NJCruisers

I've been working with one for the first time and she's been great for the cruise portion. I was under the impression MEI would be able to help with airfare but I'm told only if I book through RC so that part has been a disappointment. We are taking a one way cruise so trying to figure our flights is confusing. We also need help with figuring out where to stay afterwards and those flights home.

Thank you, I booked it. Hoping to score a better deal but I still have plenty of time to stay on top of things.

We recently booked a 7 day cruise to Alaska. The DBP is $64 pp - since we just booked I have no idea if that's a good price or not. Last cruise was 2019 was $47 pp. I know I can always cancel but wasn't sure if this was good to take advantage of now. Any advice? *Not asking if the DBP is a good idea, it works for us

Yes, I spoke with Nancy this afternoon and she's been very helpful. Thank you for your response

Cost is definitely the 2nd factor! Between the cruise & airfare I'm going to be working all the overtime hours I can get!

I filled out the contact us link on the Blog but haven't heard from anyone from MEI in 2 days. I reached out to @Sharla directly after hours last night via email and hope to hear from her today. So many people speak highly of her and I'm so excited to start planning our cruise

Ha! My husband wears shorts all winter long here in NJ, he'll be outside in shorts and I'll be bundled up, lol.

Yeah, that cabin is definitely out of our price range but good for you!

Yikes! I honestly think every airline has a horror story. United screwed my son big time last month. Our cruise leaves Friday, I think the plan was to try to get a flight out Wednesday night sometime that way if it gets delayed we still have Thursday. I normally use Jet Blue and haven't had any problems but they don't fly there. We are coming from NJ, NY & PA so once we get the cruise booked we will work on everything else. Thank you for the heads up though, it's good info to have.

Thanks. We are a group of 6, but 3 couples. Unfortunately we don't have 6 days to do land, those pesky jobs just keep getting in the way! I have a lot to figure out as well.

Thank you! I will look into them. I have Kenai Fjords on my list of places to research. I'm reading now Denali is only reached by helicopter and that's definitely not something I'm able to do. I need Xanax just to get on a plane. I've never flown as far as I will have to for this cruise so I'm trying to block that out for now, lol. We are hoping to go in July, waiting on MEI to get back to me, if that doesn't work out then it will be June. We didn't have a balcony last trip and honestly we didn't miss it because we spent a good amount of time enjoying the ship. At home we like to sleep with the windows open so we thought it would be nice to be able to hopefully keep the door open a bit at night. I could never do an interior without natural light at some point but that's just me. Maybe for a short weekend cruise or something.

We decided as a group to do the land portion afterwards. We are all over the place as far as the other stuff goes. Once the cruise is actually booked I'll share what we are doing! I'm so excited. Wish MEI would get back to me. I reached out to someone else in the meantime just in case. We will have to use whatever works best with our work schedules and airports. I will put these on my list to check out, thank you! We won't have that many days on land unfortunately. I live in NJ, weed is legal here. I'm all for people to be able to smoke what they want, but boy it smells so bad here sometimes because of it. We can't book them together, at this time we aren't guaranteed to have those days off yet. Too many other things up in the air. I'm thinking we have 2-4 days on land tops. That sounds awesome! I will definitely look into them. Thank you for including the link as well. I'm so excited to get this cruise booked and researching EVERYTHING. I live for this stuff. Thanks for everyone for your advice. Currently there's not many rooms left on the Starboard side, is Port side really that bad for a balcony?

Yes, I have a bunch of info on the Alaska Railroad that I haven't had the chance to read through yet. Would rather do diy for land portion like I said because there's a possibility some may not be able to do it at all, and some may want to stay more days. Definitely need flexibility. Not sure why I thought Fairbanks was the larger airport, totally overwhelmed I tell ya! Luckily we are all easy going and we know we don't plan to do everything together the entire trip. I'll be on here daily now I'm sure!

I normally research like crazy but I haven't had the time to do that yet that's why the land would be DIY so we can tailor it to our needs & for those that are able to stay longer can do so. I know it's a touristy place but we want to do the Santa Claus House. Was also looking into Dog sledding there (Black Spruce I think?) There's also a hot springs and ice bar that looks cool & a brewery that looked nice. Denali is definitely on the list as well & it might make sense to do that before Fairbanks. I'm all over the place, I realize that. I don't enjoy bus tours, I tend to get nauseas on them so that's why I was hoping to get a car or a train most of the way. I don't even know if Uber is a thing out there! I'm NEVER this unprepared but we don't want to delay this a full year so we are hoping to book the cruise portion & then get to planning the rest once we research and get everyone's must do lists. We would have to fly home from Fairbanks to New Jersey. Since it's an International airport I figured that would be our best bet.

