pyrateslife4me84

Not really. Still play Caribbean music on the pool deck. Same entertainment. Same food. Only the ports change and almost no one on board speaks English.

1 hour ago, gallagher123123 said:

So, who's excited for the Northeast deployment this week? Ready to see what will be offered out of Boston on the Brilliance.

Interested in booking Bayonne to Bermuda for summer 2025!

Apparently everything really is bigger in Texas, including our feelings on cruising from there. 
 

There are plenty of embarkation ports that are an hour or more from the nearest airport. Heck, in Europe, some of the ports of call are an hour or more from the city listed on the itinerary!

”I’m cruising to Paris this summer!”…

Are the 2025 Indy Fjords sailings likely what we will see in 2026? It looks like they’ve already removed the ports they can’t visit in 2026. 

Entertainment costs? Mr. Liberty loves your suggestion! 

13 minutes ago, island lady said:

Not sure why test bookings for July 2025 in PC....I already booked Oct/Nov. 2025 B2B on Adventure out of PC a few days ago.  Strange release of bookings.  

It seems they held back short Caribbean and Wonder will transition to that in August. I agree it’s a bit strange that you could book the 7 nighters from PC starting August 2025 but not for May through July. 

Perhaps not everyone wants the one family pool to feel like Spring Break in South Beach each afternoon. 

I’ve felt vibration at places on every ship I’ve ever been on. Perhaps a Hilton Garden Inn would be a safer choice next time. 

5 hours ago, Kbonner said:

I saw CATS twice. First time in a theatre, I deeply slept in the 3rd act. Second time on board, I only dozed away slowly but steadfast ....

3rd act? Sure you weren’t just dozing off at the Schooner Bar for 3 hours? With enough hurricanes, cats start asking me if they are the jellicle choice, too. 

6 minutes ago, Arzeena said:

I agree it is dangerous. And I wouldn't even dream about doing it.

But this did happen.

I’m sure it did. I’d be surprised if they’d sanction it in 2024. 

Each evening it releases for the next day if the next day is a port day. It is also available embarkation day—you can book the moment you are on the ship’s wifi. 
 

FYI for this and the North Star, “port day” refers to the entire day. So if you pull into port at 1 pm, you could still do either that morning “at sea” before you arrive. You don’t have to be docked. Both were also still free on embarkation day post-sail away. 

28 minutes ago, Arzeena said:

Years ago, on the Explorer of the Seas, there was a gentleman from NY/Hawaii,  who took special permission from Captain Olaf and Royal Caribbean to go see the "real" Haiti. I do not know the details, but he was given permission, but I do remember mentions of a lot of conditions and signing papers involved. I remember him telling us that he "hitched" a ride with a local on a bike. OMG! He wanted to see how the people live, eat what they ate. His mom stayed onboard and was very worried about him, we were also concerned, since we had met them on some cruises before and both are really nice souls. Anyway, he made it back safe, and did what he wanted to do and see the "real" thing.
I would never ever have done it. But it was done.

I read your entire tale with bated breath fully expecting it to end with “and he was never seen again.”

To be fair, Haiti is PARTICULARLY dangerous of late. If Royal won’t condone passengers climbing an active volcano, I doubt they’d sanction this. 
 

I’d take my chances with Vesuvius, personally. 

1 hour ago, Merion_Mom said:

Liberty needs it.

Honestly surprised Freedom is going in first since it was amped. 

1 hour ago, not-enough-cruising said:

Labadee is part of actual Haiti, it’s a peninsula not an island. No swimming necessary. 

Actual Haiti is dangerous for Americans, unlike Labadee. I don’t believe you can just waltz out of Labadee. It’s fenced. 

I can’t believe I need to say this but, please don’t try to swim to actual Haiti. 

5 minutes ago, Nbud said:

Thanks! We were on Liberty about 10 years ago and we do love the size of this ship. I think we will go for it! 

It’s been updated since then. It had its last dry dock before the amps started, so it’s not technically amped but has some amp additions—in particular, 3 water slides and Splashaway Bay. 

Liberty has nothing scheduled. Perhaps late 2025 or early 2026. 

This year, we did 12/24-12/31. You could be in the outdoor pools by the afternoon of day 2 (it was about 70 by then) through the end of day 6. Last sea day was post-cold front and chilly. 

20 minutes ago, xtremegk said:

 

Previous to 2024, St. Maarten was common on the 9-nighters out of Cape Liberty. I've taken summer 9-nighters that did St. Thomas/St. Maarten/San Juan and San Juan/St. Maarten/Labadee in addition to Bermuda. For some reason, they decided to focus more towards the DR next summer. Liberty's frequency of 1-2x per month and disappearing from the St. Maarten schedule in the fall (when they switch the 9-nighters to Canada/NE) are also consistent with Cape Liberty.

