Thread: Family Cruise advice (Conquest or Freedom of Seas

Hello Family Forum!

Just wanted to see what you all thought about two ships I have narrowed my choice down to.
My family (2 adults, late 40s, girl=12, boy=15) is going to take a Western Carribean cruise next July and I have narrower it down to Carnival's Conquest and RCCL's Freedom of the Seas. I have read many reviews on each ship at Cruisecritic and come away with mixed feelings. Have any of you cruised these ships? Do you have a preference? Could I go wrong with either?

My wife an I cruised a long time ago on RCCL, but not recently.

Thanks for any and all replies!!

I think it depends on what you and the teens are into. If waterslides are a big plus (like they are for us), the Conquest would be a great choice. If they prefer rock climbing walls and the surf simulator, the Freedom might be better. Clearly, if you take the Conquest, you would be out of New Orleans, which is a great embarkation city, but if you take the Freedom, you will be out of Port Canaveral, which might have cheaper air fares (if that is a consideration) Carnival is a good bit cheaper, though, so that cost might be offset by cruise fare. Freedom goes to RCCL's private island on the one Western itinerary for next July, so that might also sway your decision. Would you prefer an extra port, or a private island day? But, also remember that the RCCL ship is much bigger and will have way more people than the Carnival ship. I hope some of this helps and know you will all have a great time, whatever you choose!

Hi KayAnnie,

Thanks for your thoughts. I guess I'm concerned about three things mainly regarding these two ships.

1. Size of/crowded pools (I heard Conquest's pools are very small and crowded)

2. Size of staterooms (I heard that Freedom's rooms are smaller than Conquest)

3. Service/food quality (I heard that Conquest's food and service was not that great)

My kids are not into the surfing thing but do like pools and rock climbing. All in all, the ports of call are very similar so it's mainly about the ship.

Royal Caribbean cabins tend to be smaller than Carnival's, so your concern #2 is very valid. When you look at the cabins on line, they should give you the sq. footage, and that will give you an idea.

I have cruised both lines but not both ships. I can tell you that service can vary from cruise to cruise, even on the same ship with the same people. I had excellent service on all of my Royal Caribbean cruises, and I was not impressed with the service on my one Carnival cruise. And interestingly, the best part of my Carnival cruise was the dining room staff and food. But they were all different ships than the ones you are looking at, and several years ago. It's just like the stock market; past performance is no guarantee of future value.

I recommend you compare prices and cabins on the ships you are interested in, to see if that will make a difference. Take a GOOD look at the pictures. If you see something you don't like, it won't get better on the ship, and you have to deal with it for a whole week.

Conquest only has the one tiny pool kids can use. Conquest has two pools and the back pool, marked adults only is usually not crowded. There are side by side pools on RCL much bigger for the kids and another huge 3rd pool on Freedom. The hot tubs on Freedom hold twice as many people. I dont have pictures of the pools on Freedom class but this again is Voyager where I took a lot of pictures. .. again only the one pool on Conquest kids can swim in is a huge difference to me and no serenity on conquest (glory for instance has one but not conquest)



If you are getting a inside or OV, then the cabins on Conquest are a little bigger, but RCL makes better use of the space. The cabins on Conquest are larger, but dont have the separate sitting area, this is a OV on Voyager, the class before freedom. (I had a JS on Freedom class).





Balconys are about the same size, in fact overall s.f is larger on RCL, and anything above cabins are larger on Freedom. I know people on the Carnival boards CLAIM all cabins are larger, which isnt true. Notice the space ratio, Freedom OTS obviously has more space per pax

Iv done Conquest 5 times in the last 3 years .. so I am totally familiar with Conquest. Iv had both bad and good service. Food on Carnival is as good as on RCL, good things I like about both lines for food choices. No comparison when it comes to the ships, RCL hands down, but Iv done Carnival so many times its like coming home and its CHEAP.

I loved the PR cabins on RCL, before you put them down because of a few s.f. difference.

Dont know which type of cabin you are even looking at .. but if you want to know about Conquest .. I know too much!!! As you can see Im booked on Conquest again Nov 2012... but have some RCL cruises to do first.

If you tell us the price differences, I would be better able to say which one I would pick and tell us which port is easier for you to get to. Also, which category you are looking at so we know how to tell you how we would compare cabins on each.

Nothing wrong with doing carnival cheap .. I do it all the time to get away. How much more is RCL for the booking you are looking at?

Flowers,

Thanks for a very informative reply ! I appreciate the pictures. These are pictures of an OV on a Voyager class cabin ? So I guess the Freedom OTS would be comparable? When you talked about the pools you mentioned "no serenity on Conquest". Do you mean that there is no adults only pool? I noticed the space ratio also.

I will be checking prices this week and may ask you a few more questions please.

Flowers,

How is the noise in the cabins on Conquest? Any noise from neighboring rooms/hall? Are the cabins on Freedom quieter or the same as Conquest?

Conquest does have a aft pool, where there is a little sign for adults only, some say its only for the hot tubs, some say it includes the pool. Iv seen teens in the pool. Its a nice pool and place to lay out to me... but I like having food close by. Its back where there is a 2nd grill (less crowded than the one by the main pool) and the pizza and 24 hours soft serve is back there and a bar. Its a nice area to me.. but I like seeing people. Its cut out over the pool so only sun to the pool and first line or two of lounge chairs. .. its kinda adult only?? With the pizza area back there, there will always be kids back there too.

the sign in the area does say adults only ..

Noise is subjective. Just look at the deck plans, dont book right below the main pool especially and look to see that there is not a lounge above or below you.

I reformatted my computer and lost my conquest pictures .. but nothing wrong with conquest to me. I have a rule of thumb that if there is a RCL cruise out of Galveston, I would pay about $100 more for RCL but no more than that since I know I will enjoy either of them... though my preference is RCL .. Carnival keeps luring me with their prices and a good cruise.

I think Carnival has more bargains you can book cheap too .. like the PTs. port holes on RCL are OVs, not insides for isntance .. and if you have 3/4 pax, their rates are cheaper on Carnival by far. For a family RCL prices are higher. Im paying $299 for a 3rd on Mariner, but it was only $179 for a 3rd pax on Conquest to compare..

Do beware of Carnival's early saver fare .. most restrictive fare of any cruiseline... no changes without paying even a year in advance.

I don't have experience with RC (I think my daughter would ooh and ah over the climbing wall but five minutes later, she'll be back down -- she's not that adventurous). And we haven't been on Carnival since 2002 so I would hate to say that's good or not. The deal breaker for us would be the lack of self service laundries on RC. Mainly our last several cruises have been either two week ones or the whole vacation (land/cruise) has been at least two weeks in length. With two teens, especially if they are getting in dressing to impress, this may be something to think about. For us, we don't want to spend $ on using the ship's laundry (as well as an allergy to regular laundry detergent for one of us, as well as my daughter and I both have some clothing that's to be hanged to dry).

I'm surprised that Carnival wouldn't have more than one pool available to kids -- maybe in July they would as there should be a large number of kids onboard.

Thanks all for your advice. I went ahead and booked the Freedom of the Seas. I'm definitely paying more than Carnival but I know I will enjoy it immensely!