L33_RYM

You can get a taxi from the cruise terminal. It's about $14 return & takes about 20 mins. There is a small bar there that sells drinks & a limited selection of food. You can hire sunbeds there (they are functional but they are not the best) & snorkel gear.

We were in Tortola last week. We went out snorkeling & about 100m from the beach we saw an absolutely huge fish. We were sure it was a shark because of the sheer size of it. Now that I'm home I researched it & I'm pretty sure it was a 6ft Tarpon. I just wished I had a camera with me.

Hi,

We depart next week & I have just found out that we have not paid the gratuities. There are 4 of us traveling (2 adults & 2 kids) & it is £52.08 each (£208.32 totoal).

My question is purely from a cost perspective is is better to pay in advance or on the ship. I will have plenty of dollars or a zero commission card going with me but I just wondered which option is the best & might save me a couple of quid.

Any advice gratefully received.

Many thanks for your replies, think I'm clearer now!

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

Sorry

 

Just noticed you are from uk sailing in us

 

 

 

Exchange rate is quite good at the moment 1.6 roughly. If you prepay will be in pounds. If you pay onboard will be in dollars. You will probably get a better rate by paying onboard. Whatever you do though, make sure you select have your bank convert the rate not let RC convert and then charge. You will lose out big time on the exchange rate otherwise.

Thanks for the reply. It I'm still not clear. What do you mean about the bank converting? When does that option arise?

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

$12 per person per day charged daily to your Seapass cards. (Includes kids)

Do kids have to pay it as well?

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

Hi,

Can anyone put us straight please?

We cruise in a couple of weeks time. Tonight my DW informs me that we need to pay gratuities. How much do we pay? Is it per person or per cabin? Does it apply to my kids? Should I pay it in advance or leave it until we get there?

(Don't know if it of any relevance in relation to exchange rates but we are on a cruise from the US on Freedom around the Eastern Caribbean)

Thanks for the info guys. Turbo is a favourite of my youngest daughter.

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

Hi,

This question is for my daughter.

Can anyone give me any details about the 3d cinema please? Such as how often do they show films? Are there different films shown all of the time?

I did see an old cruise compass from 2013 but according to that there is only one film shown a day at 1.30pm.

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

We always bring our own snorkel and mask. For every snorkeling excursion we've been on (probably 30-40+), the excursion price is the same whether you have your own or not. Also in places where we've gone on our own and just wanted to get fins and PFD, it was the same price as getting snorkel and fins too.

I was thinking more for the cococay beach stop rather than doing an actual excursion.

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

Snorkling excursions, as mentioned in the previous post, would include the equipment rental. If you are looking to snorkel at the beach, RCI charges about 30USD for fins, mask/snorkel, and vest.

 

 

 

Hope this helps.

 

 

 

Brig

Can I bring my own snorkel & mask & just hire the fins? Is it less money?

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

If no one replies, I found these from someone in Dec 2013...it was the Eastern itinerary:

 

http://s1327.photobucket.com/user/bobinfl/embed/slideshow/FOS%2012-1-13

 

Here is the latest I could find for Western itinerary from March 2013:

 

http://s576.photobucket.com/user/NorbertsNiece/media/Freedom/Compasses%20etc/scan0001.jpg.html?sort=2&o=6

Thank you very much. That gives us a great idea of the type of things we can expect.

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

Note that at lunch they usually want your dessert order at the same time as your main order.

MDR is the place to get free (OK, "already paid for") hard scooped ice cream.

And for breakfast, the Eggs Benedict on my last Navigator were really good.

MDR breakfast also usually has a buffet area in the middle, and you order from the menu and go to the buffet.

I often did this -- getting fruit in the buffet area (in the MDR), and then my Eggs Benedict from the waiter.

Also note that for breakfast and lunch you will usually be seated with others you have never met before.

We find this is one good way to meet new people on the ship.

MDR Breakfast and lunch is always "open seating" -- no set time or reserved tables.

(It used to be fixed time and table when we first started cruising.)

What are the breakfast & lunch opening times on FOS? Any ideas?

Hi,

We sail on Freedom in April (first ever cruise) - Eastern Caribbean. I wondered if anyone has a recent copy of the cruise compass so that we have an idea of what to expect.

