Well, We've booked

[max44]

Hi Everyone,

 

Well, Weve only gone and done it :) Booked our 1st cruise on the RCI Freedom Of The Seas, Western Caribbean, April 08 It feels a little bit scary and exciting at the same time as we've never cruised before and we both tend to sufffer from seasickness, but it just seem so unmissable that we thought "whateva" lets just do it. We have booked a cabin/balcony in the middle of the ship and hope this will help with the seasickness along with the seabands, ginger pill's, dramine etc im planning on bringing along,:D i know im just looking on the bad side and we probably wont even have a hint of sickness but it does pay to be prepared :D

 

Has anyone been on this cruise? what trips do you recommend?

 

I know im going to have lots of questions in the coming month's so i will be visiting this site regulary, told hubby that i'll know the FOtheS like the back of my hand by the time we get on it.

 

Thanks everyone

[yogimax]

A good place to begin and provide hours of reading is to click on "reviews" and enter "Freedom of the Seas."

[DEBS@40]

Hi Everyone,

 

Well, Weve only gone and done it :) Booked our 1st cruise on the RCI Freedom Of The Seas, Western Caribbean, April 08 It feels a little bit scary and exciting at the same time as we've never cruised before and we both tend to sufffer from seasickness, but it just seem so unmissable that we thought "whateva" lets just do it. We have booked a cabin/balcony in the middle of the ship and hope this will help with the seasickness along with the seabands, ginger pill's, dramine etc im planning on bringing along,:D i know im just looking on the bad side and we probably wont even have a hint of sickness but it does pay to be prepared :D

 

Has anyone been on this cruise? what trips do you recommend?

 

I know im going to have lots of questions in the coming month's so i will be visiting this site regulary, told hubby that i'll know the FOtheS like the back of my hand by the time we get on it.

 

Thanks everyone

 

 

Ditto sounds like us never cruised b4 have got seasick in the past but though what the heck let's try it.

 

We're cruising on the Mariner on 30th December it's gonna be soon can't wait have scoured these threads for weeks, I learned loads I am sure you will too.:)

[petesweet]

Hi Everyone,

 

Well, Weve only gone and done it :) Booked our 1st cruise on the RCI Freedom Of The Seas, Western Caribbean, April 08 It feels a little bit scary and exciting at the same time as we've never cruised before and we both tend to sufffer from seasickness, but it just seem so unmissable that we thought "whateva" lets just do it. We have booked a cabin/balcony in the middle of the ship and hope this will help with the seasickness along with the seabands, ginger pill's, dramine etc im planning on bringing along,:D i know im just looking on the bad side and we probably wont even have a hint of sickness but it does pay to be prepared :D

 

Has anyone been on this cruise? what trips do you recommend?

 

I know im going to have lots of questions in the coming month's so i will be visiting this site regulary, told hubby that i'll know the FOtheS like the back of my hand by the time we get on it.

 

Thanks everyone

 

Wow! What a first cruise you are in for! I've not been on the Freedom, but I have been on the Explorer, which has many of the same wonderful features. You will learn so much from these boards.

 

Yes, do read a review of that wonderful ship. The next thing I would suggest is that you accumulate a little bit of onboard credit (OBC) to get some spending money. Easy to do.

 

First of all, open an RCCL Visa account ONLINE (not by phone). Get one for yourself (and another one for your husband if you plan to cruise again, which I'm sure you will do once you get hooked). You will get $150 OBC after the first thing you charge. I believe you can use the credit for just one of these on your upcoming cruise, but then you can use the credit for the other one on the next cruise you book.

 

For every 5000 points you accumulate, you get another $50 OBC. Be careful - probably not worth it unless you pay your card off each month, but even if you never use it again after charging a $5 item, you'll get that nice initial credit. After that, you get 1 point for each $1 spent and 2 points for each $1 spent on RCL.

 

OK - so now you have $150 free money. What else can we do to get you some money? Did you book through a travel agent (TA)? or through Royal Caribbean? If you booked directly through RCCL, check with some of the TAs that advertise on this board and ask them what they will give you if you transfer your reservation to them? You can make this transfer at any time before you make your final payment (which, of course, you will want to make on your new RCCL credit card in order to get double points:)). RCCL actually encourages you to do this. Depending on what type of cabin you have booked (in other words, how much this cruise is going to cost you:D ), you can probably find a TA who will give you some OBC. At the very least, you should get some kind of credit, whether it be OBC, prepaid gratuities, a free shore excursion, or something like that. If you're in an expensive cabin, it is not unreasonable to expect over $100 OBC for your cruise.

 

Plan ahead and expect that you will love this cruise so much you will want to do this again. With that in mind, while on board, you can book another cruise by paying as little as $100 deposit, thus guaranteeing you some OBC for your next cruise. The amount depends on the length of the cruise. As you read these boards, you will glean all the details you need to know about this type of thing.

 

My favorite part of the Explorer (also on your ship) is the Royal Promenade and the Promenade Cafe (free sandwiches, pastries, coffee/tea, and fruit while you sit and people-watch in a sidewalk cafe atmosphere), and my favorite show was the ice show. Incredible!!

 

Keep checking the price on your cruise. If it goes down, you can get a reduction on your reservation.

 

Happy sailing! Welcome to this wonderful site.

 

P.S. I wouldn't worry too much about seasickness. You probably won't even know you're on the ocean.

[petesweet]

I just noticed you are from the United Kingdom. Not sure if some of these tips apply to you. If they don't, I'm sorry. Maybe they will help someone else.

 

Being from the UK won't change your enjoyment of your wonderful cruise, however.:)