Aron_Ross

Time is moving along.  LOL

We just got off Indy and had a blast.  Grease was the show.
Indy is getting a little "long in the tooth" and weathered a bit, but for us Pt Canaveral is easy to jump to from Detroit.  The crew is great, enjoy a quite day ON the ship at Nassau and GO BIG TIME to Coco Beach Club at Coco Cay.  If Freedom was easier and cheaper to get to, we would likely go to it.

Wow I did not know Independence has Grease.  Unfortunately El Loco Fresh was our least favorite on Freedom.  We live in Los Angeles where there is an abundance of Mexican food so that's probably why, ha ha!  Giovanni's was excellent!  It was the only specialty dining we did and a filet in the MDR from Chops, which I thought was quite tasty.  Looking forward to Chops on our Harmony sailing.  I know there are a lot of mixed reviews, but have to try it at least once.  I wish the MDR would offer the Ribeye.  Loved the waffles, lamb shanks and Indian food at The Windjammer!  
I got a cheap car rental so we figured it was better than taking an Uber/Lyft everywhere, but I still spent a lot on parking in the downtown area.  Bayfront Park was ridiculous!  Stayed at an Airbnb in Coral Gables.  Parking there and in Little Havana was easier and way less expensive.  I got addicted to the Cuban Espresso at Versailles.
NICE!!
HAAA HAAA!!

@RockerDom31 Wow it's funny how I was looking at Cruisemapper to see where Oasis is today and noticed the 9 day itinerary currently happening.  Wow, this sounds like one hell of a cruise!  I'm kind of jealous.  I just love how it ends with 3 sea days in a row.  I noticed you didn't arrive in Puerto Rico until 2pm.  Were you able to enjoy it despite the late arrival?  Looking forward to my 8 day on Harmony this coming November to the southern Caribbean.  The June 2023 cruise sounds interesting.  
Enjoy the rest of your sailing!    

Might be cheaper to Uber.

I prefer Freedom to Indy just based off of the El Loco Fresh......which I hate to say but it is my favorite free dining experience across all Royal ships. Indy will feel a little dated as far as room decor and I actually loathe Grease. 

Yes, if you're based in the Miami metro area it can make sense. I have done 2 one-way car rentals for cheaper than port parking there! 
There aren't as many offsite options in Miami as there are at PC, so there's not much competition to bring the prices lower. 

Seems like even more of a no-brainer for you than me. I've never even bothered looking at the exact costs associated with Ft. Lauderdale or Miami. The hour drive to PC for me is just too damn convenient.

Yup..makes the lower prices on a weekender out of Miami negligible over a PC sailing. I can make up the difference in gas and toll costs and parking alone, not to mention coming from N. Florida means a hotel stay for a south Florida sailing.

😳 Yikes that’s a lot!

$25-28/night..shorter sailings are more per day. PC is $17/day.

I don't know which ship I prefer because I haven't been on either ship since they were amped.  We liked both ships before they were amped.  We got away from Freedom class ships but we are making a return to Freedom this October.  I had a similar dilemma because we would be closer to Port Canaveral when we debark in Tampa after our Panama Canal crossing.  I don't know why I chose Freedom because Independence would have been more convenient. 
Freedom was the least expensive cruise at the time but getting to Miami from Tampa isn't cheap.  However, we can visit relatives north of Miami so that will be nice and saves some of the expense.
I like the way Freedom was amped but I don't think you will go wrong either way.  We got a junior suite on the pool deck at the front of the ship.  All of those staterooms were booked on Independence at the time.  I'm wondering how that location on the ship will be.  At the time we booked that stateroom, I was thinking everything would be right there and the only need for the elevator would be for shows, MDR and occasional trips to the promenade.

Good grief. How much is it to park in Miami?
PC is an hour drive for me so I don't even look elsewhere. Never considered the parking cheap there (unless doing a B2B).

