nzdisneymom

[quote]I know you can make it so that they cannot charge anything. But I don't know if you can set a daily limit. However, you could just set up a cash account for them and put $10 per day (or whatever limit you are setting) into the account.[/quote]

[quote]
Yes you can put a limit on their cards. I don't think you can make it a per day limit though. I put a $50 on my kids card and when it was gone...it was gone. Great budgeting lesson. [/quote]

Thanks for the replies! We are going to get them soda cards so they'll be able to use those throughout the week, but they might want to do some other things as well. I'll def. come back and post here what we end up doing and how it works out after our cruise. Thanks again for the info - this thread is a wealth of information!

Wow - thanks for the quick pictures - I just showed the boys~ looks like the Living Room is a place for their age group! And I loved the peek into Johnny Rockets.

 

Which leads to another question -- can we have their Sea Passes where they can charge but only up to a certain limit? That way if they want to grab lunch or shakes at Johnny Rockets, they don't have to find us? I absolutely don't want them to have unlimited charging priviliges, but was just wondering about that.

 

Thanks again for the pics!

My boys will be 12 and 13 when we sail on FOS in October. If anyone has pictures of the youth activities area or could share a summation of the types of things that are offered on board for this age group, they would be interested in hearing about it. It looks like there are pretty good areas on the ship designated for the youth - we just want a peek ahead :)

 

We're doing an Eastern itinerary with Cococay, St. Thomas, and St. Martin.

 

Thanks.

Last year.....our meet and mingle group met in the Schooner Bar before sailing. It is easy to find, and then you don't have to worry about the weather. I think we met before the muster drill.......just so we could put faces with names before the ship actually sailed.

 

 

Thanks.

Hi. Our "meet group" is looking for a place to meet on embarkation day so we can say hi face-to-face without having to wait until our Meet and Mingle time. Anyone have a suggestion for a good place to meet either before the muster-drill or for sailaway? There are probably 40 or more of us.

 

Thanks.

Does anyone have some pictures of a D1 cabin from Freedom? We're trying to get an idea of how it really looks rather than just what is posted on the RCCL site. Also if there is a picture of the balcony for a D1, that would be awesome. We're actually staying on Deck 9 (I can't remember our cabin number, but I know it's Deck 9 fwd on the port side).

 

Thanks.

Cuizer2 - thanks so much for posting your pictures! We will be sailing on Freedom for the first time in October, so it is nice to "get acquainted" with her by pictures.

We'll be sailing on the Freedom in January and will need a hotel near the port. I'm considering a hotel that offers free parking and shuttle service; however, I'm concerned about the time factor once we get off the ship. Do you have to wait long to get the shuttle back to your car after the cruise? I would love to hear your experience with this. We will be driving back home after the cruise and I do not want to waste hours getting my car. It would be great to save the $105 in parking fees, but I'll pay them if it's more convenient. THANKS!!

 

 

We parked at the Country Inn and Suites in Dec. 2008. We were given a phone number to call when we got back, and they had the shuttle there within 10 minutes of us calling (they were picking someone else up at another cruise line, so they swung by and got us and some other passengers). It was easy since we had a cell phone to use to call since they were not there waiting. In Dec. 2005, we were at the Radisson and it just happened that the shuttle was there waiting for us when we returned to Port. Both times we were back to the hotel and at our cars by 8:15 a.m. (we were sailing Disney and disembarkation started about 7:30 - we didn't rush off the ship either time - it was closer to 8 a.m. when we got off the ship).

Has anyone stayed at the Radisson at the port? We'll be on the Freedom in September/October and it looks like Radisson is the closest

 

We stayed at the Radisson in Dec. 2005 and it was fine. But in December 2008, we stayed at the Country Inn and Suites which is a little bit closer to the port - maybe 2 minutes closer if you don't have to stop at the traffic light. There is also a Residence Inn that is right next to the Country Inn and Suites as well.

Think we want to stay close to the port. We will be driving and it takes about 10-12 hours so will be getting in later in the evening the night before the cruise. Anyone stay at the country inn and suites? It is close to the pier and I was wondering if you can see the ships from there.