@AshleyDilloThank so much for a quick reply! The land tour would be DIY. If we do the Southbound we would fly into Fairbank Int'l, stay there 2-3 days then head to Seward to cruise then fly home from Vancouver. That's why I was leaning towards doing the land part afterwards.

This group was extremely helpful when I planned my last Caribbean cruise 3 years ago so here I am again. This time we are planning a trip with extended family so there may be 6-8 adults instead of just hubby & I. This was kind of last minute and we want to go next summer. I'm already overwhelmed. I reached out to MEI but haven't heard back yet. I am looking to the one way cruises as I want to travel to the Fairbanks area and go home from there. Will figure that part out once we book. Opinions on if it's better to do 2-3 days on land before or after the cruise? Not sure if we should book North or Southbound. Also, I'm directionally challenged so knowing what side of the ship is best for viewing the beauty of Alaska would be nice! The one way ship is Radiance. We won't have any kids with us & hubby & I are the only ones who have cruised before so I'm hoping it will be fine. I'm aware it's a smaller ship. For those who weren't sure to book roundtrip or one way I'd love to know how you made your choice. I know balcony rooms seem to be going quick and we need to book soon. I'm afraid to do so directly through RC as each group needs travel insurance. As overwhelmed as I am, it's exciting to be planning a cruise again! Appreciate any advice

Great news, you will be impressed they are very professional. I used one of their floatation belts with no shame!

We went to Surfside beach afterwards. They are also on FB - there is another place down the beach called Reflections. We rented 2 chairs and an umbrella for $15. The beach is not as nice as Eagle, but it was fine for what we wanted. We went to Barefoot Aruba for dinner afterwards and I can't say enough good things about it.

Also, Trikes Aruba has a Facebook page. I stalked that quite some time before I booked it!

We just did the Trikes Aruba tour and really enjoyed it. I wrote a review of Freedom in the discussion board if you want to see my write up, I don't know how to link it. I have never done the other one so I can't comment on which is better.

I don't recall seeing them, but maybe they were out a little later in the day?

I just used them! I'm unsure of how to link to another post, but I just did a fell review of Freedom of the Seas Nov. 17th sailing. If you scroll down to St. Thomas (it was our last port) you will see the full review. I can't say enough good things about them.

I am sure if you email them they will let you know. Ulf was very responsive to email messages and always got back to me in less than 24 hours.

Rude people come in all nationalities unfortunately. Yes, announcements are in both languages but honestly the English versions seem like they are longer so I'm not sure why so many people feel the need to complain about that. With the exception being the the muster drill, both were about the same length. Several times we encountered people who clearly didn't speak English and they greeted us with a very friendly Buenos Noches! and we simply replied back in English Good night to you as well! and there were smiles all around. I'm sure as long as you do your research on where you want to go you will have an amazing cruise as well!

