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I think I generally agree. I think the Ultimate Dining Package is perfect if you fit into one of these two categories: You have not sampled any/few specialty restaurants and want to try them all out You dislike the main dining room to the point of not wanting to eat there at all

Exactly how it started for me, I started looking early this year and found a Star Class on Allure in January of 2019, so I booked it, been paying monthly ever since, figured I had over a year to pay it off. If I go a week before or the week after the date I booked the price goes up by half, I guess I just got lucky.

Here you go again! Now where and when! LOL!!! I asked my planner at "X", other than size of room and cost, nothing is different, same everything. I'm booked in Sky Suite on all 3 X Cruises, have Butler, Luminae , etc. got all 4 of the Suite perks too, so no, it's not like having Junior Suite on Rc which doesn't really get any.

Enjoy. I will probably be posting a very similar thing in 112 days and 14 hours...not that I am counting!!!

Really enjoyed the review, really glad you mentioned what you did in the above quote, I think this is what determines what people believe if their cruise was enjoyable or not. I have Freedom booked next year, have been on Liberty twice, I believe you will enjoy her just as much.

Like a grand suite versus a loft suite on Oasis/Quantum class. Celebrity suite isn't two levels so its not a perfect comparison, but the perks are the same, just a bigger room and a bigger price tag.

I don't know how to do a screen shot, but I can copy & paste. LOL Here is what the excursion says: Florida Mall Shopping Transfer Overview This dynamic shopping destination offers 1.7 million square feet of retail, dining and entertainment options. Prominent department and anchor stores include Macy's, Dillard's and JC Penney. Transfer via air conditioned comfortable coach for a shopping trip to one of Florida's largest indoor malls. Accompany your day by choosing from an expansive array of dining choices and health-conscious eateries. With more than 250 retailers including American Girl, Crayola Experience, M&M's World store, The Disney Store, A/X Armani Exchange, The Apple Store and Zara. Reusable shopping bag and Savings Passport to over 100 stores are included in your transportation. PC81 $54 per adult and child.

That's my take and also my planners. I have to be honest with you, I was looking at Seaside too, she looks beautiful!! I think you will love it, but I know concerns about it being more of a North American type cruise. She does look like a beauty though! I would like the larger suite but couldn't justify unless I win the lottery! LOL

Great news for me, as i thought we got a queen. I think I figured out why they call it a "Royal" king instead of just a king. A normal king is 80" long while a twin is 76". So when you ush the two twins together you do get the king width but not the king length. My wife and I shared a queen at her parents house last week and now i am relieved to hear the cruise will be a king.

It's basically two twins pushed together.

Exactly.

well the day has arrived....we will be leaving for Galveston today and leaving tomorrow on our cruise....so so excited....this will be our first cruise and we are ready to rest, relax and have fun...thanks again so much for all the answers to my many many questions...

You know you're in love with cruising when you know exactly when your next cruise is! Many of us are like you I'm sure ?

Excellent review, Matt.

Thank you @twangster for a wonderful live blog. I really enjoyed reading this every day and found myself routinely checking for new posts. Your photos alone were amazing, and I think we all picked up some tips/ideas from your experience. Well done!

You could also ask for an extra comforter and put that underneath your bedsheet.

Thanks for this very nice detailed blog , Enjoyed every post , got me even more excited for my Independence OTS next month.

Thank you for a great live blog!!

I found out that my issue occurs with Chrome only. I tried Firefox and could see the two missing ships. I also tried Internet Explorer and saw them but at about 5 times slower than with Chrome. I determined that when I had Chrome sat at 100% zoom, the Grandeur and Ovation were off the bottom and the slider wouldn't let me move the screen down to see them. However, if I changed my zoom to 90%, they "magically" appeared on the screen. I have never had this happen on other websites, so I never thought of adjusting the zoom level.

The "fine print" is worth noting on those packages, won't get the alcohol on board if sailing out of Galveston and isn't available on 15 ships:

Fantastic. Thanks.

I did a GS on Harmony on deck 6. It was on starboard so not exactly the same, but I heard nothing from the promenade and at times promenade noise is going to be louder than most Schooner Bar noise. Piano's aren't that loud :) I really like the location, so convenient to everything.

I'm piling on here twangster, but have to thank you for the excellent commentary and beautiful photos. Freedom is now on my bucket list.

Fantastic blog :) sailing for 1st time on freedom in nov 2018 so this has helped a lot

Well you won’t have far to go when it’s closing time ?

To me, San Juan starts with a walking tour of Old San Juan. You can do it on your own, and there is a ton of history there. Again, to me, the best way to start that tour is to walk around the south side of the wall and enter through the original city gate. From the gate, it's straight up the hill two blocks to the San Juan Cathedral and the tomb of Ponce De Leon. The church is open all day. You can just walk in so long as you do so respectfully. Once you leave there turn right and head up the hill to an incredible 16th century old fort (El Morro). A romantic thing for couples to do is to fly a kite on the grounds of El Morro. Have lunch. Ice Cream at Ben and Jerry's. Shopping. It's all there.

