Freedom OTS last minute questions.

[ddcruise1018]

I can't believe it the cruise is almost here.   We were supposed to be cruising in March 2020 and now 2 year later we are a week out and all is looking positive.   My family is cruising on Freedom OTS March 14th.   Have a couple last minute questions as we prep. 

1) Do we need to bring towels to Coco Cay or are they provided.   I was thinking they are on the island but wanted to verify

2) Formal night.   Does Freedom have a formal night?   Is so, is it the same night for each cruise and if so, what night is that?

[smokeybandit]

You'll get towels on CocoCay the same way you would get pool towels on board.

[ddcruise1018]

What about the formal night question.  Do people still dress up or is it a mix?

[beckerooni]

Just got off a B2B on Freedom, we didn't get any printed cruise compasses that indicated when formal nights were and I didn't see it indicated in the app. I didn't see many dressed up as in past cruises, but I just dressed up when I wanted to. I could have missed something of course, they were my first cruises since 2020 and the changes.

 

You can bring a towel from the ship or get one one there.

 

Happy Travels!

[livingonthebeach]

1. Towels can be checked out on pool deck prior to disembarking on Coco Cay. Make sure to return them otherwise you will incur a fee. 
 

2. Did you say “formal”? Doesn’t really exist anymore. People who want to take snazzy photos while dressed to the nines still do it - most don’t. Wear whatever you want as long as it covers most of your torso. 

[Threedrones]

3 hours ago, ddcruise1018 said:

What about the formal night question.  Do people still dress up or is it a mix?

Just off 4 night FOTS last Friday. Formal night was day 2 for us, though it’s now called “dress your best”. While I went “smart casual “ with tie, people were dining in shorts and t shirts. The only people I saw turned away were a couple of guys wearing sleeveless shirts. I’m all for comfort on a vacation, but I think things have gone too far in the MDR as far as relaxing the rules.

[ddcruise1018]

Since you just got back what was the number of people on the ship?  What capacity, I have seen 60% is that about right?

[brillohead]

I recommend bringing pool towels from the ship, and then exchanging them for dry towels as needed.

There are a few different towel "exchange only" stations, but you can't check out a towel there -- you have to go to a specific area on the island for a towel station set up for checking out a towel.  I'd rather spend my time relaxing on the island, not hunting down a towel station, so I bring it from the ship.  

But you don't need to pack towels at all... they have pool/beach towels on the ship.  You check them out on the pool deck and return them or you get charged. 

 

I like to check towels out the first day and then just exchange them for clean towels throughout the cruise, then check them back in on the last night.  There is less chance of a mistake being made from scanning my account in and out multiple times if I check towels in and out every single day -- I just scan the first day and the last night, and just exchange wet for dry every other time.

 

[beckerooni]

The 2/28 sailing had about 2800 passengers. So around 60%.