melski

Just so you know about height restrictions...flowrider 52", large slides 48", kids slides yellow 45" and purple 42". I just find it better to know and set expectations.

My kids loved the kids pool. Rock climbing would be fun. We didn't try the ice skating but we loved the mini-golf. We are also big fans of AO. They usually check out the schedule and see if there is an activity they want to do in the afternoon and they are there every evening.

We went to the ice skating show and In the Air with the kids both were fun.

Other things...cupcake decorating class (fee involved) or 3D movies. They showed Kung Fu Panda 3 twice in March. We couldn't get enough of Sprinkles (ice cream machine) by the kids pool.

Have a great trip!

How long was the drive to Blue Hole? Did you port in Falmouth?

It rained that morning and our guide/driver, Winston, was a very careful driver with the wet roads. It took us an hour and 20 minutes from Falmouth. He said it could take as long as 90 minutes depending on traffic, etc.

On the way back, it seemed shorter as we stopped for lunch half way.

As Bob mentioned the Harmony will have the waterslides but there will be height restrictions on the slides. I believe the Liberty has restrictions of 48" on her slides.

If you are looking at Harmony, check out recent pictures of Liberty's kids area (after dry dock). I believe Harmony will have a similar H2O Zone. The big slides have height restrictions of 48". In the H2O zone, there are 2 slides...yellow one has height restrictions of 45" and purple's height is 42". My 4 year old could only do the purple one and she was ok with that. My 4 and 9 year old loved playing in the H2O zone.

Our situation is similar to the original poster. We have always done traditional dining at 8:15/8:30 on our cruises. Some family members just came off a cruise for two, and loved MTD, so we thought we'd give it a try since it'll only be four of us, instead of our normal group of 20-25. The email to make reservations for MTD caught us by surprise because we thought we'd just show at a the time we wanted, and get seated, which we know we may have to wait, which is no big deal. We haven't been on Royal in a while, and this is the other parties first time on Royal. We know we're going to go Chops one night, and another specialty restaurant another, just not sure which one until we get onboard, or in the weeks ahead. Is it necessary to make reservations for MTD?

Like any restaurant (cruise or not), there are only a set number of tables, If others have reservations or a lot of people come at the same time, you may need to wait. As we know, cruise dining is typically longer than a restaurant so your wait could be long or maybe not at all. You just don't know.

My suggestion is to make a reservation with your ideal time every night. Then once on board, you can change or cancel the reservation depending on shows, specialty restaurants, etc.

We used Winston Gayle of Tour Jamaica Today for our Blue Hole trip and Scotchies for lunch. Safe driver, which was important with kiddos in the van. I wanted a private tour since I didn't want to be on anyone else's agenda. He wasn't pushy with suggestions or shopping. Very responsive to email and gave detailed directions how to meet. Blue Hole was fun but not a "secret" especially with 4+ ships in port. However, I'm really glad we tried it.

I wasn't on Freedom but on Liberty and in the shops they had a bunch of Dreamworks character stuffed animals which I'm sure you could buy cheaper elsewhere.

think of this way as well, I will be using my rccl visa points to pay for their cruise or a great great part of it, they don't have much money so I just wanted to help them out, they probably won't cruise again., so with that information, would you still go w/ Liberty - I'll have to fly either way, so that doesn't matter

Liberty is an awesome ship and I think they'd be blown away. Either one will be great but Liberty does tend to be cheaper across all cabins. Plus, not having to pay for plane tickets would be huge and you could use that money saved towards a nice shore excursion. Pick the one that fits your budget and then plan an awesome vacation and not worry about the other choice.

Very easy. Bring your sea pass card and they scan it when you leave.

Some people will say bring your passports. Others say take a picture of it on your phone. I personally don't bring our passports. RC recommends bringing a photo id.

Are your shore excursions privately booked or through RC? RC guarantees that they will wait for your shore excursion if you book through them. That being said, I almost always book private excursions myself. So I'm a bit conservative and plan on being back to the pier area at least an hour before (sometimes 2) but it depends on what we do. We like getting back earlyand relaxing before getting ready for dinner.

Am sad about no rotational dining but sounds like the WJ will be a godsend for the 3 year old and myself..because honestly 3 floors of BUSY/LOUD dinning isn't really my style either. :) [/color][/size][/font][/b]

Just you you are aware, WJ is the busy/loud place at breakfast and lunch but it is quiet for dinner. To me its a nightmare to deal with my 4 and 9 year old in WJ during breakfast and lunch and then try to find a place to sit. I find it difficult to go to the buffet, trying to arrange 2 plates or having to leave the younger ones at a table by themselves to get more or get drinks, etc. We tried the MDR in March for breakfast and lunch for the first time and loved it. It is very relaxing for breakfast and lunch and as others have said, it isn't loud at all for dinner.

Kids 5 and under are free. $10 for everyone else. Menu the same as the MDR. Only had 3 characters and they were very easy to meet during the cruise.

We did it on Liberty and won't do it again. For some reason, it took forever to order and get food. The MDR food was actually better especially since at the character breakfast there was no buffet fruit and granola...ordered it but never came. Just wasn't well done IMO especially if you've ever done a character meal at Disney.

