship, the Legend, twice and so far, that has been a favorite layout. We are game for any Carnival ship as long as she has balconies (or a sweet deal on a suite!).

 

Regardless though I love port days and the Western has such variety and Roatan is our favorite port. I vote 7 day vacation!

[rob&tam]

It's funny now that I think of it. My wife and fell in love with cruising via the Carnival Paradise. We had the same inside cabin on the veranda deck twice. Our friends had some up and down cruises on other lines and then loved the Carnival Dream last year at this time. They love the big ship and we love the small ship feel. Even after a 10 day cruise we always wanted one more day though...

 

 

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[A&Jfamily]

I think this is totally up to each person. I have only been on one cruise and we had one stop in Cozumel. I was not impressed and would not get off the boat again at that location. We are going on the Dream in April and it stops in Key West and the Bahamas. I will get off to see these places I have never been to but I am most excited about the sea days. I love having an entire day to relax and know that I have no where to be and no time constraints. It is so relaxing. Maybe I will fall in love with these port stops and change my mind for future cruises but for now I would choose ship over itinerary every time. Again, I have only been on one cruise so I need more cruising to be sure. I am working on that. :)

 

Yikes...if you didn't like Cozumel, don't hold your breath for Nassau!

[rob&tam]

I think this is totally up to each person. I have only been on one cruise and we had one stop in Cozumel. I was not impressed and would not get off the boat again at that location. We are going on the Dream in April and it stops in Key West and the Bahamas. I will get off to see these places I have never been to but I am most excited about the sea days. I love having an entire day to relax and know that I have no where to be and no time constraints. It is so relaxing. Maybe I will fall in love with these port stops and change my mind for future cruises but for now I would choose ship over itinerary every time. Again, I have only been on one cruise so I need more cruising to be sure. I am working on that. :)

 

 

I think when you experience a port that wows you, you might feel different. Everybody seems to have different ones but St Thomas (St John). St Maarteen, Barbados, Martinique, and Grand Cayman have been some of my favorites. Nassua, Ocho Rios, and Cozumel some of my least favorite. I bet some of my favorites are ones somebody else does not like....

 

 

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[ccartman2]

Yikes...if you didn't like Cozumel, don't hold your breath for Nassau!

 

I liked Cozumel a lot when we stopped at the old port area. Last time we stopped at the new one, I hated it. One time I didn't get off. Have to get off this time, because we need Vanilla. :) But we will probably do an excursion there. Still a beach trip works great there.

 

Have found nothing I liked about Nassau yet.

 

Ocho Rios was my favorite excursion, with Dunns River and I loved the food there. Kids get old enough to climb the falls we will go back. It is a port you need an excursion though, like Belize.

 

Grand Caymen is one of my favorites and My parents hate it. I think bottom line is, a port can be good or bad, depending on what you do there.

 

As for this cruise....I'd done 7, but if wound up doing the 6 day, I could have just spent the extra day in the port city. We took our 5 day cruise and we spent 2 days in Miami and 1 we drove to Key West. There are always vacation options, I just like as many days as I can get on the boat.

[Cruisegirl6]

We also don't care for Cozumel...the beaches aren't anything special, perhaps we feel this way because we live in Florida the beaches here are so much better! If you like to walk around and shop for what I call "junk" this is the place to go for that. Other than that I can't think of anything nice or interesting to do on the island or say positive about it, there was only one thing we did that we rave about is the Mexican Cuisine and Beach in Playa Maya.

[StaceySteveDMB]

 

Ocho Rios was my favorite excursion, with Dunns River and I loved the food there. Kids get old enough to climb the falls we will go back. It is a port you need an excursion.

 

 

We have been to Ocho Rios two times on cruises and once on a land vacation. You do NOT need an excursion for Dunn's River. In fact it only costs $10 round trip for s can to get there and only $20 for adults and $12 for children to get it. The great thing about doing it yourself is you can go early to beat the crowds and take your time climbing the falls and then go back to enjoy the beach if you wanted to. We like to have the cab drop us off at the Ocho Rios Jerk Center for lunch and walk back to the ship.

 

 

 

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[jsfromsc]

Personally, the more days, the better for me. But you know what you can endure with your kids. It does seem that the Breeze will have more options for the kids onboard. Maybe you can spend an extra day in port before or after the cruise to get that extra vacation day. Itinerary is always my first choice and then seeing which ships are making those stops. I think if the choice were between one of the really small, older ships, I'd go with the Breeze, but in this case it doesn't seem to be that much different.

[rob&tam]

If my kids have to endure anything, they can stay home! Vacation is for all of us!

 

 

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