dr martini

half of my family is in south florida and october is my favorite month to visit.  snowbird season hasn't started yet, at the very tail end of hurricane season, weather is nice and warm everyday, ocean is very comfortable.  here's a table of nassau ocean temps, which is a good comp for PDCC and you can see october is 10 degrees warmer than feb (mid 80's vs mid 70's) mid 80s is perfect, but it has to be a very hot day to enjoy or even get into 70 degree water (that or i need to p** pretty badly) 

 

tried the cc beach club last year in january only because we found an $89 rate, I don't think we'll be back.  it's a beautiful area and liked the quiet, but had the same experience with a very slow bar and nonexistent waiter service around the beach chairs, we have been to PDCC several other times and bounced between south beach (i really like the four sided pavilion bar at the entrance to the beach as well as the swim up which, yes, gets crowded) and the Oasis lagoon pool if you're into that vibe (we were).

here's the view looking out from the pavilion bar on SB (with back to the road and the ship looking out towards cabanas on the left, swim up bar from south beach to the right)

Number 27 on this map, apparently it's named "coconut willie's"

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/content/dam/royal/resources/pdf/perfect-day-at-cococay-wayfinding-maps.pdf

 

 

great updates so far, tough work but somebody has to do it!

yes @Cactus527 unfortunately the past few years of travel explosion post covid it's been really crazy in miami, they had these restrictions a few years now, believe the curfew started in 2021.

Another factor would be Hurricane Ian - Florida's southwest coast was pounded in fall of 2022 by that storm (category 5 of 5) and devastated Fort Myers Beach, which was nowhere near Miami level but still a good sized spring break destination.  now those kids have to go elsewhere as FMB is nowhere near to back up and running, even when they are rebuilt it will likely be a lot different aka more expensive (family and retirement focused).  Miami's #1 status only getting bigger

 

freedom might be favorite ship in the fleet currently - perfect blend of size, features and familiarity.  we just were on her for the same 4 day pdcc trip a year ago and i live blogged, have a great time!  our next cruise will definitely be freedom or independence when they get on some different itineraries a year from now

Other posters are correct and you definitely do not have enough time to get to saint johns and see or enjoy anything. 

yes @Thom Cruise I am US based and not aware of separate programs by region or continent but would make sense.  I think we heard on the last earnings call that 80% of royal's guests are North america, sorry I realize that doesn't help you and I'm not an expert on the program, but do know that the commission is almost nothing on these compared to normal sailings and while it is possible to transfer casinos reservations and make more changes I have been told by travel agents from more than one company they don't like to do them (in so many words, "you may have better luck if you contact casino royale directly.....") which is fine, totally get it. 

pardon the pun, but just another game we have to play.  there's a sliding scale for slots but for me, as an exclusively blackjack table player, there's very little to know about how they rate your playing/winning or what goes into the status.  I just try to tip well and have a good time and hopefully they keep coming.  I will say the offers are a lot more aggressive if I walk off the ship with more money than I came aboard with, which is pretty obvious.

In a pretty steady 5 years of getting and using casino comps I have seen allllll of the short Caribbean out of FL, smaller ships weeklong out of FL, the Navigator Pacific cruises, just started getting some Oasis weeklong and more Galveston, very rarely an Alaska but have never seen a Europe offering

We are team late seating for many of the reasons listed above, early seating is just too early for us.  Most cruises with my wife and other friends or cousins we are having a great time bar hopping around the ship to various games, karaoke, other activities or up top around the pool at 3:30 or 4 enjoying cocktail hour after a day on the island and not wanting to head back and get ready for dinner that early.  We were raised as old school cruisers who still take the time to get ready and dressed up fairly formal and fancy for dinner and evening activities.  There's so much going on at night that I would hate to miss and that's vacation for us, we're gonna be out several hours later than usual until midnight or so and then sleeping in a couple hours later than usual, plus you can always doze around the pool at some point depending on how late the night was. 

Totally understand why other (perhaps older) cruisers would feel different and great that royal has earlier shows, earlier dinner and it certainly keeps the ship from feeling too crowded.

On cruises with our little ones along we have taken them to windjammer earlier when they're used to eating (5 or 6), then drop them off at kids program or with their grandparents and go to MDR late seating or a specialty dinner ourselves.  When the kiddos are a little older I would certainly try my time dining, but still wouldn't want to be locked into early MDR every night.

