foxrunner

33 minutes ago, CruiseMommyOf3 said:

Hi! I was actually wanting to ''snorkel'' with the kids on Coco Cay so they can experience to see fishes or stuff in the water. Is there a spot where is better to see fishes if any? 

Thanks!

The buoys mark the places were artificial reefs have been created.  I wouldn't call it world class but free and fun.

Can't answer that question. We went to the gardens and tea at the Empress, both highly recommended. Beacon Hill park is also a great free take. Ask for more info if interested?

7 hours ago, MO & LO on the go! said:

 Chill Island is the best spot in my opinion and has things in the water to see (plane, etc).

How do find the plane? We have found all the artificial reef buoyed sites. When I have asked the lifeguards they say it has been removed.

Thanks  

22 hours ago, Dutch Frost said:

40 days to go until I hop on board!! Safe Travels. What excursions did you book?

This is our first time in Europe, so take these plans in that light.  We have done a lot of research online and with guide books to help.  We used Rick Steves' Italy book and his Mediterranean Cruise book. 

We do not have any RC excursions booked.  We will be in Rome for 5 days prior to the cruise.  We have booked tours through The Roman Guy for Skip the line access to the Vatican and the Colosseum. We also have a tour booked for the Borghese Gallery through Loving Rome.  

We will be doing a private tour in Santorini with Santorini Nikos, where we will meet a driver at the top of the Cable Cars in Fira.  They will take us around the island and we have dinner reservations for 7:30PM to see the sunset.  

In Mykonos, we have a tour scheduled with Sunfos Alessia yachting where we will tour Delos and snorkel off Rhenia Island. This includes a lunch onboard the tour boat.

We have also booked a private tour of Ephesus.  We are using Ephesus Port Tours.  This tour company gets excellent reviews. The price per person for the tour does not include admission to the museums, but even with those added in, it's not much more than booking through Royal.  We are looking forward to not having to be on a schedule with dozens of other people.

In Naples, we will take the train to Pompeii and meet a small tour through [email protected].  I found this through  Rick Steves' tour guide book and the price is 20 euros per person plus the 16 euro Pompeii admission fee. The tours get excellent reviews online and the groups are much smaller than the RC tours.  I understand that the train from Naples to Pompeii is a crowded crazy experience, but we wanted to have the option to stay a bit and explore Pompeii on our own after our tour ends.  We looked at a couple of other tour companies that take you by van/bus to Pompeii and then bring you back to Naples.  This would avoid the train travel.  We plan to take the train back to Naples and hopefully have time to grab a slice of pizza and take a quick tour of the Naples National Archaeological Museum, focusing on the Pompeii exhibits. 

22 Days to go!

Sure will Kim!

6 hours ago, amdawn said:

It is a fairly large group with kids. Approximately 7 cabins and 16 people.

Are the children of all ages, or mostly youngsters or teens?

The reason I ask is because ship class matters with age ranges. Does your group like adventure or are they more chill folks? Do you like theater and or live music. As you have never cruised the itineraries are all new but maybe you have been on land vacations in Mexico, and that is a factor. Do you plan to do specialty dinning or eat in the MDR? 

We have been on three different classes as seen below. Answering these questions will help to better guide our response.

No matter what it will be awesome! 

This discussion is a reminder of how bad air travel has become post 9/11. The other thing we should all be happy about is that cruising hasn't completely changed. Count your lucky stars and get on a ship!

Just now, WAAAYTOOO said:

Interesting.  Is this "legal" or just a hack that you have discovered ?  Just wondering if saving seats is allowed.

Saving seats is not allowed but not enforced. On our last SW flight two woman almost got in a fist fight over seat saving. Bring on the popcorn!

46 Days to go!

Check in night!

What makes me loyal is this website. I like to be in the know when I travel. We enjoy the planning process and Matt and the crew around here give us great tips. This type of site doesn't exist for other lines and the general cruise sites are full of trolls. We will try another line though. Price increases are the main reason. Post Covid service and costs have drastically changed. Unfortunately this is a universal issue not just with Royal. I would encourage all of us to continue to be constructive critics and hope for change. Another reminder is that this site isn't run by RCCL and is full of good helpful people.  

19 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

 

Also keep in mind the pandemic changed a lot of learning schedules. Many parents turned to home schooling and some schools allow for remote learning, which means more families can take advantage of the deals and promotions not available in summer.

 

As a proud 8th grade public school teacher, I agree many parents think remote learning is still alive and well. This is not the case anymore though. We did offer a remote option during the pandemic. Now students need to come after school to make up missed time post vacation. Most just don't do this. I do understand the tug and pull as a parent and teacher about missing time for vacations. I just don't want you good folks to thing remote learning has solved this issue. One final observation on remote learning is that our most needy students fell the farthest behind during the pandemic. Not because of poor instruction but because of the self discipline remote learning requires.  We cruise during school vacation but as teachers like children and even teens, so no worries for us. When we retire we would like to try a no kids cruise. 

Just off Freedom and we were charged the corkage in Chops. The waiter apologized and said his supervisors saw us bring in the bottle of wine and he now had to charge us.  Our second bottle was not charged the fee.  

5 hours ago, DublinFC said:

I booked the sushi class so I am looking forward to that.  

Great class, lots of fun, a ton of food!

