meyer_22

Can someone point me in the direction, or post a list, of the perks included in Suites for Freedom Class boats? Either a grand suite or owners suite? Specifically we will be sailing on Freedom. I cant seem to find a current listing, and I know there have been some changes in the past year but Im not sure if those apply to all boats or just Oasis and Quantum class. Thanks Much in advance!

We were on Harmony 4/15-4/22. The guitar player was in the pub most if not all nights, and was excellent.

Not 100% sure it's the same as Oasis/Allure, but those limits are:

 

Thanks much! Appreciate the detailed info!

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I will be sailing on HOS in April of this year with my wife and 2 girls (11 and 9). They are both really interested in the zip line. Does anyone happen to know what the height/weight requirements are for it?

Appreciate the help!

The Deluxe Beverage Package is now $38 from $44/person/day for our 2 April and 9 April 2017 Jewel Cruise.

Gotcha, thanks for the info. Im guessing they are not going to reduce the price for Harmony. Oh well...

Thank you Ken. The Deluxe Beverage Package is also reduced to $38 from $44/person/day for our April' date=' 2017 cruise...[/quote']

 

Which ship are you on? I just logged into cruise planner for our 4/15/17 cruise on Harmony and the Deluxe is still showing $48 per day...

Depends entirely on your preferences and what you are looking for. Each person would be different. I.E -

1.) Do you want to be close to the Royal Promenade and dining rooms? then get a low floor.

2.) Are you prone to motion sickness? Then go with a low floor.

3.) If you want to be close to the pool decks, sports courts, gym or spa, then go with a high deck.

4.) Are you getting a balcony or inside room, this could affect what deck you want to be on.

Bottom line, there are a ton of factors. My wife and I just cruised on Indy 2 weeks ago. We like balconies, and those with a higher up view. We also prefer to be close to the pool deck and gym and have no issue with motion sickness or stairs. So we chose Deck 9 forward. But that is based on our preferences. IMO there is no right or wrong answer, totally depends on what you want...

Cruise Director & Staff - Ricky was a riot, hosted many events, and it was great to see him paired with Activities Manager Katie Turner. They're almost as good together as she was with Richard Spacey. We saw both Ricky and Katie around the ship and they were happy to visit and joke with passengers. Another plus was Katie hosted our CC Meet & Mingle. She did a great job and gave out better prizes than are the norm. Wine, polo shirts, soda packages. DH won a soda package and I won a bottle of wine so we went away happy :)

Now I wish we had done the CC Meet and Mingle. We skipped it as I was not active on the boards, and we hate to give up pool/relaxation time (especially when the handouts are so bad). Also the last one I did was with a Jr staff member that wasn't particularly engaging. IMO Katie was even better than Ricky and I have no doubt the Meet & Mingle was a blast, and good prizes? Who knew?

We just completed another fabulous Royal Caribbean cruise. We'd like to share our thoughts and experience with you in hopes it will be of benefit to those with upcoming sailings....

My wife and I, as well as 2 friends were on this same sailing. We also had one of the more enjoyable cruises we have had in a long time! Great review, you hit almost everything I would have said about this cruise!

Service / Staff: Simply awesome, ship-wide! We encountered helpful, friendly, smiling faces and attitudes all week (only one exception, a bar tender in the Windjammer). Dining staff was perfection – Joseph (from the Philipines) and Pan Pan (from China) were our servers in Macbeth dining room, table 409. Szilamer Panczel (from Romania) was the most present, engaging Head Waiter we've ever had – outstanding. He spent a lot of time at our table talking with us. Buffet staff was also very good – particularly Artur Ivanchenko (from Ukraine) and Chao Sun (from China). Chao memorized the requests of our group on the first day and subsequently had drinks and other items ready for them, at the right time, when they arrived for breakfast. That was really nice! Can't really comment about Ricky Matthews (interim CD), only because we didn't make it to many of the things he hosted, but we enjoyed him the few times we did see him. Overall, the consensus within my entire group is that this was the best service (wait-staff in particular) that we've ever had in all of our cruises. Another positive note was the way they triaged the Guest Services line. Any time the line got a bit long, staff memebers came out to assist those in line with simple needs, which made the line progress much better.

We also were thoroughly impressed with the service on IOS. Some of the best we have had, especially the MDR staff and pool bartenders in both the main pool and solarium. Definitely not an unhappy ship or crew!

A side note: In the Schooner Bar, we witnessed a strange situation wherein a female passenger displayed very poor taste, completely monopolized the evening dancing around, singing and making a spectacle of herself. At first, it was all in fun and silly... but it quickly became painfully annoying. It was a difficult situation for Mr. Curtis to deal with, as she just wouldn't take a hint (nor clear, direct instruction to settle down), and instead was careless with his equipment and exercised no regard for anyone around her who was there to enjoy the professional entertainment. Honestly, it was too much! Everyone is entitled to enjoy their vacation and have a good time, we don't begrudge that, but NOT at the expense of others. Mr. Curtis made several attempts to get other passengers up and into the spot light, but she was having none of it, insisting on sharing their moment, and eventually taking the attention back for herself. It was awkward and uncomfortable anytime she was around, which was 3 or 4 nights. And not just for a few minutes each time, but nearly the entire length of his set. I only mention it because we wish management would have stepped in after the train wreck that was the first night, but best we could tell, it went unaddressed all week. That was a little disappointing.

Wow - you described it perfectly. Truth to be told she was a trainwreck. We hoped it would just be the first night and that maybe she had too much to drink, but alas she was there most nights and taking away from an otherwise great piano player...

