Freedom from the Polar Vortex... The GDF family sails RCCL

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

RCCL Enchantment of the Seas, 4 day Bahamas cruise from Canaveral including the RC private island there.  We are celebrating my inlaws 50th anniversary....so we have 4 cabins booked for INC's family. 

 

Awesome!

 

You are going to have such a blast.  Cruising is great with a group.

 

TCD

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

I've never had dinner in the Windjammer. That food looks great!

 

We had good experiences. I need to fix Jason's salad picture. They serve some of the soups entrees of the main dining room menu. It's a good option for a quick meal. 

 

Great update.

 

I really like how RCCL handles the whole meal thing.  I like going to the main dining room with the family, but I would love all the options that RCCL gives its passengers.

 

 

 

I haven't checked lately, but I did look during this past football season when I pulled up her epic video and found that she is still proudly serving her district.  What surprised me is that she is based in Jacksonville, but her district spreads as far to the west as Gainesville, and then stretches all the way south to include parts of Orlando.  Gerrymandering is supposed to be illegal, but look at her district and tell me it wasn't drawn for her.  Who voted for this lady?  Wait.  I forgot.  We are in Florida.

 

Yes, I did miss the crocks.  My bad.  I did own a pair once when they were more popular than they are now.  I hated them.  I do have a pair of Gator crocks flip flops though. 

 

TCD

 

I've heard the main dining room food is better on Disney, but we really enjoyed almost everything we tried. And we enjoyed all the options. 

 

We have some districts that look like that in GA too. 

 

Those are UGA Crocks, but it doesn't make it better. 

 

Thanks for the buffet pics and information Kelly.  I am less than 60 days from our cruise now!  It's paid in full and all we have to do is wait for departure day. 

 

YAY!!!!!!!!!! That's exciting. You guys will have a lot of fun! 

 

Good update!  Ray and I wound up getting something from room service every night when we were on the Dream, even though we also ate dinner every night.  But it was too much fun to not do!

 

 

Man, I couldn't be more jealous!

 

Yeah, I'll admit that I was only semi-hungry when we ordered. ha ha ha 

 

We really liked doing breakfast too. It made the morning less rushed. 

 

RCCL Enchantment of the Seas, 4 day Bahamas cruise from Canaveral including the RC private island there.  We are celebrating my inlaws 50th anniversary....so we have 4 cabins booked for INC's family. 

 

Trip Report! 

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

Awesome!

 

You are going to have such a blast.  Cruising is great with a group.

 

TCD

 

When we go November 2015 (look I got the date right), it's going to be my mom, my brother, and the 3 of us. My aunt, uncle, and 2 cousins are also looking at joining us. I don't like to do Disney with big groups, but a cruise seems like it would be perfect. 

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

 

I've heard the main dining room food is better on Disney, but we really enjoyed almost everything we tried. And we enjoyed all the options. 

 

 

I doubt that Disney is that much better.  I always enjoyed the food on our RCCL cruises.  DCL's food is good too, but I wouldn't say it is that much better.  Disney does have their casual dining venue-Cabanas- open at dinner.  But, it's not a buffet.

 

The room service offerings look comparable.

 

But on DCL you can get all the Mickey Premium Ice Cream Bars you can eat from room service.  That's hard to beat.

 

When we go November 2015 (look I got the date right), it's going to be my mom, my brother, and the 3 of us. My aunt, uncle, and 2 cousins are also looking at joining us. I don't like to do Disney with big groups, but a cruise seems like it would be perfect. 

 

We've cruised with other families and even done a few adult only cruises.  All of these were with set dining times.  The thing I liked about it is everyone could do their own thing or join up for activities during the day, but then all sit down together for a meal for dinner.  No planning about where or when to eat, which can be a pain with a big group.  I think it gets more complicated when there are choices for dinner, but that shouldn't be too hard to address.

 

TCD

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

I doubt that Disney is that much better.  I always enjoyed the food on our RCCL cruises.  DCL's food is good too, but I wouldn't say it is that much better.  Disney does have their casual dining venue-Cabanas- open at dinner.  But, it's not a buffet.

 

The room service offerings look comparable.

 

But on DCL you can get all the Mickey Premium Ice Cream Bars you can eat from room service.  That's hard to beat.

 

 

We've cruised with other families and even done a few adult only cruises.  All of these were with set dining times.  The thing I liked about it is everyone could do their own thing or join up for activities during the day, but then all sit down together for a meal for dinner.  No planning about where or when to eat, which can be a pain with a big group.  I think it gets more complicated when there are choices for dinner, but that shouldn't be too hard to address.