Freedom got a later and better amplification.  However Indy is a fine ship. 
It might come down to Port Canaveral or Miami if one or the other is easier for you.  For me Port Canaveral is a more enjoyable port overall while Miami sail away is kind of cool but the rest of the port experience suffers compared to Port Canaveral.   I was able to watch a SpaceX launch while boarding in Port Canaveral so that was really cool.  Parking is a lot cheaper in Port Canaveral if driving.

Was on Indy for a week last month and had a great time.
That said, I'd probably choose Freedom for El Loco Fresh alone. Haven't even tried it but included Mexican food would be a welcome addition for me, personally. As someone who usually sails Oasis-class, the one thing I really missed on Indy was having additional included food options besides Sorrento's or Cafe Promenade.
The only thing I prefer on Indy is the OG version of Giovanni's just b/c it's always been our favorite specialty restaurant but many people seem to like Giovanni's Kitchen.

We have done both after they got amped. They are both so similar. I think with our kids, maybe Indy. Only because Indy has Grease and my kids love the shows. The shows on Freedom were not Broadway ones and just mediocre at best. For Hubby and I, I would give the edge to Freedom because of the same reasons the @AshleyDillojust mentioned. We love El Loco and we've discovered that we really like the new Giovanni's Kitchen as well. We ate there 3 out of our 4 nights a few weeks ago.

I prefer Freedom, but just because it's been more recently amped and has the new Giovannis Kitchen and El Locos Fresh on it.  
I'm driving distance to Port Canaveral, so that usually has me sailing Indy, though.

Thanks! The 2pm arrival time wasn’t bad at all. We didn’t do any excursions. We literally just aimlessly walked around Old San Juan - doing some shopping and sightseeing some of the historical buildings.
It was neat seeing the city at night from the ship. Pictures coming soon!

@RockerDom31 Wow it's funny how I was looking at Cruisemapper to see where Oasis is today and noticed the 9 day itinerary currently happening.  Wow, this sounds like one hell of a cruise!  I'm kind of jealous.  I just love how it ends with 3 sea days in a row.  I noticed you didn't arrive in Puerto Rico until 2pm.  Were you able to enjoy it despite the late arrival?  Looking forward to my 8 day on Harmony this coming November to the southern Caribbean.  The June 2023 cruise sounds interesting.  
Enjoy the rest of your sailing!    

You can pick up the mat and the coaster wristband at any time. 
I thought the extra cost for the all day coaster pass was worth it because after the first run you know what to expect so you can look for the good vantage points each subsequent run, take photos and videos if you trust yourself enough to hang onto your phone/camera 😉 You can really let loose and coast the whole thing without using the brakes and get up to the top speeds.

Hi Matt,
You may have seen my name pop up recently on your last few weekly Q&As on youtube.  May 2nd will be mine and my girlfriend's first on Freedom of the Seas, and November 12th with Harmony of the Seas when I turn half a century old.  It was time for us to try a different cruise line other than Princess and Carnival.  Thanks to you, Royal Caribbean has started to become a slight obsession.    
Your content started appearing often as I was doing research after booking Freedom and Harmony.  Before I knew it, I just had to subscribe, and I'm not one to easily subscribe to anything.  Your youtube content is so valuable, educational and I've learned so much about Royal Caribbean.  Next thing I knew, I started visiting your blog and just had to join.  And here I am!  It's amazing how much information there is from you and your members.  You can definitely bet on me spreading the word about your blog/channel and supporting when I can. 
I look forward to your Monday live chats about..."the most important thing in the Whole Wide World, how many days till YOUR next Royal Caribbean cruise?"
Best,
Aron
 
 

I would just fill out the form and get assigned one. If they don't jive with you, it's perfectly acceptable to request a different one. @Beci will make sure you are taken care of!

Can’t. 😕
I am a teacher. My schedule doesn’t allow for much flexibility for cruising. It’s basically just one week in March, July/August, and two weeks over Christmas/New Year that we can cruise. 

The CocoCay Funnel Cake was a deciding factor for my wife when we booked a 3-night/4-night out of Port Canaveral next February.