MNelson486

Yes, I sailed on the refurbished Paradise.

Guy's and Blue Iguana were open for business when we got on. Also the deli -- I love the turkey sandwich!

I decided to book in the Havana area -- as I do not want to fight for a chair on lido by the pool.

I am cheap so I booked 2 Havana Inside cabins for myself, hubby,, 12 year old son, and 16 year old daughter. We are going at a time (thanksgiving) where they will be tons of kiddos, so I am definitely trying to avoid craziness.

This is also my first time on a bigger ship -- Horizon. We will see how we like that!

Thanks!

I have been checking daily! I just got it for the Horizon March 2019.

These boards are so handy!

Thank you.

My kids were in a separate cabin -- and because I linked the accounts and used the same credit card for all of us, I could see their spending on the HUB app.

It was super easy to do -- and VERY helpful. My kids had a limit and did not go over it -- I would say -- I see you spent $8.00 in the Arcade, did you have fun? They were like -- wow! I just went there 2 hours ago.

VERY HANDY

I had this cabin on the Valor and it was great. I am booked with my daughter for April 2019 on the Glory and I snagged it.

I will say -- it did not show as available on the Carnival website, but it did show it on expedia.com -- so once I saw it, I called Carnival and requested it.

Hello,

I just got off the Paradise and it was wonderful! This was my first small ship in a while, but I very much liked the feel. It did not seem too crowded (except in the pool on the last sea day -that was packed!)

I enjoyed Guy's Burgers and Blue Iguana. There was not a wait for either when I was there. My son reported that the water slides were great. I did not visit/use them.

I was impressed with the size of my porthole cabin. We had plenty of room, I would have like a chair/table since we had the space!

The crew was awesome and the ship looked very good.

If you have specific questions, I will try to answer.

Thanks!

Hello!

We just did this last week. They gave me a key to my kiddos room and my son got an extra key to the other room.

We went to guest services -- it was VERY easy! I did carry 2 keys as did my son.

I appreciate all the information on this thread -- but I have more questions. We are travelling with another family. We booked separately -- they used a travel agent, we booked through Carnival.

I added their booking information to my cruise manager. I tried to call Carnival, but they said I needed the other groups Booking number AND THEIR PIN. I am not sure that is a great idea to give each other our PINs. So it seems like we are left with emailing the Maitre D the week before?

Any other ideas?

Does anyone know if the Paradise will get the same items in drydock?

I would really like the big TV on the Lido!

I am on an earlier cruise after Dry dock -- any idea where these new balconies are going to be?

I would love to hear about the Paradise. I have been on the Liberty, Glory, Triumph, Miracle, Destiny -- but this is a smaller ship for us

The dates work out and the ports are my fave -- GC and Cozumel and I want to leave from Tampa -- but will we have enough to do on board?

I know this ship does not have the on deck screen for movies, right? Is that something people miss? I also see it is going to dry dock soon -- any chance for a Guy's?

Hello All,

I have searched previous threads, but did not find an answer to my question. We always fly in a day early so that is not a problem.

We get back to Fort Lauderdale on the Conquest on a Saturday. I would like to fly out of MIA on a 12:30 PM flight. If I do self-assist, my family has TSA pre-check -- is this doable? (We would take a taxi). Otherwise I would most likely have to spend another night -- we did that this Thanksgiving, but I was hoping to avoid it next year.

thoughts?

I have not been to Balmoral -- but I have done the Colonial Hilton. We enjoyed the Hilton, but not for the beach -- it is not great. Basically we spent the day at the pool.

I just got off the Freedom of the Seas. It was a very good trip I have also been on the Liberty, Glory and Valor which are similar to the Conquest.

Freedom is much bigger and has some interesting features. The pros of the ship:

1. We loved our cabins (Interior Promenade). It is an interior with a window over the promenade -- which is like an interior main street that houses a pub, wine bar, shops, pizza place, Ben and Jerry's, Cupcake shop etc. We had adjoining cabins with our 2 kids -- so much better to have more space!

2. Entertainment -- the shows were great -- I especially enjoyed the ice skating show and the Broadway themed show. The theater always had seats available.

3. There are more things for kids to do -- flow rider, Rock wall, ice skating. the arcade was bigger also. My younger son loved the kids club -- there was more space for them then on Carnival.

Cons:

I honestly think the food on carnival is better in main dining room -- I especially miss warm chocolate melting cake and butter pecan ice cream. The pizza is WAY better on Carnival, and the food on the lido was better on carnival.

I will say that there are more specialty restaurants on the Freedom. We LOVED Sabor the mexican restaurant. The best thing my husband and I did was take the guacamole class. It was more of a demonstration, but you got all the food you wanted and drinks. I had several wonderful margaritas and the food was amazing. This was only $20 per person -- I think all the Margaritas my husband drank would have equalled that!.

The employees on Freedom were great -- I chose this cruise because I wanted the ports and the timing was right -- I would cruise on RCCL again if it met my needs. I think it was also fun to try a bigger ship.

The bigness was fine -- there were over 4000 people sailing with us, and it did not ever feel crowded -- which was great!

Good luck on whatever you decide. Both good choices!

I apologize in advance if this has been asked to death -- but I did do a search and did not find anything concrete.

On my Set Sail Pass for the Freedom of the Seas it gives a check in range of 12:30 to 4:30. Is that real or more of a suggestion?

We are Gold Crown and Anchor members if that matters -- I would like to get there around 11?

What do you think?

Thanks!

Can you post information on what the young teens have going on? 11-14? I would like to convince my daughter she should go there and hang out!

Hello!

I have only been on 2 short RCCL cruises and am gearing up for Freedom of the Seas in April. When I am on the ship -- where will I find a copy of the room service menu? On Carnival it is a piece of paper with all the papers you get in your cabin the first day.

Thanks!

Missy

Thanks for the information everyone!

I might be out of luck since I do already have a little onboard credit.

Hello All,

I am taking some friends on a quick girl's weekend. I am the only one who has used RCCL before. I noticed in the Crown and Anchor section that I can Bring a Friend and get some onboard credit. How does this work.

Online I added the friend who is sharing my cabin and that seemed to work fine. I also tried to put in one of the girls who is in the other cabin -- and it says I have to call? Do you think I will get "credit" for her too?

Thanks!

Missy

Hello!

I have only cruise on Royal Caribbean once before (usually go with Carnival) but I have a question.

Is there a way on the website to state how you want your cabin set up? With the beds together or separate? I can do that online with Carnival but cannot find it on RCCL -- perhaps I am looking in the wrong place?

Thanks!

Missy

I had one of those rooms on the Valor -- 7 day Southern Caribbean. I LOVED IT!

I am booked early saver -- the current sale price is higher then I paid but with the $50 credit it would be less. So can I price match and pay $30 more for the cruise to get the credit?

Then once the sale is over, I could price match down to my original price.

In other words -- I paid $767. Price is now $797 + $50 credit.

Can I price match to $797, get the credit -- and when the sale is over, price match down to $777 which is what the price has been for weeks and keep the $50 credit?

Hope that makes sense!

Missy

I am not a west coaster, but Southwest flies from Ontario I think.

I prefer Western route... I think the beaches are better. I love Grand Cayman, and CoZumel. Belize is ok and Roatan is great.

We have cruised many times at Thanksgiving and it has been awesome. flights can be more expensive however and the turkey dinner is not great.

I started this thread long ago and was surprised to see it pop back up.

I finally got to stay in one of these cabins last summer -- 9200 on the Valor. It was AMAZING and I would totally do it again!

Missy

This was an awesome tip! I just joined M life and called the number and I am all set! Cruise Critic is the greatest!