lauraodonnell86

Yes I would definitely do this. A couple years ago, a junior suite was cheaper than what we had originally paid for a balcony. Even though it was after final payment, I called and they gave us a "free upgrade" to the junior suite since we had paid more for the balcony. It was the only time we've ever booked a suite of any kind ?

Just got off this past weekend.  4th cruise with Royal in 3 yrs., 1st time on Adventure.
Day 1:  
Our time to embark was 12:00, but we showed up at 10:30.  On the ship, with drink in hand by 11.  We had to go to Chops 1st to make our 4 specialty reservations.  If we didn't the drink would have been in hand by 10:45.  
Negative for Cape Liberty is that the covered garage parking basically will only have Anthem and Celebrity passengers.  Adventure parks in the open parking lot, still a one minute walk, but in July your car will roast for the duration of your cruise.  If going on Adventure take a window shade cover.  I also would say pay for the porter.  Anthem you can just drive your car down to the lower level and load up the car.  
Day 2:  Sea Day 1st Formal night
I was shocked at how many people were really dressed up.  I would compare this to our Med cruise.  Usually on the Caribbean it is common to see people in open collared shirts and slacks.   I did not see one man in shorts.  
We are early risers.  I was at the pool (Solarium) by 7.  Chair hogs were out in full force in the main pool area.  I saw 8 chairs with towels, pool clips, every lounger had 1 shoe.  @ 9:30 I went to switch out my wet towel.  There I am standing in line and a couple is screaming at the towel attendant.  The attendant tells them that all over the pool deck there is signage 30 mins to hold a chair.  Their towels were confiscated and now would be charged 200 for the 8 towels.  If they continue to yell, security would be called.  They dared them and security arrived 2 mins later, which were than told if they don't knock it off they would be escorted off the ship tomorrow at Bermuda.    FYI, they took the towels back to the station, and left their personal items in a pile by the loungers.  RCL's position was also how do they know that they didn't lose the towels, and trying to avoid the charge.  
I would love to say they were on this all day long, but they weren't.  Went to lunch in the MDR, played some trivia and came back to the pool @ 2.  We had to go to the sky pool deck to find 2 loungers next to each other.  Meanwhile for the next hr+ every lounger by us with a towel was never used.
Day3: Bermuda
We traveled with my SIL and physically she could not do the #7 since they pick up and drop off at the top of Horseshoe Bay.  We paid 7 pp each way for a taxi since they drop off and pick up at the same place as the cruise ship buses.  Horseshoe is well, horseshoe...gorgeous!  
Did Chops for dinner and I must say I have a new favorite dish...Goat Cheese salad.  Think Bonnie Belle cheese circle that is coated in bread crumbs and fried.  It is served on top of an arugula salad with walnuts and very thin apple slices.  The dressing is raspberry vinigairette.   I did the Branzino, yes, I know steakhouse, but you ordered fish?  It just happened bc the 1st 2  nights we ate in the MDR and I ordered beef, could not do red meat again.  It was delicious.  The skin was crispy, and the fish was flaky.  The spinach was perfect.  
Negative: That night at 12:45 we were awakened to what sounded like a jack hammer outside our cabin door.  Somebody on deck 10 decided to ignore the card in the bathroom of DO NOT FLUSH....  They clogged every toilet from deck 10 to deck 1.  The toilets are banked together, so it was 10 cabins.  This drilling went on until 1:15.  What the noise was a powered snake, so they were pushing it down floor by floor.  I got up at 6:30 and still had no toilet.  I went down got my iced coffee from starbucks and headed over to guest services.  The purser said they were sorry, and in this case they would give me a bottle of wine.  I promptly said, I have the unlimited drinks, I don't want it.  Her response was what do you want.  I said OBC.  We don't do that.  I said let me talk to the mgr.  Nope, he doesn't report until 8:30.  I left my cabin number and the numbers of those in our party.  I said pull up my history, this is my 4th sailing in less than 3 yrs.  I have 4 specialties, chefs table, bottomless galley, wifi, pedicure, and a cabana.  