If you do decide to do it, make sure you get down there at least 15 minutes early to get a better table.

I know everyone feels very differently about this.. but this was a godsend for our family. Our twin boys have Aspergers and could NOT participate in the organized activities. The only fun they had was being able to play on the computer or video games.

 

Are the kids ever allowed to use the computer stations or the video stations?

 

And if i'm understanding you right.. the kids club is closed for 4 hours everyday from the afternoon and early evening? And all the activities shut down at 10pm?

The kids clubs are closed 12-2 and 5-7. That is it. You are supposed to use this time to feed your kids.

The activities don't shut down at 10pm but the free ones do. The kids clubs are open until 2 am. You just have to pay an hourly fee between 10 pm and 2 am. I find my kids are exhausted at 10 pm which is already 2 hours past their bedtime.

The Crowd

 

I think I counted the queue for the ice cream machine on the pool deck at 30 deep at one point. We had our own Teens with us so we can't complain too much, but boy there was a lot of people.

 

We were on the week before. We were set up in chairs by the kids pool and watching the Sprinkles line was an amusement in itself. I felt sorry for the guy in charge of it. He worked his tail off that week.

That video isn't of a room that would sleep 6. I thought the ones that slept 6 had a bunk bed area too.

This is on RC website info for that room.

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/cabinclass/cabinTypes/cabinType/cabin/home.do?shipCode=LB&cabincls=O&cabinType=FF&br=R&deckCode=07&shipName=Liberty+Of+The+Seas+++++++++++&cabinTypeName=Family+Ocean+View+Stateroom

Thank you so much for the video.. But now i'm super worried... That cabin is TINY for 6 people. I don't know what the sq footage is, but it literally looks the same size as a Ocean View Disney Cabin that only sleeps 3-4. Goodness, goodness, goodness.. what am I going to do????

We are a family of 6 but never book the Family Ocean view mostly because it only has 1 bathroom. Can you try to look at prices for 2 adjoining rooms if they are available? Not sure the cost difference but we always go with the adjoining rooms. Are you using a TA? If so, I'd be contacting them.

I just came off of Liberty on the March 20 sailing.

1. I don't know anything about your room. However it does say Family Ocean View so I'm thinking its ocean view and no balcony. You put the room in the cruise critic stateroom section and see if anyone has posted a review of it.

2. Kids clubs are open from 9-12, 2-5 and 7-10. After 10 pm, they are open until 2 am but there is a late night fee. No fee for any other time. There are port days where it doesn't close in the afternoon, I think they are open from 9-5 and then 7-10. I never used late night.

3. My experience is that they are pretty strict on ages. That being said, if you are on a cruise where there aren't tons of kids, they may be willing to accommodate. The almost 3 must be potty trained...no pull ups. I haven't ever used the nursery but the rooms were a decent size. They are sectioned off 3-5, 6-8 and 9-11.

4. If you don't want to use the nursery, there is an arcade (you add money on their sea pass card). They show movies at the pool and occasionally in the Platinum Theater. When we were there, they showed Kung Fu Panda 3 twice in the Platinum Theater. There are also Dreamworks characters visits on the Promenade....Po, Madagascar (Alex, Gloria), Puss in Boots, Shrek and Fiona although my kids don't know much about Shrek. There is a cupcake decorating class that does have a fee but everything else is free.

5. All 3 dining rooms serve the same menu. Traditional was on decks 4 and 5 and my time on deck 3. You would have the same wait staff each night (even if you reserve my time at about the same time each night).

6. Pools small but kids splash area is a nice size. Food from Windjammer or they do serve some food poolside on sea days. Also on the Promenade there is food Sorrentos (pizza) and the Cafe (sandwiches)...mostly free but specialty coffees, ben and jerry ice cream and cupcakes had a charge.

7. Ship is mostly non-smoking except for casino and on starboard side of pool deck. Easy to stay away from those.

8. Flowrider free unless you want semi-private lessons. Rock climbing free, water slides are free too.

9. I think you need to be closer in to get your Set Sail pass (30-45 days?). I usually do it a week or 2 in advance as I don't want to lose it.

Hope that helps somewhat! Liberty is a great ship and my family of 4 kids ages 16 to 4 had a great time!

My 12 year old went to the gym with my husband recently. No one questioned anything. I saw several children who were younger than 12 but with parents they never said anything. There are a bunch of chairs at the front that she could possibly sit in if you don't want her working out.

Did you ask to be seated by yourselves upon arriving at the dining room? That's another thing I don't understand about MTD. Do you have to set your time every day? Or do you make your reservations on the first day for the entire week?

If you want a set time every night, then you can go online and make reservations about 45 days out. If you don't want a set time, then you can walk in, make a reservation that day or on day 1 for the week. However it's like any restaurant, if they are booked you may not get the time you want or you may have to wait for a table to open. We didn't like how early the first seating was on Liberty (5:30) so we made reservations at 6:15 every night. We had the same table and wait staff. However, we changed our minds on 2 nights about eating in the MDR due to shows and wanting to eat a Chops. I liked that I could easily cancel my reservation that morning and give someone else my table rather than it going empty.