In Conclusion: The seas were the most calm we've ever experienced, and this itinerary took us past lots of islands along the way, which was really enjoyable. I polled my group – they said our first cruise will always hold a special place for them as “the best”. However, all agreed that this Indy sailing is a very close second. But personally speaking, this cruise was probably my favorite thus far. The crew and staff really made it a fantastic week, I can't praise them enough. Before our sailing, I had read plenty of comments about the crew not seeming happy... I found them to be the most personable we've ever had. I also read plenty about the food quality really slipping. Again, our experience was the opposite. And I read about negative effects the beverage packages are having on bar service, but again, this definitely was not the case for us. So set your concerns aside, the Independence delivers an outstanding cruise experience. We truly had a GREAT time!

My wife and I also agreed this was maybe our best RCCL cruise, and the couple we sailed with were cruise virgins and have already booked another. Just a great sailing!!!!

i found mid afternoon to be a less crowded time. morning had too many people pretending to work out and the evening had too many people socializing on machines and taking forever to do a set. i didn't do any classes but there are some no charge classes.

My wife and I were on Indy just two weeks ago. We had no troubles getting cardio machines during the AM, usually got to the gym around 9am. We also went mid afternoon a few times (1-3) and the gym was not too busy. Have a great trip!

My wife and I just did the Eastern sailing on 10/11/15. I thought the staff and the boat were top notch. though Ricky was not my favorite CD, he did have good energy. All in all we had a great cruise, no complaints. We cruised with a couple that had never cruised before and they are now hooked.

Its fun to see your pictures after just having been on Indy a few weeks ago. Keep up that great review.

My wife and I were on IOS just last week for a 7 day Eastern itinerary. Though I would imagine that most kids were in school at that time there were still plenty of children on the ship, many in the age groups you mentioned. You should find plenty of things to do and not feel out of place at all.

Just back from a week on IOS. We both carry wine on in our backpacks the day of departure and also have always (5 RCCL cruises now) put wine in our checked luggage. Those in checked luggage are in 'wine diapers' bought from Amazon and have never had an issue with either breakage or security/naughty room...

19 days - Independence of the Seas!!!!

Great post and review. Ill be on the IOS with my wife and another couple (cruise virgins) in 2.5 weeks (Oct 11th - 18th). Got a few questions for you...

Can you tell me how the music/musician was in the piano bar and also in the pub?

What was the Cruise Director like?

How were the lines at the main pool bars, were there bar servers visible and walking around?

Thanks in advance!

Don't wait. Give them a call, I think you should be successful in your request. Let us know what happens.

Called RCL this AM and was able to switch from a D1 on Deck 9, to a D2 on Deck 9 (about 5 cabins down the hall) for a total of $225 less. And they kept my $300 of OBC as well. :D

Will be calling them today to find out. Sanity check - I am correct in thinking that their is no size difference in Cabin or Balcony between a D1 and D2 right? My understanding is that the difference is really location and option for connecting rooms...

So I booked our next cruise while on board, a 7 night to Eastern Caribbean on IOS this Fall. I booked a balcony room. Due to not paying close attention during booking, likely due to the number of drinks before hand :D, they put my wife and I in a D1 Balcony. We got $300 of OBC with the booking.

I'd like to switch to a D2 Balcony as they are around $200 cheaper. Will I be able to call RCL and switch the room category and get the reduction in fare? If so will it change my OBC? We are well outside of final payment...

Perhaps someone on next week's cruise will do a live post!

Ill be on the 2/22-3/1 FOS cruise, but alas we will not be purchasing the unlimited internet and I'm sure I will be less than sober for posting a live report the likes of this thread!

Apparently the officers and crew knew we wouldn't make our stop at GC late last night due to the sea conditions. That explains why I was bouncing around in my bed all night!

 

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There are better reasons to bounce around on ones bed all night whilst on a cruise... ;)

Yes, but the sea is really bad. I'm trying to type on my iPhone and it's difficult. Waves are sideways.....

 

 

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Sideways waves are a good excuse to get 'Sideways' IMHO

:D

Robyn, are you saying you made it to Grand Cayman, but it's too rough to tender?

The pics sure make it look like tendering is not an option. With those skies and those waves I dont think many passengers would like the tenders too much!

 

I may or may not have smuggled this tiny bottle of Sangsters Rum Cream onboard today...... I may or may not be enjoying a glass right now. Let's go with I am [emoji1]

 

 

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My wife's absolute favorite Caribbean liquor. We are on FOS next week (4 days!) going the Eastern Route. We will definitely be looking for some of this in St. Thomas to both bring home and surreptitiously bring abroad. Great review and pics!

Question - Has the solarium been overly packed and hard to find loungers? Also are there enough servers moving around the pool deck, or do you have to go to the bar yourself?

Honestly this is a bad policy by RC. We live in a society where children do NOT exercise enough. We have an obesity problem in this country. Discouraging our children from exercise is completely wrong. I agree that a 13 year old should be supervised at all times by a parent, and a waiver should be signed, but denying the use of exercise equipment is just plain wrong.

A supervised child should be encouraged to exercise and shown how to use the equipment properly. A child that is behaving improperly, and their parent, can be asked to leave. But denying use outright is a mistake IMO.

We board FOS the day you disembark, 2/22, so I will be closely watching this thread. Thanks so much for this! BTW - That is a great bottle of champagne in that pic, very nice of the hotel indeed!