cruisenewbie1 Posted October 13, 2016 #1 Share Posted October 13, 2016 I was looking for a balcony stateroom on both ships and granted I was looking at a cove balcony on the Breeze while I was looking at a Deluxe Ocean View on the Liberty but the price difference between the 2 ships was around $800 more to sail on the Liberty of the Seas. I am not trying to knock RCCL or Carnival or take away from either line. We are a family of 2 adults with 2 kids sailing. We ware looking at a port we can drive to. These 2 ships were our best option out of Galveston. I don't know anything about RCCL. I guess what I am trying to say without trying to offend anyone is this; Is the price difference worth it? Would I receive $800 more in value by cruising on the LOS? Is there that much more to offer on her? I am going to post this on the RCCL and Carnival boards so that I can get the best perspective. The itineraries are different but that isn't a factor in my decision unless the different itineraries affect the cost of the cruise. Not sure how that works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hockeygal54 Posted October 13, 2016 #2 Share Posted October 13, 2016 Cost would be my determining factor. I've been on RCCL sev times and they're fine but cruises out of G'town are outrageous IMO. Captive audience I guess. I'm a Princess repeat offender and it's cheaper to fly to FLL from Dallas than to book and drive to TX coast. [emoji35] Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrHfuhruhurr Posted October 13, 2016 #3 Share Posted October 13, 2016 Cost would be my determining factor. I've been on RCCL sev times and they're fine but cruises out of G'town are outrageous IMO. Captive audience I guess. I'm a Princess repeat offender and it's cheaper to fly to FLL from Dallas than to book and drive to TX coast. [emoji35] Sent from my iPhone using Forums Are cruises out of Galveston really more expensive than from other ports? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaniceB Posted October 13, 2016 #4 Share Posted October 13, 2016 I am leaving on LOS on the 23rd and then sailing the Breeze Jan 2017. I am going to do a comparison then. As far as price, I got a spa balcony on the Breeze for less than an E3 Balcony on LOS. It isn't much just $55. We booked both a year out. I am going to the same ports. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christyran1228 Posted October 13, 2016 #5 Share Posted October 13, 2016 Are cruises out of Galveston really more expensive than from other ports? I know it's been 2 years, but in November 2014 we flew to Puerto Rico, stayed a night before & after at the Sheraton OSJ, and spent the week on the Valor in a suite ... and combined it was about $75 more total than driving to Galveston same day and spending a week on the Magic in a balcony the exact same week. This is including the $100 admin fee it cost me to switch the ships. Having 3 ships really hasn't helped much $$-wise, as far as I can tell. Though, since they moved the smaller Fascination to Puerto Rico, that itinerary is a little more expensive. :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiser fanatic Posted October 13, 2016 #6 Share Posted October 13, 2016 I was looking for a balcony stateroom on both ships and granted I was looking at a cove balcony on the Breeze while I was looking at a Deluxe Ocean View on the Liberty but the price difference between the 2 ships was around $800 more to sail on the Liberty of the Seas. I am not trying to knock RCCL or Carnival or take away from either line. We are a family of 2 adults with 2 kids sailing. We ware looking at a port we can drive to. These 2 ships were our best option out of Galveston. I don't know anything about RCCL. I guess what I am trying to say without trying to offend anyone is this; Is the price difference worth it? Would I receive $800 more in value by cruising on the LOS? Is there that much more to offer on her? I am going to post this on the RCCL and Carnival boards so that I can get the best perspective. The itineraries are different but that isn't a factor in my decision unless the different itineraries affect the cost of the cruise. Not sure how that works. We are sailing on the Breeze in October. We went on the Liberty OTS in May and I wasn't that impressed. The Breeze will be the better option for your kids. It has the Waterworks, Sky Course, Guy's Burgers etc... No way I would pay $800 more for the Liberty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrHfuhruhurr Posted October 13, 2016 #7 Share Posted October 13, 2016 I know it's been 2 years, but in November 2014 we flew to Puerto Rico, stayed a night before & after at the Sheraton OSJ, and spent the week on the Valor in a suite ... and combined it was about $75 more total than driving to Galveston same day and spending a week on the Magic in a balcony the exact same week. This is including the $100 admin fee it cost me to switch the ships. Having 3 ships really hasn't helped much $$-wise, as far as I can tell. Though, since they moved the smaller Fascination to Puerto Rico, that itinerary is a little more expensive. :( That's good to know, thanks! We live in Beaumont, so Galveston is an easy drive, and we haven't really priced other ports (aside from one cruise out of Seattle, to Alaska). