How long does sail away take-FOS

[S.A.M.J.R.]

Trying to plan out our first day on Freedom. We need to:

 

Check in & board (obviously)

Eat Lunch

Put carry ons in room

Muster Drill

Helicopter deck for sailaway

Dinner (scheduled for 5:45)

 

We'd like to:

Tour & Register kids for AO

Tour the spa

Welcome Aboard Show

Teen 411 (9pm)

Let kids swim/flowrider

 

Our MTD is set for 5:45 right now. I'm wondering if this schedule works:

 

10:30 Arrive @ Pier

11:00 Check in

11:30 Board

11:45 Lunch at Cafe Promonade/Sorrentos

12:30 Either drop bags in room/change into swim suits or have kids change in a pool deck bathroom

1p-3p Swim/flowrider (maybe let teen DD watch 8&10yo while DW & I tour spa?)

3p Head to room & Change for dinner

4p Muster Drill

4:30p Sail a way

5p Tour & Register for AO

5:45p MTD

7:15/7:30 watch end of Welcome Aboard Show

8p: ????

 

Another option is to tour AO on the way to the pool deck, but that doesn't open until 1:30p.

 

It's different when you add kids into the mix. :p

[lovetocruise75]

Trying to plan out our first day on Freedom. We need to:

 

Check in & board (obviously)

Eat Lunch

Put carry ons in room

Muster Drill

Helicopter deck for sailaway

Dinner (scheduled for 5:45)

 

We'd like to:

Tour & Register kids for AO

Tour the spa

Welcome Aboard Show

Teen 411 (9pm)

Let kids swim/flowrider

 

Our MTD is set for 5:45 right now. I'm wondering if this schedule works:

 

10:30 Arrive @ Pier

11:00 Check in

11:30 Board

11:45 Lunch at Cafe Promonade/Sorrentos

12:30 Either drop bags in room/change into swim suits or have kids change in a pool deck bathroom

1p-3p Swim/flowrider (maybe let teen DD watch 8&10yo while DW & I tour spa?)

3p Head to room & Change for dinner

4p Muster Drill

4:30p Sail a way

5p Tour & Register for AO

5:45p MTD

7:15/7:30 watch end of Welcome Aboard Show

8p: ????

 

Another option is to tour AO on the way to the pool deck, but that doesn't open until 1:30p.

 

It's different when you add kids into the mix. :p

 

WHEW! That is quite a first day schedule but I think it works! Just keep in mind that your stateroom most likely will not be ready until 1. Have a great time!

[TBone2K]

Not saying it's the norm, but the Flow Rider wasn't open until second day on the cruises I've been on.

 

I would also be skeptical of getting dinner done in an hour.

 

In my own experience, I've found a "schedule" doesn't usually work very well. More of a "plan" with some standby ideas in case you have to skip a step.

[cb at sea]

OMG! I've never seen such detailed planning...especially for vacation! Just wondering what a work day's schedule entails! Lol!

 

I think you can get all that in....sailaway can take as long as you want....once the ship starts moving...that's about it!

[Tyler80]

You are over thinking this. You are on vacation, you don't "need" to do anything! Like you, others will have a similar schedule. You'll have time to do it all, don't worry. Get on the ship, have fun, and relax! :D

[island lady]

Previous poster is correct. You won't be able to drop your carry

on bags into your cabin until 1:00 or after.

 

Muster is at 3:45...and can last 10-20 minutes depending on

how many late stragglers show up and slow it down. :rolleyes:

 

Sailing out of the port takes about 10-15 minutes, and is one

of my favorite parts of the cruise.

 

Luggage delivery? Unpacking? You may receive your bags right away,

or as late as 7 pm. Be prepared with a change of clothes in your

carry on if needed to go to dinner.

 

One thing you can count on....things won't go as scheduled...so

you may want to just go with the flow and relax! ;)

You are on vacation! :)

[GTO-Girl]

so how will you react when things go longer or shorter than you planned and your "planned" schedule is no longer valid? Will you stress out about it?

 

As others have said, you are on vacation and the beauty of being on a cruiseship is you have all the time in the world to walk around and explore.

 

Take a break from all this planning and truly take a vacation........;) ;)

Edited February 27, 2014 by GTO-Girl

[CruiseDude_83]

Thats quite a bit of planning...have fun and enjoy your cruise but most of all have fun.

