darla723

On Freedom right now out of San Juan...large groups of locals have taken over this cruise....no chance your system would/will work on this cruise....It's a madhouse frenzy (pools, dining areas & public venues even some that have brought on their own musical instruments...NO rules/policy on this cruise) unlike anything we've experienced on the many cruise's we've taken with RCI....:eek::eek::eek:

We had a very similar experience on Freedom in July. Never again will we leave out of San Juan.

If it cost RCI money they'd do something about it.

 

And not until then.

But I think it DOES cost them money. Those people that cannot sit in a deck chair because it is being "saved, also don't spend money on drinks. Not everyone gets the package. We left the deck and went to our balcony to enjoy our comped wine and champagne.

And I DO think there are enough deck chairs for most of the day if people who leave the pool area just take their stuff, do their thing, and upon returning, they would probably find a chair available, vacated by someone who left to do their thing. For most of the day, there were at least 30% of the chairs bogusly saved.

Congratulations on making Diamond.

Thank you! Possibly enjoying it soon on an Alaska cruise!

We returned 1 week ago from Freedom where we embarked as Emerald with 76 points. This 7 night cruise makes us Diamond (finally!!) How long before it indicates that on their website?

Great!! That would work out well!!

Hi, everyone! I am sitting in our room at the Doubletree in San Juan, pre-Freedom, brain still on vacation overdrive, realizing that 11:00 am checkout may be a problem with too early arrival at the pier. Should I see if we can have a slightly later checkout, or can we grab an uber about then and be able to board before noon?

DH and I plan to spend a couple hours in San Juan on the afternoon on departure day, and we were wondering when is the muster? I know departure time is 8:30, so how do they work dinner times and muster?

Shows on the Freedom do not need to be prebooked. We sailed on her in 2017.

Ok, awesome! I don't live for the shows, but it would be nice to be able to see one if we want to! Thanks for the info!

Ok, so as you can tell with my many questioning posts lately, we are sailing soon and I have yet another question. When trying to book entertainment on my cruise planner, I am told please try later on board the ship. Our cruise is July 21st. Have I waited too long, and is there a chance to be able to see any of the shows if I cannot pre book? :(Thank you so much, you all have been so helpful so far!

On previous cruises, the menus were posted daily in a public place. This was helpful in determining whether that night might be better spent in a specialty restaurant! Is this still done?

They are supposed to automatically use non-refundable OBC first. There is no way for you to control it.

Can you question it at the purser's desk at some point during the cruise?

VIsa points OBC has been fully redundable, booking on board OBC is non-refundable.

So is there a way to use one form of OBC- the $100.00 booking reward- before the $350.00 Visa rewards?

Just remember that not all OBC is refundable.

The OBC we have is mostly RC Visa redemption. $100.00 is from booking on board last cruise- Next Cruise Cert.

On many cruises rccl murder mystery is at Giovanni’s table and then it would not be available ,do you see a murder mystery in cruise planner ?

I looked on the cruise planner, and mystery dinner theater is indeed on day 3- our preferred night- at Giovanni's Table:(:(:(. I guess we will do it a different night!

I will still check onboard, though, to make sure.

Thanks for the heads up!

Thanks, everyone! I will try once onboard and play the anniversary card!!! Wish me luck!

We cruise in about 4 weeks. The date I want is the first at sea day, and our 35th anniversary. Just wondering what you all thought the chances of getting a reservation that night are.

While trying to make a reservation, the date I prefer is not available. Is there a chance that once onboard, we can still get in if our time is flexible?

My DH and I have $450.00 OBC on our upcoming Freedom cruise in July. My thinking is to charge the $560.00 shore excursions we have planned and get the double points. Then use OBC for drinks, tips, etc. and if any left, cash them out. I don't think we will ever charge $560.00 in expenses, so wouldn't this be getting more bang for our buck in regards to points earned, since we'll earn 1120 points? Thanks for your opinions!

Have a great cruise! Sailing on her July 21st!!

Thanks for the updated info! We are ready to apply for the OBC, we weren't sure if we should apply the whole balance of points we have for OBC. Knowing we get the rest refunded to us helps us make the decision! Thanks again!

Doreen

Hi, all! I did a search and found an answer from 2016 that confirmed OBC refundable from RC Visa. But as we all know, RC changes rules often! Anyone have a more current answer?

Thanks

Doreen

Thanks everyone for the sage advice. Upon investigating, I was able to discover that that flying in the day before was about $90 cheaper pp and this covered the hotel cost for the night. Now, add that to the peace of mind we will have being in the port city day of departure...priceless!!!

Thanks Bob! I like to be prepared for these weird little things you don't think about!

Since the ship does not leave until 8:30 p.m. from San Juan, are there many of you out there who have chosen to fly in the day of embarkation? I can get a flight that would arrive in San Juan mid-afternoon, and it doesn't seem that there would be many delays the end of July. Apart from dreaded hurricane-force winds, of course!:eek::confused::eek: I would pay for transfers from airport to Pier. This would not only save money, but also the search for a hotel that is functioning at close to 100%! We only go there to eat dinner, and sleep. I know we get on the ship slightly later, but that isn't a big deal to me. Opinions?

Thanks in advance!

Thanks so much for the info! One other question I have is one of logistics. Do you go to the duty-free shop with your luggage and take everything on board at once, or do you check in on board, leave the ship, and do your shopping then? We've never had to do this before, so not sure how to make this an easy effort!