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fiberoptic

By fiberoptic,
in Royal Caribbean International

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fiberoptic

fiberoptic

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All booked on freedom of the seas next 6/22 for western Caribbean, celebrating my 25th wedding anniversary along with my 3 kids (23,21, 16). We are very excited but of course a bit nervous. We are mid ship deck 8. Appreciate any guidance anyone can offer

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Clarea

Clarea

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All booked on freedom of the seas next 6/22 for western Caribbean, celebrating my 25th wedding anniversary along with my 3 kids (23,21, 16). We are very excited but of course a bit nervous. We are mid ship deck 8. Appreciate any guidance anyone can offer

Check in with your roll call and register for the Meet & Mingle:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1812048

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GTO-Girl

GTO-Girl

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All booked on freedom of the seas next 6/22 for western Caribbean, celebrating my 25th wedding anniversary along with my 3 kids (23,21, 16). We are very excited but of course a bit nervous. We are mid ship deck 8. Appreciate any guidance anyone can offer

 

You picked a great ship for your first one!!! We will be sailing on her for the 3rd time in April and cannot wait!

 

We sail out of Port Canaveral a lot.......we drive because I won't fly......so we like that area as well.

 

Hope you have a wonderful cruise!!!!

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Coov

Coov

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Make sure you have passports (highly recommend), birth certificates, etc. squared away well in advance. Paperwork being in order can allow you to look forward to the cruise more, rather than be nervous about it.

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PuterMonkey

PuterMonkey

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All booked on freedom of the seas next 6/22 for western Caribbean, celebrating my 25th wedding anniversary along with my 3 kids (23,21, 16). We are very excited but of course a bit nervous. We are mid ship deck 8. Appreciate any guidance anyone can offer

 

If you are paying the way for the three kids, agree on a bar tab in advance with the older ones. You're paying restaurant prices which can be a big sticker shock.

 

Other than that, just relax and have a great time =) It's a good ship.

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BillOh Holiday Sharing Rare

BillOh

Posted
Posted (edited)
All booked on freedom of the seas next 6/22 for western Caribbean, celebrating my 25th wedding anniversary along with my 3 kids (23,21, 16). We are very excited but of course a bit nervous. We are mid ship deck 8. Appreciate any guidance anyone can offer

 

Great first choice. Lots of great advice to offer, but I'll start with don't worry if you can't do everything, they let you come back again! More after learning more about you. We did Freedom on the Western for our 25th anniversary and had a great dinner on our Anniversary ngiht in CHOPS. I recommend it. We will be back on for our 33th in 2015.

Edited by BillOh
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BillOh Holiday Sharing Rare

BillOh

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Check in with your roll call and register for the Meet & Mingle:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1812048

 

Excellent advice for first timers and people on the big ship for the first time. Our roll call group for this ship was a great time. Don't worry you can be as active as you want or just read.

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COMBOY

COMBOY

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All booked on freedom of the seas next 6/22 for western Caribbean, celebrating my 25th wedding anniversary along with my 3 kids (23,21, 16). We are very excited but of course a bit nervous. We are mid ship deck 8. Appreciate any guidance anyone can offer

 

Yes, I like to read as many reviews of the ship from passengers who have recently sailed on her. You can get some real good information about the ship and what to do. Try to focus on the middle of the road (objective reviews) and be very caution of the best and worst subjective reviews since anyone can write a review although the Freedom gets mostly good reviews. Also go to the RCI website and get a list of the shore excursion offer for each of your port. Although taking a tour excursion is totally optional your family can have fun reading and planning in each port since there is so much to see and do. Make sure all your documents are in order and I would highly advise you to all have passports. I think RCI has some of the best and most beautiful ships. There is much to do on board this ship. Your kids are going to have the time of their lives. You probably won't see them much of them other then at dinner which could be a good or bad thing. Here is the link to the Freedom reviews:

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?action=ship&ShipID=358

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rock the boat

rock the boat

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Congrats on your first cruise. As others have said, it becomes addicting once you go on your first one. Here is a bit of advice. I recommend that you use a credit card when filling out your sail and sign info. If you use a debit card, the cruise line puts a hold on double what your room charges are. It tends to throw your checking account out of balance until they release the funds which can be as much as 30 days. :eek:

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avazah

avazah

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We did a very very similar cruise for our first one (on Independence, 6 day western caribbean) for our first cruise! Although, we are closer to your older kids' ages than your age I suppose (we were 25 and 27 at the time of cruising). So I can say, I am sure they are going to have a marvelous time. You will, too! It's an awesome class of ships and a fun, easy itinerary.

 

I highly recommend the dunn's river falls (and green grotto cave tour) excursion in Jamaica. It was incredible!

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BillOh Holiday Sharing Rare

BillOh

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Call your Dr. and get sea sickness patches for everyone. Our first cruise' date=' we took them and put them on before we got on the ship, then discovered that we didn't need them. Best to take preventative measures. You'll have a great time. Enjoy.[/quote']

 

Personally I have great luck with Ginger tablets from your health nutrition store. Your mileage may vary.