My add ons cost more than the cruise itself.  8:30 rolled around and we got an alert on our phone.  They gave us 100 OBC.  No toilet issues for the rest of the cruise.  Unfortunately, we knew someone that got an AFT balcony, they did not have a toilet for 5 of the 9 days, and the staff did not budge....nothing.  He is fighting with RCL now.  He is saying that corporate is being responsive in a positive way.  He was on the same deck as us.  My guess is knowing the lay out of the ship, that he basically was below areas where toilet clogging could be an issue.  IE deck 12 is the flow rider, slide, mini golf, JR.  Deck 11 is WJ and pool.  We were mid forward, so everyone above us were cabins.
Day 4: Sea Day
Impressed by RCL.  Again, I am an early riser.  I live in the Solarium.  At 7:00 and all day long they told every single passenger that after 30 mins if the towel is left unattended they would collect them and charge 25 per towel checked out.  7:45 I am laying on my lounger and the attendant asked me has anybody sat here (towels and shoes on chair).  In the solarium at that hr you can easily see if they are in the pool or hot tub, I said no.  They folded up the towels, placed the shoes on top and put at the foot of the lounger.  15 mins later, he came back, asked again and I said no.  He put their personal items on the floor, and took the towels.  
Negative:  Passenger.  Anybody that knows the Solarium, knows it is 16 and over.  A family (grandparents, and daughter with a 16 mos old)  decided that the age requirement did not include toddlers.  Let me preface I have a 2 1/2 yr old grandbaby and only yesterday we were blessed with our 2nd grandchild.  I love them, but no way in Hades would I make everybody endure their noise in an adult only pool.  Not only did they take the prime spot loungers (window area), but they brought a portable crib, and removed 2 loungers for that crib.  They were the talk in the pool, but nobody wanted to say anything to them.  Finally, when I was leaving and going to the towel station I stood by the doors looked at her, thought, looked at the towel station, thought again, looked back at her again...she knew I was looking at her.  The Jersey girl in me took over and I walked up to where they were sitting.  I said, you do know this is a 16 and over pool, no children allowed!  Her response was they said it was okay.  I said did they say it was okay, or it was okay as long as no passengers complained?  She said what does that matter either way.  I said that they were placing a caveat and not a go for it.  She looked at her mother and asked what is a CAVEAT?  I just walked away as soon as she said that to her mother, laughing the 15 feet to the towel station.  What is a caveat?
Day 5: Bahamas
We again just hired a taxi, 5 pp. one way.  We went to John Waitlings Rum Distillery.   It is a free tour.  They are located at the top of the hill.  The grounds are really pretty.  After the tour you end up in their bar/gift shop.  You can get a flight of 4 rums for 10 bucks.  They are not skimpy on these pours.  The flight of 5 includes their highest end and that is 15.  My BIL made us laugh.  We got 2 flights for 5 of us, and if we sipped 50% that would be on the high end guess.  He was carrying a water bottle.  He decide to dump the water out and pour all of the remaining rum in it for the walk back to the ship.  That than included us stopping constantly for him needing a bathroom break.
We walked back down to the ship. On the way back we stopped at Graycliffs Chocolate.  Don't do the tour, it is really a waste of money.  However, go there and get some chocolates.  I lived in England, and love Cadburys.  Been to Italy,  Belgium, Germany, France and Australia.  I will say their chocolate ranks up with Belgium, but the big difference is they are more on the dark chocolate side. 
If you have little ones,  in the town they have a splash type fountains.  We all know the type...concrete with fountains that spray up at different intervals.  
Dinner was at Giovannis.  The food is good, the ambiance is amazing since it is all windows.  If you are from an Italian family you will probably give it an 8.  Highlight of the meal for me was the roasted garlic.  They bring out roasted garlic and olive oil/balsamic for the breads.  The roasted garlic is incredible.  I had the veal osso bucco.  The bone marrow was perfection.  I also had the beef carpaccio, but liked Chops better.  Giovanni has a pesto garnish.    My husband had the gnocchi, but believe it or not we both agreed that the spinach/ricotta gnocchi in the MDR for lunch was way better.
