Brilliance of the Seas or Liberty of the Seas?

[Patience]

I am considering two different cruises for our spring break next year and need to make a decision very soon. Brilliance leaves out of Tampa which is closer to us and Liberty leaves out of Fort Lauderdale which means a drive that is two hours longer. It looks like the Liberty is bigger and would be more enjoyable for our 7 year old because of the Dreamworks stuff, ice show, etc. but is it worth a two hour longer drive? At this point, we are planning to drive but that may change if I can find a good deal on airfare.

Opinions? Brilliance or Liberty?

Thanks!

 

[ldo]

We had a nice cruise on the L, but my 13 yr old was a bit disappointed--and we are spoiled by DCL's movie theater. We were expected a DreamWorks experience. L does have many photo ops with DreamWorks characters--Shrek, Fiona, Panda, etc---but don't expect to see those movies in a theater experience on board. Puss/boats and another movie were on the TV, but L doesn't have a movie theater. They showed 1 3D movie in the auditorium on a 4 day cruise, and 1 PG movie late at night by the pool. During the day, the pool screen showed poker, tennis, and other sports--no movies (at least when I looked--which was often). I even asked at guest services if I was missing something.
Unless super adventurous, a 7 yr old is unlikely to do flowrider (I think that age might be able to knee board--but maybe too young), certainly not the climbing wall. So, that leaves putt-putt, kids club, and some DreamWorks stuff. So, even though L is "bigger" that might not be better for a 7 yr old. My 13 yr old was too timid to do flowrider or climbing wall. We did enjoy the ice show.
At 5-9 yrs old, my kids loved RCCL kids clubs (more so than DCL kids clubs on the Dream). They really preferred the smaller ships for my personal attention vs. the larger ships with many more kids.
Brilliance, while not having the DreamWorks stuff, has a small movie theater--which tends to show the same movie all day--so on a 4-5 days cruise, probably at least 1-2 movies might be G rated.
If your child will go into a kids club, then I think the Brilliance would be fine, as the more active stuff is too old for her on the L.
Don't know how much that helps--but the lack of movies really shocked us, esp. given the hype about DreamWorks--sorta weird.

 

[Patience]

Thanks for the reply! Did your kids like the kids club on both the Brilliance and the Liberty? My 7 year old daughter is actually not that into movies. I think she will enjoy going to the kids club though and she likes Shrek, Fiona and Kung Fu Panda so if there are a lot of chances to see them on the Liberty that would be good. There is no way she would ride the flo rider or go on the rock wall though. On the other hand, our 19 year old daughter (who will be 20 by then) would like both the flo rider and the rock wall. It's hard sometimes finding something fun for both of our daughters due to the age difference between them. Did you try the character breakfast or see the character parade on the Liberty?

We would love to do a Disney cruise but the Royal Caribbean cruise is a really good deal.

 

[ldo]

my kids are 13 and 17. They did not go into the kids club on the L--once they hit 12 it became hit or miss---but at 5-10 they loved RCCL kids clubs on a variety of ships. We did not do the character breakfast, but saw part of the parade. If you are taking a 20 yr old also, I would choose the L. If your DD is into characters, then I would probably choose the L. The ship is very nice, what you would normally have on a weeklong cruise. They also have a very fun free pizza parlor place with appetizers, desserts and fruit cups. Also Johnny Rockets (fee) looked very fun. The cupcake cupboard has kids classes--they do some cool things. Wish I had signed my kids up for that--I thought it would be silly, but they made amazing cupcakes. The Grease show is very good--Broadway quality IMHO--and it would probably go over your 7 yr olds head. Actually, thinking about it, it was a good cruise, esp for the price.

 

[woody73]

. . . is it worth a two hour longer drive?

. . . My 7 year old daughter

. . . she likes Shrek, Fiona and Kung Fu Panda

. . . character parade on the Liberty?

We were just on the Liberty of the Seas. I think it would be worth a two hour drive so your 7-year-old could see the Dreamworks Parade. Video

Woody

 

[karmacats]

For a 2-hour drive, I'd do the Liberty for sure. Newer ship with more bells and whistles, and Dreamworks characters all over the place, as well as a Dreamworks parade down the central Promenade one day.

FWIW, Liberty does have a small movie theater. It's listed in the cruise compasses as "the screening room," I think - kind of stupid not to label it as the movie theater, as most people don't know it's there. I've been on Liberty 3 times (the most recent about a month ago) and each time it's shown 2-3 movies a day. As a PP said, there are also occassional 3-D movies during the day in the main theater - we saw Puss in Boots there and then they had the character waiting at the exit for pictures. Watching a 3-D movie while rolling through the ocean is kind of like a 90-minute Disney ride!

 

[ldo]

wow--that really stinks! I went to guest services and asked if there was ANYWHERE that they were showing ANY other movies---the employee even checked with a supervisor--and said only 1 in auditorium and 1 by the pool. That would have made a big difference to us on those sea days!
ps-show on L is Sat Night Fever, not Grease.

 

[karmacats]

wow--that really stinks! I went to guest services and asked if there was ANYWHERE that they were showing ANY other movies---the employee even checked with a supervisor--and said only 1 in auditorium and 1 by the pool. That would have made a big difference to us on those sea days!
ps-show on L is Sat Night Fever, not Grease.

I'm sorry- that does stink. Now you know for next time!

 

[Patience]

Awesome everyone! We decided to book two cabins on the Liberty. I think it's a better fit for our us with our daughters being so far apart in age. One more questions please? How far in advance can I book the ice show and the character breakfast? Thanks again! PS: Thank you Woody for posting the video of the parade! My youngest is going to love that!

 

[karmacats]

Awesome everyone! We decided to book two cabins on the Liberty. I think it's a better fit for our us with our daughters being so far apart in age. One more questions please? How far in advance can I book the ice show and the character breakfast? Thanks again! PS: Thank you Woody for posting the video of the parade! My youngest is going to love that!

Awesome. I bet you and your family will love it! Royal doesn't really have a set schedule for opening entertainment and dining bookings - it really varies by sailing. Sometimes it can be as early as 6 months before sailing, but usually it's around 3 months before. I'd start checking their website occasionally at 6 mos or so, and more frequently around 3 mos.

Also, the cruise critic boards have "roll calls" which are similar to the "cruise meets" threads on the disney cruise line forum here. if you join that site and get on a roll call for your sailing, generally someone on there will announce when bookings have opened.

 

[Patience]

Great, thanks karmacats!

 

[disneybass]

Thanks for the discussion on Brilliance of the Seas. After 5 Disney cruises we decided we needed to try RCCL to have something to compare to. With the May special for 2nd passenger for 1/2 price we booked the Brillance next April for a 5 night cruise. Looking forward to it!