Mrs. RoyalMoyal

IF you are related, and they are adjoining and adjacent, the teens can be assigned to one room, the adults the other - this varies by ship. It is allowed on Anthem, but not on Freedom. When they were small, we booked 9636 & 9401 deck 9 aft, there is a balcony room adjoining an inside room. A bit of a walk, but a nice setup, and the balcony is a little bigger than most. Two bathrooms, two closets, two TV's, everyone gets a real bed - no couch, just a chair in these two. If you end up with just adjacent rooms, you can request extra keys. 

On 12/30/2018 at 12:14 PM, Lovetocruise2002 said:

That's a LONG flowrider line!  Indy was my first time on a flowrider-  We have been booking adjacent rooms on our last few trips -  once in a junior suite, Coastal Kitchen alone made the junior suite worth it, and the 1.5 bathrooms, and coffee maker, and padded furninture....  I think having two bathrooms is better for our family mid or aft.  We agree, the MDR is inconsistent, and Diamond happy hour can be an entire meal. 

 

Following @Irieman - if the key is in full swing, and you see a schedule, take a photo please! Thanks!

We are going on Freedom of the Seas the week before Easter, staying in an OSJ local hotel before and after the cruise and we contacted Leroy Brown  (thanks Matt) for an all day tour of St. Martin.  We are looking forward to the trip. We will have lunch wherever Mr. Brown takes us, visit Maho (teenage boys love planes), visit a quiter beach, seek out french pastries...  visiting and touring will be good for both us and the local residents.

Does anyone know why much of deck 7 on Ovation of the Seas is obstructed view, but on Anthem of the Seas are standard balcony staterooms? Deck 7 will be quiter, with the top of a davit perhaps showing when you look down. 

Please, if you have used the key, can you share an example of the days and times the extended flowrider sessions are on a NON-Oasis ship.  (I saw twangster's review) We usually pay for at least 2 flowrider lessons, and my 13 year old "suffered" from lack of Internet last week on Anthem, so this, along with paying with a bunch of onboard credit, is about the same price for us.  

As Freedom is a "new to us" ship, and we have not seen the shows (and I go to any ice show offered).  

I schedule everything around standup...  I even skipped dinner last week for an evening session!

We have two connecting  insides, in a good location for us, booked for Christmas on Anthem... my teenage children received the email, my husband and I did not.    We are all Diamond...  I did not place a bid. 

On 11/14/2018 at 10:36 AM, Susie said:

Thanks, @betatke1480 for the info and glad you got taking care of the CK problem.

That is a great price for 3 you got. My upcoming  Anthem OTS this weekend, we paid $3200 for a balcony for me, hubby and my son (6 yrs old). No other offer. Problem for me is to the school schedule and never got any good price. I only can go during holiday or summer which price is really high. Tell the truth I feel guilty if I just book for me and hubby and not take my son so my son always goes with us everywhere. 

What is the TA you use for booking your cruise?

Anthem's Junior Suites - some have a Pullman bed and a sofa "bed".  So if you have two children who do NOT want to sleep in the same bed, they JS is fabulous, with a bath and a half, tea and coffee in room, wide balcony, and Coastal Kitchen.  

If you are not in a suite, the stateroom doors are narrow... use a small stroller.  A Phil and Ted E3 Sport DOES NOT FIT through an Explorer of the Seas inside stateroom door.....   Unless I removed one wheel or folded it..   It was very nice in Old San Juan cobblestone streets, and both boys could nap at the same time (like that ever happened).  It is easier to get around hallway carts and past other strollers and scooters with a narrower stroller, it will be easier in the elevator, too....  

Bring lots of diapers, and any child medications that may be needed.  

We tipped.  The staff did more for us when the boys were small than ever before (or since, they are teens now) from bringing and extra chair to dinner when one fell asleep, providing fruit cups right away...and packing up "to go" snacks and sending sippie cups through the dishwasher for us.  Then one boy had a bloody nose in our room, and 30 minutes later it was like it never happened - because our room steward called for the "backup cleaning squad"

I never used ship babysitting, it was not available.  There was Royal .. tots and babies? play time for an hour each morning and afternoon, with fisher price baby and toddler items and a staff member from Adventure Ocean present.  

Try printing the set sail pass with a different computer, or try a different browser.  Mozilla Firefox on Windows 10 worked for me - with Chrome on Windows 7 "Diamond" did not print.  I also found for Christmas on Anthem, more dining choices are available using my tablet.  

We have sailed both, with our children - Anthem is our choice with the teenagers, but when they were young, they liked Adventure Ocean on Grandeur better than on Quantum of the Seas. Grandeur has windows in that area and on the Quantum sized ships those areas are windowless.  Now they are 11 & 13 and Anthem is our drive-to ship of choice.  Grandeur is very relaxing.  Snoozarium relaxing.  On Anthem we do not stop moving, and there are many, many dining, entertainment, and activity choices.  

On 6/19/2018 at 9:01 AM, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Question that I thought of while reading this thread....Do they offer bottled water in Diamond Lounge like the do in the Suite Lounge?

Yes!

Call!!  Then call again!  The Bungalow experience is wonderful, from the ride to the bungalow, lack of crowds, easy access to restroom &  bar, and lunch delivered.  Good luck booking.  We were in bungalow 35, in the back row - but no bungalow direclty in front of us, and we had lots of shade.  

I signed mine right at the Ifly desk,but later I signed my boy's waivers on the tv in our room

For San Juan flights: Check Air2Sea, we flew to San Juan for Easter 2017 cruise for 380.00 per person from Elmira, NY - certainly not an inexpensive place to fly from.  It was on Delta, and would have been double that if I had booked the 4 seats directly with Delta.  

6 minutes ago, tiny260 said:

The whole ship usually follows the formal night, all of the specialty restaurants included, but that doesn't mean you have to dress the boys in a tux, I would only do that if you wanted to get some really special pictures, otherwise I would go with the smart casual... believe me, no one is going to frown at you or your boys.

The boys have both dressed way up, and also just worn a dress shirt, NO tie (with pants, LOL...).  Sometimes it is simpler, easier, and less expensive to go rent a tux at home for $75.00 then take it with us (ONLY if we drive to the port) than it is to endlessly shop for pants, shirts, sportcoat, ties, shoes, socks...  before a cruise.  We plan to dress nicely for Easter anyway, I think this time it will just be shirts with ties, perhaps a sport coat for my older son.  I will have to see what fits from the Christmas cruise.  Packing is part of the fun!  We get a couple of free photographs, if I can get them to stand for a portrait of the family I will take advantage of it!

We are in a family JS on Anthem for Easter, and I booked Coastal Kitchen for dinner every night.  I was able to do it through Cruise Planner (luckily).  Does Coastal Kitchen host formal night following the MDR schedule, or is it "smart casual" the entire week?   My husband always packs a sport coat and tie, regardless... But if it will have formal we will dress formal.  But I am NOT packing it if I do not need to!  Two teen boys in tuxes is both fun and exhausting!