SPICY CRISPY TUNA ROLL

YUMMY!

Big as noted above.

The wasabi is nice and fresh, read hot!

8 hours ago, tonyfsu21 said:

Didn’t feel like rough seas at all. Did you find it odd with the late night Miami party crowd that there was no comedy show for the 3 nights? Maybe we just missed it?

We were on the 4 night (4/17) and they did have comedy once. We saw Alfred and Seymore very funny!

16 hours ago, tonyfsu21 said:

Did you by any chance witness heavy black smoke coming from the front of the ship around 2pm yesterday while docked in Nassau? I was sitting on my balcony and heard all this commotion and saw about 7-10 Royal Caribbean security personnel running from the gangway towards the front of the ship where a massive plume of black smoke was pouring out. I watched for maybe a minute or two before I saw extinguishers do their magic. There were lots of people down there so I’m sure someone knows what happened.

We were off the ship at rum factory then, so no. We didn't hear any scuttlebutt that night either. My wife says that on Facebook folks were complaining about rough seas that night and we both didn't feel a thing. How was the last night for you?

16 hours ago, Married2Grumpy said:

Thank you! We will be cruising on the Freedom next month and I have been hoping to read some recent reviews. Please share any ship or port tips you think we should know. We are new to cruising Royal.

As a new cruiser I'd go to Coco Cay and enjoy all the free amenities. No need to pay for extras as you will enjoy the beach day and get a feel for the island  layout. Same advice when on board as far as dining goes, try the complimentary food and see what you think. Nassau is different, you could stay on the ship and enjoy it especially if you don't have a sea day. We walk up to the fort and Queen's Staircase, for the exercise. The city is a bit gritty and if you aren't comfortable being in a developing world environment I'd take a cab. The straw market is right next to the dock and showcases local goods. We have never done any excursions in Nassau as we prefer to save money in one port on each cruise. Welcome to the board and ask away! 

At the beginning of the cruise yes, by the end maybe no.

We just got off Freedom and my wife and I had a wonderful time. 

We eye witnessed 3 marriage proposals and they were all accepted. Can anyone beat that record on a single cruise?

It was our 1st time with the UDP and that was great, Giovanni's being our favorite. The amount of food was staggering though! The wings at Playmakers were top notch but the loaded nachos not so much.  

PD@CC was as usual a great take. Our 1st time in the "Club" and it was fine but probably a one and done. We also watched the lifeguards save a drowning man's life right next to the swim up bar on South Beach. The life guard was amazing and without his immediate action I don't think the victim would have survived. The free snorkeling was just OK, they need to put in more artificial reef structures to attract and build up a reef. 

We didn't eat in the MDR or Windjammer, so no comment.

The "Battle of the Sexes" and "Crazy Quest" shows were really fun. The Freedom on Ice show was also very enjoyable. 

We thought the ship wasn't too crowded or over run with poorly behaving children as is often posted. 

We tried Bingo another first and it was just too slow. Not our cup of tea. 

The ship was in good condition and the slides and other pool side updates significantly improve the overall experience. 

We have mainly sailed the bigger ships and would gladly go again on the Amped ships in this class. 

My boys 20 and 18 Y.O. had a great meal in the MDR without us. We were on date night and they had a great convo with the wait staff. They still text on occasion. 

Great review and a reminder to some of the more jaded members about the joys of cruising. Nothing is perfect and a week without laundry, cooking cleaning and dishes is pure heaven. 

I'm a nonflower dude, and I was impressed. The bus driver told this story " A 20 something year old storms on to the bus with a complete attitude, yells at me they better serve beer in that stupid garden.  The bus driver replied , yes they do as well as a full wine and liquor licenses. On the bus ride back to the ship the driver asked how many beers did you have to the rude fellow. He reply none that place was cool."

@deep1 no fishing in the koi ponds though! 

Great points by all above.

The one weakness of the land vs sea comparisons I have found is that people often compare the land option to their local. Friends of ours that are lots of fun, refuse to cruise. They have more means than we do, as they never had children. They travel to the Caribbean twice a year and spend a week there. They rent a place and eat out at high end restaurants. They spend a grand on air fare, 6K on the villa and I have no idea on meals but a good bit. We don't want to go with them because cruising is much more affordable. They also don't spend any money on excursions as they sit on the beach all day.  I often hear people say hotels are  $100 a night and they can eat for 50 bucks. We were just visiting our son at UMass Amherst at $189 a night on a non event week in western MA.  Dinner at the Hope & Olive (GREAT!) was $30 per plate never mind the drinks as our son turned 21! Long way of saying if your going to do your land vaca in Podunk and eat mac and chees out of a box it can be a real value.  I'm concerned that cruise prices are on the rise. The day it starts to costs us 8K on a cruise we will be staying with our buds. 

The three big shows are Freedomice.com, Marque and Once Upon a Time.

We are on a 4 nighter and probably will only go to two shows. Thoughts ideas insights all are welcome.

We aren't with our children and have enjoyed the ice show on Allure.  

Thanks

I'll try a serious response. Having hiked in the Tetons and Yellowstone with bear spray you are correct in needing it in Alaska. Our Alaska hikes were guided and the guide had bear spray. When we return we will do some unguided hikes and would love to know how you dealt with this. I suppose you could possibly find someplace to rent bear spray??