dr martini

I recently had an opportunity to sail in the Grand Panoramic Suite on Oasis of the Seas.  It is one of the finest suites I have ever sailed in.

Cabin 1758 category GP is a fairly unique suite.  There are exactly two in the fleet with one on Oasis of the Seas and one on Allure of the Seas.  Later Oasis class ships consumed this space and the similar Owner's Panoramic Suite (OP) on the other side of deck 17 for a larger Coastal Kitchen / Suite Lounge space.   The Owner's Panoramic Suite is slightly larger.

The Grand Panoramic Suite (1758) and Owner's Panoramic Suites (1701) were not originally found on Oasis of the Seas but were added during a dry dock in 2014.  The Grand Panoramic Suite was originally the Pinnacle Chapel while the Owner's Panoramic Suite was originally the Pinnacle Lounge.  These unique suites were added right around the same time that Royal Caribbean introduced the Royal Suites Program found exclusively on Oasis and Quantum class ships.  As part of the Royal Suites program the Grand Panoramic Suite and the Owner's Panoramic Suite are Star Class suites.  

The Grand Panoramic Suite can accommodate four guests and it features two bathrooms.  
The primary bedroom consists of a king sized bed that cannot be separated into two twins. 

The nightstands on either side of the bed are fixed in place.  The mattress is a one piece Duxiana mattress making this one of a handful of beds on board that cannot be separated.  


One of the best features of the Grand Panoramic Suite is the primary bathroom.  It is without question one of the largest and nicest guest bathrooms in the fleet!

The bathroom features a full sized bathtub.


There are two sets of identical sinks.

There is also a full size shower with a rainfall showerhead.  The shower includes a handheld wand that can be operated independently or at the same time with the overhead rainfall.

The toilet area has a frosted glass door to separate it from the rest of the bathroom and includes a bidet.

A makeup area with a stool is found on one end of the bathroom.  

The bathroom contains the closets with ample storage space and a safe for valuables within.

Additional closet space is found on the back wall.

The secondary bathroom is found near the front entrance to the suite.

This bathroom contains a large shower minus the overhead rainfall shower head and no bidet.  
Additional guests sharing the suite have their own makeup area.

This area also contains closet space for additional guests.

A large glass table near the entrance is perfect for enjoying all the dining options that come with Star Class such as specialty restaurant room service.  

The living room features a large sofa with a pull out sofa bed for the third and fourth guests in the suite.

One of the great features of this suite is so much space! 
The wet bar can be stocked as part of the Star Class experience.   This is replenished during the cruise.

The suite has high ceilings making it feel very spacious.

The living room TV includes a soundbar with subwoofer that is bluetooth enabled so you can connect a smartphone to play music from your device independent of the TV.

The primary bedroom has a glass door that can be closed for privacy but the space above the door towards the ceiling is open so you will need to mindful of any sounds that might be heard in the living room if you have additional guests with you.

The balcony is long but somewhat narrow.  The loungers are placed in the only space they can fit.

The balcony includes a private hot tub.

It takes around 45 minutes to fill the hot tub which you can do yourself or you can request the cabin attendants fill it for you.  
The hot tub is small and perfect for a couple who don't mind close proximity but I'd be hesitant to try to squeeze four adult guests into the hot tub unless they are well acquainted.


The balcony does not offer a lot of privacy and you will see and be seen by guests on deck 15 below.
The view from the bedroom with the shades down and curtains open.

The view from the balcony.

To assist with privacy the bedroom has remotely controlled opaque shades that be raised.

The shades will prevent anyone from seeing you in the suite while allowing a lot of natural light into the suite.  The shades are seen here partially raised.  They can go a little higher but they do not go all the way to the ceiling.

There are also both sheer and separate full blackout curtains that be operated independently to control daylight.

During the day with all curtains open there are wonderful views from both the living room and the primary bedroom.  


With the shades down and curtains open you will see the deck 15 pool deck.

From the pool deck looking up towards the Grand Panoramic Suite.

With the shades down and curtains open guests on the pool deck can see into the bedroom.

Knowing the shades provide privacy does allow one to manage privacy quite well.
There is no privacy on the balcony so dress accordingly.


From off the ship here is where the Grand Panoramic Suite is found:

The shades can be seen partially raised providing privacy in the bedroom.  

The balcony provides partial forward views.

While at sea:

Combined with the morning Star Class delivery of Starbucks and a mimosa...

