First RCI cruise... sailed on FOS

[festus105]

This was my first time on RCI. Previously I had cruised on Princess and Disney.

We sailed on the FOS 9/19 W. Caribbean trip.

Embarkation:

• We arrived at the port by 11am - very easy check-in and very little wait. I believe we were in the second group that boarded. We waited maybe 15 or 20 minutes to board. I will say I prefer Disney's method of giving you a boarding group number rather than having to sit in the rows of chairs that RCI uses. It's a little tight when you have your carry on luggage with you. Disney's terminal is more like a large lounge area. It allows you to spread out and relax a little more.
  

General Impressions of FOS:

· Beautiful ship. Loved the Promenade. There were many times we just found a table outside Sorrento’s and people watched. Being active I really enjoyed the Flowrider and Ice Rink. I appreciated the “adults only” and “advanced sessions” in the schedule for the Flowrider. My only complaint is was allowing teens on Flowrider during the early morning sessions when they have their own “youth” only session scheduled immediately after. I also like the advanced skating session for the ice rink. Both times it was offered there were only three of us on the ice.

· CD Graham Seymour is truly hilarious.

· The ship never really felt crowded. There always seemed to be chairs available near the pool.

Shows:

• I thought all of them were top notch, including the ice show. They don't compare to Disney's Broadway style productions but they are very good.
  

Food: Overall hit or miss.

• WJ - We avoided the WJ after the first day. It wasn't bad but it wasn't that good either. I really missed all the fresh cut fruit that Disney continually has in their WJ equivalent. We either ordered room service for breakfast or went to the main dining room. Many times we'd grab something from Sorrento’s around lunch or in the afternoon.
  
• Main Dinning Room - Food in the main dinning room was very good. However, their steaks could be better. I had both their NY Strip and Black Angus steaks and both were very average. The Prime Rib however was wonderful. I guess they save all their good beef for Chops.
  
• Portofino’s - We did dine at Portofinos one evening. The food was very good. Unfortunately the service was lacking. Our servers were just not very attentive. Maybe they were understaffed that night but two times my water glass ran dry (I was only drinking water) and it was over 15 minutes after both my wife and I had finished our main course before the waiter cleared our places and came with the desert menu. Maybe I'm just being picky here but I expected a little more since I was paying a cover charge. Our main dining room waiters were much better and much more attentive.
  
• Johnny Rockets - We also ate at JR one day. It was very good. My only complaint is that milk shakes should be included on the menu rather than at an additional charge. I can understand sodas being an extra charge but we're already paying a cover charge - include the shakes. Also the “entertainment” should really be cut out… the staff are not too enthusiastic to be singing and dancing.
  
• Overall the food on the FOS was good but Disney is all around better.
  

Ports of Call:

• Labadee - We didn't do any excursions on Labadee. It was a nice island. The beaches were beautiful and there were several to choose from. The zip line is something to see. We did feel somewhat hassled in the market area. I got tired of being invited to look at their wares. But hey... they're trying to make a living. Lunch on the island was good. If you go to the old bell tower on the island you’ll get a great view of the FOS. Great photo op.
  
• Ocho Rios - We had booked an excursion via Peat Taylor to the Blue Hole and tubing on the White River. The terminal at Ocho Rios could best be described organized chaos. There were a lot of people, tour groups and excursions leaving at the same time. We had no problems finding Peat Taylor as there were a number of people who had a trip booked with him. However everybody else was going to Dunn's River Falls. We were the only people going to the Blue Hole - thus we had a private tour. It was great! I will say we were hustled more in Ocho Rios than on any other port of call. I was offered anything and everything - mostly illegal stuff. However a polite "no" usually moved the seller along.
  
• Grand Cayman – We simply did a little shopping. GC is definitely more upscale than the other places we stopped. Very clean. I was never hassled or felt that the store owners were very pushy. I also liked the small “straw market” near Harley Davidson. Local crafts and wares available here.
  
• Cozumel – Fun and interesting stop. I liked shops and stores at the port terminal. It felt more like a flea market to me – which I enjoy. Everyone wanted you to visit “their” store but they were always gracious when you weren’t interested. You do have to take a taxi to where many of the upscale stores are. A taxi ride is no more than $7 for four people. We also scheduled an excursion in Cozumel through Wild Tours. We did the xtrail excursion to Jade Caverns. Xrail’s are like off-road dune buggies. RCI uses Wild Tours for the exact same excursion, however booking it yourself saves $. The excursion was very organized and a lot of fun! Again since we had booked it ourselves there was only one other couple joining us. It was like another private tour! Beware you will get dirty on this excursion. We were covered from head to toe in mud – but it was a blast. There is an outside open shower to wash off and a bathroom to change clothes in. You can also rent a large locker on site for $2 to store your valuables or bag. Our guide was very knowledgeable of the Myan culture and took us to several places along the way to the cavern.
  

Disembarkation:

• Unfortunately this turned into a mess. For some reason their system was down and so the Express Departures which were to begin at 6am didn’t start until 7:15am… when assigned groups were to begin to depart. This created a logjam and delays. Since we had an early departure number when I noticed people leaving the ship we simply got in line. Thank goodness that we did or it would’ve been awhile – the line became long in a hurry. Once we did get off the ship we had no problem with Customs. I did notice that it always took longer for the non-US citizens to get through. One tidbit… if you get a late number for disembarkation just go down to Guest Services… they had a box of additional luggage tags. I simply swapped my “7” tags for “3’s”. Of course it was only going to potentially save me 15 – 30 minutes but in this case it probably saved me a lot more time than that with the logjam and delays.
  

- Ken

[AF-1]

Nice review; glad u had a good time. Freedom is a big ship. I will be on her next year; Thanks for posting.

[LBumb]

thanks for posting. i am always amazed at how fast people want on and off their cruises. we take our time and don't mind being some of the last off the ship.

[roxylove3]

Hi! I am new here for the most part and was wondering if you could give me information about how to book the dune buggie excursion in Cozumel? We are going on LOS in December and were planning on signing up for this excursion. I would greatly appreciate any information you could give m on how my husband and I could sign up directly with the company? Also, did you do it prior to cruising? Thanks!

[Magellan321]

Thanks for the review.

 

Did you notice if room service offers a multi-can soda package like Princess. On Princess we are able to purchase a 6 cans for the price of 5 for our room thru room service.

[Tyler80]

I was on the same cruise as Ken and I can concur that the cruise was excellent as was the shows, the ship and the food. I'm really not a picky eater. In regards to the soda can package from room service, according to my knowledge, there is no such package. There is a sode package which you can purchase on the first day and get unlimited sode refills anywhere onboard. But nothing with room service that I know of.

[funfamilyof6]

WJ - We avoided the WJ after the first day. It wasn't bad but it wasn't that good either. I really missed all the fresh cut fruit that Disney continually has in their WJ equivalent. We either ordered room service for breakfast or went to the main dining room. Many times we'd grab something from Sorrento’s around lunch or in the afternoon.

 

- Ken

 

Nice review.

 

:confused: We have been on Disney twice and Royal Caribbean only once. Our experience was completely different. My whole family preferred the food on Royal Caribbean a lot more. Do they no longer offer fresh fruit on RCCL??? This would be a big disappointment for the fruit lovers in our family on our next planned cruise on the Freedom.