Ahmne

I've read that you can bring your children to a meeting up spot outside the dining room at the appropriate time even if you have my time dining. You would just have to make sure they've eaten first.

Thanks everyone. We had considered Cosol but was afraid of the long bus ride. Plus the excursion through the ship was cheaper. I may bite the bullet and go with Spencer Ambrose tours for the boat ride.

On 2/14/2019 at 9:08 AM, rbschultz said:

If they want to capture the millenials they need a 90s night. 90s pop and hip-hop would bring out all the millenials (or at least would bring me out). 0 interest in 70s night and minimal interest in 80s night.

Me too. I would even be comfortable with my kids at a family dance party at 8 with this music 

My first RC cruise is coming up and the CD seems to be less important than on Carnival. We had Rev. E on the Carnival Magic last cruise and he definitely had an impact on how much more fun the experience was vs. our cruise on Celebrity. 

If you plan to be on the ship most of the time I wouldn't upgrade to a suite or get the key. Arrive early on embarkation and you will be able to take advantage of activities on the ship when others are out doing excursions. You can prebook your shows on Harmony. I'd put the money towards a drink package.

Thanks! I had not thought about doing it on our own which is strange since it's what we have planned in every other port!

Was the can driver knowledgeable about the island and willing to do a few other stops? Did you stop for lunch somewhere?

I've heard seeing the Pitons from the water is great but not sure if it's worth the premium

Has anyone done the Volcanic Mud Experience tour offered by RC in St. Lucia? We are debating on doing this as it's cheaper than some of the popular private tour companies. I understand you do less but that may not be a bad thing with younger kids.

Any reviews?

We sail on the Freedom March 31st and got an offer today. We have a balcony room currently. 

Here are the prices in the email (in CAD)

Panoramic $200pp

Jr. suite $270

Grand suite $465

Owners suite $600

Villa Suite $900

Royal suite $1330

When I clicked through the minimum bids were slightly different for the larger suites

Owners suite $595

Villa Suite $925

Royal suite $1315

We are a family of four. I put a minimum bid on the grand suite and a slightly higher bid on the Jr suite. The Jr suites only have guarantee rooms left for the sailing.

We will see if we can a get a cabin with more space to spread out.

Thanks for this great review and the cruise compass! We are on this itenerary with kids in March. 

Does the Freedom have banquet seating in the MDR or are all the tables with pull out chairs?

4 and under are free as per trip advisor

Sigh. Ok. My two favourite cruise activities.

This will be my first time on Royal. I hope the other unique experiences available (skating, flow rider) are enough of a counterbalance 

Does the freedom of the seas have brunch on sea days in the main dining room?

Is there afternoon tea offered? If so, when and where does it usually happen?

1 hour ago, frank808 said:

The 2 device surf and stream package for the week should be about $160 for the week or about $23 a day.  You can buy the 2 device and share the code with another family member.  You can only have 2 devices logged on at once.  Internet on royal should not cost $400 for 7 nights for 2 devices. 

Thanks! I clicked both me and Dh’s names thinking this related to the two people who would have devices but it was actually charging me for two packages. 

This program has also made me more willing to try a Royal up bid if I get an email! For about the same price,I might as well get the bigger room to go along with the suite perks.

This thread has me back and forth on this. Like others I think faster to the fun on carnival is worth it at that price. 

Our upcoming sailing is on the freedom. For our family of 4 with one under 6 I’m not sure if this is worth the $550 cdn for the week. We were thinking of getting vroom for two devices and considering seeing if we can make do with one since it’s so pricey. Say we did go with two, the difference is about $165 for the week vs the key with three devices. We would probably be okay with braving the windjammer when we get onboard  but if we did lunch at Chops it’s $28 each (why isn’t there kids pricing?!) it leaves an outstanding $53 or so for shorter line ups at the flowrider and not having to worry about good seats for the shows...

I have it in my shopping cart but not sure if I will check out.

Are Indian and Mexican food available in the Windjammer regularly?

These are two of our favourites.

This thread has been so helpful. We have sailed Celebrity and Carnival and looking to book Freedom of the Seas in the spring. We loved the food options on Carnival. As I read reviews I’m worried about the food and being pestered to buy stuff. I’ve been waning to try Royal and the ports are great so we will probably do it.

Any thoughts on how the kids programs compare?

A magician came to perform…

And we learned how to make chocolate melting cake.

Kitchen

Our waiters Ender and Claudiu also stopped by to see us in the kitchen.

After dinner we went to pixels to find our photos- not much luck.

We got the kids. Thankfully DD was sleeping.

We got ready for bed and watched the Raptors game (we still lost in OT) It was a busy and long day!

