SD CRUZER II

20 per person or 20 per couple?

$20 per person per day.

Has anyone who's done the Western Caribbean leg of FOS had any success snagging one of the cabanas on Labadee? I loved the cabanas on Coco Cay, but not sure whether it's a different process at the Labadee stop.

I believe they are held for suite guests first. Once you get on board, you can make the mad dash to guest services to try and reserve one.

there was a bit discussed about 'ultimate' dining being offered on FotS. Is it still offered? Is it available only on board or can we pre-order?

 

Thanks,

 

Dan

There is no ultimate dyning on FOS. Not sure what that is. Are you talking about Dynamic dining?

You and many others speak of the "layout" of Freedom...is it somehow easier to navigate than the others?

Its just a great layout. You can walk from one end of the ship to the other if need be. There is only one level, deck 3 where you can't because of Studio B, but otherwise you can go right down the middle on deck 4 and 5. We always stay on deck 10 middle as its just one flight up to the windjammer and the pool and 2 flights to Adventure Ocean.

We started out on Grandeur and Enchantment for a couple of trips then upgraded to the Mariner. We were afraid that Freedom would be too big for us, but its perfect.

We still love chops. We eat there twice on every cruise. We just love the atmosphere and the food. The appetizers are great and I have never had a bad steak as others have said they have. We must be lucky.

We tried Sabor in May and found it to be OK. The guacamole and the appetizers were great, but we dound the main dishes to be underwhelming. They have smaller portions as well.

We may try Giovannis next time out.

I have a question about freedom that I keep on getting conflicting answers on.

 

Do they have mini golf on freedom?

 

Thanks

Yes, they have mini golf. Its up on the sports deck.

We love the FOS. we sailed last year and this year and booked again next year on the cruise after you. We just love the layout of the ship. We have a 4yr old so we love the Adventure Ocean club as well as the H2O zone for kids. If you have specific questions fire away and I will help answer any questions you have. Its a great ship. Its a big ship that never feals like a big ship except for boarding and leaving.

Forgot about the impressionist. We didnt go that night.

No reservations for any shows on Freedom. We just returned from the Western rout last week.

Typical shows. Welcome aboard show, then 2 stage shows, aerialsts on 2 nights, a magician one night, comedian on the last night and the first night. One night they dont have a show as its when they have the Ice show at night. They have 2 days of the ice show. Usually day 2 and day 6.

We always stay at the radisson. Whenever we go, we have found that the price for room and parking, plus breakfast are always better than the other hotels. Shuttle is easy as well. Just have to make your reservation when you check in.

We sailed FOS back in May of last year and booked FOS again for May of this year. I cant wait to see the upgrades.

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Thanks for all the input!

 

SD Cruzer II- can you provide me with any ideas of what to do in St, john? Any recommendations or ways to get around?

 

Thanks!

We did one of the excursions through the ship. They have about 3 or 4. We chose the cheaper one that just included the travel to St. John. There are some that include trips around st. John etc. With a 3 yr old, we just chose going to the beach.

The excursion picked us up from the pier right next to the ship. Took us on a 20 min ride over to St. John and let us off in St. John. We took a cab/bus over to trunk bay. About $10 per person.

There was a cover to get into trunk bay. All of St. John is public beaches. No private beaches. Paid to get on the beach. If you want to rent a chair, bring your pocket book. They require $50 deposit per chair. Dont lose your receipt. They wont remind you either. Cash only.

The beach was absolutely beautiful. I will try to post some pictures later from my home.

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We went on the Freedom back in May with our 3 year old. We loved it. Our daughter loved the H2O zone for kids. That and the hot tubs next to it. She had a blast. You could also get a deck chair whenever you wanted theur as well.

Our daughter loved the day care as well. She got to the point where she wanted to go there and play more than anything else.

As far as the trip, we missed coccoa cay as the weather was too rough. We had been to St. Thomas a couple of times prior so this time we went to St. John. We loved it. I didnt want to leave. I cannot wait to go back. The most beautiful beach and calmest waters. I heard the snorkeling there was pretty good too.

In St. Maarten we went to Orient Beach. The waters were real rough so we regretted not going to Sapphire Beach or somewhere calmer. Had a hard time with our daughter in the water so we cut our trip short there.

We arent big drinkers so we didnt do any drink packages. We never used the baby sitting services so cant help there either.

Our daughter loved walking on the ship and going to the shows so we made sure to go to them all.

We had a blast and booked another cruise on Freedom for next year to hit the Western route.

Hope you have a great time.

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They have various excursions you can take. We went in May on Freedom and took the excursion. They pick you up at the pier next to the ship and take ride to St. John. Took about 20 mins or so. Then we took a cab over to trunk bay. We did the st. John on your own excursion that covered just the ferry over. Was easier than dealing with a cab over to red hook. Trunk Bay was awesome. We didnt snorkel, but the beach was great. You pay a cover to get onto the beach, its a natural park, and if you want a chair, be prepared to leave a $50 deposit per chair. And they dont remind you to get your cash back. Dont lose your receipt either. Best beach we have ever been on.

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D1 all the way. We sailed in May and had room 1610 on deck 10. We had no noise issues in regards to the pool. During the day you could hear some music, but otherwise it was the best location we have had outside of being on the hump. We were one flight down from the WJ and 2 flights to the kids club. The biggest balcony we have ever had as well.