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Rala

Rala

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Personally I have great luck with Ginger tablets from your health nutrition store. Your mileage may vary.

 

....And I use Bonine(meclazine) which is sold over the counter. I would not just get the patch for everyone since it can have some very annoying side effects for some people like blurry vision, dilated pupils, dry mouth, dizziness. I have used both the patch and meclazine and found they work equally well for me and the Bonine (also non-drowsy Dramamine) has virtually no side effects at all. I have not tried the ginger, but may give it a go on my next cruise. Have a wonderful first cruise :)

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temple1

temple1

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How well do the children do in the back seat of the car? Do they easily get motion sickness? How about you and your spouse? Do you have trouble reading when on an airplane?

 

If no - they take some ginger tablets or candy with you and Bonnine. Perhaps take a Bonnine the night before you board the ship just in case and see how you feel late the next day when it starts to wear off. For the kids - check with their Dr about the best preventative care.

 

I used to use the patch and started having strong reactions to it. I now take a Bonnine at night and if I feel queasy during the day I will chew one of the chewables and all is soon well in my world.

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dacsmom

dacsmom

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Excellent choice of both ship and stateroom location. I was mid-ship on deck 8 the FOS in February and it was perfect. You can do as much or as little as you want and I agree with many of the others, there are some great reviews with some pretty good tips. How about booking a specialty restaurant for your anniversary? Both Chops and Portofinos are very good although I give the edge to chops because I am a steak person. To weigh in on the seasickness, I take ginger tablets and wristbands along and have never had any problem. I do not like the drowsy feelings of some of the other products. The western route seems a bit calmer and the ship is large so you may not have any problems at all. Have a wonderful cruise and remember we all had the very same questions before our first cruise and do not feel any question is silly, most people on CC are glad to share their experiences.

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KevinKruzer

KevinKruzer

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All booked on freedom of the seas next 6/22 for western Caribbean, celebrating my 25th wedding anniversary along with my 3 kids (23,21, 16). We are very excited but of course a bit nervous. We are mid ship deck 8. Appreciate any guidance anyone can offer

 

Nothing at all to be nervous about....you will have a great time. The great thing about a cruise is that there is so much to do (casino, bars w/ bands, bars w/ trivia, bingo, pools, food anytime, spa, rock climbing, surf sim., arcade, mini golf, fitness ctr, shows, shopping, etc....) and you can do it all or NOTHING at all..... and have fun either way!

 

The Freedom is a great ship. My family did the Western Caribbean itinerary this past summer. I highly recommend the Sting Ray City/Snorkeling excursion. And don't miss the 70's disco party on Friday night (I think) on the promenade. Awesome time. The ice show is cool, too.

 

Most people (myself included) have never had any problems with sea sickness, but since its your first, if you do get motion sickness in cars or planes I would get a patch for the first day.

 

I would also suggest flying in the day before you embark. Coco Beach Shuttle is a good shuttle operator that will take you from Orlando Intl to hotel in Cocoa Beach area and pick you up at the ship and take you back to Orlando Intl.

 

I stayed at the Hilton Cocoa Beach and it was fine. They had a shuttle to the ship (3 miles or so). We got there early and was on the ship in about 30 minutes or so.... Smoothest embarkation ever.

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iCruise717

iCruise717

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I was a first time cruiser not to long ago, here are a few things no one told me that i wish I had known:

 

 

  1. Look into motion sickness meds and start taking them the night before you board. You might not have an issue, but it's better to be prepared than miserable. We learned our lesson our first time and used Bonnine and Sea-Bands and had no issues on our last cruise.
  2. Do research on the ports. I found the best info here on CC in ports forum. It might seem easier to book everything through RCCL, but sometimes you can save money/have a better experience if you do it yourself. We did the western itinerary this past summer and really enjoyed Labadee but wish we had booked a cabana just to get some shade and relax. We also LOVED the jet ski tour, highly recommend if you enjoy that. Falmouth is a skippable port day IMO. We did the Red Strip Beach excursion (approx. $30 pp) and had a nice day but on our net cruise, I think we are just going to stay on the ship and enjoy having the pools to ourselves. We did the Royal Dolphin Swim in Cozumel, which I really liked, however, if you aren't doing the dolphins, I'd say there are better beaches in Cozumel than Chankanaab.
  3. Bring a lanyard/lanyards to keep track of SeaPasses. I lost mine the first night and while RCCL makes it easy to replace, wandering the decks at 1:00 AM looking for my SeaPass and being locked out of my cabin wasn't the highlight of the cruise.
  4. I second whoever said make sure you have all passports! If you don't already, I recommend getting started on that ASAP. There is still a bit of a back-up from the government shutdown a few months ago and may take longer than usual.
  5. Pack a few essentials in your carry-on in case there is a mishap w/luggage.
  6. Get ready to have fun! Congrats on the anniversary and enjoy!

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AAA75

AAA75

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If you are paying the way for the three kids, agree on a bar tab in advance with the older ones. You're paying restaurant prices which can be a big sticker shock.

 

Other than that, just relax and have a great time =) It's a good ship.

I would look into drink package and Dinner packages. They can save you a lot.

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