sherex

I wonder how/if this will affect the way we are checked in, since currently we're checked in the minute they start allowing people to check in. We are also usually boarded first..sometimes before Plat/Diamond/Wedding parties.

I am not sure how it will affect your family. I guess you will have to contact Carnival and ask. I saw them boarding those that needed special assistance first. However after that they just boarded as they checked in. So I am not sure what the check in times were if any.

I just returned from the Freedom out of Galveston. We arrived about 10:30am because we had FTTF.

They checked our boarding pass for a time before they let us drop off luggage or get out of the car.

We saw many people trying to get inside the check in area and it was not their scheduled time. They were turned away. I did not see them redirecting people to a waiting area, but I heard at some point they had a waiting area where you could wait until your time. (I did not see this for myself).

I saw some very upset and confused people that seemed to either be completely clueless about this becuase they did not read emails or confused because they always ignored email and now it was being enforced.

The biggest problem I saw is they were standing in the way of people who had arrived on time or had priority boarding. They had to be asked to move because they were just standing there not knowing what to do and then they were walking against flow of traffic.

I cannot speak for later times in the day.

Sheryl

22 days for me!

One night in the star lounge- I believe it was Monday night they had a band Kronos. They did an Eric Clapton Tribute for about 1 hour.

We went and heard Kronos a couple of times. They play some 70's and 80's music in the star lounge and it was great for dancing.

Then each night in the Schooner Bar there was a man who played piano and he did a Elton John Tribute playing his most popular songs, He also did a. Billy Joel, Neil Diamond and Jimmy Buffet. We heard the Elton John and Neil Diamond nights and we thought they were enjoyable.

Get there early in the Schooner bar because the place is packed. There are at 9:30 or 10:00.

Enjoy your trip!

I received so much great information here that was so helpful during our recent cruise that I wanted to give a short review of our cruise.

This was our first cruise with Royal Caribbean. It was myself, DH, DD, and my son-in-law.

We originally booked an inside room on deck 10. During a sale we grabbed the balcony rooms, plus the "free" Premium Drink package, and $200.00 OBC.

We flew in the day before to Orlando, rented a car with Avis, and stayed at the Hilton on Cocoa Beach. I got the room on Hotwire and it was one room for about $100.00. We thought it was a good hotel, a restful room, and the view of the beach was great. It did not have a balcony.

We returned the rental to Avis about 10:00 am. We were on the shuttle by 10:30 and arrived to just a small, very quick moving line. We were in boarding group 19 but waited about 15 minutes to be called. We were onboard poolside by 12:30. We did talk to some people onboard that had arrived to the terminal closer to 1:00 and they said the lines were long and slow moving by that time.

We loved our balcony rooms 7396 and 7398. We had Siri has our stateroom attendant. We requested the balcony divider be opened and it was opened before sail away. The room was clean and had plenty of storages for two travelers. The bathroom had plenty of space. I did bring some magnets and some boca like clips that were handy.

We thought the food was very good (we love good food, but are not generally complainers). We ate most of our meals in the main dining room and had our time dining for dinner. We did not wait more than a minute or two to be seated. Jake and Maria were our servers and they were very friendly and attentive. So much so that we did not want to miss eating in the dining room.

We ate dinner at Giovanni's one night and it was the best meal of the trip. The tenderloin is delicious and so tender. The appetizers were all very delicious. We had lunch at Sabor on the last day and it was good as well. The chips and salsa were so yummy and fresh. We did not eat at Johnny Rockets (too much to eat for free). We loved the turkey sandwiches at Cafe Promendae and thought the Primavera Pizza was okay as well. We did have a cupcake from cupcake cupboard and it was okay. Ice cream was good from Ben and Jerry's.

We loved having the drink package. We tipped dollars around the pool and soon had someone coming to check on our drink needs. He would also bring us water every so often without us asking -just to keep us hydrated. The pool bars are not as good as making drinks as the inside bars. My hubby loved the pub and spent a lot of time there in the evenings having a beer and chatting with folks. Before dinner we would go to the R Bar which was our favorite. Heidi in the R bar makes some fantastic drinks. Try the Red Velvet Or a Chocolate Martini. She was so friendly and made us feel welcome. We had plenty of water and soft drinks as well. We also liked Boleros Bar and the Olive and Twist.

We watched the flow rider and rocking climbing wall, but did not participate. We did pay for the gold simulator for 1 hour for $25.00. We loved the variety of music onboard. We loved dancing in the star lounge, watching People sing in the On Air club, saw the comedian one night, the ice show, and various tribute bands featuring Eric Clapton, Elton John, Jimmy Buffet. The entertainment is plentiful and something for everyone.

It was hard to find a chair by the pool on sea days, but with persistence we did find them.

We took a ship excursion on Saint Thomas over to St John. The excursion was disappointing because it wasn't exactly as advertised. However we made the best of it and did get to see and swim in Trunk Bay. It was so beautiful.

We took an independent excursion we found on Trip Advisor in Saint Maarten. It was from Captain Bob. It was one of the best trips we have ever had. We saw sea turtles, fish and had great snorkling. We stooped at a restaurant on Grand Case for lunch. Saw a lot of beautiful beaches and did some swimming. The day ended with a trip to Maho beach and sitting in the boat watching a huge plane come in.

The cruise was fun and went so quickly. Before long it was the end of the cruise.

Disembarking was good. We were number 22 and off the boat around 9:15. We caught the shuttle to Avis with only a 10 minute wait. We only had two in front of us at the Avis counter and had lunch at a great mom and pop place called Sweet Mama's just about 8 miles from the airport. We had a 2:30 flight and were there in plenty of time.

Our family loved the ship and thought it was clean and very impressive. Service was good.

Happy Cruising!

65 for me.

I will be following as well. I will be sailing on Freedom on May 31st.

Looking forward to hearing all about it.

Or if that offer was specifically for the premium maybe you would have to pay the full difference for both packages. I would just call and ask.

You would probably be refunded the amount you paid for those packages and then you would purchase the new one at BOGOHO.

That is my guess.

Did you ever call and have them explain their math? I was just curious. I love Royal Caribbean Math.

This might help you figure out the math....

We got the promotion with the "free" premium drink package for two. On our invoice it show the package charge as 343.00 and then it is subtracted out. This amount is the amount of the package without the tips included.

Thanks for all the replays. I have some onboard credit. So I will book onboard and not worry about it.

Thanks for all the replays. I have some onboard credit. So I will book onboard and not worry about it.

Thanks so much.

I am getting very excited about our upcoming cruise on May 31st on Freedom. We are traveling with our daughter and son-in-law. This is our first cruise on Royal. We have decided on our excursions and now booking our specialty restaurants.

I cannot see Sabor on my choices for booking. Do you think this means it is full? Or not available yet for booking?

We have already booked Giovanni's. We really want to try Sabor too.

Thanks!

Sheryl