Cruise Summary An important question after any cruise is... "Would you sail this ship again?". YES! I enjoyed my time on the Freedom of the Seas and would not hesitate to sail her again. Wait staff in the restaurants were great. Food in the Windjammer and the My Time Dining room was very good. Cabin service awesome. Everything was clean As for the ship layout and features I can see why so many like this class of ship. I really like having open access to the helipad and the solarium pool being uncovered. I'm glad I had the opportunity to try both the Voom Surf as well as Surf and Stream. I had several hour or two hour wifi phone calls using the basic Surf. During heavy rain it slowed down, a phenomenon called rain-fade that affects all satellite reception even on land so its not perfect or just like at home, but heck I'm in the middle of an ocean. The O3b satellite system makes a big difference and I'm hoping ships like Mariner or Independence entering dry dock next year will receive this upgrade. The comedians were very funny without resorting to excessive profanity that some comedians use in lieu of not being that funny. Some of the entertainers left mid-cruise while others replaced them. It was nice to have new faces and new shows. There is always risk booking a 'guarantee' cabin. When I saw a deck 10 cabin assigned I was curious if pool deck noise would be an issue. I am happy to report it was not. One of the crew is approaching the end of their contract term and had been assigned another ship for his next engagement. He requested staying on Freedom and was approved. He also told me he is trying to get an extension on his current term. Obviously the crew like the Freedom of the Seas as well. I can't think of a single negative crew experience anywhere on the ship. Freedom is not a brand new ship and after sailing on Harmony a few weeks ago you do need to maintain perspective and research the ship. By doing so expectations were met and overall I'm very happy with the experience. Money well spent. The only problem - it was too short. I had almost made it into a B2B but work intervened. Having sailed Freedom I'll keep an eye on her in the spring for short term deals. Liberty is high on my list for her water slides and I've booked Independence so hopefully soon I can complete the Freedom class trilogy.

Today was a beautiful sunny day as we made our way around the North coast of Cuba on our way back to Port Everglades in Ft. Lauderdale. I enjoyed my lunch in the Windjammer, took in some sun at various places including the solarium, captured some sunset pictures and headed to dinner in the MDR. Minutes ago I entered an elevator and made small talk as you some times do in an elevator. When a woman asked how am I am doing I replied "Not good, I have to leave tomorrow". At that point none other than Super Mario turned from looking out the elevator at the promenade and said "get off my ship!". Too funny! With his back turned I had no idea I was chatting with him! I'm procrastinating at the moment. Packing my bags is what I should be doing, but as long as I make the final theater show at 9pm... Here are some sunset photos from tonight: I caught a cat running down the stairs after the Dreamworks parade. One last look at the decks 3, 4 and 5.

hey all. im joost 33 year old from the netherlands, took my dad on our first "try out" cruise in 2013 on the mayesty he 4 night bahama's cruise. after that we did a 7 night western caribbean on the allure. recently i booked us a cruise on the freedom in march 2018

Day 8 - Sea Day, Last Day Sunrise as we make our way back to Port Everglades

OMG. This blog is so awesome, I just booked Indy next month! Ok @Matt I know you are going on her next week, tag... you're it!

Here are my pictures from this evening. We start with sail away from Ocho Rios just as the sun was going down. The helipad is a popular place for sail aways and tonight was no exception. I've said it before, but I need to say it again. Royal Caribbean ships are beautiful by day but equally so at night. Mini-golfers still golfing away... How about the solarium at night? Pretty cool... I was hoping to visit the helipad after dark to try to capture some night sky and star shots. I've done night sky photography before but always questioned if you could do so from a moving ship. The helipad seemed like a nice dark spot to try but alas, it was gated off tonight. So I headed aft and tried from there. Not great, but better than I expected with the ship's motion. The white blob bottom left is the propeller wake. Once the Milky Way heads back to our side of the equator I may try this again if I can find a dark spot on a ship on a some future cruise. Back to the ship, shuffle board anyone? I was actually lying on the deck for this shot. Perspective is important with Ultra Wide Angle lens especially fisheye. Isaac's Dining Room Entrance Elevator bank looking towards Boleros Lastly, the show tonight was "Two Funny Guys - Mario & Daniel". Very funny. Well done. I arrived late and slipped in the back. I had my UWA lens on - so much for seeing Mario & Danial in this picture, but still very funny.

@twangster RC should pay you commission! After looking at these pics for the last few days, and having never sailed Freedom class myself, I just booked a cruise on Indy! Figured it would be very similar since they are sister ships and Indy will have the slides and trampoline park by the time we sail her. I have to say, your pics had a lot to do with the decision making! Thanks! Even my husband who never knows the where, what, how, and when is asking, "So, what pics did Twangster post today?" ??Thanks for taking the time to do this blog!

Based on an email from Royal Caribbean to a concerned guest, there are exclusions to this rule: Pregnancy Recovering Alcoholic Medical Reason Religious Reason Does Not Consume Alcohol Due to Personal Preference Royal Caribbean announced earlier this year it was going to test this policy change on Harmony of the Seas. The policy change would match other major cruise lines that Royal Caribbean competes with that already have a similar rule in place.

While I think there should be a sauce or some type of garnish, I don't think it looks that bad. If eat it. Maybe pedestrian, but still edible.

Labadoozie is better!

I like the Lava Flow --- then the "Blue" drink, then the "Green" drink, then the "Orange" drink ..... and so on, and so on ...... I'm on vacation, they all taste good ..... However, in the morning, it's all about Bloody Marylands

The last meal for us was the lamb shank on Grandeur. At least, that's what Dan had. I think I had fried cod of some kind. First meal ? Who knows....whatever the MDR was serving the first night of our very first cruise, which was also on Grandeur...out of Tampa. My favorite thing to eat on Royal is the cream of mushroom soup so if I could only order 1 more thing for eternity, that would be it ! I would beg for a Grand Marnier Souffle to go with it though....