Hello everyone. My boyfriend and I are trying to book our first cruise together. It is my first cruise ever. We are both in our early 20s. I'm down to 2 options and I'd love some help deciding.
1) Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas going to
San Juan
Charlotte Amalie St. Thomas
Philipsburg St. Maarten
2) Princess's Caribbean Princess going to
Princess Cays
St. Maarten
St. Thomas
Some other information:
-we want to be involved in excursions as well as spending time on the beaches
-we would prefer a less "family oriented" ship with lots of children as we are a couple
-Pricewise, we could get a mini suite on the Princess for about $200 more than a normal balcony room on the Freedom
Hi Serena, welcome to cruise-chat! Freedom of the Seas has more on board activities to offer, such as the flo-rider. FOS is larger and will have more children on board. Princess accomodates families and has activities for children, but their marketing focus is not particularly family oriented and there is an intimate feeling on board. The Caribbean Princess is a relatively new ship, she is beautiful. Your ports are basically the same except Princess Cays is Princess's private island. It is really a pretty island, and only cruise passengers will be ashore. There are some shops set up outside the gate in the back with a few local vendors. I've read very good review from FOS, but have not personally sailed on her. My personal choice is Princess, but that is just my personal opinion. SonnyV cruises strictly Royal Caribbean and it's his favorite. We've sailed on NCL, RCI, HAL, Costa, Carnival, and Princess. I feel Princess does it best. I'm sure this hasn't helped much, but either cruise you choose I'm sure you'll be hooked. Be warned, cruising is addictive
Hello Serena, let me add my welcome's as well. You didn't mention when you will be cruising. This will have an impact on how many kids you might encounter on either ship. Obviously, there will be more kids if school is out and families are vacationing. If you can travel when school is in session you, will probably not encounter too many on either ship. I would think the FOS would attract more families. I can only speak to the newer Princess ships since I haven't been on the FOS, but as Penny said, we have never had a bad experience on Princess. After reviewing all the posts you get, pick the ship that feels right for you. Either way, I'm sure you will have a great experience!!
Just to throw my late two cents in here, either ship would be a great cruise, but based on the information you gave us, I would agree with Penny and carlg: Princess would be your best choice.
Hmmm... maybe this should have been posted in the Princess forum. Getting imput about the Freedom of the Seas from those that have never sailed on her... .
Well I tell you this the Freedom is a beautiful ship and I didn't feel like I was run over with children you barely even noticed kids were aboard the ship I loved it the crew was the best and the food was good and there was always plenty to do.
So how's that. All this from a first time cruiser ........
It is true that I have not sailed on FOS, but I have sailed RCL 3 times. One was a 7 day, one for 14 days, and one for 21 days. On each of the 3 cruises, there were more children than on any of the 6 Princess cruises I've been on. FOS is larger than the Caribbean Princess, and does have more on board activities. FOS is newer than the Caribbean Princess. I didn't think I had said anything disrespectful, sorry SonnyV.
Originally posted by SONNYV:
Hmmm... maybe this should have been posted in the Princess forum. Getting imput about the Freedom of the Seas from those that have never sailed on her... .
Actually, I thought I was paying a compliment to RCCL with my post. The question was posed for a cruise ship that was "less family oriented". RCCL is very family oriented, which in my opinion is a good thing. We are a family of 4 and I'm sure my kids would love FOS. As I said previously, both Princess and RCCL are good cruise lines (we have experienced both) and either one will not disappoint.
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