Nothing against Giovanni, but we decided that night we were going to try to change our 4th specialty to Chops.
Day 6: Coco Cay
We had a cabana.  Cabana number 10.  Y'ukesha was our attendant.  It was worth every penny.  I would do it again, and twice on Sunday if we were traveling in a group.  The tram literally drops you off right in front of it.  We walked, and beware you can over shoot it...basically walk up to wear the over water bar and beach beds are located, to only turn back towards the cabanas.  I do not know if this is true, but from here on out cabanas will be assigned.  They are assigned by the purchase date of the cabana.  We were number 10 out of the 20.  You arrive and they check you in, give you the VIP wrist band, offer you a glass of pineapple or cantelope water.  Our attendant @10 brought us a container (no plates here) with sliced pineapple and melon.  She also gave us the menu for lunch.  Later in the day she brought us fruit kebabs.  We had her and also a drink attendant.  Our drink attendant worked in the Champagne bar at night.  They were top notch, I don't think we went more than 15 minutes without one of them checking in on us.  My husband and I are strange tippers.  We know how much we will tip overall.  We give money in the beginning, than mid-way we give some more.  If they are still exceeding our desires we tip at the end more, if they were just eh, we lower that amount.
Interesting info.  On the ship the staff signs a 9 mos contract.  The ones that live on Coco Cay are contracted for 28 days.
Chef's table for dinner OMG DO IT
This was our menu: Course 1 Scallop Carpaccio with yuzo dressing and crispy quinoa.  Course 2 was Smoked Tomato soup with garlic focaccia croutons.  Three was Maine Lobster salad with hearts of palm, pineapple, cilantro, vanilla dressing. Course 4 was roasted branzino, veggies were zucchini and peppers with a lemon confit.  The skin was amazing, the fish was flaky.  They roasted on parchment skin side down at 1st.  Course 5 was Filet Mignon with a truffle potato puree, asparagus and bordelaise sauce .Last course was the World aka the Wonderland dessert paired with a salted caramel espresso martini.
Day 7 Sea Day
Same as any other sea day
Dinner was at Izumi.  Wendell our maitre'd/host for chef's table said ask for the off the menu item.  None of us could recall the name.  Izumi on Adventure does not have teppynaki or the soups, it is pure sushi/sashimi.  I said to the waiter can you please bring us the off the menu item, he immediately said, oh you mean....
I am not a sushi person.  I got the spicy shrimp roll and LOVED it.  The family loved the off the menu, but agreed that their favorite was the Champagne Lobster roll.  
REGRET  Had I known when we boarded the ship that the 70s night was day 3I would have booked an 8:30 reservation.  On Anthem the 70s is done on the Promenade, and Izumi is right next to it, so by the time dinner is done you will be in a prime seating place
Day 8 Sea Day
Did the bottomless galley brunch.  Worth the money, but I had an issue with RCL from a sanitary/health aspect.  They tell you closed toe shoes, no shorts.  There were people allowed wearing either and both.  Sorry, but seeing the hairy legs of a man grossed me out.  Kitchens are insanely clean, but I just kept thinking as he walked the hair on his legs could fall on the floor.  The woman in flip flops, slips, falls and she will not only sue, but win bc they let her down into the galleys where the floors are slippery
Dinner was at Chops again with our same wait staff.  Got the goat cheese salad AGAIN.  Lobster bisque and the filet.  Hubby got the lamb chops, we shared with each other.  Our waitress knew us now.  She brought out every side family style, minus the potato and mac.  18 little metal cups for 5 of us.  On top of that she brought out the spicy shrimp entrée, and when dessert rolled around she didn't ask, she brought every item on the menu to share family style.  Chops to us is akin to Ruth Chris.  That meal would have cost us 400+
@WAAAYTOOO  I thought about you because everyone's favorite was the red velvet cake.  Our waitress actually brought another piece because they devoured the 1st slice
 
