Freedom of the seas 23rd july from barcelona

Hi. First time going on a cruise .4 of us myself my wife and 2 kids 17 and 10.. would be grateful for any advice or on shore trips to take . Going for a week from barcelona france and italy .My son really wants to visit Rome so that is a priority lol.. adults have drinks package but have to arrange for the kids still .. my 10 year old girl is a plain picky eater so hoping she will like the food ....... Do i need to book the evening shows as soon as possible like on day of arrival or what way does that work.. sorry if questions sound stupid but new to all this

Welcome to Cruise Critic!

You may want to post your questions on the RCI board for better responses here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=83

Or the Eurupean ports of call board to learn of activities in the different ports of call here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=19

And join the Roll Call for your ship's sailing date to talk with fellow passengers here:

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And if you have not already done so, take a look at the RCI website for Freedom of the Seas. Sample menus are available to look at for the various dining venues on the bottom of the page under "The Royal Experience" here:

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/ships/class/ship/home.do?shipClassCode=FR&shipCode=FR&br=R

You do not pre-reserve your shows on Freedom as the theater is of large capacity and the shows are timed as an early and late show matched to the standard early and late dinner seatings. You just show up about 15 minutes ahead of the shows to choose your seats.

Freedom is a great ship. Enjoy your first cruise - it likely will not be your last!

A lot of shore trips you can do yourself and save a fortune. The train to the centre of Rome is a few minutes from the port and costs around ten euro return. A guide book will take you round, the centre is all walkable.

You don't need to book any shows you just turn up. There is so much food variety it is impossible not to find something to love.

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Rome is at least an hour from the port. We found it was worth it to get a private car to maximize our time in Rome to see as much as possible. Once you get to Rome, it's easy to get around on your own and have the driver pick you up to take you back to the ship. You might be able to get others on the same cruise to share a van with you to get there. If you have the money, for this port, it's well worth having the private car. As for picky eaters, they have a kid's menu and they can eat from both the adult and kids menu.The kid's menu in the Main Dining Room has things like chicken tenders, pizza, mac 'n cheese, grilled cheese, etc. The Windjammer buffet always has fries, burgers and hot dogs. Barcelona is an EASY DIY port, probably one of the easiest of anywhere. I don't know where in France your port is, but we loved France. I will say that on a Med cruise, you see very little of the ship.You have to be up very early for the excursions and we were so exhausted by the end of the day. Make sure you get up in time to have a good breakfast before you head out. The Ice show is the only one that they give tickets for and you get them once onboard. They'll post when and where they are giving them. It's a great show for the whole family.