They had 2 lines, one for reservations and one without reservations. The only time I saw any line was at 7:30 the first night.

Thanks for the information. Any tips on how to ride? Never have done a flow rider. Grow up on east coast of Florida; I surfed and skated all my life. Now live in Kansas so I snowboard ever year. Miss the beach, maybe that's why I am looking forward to my cruise so much...lol.

You could sign up for a lesson. They are offered at 6:30 and 7:30 pm on Days 1 and 2 (not sure if they are offered after that as I was looking at something at the beginning of the cruise). The lesson was worth it IMO.

The sports staff are really good about helping you and trying to teach you lesson or not. However, if there is a long line during the open session then the time you get is a bit less.

Boogie boarding wasn't really hard and you wouldn't need a lesson but stand up was more challenging.

On Liberty, it was the same breakfast menu as the MDR except it had fancy names but no granola/fruit buffet.

We are booked on Liberty of the Seas and will be with our 6 and 8 y/o. We were considering Red Stripe or Blue waters.... but blue hole sounds interesting.. was this an excursion through the cruise?

No it wasn't through the cruise. I didn't see any offerings to Blue Hole and I tend to avoid ship excursions. I did a bunch of research and I booked with Winston Gayle through Tour Jamaica Today. He drove us there, took us to lunch and then we returned to the ship in plenty of time...we like to have a good cushion to make it back. I wanted a private tour so we could be on our schedule (especially with kids).

We used Winston Gayle with TourJamaicaToday out of Falmouth but I know he will go to all three ports. He is a great guide and will take you where you want to go. He will offer suggestions but isn't pushy. We did Blue Hole with my family and then lunch but we had a drive to and from Falmouth so couldn't get as much done as you could out of Ocho Rios.

We used Winston Gayle with TourJamicaToday for our tour. We wanted to go to Blue Hole and lunch and learn about Jamaica. What I loved about him was that he geared the tour to what WE wanted. I wanted a private tour for the 6 of us and he didn't push an "agenda". He asked if we wanted to shop, we told him no and he didn't mention it again. We wanted jerk for lunch so he took us to a good restaurant. He truly did what we wanted. Not to mention, he was a cautious driver and I felt very safe with my 4 kids in the van with him.

We did Blue Hole with our 4 year old just a few weeks ago. I had considered Red Stripe Beach but I spoke with a mom in our preschool and she and her family (4 year old son) spent a week in Jamaica at Christmas and their favorite activity was Dunn River Falls. I asked her lots of questions about safety and she swore it was completely safe for her 4 year old.

We were turned off with the crowds for Dunn River Falls so we chose Blue Hole. Blue Hole was amazing. Now my 4 year old wasn't doing the high jumps. The highest was about 10 feet. We brought her puddle jumper with us although they had life jackets available. The guide knew to not worry about me or my other kids, just take care of the 4 year old. He'd pick her up if needed to cross the rocks or water. We didn't push her to jump. I really didn't care if she would jump or not but she had no trouble. He would take my older kids to the higher jumps (there was only 2 that we were separated) and then show her the smaller jumps she could do. She loved it and it was a fun family activity for all of us.

We've been to Playa Mia twice. Just recently for Spring Break at the end of March. Both times I thought it was a fun place for my 4 kids with the obstacle course, pools, slides, snorkeling, etc. That being said the food is not very good. I didn't think it was good the first time either. I think next time we're going to try something different.

I booked this not from the cruise ship. If you google it, you can find prices and only put a deposit down. They bring everyone back fairly early if you book with the cruise ship. In our case, we had all aboard at 5:30 and they were calling our ship to leave playa mia at 2:45-3:00. We loved staying a bit after everyone left and probably left via a taxi at 4:00. It took maybe 20 minutes to get back (a bit longer due to traffic).

We are cruising on the Liberty in Feb 2016.

 

My last RC cruise I tried to get a 2 person table for Traditional Dining, but could not get one. I had requested this when I purchased the cruise, but the request never made it to the dining room. I was told that if you want a 2 person table you have to do the MTD. There are only a few 2 person tables in the traditional room. I had cruised on Princess twice before and both times we requested and receive a 2 person table during traditional dining. So I thought we could on RC. Is the only realistic way we can get a 2 person table is by dining MTD? We like people, just do not like being forced to sit with people we do not know or when we want a private meal.

 

I tried to make a MTD reservation on the website by going to cruise planner, but it said "they could not make the reservation right now, please try again when on board the ship." Am I to early? How far in advance can you make the MTD reservations.

 

I like the 5:30 traditional, so we can catch the early show, but I guess we will have to eat fast on the MTD, or do the buffet, when we want to catch a show.

 

Is the food at the buffet the same as the MTD or traditional at night? If they have steak or lobster in the main dining room, do they also have it at the buffet?

 

Thanks in advance for your help and advice.

Joe

I saw quite a few 2 person tables in MTD on deck 3. They used this dining room for lunch and dinner and noticed quite a few 2 and 4 person tables.