Questions for those who have been on Freedom recently

[TACMS]

I (we) will be sailing on the Freedom on August 4th.... I have been on her (six years ago) and have sailed with RCCL/Carnival/Holland and Princess...

 

I have a few questions that someone may be able to answer:

 

1) Has anyone been on the Freedom (very recentlyu) since they went to booking the shows in advance. We booked all our shows and I was wondering how smoothly this went when you actually go to the shows (inlcuding the ice show). Do you stand in different line than those who did not make a reservation?

 

2) Many different views/opinions on this - Can I bring tonic water on the ship. If so, do I slap a room tag on it and hand it over with my lugguage?; do I carry it on board?; or do I put it in with my luggage (I think that would make them want to search my luggage seeing bottles or cans)....???

 

3) We have 'my time dining' and could not book a table for dinner between 7:00/7:30.... When I called RCCL they said that they block out those times since it is the most popular. The rep suggested when I get on board to go to the dining room and see if it can be changed. We have access to the Diamond and Diamond plus lounges and want to use them before dinner - but also want to make a 9:00 show - the only reservation we could get was 7:45 -- that is cutting it very close to getting to a show on time. My question is has anyone had luck changing their "my time dining" to 7:00 once on board AND will it help that one person with us is a Diamond Plus member???

 

Thanks for any advice....

[39august]

You don't have to make reservations for MTD. Just show up and you will be seated within a few minutes. I have seen the "line" for those with reservations move slower than for those who just walk right in. I suggest you go to dinner about 6:30 as you have a better chance of being seated promptly and it will give you ample time to make the 9PM show. I wouldn't want to try to rush my dinner at the 7:45 hour! Most folks report being allowed to take on a reasonable amount of soda drinks, so tonic shouldn't be any different. Just don't take a case!

[ryansmom]

2) Many different views/opinions on this - Can I bring tonic water on the ship. If so, do I slap a room tag on it and hand it over with my lugguage?; do I carry it on board?; or do I put it in with my luggage (I think that would make them want to search my luggage seeing bottles or cans)....???

 

 

I can only help with this....

 

I scattered bottled waters throughout our luggage (mostly to distribute the weight of the case) and it arrived no problem.

 

I also carried on a gallon of distilled water. The only thing RCI told me was if I wanted to bring my own, it had to be 'in the original container and factory sealed'. (which was no problem) I carried it with no questions asked. (if they HAD asked, I would have told them I needed for medical reasons, but nobody batted an eye)

 

That said, in front of us going thru security and x-ray, there was a kid (older teenager) with a plastic grocery bag. I could see thru it and it was a 6 pack of water (larger bottles). Not only did he have NO trouble going thru security with it, the TSA agent manning the x-ray scanner HELPED him put it in a bin to go thru the x-ray.

 

I didn't get to see any go thru w/ a luggage tag, so I couldn't help ya there....

 

[robinm918]

We sailed on the Freedom in April - the ship was sold out because it was a Spring break week. For MTD, we were told we could show up any time between 6:00 and 8:30, be seated and served. We never made a reservation, and there were 5 of us. Sat at the same table with the same wait staff every night. On the nights we were a little later, we would just tell the waiter we wanted to make the show and dinner moved along quickly.

 

I would bet that if you showed up by 6:45 you would have no trouble getting seated.

 

Enjoy the Freedom - been on it 3 times; love it!

 

Robin

[Mainer59]

1) Has anyone been on the Freedom (very recentlyu) since they went to booking the shows in advance. We booked all our shows and I was wondering how smoothly this went when you actually go to the shows (inlcuding the ice show). Do you stand in different line than those who did not make a reservation?

 

 

The advanced bookings had not taken effect as of the trip that ended July 24 (about as recent as you can get). You'll need to wait for it to actually start to get an answer on Freedom, but perhaps someone from another ship that's already doing it (Oasis and Allure I believe) can answer for those ships.

[TACMS]

Thanks for the replies - we sail 8/14 so maybe they are starting the 'advanced booking' for shows in August - we were able book on line...??? We'll see, hope it goes smoothly.

 

Also, seems like I should be able to just carry on a couple of tonic waters on the ship as long as there they have not been opened. Will try that way - all I have to lose is a few dollars if they take them away.

