CruisingMomMN

While incredibly bummed to miss out on Freedom yet again(first Covid, now drydock), I can’t believe the incredible value I got with this booking change. We had been looking at other options and the Oasis offer was a steal. The kids will still miss a day of school, but it works out better. 

It is because you booked through Costco. Costco does not participate in Royal Up, regardless of the type of room you have. For future reference, there is no guarantee of you being allocated a handicap accessible room, which may cause an issue. I know you mentioned that some of the larger suites would work, but if you do go that route be sure to research what the bathroom set up is. For some of them it is a shower/tub combination, and the tub is a very high stepover. 

We’re unfortunately bound to Thanksgiving week for a few more years due to school schedules. I’ll keep watching this roll call as our sailing doesn’t have one yet and I’m getting more info from this thread than Royal reps We will see what happens with this sailing….keeping our fingers crossed for a change in that dry dock schedule, but cautiously researching our other options. Waiting on flight schedules and resort bookings to open up later this year, but hoping we’ll have received some communication from RCCL by then. 

4 hours ago, FionaMG said:

I'm not usually one to repost unverified stuff, but under the circumstances... Somebody who regularly posts port schedules over on CC has just posted this (my underlining):

"Funchal, Madeira Port Bookings (Correct as of 31/03/23)

A new booking has been made for Freedom - most likely a stop on her way to dry-dock? I see she has port of origin marked as Lanzarote and a gap in schedules between 9th November and 29th December, so this seems likely. Also, the port call for Odyssey has been removed, as this is not a port on the final transatlantic itinerary.

Odyssey OTS - 30th April 2024.  *CANCELLED*

Anthem OTS - 5th May 2024

Anthem OTS - 10th June 2024

Anthem OTS - 12th September 2024

Anthem OTS - 24th September 2024

Anthem OTS - 10th October 2024

Adventure OTS - 5th November 2024

Odyssey OTS - 10th November 2024

Voyager OTS - 16th November 2024

Freedom OTS - 21st November 2024.  *NEW*

Adventure OTS - 29th November 2024"

Thanks for that @FionaMG. I have been trying to check the port schedules for Cadiz for the same information. Hopefully we’ll get an update sooner, rather than later. I’m not loving the other itineraries available for the same time frame 

Thanks for the suggestion. You can’t do a refundable deposit for a suite, is that correct? 

Hi everyone! We booked the November 23, 2024 8 day sailing on Freedom of the Seas. About three weeks ago I went to check pricing for my brother and noticed that it was no longer listed on the website. When I filter, the only cruise for that time frame is a 6 day on November 3. I have been patiently checking and lurking on the boards, but today I ended up calling and was told it was closed for “inventory maintenance”. I know in the past this has meant a ship change for your ship or another ship possibly needing to move customers to your ship. Another Facebook group member had posted that they called about their December 2024 sailing and were told that Freedom was going to be going in for maintenance at that time. Has anyone heard anything else? I’m mostly concerned because our sailing is a holiday week and we know Royal isn’t always timely about notifying us of changes/cancellations, and since we are a family of 5 and booked in a suite it might be challenging to find something comparable on a short time frame. Just trying to be proactive! 

Is it the Thanksgiving 2024 sailing on Freedom? We just got an email and are excited about the extra port.