CrimsonCruiser

Now that's a warm vacation!

I feel like a proud parent! Freedom was my first cruise ship ever and seeing her getting all refreshed and scrubbed and lots of TLC just makes me so happy! Also - ooh! she's getting slides! I loooove slides!

I wouldn't worry too much about not having your luggage before dinner. RC knows that it may take up to 10 pm to get all the luggage out to people so the first night in the MDR is casual - even says so on the cruise compass! Just don't wear your swimsuit in, and you'll be fine. Alternatively, packing simple clothes in your carry on will help alleviate some concerns. I often throw a hard-to-wrinkle sun dress in my carry on bag so I can swap into that.

Good to know! I'll definitely keep an eye out since we're officially platinum now. I do like deals

Are these new (as in post 2018?) I've never seen anything like this around and wonder if they only offer on certain ships or something? Or are they not in common places?

Went on Enchantment in 2017 after having done Freedom in 2015. We didn't know at the time of booking that the ship was SO much smaller and different than Freedom class so it was a bit of a shock to not have a glowing purple promenade. TLDR: From what I remember, it's not a bad ship. It was well suited to us doing a very chill cruise where nothing felt hurried or urgent. Not the most fun but not bad. I would say the thing I disliked the most was that some entertainment took place in the base of the centrum. Pro: we could see something fun happening as we walked to our rooms. Cons: we were so far removed from the entertainment, often looking down only at people's heads, and there were no seats around the upper floors to really take a pause and enjoy what was happening. The Suite service was much less than on Freedom with our concierge often not leaving any voicemails about the next day's port or reminders to come by and partake of the lounge. In fact, on our first visit there, it felt like we were in her way even though it was open and serving snacks....

That's true! it may come back as a possibility. Orlando was a really nice port to visit... these are all SUPER helpful tips guys! Thanks so much :)

Voyager is for sure on the list of ships we're looking into but for the time and ports we're looking at the sailings are going fast and I'm worried they will be gone before we are ready to book. Yeah...The mini suites (room-wise anyway) might be okay. We would probably lose out on the many suite perks we've grown used to on Royal though, by not doing Haven. I am also being lured in by all the freebies. Certainly would help with cruising on a budget! Haha. I'll keep that in mind about the spacing and private islands. Thanks! Grand Suites on Oasis or larger generally run at about $4,000 per person for 7-night trips. That is super out of our budget. We would consider downsizing the room once we made it to Diamond Level on Crown and Anchor so we can still get many of the suite-like perks. Thanks for the list of NCL classes to check out!

I'm more looking for ones that are similar to Freedom or Voyager class, versus Oasis (those are pretty standalone in their style). The issue with ports that are far from the airport is transportation costs. We recently did Galveston and that was a $50 Uber one way. We tried looking for hotels with shuttles, but none went that far. Orlando might be different given that it's a larger attraction city, but I also imagine the hotel costs will be over $100/night for a hotel with airport AND pier shuttles.

Notice what? 🤣🤣

Wait! don't kick me out!😅😅 My mom and I want to take a late 2020 cruise but we have to get a lot of things in line first and our preferences (room category, embarkation port, ports of call, length of trip, sea day to port day ratio, ship class) mean options get slimmer each month. So, just in case our RCCL options run out before we book, I was hoping you nice people might be able to help us decide on an NCL ship class that will give us a (diet) Royal feel. So far we've only done Freedom and Vision class ship and found we much prefer Freedom class.What we liked: Royal Promenade: we like the way it opens up the ship so doesn't feel like we're on a ship. Types of Shows: The quality of performance shows on Freedom class were AMAZING (ice and stage) MDR: Dat French Onion Soup though.... It's my cruise staple! but of course we also love the super attentive and knowledgeable waitstaff, the variety of food, and the very formal table settings every night Observation Deck/Helipad: Being able to watch as we sail in or away from the front of the ship was something we SORELY missed on Enchantment. I look forward to your help! And if you're wondering about the aforementioned preferences: Room category: Grand Suite Embarkation Port: Nothing more than 15 minutes from the airport (so Miami, Boston, New Jersey, Ft. Lauderdale are fine) Ports of Call: Really looking into the Southern or Eastern Caribbean Length of Trip: We fly in from Chicago, so no less than 7 night Sea to Port Ratio: No more than 3 back-to-back ports, at least 3 sea days, ideally with one before debarkation day Ship Class: Voyager, Freedom, Oasis, Quantum for sure. Could be convinced to do Radiance. Price (per person): $2200 or less

Haven't been on too many yet, but after being on 1 without, I say the best ships are the ones with a Royal Promenade! (Voyager, Freedom, Oasis and Quantum classes in case you were wondering)

I know this has been a few weeks at this point, but I think you should make a formal complaint about her behavior. My mom and I have been in suite class on all 3 of our cruises and while we didn't spend nearly enough time in the suite lounge or with the suite guests, all 3 of our concierges knew us by face and were very polite. We had one small issue with our second cruise - nothing to the extent you had - and we gently told the Hospitality Director on our last night. It helps, if nothing else, to ensure they know and ideally will not let other guests suffer the same. I mean....not to sound like an a-hole, but suites aren't cheap, the service shouldn't be either.

You may not be able to board before 11, I think, just because they are probably still letting the last people off through 10. But you can absolutely show up earlier than your set sail pass says. Being earlier rather than later means you are avoiding the crowds. Just note, that you will have a longer wait until rooms open (usually around 1) so if you plan to cart a lot on board with you, I'd recommend adjusting that plan so you don't get achy shoulders or run the risk of forgetting your bags somewhere.

Following! I've been interested in this program, would be nice to see it in action.