...this became a morning ritual.

Beyond a lack of privacy on the balcony the only other drawback is that pool deck sounds can be heard in the cabin during daylight hours.  
You will hear all entertainment sounds coming from the pool deck.  During the day you will clearly hear bands performing and during events like the belly flop contest you will hear all the announcements that are made even within the suite with the balcony door closed.   From the balcony you will hear guests playing ping pong on deck 14 below.
Despite these two drawbacks I'd gladly book this suite again.  Mr. Stumpy agrees...

...as do the two that were fighting over the departure instructions on the last sea day begging me not to leave.

It has less to do with the specific ports and more to do with days at sea. Assuming you're on this itinerary it will almost certainly be Day 2 and Day 6.
https://www.royalcaribbean.com/cruises/itinerary/7-night-eastern-caribbean-perfect-day-from-miami-on-oasis/OA07MIA-2712721427#step=0

three weeks from now almost to the exact minute we'll be in the car on the way to the port.  settled on Hilton Bentley South Beach 95,000 hilton points for a one bed king Sunday night before our Monday departure, will try the $50 bill trick when checking in to see if there are any upgrades or ocean views, but it's just one night.  Chose South Point area because I have stayed there before and know a few bars/restaurants, it's a great vibe.  After booking I verified via phone with the front desk that we can use any of the amenities like beach chairs/pool etc in the event our room isn't ready until 3 or 4 (our flight scheduled to land just after noon), will just chill on the beach and get dinner.  I think we can handle that.

We are past final payment and now all checked in for a four day on Freedom of the Seas January 23, 2023!!  It will be the first time away from the babies (both under two) for me and my wife for more than a night but, as I told her, we deserve it and at some point we just gotta do it (very fortunate to have some awesome nearby grandmas to help).  It's a cruise of many firsts, we are fortunate to have cruised a fair amount, we will pass into Emerald status on this cruise with a goal of being Diamond in a few years, this will be our first time in a Junior suite as well as first time with Ultimate Dining and first time at Coco Beach Club.  I have done almost all of the Voyager class earlier in younger days on family trips and together we've done two Symphony cruises and a Navigator (the most recent Symphony was during spring break of this past year which was unfortunately not a great time with the crowds, lack of activities, pretty poor service level overall compared to previous voyages and yes a cruise is better than no cruise, yes spring break is always busy but we were limited by teachers and school aged children in the group of family we had with us, so that's a whole other conversation, but looking forward to things being somewhat more normal and not have to worry about the testing drama for a large group, masks, blah blah blah) so while we don't have the time or budget for a big 7 day cruise every year we are very much looking forward to a getaway as the two of us and splurging a bit as our Christmas gift to each other.
I have been getting free interior and ocean view stateroom Casino Royale offers on all of these Florida based 3/4 nighters as well as a variety of older/smaller ship 7 nighters since before the shutdown and not being able to take advantage of them yet due to the babies and work commitments had been killing me!  We were on one of the very last cruises in Feb 2020 just before the shutdown to check out Navigator in her newly amped state as well as the brand new south beach and other additions at PDCC so this is a bit of a retread in a way, but hey, we know what we like and this ship appealed to us the most.  I say that because we really preferred Navigator over Symphony - I totally understand and respect of course that different folks like different things and Wonder looks amazing, lots of fun things to do, but for me the size and access to most areas, the connection to the ocean, the price, the familiarity to get around the ship easily .....that 2020 trip made Navigator our favorite of any ship we've been on and so that led us to being very keen to see Freedom in her relatively fresh state having been amped and then empty for two years.  We likely won't be onboard any Oasis class 7 nighter again until we can afford to truly go all out, stay in a suite, get ultimate dining etc to fully take advantage of all the things those ships can offer.  Being in a 'normal' non suite room on Symphony (without access to my favorite part of the Voyager class, the Viking Crown) and without doing specialty dining etc just created a lot of FOMO if that makes sense?  The base level approach was not for us, I don't think I would recommend it for other seasoned cruisers but would love to try Odyssey and will try to keep an open mind - we're all different and clearly Royal knows they had some challenges on the service end with the recent news about the main dining room menu etc and I applaud them for acknowledging that, but there's plenty of chatter about that elsewhere.  At the end of the day we are well aware of the business model, if you want more than the basic experience be prepared to spend more to get it and so on this particular four nighter we can afford to do just that.  It's good marketing and Royal clearly knows what they're doing, I'm fine with that.
Through a great travel agent we've used in the past we paid a very reasonable upgrade fee on top of my casino royale offer to get ourselves into one of the brand newly built out Junior Suites on Deck 11 (thanks @Matt for the tip in a previous live blog of Freedom).  Final price was a third or less per person than what they have been going for in recent sales.  We both have DBX with Wifi at a great black Friday rate (imo the key is a very expensive, unnecessary clump of word salad for any experienced cruiser who is organized even a bit) we grabbed Ultimate dining for the first time as well as a Coco Beach Club day pass for $89.  
We're flying into Miami from Ohare around noon the day before using American Miles and staying with Hilton points I've racked up at work (can't tell you how much I love having 99% of this entire trip already paid for aside from the cash we'll bring onboard).  Have yet to choose the exact hotel but we will stay on Miami beach so we can escape winter and start vacation mode as soon as we land!  Checkin is all set for 10AM Monday to take full advantage of our time aboard.  In the mean time, I'll be lurking around here and taking in as much content as I can to survive a busy stretch at work and get through the holidays.  I know we will miss our baby girls at times, but it's just a few nights and without them I will have time to review and be a blogger wannabe, looking forward to some time to play with my Nikon D5200 and various lenses, will link to my Flickr if necessary.  40 days and counting, happy holidays to everybody here and thankful for all I've learned so far.
 
