tonyfsu21

Please let me know if your get 10 in the cabana because we have 10 and I was going to be forced into booking 2 during Thanksgiving cruise this year.

We were told 8 last weekend.

With UDP do you get control over dining times or is that picked for you? We never looked into the UDP because the kids like to eat early 5:30pm and also it very specific venues like Giovannis table. From what I understand you don’t get to pick and choose?

Sorry I read your thread wrong. Under most circumstances you don’t wait on an email. Someone posted the link a few days ago where you enter last name and reservation number and see if there’s anything available for you to bid on. The link has not worked though as RC may have wised up and locked it so that only people who are invited to bid can bid (no idea on criteria).

I have won Royal Up just about every time I’ve bid and it’s been roughly 3-4 days prior to sailing that my credit card is charged for the win.

From what I experienced, the casino was vaccinated only. For the theatre shows they made the mezzanine an area for unvaccinated guests and the lower floors were vaccinated only. I’m sure there were more places but those two caught my attention. Traveling with 2 young kids we never felt restricted in any way in that regard.

We got back from our weekend sailing on Freedom and it was quite the experience. We had great weather (it’s been raining like crazy in SoFL) at Coco Cay and Nassau. Being on the Freedom with only 1000 passengers is odd and I think we prefer the action of a packed ship but this was certainly interesting and had many positives. We opted for the Coco Beach Club and it was overall a good experience. The elevated dining experience had some nice choices like grilled Caribbean lobster which was prepared and presented very nicely. There was literally nobody at the beach club (see pics). My only complaint is that there’s not enough shade by the pool and it’s odd that upon arrival the host doesn’t bring over a bucket or pitcher of cold water to wherever you are seated. Minimal gripe but still it’s hot as h*ll (keep in mind I’m born and raised in SoFL and I still think it’s hot!). Onboard Freedom there was little to no action which is to be expected. It was nice to go to the suite lounge and have the entire place to yourself for a change. I know this type of reduced capacity cruising won’t last forever so we just rolled with it. IMHO my family and I felt very safe with young children in regards to RC’s COVID safety protocol. They did a great job and the ship and stateroom were extremely clean. The kids literally wanted to eat at Giovannis Kitchen every single night so we did (the pizza!) and it did not disappoint. We are looking forward to things hopefully getting back to normal and more cruises in our future!

Agree, it’s certainly weird seeing a quiet promenade at night and empty roulette & blackjack tables but I figure it’s really a unique experience so trying to enjoy this while it lasts.

Last night the cruise director told us there were 1000 passengers onboard freedom and nearly 1100 crew. You can certainly notice the extra attentive service.

Your issue is going to be “free” anything in South Florida especially rapid Covid testing. With the uptick in delta cases on SoFL you would have more luck searching for the most expensive rapid Covid testing to avoid the mass of people in need of this test (especially if this is time sensitive like before a cruise). The headline from our local news this afternoon read “FL breaks 1 day record of Covid cases”……

We had great weather today at Coco Cay & saw an empty Allure dock late afternoon to shift crew. What an experience at Coco Cay with only roughly 1/2 of Freedom passengers on the island.

Worried about the same thing here with 2 young kids. If you watch Shannon Ford vlog on Freedom from a few weeks ago it actually shows her son getting the test and they barely put the swab in his nose. I am sailing on Friday & hopeful this is the case because my kids will refuse and we will end up driving home instead of cruising.

Rear facing extended balcony. I bid just under the maximum on the Royal and owners suite and ended up with the owners suite.

So the page came back and I won my bid once again for Owners Suite on Freedom!

Here you go. This is just getting ridiculous at this point. Safely assuming the glitch thinks I am on the ship? The only thing I can think of is the fact that I live adjacent to Port Everglades and I’m picking up the port WiFi or ship WiFi? Weird and annoying at the same time.

Probably the single greatest thing RC still has as a no fee food option in the Park Cafe.

Another day and yet another issue. I’m getting countdown texts which appear to come from the RC App regarding the muster drill. I received a 3 hour countdown for completion and now I just received a 2 hour “hurry up” text. I can’t locate this in the app or on the website. Anyone able to walk me through locating where you do the pre-work at home for the muster station drill? Thanks in advance.

On another note (I think I can hijack my own thread) I am continuously getting hate mail from RC via Bioreference which is the company that schedules the PCR tests at the terminal. I have received multiple emails basically telling me I still need to schedule my kids appointments even though I did this the same day the first email was sent to me and have the documentation. I called RC and told them that I am receiving these emails and the IT department can’t figure out what’s going on. It’s just annoying. Yesterday I received emails basically saying “this is your last chance”. Really aggravating.

I recall it being in the solarium for some reason but that might have been the Mariner or Indy (it’s been a long time).

Anyone know where the park cafe is on the Freedom? I recall seeing it but cant find it on the deck plan.

It’s annoying that RC can’t get a grip on their IT.

Anyone else getting an error when checking Royal Up status (“This page has sailed away”)?

So there was a point in time where at disembarkation when your card was scanned it would alarm if there was a charge for a towel(s). I’m assuming this became too annoying and consistently caused a hold up. I recall the alarm going off on us quite a few times for towels that we did in fact return.

Option # 1 seems like you get more value out of the itinerary. The ABC’s are nice but IMHO Bonaire is the least attractive of the 3. Option # 1 gives you Labadee to enjoy, 2 out of 3 ABC’s and a stop in the DR which is actually a great stop, I wouldn’t necessarily judge it based on the show as it’s a decent port. Aruba and Curaçao are obviously the highlights though. Seems like you have made a decision already though. Enjoy