 

 

TCD

 

I did notice that their room service menus are nearly identical. Disney wins with the Mickey bars though! We never got a dessert from room service. Shame on us. It's probably because Jason and I developed a habit of picking up cookies and cookie bars at the cafe on the way to pick up Z.

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

It’s a happening Friday night at our house. Jason is out of town working, and Z is asleep, so you get an update!

 

Saturday, April 5^th

 

It’s our last day, and our anniversary. Bitter sweet. Since we didn’t have a specific time to get up and wanted to sleep in, we didn’t put out our room service hanger. We slept until about 9, and then I decided I’d go up to Windjammer to get some breakfast and bring it back. They have a huge breakfast selection, but I was balancing 3 plates. And besides, Z had been clear…. Eggs and meat candy.

 

After lounging a bit and eating, we got our swimsuits on and hit the pool. Z was about to report us to DFACS because he’d missed a day in the hot pool. We’re clearly awful parents.

 

So we hit the deck at PRIME CHAIR TIME. Poop. There were no chairs around of course. But there WAS some open real estate, and I’m smart, so I plopped my bag down in the empty space and went hunting. I thought an older couple behind us had extra chairs, but they were saving them…. For people who didn’t show up all day. I found one chair and dragged it over to our spot. That was fine for a bit. Then another one came open, and we were in business. Apparently, it was also beer 30.

 

 

The boy was happy.

 

 

Perfect!

 

 

But then he wanted ice cream. And the line was long.

 

 

But did you notice the employee working the machine? They did that during busy times, and that is smart!

 

The line moved quickly, and I got myself some too. Why not?

 

 

After my ice cream, I realized I hadn’t visited the adults only hot tubs that jut out from the sides of the ship. I needed to go there. So I did.  

 

They weren’t busy, probably because they were very hot, and so was the weather.

 

 

 

They’re covered.

 

 

And the view is cool!

 

 

After a drink, I headed back to the H2O Zone. I love this kid!

 

 

 

 

We ate lunch out at the pool. One thing I missed about Carnival was that they had a burger place on the pool deck. On the Freedom, we had to go into Windjammer to get food and bring it out. It wasn’t a huge deal because it was right behind us on the deck, but still.

 

We had ice shows reservations at 2:30. The ice show is the only show you have to reserve in advance on the Freedom. But before we got dressed for the ice show, we had some ogres to meet!

 

 

 

This is a good time to mention something that was disappointing that I don’t think I mentioned before. Usually there is a parade late on the first night and then a parade on the last night around 6:00 PM. On our sailing, they didn’t do the second parade. That was a huge bummer because we had missed the first one because Z was so tired. I can only think of one reason…. Because of a staffing issue, they had to move one set of ice shows from the first sea day to the last. There must be overlap in staff between the ice show and the parade.

 

We headed back to change for the ice show.

 

This view never gets old.

 

 

And that’s all for now because Jason took 200 pictures of the ice show. I’m not posting nearly that many, but it will get its own post. 

[Beckers 1,136]

This makes me want to cruise again.

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Fiona looks weird.  

[dvccamper 32]

That adult hot tub is calling to me. And partly due to your trip report I can happily say I will be able to fulfill that in roughly 8 months. We paid our deposit today for this very cruise the first week in January! We have been to WDW twice in the last year and DCL was just too expensive for 5 of us so we rented out our DVC points for the year and are using it towards the cruise. Of course we will fly down two days early because there's a very real risk having a snowstorm in Boston that could detain us. So we will probably spend a night or two in WDW, so it's all good.

So thank you Kelly!!

[momof3kids-Yvonne 594]

That adult hot tub is calling to me. And partly due to your trip report I can happily say I will be able to fulfill that in roughly 8 months. We paid our deposit today for this very cruise the first week in January! We have been to WDW twice in the last year and DCL was just too expensive for 5 of us so we rented out our DVC points for the year and are using it towards the cruise. Of course we will fly down two days early because there's a very real risk having a snowstorm in Boston that could detain us. So we will probably spend a night or two in WDW, so it's all good.

So thank you Kelly!!

Are you going with two rooms for the 5 of you or a family suite? We did the family suite and loved how spacious it was.

[dvccamper 32]

Are you going with two rooms for the 5 of you or a family suite? We did the family suite and loved how spacious it was.

