Lessofjess

We'll be at Grand Cayman in December and there will be SIX other ships in port. Royal excursions are going to Coral Beach, so we want to avoid that area.

Public Beach sounds like a good option if we want chairs/umbrellas and a chance to get food and drink. Cememtary Beach was another consideration - but no amenities there at all.

Any other beaches we should consider? We want less people, chair rental a plus but not required, nice to have toilet and food options nearby, but don't need anything fancy.

Does anyone know if someone has taken over Jacqui O's since it closed in June? We had such a wonderful time there and would have loved to go back. We're checking out the other recommendations listed above - but Jacqui O's was one of a kind.

St John's Trunk Bay is by far the most beautiful beach I've ever been to. St Thomas is much more commercial, but offers Magen's Bay. If you're looking for tranquil beach time - catch the ferry to St John and enjoy a peaceful day at Trunk Bay. Magen's Bay is gorgeous - but often more crowded. If you're looking for shopping, etc - St Thomas is a better choice.

We just came back from a holiday cruise that included St Maarten. While there is still visible hurricane damage, it was definitely ready for visitors! We easily grabbed a taxi and headed to Buccaneer Beach. Orient Beach isn't ready for visitors, and we were told Maho was mostly rock and not sandy (but the cruise ship did offer an excursion there)...

We enjoyed our day on the beach with no troubles. I can't speak to Pinel Island and Tintamarre, but the areas we visited were fine.

Is there a place to rent snorkeling equipment? We won't be bringing our own, so anywhere we go we'll need to rent.

We sailed on Legend earlier this year - a large group of 20 and we had 2 tables next to one another. One table sat a larger number of us (12, I think?) and the other table sat the rest of us.

It worked out fine - each night we just mixed up who sat where.

We sailed on a Vision class many years ago and we had 12 of us - all at one table.

Thanks for such a detailed review! The photos were awesome. I've sailed RCI 3 times, but never on a ship as large as Freedom.

We're doing the Thanksgiving 2015 cruise this year and bringing my sister and parents along. They are first-time cruisers...I know they'll love it!

We recently sailed on Legend (Panama Canal) - a much smaller ship. We sailed the Voyager class once, but that was several years ago. Did you ever feel that the ship was too crowded? We have kids using Adventure Ocean, but all our previous cruises were at off times and there were rarely more than 75-100 kids on board. I heard there maybe 700-1000 kids on board during Thanksgiving!

I don't have real little ones (youngest will be nearly 7), so I think they'll be fine. I'm curious if anyone else has experience with Thanksgiving sailing on a ship as large as Freedom?

@hlitner

What beach club did you end up at? We are in PV fro 7am-3pm and have families with young kids. We don't want to commit to an all day excursion, but would like to be able to get off the boat and spend some time on the beach.

My kids are a little older, so walking Malecon and ending at the beach sounds great... but for some of my fellow travelers, they may just want to hit the beach for a few hours.

What's the closest option? Thanks!

Thanks for all the info you guys... this will be my family's third cruise, and it was only on our last cruise that we left the safety net of Cruise excursions for going at it our own... due in large part to all the support on these boards! And you know what? It was great... we did just fine and saved tons of cash.

It sounds like Cabo's beach on our own will be easy enough. Thanks for all the info! We'll keep looking at PV. I was really disappointed to see that the pirate ship tour wasn't being offered.

Thanks for the extra info on your blog too!

My family is taking the RCI Panama Canal cruise departing Ft Lauderdale in late March. Our last 2 stops are in PV and Cabo... unfortunatley, we are only there for half days.

We are docked in PV departing at 3pm and tendered in Cabo, departing at 2:30pm.

We are hoping for some beach time - 2 adults and 4 kids aged 13-5. Will we have enough time to get from the pier and take a taxi to a beach and back? We don't need all day, but a few hours on the beach would be so nice.

We found a beach excursion offered through the boat in PV (unfortunately, they aren't offering the pirate ship :()

Cabo has me more concerned since we are only tendered... can we get to a beach and back? Are the water taxi's reliable? Should we book through a local?