 

we had quest on two different 4 nighters out of Miami, one on navigator and one on Freedom.  You can check past cruise compasses that this site hosts 

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/cruise-compass?ship=274

 

here's an allure three nighter

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/cruise-compasses/allure-of-the-seas/fri-11102023-0000

 

so yes, it looks like the quest is on Saturday night in Studio B, the ice arena (they cover the floor for events like this and the DJ parties etc)

most of perfect day already is pretty quiet, I expected this to be an active space.  Hideaway beach project is clearly related to the demand they have for coco beach club and the other cabanas.  lots of people dropping lots of money on enhanced experiences and anything that is marketed as more exclusive (cough 'the key' cough), most of those folks obviously aren't here on the forums and plenty of us are going to scratch our heads and/or complain about it, but those dollars are absolutely being spent and people are voting with their feet telling Royal what they want to do with their dollars so.....here we are

was on the hump of navigator in deck 8 very near to the elevators a couple years ago and had zero noise issues.  

(yes, navigator is voyager class but voyager and freedom are nearly identical, freedom just longer.  in today's marketing freedom class might well have been called voyager ultra)

great advice and I agree, have definitely found tipping to guarantee that certain bartenders will remember me, my drink preferences and get me great service.  along with $1 bills I will also use up my smaller 50 cent and $1 and $5 blackjack table chips this way, there is a wink and a nod, the crew must have some way of being able to exchange them.

I would be team central park.  My father would be team chops, I would imagine there are a lot of families that follow that generational breakdown. 

150 if you like newer american restaurants, a more trendy atmosphere, some round tables, some more creative dishes etc.  Chops for more of a classic fine dining experience, classically prepared steak and potatoes, standards.

reminds me of hearing various captains talk about the voyager class, I think the most recent one may have been on Matt's last shipboard pod, talk about how the voyager were really over- engineered.  Royal knew they would have a target on their back committing to build multiples of the biggest ships in the world at the time and so really committed to overbuilding the specs on the voyager class to handle and be safe and comfortable as possible in all weather, all regions etc.  

The entire coast from cancun down to Tulum 25-30 years ago was very laid back and largely undeveloped, these cruise ship tours were a good way to see some pristine beaches and nature.

That is not the case today and I chime as many of these cozumel/playa ferry type questions to recommend that you do not take a 10 hour excursion.  relax and stay on cozumel, tons of great things to do there.  if you want to see the beaches, the ruins in Tulum (or the much better, larger sets of ruins with fewer crowds elsewhere) book a 5-7 day trip flying in and out of cancun and staying in Puerto or Playa or Tulum, there are a ton of resorts now right on the beach, you can almost always find a good deal and it will be 1000% better experience than playing ferry's buses planes trains and automobiles.  It's just not enjoyable and puts a lot of unnecessary strain and risk on your cruise vacation.

@teddy feel the same way and can't wait until she's off the Nassau, Perfect day route and starts some longer routes again.  Awesome, hidden gem of the fleet imo  

Freedom was amp'd right before the COVID shutdown so she's still basically brand new in many spots and a very big ship, was the biggest ship in the world at one point!  Was just on her earlier this year and had an awesome time and when we go cruising again she and the other amp'd Voyager/freedom class ships (Nav, Mariner, Indy, Freedom) will be my first choice.  I personally like freedom class better than oasis for a variety of reasons.  Royal marketing is always about the latest and greatest but I wish it wouldn't make all the folks who are on the slightly older ships feel like they are missing out because you absolutely are not.

like a lot of you i have been in the ocean many, many times and seen jellyfish often as well.  it's not worth fretting about imo - I've had much more pain from stepping on a sharp piece of shell or a bee sting than from anything in the water.  they don't want to bother you and usually brush right by.  in any case it's like being worried about getting run over in the crosswalk, you still gotta get across the street haha! live your life, hakuna matata, c'est la vie, etc etc

this is the answer to almost every question on these forums, huge milestone on its way back to the $130-150 mark and beyond.

more ships coming online, more people cruising, more bonds on track to be paid off, more expenses trimmed, more drinks charged, more fees (cough *the keys?) bought...it's all working right now for them.  the 3/4 night cruise market esp has been a revelation, really almost a shocker to me with the last few announcements from royal and celebrity moving even more hardware capacity into the florida weekend and ditching a more crowded europe. 

