CruisinUpinLife

B3B....now I cannot wait to hear all about this! Do you mind sharing your ship/itinerary for a B3B? Do you try to do same ship, different ports/itinerary typically on a B2B or B3B?

Usually people board early to eat lunch. Many of the FL cruises leave port around 4/430pm so many want to get on ASAP to eat lunch before the crowds and explore the ship. It's truly personal preference. Many like to get their luggage to the porters early so it can be processed early and ready for their room sooner.

First, I have not done this..... But I do know that airports do not always take luggage more than a certain number of hours in advance. Southwest is one that will only take luggage up to 4 hours before your flight. Just something to consider. There are several that have done cruises out of SJ on here so hopefully they have even better insight for you. I'll be following along as we have not purchased our flights yet for FOTS in Jan 2020. Given the flights are expensive from what I can see and have read, we're open to seeing these suggestions as well.

I don't believe they are ever posted in advance. Your best bet is to keep an eye out for Cruise Compass postings for your ship on this site as it gets closer to your sailing. That does not guarantee the theme night but it's highly likely it will be and give you an idea of when it will be. From what I've learned on here and seen, Cruise Compasses do not change a lot from sailing to sailing-exception is likely the entertainment that is contracted with RCCL. However, the closer to your sailing, the more likely you will see the same entertainment as you found in the Cruise Compass closet to your sailing. You can find the Cruise Compass postings up at the top of this page. With the RCB being on their group sailing right now, there is likely a delay for any recent Cruise Compasses until they return and can post. Happy Sailing! Edit: I should note that the postings for the Cruise Compass are from cruisers that provide them to the admin of this site. They do not get all cruise compasses all the time but they do get a good mix. You could also check out the live blogs section to see what people may have posted there about their theme nights for the ship you are on.

Thank you all! It had appeared it could be bought for one but wasn't sure if it was true or not.

Does anyone know if one person can get a Refreshment Package in the room and the other person not? My husband is the cheapest drinker ever-water and black coffee of any kind. However, I prefer additional options such as sodas, juices, expresso beverages. Thank you!

I don't have a photo but I LOVE frozen mojitos. However, it gets frustrating that they sometimes run out of mint at the end of the cruise so if you want to try one, try it early. Other fun drinks are Miami Vice (strawberry daiquiri/pina colada mixed) and I would have an expresso martini from Champagne Bar on Oasis OTS but I see with the Amp that it will be going away....Denzil made the best ones and would start making me one when he saw me by the end of the cruise. He was great! With the DBP, if you don't like something, just get something else.

Drinks will be included up to a certain dollar amount (usually $12) because you have the DBP. If you decide to drop the DBP, the alcoholic beverages in the specialty dining will be a full charge. If you ask me, on a 3N cruise, the DBP is usually worth it for myself. Once it gets longer such as a 7N cruise, it's hard for me to make it worth it financially though many argue that the ease of it and not getting stuck with a bill at the end is worth it to them. It's different for everyone.

Did she tell you that someone would take your bags to the ship and then you would go to the ship separately? I wonder if she meant to tell you that your bags would get to the ship with your transfer but didn't give you the details that you would need to move them along in the process and that once dropped off at the port, they would be delivered to your room. This seems like a classic situation where the statement was vague and left to a lot of interpretation. I'm sorry you didn't get very detailed and clear information on the process. Enjoy your cruise! I'm counting down the days until ours.

@lauraodonnell86 I'm going to save all your ABC recommendations as that is a HUGE bucket list item for us too! Thank you for sharing all of your wonderful experiences.

@pezgirl My husband and I did the Snuba excursion in December 2018 in St Maarten with RC and loved it. This time we are thinking about exploring non RC excursions and currently are looking to @lauraodonnell86's suggestion of caribbeanpaddling.com to kayak to Pinel Island from the Sint Martin (french side). The ABC islands are on our bucket list so enjoy! Curacao seems neat from the pictures I've seen. Enjoy and have a great time! If you search Southern Caribbean or any of those cities/countries in the boards, you will find a lot of great suggestions posted by others.

@griswold81 I understand what you mean by it takes a while to eat. That is definitely something to consider and is much like what you would consider when deciding between a restaurant and buffet and fast food. The best thing is that there are a LOT of options and until you explore (and try some) those options, you don't really know what works best for you.

As anytime we dine out in our lives, we find some food we like, some we don't care for, and some we cannot get enough of. The mushroom risotto when we were on Oasis in December 2018 was one of those "cannot get enough of." You had to roll me out of the MDR that night between my starter, entree, and dessert. I enjoy MDR for the time to chill, relax, and be served. MDR is really similar to WJR in that if you don't like something, get something else or get multiples of whatever you want. Only want dessert that night? GO FOR IT. Only want two different appetizers and then dessert, you can do that too. My husband and I prefer to save our money for excursions and skip the whole specialty dining. We just didn't think there was value in it when we went with my family on our BOFS cruise in December 2016. I firmly believe to fully know your own take on MDR vs WJR vs Specialty Dining is to try them all out for yourself ?

Here is a link but the live blogs can be found under Message Boards then Live Blogs.

@twangster did a GREAT live blog of Ovation of the Seas and is definitely worth checking out.

When you did the caribbean paddling, did you book the excursion version that included travel or traveled there another way?

This is a very interesting model to charge for everything. From what I've seen, the cruises on Spectrum of the Seas are extremely reasonable (just the lowest list price which is probably for an interior/non inclusive area such as a suite) for a brand new ship but I guess that is part of the business model over there. It seems the best thing to do is to call RC and ask all the questions about what is/isn't included, particularly your must haves.

If you look on the excursions section, several have posted on this (or on St Maarten), particularly @lauraodonnell86. My husband and I did the Snuba RC excursion when we first went to the island. We are going a second time in January on FOTS and are hoping to do a non RC excursion that Laura mentioned to Pinel Island on kayaks (www.caribbeanpaddling.com).

I hope so too! I keep checking SW but no flights past cruise sailing day are out there so I sit and wait a bit to get round trip and research pricing...doesn't look wonderful at this point but oh well.

Are you on the FOTS Jan 5 sailing? edit: I just saw you are. How exciting! My husband and I will be on your sailing from St Louis!

That does seem insanely high....there must be a "catch" to it.

@RickinSTL @Baked Alaska As a resident of St Louis, MO....LGB!!!!! (not a big hockey person or fan but excited for the Blues!)

Thank you all for the great suggestions! We are looking forward to our trip. This will be our third cruise but my ??? cruise as I cruised 25-30 years ago with my family but don't remember much of it. This is one of the many reasons I love this blog-so many people with a wealth of knowledge and they share it with others. Thank you!

Yeah I had noticed the amped schedule but the price was right for us. We are going more for the itinerary but thank you.

My husband and I are going on a 7N Freedom of the Seas (FOTS) cruise January 2020. I'd love to hear of all your suggestions for excursions. We LOVE the water/beach but are open to other ideas as well. We have already been to St Maarten and did a RC snuba excursion which we enjoyed. All other ports we have never been to. With so many ports, we'd love to hear your feedback on ports to do an excursion versus no excursion-either staying on the ship or exploring the town. I should also note that one day we'd love to go back and stay at an island for longer than one day so any suggestions on day passes at a resort to explore those would be great too.