Bisque Our Way- Two tomatoes, three basil, crisped Brioche, Garlic Chip

Sea Bass with Chorizo Crust, Fried Pop Corn Pudding, Lemon Macaroon and lobster foam

Wagyu with Bone Marrow Soufflé, Scallion & Garlic Panisse, Gremolata Crisp

Pastry Chef – Sea Salt Praline, Raspberry Mojito, Key Lime Cake, Apricot Vanilla Gel, Citrus Cream

Beet Blanket, Spiced Grape Tea with Asparagus, Cauliflower, Honey Carrot Tian, Mache, Lemon Streusel

Crab Stack with Corn Custard, Polenta Cracker, Tangerine and Passion Caviar

Duck Textures with Cream Quinoa, Parmesan Churros, Olive Snow, Port Wine Jus

If you’re not sure about doing Chef’s Table, just do it.

We started off in the vibe nightclub with health forms and a glass of champagne and a few appetizers. The chef’s name was Harold from India. He's been on Carnival for 15 years. He did an intro about the number of passengers and crew on board (1400 crew/4170 about 500 kids), a plug for the Vista, and the new Guy’s BBQ. Before Guy’s Burgers they would have about 500 burgers eaten in a day, now they do about 2500 or so a day. He shared there's someone whose entire job is to crack eggs. We moved into the kitchen for the actual dinner. The food was phenomenal. The wine was free flowing. It was a great dinner with great company.

Champagne

Mango Sphere, Rosemary Biscuit

Salmon Tartar Cornets, Sesame seeds

Beef Carpaccio on Air Pillow, Chocolate Bacon, Apple Ribbons

Double Cooked Lamb, Tapioca

Bread on the side with blue cheese

Belize was an early start. We booked the Xunantunich ruins tour through Carnival and had to meet in the theatre at 7:30 am. I was able to find a cheaper price for the tour online and use the price match for this one.

We ordered continental breakfast from room service to start the day. It came on time. They brought cinnamon toast crunch instead of fruit loops and only brought the milk we ordered. I assumed they would just bring some to go with the cereal.

We dropped the kids off at 7:30 at Camp Ocean opened Leonine from Mississauga was there that morning (another Canadian!).

We headed down to the theatre. Our tour was the first one to be called and we were on the first tender out. This was our first time doing a tendered port.

We loaded onto the first bus doing our tour. The drive was about two hours long. Carla, our guide gave us information on the history of Belize. Gustavo, the second guide took over closer to the site and stayed with us till the end. The tour was run by Chukka Tours which we were familiar with from visiting Jamaica. The tour was informative.

Thank goodness I'd been taking the stairs for much of the cruise. It isn't too high and there are some breaks along the way. You’d definitely want good shoes. I'd suggest to just keep going on the way down. I stopped for a bit and started to feel pain in my right thigh. Still feeling it the next day. We also saw some spider monkeys. Their noise is what you would think dinosaurs sound like.

DH was the last one on the bus since he was shopping for a Mayan calendar. We were all waiting for him. We stopped for lunch a Hode's. Rice and peas, plantain, chicken and coleslaw, it was good, especially after not having much breakfast.

There was a little time to shop and we got back on the bus for the ride back. Back at the port, we browsed some stores. I wish FTTF worked for the way back too. The line ups were a bit long. We were the second last tender back.

We got back to the boat, picked up the kids to spend a bit of time with them before Chef’s table.

We headed back up to the rooms for showers. DH and DD slept. DS played on DHs tablet.

Once we were all up and ready we made our way to the Dr. Seuss parade and story time. This was really fun for the kids. They had streamers and I had a bell.

We made our way from deck 5 aft to deck 3 forward for the story. Dr. E was fully of energy with the kids! Parents with kids under 5 go on stage with them. Our story was the cat in the hat. They picked 4 volunteers from the audience to help act out the story.

After that we headed back to our room for a bit then up to headed to the spa to book a spa treatment with DHs gift card. He booked a pedicure for the evening with Roatan. There wasn't much availability left.

We went straight to dinner after.

I wasn't too impressed with the Chicken Parm. The breading needed more flavour.

Room service came at 6:30 right before DS got up. They were very early- we ordered for 7:15. DS and I watched the sun come up in bed with our and played on the ipad/tablets games as we approached Cozumel and waited for the other two to get up.

Room service arrived. The boxed milk that came with room service curdled in the bottom of my coffee. Eventually everyone got up and got ready. We went up to the lido for breakfast for the first time. No one came around to offer coffee. We went back to the room, to grab our beach stuff and headed off the boat. They had everyone get off at deck one and walk down a floor.

We found our way out of the cruise port and headed to the taxi stand for a ride to Mr. Sanchos. The taxi driver stopped and tried to sell us on the all-inclusive option. We did the a la carte as we knew we would only be there for a few hours.

The beach was ok. The bottom was a little bit rocky. The kids had fun playing in the sand. The toys we brought came in handy.

We headed back around 12:30 or so. DD was complaining about being hungry. She fell asleep in the taxi on the way to the port. We took some photos in the port and headed back on the ship.

We headed straight up to the lido to try Guys Burgers. DH and I also tried the Blue Iguana. It was ok. I wish they put the extra toppings in the burrito for you.

It was also Caribbean day at the lido so I sampled a few items which were good except the fried plantain wasn't sweet and the fried dumplings were flat.