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FOS--Port Added


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** I just received this email regarding our FOS sailing.  Day 7 was supposed to be a sea day (our one and only).  They have now added St. Maarten on that day.  Talk about a port intensive sailing!  We will probably still treat Day 7 like a sea day.  I love a nice, relaxing sea day.   Any idea why they would do this?**   

 

Dear Guest,

We're excited to welcome you onboard for our May 24, 2020 Freedom of the Seas sailing. Before you begin your vacation countdown, we have an awesome itinerary change to share with you.

To improve your experience, we've added the beautiful port of Philipsburg, St. Maarten to our itinerary! We do lose a little time in Bridgetown and St. Lucia to make room for this change, but we're confident you'll have an excellent time in St. Maarten on the most destination-rich Caribbean itinerary! Please find our revised itinerary below.

Day

Port of Call

Arrive

Depart

Sun

San Juan, Puerto Rico

 

8:30 PM

Mon

Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas

8:00 AM

6:00 PM

Tue

Basseterre, St. Kitts & Nevis

8:00 AM

6:00 PM

Wed

St. Johns, Antigua

8:00 AM

5:00 PM

Thu

Bridgetown, Barbados

10:00 AM

6:00 PM

Fri

Castries, St. Lucia

8:00 AM

5:00 PM

Sat

Philipsburg, St. Maarten

9:00 AM

5:00 PM

Sun

San Juan, Puerto Rico

6:00 AM

 

Whether you're sailing solo or with your family, we're sure you'll find many activities to enjoy in Philipsburg. From spending time at the beach, to experiencing the destination's many indoor and outdoor attractions, a St. Maarten getaway is whatever you want it to be. We can't wait for you to soak in everything this destination has to offer!

Our Shore Excursions team will automatically reschedule any Royal Caribbean International shore excursions affected by this change. In the next few days, you'll receive an email with your updated tour details. Then, feel free to browse all the exciting shore excursion options for your sailing in Cruise Planner!

 

Thanks for your understanding. We can't wait to welcome you onboard Freedom of the Seas.

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9 minutes ago, KenCP said:

Great itinerary!

It really is!  Just curious why they would add a port.   I could sail around in a big circle right now and call it a great itinerary.   As long as I have warm weather and sunshine I will be happy.  It has been a long winter.  

 

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We are on the exact same itinerary but sailing June 7th. I haven’t received anything about a change but was actually already kind of thinking I wish we had one more sea day.

To be clear, we love all the ports and we’re thinking we would stay onboard for at least one.  But in my experience, it seems like some of the bigger onboard activities don’t happen on port days. I’m talking things like ice skating, the new laser tag, etc. And other entertainment and casino hours are significantly pared back on port days.

My personal concern with the itinerary you have now is that they won’t even do some of these things. We love St Martin but we’ve also been there plenty of times and we really want to experience the upgrades on the ship. I may be off on the assumption that they wont offer those things....it’s just an observation from past cruises.  

This is just nit picking. We can’t wait to see those islands. My wife and oldest have always wanted to see St Lucia in particular.

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2 hours ago, VRCruz said:

We are on this itinerary in October.  My first reaction was too many ports.  I will have make a few adjustments to make sure we remember to relax.  I am bummed they took the sea day away.  I wonder if they are making more itineraries  port intensive to save money on those $18. drink packages. 

I am disappointed in the change as well.  We will make our own Sea Day and make the most of it!  What problems to have ?

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16 hours ago, Cat mom said:

Curious are they charging you the port fees for the new stop or absorbing it for everyone? I’m not sure I could get off at every stop it seems very busy I might have to pick one or two to stay on board or make a very short day on the island.

We are not responsible for the port fee in St. Maarten since we were already booked.   Although we love St. Maarten we are still making that our one and only sea day.    

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9 hours ago, VRCruz said:

Thanks Vacation Crazy.  It is nice to know we won't have to pay the additional fee.  I am really torn now.  This is our first trip to Puerto Rico, first trip to this group of islands, first time on Freedom class.   I don't know what to skip.  What a problem to have...

If I had to pick a port to stay on board from having taken this cruise in August (minus St. Maarten, of course), I would choose Antigua. The landscape was very reminiscent of California to me and the 2 beaches we stopped at on our circumnavigation of the island were not superior to the beaches we visited in St. Kitts, Barbados, and St. Thomas (St. Lucia we did the jungle). I love St. Maarten so I would've been so thrilled to add it... I do agree that this particular itinerary is exhausting since you don't have the break till day 7. Gotta get that relaxation in there somehow! 

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Thank you DDaley.  I started my list of things to do.  I scheduled Antigua as a day to wander around and (window)shop. We land there the day after my birthday.   I read somewhere either Frommers or Tripadvisor that it has a nice public real artisans market.  I'm thinking good day to sleep in and move slow. 

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On 2/21/2020 at 6:44 AM, DunwoodyDad said:

We are on the exact same itinerary but sailing June 7th. I haven’t received anything about a change but was actually already kind of thinking I wish we had one more sea day.

To be clear, we love all the ports and we’re thinking we would stay onboard for at least one.  But in my experience, it seems like some of the bigger onboard activities don’t happen on port days. I’m talking things like ice skating, the new laser tag, etc. And other entertainment and casino hours are significantly pared back on port days.

My personal concern with the itinerary you have now is that they won’t even do some of these things. We love St Martin but we’ve also been there plenty of times and we really want to experience the upgrades on the ship. I may be off on the assumption that they wont offer those things....it’s just an observation from past cruises.  

This is just nit picking. We can’t wait to see those islands. My wife and oldest have always wanted to see St Lucia in particular.

We will be doing this itinerary on May 10th.  It sounded exhausting with just 6 days of ports now we have 7 days of ports.  I hate that even if we stay on  the ship some of the venues will be closed.  

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10 minutes ago, VRCruz said:

I started to panic after reading about closed venues.  However, I read on an old cruise compass that there are build your own Bloody Mary bars open at 8:00am on port days.  Nameste.

Too funny!!  

We splurged on this cruise and bought the unlimited dining package.  I guess there will be no sea day lunch since there is no sea day.  I'm hoping they still have plenty of daytime activities. 

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