Matt

Freedom, hands down.

Absolutely not. Just like on DCL, the specialty restaurants on RC augment the fabulous complimentary dining. Nearly all the former DCL folks that try RC remark something along the lines of, "the food was WAY better on RC than on DCL". You can very easily enjoy just complimentary food on your RC cruise have a a satisfying experience. I love the main dining room, and the Windjammer buffet offers a very wide assortment of choices. Generally, I recommend trying a specialty restaurant or two to spice things up a bit. It's not absolutely necessary, but I think it helps. Think of it like going to Disney World and sprinkling in a table service restaurant among a trip filled mostly with counter service restaurants. It's just a nice way to make a night or two extra special.

Here's the answer from Royal Caribbean's CEO Michael Bayley why RC is not cruising from California anytime soon

Did you by chance figure out how much the package would be on a daily basis after that discount is applied?

This is a good question for @monorailmedic, since he has had success in requesting liquor not normally carried onboard.

I don't think it's a matter of costs. On any cruise, there will be a portion of guests who want Traditional Dining and another portion that prefer MTD. On some sailings, the numbers skew more in one direction than another. I've seen Traditional "full" also, only to have my waitlist come through with seats.

Great, so you will have two formal nights. First is on night 2, the other will be on night 5 or night 6. It depends on your itinerary. The Cruise Compass will let you know each day what the dress code is for that evening.

Congrats on the upgrade! Love the idea. In my experience, I feel like the appeal and/or benefit of Coastal Kitchen is the service. It's personalized and very attentive. Then again, I've always found the MDR to have attentive service too. It's just that CK is a bit more "intimate".

Welcome! Which ship are you on and how many nights? There will always be a formal night on the second night of the cruise.

That's right. Symphony will be getting it. Majesty has a small slide in their refurbished kids play area

Total eclipse of the heart? Niceeeeee

I think this webpage would be a good starting point: http://www.royalcaribbean.com/allaboutcruising/accessibleseas/accessibleStaterooms.do There's links to show a list of accessible features on each ship

Thanks for sharing your feedback. There is no doubt that there are a lot of ways to spend more money onboard. Drink packages, internet, excursions, etc. However, I see that as a positive because if these things were "included", the bottom line is you would be paying for it. No mass market cruise line, including Disney, includes alcoholic drinks, internet, etc in their cruise fare. The cruise lines that do include it, charge a ton for it. @JBC hits the nail on the head. Go ahead and buy it all, because I'm willing to bet it will still be hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars cheaper than trying to do it all on DCL.

Freedom and Adventure are both large ships, whereas Serenade is a smaller ship. That being said, size alone isn't the entire premise of what makes a ship great or not. Kids or no kids on this cruise? I'd also say the itinerary each ship is doing may be a big factor in picking one over the other.

Yes, this was from the Memorial Day sale last week

Yes, exactly

I believe Stephanie is referring to the debate between Traditional Dining and My Time Dining.

They usually kick you out of your cabin much earlier than the last disembarkation times. Which port are you disembarking from? Generally speaking, if you are among the first or last to disembark, you can avoid the bulk of the lines. Then again, some ports mitigate the lines at Customs better than others.

Here's a Cruise Compass from Anthem of the Seas 9-night New England & Canada cruise: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/cruise-compasses/anthem-of-the-seas/thu-2016-09-08-0000 Might give you an idea of what to expect.

That is great news!

I think when the ships are no longer the focal point of TV commercials.

I agree. A TA with experience in cruises and/or Royal Caribbean can make a big difference.