LetsTryThisPlace

Wondering the same thing for Freedom. When I hover over the internet and more tab I see it appear and then disappear. Does this mean its sold out or just not available yet?

That's good to know, hopefully I can do a few of these when I go on our next cruise.

if you can't find a combo it might be better to find a cruise parking either at the port or one further out with a shuttle. It might be a little more but you might be able to save on the hotel to help offset it. 

Do you need to be 2 hours out from Ft Lauderdale? There are some decent hotels in or around Ft Lauderdale that have shuttles to the port and some include parking too. 2 hours is a bit far honestly.

Long as your not brand specific you will find an options. If you are a picky drinker of high end liquors you may need to worry but other then that you should be fine. 

This is a cool idea. But I have to ask, what happens when the staff find them while cleaning? I would be interested in leaving some on our next cruise though.

The ship itself was good and most of the service was good but for allergies not as good as Royal for sure. (I actually end up with a minor attack for the first time on a cruise) Cirque Du Soleil was good but none of the other shows were like Royals. If it wasn't for their customer service (mostly pre cruise) we probably would have tried them again if we did the Med again. But we had such a headache before hand its put us off ever even considering them. Ship was decent and was better then the Norwegian we went on but not Royal lol.

3 hours ago, princevaliantus said:

But what would you do if you found an itinerary that is never offered on Royal but it's offered on another cruise line? Do you switch for the  moment or do you sob and miss out on the awesome itinerary? 

This was partly why we choice the Bellissima, it had a really interesting Mediterranean itinerary. I have heard Princess has some good ones that we may try in the future. But if we can stick to Royal for the same itinerary we probably will. 

Ya we may dabble in some other lines here and there but Royal suites us best. Customer service was better, food was better (mine was only fresh because of my allergies and the rest of our group complained of the lack of quality) and just the atmosphere was better on Royal. Only places Royal has lost so far is room design and alcohol prices lol. 

2 hours ago, KathyC said:

Welcome back @LetsTryThisPlace!  We miss your morning cruise ship reports from Grand Cayman. 

Thank you, Ya life has gotten in the way a bit. Hoping to get back in to it at some point but for now I've had to put it on hold.

Thank you @Lovetocruise2002 and @tiny260 its good too be back, hoping I can stay active here again. 

3 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

So which royal ship did you pick for your next cruise?

The next one planned is Freedom in March. We were planning to go on Navigator in October but my work project got in the way so have to move it. Hoping to be on one before March though.

So after Freedom I was able to convince my wife to cruise more. She found a deal for the MSC Bellissima from Barcelona and thought we would give them a shot since it was a brand new ship. The ship wasn't bad it just wasn't a great experience compared to Royal so we have gone back to Royal and decided it would be hard to go to another line now. Is this how people become Loyal to Royal? We just booked our next cruise (unless we book another one before we go lol) on Freedom. Looking forward to the ABC islands. 

Congrats Matt

We were on Freedom just before they relocated and loved it. Was the best cruise we have been on. Food was really good especially after having food on MSC. I found the flow well as the ship was about 95% occupied and didn't feel like 95% but maybe 50% max. We just booked another cruise on Freedom for March. 

I've been tracking prices on a cruise for March and yesterday I found it for a really good price. Told my wife about it and she was like "think we should book it?" and I just replied with YES lol.

I made a magnet at vista print for our website. I want to get some more for our March cruise just need to think of some ideas. 

Sunscreen, bathing suites, phone gimble for filming, power bank, and the most important non-important item WINE!!

I had PCD and as I relieved that with confirming at least 1 of my next cruises acquired PCE and have till March  

They don't do cruises for the next day because of documents needing to be submitted. But I have purchased within the 90 day mark and got really good deals. Royal does offer good deals but not sure if there is a way to track directly. I normally sign up with third party sites and go with them because sometimes i can get extra perks. But even if booking direct if they go down royal most likely went down too.

We have never had it as bad here in Grand Cayman as it has been this year. Its become a never ending clean up loop for us. Costing our government a lot to just try and keep it somewhat under control. Didn't know it had arsenic and lead in it (some farmers are using it for fertilizer). 

I agree with above about giving cash and not gifts. I used to work with Filipinos and Jamaicans who would send almost their whole pays to support their families back home and make sure their kids could go to a good school etc. We always try to give a little extra as a thank you. 