Cheers
 

The chance of the price getting much better closer to sail date is very slim. 

three weeks from now almost to the exact minute we'll be in the car on the way to the port.  settled on Hilton Bentley South Beach 95,000 hilton points for a one bed king Sunday night before our Monday departure, will try the $50 bill trick when checking in to see if there are any upgrades or ocean views, but it's just one night.  Chose South Point area because I have stayed there before and know a few bars/restaurants, it's a great vibe.  After booking I verified via phone with the front desk that we can use any of the amenities like beach chairs/pool etc in the event our room isn't ready until 3 or 4 (our flight scheduled to land just after noon), will just chill on the beach and get dinner.  I think we can handle that.

The towel check out/charge is one of the worst Royal Caribbean policies imo. No one is stealing their crappy blue towels and it just causes so many problems! 

I haven’t cruised since 2019 but we found our cards were highly sensitive to sunscreen…it would absolutely take off the black ink and I had to replace my card a couple times.  Jane

Sailing allure right now. Asked my attendant.  He said they have been told only 1 service per day starting in January. He was very concerned how he will be able to properly clean 25 rooms by 1pm on turnaround days.

I believe only Oasis and Quantum class ship built after a certain time or amped. I know Odyssey had the option, Harmony as well, my friend said Wonder too.
But yes, the current cards are pretty bad, my brother and BFF had to get their cards replaced twice on a 6N Odyssey sailing because they were peeling and falling apart.

Well we made it. Woke up super early 3:30 am and got on our flight to Fort Lauderdale. Now I agree with everyone of flying in the night before not only for weather delays but we were exhausted by the end of day 1. We purchased the Key and it was well worth it. We got priority embarkation and the Lunch was fabulous. They did mess up our daughters burger but it was a communication issue. I ordered a plain burger and said meat only and the meat was withheld. Oh well plenty of food to be had elsewhere. Our room was 7408. Only a balcony price but the balcony is huge!

Yeah the prices have gone crazy. The dates we are looking at for January 2023 are more than double of what we normally pay. I could go on 2 more cruises for the price of round trip airfare 😢
 

Last week my flight was at 10:25 am and I arrived on time to the airport around 8:15 am. 

J4 is double occupancy while the J3's can hold 3-4 guests.
I loved our J4 on Freedom (9538) as it was close to the elevators and we could easily peer into the bridge to see the officers during docking! 


