enjoylife5

I see many ask about the best time to arrive and avoiding traffic at Port Everglades, but I am curious, what is the WORST time to arrive? Is there a time frame that is typically most crowded and should be avoided there,  or at any of the ports for that matter? 
 
BTW love, love, love this blog and the periscopes. It has been so educational and helpful in planning my trips!

I wouldn't rely on it for anything video related, so FaceTime is out.  iMessage may work, but there was one whole day where there was no internet connectivity at all, so have a backup plan just in case.

If it is needed in port, it will be stated in the Cruise Compass. Rarely is it needed, however. It is my understanding that if you leave it in your cabin's safe and miss the ship in port, security will retrieve it and leave it with the port agent so that you're able to catch up with the ship or get back home.

I agree with the others, it is what you make of it.  Keep your expectations in check and all you can do is go up! Its your first cruise! You don't know any differently!  I'll be honest, my 13 year old struggled to be entertained by the teen club, but he enjoyed other amenities of the ship with us as a family.  I think its just an awkward age and depends a lot on your comfort level of interacting with strangers if you didn't bring any friends or close relatives, BUT  no matter what ship you're on you can't escape the sheer majesty and awe of being on the ocean and waking up in a new place every day.  It's like nothing else. My kids loved being on deck to observe sail way and arrival in port. They loved having all you-can-eat bacon in the mornings, pizza & ice cream 15 times a day and thought it was plain awesome to order room service. The towel animals and napkin creations from the staff were so fun, too.  I guess what i'm saying is look for the simple pleasures first and you won't be disappointed. Have fun!

It's better to buy now at 30% off; it'll be more once onboard.

My traditional dining time wasn't on option for my Allure cruise next spring either.  The travel agent says its typical with RCCL and its because it hasn't been opened yet.  She said check back in a few months or around final payment? I hope she's right 

In general, how crowded a space is tends to reflect more on the time of day than the venue's capacity.
 
Meaning, the Windjammer will not (likely) have a crowd before 8-8:30am. Likewise, My Time Dining is will not have much of a wait if you choose to eat before 6pm or after 7:30pm.  
 
Avoiding the busy times is a great strategy for enjoying the venue you would prefer to dine at, without the crowds.

I've found the park cafe gets really crowded and its small.  But it seems to move quickly, be ready to hunt for a seat.  Personally, of me, it would be the Liberty.

I think any of the food outlets they are overrun with passengers can have issues from time to time. I have found in my opinion Windjammers works better on the smaller ships. It is a very nice place on the Legends Class, that I never found crowed, I cannot say the same on the larger ships. I think one of the problems is the staff, they are just not setup to handle big rushes and they tend to shut down. So we as passengers need to think smart, go to other places that are not as busy, the MDR I find to always be quite for breakfast (not last day) and lunch. Or have a snack and eat in Windjammers in the off times, early or very late. If the ships has Johnny Rockets, that can be a good choice as many overlook it. Yes a small cover charge (Lunch Dinner) but quite and great to sit outside and watch the sea.
 
Maybe I'm a little strange but I love the open ocean air. Given a choice of being inside a great outlet inside the ship or outside in the fresh open air I like it outside. I could never understand with private boating my friends buying boats that had all the space as inside cabins. Give me a open Fly bridge sports fisherman and I'm a happy guy.

Like all Windjammers, if you roll in after 9am, it will be crowded and there can very well be lines to get in.  So either avoid busy times or seek alternatives during those times.

Food was fine, crowds were crazy about half the time.

Food is not worse at all.  The Windjammer itself is just smaller.  
 
On other classes of ships, the Windjammer was designed to be the place onboard to get quick food.  On Oasis class ships, they wanted to break up the crowds so creating a large buffet restaurant was not going to work.  The idea is you can get food quickly at many other places (Wipeout Cafe, Park Cafe, Cafe Promenade, etc).

There are two forms of Dynamic Dining: Dynamic Dining Choice and Dynamic Dining Classic.
 
Dynamic Dining Choice
 
There is no main dining room, instead, you choose between dining at complimentary or specialty restaurants for dinner.  
 
There are 4 complimentary restaurants (plus an additional complimentary restaurant for suite guests) and a variety of other specialty restaurants.
 
You can make reservations in advance for any time, or simply walk up to the restaurant and ask for a table (there could be a wait with this scenario).
 
There is no formal night on the ship, although some restaurants do have their own dress code.  At The Grande, it is always formal night.
 
Dynamic Dining Classic
 
There is no main dining room, instead, you choose between dining at complimentary or specialty restaurants for dinner.
 
The difference here is you Royal Caribbean assigns you a rotation, where you will have a set time and the same wait staff and tablemates and each evening, you will dine at a different complimentary restaurant.
 
You can always substitute a specialty restaurant at your discretion.

On weekdays, usually between 5pm - 8pm eastern. Weekends usually in the morning but it kind of depends.
 
My advice is to turn on notifications for Periscope, so the app notifies you when I go live.

There is no schedule per se, but they're usually later in the evening Eastern time Monday through Thursday, earlier in the evening on Friday, and often mid morning Saturday and Sunday.

Red Stripe is private. Small, but very nice. No one will hound you there. The only people there were paid guests and employees.

I've never been to the beaches but you are going to Jamaica, of course you will be  hounded...

I went to Blue Waters beach club last week and it was fine, but you could tell they will sell every inch of that beach, if possible.  
 
The pros I can say about Blue waters is the ocean is quite nice and there is a semi-all inclusive option offered (you can get unlimited drinks from a select menu).

As John said, the ice show is scheduled based on muster station assignment to break up the crowds, but they didn't check. The Welcome Aboard Show and the last show on sea day only had one show, so it was crowded, but it wasn't impossible to get seats even a few minutes before. On my sailing, Saturday Night Fever occurred three times.

Hi there! This is my first time doing a 7 day cruise, I've been told for Liberty of the Seas one must book their entertainment (shows) in advance.  Can anyone tell me when? I've been able to book character breakfast so far, but that's it.  I'm afraid I'll miss my window.  Thank you!

Its been a few years since I was last on Liberty but I didn't think she had any reservable entertainment.

No, you can only book the entertainment venues on the Oasis and Quantum class ships.  The rest of the fleet it is first come, first served....except for suites, who have special reserved sections....at least, on most of the ships.
 
So you cannot pre-book any of the entertainment on Freedom.  Their theaters can accommodate the larger crowds, where the bigger ships cannot.

I was just on Liberty at the end of OCT... 
 
We cannot make reservations for entertainment/shows... the ice show had a suggested (they do not check) seating date/time based on your muster station (schedule comes with your initial Cruise Compass package) and the Broadway show (Saturday Night Fever) just had multiple showings (3) which were "first come/first served" seating.  All other evening shows were also "first come/first served" until capacity.  Most evening shows have 2 performances to accommodate early and late dinner seatings.  I found that generally arriving 20-30 minutes before show time usually guaranteed a decent seat (the earlier, the better of course!).  
 
You can make advanced reservations for spa treatment, wine tasting, cupcake cupboard classes, dining (My Time and Specialty), excursions, etc.