 
 

Hey there! As a 911 dispatcher, I get 144 hours a year and have been here for 14 years. At 15 years, I will get a little more but I can't remember what it is exactly. We can also accrue up to 180 hours of comp time so that is a great benefit. Our sick time is separate from everything else and we accrue 3.34 hours a pay period. I have a little more than 1,100 hours so I should be set if anything happens. It caps out at 1,440. Obviously, we run a 24/7 operation so I'm working most holidays but that gives us the opportunity to earn more comp. And that equals more vacation! WOOT! 

Hey there! As a 911 dispatcher, I get 144 hours a year and have been here for 14 years. At 15 years, I will get a little more but I can't remember what it is exactly. We can also accrue up to 180 hours of comp time so that is a great benefit. Our sick time is separate from everything else and we accrue 3.34 hours a pay period. I have a little more than 1,100 hours so I should be set if anything happens. It caps out at 1,440. Obviously, we run a 24/7 operation so I'm working most holidays but that gives us the opportunity to earn more comp. And that equals more vacation! WOOT! 

Thanks @twangster. I will go ahead and post them on here so that @Lovestotravel, @pezgirl, and @KathyC can see them! ? 
In order of the attachments:
The West Deck in Aruba -- on our walk to The West Deck in Aruba -- Palm Beach in Aruba -- Karel's Beach Bar in Bonaire -- Coco Beach in Bonaire -- view from our table at Perla Del Mar in Curacao -- Mambo Beach in Curacao
Hopefully that works!
 

"Diapering" cotton candy?   Sounds...interesting.  LOL 

Day 3 - Bermuda
Today marked our first time in Bermuda.  Seeing that we have never visited the island before, we opted out of a beach excursion and decided to book a mini bus tour of the entire island.
This tour is available through the cruise line or Viator. We opted to go with the cruise line directly. The cost was $89pp (Lowest at Black Friday) and it was well worth it. At 5 hours in length, the tour brings you literally around the entire island. Stops included Hamilton, St. George’s, and Gibb’s Hill Lighthouse.
We lucked out in that our tour guide was very talkative, informative, and as he put it, “does not sugar coat anything”. I knew it would be a great tour as soon as he made that comment as I am the same way.
Our tour did not feel particularly rushed. He even had time to let us get off at St. John’s beach for a bit (that was unplanned).
We learned a lot about Bermuda today, the history of the island and their way of life in current day.  I would most definitely recommend this to anyone visiting for the first time. It truly gives you a comprehensive, overall feel for the island. If we are fortunate to return, we now know which places we would want to focus in on.
Attaching some pics from our day.
?: Hubby


St. George Square


St. John Beach

Gibb’s Hill Lighthouse

View from the lighthouse

Our lunch stop today was in St. George’s.  There are several little shops and bakeries in that area. We ended up at a local sandwich shop called Temptations. Great little place and friendly service. 



 
 

Until you get your feet wet with cruising I would stay with this philosophy, it just gives you a little added comfort.
I took a 10 year hiatus from cruising (Raising a family) but when I came back I booked everything through Royal for the 1st 2 cruises, then branched back out.

Thanks @twangster. I will go ahead and post them on here so that @Lovestotravel, @pezgirl, and @KathyC can see them! ? 
In order of the attachments:
The West Deck in Aruba -- on our walk to The West Deck in Aruba -- Palm Beach in Aruba -- Karel's Beach Bar in Bonaire -- Coco Beach in Bonaire -- view from our table at Perla Del Mar in Curacao -- Mambo Beach in Curacao
Hopefully that works!
 

Thanks @twangster. I will go ahead and post them on here so that @Lovestotravel, @pezgirl, and @KathyC can see them! ? 
In order of the attachments:
The West Deck in Aruba -- on our walk to The West Deck in Aruba -- Palm Beach in Aruba -- Karel's Beach Bar in Bonaire -- Coco Beach in Bonaire -- view from our table at Perla Del Mar in Curacao -- Mambo Beach in Curacao
Hopefully that works!
 

