Royal Caribean Cruises- what can you share?

[joviroxx]

Go to http://www.cruisecritic.com. The main site has reviews & information about most (if not all) cruises. There's also a "Forum" like the Dis that's broken down by line, AND there's probably also a "Roll Call" thread dedicated to your sailing. You can also get information on various excursions (ship sponsored and "on own"), as well as pre & post cruise suggestions.

Another one recommending Cruisecritic.com/ It really is THE BEST site for any advice cruise related!

 

[dimimi]

Another one recommending Cruisecritic.com/ It really is THE BEST site for any advice cruise related!

Another vote for this. We have cruised on the Liberty and you will love it. Also, on cruisecritic you can "sign up" before the cruise to get to know a few people on your sailings. Sometimes they have a little get together. We also thought that was fun. You can also read reviews about the ship. Enjoy!

 

[ChitownFamily]

Wow so many awesome replies & insight!
I have signed up at CruiseCritic & found my ship's roll call. Looks like a great site. Thanks again for sharing it!

 

[IamErica]

IamErica ~ thx, loved your review and pix!

Thanks! 4nana! It makes me wish I was back everytime I watch a ship leave port.



Oooohhhh....Chitown Family. There is a super cool website where you can watch the ships leaving port. You can also do a webcam wave request The web cam will zoom on you (on the top, deck, on a balcony- if you have one and are port side- helipad...) and your friends can watch you leave. They also have pictures you could purchase if you like.
http://ftlauderdalewebcam.com/

This will take you to the webcam wave request.
http://portevergladeswebcam.com/wave.html

Here is another website that has EVERYTHING you want to know about the LOS.
http://beyondships.com/RCI-LOS-Profile.html

This one has pictures of some rooms. Not all do, they are updated by fprmer passengers.
http://www.cruiselinerooms.com/room_list.php?ship=27

 

[Straitlover]

I was wanting to do LOS on the Cozumel/Belize itinerary this year, but it leaves at the end of March to go to the Mediterranean until November (I need to book for May or September), so it's out. I think I'm going to end up on the Carnival Victory instead (Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay and Nassau).

Hope you have a great time! Be sure to post bakc how it went. maybe I cna make it on LOS next time.

 

[palmtreegirl]

My DH's work Christmas party was a 3 night cruise on Monarch of the Seas, we had such a great time!

The food was really good, loved the buffet. The only thing we didn't like was their pizza, it was really gross. I loved the burgers, so yummy.

The staff was top notch, great customer service and very friendly. The ship was really clean and ours was one of their oldest ships, its actually being sold in March.

We've been on Disney & Carnival before this and wouldn't hesitate to go on RCCL again, it was a wonderful cruise!! On our ratings scale RCCL comes in a close second to Disney with Carnival last.

 

[ChitownFamily]

Well you guys were RIGHT! Los was INCREIDBLE! We are back home, first morning back stateside. The cruise was awesome! Rci customer service was outstanding. We had 13 people traveling w us. We ended up having 2 balcony rooms & 2 interior. My family of 4 was in an interior. The balcony rooms were also a social gathering place. My aunt who has cruised w rci, said the Los was certainty a step up. Our stateroom attendant & dining service staff made us feel like royalty. My kids (7 & 5) loved the adventure ocean, kids club. They allowed my 5 yr old to have a trial period & moved him up to the 6-8 yr old explorers to be w his sister- one of the many tips I gleaned from cruise critic.
Labadee was breath taking- we enjoyed the beach for a couple of hours, walked the market, had the BBQ provided by rci. Then finished up w a 2 hour snorkel safari & of course rum punch
Falmouth was great but labadee was better for us. In Falmouth was did the dunnes water fall & inter tubing excursion. It was supposed to be 5 hours but it ended up being closer to 7 hours. As a matter of fact, the cruise was held for our group to return. (About 5 tours were late- this is a major reason rci warns about going w a private company) since our tour was purchased in board etc, jute tours was in communication w the ship. we didn't get to do any shopping as we were running to get on the ship, guess ill be ordering some blue mountain coffee online.
This was the rainy season in Falmouth-our day it rained off & on all day.

On Liberty of the Seas, I can say Don't Miss the Cupcake Cupboard. Awesome cupcakes!

I'm glad you mentioned this tip. We ate several cupcakes, my dd & I also took a cupcake decorating class! Really fun & a great memory.