 

We are past final payment and now all checked in for a four day on Freedom of the Seas January 23, 2023!!  It will be the first time away from the babies (both under two) for me and my wife for more than a night but, as I told her, we deserve it and at some point we just gotta do it (very fortunate to have some awesome nearby grandmas to help).  It's a cruise of many firsts, we are fortunate to have cruised a fair amount, we will pass into Emerald status on this cruise with a goal of being Diamond in a few years, this will be our first time in a Junior suite as well as first time with Ultimate Dining and first time at Coco Beach Club.  I have done almost all of the Voyager class earlier in younger days on family trips and together we've done two Symphony cruises and a Navigator (the most recent Symphony was during spring break of this past year which was unfortunately not a great time with the crowds, lack of activities, pretty poor service level overall compared to previous voyages and yes a cruise is better than no cruise, yes spring break is always busy but we were limited by teachers and school aged children in the group of family we had with us, so that's a whole other conversation, but looking forward to things being somewhat more normal and not have to worry about the testing drama for a large group, masks, blah blah blah) so while we don't have the time or budget for a big 7 day cruise every year we are very much looking forward to a getaway as the two of us and splurging a bit as our Christmas gift to each other.
I have been getting free interior and ocean view stateroom Casino Royale offers on all of these Florida based 3/4 nighters as well as a variety of older/smaller ship 7 nighters since before the shutdown and not being able to take advantage of them yet due to the babies and work commitments had been killing me!  We were on one of the very last cruises in Feb 2020 just before the shutdown to check out Navigator in her newly amped state as well as the brand new south beach and other additions at PDCC so this is a bit of a retread in a way, but hey, we know what we like and this ship appealed to us the most.  I say that because we really preferred Navigator over Symphony - I totally understand and respect of course that different folks like different things and Wonder looks amazing, lots of fun things to do, but for me the size and access to most areas, the connection to the ocean, the price, the familiarity to get around the ship easily .....that 2020 trip made Navigator our favorite of any ship we've been on and so that led us to being very keen to see Freedom in her relatively fresh state having been amped and then empty for two years.  We likely won't be onboard any Oasis class 7 nighter again until we can afford to truly go all out, stay in a suite, get ultimate dining etc to fully take advantage of all the things those ships can offer.  Being in a 'normal' non suite room on Symphony (without access to my favorite part of the Voyager class, the Viking Crown) and without doing specialty dining etc just created a lot of FOMO if that makes sense?  The base level approach was not for us, I don't think I would recommend it for other seasoned cruisers but would love to try Odyssey and will try to keep an open mind - we're all different and clearly Royal knows they had some challenges on the service end with the recent news about the main dining room menu etc and I applaud them for acknowledging that, but there's plenty of chatter about that elsewhere.  At the end of the day we are well aware of the business model, if you want more than the basic experience be prepared to spend more to get it and so on this particular four nighter we can afford to do just that.  It's good marketing and Royal clearly knows what they're doing, I'm fine with that.
Through a great travel agent we've used in the past we paid a very reasonable upgrade fee on top of my casino royale offer to get ourselves into one of the brand newly built out Junior Suites on Deck 11 (thanks @Matt for the tip in a previous live blog of Freedom).  Final price was a third or less per person than what they have been going for in recent sales.  We both have DBX with Wifi at a great black Friday rate (imo the key is a very expensive, unnecessary clump of word salad for any experienced cruiser who is organized even a bit) we grabbed Ultimate dining for the first time as well as a Coco Beach Club day pass for $89.  
We're flying into Miami from Ohare around noon the day before using American Miles and staying with Hilton points I've racked up at work (can't tell you how much I love having 99% of this entire trip already paid for aside from the cash we'll bring onboard).  Have yet to choose the exact hotel but we will stay on Miami beach so we can escape winter and start vacation mode as soon as we land!  Checkin is all set for 10AM Monday to take full advantage of our time aboard.  In the mean time, I'll be lurking around here and taking in as much content as I can to survive a busy stretch at work and get through the holidays.  I know we will miss our baby girls at times, but it's just a few nights and without them I will have time to review and be a blogger wannabe, looking forward to some time to play with my Nikon D5200 and various lenses, will link to my Flickr if necessary.  40 days and counting, happy holidays to everybody here and thankful for all I've learned so far.
 
Cheers
 

ENJOY!

Enjoy your hard earned break! 

As a grandma, rest assured that some of us love having grandkids for a few days.  I know that for me, it is a win all around — I get grandkids in a limited dose and parents get a nice break and each other alone for a few days.  Have fun!!!

Less than a month ago we cruised, 7-days from L.A. to the Mexican Riviera.  And we've booked the exact same cruise two more times in the next couple of months.
Our endeavor was to discover how much truly easier it would be for a West Coaster to cruise from the West Coast.  And, at least partially, it is easier, or at least, cheaper.  We are envious of all the Southeastern folks that have easy and quick access to the cruise ports of Florida.
What I really felt, was L.A. is not taking the cruise business seriously, as if they're expecting the cruise industry to leave, or at least downsize.  When we were dropped off at the circus tent outside the ship, it was poorly organized.  Nothing like the Love Boat terminal I used to see on TV.  Folks didn't know where to be, and there were few folks if any, to direct the passengers of where they should be. 
 
