Please tell me about New Years Eve cruises on Voyager/Freedom Class

We go December 28th on a 5 night New Years Eve cruise on the Indy. Does anyone have pictures or can share their thoughts on the experience? Thank you so much in advance for your replies.

NYE dinner formal. NYE hats tiaras and beads on the MDR table at dinner.

NYE party options were Promenade or the Pool Deck.

Promenade party started at 11.30pm. Free champagne and they were generous with frequent top ups. Amused my teens that they were constantly offered champagne as well (!). Balloon drop at midnight.

Pool Deck party with Kinetic. From 10.30pm-1.00am. Obviously, its our summer in Australia so an outdoor party is an option for us.

From the cruise compass:

champagne/sparkling wines can be pre-ordered from 10am-9pm on the Promenade.

Production Show was Broadway, Rhythm and Rhyme.

Hope this helps a little.

Thank you Aussie :) Anyone else have a New Years Eve Experience?

We have sailed New Year's Eve for the last three years, two of those years being on the Freedom. My experiences are as described by the previous poster.

The first time on the Freedom we spent our New Year's eve celebration on the promenade. The second time we did New Year's on that ship, we opted to go to the outside party since it was a beautiful evening. Not sure if we have a preference. The inside party was maybe a bit more festive but really really crowded.

I don't recall if it was scheduled formal night, but everybody is very nicely dressed.

This year we are trying out New Year's eve on the Serenade.

Enjoy.

M

NYE dinner formal. NYE hats tiaras and beads on the MDR table at dinner.

 

NYE party options were Promenade or the Pool Deck.

 

Promenade party started at 11.30pm. Free champagne and they were generous with frequent top ups. Amused my teens that they were constantly offered champagne as well (!). Balloon drop at midnight.

 

Pool Deck party with Kinetic. From 10.30pm-1.00am. Obviously, its our summer in Australia so an outdoor party is an option for us.

 

From the cruise compass:

 

champagne/sparkling wines can be pre-ordered from 10am-9pm on the Promenade.

 

Production Show was Broadway, Rhythm and Rhyme.

 

Hope this helps a little.

Thanks for the info! Quick question...so the champagne is free, so pre-ordering it during the day would only be to purchase upgraded brands?

Thanks!

We actually sailed on Indy for New Years - 2 years ago. I will have to see if I can find any pictures but it was AWESOME!

So the free champagne at the Promenade you already know. It was super crowded but super fun :) Balloon drop at midnight, the big screen countdown. I actually think the Promenade party started earlier, it was very very busy around 10 already, we could hardly get through. They were also giving out hats and, I think, noise makers, etc. for the New Years. Sorry, couldn't find any good pictures. You are in for a lot of fun! :)

Thanks for the info! Quick question...so the champagne is free, so pre-ordering it during the day would only be to purchase upgraded brands?

 

Thanks!

The free champagne is a glass or two. If you want to have champagne with dinner and/or earlier than 11:30 you will need to purchase your own. You can buy it by the glass at any bar buy a bottle. RCCL allows you to bring two bottles of wine per cabin. On New Year's, we always use champagne for one of those bottles.

Enjoy.

M

Thanks for the info! Quick question...so the champagne is free, so pre-ordering it during the day would only be to purchase upgraded brands?

 

Thanks!

Did 3 NYE cruises on Freedom. FANTASTIC! Go to the Pub about 10pm. Find a table and have some beers, etc. We brought a bottle of champagne on board. I ran to my cabin and brought it down, along with our own champagne glasses. I just kept it in a plastic ice bucket and no problem. Much better than the free glass. No one cared. Sit inside the Pub. You can see the action on the Promenade, then go out about 10 min. before midnight. It'll be packed. But just work your way out onto the Promenade and enjoy the fun.

Also as a hint, there is a set of stair pretty much straight across the Promenade from the Pub. Much easier to get to. Goes down to the Casino. So if you need to leave, helps to get around much faster, like going to the bathroom or going to get your champagne.

One other comment. On our last NYE cruise, they sold the tables on the Promenade. Depending on how many you have, might be worth it. Looks like it included hors d'oeuvres, and a bottle of champagne.