The last time we cruised we got two connecting outside cabins. I was offered an upgrade to the suite but with three daughters we opted for having two bathrooms. This time my husband and I got a cabin with a balcony and the girls are right across from us in an inside cabin. I think if they were all still little the family suite would be great but my husband would go out of his mind now with all the hair straightening, makeup application and outfit changes that go on.

[GOBA Mom Lynn 18]

The food looks good at the Windjammer.  We'll probably eat all our dinners in the MDG, but I'm looking forward to the lunch buffets. 

I have a question about beverages.  On previous cruises I've been on, there were drink stations where you could get the "free" drinks.  Usually water, iced tea, lemonade and coffee.  Do they still have those?  I'm also thinking about bringing an empty water bottle to refill.  Do people do that? Do they sell bottles in the gift shop?

 

Looking forward to the ice show pics, too!

Too bad the cruise is almost over.  For us who like to read trip reports!

[momof3kids-Yvonne 594]

The last time we cruised we got two connecting outside cabins. I was offered an upgrade to the suite but with three daughters we opted for having two bathrooms. This time my husband and I got a cabin with a balcony and the girls are right across from us in an inside cabin. I think if they were all still little the family suite would be great but my husband would go out of his mind now with all the hair straightening, makeup application and outfit changes that go on.

I can understand that. Our girls were both not at the make-up wearing, hair needs to be just perfect stage when we went. Now if we get back on a cruise we might need to consider having two bathrooms as they will be older.

[DaveInTN 3,247]

I can understand that. Our girls were both not at the make-up wearing, hair needs to be just perfect stage when we went. Now if we get back on a cruise we might need to consider having two bathrooms as they will be older.

 

Having the two bathrooms on our cruise two years ago was great.  On this next one our older girls will be in separate cabins from us so we just have the two younger ones sharing our bathroom.  It's a good thing.  

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

Aren't sea days wonderful?  So fun and relaxing!  Looking forward to your ice show pictures.

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

According to all the fans of inferior schools who are jealous of the University of Florida (and I think that is everyone except members of the Gator Nation), Gator fans wear jorts and crocks.

This harkens back to the not distant past when UF routinely pounded the University of Georgia and FSU in football. The fans of those schools couldn't criticize the team that was consistently beating them, so they instead criticized the fan base.

The funny thing is that I have seen more jorts worn by FSU fans at their games then I have at The Swamp.

And people from Georgia calling out Floridians for being rednecks? I can't think of anything more ironic.

TCD

Ok. Thanks. I never knew that bit of college football trivia.

I guess Georgia fans are to good to wear jean shorts. Jorts.

[Katman1356...Jason 1,140]

Ok. Thanks. I never knew that bit of college football trivia.

I guess Georgia fans are to good to wear jean shorts. Jorts.

Hey Ray. You need to use a real computer and look at your tag...which points to your signature. LOL

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

Go ahead and make fun of my jean shorts, Jorts.

At least we don't have...

THE FIRST FAMILY OF GEORGIA

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

You guys may not wear Jorts. But maybe you should.

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

Oh wait. You guys do wear Jorts.

I could do this all day!

Besides it raises the reply count.

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

That adult hot tub is calling to me. And partly due to your trip report I can happily say I will be able to fulfill that in roughly 8 months. We paid our deposit today for this very cruise the first week in January! We have been to WDW twice in the last year and DCL was just too expensive for 5 of us so we rented out our DVC points for the year and are using it towards the cruise. Of course we will fly down two days early because there's a very real risk having a snowstorm in Boston that could detain us. So we will probably spend a night or two in WDW, so it's all good.

So thank you Kelly!!

Dvc camper,

I sent you a pm.

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

I love sea days.

It's 5 o'clock somewhere. So it's always beer 30.

The grill at the outside pool was used a lot by our group on our last cruise. Carnival Magic, I think.

So did the Ice cream machine. One sea day my nephew(15 yrs old at the time) was running around all day with kids he had met on board and they tried to see how many ice cream cones they could eat on that day. At dinner he said he wasn't feeling good and went back to his cabin. We found out the next day that he was in his cabin getting sick.

Great picture all around but I love the ones from the adult hot pool. Did it have a glass floor in it?

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

Ok just one more!

I only trying to get you to 400 replies.

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

This makes 399 replies and I just wanted to be fair. Ok not really I don't believe in being fair, it's just a great picture and shows what kind of Jorts not to wear.

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Ok just one more!

I only trying to get you to 400 replies.

 

 

Far be it for a Gator fan to come to the aid of a GA fan....but that pic is obviously Photoshopped.  Not that you didn't find several other good ones.  (And this one is funny nonetheless.