Which Itinerary would you choose?

[Mediterranean_Honeymooner]

Now that #2 has changed, I vote #2. More ports than the others and I have been to St. Maarten and St. Thomas and both were wonderful!

[SNJCruisers]

On 3/22/2019 at 7:43 PM, hrmkr said:

Hello,

 

We are trying to decide which itinerary to choose for our next cruise.

 

Do not take into account the prices, which ship or if we have been to any of the ports before.  Only the itinerary.  

 

Option 1:

Grand Cayman

Mahogany Bay

Belize

Cozumel

 

Option 2: 

Amber Cove

St. Thomas

San Juan

Grand Turk

 

Option 3:

Grand Turk

La Romana

Curacao

Aruba

 

We can't go wrong on any of them.

3...three...THREE

 

[SNJCruisers]

On 3/22/2019 at 9:21 PM, hrmkr said:

Tapi posted saying they would choose the Freedom of the Seas over the Fascination if there was not a big price difference.

Almost anything is better than a Fantasy Class ship, it is 2019, not 1999.

[SNJCruisers]

On 3/22/2019 at 9:45 PM, Mm13 said:

 

 

A sea day on Fascination does not make me excited.

Any day on Fascination does not make me excited. 

[chill6x6]

Are you SURE you will lose all the deposit for Freedom OTS?  I cancelled a Royal cruise b/c I simply wanted to go on a different one...I still have $300 of it for a FCC similar to what Carnival does...

 

Of your selections... My favorite IS #2, #3, #1.  #1 though a nice cruise though would be my last choice.  You might want to consider the Celebrity Summit as well..

[SunSeaSand]

2, 3, 1

[Illbcruzn4life]

4 hours ago, chill6x6 said:

Are you SURE you will lose all the deposit for Freedom OTS?  I cancelled a Royal cruise b/c I simply wanted to go on a different one...I still have $300 of it for a FCC similar to what Carnival does...

 

Of your selections... My favorite IS #2, #3, #1.  #1 though a nice cruise though would be my last choice.  You might want to consider the Celebrity Summit as well..

 

I was going to ask the same thing.

 

ON RCI if you cancel with a non refundable deposit you are charged $100 pp and the rest is in the form of a future cruise credit.

[kruise runner]

We  have done all of your choice'sfor us # 2, new ,#3, 1. That's  our choice. All are good. Happy cruising.

      cruise runner

[hrmkr]

Well,  the cancellation reason may not longer be needed.

 

I have ruled out the Western Caribbean cruise.  Option. 1

 

Now it is still New Option #2, Option #3 and now the Royal Caribbean cruise is back on the table. Different date though.

 

Royal Caribbean- Freedom of the Seas

Leaving San Juan

• Aruba
• Bonaire
• Curacao
• St. Maarten

Here is the pricing that I found.:

Least expensive- Fascination

Freedom of the Seas- $250 additional

Horizon- $400 more than Fascination

 

[elcuchio24]

22 minutes ago, hrmkr said:

Well,  the cancellation reason may not longer be needed.

 

I have ruled out the Western Caribbean cruise.  Option. 1

 

Now it is still New Option #2, Option #3 and now the Royal Caribbean cruise is back on the table. Different date though.

 

Royal Caribbean- Freedom of the Seas

Leaving San Juan

• Aruba
• Bonaire
• Curacao
• St. Maarten

Here is the pricing that I found.:

Least expensive- Fascination

Freedom of the Seas- $250 additional

Horizon- $400 more than Fascination

 

 

Southern Itin is one of our alltime faves. I would not do Fascination though. Freedom or Horizon. 

[SNJCruisers]

What is the bottom line price difference between the Freedom versus the Horizon?  Need cruise cost as well as flight differential.  You can fly into Miami or Fort Lauderdale for the Horizon cheaper than San Juan for the Freedom.

[Illbcruzn4life]

15 minutes ago, SNJCruisers said:

What is the bottom line price difference between the Freedom versus the Horizon?  Need cruise cost as well as flight differential.  You can fly into Miami or Fort Lauderdale for the Horizon cheaper than San Juan for the Freedom.

 

That all depends. We flew from BWI to San Juan on Southwest for $242 pp r/t.

[hrmkr]

31 minutes ago, SNJCruisers said:

What is the bottom line price difference between the Freedom versus the Horizon?  Need cruise cost as well as flight differential.  You can fly into Miami or Fort Lauderdale for the Horizon cheaper than San Juan for the Freedom.

Looking at the least expensive pricing, we would do the Horizon on October 6 and the Freedom on Dec 1.

 

Not including air using those dates, the Freedom is about $175 less.

 

We would fly Southwest to either Fort Lauderdale or SJ. Cheapest from BWI.

SW does not have their pricing out for December yet.  I was originally  looking at the Horizon for the same October date and it would only be about $60 more to fly to SJ than FLL.

 

One thing that could jack the air prices up for us going on the Freedom is we would have to leave the day after Thanksgiving and who knows how high the airlines will raise prices for that time.

[PaulMedik]

On 3/22/2019 at 7:43 PM, hrmkr said:

Hello,

 

We are trying to decide which itinerary to choose for our next cruise.

 

Do not take into account the prices, which ship or if we have been to any of the ports before.  Only the itinerary.  

 

Option 1:

Grand Cayman

Mahogany Bay

Belize

Cozumel

 

Option 2: 

Amber Cove

St. Thomas

San Juan

Grand Turk

 

Option 3:

Grand Turk

La Romana

Curacao

Aruba

 

We can't go wrong on any of them.

