Which 3 night cruise

[Saman]

We will be visiting Orlando in november and have decided to do a 3 night cruise to Bahamas while we are there , there seem to be Royal Caribean or Carnival Cruises that fit in with our dates , initially Royal would have been our preference as we have sailed with them before , but have seen the Carnival Cruises work out  quite abit cheaper for us , does anyone have experience with both and can give us any tips , we have a 24 and 21 year old that i think might enjoy the cococay and we did enjoy the food on our Royal Cruise. Do these cruises usually book up quick or might there be offers nearer the date. Would appreciate any help .TIA

[CruisinCrow]

Mariner of the Seas out of Port Canaveral is great.  Loved Coco Cay and loved the ship.  I just wish the cruise had been longer so we could have tried the escape room and the Flowrider.

 

Here's my review: http://susancrow.blogspot.com/2019/09/mariner-of-seas.html

[CruisinCrow]

On the other hand, Carnival does tend to be cheaper.  We've been on Carnival Liberty twice.  It doesn't have the amenities that Mariner has and you get a day at sea instead of at Coco Cay.  The sea days feel crowded to me but lots of people love them.  The food is not as good as Carnival, in my opinion.  The pluses for Carnival are the comedy shows and the piano bar.  We enjoyed the Alchemy Bar too.

 

Here's my review of our more recent Liberty cruise: http://susancrow.blogspot.com/2018/11/the-suite-life-on-carnival-liberty.html

[CruisinCrow]

To answer your question about the cruises booking up, unless you're going around Thanksgiving you shouldn't have a problem.  We've gone on lots of 3-day cruises and we usually don't book them much more than a month in advance.  Whether you'll get a better deal or not by waiting is another question.  Some cruises get cheaper closer to sail date but others get more expensive.

[illiniwahoo]

We have done 10 cruises and have been on most of the major lines. Some cruises are better than others, but we have liked all the lines for different reasons.  our first cruise was on carnival in 2009 (7 nights) when we were in our mid 20s and we loved it. We've recently started doing a 3 or 4 night cruise once a year becuase now we have kids and we don't want to leave them any longer than that. We did a 4 night carnival cruise last year. It was by far our worst cruise ever!  Our inside cabin smelled like pot every day when we were getting ready for dinner. There was a fistfight in the dining room on the first night. My husband interfered when a 20 something man pulled his mother's hair so violently she almost fell over. The ship was also one of the oldest ships we have been on, and it definitely showed its age.  

That being said, we still had a acceptable time, but not nearly a good as every other cruise. We just booked a 3 nighter on the Mariner of the Seas. I was tempted by carnival, which was half the price. My  husband, who usually lets me make all the travel decisions, swiftly said "no way. Spend the extra money.  Don't you remember last year?"

 

[cruiseapril]

CoCo Cay is a very nice island.