Bummer! I wonder if I attach them differently if they will show up? Let me know if you can see this picture in Aruba on our walk to the restaurant!
I can't wait to meet you either! It's gonna be such a wonderful time! I'm bringing my sister along to witness the craziness ? We would love to live in the warmth no matter where it is ? 

I can't see the pictures either.   
I can't wait to meet you in December, I think we are going to get along great.  We want to retire in Aruba, so we'll be neighbors!! We can do periscoper meet-ups, LOL!  We haven't been to Bonaire yet, both times in the area our stops were only in Aruba & Curacao.  Bonaire is definitely on our list for one day.  

@Lovestotravel I'm sorry the pictures aren't showing up for you! I'm not sure why! Hopefully they are showing up for others. Yes, Perla Del Mar is in Curacao. It is delicious! 

@lauraodonnell86, these are great suggestions however none of the pics are showing up for me.  ? Also, you reference a restaurant Perla Del Mar.  Is that in Curacao?  TIA!

Thank-you!!  This is great!!  I am 99% sure we are taking Option 1!  ABC islands!  ?  So now, I am gleaning all I can from your and other's posts on the best excursions!! 

I'm sure that I commented on the other thread as well but I just need to reiterate what I said! We have cruised out of San Juan 12 times (see signature) and have 4 more booked in the future (including back to back cruises). We absolutely love leaving from San Juan because you don't have to wait for the weather to "warm up" in January like you might have to if you left from Florida. The ports from San Juan are just amazing! We usually stay 1 or 2 days beforehand in San Juan because it's an amazing place itself! You really won't be disappointed. There are always going to be people out there who complain but honestly, you can't rely on their opinion because they just hate life in general (lol). Freedom is a wonderful ship (our favorite class) and there is always something to do! If you have any more questions, let me know!  

@lauraodonnell86 I'm going to save all your ABC recommendations as that is a HUGE bucket list item for us too!  Thank you for sharing all of your wonderful experiences.

@pezgirl Oh goodness! I guess I will get up on my stand now. Hahaha!! These are some of the best islands you will ever visit!! Apologize now if this is a little long....
First of all, like @CruisinUpinLife said, I would highly recommend going to Pinel Island. Below I have attached another page where I talked more in depth about it and added some pictures. 
Curacao, we absolutely love this island. We have been twice and are going back in December. I have attached a map of the area below from https://cruisecrocodile.com/cruise-port-information/willemstad-curacao/#curacao-cruiseport. The blue bus on the right hand side of the picture shows where you need to pick up the city bus. I'm not sure about the blue bus on the middle/left side of the picture because we haven't taken it from that location. 

Both times we visited, we walked from the cruise ship through town to the city bus and rode that for $2 a person to Mambo Beach. Mambo Beach is a wonderful, relaxing beach. There is an entry fee of $3.50 per person and the chairs are also a small fee but I can't remember exactly what it is. I believe $3 or $4 per person. When you are ready to leave, there are city buses waiting right there. Note: the city buses are small and the public transport bus is big. The public bus is $1 per person but it takes a while for them to fill it up so we went with the city bus. The walk from the cruise port to the city bus is about 25 mins depending on how fast/slow you walk. We use it as a good time to take in the beautiful, colorful buildings along the way! I added the map so you can use that to navigate from the cruise ship, across the pedestrian bridge, to the left along the water, and then a right which will take you to the public transportation area. The first time we did it, we had to ask a few people along the way but everyone was very friendly and helpful. There is a taxi stand closer to the cruise ship but if I remember right, a taxi is $40 to Mambo Beach. 

Since we are usually there later at night, we love eating dinner on the island. We have gone to Perla Del Mar twice now and it's amazing. It is a Steak and Seafood restaurant. It is located in the Waterfront Arches which is to the right of the pedestrian bridge. There are 5-6 restaurants all on the water and I would recommend eating dinner there! We never feel unsafe walking around after dark. I attached a picture of the view from our table at Perla Del Mar! As you walk back to the ship you will walk through Rif Fort which is an awesome little places with bars and restaurants that all lit up at night with live music sometimes. 