Hello, We are booked on the FOS to Eastern Carib in April 2014. We will have six kids in our group ranging from 6-16 years of age. I have a 13 year old son and 13 year old step daughter. My son is debating whether he wants to participate in the kids club. I have heard from Royal Carib operators that the club is really fun. I would like to hear from my CC friends! If you have recently sailed on Royal Carib, especially Freedom of the Seas, what kinds of activities did the kids club do for the 12-17 year old group? Also, if there are activities he or she does not want to do can they decline the club for that activity and rejoin them for other activities? Please provide any and all info you can! This is a first cruise for the kids, but Mom & Dad love cruising. So, we want them to love it so they want to go back! Thanks in advance!

Great question. It is something I have been thinking about to. We are all first time cruisers & on FOS on April 20th. My daughters are aged 6 & 9 & are a little bit nervous about it as they don't know what to expect. The little one is especially nervous as she thinks that the age ranges mean that she will be split from her big sister. I will be interested to hear what people have to say about the kids clubs.

Hi,

Does anyone have an up to date Compass at all for FOS Eastern Caribbean at all please?

You Sir, are the voice of reason and I always enjoy your posts. I am a non smoker and really don't mind e-cigs. I think they're less harmful than having 2 entrees and 2 desserts per night and being overweight. Or the same harmful. hmmmm

Hear, hear. An oasis of sense in a desert of ridiculousness. Why do people seem to think they know better & need to argue with a Dr?

Hi,

Can anyone tell me (or tell me where I can find out about) the shows?

On our cruise the shows are as follows:

Marquee

FreedomIce

Now You See It

Once Upon a Time

Has anyone seen any of these shows?

RCI IS allowing e-cigs in the smoking areas so they obviously aren't worried about them exploding. The only fires I've heard of coming from e-cigs is using the wrong charger. This can cause cell phones and other electronics to explode also. Do you suggest RCI ban cell phones, tablets, laptops, ereaders, etc. banned also?

You read my mind with that last post.

Another important difference is that all e-cig vapor put into the environment was already passed through a set of lungs and presumably anything harmful has already been absorbed by the user.

 

This is in contrast to regular cigs, in which "side smoke" is constantly generated while cig is lit. This smoke is actually far more dangerous than exhaled smoke for the above reasons.

 

And as for those who are incredulous that people would subject themselves to the harm of nicotine, to me it's no different from the harm we expose ourselves to in eating, drinking, etc. It's a choice. On person may choose to overeat and be overweight, but to them it's worth the risk of premature death because of the pleasure they derive from eating. So for others the vice is nicotine. For some it's both!

 

BTW one of the bigger shock I got in med school was when we got to nicotine in pharmacology. Like so many I had no idea what was the appeal, then we learned that "nicotine enhances alertness, short-term memory, reaction time, and problem solving skills." I had never used nicotine up to that point but you can bet I tried it while studying (chew) and let me tell you it's true. You can concentrate and learn and generally focus better with nicotine on board.

 

There's a reason, like there is for most vices, that people enjoy it.

 

So let's avoid the holier-than-thou. Unless you have a BMI of less than 25, exercise vigorously for 45 minutes most days of the week, and sleep at least 7 hours a day, you too are making choices that are detrimental to your health, as is your right as an adult.

We'll said Doc.

I once knew a guy that refused to use a cell phone because years ago it was rumoured that they caused brain cancer & he vigorously campaigned against them & their use. Then they completed the government research & he felt like a dummy.

Excuse my ignorance, but where did you see the sample MDR menus?

http://www.royalcaribbeanpresscenter.com/press-kit/9/culinary-press-kit/

ordering multiple anything is encouraged if not pushed. ( especially dessert)

 

that being said if your entree comes out and you don't like it of course you can send it back or get a new one but you will be waiting as the kitchen will have already begun transitioning to the next course prep.

 

Snails are it and miss.. lots of people have reported that they are NOT available on board as often, at all or even every night even if they are on the menu. It's usually an appetizer. and if it is your first taste, you probably will go 'ewwwww' and never try them again as they are not really the best representation of the dish.

 

if the kids order off the kids meals they are smaller( and many say not all that appetizing or the usual crap stuff they get at home) . If they order off the adult menu they get full size portions.

