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Freedom out of Port Canaveral


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I sail on both Carnival and RCCL. I have been looking at Freedom of the Seas when they move her to Port Canaveral. Why is it so expensive, and during hurricane season? It's way more than Mariner was when she was

here. No wonder people flock to the Glory here including me!!!

What do you guys think?

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ALthough I agree with you, 100%, if RCI can sell enough rooms at the highest price they can get... they'll keep doing it.

 

I can save over $2,000 by sailing on the Glory, but for now, I am keep RCI reservation because I really REALLY want to try Royal and go to Labadee.

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ALthough I agree with you, 100%, if RCI can sell enough rooms at the highest price they can get... they'll keep doing it.

 

I can save over $2,000 by sailing on the Glory, but for now, I am keep RCI reservation because I really REALLY want to try Royal and go to Labadee.

 

 

You won't be disappointed with Labadee!!! Its our favorite port. I usually don't like the private islands. Just make sure you bring some singles with you because the workers on the island live there. They will help you get a chair and they sort of expect a dollar or two in return. Normally I would ignore them, but their poverty is worse than any island I've ever been to. Aside from that, all the food and drinks are prepared by the ship's crew. Even the doctor in the infirmary is from the ship. Learned that after getting stung by a jellyfish.

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I've been on Freedon and going again, I always book on a cruise or sooner, at lest one year before. The prices are much better and this ship is a class below Oaisis. The price are good for how large the ship is. If you book less then 9 months before sailing you are going to pay more.

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I have been waiting for the past few years to book this ship but wanted the prices to go down before booking it. As soon as I heard that FOS was going to Port Canaveral, I marked the day the itinerary was supposed to come out (April 2008) and called them. At that time the prices were very reasonable, much cheaper than what they are now but as time goes by they increase the price and maybe as it gets closer to the sailing date then lower it.

 

I am just happy that I have a 35 minute drive to the port and that I can finally cruise FOS at a reasonable price. Of couse it helps that we are going in October, when is usually cheaper, but coincidentally my inlaws are coming with us and it is MIL 60th bday and their 40th wedding anniversary.

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There are several other RCCL ships that are less expensive than Freedom out of Port Canaveral. The main reason why is supply and demand. RCCL has been AOL from Port Canaveral for seven night cruises since Mariner left there back in January. That port is very good for RCCL and now that Freedom will be sailing from there in May, that area is very "hungry" for a RCCL seven night cruise. Hence the supply and demand theory.

 

I have spoken with a couple of TA's on and off this board and they all say the same thing that Port Canaveral is very important to RCCL.

 

SIDE NOTE: Even though there is travel involved, Liberty out of Miami during the same time is much less expensive. We were booked for May 24th on Freedom but changed to May 23rd on the Liberty due to price. The very same cabin, E1, was $250 pp less on Liberty than Freedom. Today the price is $450 pp less.

 

Tim

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Port Canaveral is a popular port to cruise out of and the Freedom being a popular ship I guess does not help the matter. We love cruising out of there, but Trying Puerto Rico this summer for the AOS.

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I've seen Glory sir, and Glory is no Freedom! Just kidding, while having seen Glory, I am pretty ignorant about it other than than seeing it looked about the same size as Voyager when we were docked side by side. RCI has had almost every Freedom class ship sail totally full since the Freedom went to see back in '06. Not much need to lower prices when they leave full. To others, is my info still up to date? I haven't seen any last minute deals to fill the ship like there was for Navigator recently.

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are you sure? I booked a balcony April 2008 as well and paid less than that (not counting the C&A discount) per person.

Yep, it came to like $992.55 pp with the fees and everything. My son in the cabin as the 3rd person was $461.55. I did book thru a TA. Would that make any difference?

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Yep, it came to like $992.55 pp with the fees and everything. My son in the cabin as the 3rd person was $461.55. I did book thru a TA. Would that make any difference?

 

yeap that is right, that is what I got too then I applied the $100 balcony cabin discount to the total bill. That is almost what a window cabin is going for right now.

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I was just about to ask the same question.

 

Looking at four - 7 day cruises for the same approximate dates in October to celebrate a 30th wedding anniversary. All the cruises are for the Eastern Caribbean and all hit St. Thomas (where we spent our honeymoon) and also private islands. All ships will hit 4 ports, except for the Freedom which only visits 3.:rolleyes: The other ships go to the Turks and Caicos which we have never visited.

 

Although the Freedom is a larger ship, we only see it as holding more people and the size offers little else in comfort and amenities for us personally.

 

We have previously sailed on all the mentioned ship types, so we know what to expect with each class of ship. The pricing (before tax/port) is as follows for a regular balcony stateroom pp:

 

Freedom - $1098 - Port Canaveral

HAL Eurodam - $764 - FT. Lauderdale

Emerald Princess - $788 - FT. Lauderdale

Carnival Liberty - $639 - Miami

 

We would like to sail with RCCL so that we can receive our newly awarded Diamond discounts and any other incentives we are due. However, the Eurodam offers better pricing, food, service and accommodations as far as we are concerned. We feel that we will get what we paid for with Carnival, and although we have had a great experience with Princess in the past, for the same fare, we would pick HAL over Princess.

