Jill

I’m leaving next Sunday on Freedom. Our last 3 cruises have been on Oasis, so I sure hope I don’t miss Central Park too much! Definitely get the 3 night dining package to experience the specialty restaurants. There are only 3 on this ship. You can always go back to one a second time if you wish. We have always loved Vintages on Oasis and Freedom has it too. It’s a Tapas/wine bar. This will be my third time to the southern Caribbean. I’ve waited almost 25 years to get back. First two times were on Monarch of the Seas which back then was the largest cruise ship. Times sure have changed. ‘Oh and here’s a tip on the deluxe beverage package.......you generally break even with 4 drinks and 2 bottles of water, so keep that in mind. ?

We’ll be Diamond after our southern Caribbean cruise end of this month. We were old timers that got grandfathered in when they redid C&A back in the 90’s. Technically we have 52 nights but 4 of our cruises were prior to 1997 when you got credit for cruises versus nights. So 7, 7 night cruises and one 3 night got us to Diamond. Easy peasy! Now I need to book our first Diamond cruise but I have a feeling there’s an engagement on the horizon and we may need that money to pay for a wedding! Dying to get on Symphony! Our daughter ( the one likely getting engaged) is doing Symphony in the fall. Have a feeling that’s where the question will be popped. I may have to sneak on that cruise!

I’m 7 weeks out and onboard shows are still not available in my planner. Anyone know when they become available? Sailing Freedom end of March

Has anyone ever done this and was successful? Tempted to bid on Panoramic suite on Freedom.

Anyone know when the 2020 cruises open to book? Wanted to put a deposit down on Symphony for Spring 2020 and it’s only showing dates through spring 2019.

Sailing on Freedom in March and looking for a dinner option since they don’t have as many specialty restaurants as the big ships. Doing a 3 night dining package with return trips to chops and Giovanni’s. That leaves 2 nights open and trying to avoid main dining room and saw the dinner theatre. Thoughts? Experiences?

Anyone know if it will be different? My Black Friday says only 7 more hours left. Is cyber Monday starting tomorrow, Sunday? And will the discounts be different? Does the WOW sale (around Christmas) historically have better deals? Sailing Freedom in March

Thank you!

Do you think a 10:45 flight is ok? We plan to take our own bags off versus putting them outside the night before. I just assumed that a 6am arrival would give us enough time to disembark and get to the airport. When this cruise is completed we’ll be Diamond. Will that expedite our disembarkation? Now I’m worried we’re cutting it too close. Lol

Sailing on Freedom end of March to Southern Caribbean. Haven't been there in over 20 years except for St Maarten, 3 times in the past 7 years. What are your favorite excursions? Which ones to avoid? St Kitts/Nevis Antigua St Lucia Barbados

I changed our Freedom cruise to 3 weeks later. No fee was charged but the price of the cruise was higher because we were now in spring break season. OBC remained the same.

As of today, September 25, Southwest was showing through April 7. We just booked our air from Orlando to San Juan for our March 31 cruise on Freedom. $399 round trip. We had travel funds though from canceled flights to NC during Hurricane Florence, so all we had to pay was $40 for our cruise flights.

Lol, guess hubby and I are in that less than 10%! Last cruise on Oasis last March, we got the deluxe at 30% off. As long as we had 4 drinks and 2 bottles of water, we broke even. We easily consumed that and then some. Works for us! Our Freedom cruise March of 2019 is only showing 10% off deluxe, so I will sit and wait for Black Friday or around Christmas.

Thanks for the tips. Were leaving out of San Juan next March on Freedom and we might fly in the day before. In the past we've flown in the day of, but that makes for a really long day. We've done that twice but we also were in our late 20's, now we are mid 50's! lol

I want to say it's around Christmas. I'll just have to make myself go to the website once a week.

I can't remember when this is. I want to say around Christmas? We're booked on Freedom at the end of March and I want to catch the 30% off sale as it's their biggest discount of the year. Last year I saved over $800 on our Oasis cruise when I called to make final payment, the rep said the fares had dropped and gave me a refund!

We've done Eastern Caribbean 3 times on Oasis. Twice in March and once the first week of May. Disclaimer: I do live in Florida so I get cold easily! lol March can be a bit nippy and windy. May was GLORIOUS! Beautiful weather!