And even at the beginning of our booking process, I discovered  ground shuttle  transportation is very lacking in choices or services provided.  It was like, gee we'll get you there, but it's not really what we do.  I had to settle on a limo, which was nearly as costly as the airfare to get us there.  I know many folks say ground transportation is easily available, but in every case other than a limo, we weren't allowed more than one piece of luggage each.  That's tough.  For me, a 7-day vacation requires a suitcase, and a carry on.  Best they could say was sorry, can't do it.   And no, I don't want an Uber Prius with suitcases on my lap.
So what I see, or saw, was the cruise was magnificent.  But the local cruising services just didn't take it seriously.

So frustrating how California goes out of it's way to ruin good things, I hope navigator stays or for Royal to increase it's offerings, it seems a likely spot to reposition after Alaska if even for a short while as well. It's not a small market, it is arguably one of the the biggest markets with almost 24 million people in Southern California most of who m are less than a 2 hour drive to the port. That's more than the state of Florida and just 5 million less than all of Texas, which is far more spread out. If So Cal was a state it would be the 2nd largest behind Texas as Nor Cal is 1/3 less populated. Carnival has had 3 ships permanently in so cal for 30 years plus princess and their other lines permanently or at least when not in Alaska. Understandably the 3 and 4 day cruises in order to fire up the casinos only go to Ensenada which has little to offer however on our recent 3 day Navigator trip we went to El Valle Guadalupe wine country and I found it to be more enjoyable than Nassau for the Florida short cruises. I love Cabo and even more so Puerto Vallarta but admittedly the pacific is rougher and colder than the Eastern shore of Mexico plus there are no island nations to visit, I just hate that our preferred cruise line is the one that until recently was almost non existent on the left coast. From a marketing perspective it would be a huge mistake to leave the West coast if for no other reason than to introduce people to the brand as most start with a shorter and a conveniently located cruise, plus it's closer to Asia and already gets significant numbers of tourists from around the globe. We drug along with us about 25 friends and family on our little Navigator 3 day cruise in March, most of whom had never experienced Royal before, alll of whom became fans. Put a quantum, oasis or icon class ship on this coast and they will get more loyal customers than any amount of commercials can buy. As a shareholder I'd be unhappy if they left the West as a resident I'd be forced to look for other options on occasion.

Ships have to plug into shore power while in CA ports and turn off engines.  Navigator was specifically modified for this capability as are new ship being built now, but few Royal ships built before 2020 qualify.  

My wife, daughter (9) and I are doing a Ship 2 Ship leaving tomorrow. Originally we had only booked Freedom but ended up adding on the Liberty sailing out of convenience. Unfortunately we are flying into Fort Lauderdale on the same day. I know it's a big no no but we are going to ask the travel gods to smile upon us. My wife and I both have relatively new jobs and had the Freedom sailing booked before we took them but we are going anyways. When we were planning we gave our daughter the choice of Carnival, Disney, and Royal. We showed her all the ships and the itineraries for each and she chose Royal. My wallet was extremely happy with her decision. My wife had the request of a balcony and I was really tempted to book a suite but ended up doing both Liberty and Freedom on balconies. We did purchase the Key for both sailings since we wanted the internet package and on Black Friday the sales only put it at a couple dollars more then the internet package alone. We also did the refreshment package for my wife and I and the soda package for my daughter. 
For the Liberty Sailing: 
1. Staying on the ship for Nassau: Cupcake decorating for my wife and daughter, Flow Rider Lessons for the three of us. 
2. Cocoa Cay: Waterpark passes 
 
For the Freedom Sailing 
1. Nassau: Got day passes to Baha Mar Waterpark. We didn't see many reviews but it looked nice and it was significantly cheaper then Atlantis. 
2. Cocoa Cay: Waterpark passes again but we will probably explore more on this time. 
3. Sea Day: Rented a Casita so we wouldn't have to fight the chair hogs. My wife is eternally grateful. 
 
My daughter loves to swim and go on some water slides. She is extremely excited to go on a cruise. It is her first. My wife and I have sailed on Carnival in the past and this is our first time on Royal. We didn't purchase any specialty dining but we may on the next cruise depending on the food. We thought we would try the included stuff the first go around and go from there. 
Now I better go pack my stuff. Our flight leaves at 6:30am tomorrow! 

