Royal Caribbean Cruise HELP!!

LaurenG1986

We are getting married August 11th, and have finally decided to take a cruise. The two we are looking at are: Allure of the Seas -Western Caribbean to cozumel, haiti, jamiaca. The other one is Freedom of the Seas - Eastern Caribbean to cococay, st. thomas, and st. marten.

Does anyone have any reviews or advice on which cruise to take? I also want to do the dolphin encounter...any reviews on that?  And...is it totally crazy to cruise during hurricane season??

Thanks in advance!!

GoBucksOH

We have cruised with Royal Caribbean 3 times and love it.

We were just on Freedom of the Seas this past November and loved it. It has the FlowRider surf simulator which was awesome, a rock climbing wall, basketball court, miniature golf, awesome food, great shows, you name it. The boat is absolutely huge.

I have been to alot of Caribbean Islands, and St. Maarten is by far my favorite. We hopped a taxi to Orient Beach and rented a jet ski right there on the beach and had a blast, not to mention this beach is really amazing (but beware of the yellow umbrella portion of the beach - its totally nude). St. Thomas is very pretty too - we visited Meghans Bay which was beautiful. We also got a taxi here to go to the beach and just came back and did some shopping when we were done. We saved alot of money doing things on our own vs. doing an excursion.

Good luck

AllyG303

I also prefer the Eastern Caribbean. St Marten is my favorite!  But here's a little info on what we did at these ports:

In Cozumel, we did beginner scuba at a "shipwreck site".  While I think the "shipwreck" was staged, we did see a lot of beautiful fish and lobsters and whatnot, so it was definitely worth it.

In Jamaica, we did the Dunn's River Falls excursion, which was fun, but too touristy, IMO.  They made everybody hold hands while we climbed up the rocks in this huge waterfall (think long chain of about 100 people holding hands). 

In St Thomas, I did an "Ultimate Island Adventure" the first time around which was a tour of the island and a stop for lunch and stop at Magen's Bay (BEAUTIFUL!).  We rented a kayak at Magen's bay and saw a few turtles swimming around.  The second time around, we skipped the tour and just went to Magen's Bay for the day. 

In St Marten, the first time around we went to Orient Beach.  The second time around we went parasailing. 

As far as the ships go, Allure is larger than the Freedom, and is split into "neighborhoods"...personally, I am dying to go on this ship. I love the feel of large cruises and having so many choices of things to do.  That being said, Freedom is also a large ship (just not as large as the Oasis or Allure), and would also have plenty to do. I think the ports would be more something you would want to look at, than the ships themselves. 

Also, like pp said, ships will navigate around hurricanes and storms, so you aren't crazy for going then.  I've been hit twice by tropical storms.  The first time, the waves were huge and going over the top of the boat (this was 14 years ago, before the ships were as large as they are now).  Everyone was sick, but it was nothing that some dramamine and a nap didn't cure.  The second time, just large waves, you could feel the ship rocking a little more, but the only downfall was that we had an extra day at sea since we couldn't dock at the port on the schduled day (it was a port you had to take tenders into), but they made up for it by stopping on the way back.

strlzfan11

Check out cruisecritic.com to read reviews of the two itineraries you are looking at.

lls31

I absolutely LOVE Royal Caribbean.  I don't have anything bad to say about any of the cruises I've taken through them.  While I haven't cruised on either ship that you mentioned, I would recommend the Eastern Caribbean itinerary.  I will never again go on another cruise that docks in Haiti (and, if I do, I won't get off the ship).  It was a beautiful island, but I was very uncomfortable there.  Locals tried to sell us souvenirs and proceeded to follow us for quite a while when we said we were not interested.  The only other port you listed that I've been to is St Thomas and I LOVED it.  We spent the majority of the day at the gorgeous Magen's Bay, then also hit up Paradise Point on our way back to the ship.  If you have a chance to check out Paradise Point, be sure to try the Bushwacker drink while you enjoy the view.  It's delicious!