If you go back to page 21 on this thread, @Ourusualbeach had the list of ships provided to TAs in each region (original post removed, but still quoted by others). Shows FR in the short Caribbean launch and LB up our way. No real surprise, they like to keep consistent rotations up here for at least a few years before moving ships on.

Makes sense. Thanks for the clarity! We loved Liberty to Halifax last summer so it looks like we will sail her to Bermuda in 2025!

4 minutes ago, OfTheSeasCruiser said:

St. Maarten is typically a stop on the 9 night Bermuda/Caribbean itineraries.

Interesting. The one I was looking at for 2024 had a couple stops in D.R. Must be a one-off. 

On 8/18/2023 at 4:26 PM, Jumping Cruiser said:

 

St Maarten, Caribbean - Port Schedule (Correct as of 18/08/23)

Several additional bookings made throughout the season for Icon. See updated list below:

 

May 2025:

1st May - Vision OTS
1st May - Wonder OTS

5th May - Symphony OTS

5th May - Liberty OTS

6th May - Icon OTS

7th May - Oasis OTS

14th May - Wonder OTS

20th May - Icon OTS.  *NEW*

27th May - Rhapsody OTS

28th May - Wonder OTS

 

June 2025:

2nd June - Liberty OTS

3rd June - Icon OTS

4th June - Oasis OTS

11th June - Rhapsody OTS

12th June - Wonder OTS

18th June - Rhapsody OTS

25th June - Rhapsody OTS

26th June - Wonder OTS

30th June - Liberty OTS

 

July 2025:

1st July - Icon OTS.  *NEW*

3rd July - Oasis OTS

9th July - Rhapsody OTS

15th July - Icon OTS

16th July - Rhapsody OTS

23rd July - Rhapsody OTS

28th July - Liberty OTS

30th July - Oasis OTS

August 2025:

5th August - Icon OTS.  *NEW*

6th August - Rhapsody OTS

7th August - Harmony OTS

13th August - Rhapsody OTS

20th August - Rhapsody OTS

25th August - Liberty OTS

26th August - Icon OTS

27th August - Oasis OTS

28th August - Harmony OTS

 

September 2025:

3rd September - Rhapsody OTS

6th September - Jewel OTS

10th September - Rhapsody OTS

16th September - Icon OTS.  *NEW*

17th September - Rhapsody OTS

18th September - Harmony OTS

24th September - Oasis OTS

 

October 2025:

1st October - Rhapsody OTS

7th October - Icon OTS

8th October - Rhapsody OTS

9th October - Harmony OTS

15th October - Rhapsody OTS

22nd October - Oasis OTS

28th October - Icon OTS.  *NEW*

29th October - Rhapsody OTS

30th October - Harmony OTS

 

November 2025:

9th November - Odyssey OTS

Quoting this older post. If Liberty will be calling in St. Marteen in summer 2025, I presume she isn’t sailing from Cape Liberty (that seems a bit far even for the 9-day itineraries). So, perhaps Freedom will be coming to Cape Liberty instead. 

16 hours ago, S.A.M.J.R. said:

Very simple IMO.

 

Let's say the lifeboat holds space for 100 passengers.  That either gives you 50 cabins with 2 people in them or 25 cabins with four in them.  So they outfit the ship with 25 cabins that can hold four people.  

 

But, not every one of those cabins will be filled.  So let's say 20 people take 10 of the cabins, 5 people take 5 cabins, 15 people take 5 cabins and 20 people take 5 cabins.  So, 25 cabins, but only 60 people.  Leaves a lot of extra space on the life boat.  

 

So the rooms are all taken, but lifeboat space isn't.  This allows flexibility if someone wants to add a person after booking.  

 

I'm sure Royal has math that shows how many berths will be empty.  They want to get as many people on board as they can.

 

Eh, it makes sense in my head. 😛

Absolutely. And sometimes the algorithm they use is imperfect (typically kid-heavy weeks) and there is no more room for extra guests last minute. 
 

As suggested, the simplest solution is to plan in advance and know who you are traveling with. 

12 minutes ago, mets123 said:

What's the difference between the ships? They're the same class. Freedom was supposed to be in Bayonne in 2021 but COVID took care of that.

Some dining, shows, appearance of pool deck since Freedom was amped. 

1 hour ago, CTCruiser76 said:

Just wondering if the release date of the 2025 Bermuda/Canada-New England/short Caribbean cruises are later than normal this year? It is strange that they are not out yet ??

 

We are here in the freezing temperatures and researching cruises and want to book a 2025 cruise to Bermuda, but nothing is available yet.......seems late to me, but this could be normal timing?

 

Wouldn't RCCL want cruises available now during wave season?

Usually releases in February.  Just a few weeks to go!

Have we confirmed Liberty OTS is covering this route again? Maybe one day they’ll send Freedom OTS instead. 

Are we presuming Liberty OTS returns for summer 2025 to sail to Bermuda and Canada?