crown princess vs. RCL Freedom or Independence

[RMac713]

I'm looking at shorter (5-6 days) cruises for my March school break. My daughter who watches my neurotic (i.e. hard to kennel) dog will be moving out of town by then, and I have to rely on my college son to drive back and forth to campus while we are gone, which becomes problematic on longer trips.

These are the contenders:

Crown Princess out of Fort Lauderdale. 5 nights; ports are Amber Cove and Grand Turk. For around $2000 I can get a club class mini-suite.

RCL Independence of the seas. 5 nights out of Lauderdale again, ports are Costa Maya and Cozumel. A superior ocean view room is $2167.

RCL Freedom of the seas. 5 nights out of Lauderdale again. Ports are Costa Maya, Cayman, Cozumel. Superior Ocean view balcony is $2012.

 

I have cruised 3x, all on Disney, in 03,04, 16. But it is just me and DH this time, age 54. Love beaches and quiet adult areas. I know this will be different than Disney, but a 4 night Disney verandah room at this time is $2900, and I've already been to the Bahamas.

As for ports, we were in Cozumel and Cayman in 04, so the 2 Princess ports and Costa Maya will be new to us.

I can't help wondering why Freedom is an additional night and port, yet the same price as Independence...aren't they the same class of ship? Is Independence that much nicer?

Sounds like the club class mini-suite would be a nice deal with preferred mdr seating and priority embarkation, but the Crown Princess reviews here are not so good.

Can anyone help out a reformed Disney cruiser? ;)

[Clarea]

... I can't help wondering why Freedom is an additional night and port' date=' yet the same price as Independence...aren't they the same class of ship? Is Independence that much nicer? ... [/quote']

The ships are virtually identical. Other than differences in shows and decor, it would be hard to tell the difference. Freedom has the Dreamworks characters while Indy does not.

[Velvetwater]

The Indy became our favourite ship last year...I am sure her sister Freedom is wonderful too.

 

What we liked about her was hoe even though he was huge there were so many areas you could go to and it would be quiet....if you wanted lots of people you could hit the promenade (loved that place too).

 

Also, I always book a ship with new ports....so for me that would be another reason to go on the RCL indy.

[flamomo]

I love the Crown Princess, have sailed on her multiple times, and would not hesitate to do so again..

I have been to Gran Turk and the beaches there are awesome and pretty unspoiled compared to those on some other Caribbean islands'

 

Those are 2 reasons why I would choose the Crown Princess cruise. One of my favorite things about Princess ships is the quietly classy atmosphere, without being stodgy.

[Cruzaholic41]

I've cruised all 3 of those ships, and have cruised extensively on both RCI and Princess. I recommend Freedom. RCI Freedom Class blows away the Crown Princess.

 

The reason I recommend Freedom over Independence is Freedom has better entertainment.

 

Crown Princess is a very crowded ship with very outdated decor and tiny cabins.