the florida weekend cruises must be just wildly profitable - combination of very low operating costs (compared to steaming hundreds of miles) and a lot of party people happy to splurge because, hey it's only a few days and oh, by the way one of those days is on the company island.

we've taken 90% of our cruises with Royal over 20 years now and had some incredible trips and great memories.  we'll be back again, but not sure how soon.  after trying symphony twice, we're just not wild about the oasis class and while we love voyager/freedom i frankly don't love most of their itineraries, the dining and entertainment across the fleet are not anything close to what they used to be, we're not particularly interested in shelling out wild $ for Icon just yet or for the holiday and spring break pricing in general, paying up for specialty dining and higher priced drink packages every time, just kind of tired of the game of it all.

we took slightly late spring break on marco island/ naples and loved a simpler trip relaxing on the beach at our tempo so much that we just booked a week in Saint Thomas at a VRBO for this winter and we'll do our own island hopping.  maybe we're changing too, it's not just royal and that's ok.  got the airfare bought very early and satisfied with the price, really excited for the freedom and flexibility to plan our own days and looking forward to a new kind of trip - maybe it will make me miss getting back on a ship again in 2025, guess we'll see.  prices and demand for certain ship and private island experiences are just frankly out of control for what you actually get for a few hours and look, i'm a business person so i get it from a certain perspective, happy for Royal and the shareholders, but we'll wait to look at coming back if/when things stabilize a bit more (knowing it's entirely possible they won't)

@Montemy2419 sadly there is no rhyme or reason to the cruise planner, as you've seen and been told by now.  it was fine to try once but I don't need to go back at any price point, honestly the snack shack food is awesome as is the pool etc.  the island is huge, if you haven't been before I wouldn't worry about the pool noise at all or use that as a reason to do the beach club - you can't hear the pool party from the vast majority of the island and can find hundreds of beach chairs in quiet spots with great views.  in fact, that's the main reason we won't be back to the cocoa beach club, I really enjoy the ability to walk around and try other spots, there are a lot of other places to eat and drink, take a walk and check things out etc. 

the already included snack shack food was as good as anything in the beach club and the small spiny warm water lobster they serve there gets wayyyyy to much play.  it's not a big deal.  it's nice, it's fine, don't get me wrong, try it out if you want.  but as with the cabanas and many other spots......no way is it worth what they charge most of the year for it.  

totally get where you're coming from, the fleet guide is out there publicly anyone can google and find it.  usually people know which time of year they're going and which country/which port (or handful of ports) they're going out of, things like that all filter the list down pretty dramatically and then go from there.  they did just redesign most of the search for a new cruise and you can filter based on those criteria all very easily.

https://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Royal/General_Info/2021-2022_Fleet_Guide.pdf

you'll also probably hear some say "a good travel agent will know this or help you find it" and that's true, but the other part of this equation to your earlier point, is "why is all the flashy stuff from the commercials and marketing materials not on every ship?" and that's just marketing 101.  General Motors has truck plants that all start with the same body frames and engines, some trucks and SUV's come out the end of the factory with really high end leather and premium features - some come out more budget friendly mid level and some as bare bones stripped down commercial work vehicles to say nothing of the used truck market and the prices all vary accordingly.  We don't see delivery vans and thirty year old trucks take up much space on their website or magazine advertisements, but they're still running, still out on the road, and they're still a Chevy. 

In the business of selling a vacation, doesn't matter if it's Florida or California, New York or Chicago, they'll all brag up their main attractions and conveniently leave out their less desirable neighborhoods/weather months etc.  It's on the tourist to use the guides and info at their disposal to figure it out.  Just how it is.

so many different crew and passengers across so many ships, some sailing multiple times a week so your mileage may vary etc etc

all that said, I really thought these made a big difference on our Freedom cruise a month ago.  we were able to find a chair when we wanted to.  my tenth cruise overall (seventh with Royal) and first time seeing these signs, I really thought they made a difference and was happy to see them.  it's at least a gesture in the right direction, a shrug, haha hey something is better than nothing and this is a nice easy, passive (mostly) non-confrontational acknowledgement of the problem.  they're also bright pink and fun and very straightforward, now let's make something like this for the (now all but defunct) dinner dress code 

IF YOU ARE NOT SURE AND ARE THINKING ABOUT ASKING, THEN NO, IT'S NOT IN THE DRESS CODE.