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyweir Posted October 13, 2016 #8 Share Posted October 13, 2016 We were on Liberty of the Seas in August. It was an awesome ship, great food, entertainment and service. We were on Carnival Conquest last July. Liberty of the Seas was much better than the Conquest. Not that Carnival was bad, just not as good as RCI. Balconies are huge on Liberty. We're going back on Liberty in Feb 2017. The rates were very close with RCI actually a tiny bit more than Carnival. Check with the online travel agents. They have deals all the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James in SA Posted October 13, 2016 #9 Share Posted October 13, 2016 (edited) Recently I have seen some great deals for Texas residents on Liberty of the Seas... as low as 334pp for an inside. I intend to give her a try if one of those deals come up at a time when I can actually go. My thought is that Breeze is giving some stiff competition, being a newer ship and all. Carnival is not always the lowest price anymore. Edited October 13, 2016 by James in SA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badfinger Posted October 13, 2016 #10 Share Posted October 13, 2016 Four cruise out of Galveston and all with Carnival. Every time i did price compare to the RC ship. And only once was the price the same. I actually booked RC...until Carnival offered a kids sale free promotion which made Carnival a whole lot cheaper. IIRC, your $800 different sound about right. I do suggest that you check the price for getting two cabins that sleep two vs one that sleeps 4. You will likely save some cash if you book one Balcony and then the interior right across the hall. You still have the same size balcony to enjoy, but two bathrooms, everybody has a real bed, and almost double the room. And it an easy visit to GS to get everyone a key for both rooms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xitappers2bx Posted October 14, 2016 #11 Share Posted October 14, 2016 The price different really isn't worth it. I've cruised on the RCCL Liberty. She's a beautiful ship, but she can get crowded. I do prefer RCCL's bathrooms over CCL's, but with that said, I just cancelled my "dream" RCCL cruise to instead cruise Carnival with my family, and the money saving is incredible, meaning I now feel less guilty about spending more on excursions and the such. On the Liberty it felt like I was constantly shelling out more money too; there's so much "extra" that isn't included (ben and jerry's, cupcakes, johnny rockets, etc) that I was exhausted from constantly saying no, and then irritated with myself once I saw the bill at the end of the cruise. I also much prefer a balcony over an ocean view or inside (I've only cruised once in an OV and once in an inside... the inside was on the Liberty and it really was not 'that' bad, but I wouldn't intentionally book it, I literally booked the last room on the ship). So there's my two cents. If it were just me and a friend cruising, I'd do RCCL, but with my daughter, she prefers CCL over RCCL, so I would do that. I was looking for a balcony stateroom on both ships and granted I was looking at a cove balcony on the Breeze while I was looking at a Deluxe Ocean View on the Liberty but the price difference between the 2 ships was around $800 more to sail on the Liberty of the Seas. I am not trying to knock RCCL or Carnival or take away from either line. We are a family of 2 adults with 2 kids sailing. We ware looking at a port we can drive to. These 2 ships were our best option out of Galveston. I don't know anything about RCCL. I guess what I am trying to say without trying to offend anyone is this; Is the price difference worth it? Would I receive $800 more in value by cruising on the LOS? Is there that much more to offer on her? I am going to post this on the RCCL and Carnival boards so that I can get the best perspective. The itineraries are different but that isn't a factor in my decision unless the different itineraries affect the cost of the cruise. Not sure how that works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riclop Posted October 15, 2016 #12 Share Posted October 15, 2016 I was looking for a balcony stateroom on both ships and granted I was looking at a cove balcony on the Breeze while I was looking at a Deluxe Ocean View on the Liberty but the price difference between the 2 ships was around $800 more to sail on the Liberty of the Seas. I am not trying to knock RCCL or Carnival or take away from either line. We are a family of 2 adults with 2 kids sailing. We ware looking at a port we can drive to. These 2 ships were our best option out of Galveston. I don't know anything about RCCL. I guess what I am trying to say without trying to offend anyone is this; Is the price difference worth it? Would I receive $800 more in value by cruising on the LOS? Is there that much more to offer on her? I am going to post this on the RCCL and Carnival boards so that I can get the best perspective. The itineraries are different but that isn't a factor in my decision unless the different itineraries affect the cost of the cruise. Not sure how