HesterMofet

Keep 'em quiet and seated, that's all I care about!

But seriously, I do not mind seeing little ones with activities at dinner to keep them busy and quiet. A two hour dinner is a long one for a toddler. Keeping them seated is paramount for their safety and the safety of others. I don't want to see anyone tripped!

On our last cruise there was a family with five children of various ages (under 12) and they were so well behaved we complimented them on it!

I say take the little ones to dinner because they will learn your expectations and it will make for a more pleasant cruising experience for you.

Both times we were on Freedom, it filled up really fast. Like if they start at 10:45, people start showing up at ten to sign up because they only do it for an hour. Every night we went down there, it was packed.

Obviously the Bahama's isn't one of them. And the guy in Midnight Express, that was 40+ years ago and he had POUNDS of hash on him to smuggle for profit......:rolleyes:

Yeah, I know.;)

All I can think of is how lucky they didn't end up like the guy in "Midnight Express." There are still places that would hang you upside down and beat your feet!

Why oh why would you be so stupid?

Some idiot of FOS was thrown off for deactivating the smoke detector so he could smoke pot. He might not have ever been caught for the pot smoking alone, but they sure as heck noticed when one of the smoke detectors is off line. There are thousands of sensors all over the ship.

Idiots. Ugh.

P.S. I think that whole hookah herb thing was a dry run for sneaking pot onto the ship. Another real brainiac.

You can find lanyards all over the place, especially on Ebay.

Searching Royal Caribbean on Ebay sure gives you an idea of all the stuff they've given away (or had purloined) over the years!

I like a lanyard during the day to go from room to pool to shops, etc. I take it off when in port and I take it off when we go to dinner and DH carries one in his pocket. I really don't care if I look like a fashion plate or not on vacation!

I have to admit, when we went on our first cruise, we were late for muster. We had no idea yet about the layout of the ship and in total awe of its size and when the alarm went off we went into the hallway and everyone was already gone. We found an open door with a stairwell and started down it and a crew member found us and lead us out the door right by the Ben and Jerry's where we then high tailed it to the muster station. I was mega embarrassed!

Needless to say, on our second cruise we were on time!

However, there was an Irish couple at our second muster who wanted to argue about giving up their drinks! The said the bartender said they could bring them!

Thanks. I figured it might just be a regular-every-five-years kind of dry dock, but I was curious if there was anything other than the usual refurbs going on.

Still deciding on a balcony on Oasis, an interior on Quantum or a Southern Caribbean on a smaller ship.

Besides switching to Cats from Hairspray, what else is going on? We are planning our next cruise for after the refurb, so we'd like to know.

Thanks.

On our second cruise, we went to both Portofino and Chops. They were both excellent. If I only had the choice of one, I would choose Chops. It definitely has a more upscale feel, like a Ruth's Chris and the price is right. It would be the perfect place for a special evening.

However, I was not disappointed in the MDR food. I expected Chili's quality before we went and I found it to be much better than that.

I'm probably the only person who liked Cats up until "Memory." Can't stand that song and thought the whole thing would have just been better as a review of the TS Eliot stuff than trying to put a story with it. Maybe that means I'll make it to Sorrentos before the rest of the passengers get there for a snack. :)

But why not something newer? I was hoping for Wicked on Quantum!

I guess I should just be glad it is not Annie. (Yeah, more songs about orphans and child abuse!)

Thanks so much for the info! I look forward to trying it!

How much does it cost to do the zip line on Oasis? What is the weight limit? 200 or 250?

Thanks.

Following your posts! I have really enjoyed it so far!

I was going to ask if the brunette was a model, but you answered that for me!

The library on 7 overlooking The Promenade.

The one on our second cruise on FOS was so big it was in the Arcadia Theatre!

Grab a couple of free drinks and snacks, hang out a bit and listen to the officers thank you and some music.

You can come and go as you please. I thought it was fun, but then again, I like things such as the Captain's champagne reception, etc. But if I had missed it to do something better, I would not be upset.