 

Back to the question at hand! I think that you could make that dinner time but it does take 30+ minutes to clear the port area and hit the open sea in Port Canaveral. Oh did I mention to have fun and enjoy your Cruise!:D:D:D

[S.A.M.J.R.]

No, I won't stress if there's something we don't get to do. And I'd love to just wander the ship and explore (which is what DW & I did on Oasis last year), but when you have two active youngin's in tow, that's easier said than done.

 

If I can get them into the pool, DW & I can sit in lounge chairs and start soaking everything in.

[Rocketlady]

Relax. I am a person who plans everything out for vacations but not to this

extreme. I scheduled all our shows before hand on both the Oasis and Allure.

Some we decided to just not go to and some we went to at another time because we could just walk in. I found out there is just so much to do on a ship

during the day that we just went with the flow. Each day the ships will give you a schedule the night before, of what will be going on the next day.

 

If was fun to go to events we never knew were available. And found friends

to meet up with.

 

Hope your schedule doesn't include a group of people. My husband and I

will not participate a group schedule ever. It doesn't work and a lot of

wasted time waiting on others to get their act together.

 

Good luck and have fun.

[Beachin2]

Deleted - too snarky.

Edited February 27, 2014 by Beachin2

[hansolosmom]

As others have said your list is ambitious. Please be prepared for kinks in the schedule, because things may not go as planned especially if this is your first time on a Freedom class ship (which I'm guessing it is)

 

Here's kind of what we do

Check-in

Walk around the ship & check it out or get lunch depending on what time it is

Go to the kids room & get them signed up & see what it's like. They'll give you the schedule for the night. First night is usually the ice breaker

Cabins should be open by now, so go meet the steward and drop bags. My dh likes to unpack if everything is there

Again depending on time you could go to the pool/splash zone, the Flowrider may or may not be open

Go to Muster

Pool deck for sail-away (I don't get going to the helipad, but that's me)

Then we'd go change/dress for dinner

Again this is where timing may get you you may or may not be able to make both the show & the kids room get together

 

Be forewarned on the spa tour, sometimes they are like quicksand & you can't get out because they want to show/sell you everything - teeth whitening, acupuncture etc. even if you aren't interested. So I don't go anymore.

 

Lastly I'm a planner & I can tell you are from your list, but for cruises you really just need to have a list of activities in mind and be ok when it gets thrown off. Best advice I ever got was, don't try and do it all.

[Pomperaugrr]

It takes about 20 minutes for the FOS to get out to open water. You do not need to be out there the entire time. By the way, there is nothing wrong with having a plan in place. Just be flexible with your times.

 

My general Sailaway Day plan is:

 

1.) Baord ship as early as possible

 

2.) Go to the Solarium or Sky Bar, have a tropical cocktail

 

3.) Grab lunch at Windjammer or cafe promenade

 

4.) Go to the Solarium or Sky Bar, have a tropical cocktail (repeat as necessary).

[S.A.M.J.R.]

Thanks all. I'm fine with things being thrown off. If we don't make the Welcome Aboard show, no big deal (we missed the one last year). The key is keeping the kids entertained. ;)

[Tyler80]

No, I won't stress if there's something we don't get to do. And I'd love to just wander the ship and explore (which is what DW & I did on Oasis last year), but when you have two active youngin's in tow, that's easier said than done.

 

If I can get them into the pool, DW & I can sit in lounge chairs and start soaking everything in.

 

If you navigated Oasis in time then Freedom will be a piece of cake! :D

[CruiseDude_83]

I

 

4.) Go to the Solarium or Sky Bar, have a tropical cocktail (repeat as necessary).

 

This is Key to an AWESOME sailaway day and cruise!

[cruising granddad]

Trying to plan out our first day on Freedom. We need to:

 

1p-3p Swim/flowrider (maybe let teen DD watch 8&10yo while DW & I tour spa?)

 

Be sure to presign the Onboard Activities Waivers before you board.

Just log into your "My Cruises" section after you log into the Royal website.

Go to where you fill out your set sail info.

There is a spot to print luggage tags and sign up for "Onboard Activities Waivers"

This will save you time!!

[S.A.M.J.R.]