We are past final payment and now all checked in for a four day on Freedom of the Seas January 23, 2023!!  It will be the first time away from the babies (both under two) for me and my wife for more than a night but, as I told her, we deserve it and at some point we just gotta do it (very fortunate to have some awesome nearby grandmas to help).  It's a cruise of many firsts, we are fortunate to have cruised a fair amount, we will pass into Emerald status on this cruise with a goal of being Diamond in a few years, this will be our first time in a Junior suite as well as first time with Ultimate Dining and first time at Coco Beach Club.  I have done almost all of the Voyager class earlier in younger days on family trips and together we've done two Symphony cruises and a Navigator (the most recent Symphony was during spring break of this past year which was unfortunately not a great time with the crowds, lack of activities, pretty poor service level overall compared to previous voyages and yes a cruise is better than no cruise, yes spring break is always busy but we were limited by teachers and school aged children in the group of family we had with us, so that's a whole other conversation, but looking forward to things being somewhat more normal and not have to worry about the testing drama for a large group, masks, blah blah blah) so while we don't have the time or budget for a big 7 day cruise every year we are very much looking forward to a getaway as the two of us and splurging a bit as our Christmas gift to each other.
I have been getting free interior and ocean view stateroom Casino Royale offers on all of these Florida based 3/4 nighters as well as a variety of older/smaller ship 7 nighters since before the shutdown and not being able to take advantage of them yet due to the babies and work commitments had been killing me!  We were on one of the very last cruises in Feb 2020 just before the shutdown to check out Navigator in her newly amped state as well as the brand new south beach and other additions at PDCC so this is a bit of a retread in a way, but hey, we know what we like and this ship appealed to us the most.  I say that because we really preferred Navigator over Symphony - I totally understand and respect of course that different folks like different things and Wonder looks amazing, lots of fun things to do, but for me the size and access to most areas, the connection to the ocean, the price, the familiarity to get around the ship easily .....that 2020 trip made Navigator our favorite of any ship we've been on and so that led us to being very keen to see Freedom in her relatively fresh state having been amped and then empty for two years.  We likely won't be onboard any Oasis class 7 nighter again until we can afford to truly go all out, stay in a suite, get ultimate dining etc to fully take advantage of all the things those ships can offer.  Being in a 'normal' non suite room on Symphony (without access to my favorite part of the Voyager class, the Viking Crown) and without doing specialty dining etc just created a lot of FOMO if that makes sense?  The base level approach was not for us, I don't think I would recommend it for other seasoned cruisers but would love to try Odyssey and will try to keep an open mind - we're all different and clearly Royal knows they had some challenges on the service end with the recent news about the main dining room menu etc and I applaud them for acknowledging that, but there's plenty of chatter about that elsewhere.  At the end of the day we are well aware of the business model, if you want more than the basic experience be prepared to spend more to get it and so on this particular four nighter we can afford to do just that.  It's good marketing and Royal clearly knows what they're doing, I'm fine with that.
Through a great travel agent we've used in the past we paid a very reasonable upgrade fee on top of my casino royale offer to get ourselves into one of the brand newly built out Junior Suites on Deck 11 (thanks @Matt for the tip in a previous live blog of Freedom).  Final price was a third or less per person than what they have been going for in recent sales.  We both have DBX with Wifi at a great black Friday rate (imo the key is a very expensive, unnecessary clump of word salad for any experienced cruiser who is organized even a bit) we grabbed Ultimate dining for the first time as well as a Coco Beach Club day pass for $89.  
We're flying into Miami from Ohare around noon the day before using American Miles and staying with Hilton points I've racked up at work (can't tell you how much I love having 99% of this entire trip already paid for aside from the cash we'll bring onboard).  Have yet to choose the exact hotel but we will stay on Miami beach so we can escape winter and start vacation mode as soon as we land!  Checkin is all set for 10AM Monday to take full advantage of our time aboard.  In the mean time, I'll be lurking around here and taking in as much content as I can to survive a busy stretch at work and get through the holidays.  I know we will miss our baby girls at times, but it's just a few nights and without them I will have time to review and be a blogger wannabe, looking forward to some time to play with my Nikon D5200 and various lenses, will link to my Flickr if necessary.  40 days and counting, happy holidays to everybody here and thankful for all I've learned so far.
 