So here's the wrap up of my recap... Finding the Royal Caribbean Blog was a Godsend! I could go on and on but if you’re already here you know how great of a community this is. I have to admit that I did go over to the dark side several times (CC). I found some useful information on the ports I was visiting. I saw some really terrible reviews of Freedom and I’m so glad I didn’t listen to any of them. One of the most critical things I read over and over again was that sailing from PR meant I was going to encounter very rude people. I won’t say we didn’t, but honestly the few that we did encounter weren’t all from PR. I’ve seen worse behavior at Disney World. I think there were 2 quinceanera’s being celebrated on board, and we only noticed them on the formal nights because of the beautiful dresses. Yes, the young girls were all over the place posing for photos, but they weren’t rude at all. Heck I was all over the place taking photos of the ship myself! I also want to mention there was a Salsa Group on board. They were a very large group. I noticed signs on some of the doors leading to our room right away and thought uh oh, this could get noisy. I have to say, they were having such a great time. They had some private events and yes certain lounges were very crowded but there was so much to do on board that we never felt cheated. They ranged in all ages and were very friendly. We chatted with some of them here and there throughout the cruise. Yes, Freedom is showing her age a bit & I knew going in she was scheduled for dry dock afterwards. We were in cabin #7400 and the hallway carpet was very badly stained. Not stains here and there, just really long dark spots from people constantly walking on them. It did not smell, only one night walking back to our room there was a strong chlorine smell along the hallway but it wasn’t near our room. No idea what that was about. The room decor was outdated, the coral and teal colors scream the 1990’s to me. Otherwise everything else in the room was great, even the bathroom. Plenty of storage space. Our room was at the very end of the ship and it was very quiet. We never heard any of our neighbors. Our room attendant was great. I swear he was a ninja. We really only saw him 2-3 times but our room was perfect and he took excellent care of us. We saw 2 other attendants in the hallway every day and they were both very friendly. I ended up getting the Voom package for 1 device & we shared it. It was $77 total. Even though our kids are technically adults, my mom is elderly and I wanted to make sure we could get in touch with each other if needed. It was nice to be able to share photos with them using the WhatsApp. My mom loves Instagram so I would add photos to my story at least once a day and she really enjoyed that. We did not use it to stream anything but we never had any problems with it. Totally worth it IMO. Ultimate Drink Package - Always a debate! I booked it for $47 pp during last year’s Black Friday sale. I figured I had plenty of time to cancel it and I honestly went back and forth for a while. In the end I kept it and I’m glad. With gratuity it was $776 making it approximately $55 per day, pp. I didn’t keep track of everything we drank, that wouldn’t have been much fun. I can say this: When we had breakfast in the MDR we took advantage of the fresh squeezed juice. Several mornings we had specialty iced coffees. Every time (not day, each time) we left the ship we each took 1 vitamin and 1 regular water to bring with us. Every night at dinner I had 2-3 glasses of wine and hubby had 2 drinks (perfect Manhattan’s which are pricey at home too). During the day when we were on the ship I enjoyed plenty different frozen drinks - I alternated with virgin versions here and there. Most days hubby stuck to beer in the afternoons and switched to Bourbon after dinner. I think I had maybe 2-3 soda’s during the week but not in the souvenir cups. We never used those. We enjoyed going to the different lounges and trying different drinks. Yes I know we can get any drink pretty much anywhere as long as the bartender has the ingredients, but it was fun bar hopping. There were a few drinks I didn’t like and some that I tried that I might not have if it wasn’t already paid for. Ending the night with a cordial was also a nice treat. I’d say we took at least a dozen bottles of water back to the room during the week as well. I like to think we did get our money’s worth, but we were totally happy with it so that’s that. MDR - I also went back and forth with trying specialty dining. With the exception of our one dinner in Aruba we ate there every night. My theory was that we had fabulous steak houses and Italian restaurants at home, there was bound to be something we would enjoy on the menu. In hindsight, I wish I had checked the menu on our Bonaire day. I ended up getting the steak again which was delicious, but honestly this girl was missing her macaroni! That probably would have been a good night to splurge and go to the Italian place. Oh well, now I know. I truly enjoyed being served every night and the waitstaff was just great. Windjammer - I know everyone loves this place, heck we enjoyed it last cruise too but I just didn’t enjoy it this trip. The 2 times we went it was jam packed and when we went for lunch the options were either something really heavy or salad. I don’t enjoy pre-cooked burgers so that wasn’t an option for me. I’m sure if you are a picky eater or don’t want to go to the MDR it’s probably just fine for dinner as there are so many options. Sorrento’s - I can’t believe I’m saying this either, but the pizza wasn’t terrible. Dare I say we kinda liked it! When hubby saw the pizza sign his eyes lit up and I told him don’t get excited, it probably sucks. He works in Brooklyn so he eats great pizza for lunch AT LEAST once a week. This place became our guilty pleasure. Several nights I brought some back to the Bull & Bear. We liked the veggie pizza the best but the cheese wasn’t bad either. Sabor - we only went here for the Guacamole class but we thought the food was fantastic. We would gladly have a meal here again if given the chance. The Promenade - depending on what they were selling sometimes it became quite crowded. What’s the deal with watches? It seemed like they were constantly selling them! I’m totally not a watch person so I didn’t pay too much attention. People seemed to be going crazy for the t-shirt sales too, none of them really appealed to me all that much though. I originally planned to get a Freedom of the Seas Spirit Jersey, but I didn’t like that the front was completely blank. I thought it should have an anchor or at least the RC logo in the upper left chest or something. I ended up with a super comfy hoodie instead. Also, I thought that balloon party was crazy. All the popped balloons all over the place, this from a company that doesn’t allow plastic straws? Weird. Spacious Ocean View Room - I thought it was great. The window was very big and we didn’t miss having a balcony. I would much rather use the money saved towards other things, such as the drink package or excursions. Also, we had to factor in the flight to PR. We could have afforded one, but I chose book this instead. We did agree that we could never do an interior room and probably wouldn’t want one overlooking the Promenade, just not our style. My “Something New Every Day” was just for me and just for fun. Pre Cruise PR: Mofongo - loved it Cruise Day: Escargot - hated them At Sea: Souffle - not a fan Aruba: Rode a motorcycle - loved it Curacao: Walked on a floating bridge - very cool Bonaire: Rode on a Catamaran & got to see a sea turtle while snorkeling - awesome At Sea: Baked Alaska - loved it St. Thomas: Conch Fritters - delicious I’m pretty sure I covered everything. I know I’ve said it several times but we absolutely loved this cruise. Although I don’t see us cruising every year, we definitely plan to go on another one in (hopefully) the next 2-3 years. Freedom didn’t have many reviews when I was looking so that’s the main reason I decided to write this. Also, I’m going to print it and keep it so I can look back on it some day. Thanks for reading and if you have any questions feel free to ask.