4 night on Freedom of the Seas or 3 nights on Disney Wish?

[firstwdw]

RCCL Freedom would be a 4 nights in a balcony room and DCL Wish would be 3 nights in an ocean view for $300ish more than Freedom. Freedom from Miami and Wish from Port Canaveral. Also, are we crazy to even consider late August?

 

[gregorykicks]

RCCL Freedom would be a 4 nights in a balcony room and DCL Wish would be 3 nights in an ocean view for $300ish more than Freedom. Freedom from Miami and Wish from Port Canaveral. Also, are we crazy to even consider late August?

3 nights is really short. The embarking day is a half day as you board at lunch, then disembarking you're off the ship in the morning and everything is closed except breakfast. So, if you think of it as a two full day vs 3 full day cruise I think it leans heavily towards Freedom. I would bet Freedom goes to Coco Cay too, which is a really fantastic stop.

As far as August, is your concern hurricanes? If there is one, the cruise line will take care of you on the cruise front. Either by changing the itinerary or canceling with refund and credit. When I'm cruising during hurricane season and flying to my cruise I buy third party trip insurance. That way your entire trip is covered by one policy.

 

[firstwdw]

3 nights is really short. The embarking day is a half day as you board at lunch, then disembarking you're off the ship in the morning and everything is closed except breakfast. So, if you think of it as a two full day vs 3 full day cruise I think it leans heavily towards Freedom. I would bet Freedom goes to Coco Cay too, which is a really fantastic stop.

As far as August, is your concern hurricanes? If there is one, the cruise line will take care of you on the cruise front. Either by changing the itinerary or canceling with refund and credit. When I'm cruising during hurricane season and flying to my cruise I buy third party trip insurance. That way your entire trip is covered by one policy.

Thank you! Yes concerned about Hurricanes and yes Freedom goes to Coco Cay so that is sounding more appealing. Would prefer to fly into Orlando and do Independence but they are pretty booked up.

 

[gregorykicks]

Thank you! Yes concerned about Hurricanes and yes Freedom goes to Coco Cay so that is sounding more appealing. Would prefer to fly into Orlando and do Independence but they are pretty booked up.

Plan to fly in the day before the cruise if you can. It really helps reduce stress if your flight is delayed or cancelled.

One downside to Orlando is the 45min+ drive to Port Canaveral. In Miami it's much closer and some hotels even have free or discounted shuttles.

 

[John VN]

RCCL Freedom would be a 4 nights in a balcony room and DCL Wish would be 3 nights in an ocean view for $300ish more than Freedom. Freedom from Miami and Wish from Port Canaveral. Also, are we crazy to even consider late August?

We would go with Royal (verandah) + Coco even if Royal was a bit more.

 

[starvenger]

$300 less for an extra day + a balcony would be the deciding factor for me.

With that said, if sailing Wish was on your to-do list, it might be a good time to try it out.

 

[OKW Lover]

We are veteran cruisers on both RCL (Diamond +) and Disney (Platinum). We enjoy both lines. This decision would be easy for us - the longer cruise always wins. The fact that it's cheaper for a better cabin just makes that even more so.

Unless there is a reason you want to sail on the Wish, like just to experience the new ship, go with Royal.

 

[RAD]

If you just have to have that DCL experience and will miss it then I'd say stay with DCL so you're not kicking yourself for not going on it. That said agree with all the other posts about 3 days is too short, heck we're finding 7 days is getting too short for us. But be warned, while RCCL is a good cruise line the level of service they have is not as high as DCL, so if you're looking to have your hand held and little extra service don't expect it.

 

[verleniahall]

we loved Freedom of the Seas when I was invited on a FAM cruise at the 2021 restart - we keep saying that we are going to go again on her!

 

[starvenger]

heck we're finding 7 days is getting too short for us

I hear you. I'm actually doing an 11 night on Regal Princess as my post-pandemic return to cruising. We'll see if that's good or overkill.

 

[ronandannette]

I hear you. I'm actually doing an 11 night on Regal Princess as my post-pandemic return to cruising. We'll see if that's good or overkill.

Have you sailed Princess before? If not, and RCCL and DCL are your usual lines (or NCL or Carnival), you may find it to be a huge snooze-fest. Two of our most recent cruises (2022 & 2023) have been on Regal and Royal (same class ships) and we found them to be the ships that fun forgot. If you like some of the more whimsical entertainment and activity options the more family-oriented lines all have on their newer ships, you'll find none of it on Princess.

On the up-side, service, food and showroom entertainment is just fine, although we personally find Princess's buffet venues to be dreadful. If pure relaxation is what you're after, or certain ports on an itinerary, Princess may be perfect. The Regal has a great area called the Hollywood Beach Club (no charge) and both have really nice thermal spa facilities ($$$). Their pricing this year is also extremely good; lower than even Carnival on almost every comparable route. Alas, we've now used up all our pandemic-cancellation related credits and it would take some special circumstances for us to want to book Princess again, at any price.

 

[starvenger]

I was on the prior Regal Princess back in 2006, so am aware that the cruise line has more limited options vs Royal and Carnival. It's relatively (beach) port heavy, and the kids are in their teens now, so I think we shiuld be able to handle it. We'll probably being the Switch and some games just in case though.