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Thanks for all the help guys one thing that disturbs us is the poosibility of missing cocoay on eastern, 3 sea days is nice, but 4? does anyone have experience or knowledge about that? thanks

We had this happen to us on our cruise on Freedom in May. Bad luck with weather. For me, 4 sea days is a bit much only because I have a 3yr old. It happened to us back when we sailed previously in Grand Cayman and we didnt mind it so much. We just hung out by the pools and enjoyed not being at work. It all depends on what you like. If the chance for missing one port would derail your cruise, then go Western. Keep in mind that you tender in Grand Cayman as well so you have the possibility there to miss, but you still have 3 other ports. If you choose the Eastern route, I highly recommend going to St. John when you get to St. Thomas. It was the most beautiful beach we have ever been to.

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We sailed on Freedom last month and did the Eastern route. We booked a return trip on Freedom next year on the Western route. If you just want to go to the beach, do the Eastern route. If you want more activity, do Western. If you choose the Eastern route, keep in mind that Coco Cay is not a guarantee. We had to miss this stop due to high winds. So we only had 2 port days. But we fell in love with Freedom. We have a 3yr old and had a balcony on deck 10. We managed to book the same cabin next year. IMO, you can't go wrong on any cruise you choose.

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On one of our Freedom cruises, we walked through the Living Room and you should have heard the teens hollering at us to "get out" "no adults allowed" "kids only" "boooooooo" and other assorted things. Granted we were simply walking through to get to Johnny Rockets but they no more liked us invading their "private" area than some adults like kids in their adults only area. They too like to have their own special place so why shouldn't adults be allowed to have a place to themselves?

Seriously? You are going to honestly say its okay to behave like a child on this manner? Because a kid said stay out of their area you are going to return the favor and act the same way? Why not act your age and be the ADULT. I have been on many several cruises and its not just my vacation. Everyone is there to have a good time. You sound like the person on our trip in may on the Freedom complianing because they got splashed while sitting 3 ft from the pool.

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Sorry, but aren't there enough spaces on the ship that are kid friendly without having to bring them into one of the few spaces that are adult only? When my kids were young, I kept them out of the adult areas. If they were with me, I stayed out. That's part of being a parent. :confused:

 

This is my biggest beef with DCL, the idea that even though a space is designated adult only, my kid is different and the rules don't apply. It is rampant on those ships. That's the biggest reason I stopped cruising DCL. I am hoping RCCL is different.

Holy crap. Yes, lets rope off the Solarium so that the sight of children won't affect your cruise. In return, make sure you don't set foot in the kids area. Why can't people just lighten up?

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Just off Freedom on Sunday and I didnt see any.

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We had similar on the Freedom sailing on 5/18. High winds and seas. We had to skip coco cay due to the high seas. After day 3 everything calmed down. There was a huge storm that blew through unfortunately.

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Thats kinda funny. We thought this was the worst staff we have encountered on Royal. It wasn't that they were bad, far from that, they were great, but we noticed a lack of "spark" in general. I don't have a word for it. We thought it was a ship size thing since we have only been on smaller ships and the entire staff and crew had been very engaging on those smaller ships. We came away broke on past cruises since we had given so many people cash tips on the last day. This trip we only gave cash to 2 crew. I have nothing negative to say about the crew this trip, but we didn't come home saying how much we loved Ricky or Melissa or Lynn (who are all crew from past trips that we still talk about). There was no one that stood out to us while we were on the ship

We had always sailed smaller ships ourselves and worried that the bigger ships would be as you stated. We thought maybe because we were always with our 3yr old daughter is why everyone was always so friendly. They would always comment about her and their daughters or sons etc. I could see where that would play into it. But everyone was always smiling. We ate at the windjammer for breakfast and lunch everyday and the staff there was great. We always sat out in the Jade area and always found a seat. We also ate there for dinner 3 of the nights and never had a problem with the food or service or seats.

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Thank you for the information about the Mystery Dinner. Does the Freedom of the Seas have good Loyalty Ambassadors who will ask questions even if you are not directly booking a cruise?

I dont remember his or her name. Every time I went in it was a mad house and you could tell they were overwhelmed with the workload. It wouldnt have been bad if the rude asshats would quit interupting conversations. It took 25 mins to book my next cruise because 5 different people felt the need to start converations with the person I was dealing with. They had to finally make an annoumcement and ask that everyone please refrain from interupting.

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SD Cruzer,

 

We are booked in a connecting room on Deck 9 for next may but would prefer a D1 without a connecting room. Was it loud above you in 1610? could you hear the partying and pool activities at night?

I had read several reviews were people complained about the noise, but it wasnt bad. We had our 3 1/2 yr old with us so we took naps during the day and were in bed between 9 and 10pm. Noise wasnt a factor for us. Yes we could hear music sometimes during the day, but it was not very loud. From time to time at night you would hear people running on the deck at night. But we were very happy with the room. I hate connecting rooms with a passion so this room was great. We heard more noise out in the hall than above us.

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"We bought the coke only packages and actually found we drank more water. We wont buy the package in the future."

 

Hi SD CRUZER, we are thinking of getting the drunk package and we are wondering if you can get bottled water and cans of pop out is it just fountain pop? The package we are looking at is the Royal Replenish, it's not very clear in the descriptions.

 

Thanks Mary Ann

 

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No can sodas are in any of the packages. We purchased the coke only package. We had always purchased this package in the past and had always drank our share of cokes. This time we did not. I actually went 2 days without having one. The windjammer had plenty of flavored water and every bar had water set up as well as in the promenade.

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Looking forward to tour review. We just got off the same cruise as well. Always fun to see how other people perceive the same trip you were on.

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