Thanks for the tip. Much appreciated.

This rebuttal to Merion_Mom is just a columnist's opinion. It is not a discussion of scientific information as her article was.

 

Look people, the rules are the rules. Debating whether the rules are right or not is not going to change them. No one here gets to vote on what the rules are. That said, if you smoke your e-cig where no one can see you, then you probably aren't going to have a problem. Even if there is a smell, its probably not detectable unless the person is in your immediate vicinity.

What was posted by Merion_Mom was copied & pasted from the LA Times so the rebuttal was merely a reflection of the initial post only from The British Spectator rather a LA Times.

In essence I think you are right ...... "stealth vaping" is the way forward as what people don't know/ don't see won't hurt them.

Full article (emphasis mine)

 

The battery-operated devices heat nicotine, propylene glycol and glycerin into a vapor, which is inhaled by the user. Unlike conventional tobacco-burning cigarettes, e-cigarettes do not deliver poisonous tars or carbon monoxide.

 

Currently, the devices are regulated only by a smattering of local governments who have passed laws concerning their sale and use. The Food and Drug Administration has the legal authority to regulate e-cigarettes as a tobacco product, but has not yet done so. In the meantime, e-cigarettes have grown to become a $2-billion industry with no federal oversight.

 

Though the FDA says propylene glycol and glycerin food additives are "generally regarded as safe," the long-term effects of inhaling the substances are unknown. The FDA's Center for Tobacco Products has begun collecting reports of adverse effects from e-cigarettes, and those complaints include claims of eye irritation, headaches and coughing.

 

E-cigarette backers say the health effects of the key component — nicotine — are well established and minimal for most everyone except pregnant mothers. They note that nicotine gum and patches have been used as smoking cessation tools for many years.

 

"It's not the nicotine that's the real enemy; it's the way it's burned and delivered in cigarettes," said psychologist David Abrams, executive director of the American Legacy Foundation's Schroeder Institute for Tobacco Research and Policy Studies in Washington. "In reasonable doses, and assuming good quality control, nicotine might raise your heart rate two or three beats per minute, but it really has few adverse effects."

 

Yet that might not be true for teens. A surgeon general's report released Friday says evidence now suggests that nicotine exposure during adolescence "may have lasting adverse consequences for brain development."

 

And then there are the potential health effects on bystanders, who are also exposed to nicotine and propylene glycol emitted by the e-cigarette and its user.

 

Studies performed on e-cigarette vapor have detected heavy metals and volatile compounds such as formaldehyde, but the concentration and threat they pose has been hotly debated.

 

In a review of studies that examined e-cigarette mist, Drexel University environmental and occupational health expert Igor Burstyn concluded that "while these compounds are present, they have been detected at problematic levels only in a few studies that apparently were based on unrealistic levels of heating."

 

Abrams took heart in that assessment, though he acknowledged that the vapor was not benign. Even so, the bystander effects are "almost immeasurable compared to the toxins in secondhand cigarette smoke," he said.

 

That assessment may change when several studies examining fine particulate matter from e-cigarette vapor and their effects on the cardiovascular system are completed, Glantz said.

 

http://www.latimes.com/science/la-sci-e-cigarettes-science-20140117,0,7562029.story#ixzz2qv5DuoqN

Certainly e-cigarettes are totally harmless to anyone in the vicinity of a user, and nobody has argued otherwise. They are also much, much less harmful to the user — everyone is agreed on that — than actual, proper smoking, and may be of no harm at all. But the co-chair of the BMA’s Public Health Medicine Committee, Richard Jarvis — certainly not one of the aforesaid ‘moderate elements’ within this organisation — has said that e-cigarettes ‘directly undermine the effects and intentions of existing legislation’ which bans smoking in public places. He did not explain how, possibly because his statement is a palpable idiocy. The intention behind banning smoking in public places was to remove the risk to the so-called passive smokers, which was also the effect, as he put it. E-cigarettes are of no risk to people other than the users, and probably not to the users either.

http://www.spectator.co.uk/columnists/rod-liddle/9026811/the-bmas-bizarre-jihad-against-e-cigarettes/

I don't see where anyone told you there is a children's menu. Also, this is a great alternative for appetizers for everyone! :D

They didn't, I just asked if the portion sizes were the same for children.