Go to http://www.cruisecritic.com. The main site has reviews & information about most (if not all) cruises. There's also a "Forum" like the Dis that's broken down by line, AND there's probably also a "Roll Call" thread dedicated to your sailing. You can also get information on various excursions (ship sponsored and "on own"), as well as pre & post cruise suggestions.

Cruise critic was amazing! Definitely worth it's weight in gold as another poster shared. My ships roll call was only 5-7 other people- very small & slow thread. We never met up.

My son and I did this same cruise last Feb. It was SOOOOO MUCH FUN!!!
In Labadee we did the Dragon tail coaster unlimited rides. You only have to pay for the "car" that two people can ride in. So basically we bought one unlimited wrist band for the two of us.
We also went on the Zipline and it was AWESOME!!!
The view alone was worth the price. It took about 2 minutes to go down and not scary at all. You also go on a shorter zipline as a test run before the main one.
We relaxed on the beach and did a little shopping. The shopping 'alley' is a bit much as they hound you CONSTANTLY however the little market building is great. No pressure and very neat stuff. The ship is docked right there so you can go off and on the ship several times if needed.

In Falmouth, it is just a shopping port. Anything worth doing is about an hour bus ride away. We chose the Dolphin Experience and Dunn's River Falls activity.
THe bus ride is fun and our tour guide was a hoot! We stopped at Dunn's river first where you climb a waterfall. Very cool! Then we drove a quick bit to the Dolphin cove where we got to have some time with the dolphins. There were about 8 of us in the pool with "Betty" for about half hour. She pulled us on her belly, swam around us, did some tricks and then we got to hug and get a kiss from her for the camera. There are a few different levels of the Dolphin time, so the more you need to look into that depending on how much you would want.
By the time you are done and back, the ship is almost ready to be boarded.

The ship is amazing and there is so much to do!
I can post a link to my trip blog and also to the Cruise Critics boards. You can learn as much about cruising on that site as you can about Disney on this site.

Here is the link to our trip
http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1591461

Here is a link to the RCC boards http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=83

Have FUN!!

I loved reading about your trip, great pictures! Thanks for sharing!

2 years ago we took back to back cruises, one week on the Disney Magic and then one on the RCI Liberty--if you are interested in our notes on how we felt the two compared, here is the thread i wrote after that:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2803659

I'll have to bookmark for future reading, we loved the cruise & can't imagine better customer service but then again disney has written the book on customer service thanks for sharing.

DH and I sailed on the Freedom, Liberty's sister. Wonderful ship and easy to navigate.

The Flowrider is awesome!!!! BUT, it can easily "displace" your swimsuit!!! I suggest either a one piece suit, or wear a shirt over your swim top.

If you choose to ice skate, you will need long pants and socks.

Johnny Rockets was a lot of fun!!! The servers really got into the music and dancing!!!

Have a great cruise!!!!

The ice skating tip was spot on. Thank you for me mentioning it. Ice skating was in the top 3 for my dd.

We took our first cruise last year on Radiance of the Seas. We all fell in love with the ship. RCCL really takes care of their guests. I'd go again in a New York second!

Yes they have nailed down customer service, even the small details were thought out & well organized.

Best advice, read the newsletter every night carefully so you don't miss anything you want to do the next day.

I did laugh at the OP's comment "disney cruise as a kid"........as Disney is the newest cruise line out there ....only existing for just over 14 years..........made me feel old . My first cruise was 33 years ago.

Labadee was wonderful the first time we went there, the second time, they starting allowing local merchants to sell stuff on the island. Kind of ruined the tropical paradise for us.

Totally agree on reading the cruise compass, plus we enjoyed watching Chris & rich (cruise directors) morning tv show!

Off topic a bit- so the comment about Disney being the newest cruise line- We went on the cruise around 1985-1986, I was 8. When I mentioned your comment -it sent my mom on a scavenger hunt. Because we have pictures of Mickey & other main characters on the cruise ship w us. So this is what we found- we had taken a premier cruise (the big red boat) in one of its first runs w Disney as a partner. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premier_Cruise_Line



Eta: I'll have to share some pictures but my computer is down right now, I'm on my iPad & it's killing me to not be able to download my pictures.

 

[christineann]

Can't wait to see your photos! My son and his wife did the Belize/Cozumel itinerary in early March and had a great time. Their honeymoon in 2011 was on the Freedom.