that works. We always go with the newer ship BREEZE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obxMom13 Posted November 4, 2016 #13 Share Posted November 4, 2016 Every time my family cruises we cost compare with RCC and I've never been able to just go for it and spend the extra money. We've always had fun and never regretted it so I can't say whether it's worth the extra money. For Galveston though, my best friend and I planned a girl's trip for next March and created a spreadsheet of all the ports with sail dates in Mar/Apr including flight cost (her from Charlotte and myself from Dallas) and it was a lot cheaper for us to sail from Galveston. We went on the Breeze a few years ago and I didn't like it as much. In the past I didn't feel like I was on the ship with 2,000 other people, with the Breeze I felt like there were 2,000 people on the ship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KPfromCT Posted November 4, 2016 #14 Share Posted November 4, 2016 We were on Liberty of the Seas in August. It was an awesome ship, great food, entertainment and service. We were on Carnival Conquest last July. Liberty of the Seas was much better than the Conquest. Not that Carnival was bad, just not as good as RCI. Balconies are huge on Liberty. We're going back on Liberty in Feb 2017. The rates were very close with RCI actually a tiny bit more than Carnival. Check with the online travel agents. They have deals all the time. You cannot compare the Conquest to the Breeze. Breeze is an amazing ship with all of the bells and whistles. Plus the kids will LOVE all of the activities, Sky Course, WaterWorks, Thrill Theater, etc. Just a beautiful ship.:D:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDozer66 Posted November 4, 2016 #15 Share Posted November 4, 2016 My wife and I are booked on the Breeze in January and when I booked it I compared to RCL and it was about $800.00 cheaper for us on Carnival. :cool: We ended up with a Spa Balcony room and we are excited to finally go on our first cruise! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Singer4Him Posted November 4, 2016 #16 Share Posted November 4, 2016 We just returned from sailing on the Breeze for the first time around the first of October. We absolutely loved it! Best cruise we've had to date. That being said, we've wanted to cruise with RCI for a while now and our friends that sail with us have wanted to do the same. RCI had a deal going last month offering second guest for 60% off, half off deposit and $100 OBC. We jumped at it and booked Liberty of the Seas. I just did a mock booking with the Breeze; same ports (with the exception of Belize vs. Costa Maya), same deck; one week apart (to get the same ports since that can make a difference). After factoring in the OBC's offered by each line, it was a $48 difference to sail with RCI! I'll pay the extra $48 to get to experience a new port, Costa Maya. I'm excited to get to try RCI and see for myself if there is that much of a difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nealstuber Posted November 5, 2016 #17 Share Posted November 5, 2016 I was looking for a balcony stateroom on both ships and granted I was looking at a cove balcony on the Breeze while I was looking at a Deluxe Ocean View on the Liberty but the price difference between the 2 ships was around $800 more to sail on the Liberty of the Seas. I am not trying to knock RCCL or Carnival or take away from either line. We are a family of 2 adults with 2 kids sailing. We ware looking at a port we can drive to. These 2 ships were our best option out of Galveston. I don't know anything about RCCL. I guess what I am trying to say without trying to offend anyone is this; Is the price difference worth it? Would I receive $800 more in value by cruising on the LOS? Is there that much more to offer on her? I am going to post this on the RCCL and Carnival boards so that I can get the best perspective. The itineraries are different but that isn't a factor in my decision unless the different itineraries affect the cost of the cruise. Not sure how that works. We prefer RCCL to CCL and enjoyed the Liberty OTS much more than the Magic (and we loved our Cove) but not $800 more. When looking at our New Year's cruise, LOTS was 40% more than Breeze and Breeze was 40% more than Dream. We also shopped coves as we like them better than regular balconies, but only guarantees and higher were available on Breeze. So we're on the Dream, 2nd CCL cruise in a row for us after 4 on RCCL and one on Princess. Used to feel that a balcony week for two on on a voyager/freedom class was worth about $250 more than the same on Dream class in a Cove, but RCCL is rapidly catching up with Carnival in the race to mediocrity and I'm not sure I would pay even that much more these days. I will say it's easier to find deals that include tips on RCCL and their beverage packages are a better deal for us, especially since they work on the private island and they always make sense for me and are less than a break even proposition for DW. So under those circumstances, I'd probably still pay $250 more for RCCL. Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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