Impressions of my first RC cruise! FOS May 24-31

[BamaGuy44]

I'll try to do a trip report later, but for now just a review from the perspective of someone whose only cruising has been with Mickey and Co. I'll compare the 2 lines since I see a lot of people asking about it. It will be a bit rambling since I don't have much time. :(

 

Let me just say we had an excellent cruise and we are already looking into finding a time to cruise on Oasis when she moves to PC. Any negatives I give are minor nitpicks only!

 

It was me, 46, DW 46, and DS 18 who just graduated from HS. We have done 4 previous cruises, all on DCL. We had a D1 balcony on Deck 9 midship.

 

First ever with RC so no reports on the Diamond Lounge or suite benefits :)

We average about 1 drink per day each, so no drink package for us, just the soft drink package. We enjoyed using the freestyle machines, and they seemed to be working and well stocked all week.

 

Embarkation: We all agreed the RC process was much smoother and more efficient than DCL. I hate their boarding process, with everyone milling in a terminal with almost no seating, and the cattle call they do based on boarding pass numbers.

 

The ship: We thought the ship was beautiful and well designed. We don't use the pools that much but the pool areas on Disney are pretty sad, IMO. Much bigger, nicer pools and hot tubs on Freedom. The H2o zone looked really fun for the kids. The water coasters on DCL are pretty cool but give me the rock wall and flow rider any day :cool: My son and I had a blast on the flow rider several times during the week. Lines were reasonable, 10 minute waits or so between rides I'd say

 

Food: No complaints really. MDR and buffet I would say are at least equal to DCL. We did MTD and absolutely loved it. Never had to wait, even without reservations and sat in the same spot each time, right by the windows, with the same wait staff who were very good. This cruise was about 95% full according to our servers. We got a discount the first night at Sabor and love LOVED it. We love Mexican food and I was really hoping it would get added during the dry dock. Service was good and everything we tried was fresh and delicious. We went back for lunch on the last sea day and continued to love it :D

 

My wife did comment there seemed to be better pastries and bread on the DCL buffets and I agree with that. We went to WJ for dinner one night close to closing time and some of the items were cold and had been sitting a while. I will go earlier in the future.

 

Stateroom: No big complaints. It was smaller than a similar cabin on DCL square footage wise, but we didn't notice it. Well laid out with plenty of storage. Balcony was a good size. We really did miss the split bathroom you get on DCL. That really makes things easier with 3 people in the room. And I was surprised there wasn't a curtain that went all the way across the room to divide it. We missed that for getting changed, with our son sharing the room.

 

Smoking: We were a bit worried about it since we've never been a ship with a casino and we are fairly sensitive to smoke and find it very unpleasant. It was not an issue for us at all, even in the casino. I could smell the smoke in there of course, but there was no cloud hanging in the air or anything like that. And I could spend some time in there and not leave smelling like smoke, so I was pleased. Never smelled it on the Promenade at all.

 

Ok that's enough for now LOL. Feel free to ask about anything else I haven't mentioned. Formal night, shorts in the MDR, etc :cool:

[jillpra]

I'm assuming shorts were allowed for men then in the MDR on nights other than the formal ones, of course?

[Clarea]

I'm assuming shorts were allowed for men then in the MDR on nights other than the formal ones, of course?

There are normally signs stating that shorts are not permitted in the MDR for dinner on any night. However there are so many of the "rules don't apply to me" folks now, that Royal has given up on enforcing anything. You can probably go nude if you want.

Edited June 1, 2015 by clarea

[Sherri914]

There are normally signs stating that shorts are not permitted in the MDR for dinner on any night. However that are so many of the "rules don't apply to me" folks now, that Royal has given up on enforcing anything. You can probably go nude if you want.

 

I literally just LOL'd!!!!! Best. Reply. Ever. :D:D:D

[BamaGuy44]

I'm assuming shorts were allowed for men then in the MDR on nights other than the formal ones, of course?

 

 

Yes I don't think they were turning anyone away. I didn't see any shorts on formal night and I'll say overall the percentage of people dressed formally on those nights was pretty high, I saw very few families not dressed very nicely. More formal dress than I saw on our DCL formal nights for sure.

[FlyStef]

Glad you had a good time! Sounds like a lot of fun! It's always interesting for me to read reviews from people who have cruised Disney, and how it compares to the other lines. I have yet to sail DCL or RCCL (first in Nov), but the debate within my family is always quite strong.

 

I have family who work for the mouse, who swear nothing compares to the mouse and will only sail the mouse, and I have a husband and father who want a casino, and balk at mickey prices. So my immediate family is hitting RCCL this year, and my extended family is hitting DCL later.

 

Who knew planning a family cruise would wind up so divisive!?

[lyban]

Glad you enjoyed your cruise.

Did you find deck 9 à good choice for your balcony cabin. . How far from elevators were You , did you find it convient to take stairs to some decks

[BamaGuy44]

Glad you had a good time! Sounds like a lot of fun! It's always interesting for me to read reviews from people who have cruised Disney, and how it compares to the other lines. I have yet to sail DCL or RCCL (first in Nov), but the debate within my family is always quite strong.

 

 

 

I have family who work for the mouse, who swear nothing compares to the mouse and will only sail the mouse, and I have a husband and father who want a casino, and balk at mickey prices. So my immediate family is hitting RCCL this year, and my extended family is hitting DCL later.

 

 

 

Who knew planning a family cruise would wind up so divisive!?

 

 

My wife is a big Disney person, and she was afraid nobody could live up to DCL's service, etc. She was very impressed by how good and friendly the service was on RC by our room steward, servers, etc.