 

So, why should we go with RCCL and spend $334pp ( $668 total) more? :rolleyes: OK, to be fair, once we use the $200 off balcony discount, the total amount would only be $468 more. That's a few shore excursions worth!

 

My question is...if I book now at the current, non-special, normal rate, and prices go down closer to next October, will I be assured a price reduction? The only price reductions that I have seen closer to sailaway have been for new bookings only. Or, should we just wait to book late, like we have for our last few cruises?

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As you will see by my sig, I have sailed with RCCL several times the past 8 years. With that said, if my memory serves me correctly, out of those 16 cruises, I have had price reductions on at least 10 of those. Those reductions came after I had booked. RCCL gave me EVERY reduction.

 

No, I don't book with a ta for this very reason. If the price goes down and I see that change (yes, I check the price DAILY) I will be on the phone immediately to get that drop. Booking with a ta sometimes will not get you that reduction, not because they do not want you to get it, but they have other customers to tend to and sometimes they cannot drop everything they are doing to get you that change. You cannot call RCCL directly and get the lower price if you book with a ta, only your ta and do this. I once used a ta and did not get the drop because they waited too long to call and the reduction was no longer available.

 

Tim

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We're looking at Freedom for this fall, and although the prices are high now, I will BET that they drop closer to sailing time. I normally wait after final payment is due (60 days out) before booking. We always got an excellent fare on Mariner when I waited to book. But then we're not really picky about which cabin we get.

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I have been on the Glory and had a very nice cruise. We are going on FOS in Feb. It was a hard decision because of the price difference but I want to see the ship for myself. The show on the travel channel really hooked me. I also want to see Coco Cay.

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I love Port Canaveral! Mainly because it is only 20 minutes from my house and I don't have to pay the ridiculous parking fees. I've been out of Miami, Ft Lauderdale, and PC. All were pretty similiar experiences. Getting lost just East of the Port of Miami is also an exciting experience.

 

If I was flying to Florida I don't think I would pay the extra money that RCCl is getting for the Freedom. Orlando is 50 miles from the port so there is the extra fees associated with getting here. I know the Ft. Lauderdale airport is very close to the port. I'm not sure about Miami but I believe the airport and cruise port are very close together.

 

Don't get me wrong, getting to PC is very easy from Orlando and just south of the port is Cocoa Beach, a fantastic little beach town that is very safe to walk around in. Most people do not know anything about Cocoa Beach except Ron Jon's and I Dream of Jeannie (which is a street in town). There is plenty of places to eat, do some shopping, and miles of gorgeous beach.

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We could not wait until the Freedom moved-up the coast because my girls loved the Liberty and basically same ship and now less than an hour drive for me. As for Port Canaveral (PC), has a great population range to pull from if you draw out an 8 to 10 hour drive circle for those in the south who may be willing to drive to a port. FLL & MIA are nearly four hours away further south and reduces the drive crowd from the rest of the south substantially.

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Booking Freedom in October and September can get you some decent prices, but if you need to travel during the summer or school breaks, there are no bargain prices to be found. The most I ever hope for is that my price will come down even a little bit.

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I love Port Canaveral! Mainly because it is only 20 minutes from my house and I don't have to pay the ridiculous parking fees. I've been out of Miami, Ft Lauderdale, and PC. All were pretty similiar experiences. Getting lost just East of the Port of Miami is also an exciting experience.

 

If I was flying to Florida I don't think I would pay the extra money that RCCl is getting for the Freedom. Orlando is 50 miles from the port so there is the extra fees associated with getting here. I know the Ft. Lauderdale airport is very close to the port. I'm not sure about Miami but I believe the airport and cruise port are very close together.

 

Don't get me wrong, getting to PC is very easy from Orlando and just south of the port is Cocoa Beach, a fantastic little beach town that is very safe to walk around in. Most people do not know anything about Cocoa Beach except Ron Jon's and I Dream of Jeannie (which is a street in town). There is plenty of places to eat, do some shopping, and miles of gorgeous beach.

Love PC, easy for us we live just south of Tampa, usually go the night before and leave the car at a hotel.We are booked on the Freedom for August 30.balcony sateroom is still $899.00, may come down, it's hurricane season. With the balcony discount that is a good price. Been there,done that,getting lost around the port. Scary is the word I would use.
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OK, the stakes just got tighter. The HAL Eurodam cruise has gone up to $825, making the gap only a $346 difference in price. That may be worth the extra eating venues that the Eurodam doesn't have. Still I think that waiting MAY be the way to go.

 

When does the Freedom arrive in Port Canaveral? That may play a part on demand for the ship, therefore the ship may sell out at the higher prices.

 

teajak - Love PC, easy for us we live just south of Tampa, usually go the night before and leave the car at a hotel.We are booked on the Freedom for August 30.balcony sateroom is still $899.00, may come down, it's hurricane season. With the balcony discount that is a good price. Been there,done that,getting lost around the port. Scary is the word I would use.

 

I am surprised that the balcony price is so low - this early out - for a late summer sailing. Hope you don't run into what we did on the Liberty, last year at the same time. It began the August 29th week. We got a great price, only to find (after boarding) that there were 150 fifteen year old girls and their families celebrating the girl's birthdays. They were from Venezuela and they overtook the ship. :eek: That's really why we are not too crazy about taking that class of ship again. Too many people! I hope that doesn't happen in early October and those girls are back in school.

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