Freedom of the seas....the ultimate Aussie thread

[australiankaren]

hey

since we all love FOS [freedom of the Seas] so much..or Royal Caribbean in general...then lets make a list of tips/ hints and ideas for those of us multi time cruisers or for the newbies....

my #1 tip...if you can afford it, go the Junior suite..its like a suite, only isnt. Spacious, great locations, extra large balcony, walk in wardrobe [fit our 4 suitcases with room to spare].

#2...pay for laundry..its $25 for a bag of laundry [they dont have self serve laundries on RCCL].....but for the $$$ they wash and fold & even iron your clothes....so money well spent. Put all your stuff in the bag provided and it will be returned the next day.

#3....buy unlimited drinks. On RCCL, you dont get soft drinks included [except at meals], so buy the drink package if like me you live on diet coke...just flash you room card at the bar tenders anywhere on the ship, and they will give you your drink.

#4....if you are travelling as a couple, try and get a large table at dinner..of 8 or 10, the variety helps over the 7 nights.

thats for starters......so wade on in, the water is clear and cool

 

[mickeyd78]

We love Royal Caribbean. We have sailed three times on Explorer of the Seas and twice on Radiance.

We are booked on Freedom next October for a back to back Western / Eastern - then we head to WDW for 10 nights.

Looking forward to hearing any tips for our first cruise on Freedom.

 

[alicia1506]

i know this isn't strictly on topic, but we are considering our first ever cruise, and wanted to try the 7 night western carribean cruise with disney on the new fantasy ship in nov 2012. any thoughts on cruising with disney, tips etc ??

it will just be the 2 of us and looking for things to do (aside from the port adventures where we'll be exploring mayan ruins and so on and so forth) whilst at sea etc that are fun/interesting for adults without kids along.

i've read your recent trip report karen & got some good ideas from that, but any other assistance would be hugely appreciated, especially from fellow locals

 

[Travel Mum]

Well you all know that I loved Freedom of the Seas and I honestly believe it has ruined all other ships for me! I had sailed on 4 others prior to this, inspected lot of others, done two more inspections since our cruise, and none compare to FOS - it was perfect for my family. I'll try to think of hints so, in no particular order:

A tip for other families of five (or larger families) who must either take two cabins or pay for the more expensive family staterooms. On Deck 9 of Freedom, on both port and starboard side of the ship, the most forward balcony cabins interconnect with a Deluxe Oceanview. We had these cabins on the port side and it means that the parents can have a balcony and interconnect with the kids cabin yet not have to pay for a balcony for the children! Both cabins can take up to 4 so you this would actually work for a family of up to 8!! These cabins book out very early so get in fast!

Also, on each side of the other end of the ship, they actually have a balcony connecting with an inside! However, each cabin only takes 2 so it's only good for a family of 4 which was no good for us. However would be great for families that wanted two cabins.

The prepaid soda package was fantastic value for us and so easy to use. We all got it and just showed our sea pass card to the waiters to get a soda - it was so easy. We also got 5 very strudy drink containers which are great RCCL souvenirs and were also handy to use on deck at the refill machines.

Do go online and pre-book all your shows as it's easy and free to do. It means that you definitely get a seat if you want to go to the show but, if you don't feel like going, it's no worry as they just open the theatre to those without bookings 15 minutes prior to the show and they take up the space.

The Dreamworks parade is fun to watch but you don't need to stay up until 11 pm on the first night to watch it as it's replayed at 5pm on the last night of the cruise which is a much better time for kids.

If you want to go to a movie on a sea day, get to the theatre early as it's very small and fills up very fast.

Zip-lining at Labadee is such fun and worth the money in our opinion. Do book that as soon as the bookings come online and try to go for one of the first few session as, later in the day, if the wind picks up, they will shut it down.

I"ll let you know if I think of anything else

 

[alicia1506]

i see karen has started another thread for disney cruises so i will take myself off over there

but now i'm kinda thinking of researching a Freedom of the seas cruise after seeing how awesome it can be

 

[australiankaren]

Hey

Great things to do after dinner.....

Putt putt golf...no one is around
Basket ball...all the kids are doing other things
Gym...really empty except on sea days
Johnny rockets....desserts , although you pay
Room service...desserts or midnight snacks while watching a movie
Adult pool...always good for a laugh in the spas, and they have music most nights
Promenarde....fantastic choc chip cookies, the coffee is horrible ...seattle's finest my bum
Ben and jerry's...dessert...can you see a theme here??
Walk around deck, the boat is huge and you will burn off the calories.

There is so much to see and do......you won't have a chance to do it all.

Can't wait till sept...

 

[battymum]

We had interconnecting balcony cabins - and while it was great to wake up with natural light - we never sat out on the balcony!! Although we did put swimwear out there to dry, make sure to secure them to a chair and put well back from the railing. I had plans for ordering room service breakfast each day and eating out there - it never happened!

If I were to go again I would probably book a balcony again - but definitely not for my children, I dont think they even saw daylight in the cabin. Would definitely look for those rooms Travel mum had.

For us, the balcony rooms were perfectly adequate - we had 10 bags between us, and managed to hide them under the bed and in the closet - I dont know what benefit there is to a junior suite - I think the bathrooms might be a little bigger - the showers are very tight in standard cabins!!!!

We paid for the soda cards for the kids - (this was something that irked me - all the food you could eat, but not a soda????) the kids didnt want to carry the cups around all day, so just used the sticker on their seapass to get drinks - I was naughty and used one of their cups on a sea day -

As we were limited with luggage space after our shopping in Orlando - we left the soda cups in the cabin -

Oh, and the biggest tip - join cruise critic, the disboard for cruisers - we had a very active "roll call" for our sailing - we met a lovely couple from Iowa who asked to join our table for dinner, they were a fair bit younger than us, but wanted to meet the Aussie family - they had a three year old and twin babies which was our situation 13/14 years ago - This scared DH a little, as he is a bit "stand offish" and the message they sent seemed quite desperate, but we agreed - but they only turned up on the formal nights (maybe it was us!), they were a liitle intimidated by the main dining room- which to be honest annoyed me a little - as the other nights we were on our own - we would have liked to meet more people.

 

[australiankaren]

Hey
Yeah I agree re the soda package....and we only bought one of the mugs home, but since we saved a bucket $$$ compared to disney price, the extra cost wasn't a factor in the end.

Junior suites are about a third larger then normal staterooms, bigger bathroom, bigger wardrobe, lounge and separate lounge chair, room to swing a monkey, bigger balcony....all important when you like to spend a bit of time in your room as I do.......we don't surface til lunchtime most days....so the extra $$$ is worth it just for the space......and you get table assigned according to room cat/location...so we were tabled with others who are similar to us..ie no large families with small kids, just middle aged empty nesters

Cruse critic is great for cabin reviews and looking at the excursions....the only thing we found with fos, the excursions were not as well organized as the disney ones, but priced the same.....

 

[Travel Mum]

As we were limited with luggage space after our shopping in Orlando - we left the soda cups in the cabin -

Our cups came home in our suitcases each tightly stuffed with socks, undies and togs!!

And yes, re Cruise Critic, I in the 18 months leading up to our trip, I "lived" on that website almost as much as I "lived" on the Aussie thread here