Be sure to presign the Onboard Activities Waivers before you board.

Just log into your "My Cruises" section after you log into the Royal website.

Go to where you fill out your set sail info.

There is a spot to print luggage tags and sign up for "Onboard Activities Waivers"

This will save you time!!

Got it! Thanks

[hellsop]

4.) Go to the Solarium or Sky Bar, have a tropical cocktail (repeat as necessary).

 

Swap for the VC and you pretty much have my plan for step 4... I like up.

[mollyeilis]

Wow I didn't even realize we missed a "welcome aboard" show. Oh well! Didn't miss it. :)

 

maybe let teen DD watch 8&10yo while DW & I tour spa

 

Doesn't sound like much furn for DD unless you're paying her time and a half.

 

Estimated time of departure was 4:30, and the Sailaway *party* on our 1/26 Freedom cruise was at 4:45. We didn't really participate since we had My Family Time dining at 5:30. Zoinks, didn't realize how inconvenient that was going to be in terms of getting ready for things. (but it worked for our stomachs for some reason)

 

 

 

I think...you know the things you want to accomplish, so make sure they are written down and with you, and when you get that Day 1 Cruise Compass, go through it and mark off the times of the things and what order seems best on THAT day.

 

I haven't yet experienced a cruise where it feels like I have all the time in the world. Our cruises are very much experienced in 30 minute chunks of time and if we have something we REALLY want to do, we have to plan for it. You have the first step of planning; the list of things you want to do. The second part is knowing when those things are happening on YOUR cruise.

 

Have fun!

[S.A.M.J.R.]

Doesn't sound like much furn for DD unless you're paying her time and a half.

 

That's easy. 1.5 * 0 = 0 :D

[Jen731]

I'm a crazy planner too, so I can appreciate the work you're putting into this. My only suggestion would be to plan for the kids to go to the kids club the first night. That's when everyone introduces themselves and they learn about the fun things for the week. This might be especially important for your teenager.

 

Me, personally, I have done a spa tour and am in no big hurry to do another one. I would pull up a chair and watch the kids play in the pool. You might need the time to relax after the craze of check-in. I have no doubt that if you stop by the spa the next day they will be happy to walk you around and show you everything.

 

Have an awesome cruise!!

[mickev99]

Trying to plan out our first day on Freedom. We need to:

 

Check in & board (obviously)

Eat Lunch

Put carry ons in room

Muster Drill

Helicopter deck for sailaway

Dinner (scheduled for 5:45)

 

We'd like to:

Tour & Register kids for AO

Tour the spa

Welcome Aboard Show

Teen 411 (9pm)

Let kids swim/flowrider

 

Our MTD is set for 5:45 right now. I'm wondering if this schedule works:

 

10:30 Arrive @ Pier

11:00 Check in

11:30 Board

11:45 Lunch at Cafe Promonade/Sorrentos

12:30 Either drop bags in room/change into swim suits or have kids change in a pool deck bathroom

1p-3p Swim/flowrider (maybe let teen DD watch 8&10yo while DW & I tour spa?)

3p Head to room & Change for dinner

4p Muster Drill

4:30p Sail a way

5p Tour & Register for AO

5:45p MTD

7:15/7:30 watch end of Welcome Aboard Show

8p: ????

 

Another option is to tour AO on the way to the pool deck, but that doesn't open until 1:30p.

 

It's different when you add kids into the mix. :p

 

Haha, we will get along fine on our June cruise! I am also a planner. I saw a review from a January sailing on Freedom, and she copied all four pages of the cruise compasses (3rd page had flowrider times). It's open on embarkation day from 1-3:30 and 4:30-6:30. Of course, times may change for our cruise, but at least it should be open. We also want to check it out.

[S.A.M.J.R.]

Haha, we will get along fine on our June cruise! I am also a planner. I saw a review from a January sailing on Freedom, and she copied all four pages of the cruise compasses (3rd page had flowrider times). It's open on embarkation day from 1-3:30 and 4:30-6:30. Of course, times may change for our cruise, but at least it should be open. We also want to check it out.

Thanks! I figure if I can get the kids (at least) through the flowrider with little to no wait, that's a good thing!

[north29]

My wife was OCD in planning, to get the most out of her holidays LOL

 

Good luck