Aruba - it is only about a 5-10 min walk to get to the city bus stand. You can buy a round trip ticket to Eagle or Palm Beach for $5 per person. Great deal! We prefer Eagle over Palm because it is a bit quieter and not as busy. I will warn you that the chairs and drinks are going to be expensive but we just plopped our towels in the sand fo freeeee ? 

We were in Aruba late in January so we decided to get cleaned up after the beach and head to dinner on the island! To the right from the cruise ship, we walked for about 15 mins along the road (on a nice sidewalk) and ended up at The West Deck. I would recommend to make a reservation because they were quite busy! It is right on the water and had amazing food! 


It was a beautiful walk back to the ship and is a really nice area. No feeling unsafe at all here either after dark! 
Bonaire - the place we want to live eventually! We have fallen in love with Bonaire and actually stopped in and spoke with a realtor in January to see what it would look like to move here in the future! We took a taxi to Coco Beach in January because we didn't have any other plans. It was $2.50 a person each way. We just put our towels in the sand because we wanted to be in the water most of the day and we brought our snorkeling gear because there is some of the best snorkeling here in Bonaire! I would recommend bringing water shoes as the beaches here are quite rocky. 

After hitting the beach, we were ready for a drink on the boardwalk near the ship! We love visiting Karels Beach Bar which is just a 5 min walk to the left as you get off the ship. It is over the water and offer beer, coffee, and a limited food menu. 

Well, sorry again about the length of this post but as you can see, I am passionate about these islands and helping people have a great time without breaking the bank! I hope I have given you some good options! Let me know if you have any questions or need any further clarification!
 

@pezgirl  My husband and I did the Snuba excursion in December 2018 in St Maarten with RC and loved it.  This time we are thinking about exploring non RC excursions and currently are looking to @lauraodonnell86's suggestion of caribbeanpaddling.com to kayak to Pinel Island from the Sint Martin (french side).  The ABC islands are on our bucket list so enjoy!  Curacao seems neat from the pictures I've seen.  Enjoy and have a great time!  If you search Southern Caribbean or any of those cities/countries in the boards, you will find a lot of great suggestions posted by others.

@pezgirl I haven't stayed at any of those hotels but the AC Hotel is near the Marriott Stellaris and we walked by it and it looks really nice. It is a great area to walk around for restaurants and just to check out the area. It's also a close walk to the beach! I love the Condado area. 

Yes it is fully back open! We were just there in January and they had just finished remodeling the pool. It's in perfect condition now! Headed back in December for 2 nights! 

Any recommendations on where to stay the night before in San Juan and places to eat? Thanks. 

@pezgirl , If you want to be close to Old San Juan which is really close to the cruise port, there is a Sheraton Old San Juan, further away but still relatively close is Candado Beach area, I stayed in a Marriott which has direct beach access and was beautiful and was about a 15 minute taxi ride to the port. Others on here have stayed at a Airbnb in old San Juan and really liked it.
I have not had a bad restaurant in San Juan, just pick a place to stay and then start looking at restaurants that are close.

Thank-you so much!  This is such great information.  Making us excited and I think we will likely book it!

I'm sure that I commented on the other thread as well but I just need to reiterate what I said! We have cruised out of San Juan 12 times (see signature) and have 4 more booked in the future (including back to back cruises). We absolutely love leaving from San Juan because you don't have to wait for the weather to "warm up" in January like you might have to if you left from Florida. The ports from San Juan are just amazing! We usually stay 1 or 2 days beforehand in San Juan because it's an amazing place itself! You really won't be disappointed. There are always going to be people out there who complain but honestly, you can't rely on their opinion because they just hate life in general (lol). Freedom is a wonderful ship (our favorite class) and there is always something to do! If you have any more questions, let me know!