goldfish65

Thinking about this deep subject....times change. When I was a kid, it was laughable to me how cheap my grandparents were. They gave up smoking cold turkey when cigarettes hit a certain price. EVERYTHING was so expensive to them. My grandma stockpiled Cool-Whip she would get on sale, with coupons. My Mom's generation too, she would never buy bottled water; just get it from the tap. Forget about all these flavored/vitamin waters and energy drinks people spend money on daily without even thinking. Now, I am "that" generation, who is thinks everything is so expensive....$35 Uber from downtown to home, $4+ for a carton of grapefruit juice at the supermarket, $18+ for an elaborate milkshake while on vacation. 😅

Only four cruises, but always the same: One large rolling bag, one good sized waterproof duffel without much in it, and one backpack. Large bag holds many changes of clothes. Bulky, casual items go in vacuum storage bags. I like to bring a hammock, and assorted items like a travel fan, bungee cord, zip ties, duct tape, a plush throw blanket, Yeti, a few books, etc. The duffel will have Fresca, diet ginger ale, and/or Coke Zero, paper towels and small windex. Later it is used for dirty clothes, and for things/gifts we have bought. Backpack for meds and wine. For me, one of the pleasures of cruising is that you can pack as much as you want.

A side note about suites, ours had 36 drawers for the two of us, lesson learned: choose a reasonable number to use and forget the rest, unless you want to be squirrel-like locating your items.

Haha! Interesting logic. There is no prior expectation that under-18 guests have access to the solarium.

Have a party, fine, but without making a whole feature of the ship off limits to the other paying guests.

Thanks to all. I didn't know where to start. In the meantime, I have looked at videos of the different categories, and Penthouse Veranda looks like the sweet spot for us. A little extra square footage for all the days at sea. All we care about is disconnecting from everything, reading, looking at the ocean, and whatever we find on the ship to do. Food and beverage. Late 2026. In the Penthouse Veranda category, are there any "secret" cabins that are better, or any to avoid?

So, Penthouse Veranda will always have the two daylight openings, rather than one large, unobstructed view outward? What I am put off by, is having a section of wall partially obstructing the view of the ocean.

Newbie, so please forgive. Looking into doing a Fall Transatlantic to Florida in the next few years. I am concerned about having a cabin where the outer wall has two windows, rather than one wide window. It looks like the cabins with more square footage, have the two-window design, which seems like a serious drawback. We have done a transatlantic on another line, in a suite, with full-width windows. Is this even something to be concerned about? Are certain categories always one way or the other? Thank you.

As others have responded, now it's one bottle per person. The wine lists by necessity have only mass-market wines. I've only been on four cruises, but corkage has never been mentioned, and I bring a bottle of what I consider special to the dining room, either pre-opened or not. If wine is remaining, they offered to keep it for us. Never have I felt that the practice is frowned-upon. I do tip extra in cash at the end of the meal but that's another topic.

No.

The entrees are small portions. A hungry person can eat more than one, and without the unflattering imagery you use.

Never had any issues, three cruises in 2023.

The restrictions on internet usage are, I suspect, a way to keep crew from being on their phones all the time.

It's kinda fascinating, because no one knows how prices and market share are going to play out, especially now with MSC aggressively pursuing the N.American market with their deep pockets, private ownership, no debt, and flashy ships.

My $.02, we got spoiled the past few years great deals. Now, the prices are more realistic for the experience you are getting. On Freedom last month, four nights for a party of two in a GS was around $3000 counting everything. The ship looked practically new, we remarked that it's pretty amazing to have all the facilities, so much nice staff, great drinks, unlimited quantities of decent food with some real highlights, stunning entertainment, all surrounded by vast ocean. I did a lot of research before choosing Royal. I know what to expect and I like their product. Other cruise lines may cost less, but it's like, if something has no use to me, I don't care how cheap it is, I'm not going to buy it. I don't want to take the chance of being disappointed....it's worth the money to know I am going to be satisfied.

If the juggler Pete Matthews is on, don't miss him, he had the audience in stitches, better than most comedians.

No.

I agree, when I tip an additional amount, I want it to go to the specific person, that's why we always bring an ample supply of assorted denominations.

Another quick mention, re: RoyalUp. There was one OS showing available. I bid $210 pp and was unsuccessful. The GS we had suited us just fine, but you get caught up in the psychology of trying to "win" something.

Another thing to mention: there were virtually no gulls on CocoCay. We asked several staff why this is the case. It was wonderful that the aggressive, dirty birds were absent, but I am still curious as to how. Everyone we asked said they did not know.

Partial blame to the anti-gluten movement and the shutdown. Many people avoiding bread altogether. Changes in bakery staff. The pastry chef at the resort where I work makes only one kind of bread for the steakhouse,, a very good roasted shallot and thyme brioche. Also packaged gluten-free bread that comes frozen. Small changes that save a lot of resources.

Forgot to mention room service. One breakfast was perfect, even the bacon was hot, and the young lady was drop-dead gorgeous and outgoing. The next day...a young man brought syrup but no pancakes...I ordered banana pancakes and received a bunch of bananas. Ordered grapefruit and received grapes. Not the end of the world, but note to self: check the order before the attendant goes.

OP specified only one thing so I'll say improve the app. It could do so much more.

Four nights...we could have used one more. We have very little to complain about. Ship was very clean and well-tended, sufficient staff. Suite 1252, minor chair-scraping occasionally from the deck above. Suite lounge food offerings were great; however cocktail service was positively glacial. The first night I bribed a bartender to make our drinks. Concierge was mostly window-dressing, directed us to use the app to find what we needed. Bar service elsewhere on the ship was fairly quick. Both the ice skating and the theatre production blew us away. Absolutely memorable. The artwork around the ship is outstanding. Ship was full but only felt crowded in the Royal Promenade. We hate the closed-in feeling....Izumi was claustrophobic, though fun and good otherwise. Cigarette smell was strong in the Schooner Bar. The ship is too big for our taste. So much walking. We kept to our vow of not using elevators. Maybe that's why we slept so well. One thing notable was how well-mannered and pleasant the passengers were. Did not hear foul language, did not witness bad behavior. Only one "I wish I could un-see that" moment related to attire. There were so many games and sports activities; it was very nice to see families enjoying themselves. Tip for The Perfect Storm waterslide: lie on your back and keep your weight on your heels and shoulder blades, you'll fly! If you sit on your butt, you'll get stuck, no fun. Early MDR seating, no complaints. I asked for Beef Bourguignon in addition to the entree I ordered, no questions asked. El Loco Fresh was great. The funnel cakes at CocoCay, how can anything be so good?! Re: CocoCay, it was not too crowded, even with Liberty there, we found chairs/umbrella in a spot we wanted, at South Beach, where our dining room assistant kindly suggested. Crowds and chaos are abhorrent to me, so the separate check-in and the concierge escort off the ship was of great value. Just wanted to share the positive experience we had on Freedom of the Seas.

As others, much prefer have my luggage waiting for me in the designated zone, rather than jockeying for a spot to stand at the carousel, having to look at everyone's bags as they come, and having to lunge and extract the heavy bag off of the carousel.