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Thanks Matt! Here is a picture of our two youngest with our waiter Oswaldo, and our assistant waiter Mauro, both from the Philippines. I really cant say enough good things about these two. They were wonderful!! Oswaldo is excellent at what he does and just a wonderful person to get to know. Mauro entertained the kids each night with new magic tricks. They were a huge part of what made our first Royal Caribbean cruise so amazing!!

Ok, I have a dumb question....How do I insert a picture into my reply? I have a great pic of our waiters with our kids on my computer, but for the life of me can't figure out how to do it? And yes, I'm technologically challenged :unsure:

Hi Linda27! We sailed on Freedom of the Seas in October and we had only sailed DCL before. I was also worried before we went about my kids having to be in separate groups. On our DCL cruise not only were they able to go in together but we sailed with their cousins also, so they always had someone with them. I really wasn't sure if they would go alone or not, and went in with the attitude that if they went to the kids clubs great, but if not that's ok also. I can tell you that our experience was better than expected. They did go into separate groups most of the time. I do think they combine them at times, but it's not all the time. I know one evening I went to pick up my 11 yr old and he was in the 6-8 yr old area playing a video game, so I know at least then they had groups together. What we experienced was that the RC kids clubs have a very different feel to them than DCL. On DCL they had the super cool rooms and the kids just ran in and it was kind of a free for all and there were tons of kids!! RC club is smaller and they usually have group activities going on when they walk in. Either it would be a game that staff was leading, or art activities out they were working on, there was always something the staff would get them involved in when they walked in. I think the smaller group made my shy 7 yr old more comfortable and she felt included and had a lot of fun! So much that when we went to St Martin she asked us if she could stay on the ship in the kids club because she had heard they get to eat lunch together. Before the cruise I would have never thought I would agree to this! But I felt comfortable and she was so excited to do it that we let her stay in the 4-5 hours while we were off the ship. Hope this helps :) Angela

Thanks everyone! I've finally recovered from the long 16 hour drive home and wanted to let you know that we had a wonderful time!! Royal Caribbean far exceeded any expectations I had!! The service was amazing! We had the best waiter and assistant waiter I've ever had on any cruise! The kids loved adventure ocean and the teen clubs. All three kids said they preferred this RC cruise over our Disney cruises. Our first Royal Caribbean cruise was definitely not our last!

Today's the day! Headed to port canaveral now! Just wanted to say thanks to Matt for all of the information on the podcasts and website and to everyone who answered questions for me here on the message board. Its good to feel prepared!!

Totally agree with Matt!!! Sailing out in 6 days and this week is already going sooooo slow!!!!!

She would like that! Thanks JasonD!

Thanks for the responses! I kind of figured they didn't but wanted to make sure. Better to let her know now so she's not expecting it :)

My seven year old brought up a good question yesterday. She was looking through her autograph book from Walt Disney World and said that she want to take it on our cruise this month to get autographs from the characters. I know FOS has the DreamWorks experience and we are signed up for the character breakfast. But do the characters aboard the Royal ships do autographs like at WDW? Figured it would be good to give my daughter a heads up now if they don't Thanks!! Angi

Interesting! Thank you for sharing :)

Just read the article about Kristin Chenoweth being godmother of the Quantum. So now of course I'm curious. I assume all ships have a godmother? Anyone know any of the other RC godmothers? Are they always celebrities? Just thought this was a cool article and now I'm wondering! Thanks!! BTW: 44 days until our first RC cruise!!! Not that I'm excited or anything ;)

Thanks!

Is there a Broadway show like cats, hairspray, etc on FOS? I can't seem to find an answer anywhere??

I think I'm going to try an idea I saw online. Laminate the printed luggage tags, hole punch them and tie them on with zip ties. I'm thinking this will work. I should be able to have them laminated for just a buck or two (laminate them on one sheet and cut out) and the hole puncher and zip ties we already have at home. If anyone who's cruised RCI before has any reason this is a bad idea feel free to let me know!

My next (and first Royal Caribbean) cruise is October 19, 2014 on Freedom of the Seas!!

Thank you Marc :)

Hello all! I've seen people talk before about the number of ships that will be in a specific port on the same day their ship is docked. Can you tell me where I could find this information for our cruise in October? Thanks!!

I like the free local wifi idea!!!

voted! Good luck!

Thanks Matt!

Thanks Matt! I've heard you talk about a driver you've used before. Was that St Martin or St Thomas? Do you have his info on the site somewhere?

Hello all! I've been looking into visiting Maho beach on St Martin and Lindbergh Bay on St Thomas. Most threads I've seen say that it's about $8 per person each way for the taxi. My question is....Can we even fit our family of 5 in one taxi? Are there any better ways to travel with a family of 5? Not trying to be cheap, just making sure of the best way to get back & forth. $80 per day for the taxi for our family seems like a lot. But I only have Grand Cayman and Cozumel to compare and maybe they are just less expensive there. Thanks in advance! Angela

Thanks Michelle! I may call and ask if they have a description. We are in room 9500. Right up front :)

I'm curious since you mention disembarkation as one of the things Disney does better. I've only sailed DCL so far, so how does Royal Caribbean do it different?

We took our first cruise in 2003 because Disney had built the Magic and Wonder and well....we love anything Disney :) It was only a 4 night cruise, which wasn't long enough, so we did a second DCL cruise for 7 nights in 2013. After that I realize it's not just Disney, but cruising we love!! Fast forward to 2014 and no family vacation planned because 14 yr old son is getting braces :( No way we can afford a cruise and braces right?? Nope, RCCL comes out with the 3rd & 4th & 5th sail free!! So just a little nudging on my part, and I convince my husband we can do this!! Now just over 200 days until our first RCCL cruise :)