melski94

I was on Navigator and the shore excursion desk was willing to work on cabana location. I went on embarkation day to ask about our cabana. They originally assigned me one but then said they were trying to put adults only groups in one area and groups with kids in another. I wanted to be near the slides and we were assigned near Daredevils tower and were happy. Grandeur was also in port the same day as us so I'm not sure how they decide the cabanas between 2 ships.

We'll be doing Harmony on March with the Coco Cay, Roatan, Cozumel and Costa Maya itinerary. I was looking at an Oasis class ship and it was between Oasis and Harmony. The ports appealed to us more than the newly AMPD and at the time cheaper Oasis even though we've been on Harmony. My husband and kids love the ports and they are very excited to have 4 ports. We've been to 3 of the 4 ports but its been a few years for Roatan and Cozumel so excited to go back. I agree that many typical ship board activities are reduced but we only watch a few of them so it really isn't a big deal to us.

You could go to Playa Mia on your own for $30 USD (no food or drink) plus transportation. I am someone who avoids ship tours and have been there without a ship tour. We literally had an extra hour at the beach after the excursions left and we still returned to the ship 90 minutes prior to all aboard. Playa Mia is also very crowded with 7 ships in especially during lunch. IMHO, for $55 USD, go to Nachi Cocum. That is the only place that limits the number of guests to about 100. It is about $30 pp more (including a taxi) than the Playa Mia excursion but does include lunch and bottled water. This would really give you a quiet beach day.

I took the survey last night. It was a very interesting survey and they are looking at what you think of their new marketing plan for late nights at CoCo Cay.

I saw some adults doing the obstacles in the pool. Mostly kids but enough that you wouldn't be out of place. There are a few taller ropes for the lily pads that mostly older kids and adults did. There were some tables in between Daredevils tower slides that were shaded. At the bathrooms, go to the left but they were taken pretty early. However, you may want to camp out in the chairs by the obstacle course pool. That is between the 2 slide towers and that could be a convenient place for them to check in with you in between slides.

Not all ships have a teen registration but Harmony did. It was not at the same time as Adventure Ocean registration but around 5 pm (check the cruise compass) in the teen lounge. It isn't a big deal if you miss it as they will still allow you to register the first night. As others have said the first night is the most important night to go for the meet and greets. There will be a teen compass for the activities. My kids were in the hang out and roam the ship group too but I've seen others participate in the activities (teen flowrider, scavenger hunts, etc).

On Harmony, we were in a group of 7 but saw 2 groups that had 15-20 people. We all sat at the same tables each night. Here are the cakes provided on the cruise planner or you could purchase them at guest services. https://www.royalcaribbean.com/royalgifts/treats/cakes We bought it one night for my son's birthday and I checked with our waiter prior to dinner that night that they had the cake ready. The wait staff stored the cake because we couldn't finish it and brought it out the next night. You can always provide the decorations and ask your head waiter the first night for what you'd like. They may or may not be able to do it. Of course, if they can do it a nice tip would be appreciated.

I'm booked on the cruise with the family hopefully. Our school will release Spring Break dates in November. Fingers crossed it works out!

One advantage of the Key on Navigator is the priority for water slides. Navigator gives out a wrist band for the Key which basically allows you to push ahead of the line for the water slides. The slides lines can get quite long. I haven't heard this perk on other ships but it is on Navigator.

We did Wonderland on Symphony and while it was the best dessert I've ever eaten, I'm not sure I'd do it again. Nothing was bad, but nothing was amazing either (except dessert that was amazing). While my sailing could have been different, there were a ton of kids in the restaurant which didn't exactly make for a nice romantic dinner. I wasn't really impressed with the service. They made me feel like Wonderland was doing me a favor by allowing me to eat there. I agree with @Skid and would suggest 150 CP. A much better all around experience.

I was on Navigator in an aft balcony on Deck 10 in a JS last week. The balconies weren't refurbished. The balcony furniture looked newer.

The best thing is to buy it at a price you feel comfortable with and if it goes lower cancel it and rebuy it. The cheapest prices are not always available for every ship and every sailing. However, to give you an idea a decent price for the drink package is $49-$52. If you can get it at $47 or $49 then its a great deal but your sailing may not see that price. For internet, the cheaper prices are about $11.99 for 1 device. I tend to find the cheapest sales around Black Friday. That being said the prices are rarely cheaper than the above prices.