OK, I think we'll just go ahead and try it. I booked it last night. I'll already have all our shows booked prior, so if they can't accommodate easily, I'll jump up and down and cause a scene! ;) This will be our third time on Oasis and the main dining room leaves little to be desired. By booking the package, it saves quite a bit, especially with 4 of us.

Thanks Matt. I read the blog and just have one more question for anyone that has done this: Did anyone have any issues trying to schedule their reservations to coincide with the shows they had booked? That's my fear is that I won't be able to get a dinner reservation(s) that allows us time to get to our show(s).

We've always made reservations for the specialty restaurants individually. Thinking of doing either the 4 or 5 night package this time around. How exactly does it work? I know the first night they put you in one but what about after that? Do I have to make actual reservations once on board at each individual location? What if they don't have times available that coordinate with the shows we have booked? The savings are quite good going the package route. Just don't want to be relegated to eating at 4:30 or 10:30!

I'd love to get a ship in Jacksonville. I don't see why RCcouldnt put a smaller ship here. I have ZERO desire to ever sail Carnival. Several friends have sailed on the one out of Jax and it was just "gross." If they'd move our terminal closer to the ocean, we could take bigger ships. We already are a full fledge port that brings in container ships almost as big as Oasis class. The cruise port however is further down the St Johns river and they've got to go under a bridge and the river is not as deep.

We love Oasis class! So funny seeing the different preferences. You have to go once just to marvel that the thing can float! We've been on Oasis twice at full capacity and it never felt crowded. Our kids loved it. Hairspray was the show 6 years ago and it was great. When we were on last week though it was Cats. Not appealing at all. I second Hamilton! Lol

Our first cruise on RC was waaaaaayyyyyyy back in 1990 on Song of America. Gorgeous old ship with teak decks. It was our first cruise and was a reward trip with our franchiser. We were hooked after that. Did Monarch of the Seas her inaugural year (first ship in the Sovereign class) in 1992, then again in 1994. She was the newest at the time. Funny how tiny Sovereign class is now. Took a break from cruising because of a little one at home, but decided to have a blow out cruise before we tried for baby #2. Did a 4 nighter on Sovereign in 1998. all these ships were at the time the "newest' and greatest. We like to sail on the newer ships. Took a VERY long break from cruising and booked Oasis in Spring of 2011 with our then 17 and 11 year old. They LOVED it! We LOVED it! So much to do especially with 3 days at sea. 'Just got off Oasis again this past Sunday with no kids and 2 other couples. Had a blast! Celebrated my 50th and almost 9 months cancer free. We booked Oasis again with same itinerary because it was a known quantity and we knew we'd have fun. Booked Oasis this past Tuesday for spring break this coming year as a back up plan if trip to NYC for the US Open falls through end of summer. It's a graduation trip for our youngest and she wants to go to the Open and a Broadway show. The port was our main qualification. We're 2 hours from Canaveral and Oasisis the only thing sailing out of there. Itinerary is slightly different, so that will be nice. We love the Oasis class. So much to do or not to do! 'Really want to get on Anthem class but they're in Asia. Hubby and I are still in active mode and want a ship that has all the bells and whistles. However, I am wanting to return to the southern Caribbean and I'll have to do that on a smaller ship and fly to PR to get the ship.

Personally I've never been overly impressed with food on RC. It's the only line I've sailed and just finished one on Oasis last week. It was our 7th. The food in the specialty restaurants is better. I try to avoid the MDR. Ate there twice last week for dinner and it was very average. Had breakfast once in MDR and it was the best on the trip followed by Johnny Rockets. We prefer cooked to order breakfast. I don't expect great food because when trying to feed 6700 people, there is no way to serve excellent food. Just my opinion. As as far as the water, we drank bottled almost exclusively except for one night when we forgot to bring bottled water back tot the cabin. Took my supplements with the tap water and it tasted fine......and I am picky about my water! Definately pack one item that is long sleeve. The second morning on our way to St Thomas, we encountered some showers and clouds and froze our butts off for a few hours that morning. The wind was intense and cold. We sailed through it and then we were stripping off the long sleeves. This past Saturday we sailed through a cold front on our way back to Cape Canaveral. The day before we were sweating to death with high temps and no wind. Saturday morning was again cloudy, rainy and windy as heck. Once through the front, the sun came out but the temps were much lower and it stayed windy all day.

Wondering if there was a current one out there. Specifically if they still have a '70's night. Missed it last time and looks like it was a blast.