 

We stayed at the Country Inn and Suites in December and definitely were able to see the ships from our room. We were on the 4th floor facing the Port. It was really cool - we watched a couple of ships pulling out. We plan to stay there again when we sail in October.

You're welcome! :) How big is your family?

 

There are just the four of us - two adults, two tween boys. DH likes to pack three t-shirts, three pairs of shorts and thinks that's enough for a week :) It is, if you have access to laundry equipment :)

There is no guest laundry onboard. Everything must be sent out.

 

Main seating and late seating are generally arouns 6:00 and 8:30, perhaps give-or-take 15 mins depending on the cruise itself. I was never on a waiting list so I have no experience with that. But once you board, you can head straight to the dining room and speak with the Maitre D and he can help you with your seating arrangements. :)

 

Freedom is an AWESOME ship...I hope you have a great time!!! We had a blast on her. :D

 

Christie - thanks for the response! We have gotten used to being able to do laundry onboard the Disney ships, so we'll have to think differently about how we pack for FOS. I need to go read some trip reports!

We were originally scheduled to sail Christmas 2009 on the FOS but have changed it to October 2009 instead. Thanks for all the info in this thread! We are excited about learning as much as possible about FOS before we sail.

 

Is there a guest laundry onboard where we can do our own laundry and/or ironing? Or does all laundry have to be sent out?

 

We have second-seating for dining because the main seating is all taken up. What time is main? and what time is second seating? Also what have your experiences been in wait-listing for main seating and it coming through? Is there somewhere onboard that we can see about switching on embarkation day?

 

Thanks.

Hello FOS folks! It looks like we may end up on this wonderful ship for the 12/27/09 Western Trip. We're still hammering out some of the details, but I hope to be booked in a week or so.

 

Thanks for all of the great information and reviews throughout this thread. I can't wait to start the planning (and waiting).

 

 

We're going the week before! This thread has been so helpful in learning about the ship! Thanks for all the tips and pointers and pictures.

Any adults sleep in the sofa bed in a balcony cabin? Is it comfortable and large enough for two adults? We are 4 in the cabin with two boys and wonder if it would be better for DH & I to share the sofa bed so the kids can have separate beds.

 

(Not saying we will, but it is a thought. Sometime the kids come first, sometimes - like vacation - MOM comes first!):D

 

Thanks!

 

gvi - we are the same situation -- two adults and two boys who will be ages 13 and 12 when we sail. They can't sleep together now as it is and I hate to have one have to bed-down on the floor! We've only sailed Disney so far as a family and they've each had their own bunk. For RCCL we were thinking DH and I would take the sofa bed, but it really depends on if it's more of a "full" bed or more towards "queen" size. If it's "full" then we will have to sort it out when we get there because DH and I cannot sleep comfortably on a full-sized bed for that many days. We may just end up playing musical beds for the week!

Definitely not, just got back from 9342 a D1, Booked 550 days ahead, seems odd to not be waiting for it any more :)

 

BillOh - if you post pictures anywhere, particularly of inside the D1 cabin, I'd love to see them. We booked at exactly 600 days out... ay yi yi. seems like a long time to go. Hope you had a great trip.

Cuizer2 - thanks for the picture of the sofa bed - and yeah, just 19 short months to go (LOL). At least we have a cruise between now and then to tide us over. I watched the Freedom of the Seas on the Travel Channel yesterday with Samantha Brown.

I have so been looking for a thread like this - so thanks to all the PP's who have posted their experiences and pictures! We will have our first RCCL experience in December 2009 but wanted to start "getting to know" the ship - so this thread is perfect.

 

We'll be staying in a D1 cabin for four people -- I haven't gone through all the pages here yet nor all the links, but DS#1 was wondering what the sofa bed looks like when it's folded out for the night -- and how much room it takes up. We'll be traveling with our two sons who will be 12 and 13 at the time so we figure we'll let them have twin beds while DH and I take the sofa bed. Anyone have a picture they could share or point me to?

 

Can't wait to finish reading through and studying up!

I wanted to add my Thanks for this thread and the pictures - I'll be going to Nassau for the first time in October with a group of girlfriends (22 in all) and we've been talking about various things to do in port. I'm going to go armed with this thread (LOL) as a suggestion for those feeling like doing more than just some shopping.