We were on our window cave for most of the morning so we only had maybe an hour to run around old San Juan and look for our shot glass lol and grab a bottle of Don Q white and take a few photos. It really sucks that this port is so rushed, I hate being rushed. The good thing is in 2020 we can take our time and explore before the cruise. 

13 hours ago, Aeroman380 said:

newbie here so just making sure--So are you saying that is easier to get a 2 person table if you do MTD? (looking for Ovation)

Overall, what I am getting is:

• email rcldining@rccl.com 2-3 weeks before and confirm
• call ahead of cruise and confirm
• go to main dining room as soon as you board and confirm

What if you are just a lonely newbie that just signed up for C&A? Do you still get the perks of requesting  a 2 person table?

MTD is much easier but it can be done in the Set Time Dining as well. There is not much difference and honestly, I prefer MTD because ports are never the same so my eating schedules are never the same. For example, we had one port arrival at 9 and leave around 6 so plenty of time for a late lunch get back and a late dinner then we had another day 7am arrival and 2pm departure so I had a VERY early breakfast and would then want an early dinner. So it really depends on your preference but they can both be the same, it's just how you play it.

I also heard that it is cheaper for a family if you pay for one of the cheaper resort rooms that include the full access. I have never tried it but may be something to consider. It would also give you somewhere to shower/change.

On 3/23/2018 at 7:10 AM, twangster said:

Proverbial "It depends". 

Wind speed isn't the only factor and wind speed doesn't always dictate all aspects of wave conditions.  The Captain has to consider the weather over the whole day.  Off-loading several thousand guests and then having conditions worsen during the day so that several thousand people are now stranded on the island is a worst case scenario. 

Wave pitch plays a significant factor - the distance between the peaks.  Slow rollers tend to cause more motion in large ships even with low wave height compared to waves that are very close to each other.  Wave pitch can be influenced from water current and direction relative to wind speed and wind direction. 

They do this week after week and they know what is safe and what probably won't be as they review conditions and forecast nearing arrival.  If they make the call to abort it really is for all the right reasons but sometimes they don't know until they are approaching the island.  Predicting weather on land has become more reliable but isn't perfect in itself.  Predicting weather in the islands or on the ocean is much less exact and it usually is a game day decision for the Captain.

To add to this from living at a tender port. Thursday was smooth as ice in the morning (around 9am). Waves were so very calm and perfect conditions. However, by 5:30pm when I walked up to the waterfront waves were extremely choppy and I saw a boat struggling never mind trying to get a bunch of people on/off safely. Wave runners were finding it troublesome to try and get back to shore (probably got stuck out there before the weather came in). It wasn't extremely breezy maybe a little but nothing more than normal. By the next morning, it was perfectly fine. So I agree wind is not always the thing to consider. They have ways to tell if there will be trouble coming that we may be unaware of. 

I must say the gluten-free Sorrento's on Freedom was actually the best gluten-free pizza I have ever had. (When the toppings stayed on lol) Maybe not the best pizza I have ever had but was actually pretty damn good. Maybe its because I'm used to terrible gluten-free pizza now but I thought it was good. Maybe someone should give it a gluten-free a try and compare to regular Sorrento's pizza maybe that's the key to a decent Sorrento's lol.

On 2/20/2018 at 4:44 PM, KLAconQueso said:

Yeeeep. Can confirm. My brother was highly allergic to shellfish, fish, eggs, and nuts/peanuts growing up. 

They can randomly go away, too. My brother actually grew out of his egg allergy, but as he got older his other allergies got worse. He once got sent to the emergency room when he kissed his girlfriend after she went to a fish fry. No joke!

I find it hard enough with nuts (I can luckily have peanuts still) but all the others would make it hard to eat anything on a cruise. Meat and veggies would be most of his diet I guess. 

Also, my wife tends to forget when she ate something risky and I have been to the hospital multiple times from kissing her. It sucks but you get used to it.

As someone with severe allergies, they are very good about working with you. It is recommended to preorder your meals the night before but they do a great job of making sure your needs are met. We had a great waiter even in MTD and they did a great job of ensuring my food was safe even without ordering it the night before. They were also very informative.