 

For my family, with no young kids, honestly I would pick RC over Disney even if the price was the same. With young kids Disney is hard to beat, no doubt. Im sure the kid clubs on RC are great, but the the theming and design on DCL are so over the top and elaborate, your jaw hits the floor when you walk in there.

 

But I've read that a lot of kids prefer the way the RC clubs activities are. The good news is you can't really go wrong on either line, IMO!

[BamaGuy44]

Glad you enjoyed your cruise.

 

Did you find deck 9 à good choice for your balcony cabin. . How far from elevators were You , did you find it convient to take stairs to some decks

 

 

We liked deck 9. We were mid ship but closer to aft. It was only 2 decks up to the windjammer and pool so we usually took the stairs. Going down 4 decks to the promenade was no problem, going up we usually took the elevators to save my wife's gimpy knees.

 

We purposely got a room close to the elevator, which was nice. 9318 was our cabin.

[Formerly known as Seabee]

Thanks for the review and RTR!!

[rkak]

Glad you enjoyed it all!

 

We're going in August. So I wondered if they had a Prohibition Party, Glow night, White night, Martini tasting, etc. Did you do them?

[matondo]

How would you compare the entertainment?

[cajuncowgirl13]

I have cruised Disney and I loved it!!! My first Royal Caribbean cruise is in December on the freedom [emoji4] !!!! My question is on formal nights what did the guys mostly wear??? Tux, dress pants and sports coat, or just nice shirt with tie (of course dress pants)

 

 

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[BamaGuy44]

Glad you enjoyed it all!

 

We're going in August. So I wondered if they had a Prohibition Party, Glow night, White night, Martini tasting, etc. Did you do them?

 

They had a 70's Party in the Promenade, a Dreamworks parade, and some other stuff. Didn't see any of the other stuff you mentioned in the Compass, but they may have it I'm not sure. We didn't go tot the 70's thing but we watched for a few minutes from above the promenade. It looked silly and fun, about what you'd expect. Lots of people dressed up having a good time.

[BamaGuy44]

How would you compare the entertainment?

 

We enjoyed the shows we saw, but honestly the theater, talent level of the performers, and the production values of the stage shows on Disney blows away what we saw on Freedom. I expected it, Disney is an entertainment company first. The live music RC use for their shows is a nice touch though. Much more live music around the ship than we saw on Disney.

 

I hear really good things about the adapted Broadway shows like Chicago etc on some other ships but haven't seen them.

 

I will say the ice show was very well done and very impressive what they can do on a small rink on a moving ship.

 

There was a magician who was very good, and a comedian who was just ok.

 

They ran quite a few game shows like love and marriage (which every line does I think), Friendly Feud, Minute to win it, etc. they were all well done and the entertainment staff did a great job. All had fun personalities and were enthusiastic.

 

Casey Pelter was our CD and he is a very funny guy with a good personality. He did a nice job.

[BamaGuy44]

I have cruised Disney and I loved it!!! My first Royal Caribbean cruise is in December on the freedom [emoji4] !!!! My question is on formal nights what did the guys mostly wear??? Tux, dress pants and sports coat, or just nice shirt with tie (of course dress pants)

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

I can only speak for our cruise, but most of the men and older boys were in suits or jacket and tie with khakis. Saw a few tuxes, but mostly suits or shirt and tie.

 

I'd say the percentage of men in jackets on formal night was higher than we saw on Disney.

 

I think you'll enjoy the Freedom. My wife did and she loves Disney more than most! :eek:

[2chiefs]

We enjoyed the shows we saw, but honestly the theater, talent level of the performers, and the production values of the stage shows on Disney blows away what we saw on Freedom. I expected it, Disney is an entertainment company first. The live music RC use for their shows is a nice touch though. Much more live music around the ship than we saw on Disney.

 

I hear really good things about the adapted Broadway shows like Chicago etc on some other ships but haven't seen them.

 

I will say the ice show was very well done and very impressive what they can do on a small rink on a moving ship.

 

There was a magician who was very good, and a comedian who was just ok.

 

They ran quite a few game shows like love and marriage (which every line does I think), Friendly Feud, Minute to win it, etc. they were all well done and the entertainment staff did a great job. All had fun personalities and were enthusiastic.

 

Casey Pelter was our CD and he is a very funny guy with a good personality. He did a nice job.

 

I agree with BamaGuy44. We were on the same cruise. It was one of the best we've been on with the exception of the headliners. They were just OK. I've seen a lot better. Another note for us personally, we had lousy service in the MDR this time. Just our bad luck to have AWOL Head Waiter and Assistant waiters. Our waiter was OK but he couldn't keep up with the slack from the Head and Assistant....

 

We tried the SABOR Mexican restaurant one night and really liked it. Funny thing, our head waiter was there too eating his own dinner......

[silentbob007]

The newer the ship, the better the shows (IMO). I'll take the worst full musical over the best hour-long smash-up of tunes with a single staircase that is wheeled out fur each number to give the actors something to do. ;)

[mominva]

We are going on FOS in July with 3 teens. One daughter is 18 and I was wondering how your 18 year liked it. Did he go to the mingle set up for just 18-20 year olds? This is the first year she won't qualify for the teen clubs.

[BamaGuy44]

We are going on FOS in July with 3 teens. One daughter is 18 and I was wondering how your 18 year liked it. Did he go to the mingle set up for just 18-20 year olds? This is the first year she won't qualify for the teen clubs.

 

He had a great time. He's somewhat introverted and isn't the "meet and mingle" type, so he didn't go to the mixers. He liked hanging in the Promenade sipping a Starbucks and people watching or reading. He also enjoyed the game shows, flow rider, climbing wall, arcade, etc. He met a couple of boys his age at the flow rider and they met up a couple of times and hung out.

 

We tend to do the active/adventure type excursions and he loves those.