First Time Cruising - Have a lot of questions....

[mgraham66]

Hi this will be our first time cruising and have a lot of questions and was hoping you all could help answer....

 

We are booked on Freedom of the Seas with adjoining balcony rooms on deck 7, does anyone know if the balcony divider could be opened so that we could adjoin balconies also?

 

MTD - right now we are confirmed for the 8:30 seating and was thinking about changing to the MTD, Does this mean we can show up at the main dining room any time we'd like without a reservation or seating time just by winging it every day? And if we stayed with the 8:30 seating, could we just have our own table for 5?

 

Can you get tickets to shows prior to boarding or is that all done after you board?

 

Wine Package....is it much of a savings and worth it? Can you open more than one bottle per night and if you did not finish your bottle can you bring the opened bottle back to your cabin? also Could 2 teens share 1 soda pack?

 

Are their more suits than tuxedos on formal nights and dresses vs. gowns? (don't want to stand out as first timers lol)

 

Any information you have would be appreciated, Thank you!...after many years of travelling to the caribbean, we finally decided to try cruising.

[johneeo]

Hi this will be our first time cruising and have a lot of questions and was hoping you all could help answer....

 

We are booked on Freedom of the Seas with adjoining balcony rooms on deck 7, does anyone know if the balcony divider could be opened so that we could adjoin balconies also?

 

MTD - right now we are confirmed for the 8:30 seating and was thinking about changing to the MTD, Does this mean we can show up at the main dining room any time we'd like without a reservation or seating time just by winging it every day? And if we stayed with the 8:30 seating, could we just have our own table for 5?

 

Can you get tickets to shows prior to boarding or is that all done after you board?

 

Wine Package....is it much of a savings and worth it? Can you open more than one bottle per night and if you did not finish your bottle can you bring the opened bottle back to your cabin? also Could 2 teens share 1 soda pack?

 

Are their more suits than tuxedos on formal nights and dresses vs. gowns? (don't want to stand out as first timers lol)

 

Any information you have would be appreciated, Thank you!...after many years of travelling to the caribbean, we finally decided to try cruising.

 

I believe there are no tix required for the shows on Freedom, only for Allure and Oasis. You just go and grab a seat. The earlier you get there, the better seats you get.

 

As for dressing up, I would say that you will probably see an even mix between tuxes and suits. Go with what you feel comfortable with.

[awboater]

We were on the Freedom last year, but can't help with all of your questions.

 

Seems I remember on the Freedom balcony they could not be opened. But some ships have this feature and some do not, so I will not say with 100% confidence the balcony can't be open, as it's hard to remember some of the features with each ship.

 

Have not done MTD, so cannot comment.

 

Show tickets are only required on the Freedom for the Ice Rink - at least when we were on board. All other shows were open seating. In contrast, for the Allure (which we were on in Jan), seating is limited so tickets were required for all of the shows.

 

We don't drink that much wine, we're more mixed-drink and beer.

 

It varies with the ship I think, but I'd say on average about 1/3rd Tux, 1/3rd Suit, and 1/3rd casual (meaning Windjammer) on formal nights.

 

Some of the longer cruises, where the passengers seem to be older and/or repeat cruisers, we see more Tuxes than on ships like the Allure where there are a lot of first-time passengers.

 

I bought an inexpensive Polyester Tux on eBay a few years ago when we first started cruising, for less than $100. Polyester is cheaper than Wool, but in the Caribbean, it's lighter weight and less uncomfortable to wear in the high temp-humidity. I wear the Tux for my wife during dinner, and one dance - then it comes off.

[sky0000547]

MTD - right now we are confirmed for the 8:30 seating and was thinking about changing to the MTD, Does this mean we can show up at the main dining room any time we'd like without a reservation or seating time just by winging it every day? And if we stayed with the 8:30 seating, could we just have our own table for 5?

 

If you just show up without reservations for MTD you might not gaurantee a table straight away. You might have to wait until a table of 5 is available just like in any other restaurants.

