renee1222

On Royal, lobster is only served on cruises 7 nights or longer. I think I have also read that it is not offered on European cruises.

Looking toward the Bridge

 

The Pool Deck (With Movie on the big screen)

 

Men Of Culture (One of Two Bands For The Week)

It was good to hear a live band performing live music

throughout the week!

 

Ok Lets Go Take A First Look Inside:

 

The wife headed to the Promenade for the first time!

 

Strolling down the Promenade

 

I drove this on board and parked it on the Promenade for the week! LOL!

That's me and my husband walking forward on the helipad! We had to get a good spot on the starboard side to wave at the kids back home. We had a wonderful cruise. We made it to the meet and mingle (and won a bottle of champagne!), but didn't make any of the other roll call activities. I'm enjoying your review and pictures.

We ate in the MDR every night and were very pleased with everything they offered. Food is very subjective, so it is always interesting to read the opinions of others. We will be cruising Serenade in January, and I think we may try Chops for the first time.

Is that 9256? We have 8168 coming up in less than 3 weeks on the Radiance, it's still a D2. :D

Are some of the aft balconies being reclassified as suites on RC ships? I have not heard this, but two previous posts allude to this. I just checked deck plans for Radiance 9256 and it is also still a D2 in all of the available deck plans. We are hoping to score 9256 on an Australian cruise in about 3 years, so would be very disappointed if the price jumps to a JS or higher rate.

We also stayed in FOS 7408 corner aft and absolutely loved it. It's what sold us on corner afts! If we can't get the corner aft, my hubby just assumes to save the money and get an inside.

We enjoyed Sorrentos almost every day while on board. Specifically, we were on Freedom, and I'm not sure if it has the same menu on all ships. There were usually 3-4 different types of pizza each day. Always a pepperoni and then maybe a chicken, veggie, or other specialty. There were also anitpasto fixings. I am almost positive that there was a panini of the day which changed daily. I never ordered it, but the people who did usually had to wait about 10 minutes because they did not make them up ahead of time. I stuck with the pepperoni pizza and was pleased. It was not extraordinary, but was good for an afternoon or late night snack.

I think my favorite thing about Sorrentos was the desserts! They had small cups of different desserts. Usually 4-5 varieties a day that changed each day, but were repeated throughout the cruise. My favorites were the chocolate mousse and the tiramisu. There was also a fruit cup and maybe something like berries and yogurt.

Check it out and go by more than one day as the offerings can change.

Love your LIVE reviews! I will be checking in daily...until I board my first ever cruise on October 25th! But I will be back to finish out your review when I return.

And I must say that I am slightly jealous that you will be at sea for 28 days! Maybe one day....but right now it is costing us 1/2 the price of our 7 day cruise on the Freedom just to have childcare for the week! I understand that we are at very different stages in our lives, and I love my kiddos dearly, but I'm still a little jealous!

My kids, who have never cruised, are drooling over the pictures in your review! They are trying to plan a Magic cruise for next year, after our youngest turns 2. Carnival should hire you for marketing purposes! Great job!

Ok, thanks for the info! This will help in our planning.

And yes, with the hubby as well as 4 more little boys in the family, I foresee us needing "lots" of girl time in the coming years! ;)

Thank you so much the great, informative review! Hubby and I will be sailing Freedom in December. I have just a few questions about your day in St. Thomas....

What time did Sonny Liston Tours get you back to the boat? I know we are supposed to be in port until 7:00 (all aboard I'm assuming is 6:30), but we have 7pm reservations for the Now You See It show that night, so I'm thinking we will need to be back onboard by 5:30 in order to get ready for the show and dinner later that night. Can you request to be back at the ship by a certain time or are the tour times pre-determined?

I had originally planned to just do St Thomas on our own, sky ride to the top of mountain (did you see the sky ride? Is this the same Mountain Top where the Banana Daiquiris are?) and then taxi to Sapphire Beach. However, after seeing your pictures and tour description, I am now thinking about Sonny Liston.

We have already decided on Bernard's for St. Martin.

Thanks for your help!!! Glad you got to enjoy a trip with your daughter. I would love to do something similar in a few years with my (almost) 7 year old DD.

Thank you for the more correct info! I guess we will wait till closer to the cruise to see which capt we will likely have. It sounds as though both will be great.

Can anyone tell me something about Capt Tor Olsen on FOS? From reviewing this last it appears as though the captains rotate every 6 months or so? Please correct me if I'm wrong. (I am a newbie, so the possibility of being wrong is quite high!)

We are sailing in December, so it seems as though we will probably have Capt Tor. I had already read good things about Capt Rob Hempstead, but I don't remember hearing about Capt Tor. Just curious if anyone else has sailed with him.

Is there a traditional piano bar on Freedom with evening entertainment? If so, which one is it? Do they have entertainers that involve the crowd in a lively atmosphere? I would love to hear anyone's experiences and maybe a list of favorite performers.

I just found a Cafe du Monde that appears to be very close to the Port of New Orleans. Has anybody eaten there? Is it as good as the original and is it within walking distance of the port, or is there parking nearby? Also, it opens at 9am, if the cruise is scheduled arrive back to port at 8am, what is the average time for disembarking? Sorry for all the questions, first time cruiser trying to make a plan....