Option 2, then 3, then 1.

 

[SNJCruisers]

1 hour ago, hrmkr said:

Looking at the least expensive pricing, we would do the Horizon on October 6 and the Freedom on Dec 1.

 

Not including air using those dates, the Freedom is about $175 less.

 

We would fly Southwest to either Fort Lauderdale or SJ. Cheapest from BWI.

SW does not have their pricing out for December yet.  I was originally  looking at the Horizon for the same October date and it would only be about $60 more to fly to SJ than FLL.

 

One thing that could jack the air prices up for us going on the Freedom is we would have to leave the day after Thanksgiving and who knows how high the airlines will raise prices for that time.

I would do a bottom line comparison with the October Horizon versus the Freedom one week later in December.  Thanksgiving weekend air will be through the roof, even booking it on day one of availability.

Edited March 25, 2019 by SNJCruisers

[S.S.Oceanlover]

56 minutes ago, hrmkr said:

Looking at the least expensive pricing, we would do the Horizon on October 6 and the Freedom on Dec 1.

 

Not including air using those dates, the Freedom is about $175 less.

 

We would fly Southwest to either Fort Lauderdale or SJ. Cheapest from BWI.

SW does not have their pricing out for December yet.  I was originally  looking at the Horizon for the same October date and it would only be about $60 more to fly to SJ than FLL.

 

One thing that could jack the air prices up for us going on the Freedom is we would have to leave the day after Thanksgiving and who knows how high the airlines will raise prices for that time.

 

According to the SW website they will be releasing their schedules for your dates on May 23rd. I recommend checking for the flights you want the morning that bookings open as they only go up from there.

 

The last time they posted the release dates of bookings they actually released them a week earlier than posted so check often.

 

Good luck with whatever itinerary you choose.

 

Bill

Edited March 25, 2019 by S.S.Oceanlover

[hrmkr]

22 minutes ago, SNJCruisers said:

I would do a bottom line comparison with the October Horizon versus the Freedom one week later in December.  Thanksgiving weekend air will be through the roof, even booking it on day one of availability.

The next time this itinerary is offered is Dec. 29 and the price is over $1000 more per person.  For some reason, and I won't complain, this is a very inexpensive sailing.  Maybe they need to have a low price as an incentive since it is traveling Thanksgiving weekend.

[SNJCruisers]

In general, the three weeks of cruises in between Thanksgiving and Christmas are usually the cheapest of the year.  But of course, as you're finding out, if the first week has a particular itinerary you want, you will get nailed with higher airfare on the front end because of Thanksgiving.

I would just book the Havana area on Horizon in October and be done with it.

Edited March 25, 2019 by SNJCruisers

[thenexus2k]

I have done both #3 and #2. #3 was my favorite. I was not a huge fan of La Romana, but Aruba and Caracao are two of my favorite ports!

 

[Illbcruzn4life]

9 hours ago, hrmkr said:

The next time this itinerary is offered is Dec. 29 and the price is over $1000 more per person.  For some reason, and I won't complain, this is a very inexpensive sailing.  Maybe they need to have a low price as an incentive since it is traveling Thanksgiving weekend.

 

That cruise is priced higher because you will be cruising during New Years.

[ObstructedView2]

12 hours ago, hrmkr said:

The Royal Caribbean cruise is back on the table.

 

Royal Caribbean- Freedom of the Seas

Leaving San Juan

• Aruba
• Bonaire
• Curacao
• St. Maarten

 

Definitely this itenerary.

 

🌞

[hrmkr]

16 hours ago, SNJCruisers said:

In general, the three weeks of cruises in between Thanksgiving and Christmas are usually the cheapest of the year.  But of course, as you're finding out, if the first week has a particular itinerary you want, you will get nailed with higher airfare on the front end because of Thanksgiving.

I would just book the Havana area on Horizon in October and be done with it.

Leaning toward the Dec 1 cruise even though the airfare will be higher.  With the discounted price of the cruise, it will offset the higher airfare.  I found prices through October which were pretty good.  I spoke to a few travel agents about approximately how much the airlines jack up the fares during Thanksgiving weekend.  They said about 25%. 

[SNJCruisers]

2 hours ago, hrmkr said:

Leaning toward the Dec 1 cruise even though the airfare will be higher.

Are you going to fly into San Juan out of BWI the morning of the cruise or pay more for a hotel than you would in MIA or FLL the night before?

[hrmkr]

6 minutes ago, SNJCruisers said:

Are you going to fly into San Juan out of BWI the morning of the cruise or pay more for a hotel than you would in MIA or FLL the night before?

Normally we fly in the day before.  Several years ago we were going on a cruise and were flying in the same morning.  There was mechanical problems with the plane and they kept delaying the flight.  Eventually, they cancelled the flight and it was too late to get another flight in time to make the cruise.  Thankfully, I purchased travel insurance and was able to get my money back.  We learned our lesson unless we have no choice to go in the same day.

 

Also, with flying on Nov. 30, you never know about weather in the North.

[SNJCruisers]

We always

7 minutes ago, hrmkr said:

Normally we fly in the day before.......Also, with flying on Nov. 30, you never know about weather in the North.

We always fly in the day before.  I remember a few years ago when it snowed on Halloween in Philly.

You just have to factor in all of the variables when comparing the two choices.  The higher airfare and hotel costs with the december cruise on an older RCI ship, versus paying more for the Horizon, but be on a newer ship with lower air and more cheaper hotel choices.  Good luck with your decision.