Also, if your ship has a Freestyle machine, you can fill up any bottle with just water. You don't need the soda cup for that.

We had a Thrill Island cabana on Navigator last week. I love the beach bungalows on Labadee but I don't know if I'd do it again. The cabana manager said Symphony and Harmony prices are MUCH higher than other ships. Our next cruise is on Harmony and the same cabana is $400 more so not worth it to me. BTW, don't do Thrill Island with kids your ages. IMO, a cabana on CocoCay is a luxury and one I wouldn't pay $900 for. If you get off the ship early, there are plenty of chairs under shade to grab. RC seems to be rerouting several cruises to CocoCay. Probably to get the maximum value out of their investment. This typically doesn't happen except for weather or other real reasons, but IMO lately its for profits. Our May cruise on Symphony was rerouted to Cococay too. The prices were expensive so we just made it a free shore day and it was great.

That is what we use and no problems bringing in onboard.

If you wait until guest services split the OBC, then they need to use it onboard. If they both want internet or a drink package, could you use the OBC towards it on the cruise planner. The 2 daughters would split the rest of the cost as you can use multiple credit cards for payment or 1 pays the other back. Either way using the OBC prior to the cruise is probably the easiest. As for check in, each daughter should check themselves in and can apply their own credit card for their onboard account.

Probably too soon. Keep checking as it should open in a month or two.

Is she 75 pounds? My 8 yo is not and while she loves some land ziplines, she isn't big enough for Dragon's Breath. Even with 75 pounds, the weight minimum could be go up as it is adjusted for wind conditions. The landing is very easy. You are not really close that to the water. We like to book before on the cruise planner. First, you get your best choice of times. To me, the earlier the better. Plus, you usually can purchase it on sale on the cruise planner vs paying full price on the ship.

The rooms will be ready at 1. Luggage needs to go through the xrays and carry on sized bags are the ones that will fit. Luggage is typically delivered outside your stateroom or maybe down the hall but not actually to your room.

There is no Coastal Kitchen on Navigator and no private suite seating for lunch and dinner. Coastal Kitchen is on O and Q class only. There isn’t a suite section on Cococay. The adult only pool is mostly shades is called the solarium but there isn’t a suite section in it. Formal nights aren’t really formal anymore. You will see a wide variety of dress even on formal nights.

For Cozumel, I would suggest looking into Playa Mia. It is a bit of a miss on food but has a large toddler friendly splash park and a decent beach.

We went to Wonderland on Symphony last month. The food was ok but the dessert (the World) was the best thing I’ve ever eaten. However, I was shocked and maybe a bit disappointed that there were so many kids in the restaurant. We were looking for a more adult restaurant and thought so based on the menu but there were tons of kids there wanting to meet the Mad Hatter.

My cruise next week shows Thrill Waterpark as sold out too. I guess I'll get the family out early and they can take an afternoon nap in the cabana!

Are you on My Time Dining or Traditional? With MTD, they might try to put you at a table for 2. With Traditional dining, you will be at the same table each night. If your kids aren't eating with you then it would be a no-show. Empty seats happen all the time with Traditional.

While I've never been on Freedom, I have been on both of her sister ships. Here's my take on negative reviews: ignore them! You can find any of the same complaints on any land or cruise vacations. Remember, there are always more people willing to write a negative review than a positive review. 1. Food is very subjective. Are you a foodie? If so, then you may want to skip the MDR and eat at specialty restaurants. I think of the MDR as above average wedding type food as they are serving a thousand people at the same time. My family is fine with it. We've had some very good dishes and some just ok dishes but never anything horrible. If you don't like what they bring, just ask for something else. The wait staff really works to help you. Windjammer isn't my favorite (not a fan of buffets in general) but its fine. It can be crowded during peak times but since there are only 2 of you, it won't be a huge deal to find a table. 2. Very rude passengers. You can find them at any time on both land and cruise vacations. I haven't found anyone super rude but there are many people who think they are special. 3. Over-crowding. I've never found the Freedom class or any RC ship to feel generally overcrowded. There are crowded times (after muster drill, after shows) but if you are ok to use the stairs, it isn't a big deal. The blog is taking a group cruise on Freedom over NYE so there are many people here willing to sail on Freedom. Looking at Freedom's schedule, Freedom would have been recently renovated under the Amp program by when you sail. Now is a good time to book as other ships that have been Amped have gone up in price once it was published what would be done to the ship.