Cheers
 

We are past final payment and now all checked in for a four day on Freedom of the Seas January 23, 2023!!  It will be the first time away from the babies (both under two) for me and my wife for more than a night but, as I told her, we deserve it and at some point we just gotta do it (very fortunate to have some awesome nearby grandmas to help).  It's a cruise of many firsts, we are fortunate to have cruised a fair amount, we will pass into Emerald status on this cruise with a goal of being Diamond in a few years, this will be our first time in a Junior suite as well as first time with Ultimate Dining and first time at Coco Beach Club.  I have done almost all of the Voyager class earlier in younger days on family trips and together we've done two Symphony cruises and a Navigator (the most recent Symphony was during spring break of this past year which was unfortunately not a great time with the crowds, lack of activities, pretty poor service level overall compared to previous voyages and yes a cruise is better than no cruise, yes spring break is always busy but we were limited by teachers and school aged children in the group of family we had with us, so that's a whole other conversation, but looking forward to things being somewhat more normal and not have to worry about the testing drama for a large group, masks, blah blah blah) so while we don't have the time or budget for a big 7 day cruise every year we are very much looking forward to a getaway as the two of us and splurging a bit as our Christmas gift to each other.
I have been getting free interior and ocean view stateroom Casino Royale offers on all of these Florida based 3/4 nighters as well as a variety of older/smaller ship 7 nighters since before the shutdown and not being able to take advantage of them yet due to the babies and work commitments had been killing me!  We were on one of the very last cruises in Feb 2020 just before the shutdown to check out Navigator in her newly amped state as well as the brand new south beach and other additions at PDCC so this is a bit of a retread in a way, but hey, we know what we like and this ship appealed to us the most.  I say that because we really preferred Navigator over Symphony - I totally understand and respect of course that different folks like different things and Wonder looks amazing, lots of fun things to do, but for me the size and access to most areas, the connection to the ocean, the price, the familiarity to get around the ship easily .....that 2020 trip made Navigator our favorite of any ship we've been on and so that led us to being very keen to see Freedom in her relatively fresh state having been amped and then empty for two years.  We likely won't be onboard any Oasis class 7 nighter again until we can afford to truly go all out, stay in a suite, get ultimate dining etc to fully take advantage of all the things those ships can offer.  Being in a 'normal' non suite room on Symphony (without access to my favorite part of the Voyager class, the Viking Crown) and without doing specialty dining etc just created a lot of FOMO if that makes sense?  The base level approach was not for us, I don't think I would recommend it for other seasoned cruisers but would love to try Odyssey and will try to keep an open mind - we're all different and clearly Royal knows they had some challenges on the service end with the recent news about the main dining room menu etc and I applaud them for acknowledging that, but there's plenty of chatter about that elsewhere.  At the end of the day we are well aware of the business model, if you want more than the basic experience be prepared to spend more to get it and so on this particular four nighter we can afford to do just that.  It's good marketing and Royal clearly knows what they're doing, I'm fine with that.
Through a great travel agent we've used in the past we paid a very reasonable upgrade fee on top of my casino royale offer to get ourselves into one of the brand newly built out Junior Suites on Deck 11 (thanks @Matt for the tip in a previous live blog of Freedom).  Final price was a third or less per person than what they have been going for in recent sales.  We both have DBX with Wifi at a great black Friday rate (imo the key is a very expensive, unnecessary clump of word salad for any experienced cruiser who is organized even a bit) we grabbed Ultimate dining for the first time as well as a Coco Beach Club day pass for $89.  
We're flying into Miami from Ohare around noon the day before using American Miles and staying with Hilton points I've racked up at work (can't tell you how much I love having 99% of this entire trip already paid for aside from the cash we'll bring onboard).  Have yet to choose the exact hotel but we will stay on Miami beach so we can escape winter and start vacation mode as soon as we land!  Checkin is all set for 10AM Monday to take full advantage of our time aboard.  In the mean time, I'll be lurking around here and taking in as much content as I can to survive a busy stretch at work and get through the holidays.  I know we will miss our baby girls at times, but it's just a few nights and without them I will have time to review and be a blogger wannabe, looking forward to some time to play with my Nikon D5200 and various lenses, will link to my Flickr if necessary.  40 days and counting, happy holidays to everybody here and thankful for all I've learned so far.
 
Cheers