 

Are their more suits than tuxedos on formal nights and dresses vs. gowns? (don't want to stand out as first timers lol)

 

If you wear a tux/gown for formal nights, you will not stand out like a sore thumb. There will be many others wearing tuxes/gowns as well.

[cruiseguy1016]

Hi this will be our first time cruising and have a lot of questions and was hoping you all could help answer....

 

We are booked on Freedom of the Seas with adjoining balcony rooms on deck 7, does anyone know if the balcony divider could be opened so that we could adjoin balconies also? If I remember correctly, the dividers are not removable on Freedom class ships.

 

MTD - right now we are confirmed for the 8:30 seating and was thinking about changing to the MTD, Does this mean we can show up at the main dining room any time we'd like without a reservation or seating time just by winging it every day? And if we stayed with the 8:30 seating, could we just have our own table for 5? With MTD you can show up at any time. Without a reservation, you may have to wait a few minutes for a table to become available. If you would like a table for 5, call RCI or your TA and request it. There will be no guarantees though. When you first get on the ship, go to the dining room and see what/where your table is. If you don't like what you have, you can ask the Matre D' to change it.

 

Can you get tickets to shows prior to boarding or is that all done after you board? No.

 

Wine Package....is it much of a savings and worth it? Can you open more than one bottle per night and if you did not finish your bottle can you bring the opened bottle back to your cabin? also Could 2 teens share 1 soda pack? Yes, you can open more than one bottle. No, two teens can not share a soda package.

 

Are their more suits than tuxedos on formal nights and dresses vs. gowns? (don't want to stand out as first timers lol) You will see about 40% of the people in tuxes/gowns, 40% in suites/dresses and 20% in casual attire.

 

Any information you have would be appreciated, Thank you!...after many years of travelling to the caribbean, we finally decided to try cruising.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[HoopsandYoYo]

Wine packages work out to be the most economical way to purchase. Your package will be noted on your SeaPass card and you can order a bottle at any time. And yes, unfinished bottles may be taken back to your room.

 

It is also helpful to spend some time researching your trip by reading the Royal Caribbean Cruise Reviews. :)

[birdylady]

Welcome. We were on Freedom last week and had a balcony (not adjoining). Looking at the balcony divider, it does appear that it was potentially able to be opened. Since we didn't ask, I don't know if they will open it for you. I understand sometimes that's a ship based decision.

 

As far as formal nights are concerned, everyone is correct, you will see a whole range of dress. I know in hubby's case, his view is he only wears suits for weddings and funerals. He wore nice slacks and a button down shirt and he blended quite well. Although I actually didn't see a lot of tuxes, I did see a couple formal kilts.

 

I hope to get my review written and posted by the end of the weekend. Also, you might want to go to your Meet & Mingle. You'll get to know many other folks on your sailing and I'll bet many are repeat Freedom cruisers.

 

Erika

[one9marine]

we sailed on Freedom in april 07 and WERE ABLE to open the didvider to our BFF'S BALCONY.

 

on formal night you will see the gaumet from tuxs and ball gowns to dockers and capris. you're on vacation, be comfortable :D

[2cruisersB4kids]

First of all, congratulations on booking your first cruise--I hope you enjoy it!

I just wanted to comment on the MTD...we have done both MTD and late seating and I did NOT like MTD. We went on our last cruise with 2 other couples and figured MTD would work out well since we weren't sure what everyone's schedule would be, but after the first night we regretted it. It is not as flexible as RCI makes it out to be. For example, the first night we decided we wanted to eat dinner in MDR at 6:30--well we called at 5:30 to make our 6:30 dinner reservation and they said they didn't have any open tables for 6 people until 9pm that night! We ended up just making a standing 8:30pm reservation for every night of the cruise (which RCI still messed up one night so we had to wait 30min to be seated).

After having done both MTD and a specific seating time I have decided we will avoid MTD on future cruises. It is a lot less hassle to stick with a specific dining time (also because they coordinate with show times).

[mgraham66]

Thank you all very much for you input, sounds like I might stick with my 8:30 seating and see if my T/A could request our own table....You were all very helpful!