 

Only 16 more days! Or two more sailings then I'm there :) :) :)

[DonnaK]

Since you dont "need" a reservation for MTD, just show up at 7pm (or whatever time you want) and be seated then. You may have to wait 5 minutes or so for a table, but that's better than getting a later reservation and having to rush through dinner to make a show

[Kruizer3]

Is the consensus to just pack the soda cans/bottled water in the same luggage as clothes rather than in a carry-on bag? What is considered a carry-on bag for them at port? Is it the same guidelines as an airport?

[Kruizer3]

bump!

[dunblane.andersons]

The advanced bookings had not taken effect as of the trip that ended July 24 (about as recent as you can get). You'll need to wait for it to actually start to get an answer on Freedom, but perhaps someone from another ship that's already doing it (Oasis and Allure I believe) can answer for those ships.

 

 

We were on the first sailing with the new system. It was pretty straight forward.

 

Here is a link to a thread discussing this very topic.

 

http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1438790

 

We were on Freedom for a B2B and returned to the UK this morning. We had a brilliant time. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask!!

[Gopher&Julie]

We were also on the July 24th sailing. If you had made a reservation for the show, you entered the theater after one of the cruise staff scanned your seapass. The standby line for the ice show was quite long, so it's good that you have already made reservations.

 

We had My Time Dining and never had to wait for a table. In fact, we had the same table and servers each night. There were quite a few empty tables in the My Tine Dining section on our sailing.

[mspamela]

Thanks for the replies - we sail 8/14 so maybe they are starting the 'advanced booking' for shows in August - we were able book on line...??? We'll see, hope it goes smoothly.

 

Also, seems like I should be able to just carry on a couple of tonic waters on the ship as long as there they have not been opened. Will try that way - all I have to lose is a few dollars if they take them away.

 

Only 16 more days! Or two more sailings then I'm there :) :) :)

They will just scan your Seapass card as you walk into the theater, it doesn't take long, we had up to 4 crew scanning cards entering the Arcadia Theater, for instance. The July 24 sailing was the first week of the pre-booking, there were a few 'bumps' but it was working pretty well. If you didn't pre-book, you can wait in the standby line and they will let you go in (still scanning your Seapass card) and take any empty seats, just like they always did with the Ice Shows.

 

I'm not convinced they really needed to go to this system, except for the ice shows. I was afraid it was going to be a total mess but really it went ok. I would definitely pre-book if you know what you want to do. And if you change your mind they will have a "box office" set up for a few hours most days where you can change reservations. Lines were long for that though--but maybe that's just b/c it was the first week. I believe the Diamond Concierge can do the reservations for you (if you're Diamond or above). I had someone tell me that we could do them on the stateroom TVs but I never saw how to do that, and I think I could've figured it out if the option was there. Have a blast--love the Freedom!!

[Kruizer3]

Is the consensus to just pack the soda cans/bottled water in the same luggage as clothes rather than in a carry-on bag? What is considered a carry-on bag for them at port? Is it the same guidelines as an airport?

 

 

Trying to get this answered. Please advise. Sailing is in 11 days

[ryansmom]

 

I scattered bottled waters throughout our luggage (mostly to distribute the weight of the case) and it arrived no problem.

 

 

 

and because we didn't want to carry it on because of the weight of it.

[BillOh]

I can only help with this....

 

I scattered bottled waters throughout our luggage (mostly to distribute the weight of the case) and it arrived no problem.

 

I also carried on a gallon of distilled water. The only thing RCI told me was if I wanted to bring my own, it had to be 'in the original container and factory sealed'. (which was no problem) I carried it with no questions asked. (if they HAD asked, I would have told them I needed for medical reasons, but nobody batted an eye)

 

 

 

I'm assuming CPAP use, did you know they will provide it for you free of charge and you don't have to drag it with you to the ship?:

[ryansmom]

I'm assuming CPAP use, did you know they will provide it for you free of charge and you don't have to drag it with you to the ship?:

 

Your assumption of the reason would be incorrect.

[BillOh]

Your assumption of the reason would be incorrect.

 

Ok, but they still will provide distilled water if you contact the guest with special needs group.

[ryansmom]

Ok, but they still will provide distilled water if you contact the guest with special needs group.

 

I know they would have provided it. They told me that when I called them (RCI) to ask them about it. And, in my original statement in this thread, I mentioned what RCI told me.

 

[disfan]

I have done the water/soda both ways, checked bag and carryon, no problems.

 

The security scanner for carry-ons is similar to the airports. Normal carry-ons only. If you try to bring in a big piece, you will be directed back outside, to checked baggage.