Oh, adding that you also get to hear of all the people on your cruise who have been on whopping numbers of cruises! It's amazing to see the Pinnacle folks with thousands of points! They get champagne and flowers and applause and the rest of us get to go, "Da*n, I'll never have that many points!" :)

In St. Thomas we went on the BOSS underwater scooter. They take you out to an area where you snorkel while one group is on the scooter and then you trade places. You get to drive around underwater, which was a lot of fun. There are divers that are around in case you get int trouble.

http://www.bossusvi.com is their website.

Not earth-shatteringly exciting, but lots of fun and different from anything we had done before.

Royal is fantastic about accommodating people with allergies.

My husband has an allergy to shellfish. I don't mean he "doesn't like it." I mean he can swell up and go into anaphylactic shock. The only time we had any problems was in the Windjammer where there were some noodles that had all (we thought) the allergens listed on it and he took a bite and there was some kind of shrimp in it. He immediately spit it out and took a Benadryl and we spoke to the management about it. He was fine. The next cruise the noodles were marked as having shellfish in them. Yes, we took a risk and should have asked specifically, but in my opinion they were very responsive.

He also has an allergy to cocoa/chocolate that will give him migraines with stroke like symptoms. There is a lot of "hidden" cocoa in items and RCI was very careful with everything. If they weren't sure, we didn't eat it.

The head waiter greeted us every night and interacted with the waiter to ensure we had what we wanted and that it was safe.

We could not be more pleased with our interactions.

We enjoyed it, especially the bridge tour. However, we got nothing like Norbert's Niece at the end, just a glass of champagne. We did get the more expensive tour that was 180 per person and included dinners at Chops and Portofinos.

I would do it again on another ship, absolutely!

Ship - Freedom of the Seas

Deck - 7

Stateroom # - 7308

Stateroom Category – E2

Starboard or Port Side - Starboard

Quiet Stateroom? (With comments on problems) – Quiet, could hear some foot traffic, but floor is sandwiched between two other stateroom floors.

Was stateroom a connecting stateroom? - No.

Balcony View - Great view, no problems

Balcony Size? Normal or oversized for class? - Normal

Was wind a problem? - No.

If an aft cabin, was soot a problem? - N/A

Any specific problems with this cabin? - None.

Any other comments? So nice, we stayed in it twice! Good location, quick walk to elevators and stairs.

That's weird. We booked it through RCCL when we went last fall, no problem.

I have to tell you, if you do get to go, it is a LOT of fun!

They don't have cameras and try to sell you pictures or video, so bring your own underwater camera and they will take pics of you.

The guys running it were hilarious and very patient!They even pick you up and drop you off right at the dock on their boat.

Feel free to ask if you have any questions about this excursion.

Look, TSA and customs may have gone through your wife's panties before you even board the boat.

My philosophy is that I am not bringing any contraband because 1) it's stupid and 2) I have a lousy poker face and would immediately start with the sweating and the heart pounding a la Midnight Express.

I do feel bad for the inspectors, though, as we usually throw all of our dirties in one bottom drawer. :eek:

Bottom line: their boat, their rules, the end.

Most likely a scam. They say you've won a cruise and then when you call you have to pay port fees and taxes UP FRONT. That doesn't sound too bad until they tell you that you need to give them three dates you can go. Oh, darn! Nothing available on anything during that time unless you upgrade and end up paying list price for the whole thing. If you don't pay for the upgrade and let the time lapse (you have a year to take the cruise) then they keep the taxes and port fees.

DH won a three day cruise in a charity auction we attended and that turned out to be the scam. Actually, I should thank them because DH then promised me a cruise and that's what got us on our first RCI FOS!

We were there for about 4 hours and did not see everything.

Thanks for the advice. We will make sure to ask for that for future cruises so it doesn't happen again!

I know they have to share it, but I really don't like the inconvenience of having to carry cash around, so we always tip a buck per drink on the receipt. There may be a cruise where we can't afford the extra and the 15% will have to do then. I won't feel guilty, but I do like to give it when I can. Those folks work hard to make sure we have a good cruise!