Are you sure the Freedom is out of Port Canaveral? RCL’s site shows it sailing out of MIami for Jan-Mar 2024.
They may go to the same places, but in a different order. I think they’re both at Nassau on day 3, but one goes to Coco Cay when the other is at sea.
Also, make sure you are comparing prices evenly - same category of room, same dates, etc. The prices they like to advertise are the lowest price for an inside (no window) guaranty room (they assign it, you don’t pick), of all the dates sailing that given itinerary. The other dates are usually higher.
Thank you for the fact check! It is indeed going out of Miami! Looks like we might be leaning towards the Allure now but no final decision has been made. I hope I am not over selling the Solarium!
My DH is still frustrated from our cruise that my kid’s favorite part was a windowless 20x20 play area. But they keep asking to go back! I think our DCL trip in October will be a really different experience and I am confident that a kid-free cruise will be hit too!
I was wondering about this because I know the Freedom is currently out of Miami. I’m glad to see it still is. I prefer sailing out of Miami. It’s closer for me, but it’s also so much prettier!
For those reading along though I think that it was a “mistake” to take our very first cruise on the Oasis with the TWO private island itinerary. I didn’t even know how ideal that was lol. I basically just want to recreate that cruise every time. Tough problem to have.
We have family and clients who have done the Allure, Freedom, Liberty and Independence.
The Allure had a major ‘creeper factor’ that ruined the vacation for my sister and her family - the ship and amenities were amazing and lived up to the hype, but there were just so many people on board that they ran into issues with a few groups of people who were not respecting personal distance boundaries, were not dressed the way they expected for a family cruise, and another group who seemed to be staring and ‘just close enough’ for so long that they changed their meal reservations.
The freedom class ships were good, but not as easy to navigate in a wheelchair as some of the others.
Looks like you’re already booked, so not a big deal FWIW, but maybe something to look out for.
So interesting! We were lucky to not experience this on the Oasis. I thought it was funny that on a ship so “big” that we kept running into the same families over and over again (in a good way!). I’ve been watching a bunch of Freedom videos and am definitely getting excited!
Oh gosh. Can Alaska even fit a ship of that width??? I thought Disney sent their small guys because even the Dream/Fantasy were too big to manage the inside passage?
I don’t know about what Alaska can handle in the Inside Passage, but for a long time the limitation was which ships could fit through the Panama Canal. The newer Panama canal helps a bit, but there are still limitations on width and height (ships have to sail under the Bridge of the Americas). Not all DCL or RCL ships fit. They’d have to reach Alaska by going through the Suez Canal.
Ah, makes sense. I knew about the Panama Canal limitations and that being the reason the Wonder & Magic (DCL’s smaller ships) were the only ones to have sailed out of San Diego. And I knew that there was a reason that the Fantasy or Dream hasn’t done Alaska but I couldn’t remember why, and like San Diego, it’s probably very much due to their inability to get through the Panama Canal.
