Patchy

Same here, our waiter on Freedom this past January (Srdjan from Serbia) was phenomenal and also brought us another round!   Thanks for the help, all!   

Hi all, we loved Giovanni’s Italian Kitchen on Odyssey and Freedom, and     it was such a nice treat to get a complimentary Limoncello at the end of the meal.   Does anyone know if Jamie’s Italian also provides that?  Thanks in advance!

Good to know, thanks!

Hi all,  I have some FCC’s that expire at the end of 2022.   Looking at possibly booking an August sailing on Oasis of the Seas out of Bayonne (to avoid airfare), but the itinerary is identical to a sailing that I already have scheduled for April.  2022.  So essentially we would stay on the ship for the entire 7-day sailing except for CocoCay (which we LOVE).    This would be our first sailing on an Oasis class, and our previous sailings have been on Freedom, Odyssey, Anthem, Mariner, and Navigator.   We are a family of four (two adults in our 40’s and two boys, aged 10 and 8).    Wondering if there is enough difference in the ship amenities on Oasis (versus very fun ships like Odyssey and Freedom) to keep us entertained for a full 5 days?   Thanks in advance!

Thanks, @PG Cruiser!

For the Diamond drink vouchers, I’m wondering when the drinks accrue?   E.g., do they reset right at midnight?   Are there any vouchers on your card for disembarkation day?   Hard to pass up a mimosa at breakfast on disembarkation day if a voucher is available!   Thanks!   

5 hours ago, RBo said:

With the news about the construction delays in the DR, has RCL added Labadee back to Anthem's 2/11 itinerary? I am on Mariner 2/12 and RCL never changed our itinerary. Just curious.

 

Haven’t heard anything about this yet. I will stay tuned and let you know!   Kinda getting excited now about Puerto Plata because the port area looks gorgeous, and St. Thomas’s beaches look amazing too.   But we would love to be at Labadee as well!  

What ship will you be on?   It really

depends on the passenger capacity and availability of AO staff.   On my Freedom sailings a week and a half ago, we were at less than 40% capacity with a typical proportion of kids and reservations were not required for AO (so no limitations on how often you could bring your kids there).   But I know over the December holidays where the capacity was higher with a lot of kids onboard, many ships were limiting the advance reservations.   

Labadee is officially ditched from the 2/11 Anthem sailing (and also ditching San Juan as well).  Replaced with Puerto Plata D.R. and St. Thomas instead.   

Congratulations!    FYI, I was in a GS on Freedom last week and they did not have the designated suite sun deck because the ship capacity was too low to warrant it (we were less than 40% capacity on my B2B 3 night and 4 night).   But I agree with all the other comments; enjoy the perks!   MJ is a terrific concierge.  

In Nassau on the Blue Lagoon Island excursion, we did the dolphin swim (not encounter) and it also included the “foot push” where you lie on a boogie board and the dolphin pushes you forward.  It was exhilarating!  We also got to individually hug the dolphin which I don’t know if you get to do on the encounter. In retrospect I am glad that I did the swim instead of the encounter.

But for those who are not comfortable fully getting into the water (albeit with a life jacket), the encounter would still be an amazing experience to interact with these incredible creatures

Hi all, my sailing on Anthem has officially ditched Labadee and San Juan, and we’re going to Puerto Plata D.R. and St. Thomas instead.     Looking for any suggestions!    I’ll be with my 74 year old mother who loves the beach and is still spry, but not the type who wants to climb a mountain.  

Definitely will go to Magen’s Bay on our own in St. Thomas, but I don’t know anything about Puerto Plata.   Thanks in advance for ideas and suggestions!

Thanks, @CGTLH!

Hi all, I believe on Oasis class ships, there is beer and wine available for much of the day in the concierge lounge (I think starting at 11am?) even outside of the full-on happy hour (where they have hors d’oeuvres and cocktails).   I know this was hotly debated in the past when they were thinking of pulling this back on certain ships. 

Anyhoo, my question is:  are the expanded wine/beer hours in the concierge lounge also on Quantum class ships?   I’ll be on Anthem soon and want to plan ahead.   Thanks in advance!  

Hi all, I was on Freedom January 14-17 and now January 17-21 and they have Windjammer open for dinner even though there is less than 50% capacity.   Last sailing had only 1,700 passengers and now we have 1,538.   My only speculation is that they want to try to spread people out a bit and not have the MDR packed.   

Freedom 1/17/2022:  1,538

On Freedom now (1/14/2022 sailing) and I am hearing there are only about 400 kids onboard.    We don’t need to make reservations.    

Freedom. 1/14 about 1700 passengers 

Thanks for this update.   I’m not quite sure, is this arrival at Cape Liberty on an earlier day than your original itinerary?  Is your cruise being cut short, or are you just arriving back “home” at Cape Liberty on the scheduled day, just later than expected for disembarkation?   Thanks, and I hope your travel arrangements aren’t too disrupted. 

Thanks, @CrimsonCruiser.    It is a bummer, but I think many ships don’t allow you to change the input or connect an HDMI cable.  I was trying to see if the Freedom has smart tv’s which I can connect to directly from my cell phone using Chromecast.    I was able to do this on Odyssey but I presume they had smart tv’s because it was a very new ship.    Does anyone know if Freedom’s amplification included them upgrading to smart tv’s?   Thanks!

Are there any common denominators among these ships (eg southern Caribbean itineraries where they are having challenges with ports)?    Or do you all think it comes down to staffing issues?   

Hi all, when I was on Odyssey over the summer, we used chromecast to stream movies on the tv in the stateroom.   Does anyone know if the Freedom is also equipped to handle that?   We’re sailing next week (if we test negative ) and I want to plan ahead.  Thanks in advance!   

Thanks, @KJ1231!

2 hours ago, KJ1231 said:

Wife and daughter are on Coco Cay today - no issues so far on the Freedoms of the Seas this week (Miami->Nassau->Coco Cay->Miami). They sent me pictures of all the empty beach chairs. Waiter said about 1,800 on the ship? 

Great to hear!   Wondering if you’re hearing any intel from them on COVID case counts (passengers and crew)?   Also when you say no issues, are you referring to docking at Coco Cay specifically or the broader onboard experience (shows and entertainment)?   I’m curious because I’m sailing on Freedom next week.   I know every sailing is different, but I’m curious nonetheless!  Thanks!  

Is there a way to find out how many people sailed between December 15th - 29th?   That would be helpful to gauge an approximate case rate during that period.   (Specifically, 5,013 cases divided by X passengers.). I know that Royal Caribbean leadership has cited a <1% case rate since the re-start, but that doesn’t help us understand what the current case rate is.   I know that there would be a million caveats in looking at this (e.g., the 5,013 probably spans all cruise lines which have very different protocols, every sailing is different, etc.).    Thanks in advance if someone knows where we can find out a rough passenger count!