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

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

I've eaten at Chops but never at Portofino's.  That food and the menu look delicious!

[DaveInTN 3,247]

No!! 

 

It can't be time for the last update. 

 

Look through that SD card again.  I bet there are some more pictures in there somewhere. 

[momof3kids-Yvonne 594]

No!!

It can't be time for the last update.

Look through that SD card again. I bet there are some more pictures in there somewhere.

Remember she had some from the Quest game, but since this is a family friendly board she isn't sharing them.

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Remember she had some from the Quest game, but since this is a family friendly board she isn't sharing them.

 

I'm betting Jason has a secret stash of pictures on his DSLR.  Spill 'em. 

[momof3kids-Yvonne 594]

I'm betting Jason has a secret stash of pictures on his DSLR. Spill 'em.

Really. Are we to believe there were not any good people watching photos?

Dave's right (don't let that go to your head) you are holding out on us.

[dvccamper 32]

Even though I'm sorry to see your report nearing it's end it's okay because I will probably go back and reread it at some point.  I've been reading trip reports over on cruise critic for the western Caribbean FOS.  I think I've even read a couple that took place the same cruise you were on (didn't you see a medical helicopter your day at Labadee? Some guy over on cruise critic had it in his report, too).  So now I've got all these trip reports swimming around in my head and I want to go back and take note of the good excursions.

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

I may start skipping the end of reports, makes me sad lol!

 

I've really enjoyed reliving it, so it makes me sad too. But don't skip the end... you'll miss dessert! It was gooooood. 

 

I've eaten at Chops but never at Portofino's.  That food and the menu look delicious!

 

We really enjoyed the meal, definitely the best meal we had and worth the extra cost. A meal like it on land would be way more than $40.  

 

No!! 

 

It can't be time for the last update. 

 

Look through that SD card again.  I bet there are some more pictures in there somewhere. 

 

I have more pictures, but they're mostly pictures of the same things.  

 

Remember she had some from the Quest game, but since this is a family friendly board she isn't sharing them.

 

Well, there are those! Ha ha! People can see them if they really want though. Just remember, we warned you. 

 

I'm betting Jason has a secret stash of pictures on his DSLR.  Spill 'em. 

 

I could share the teeth picture. 

 

Really. Are we to believe there were not any good people watching photos?

Dave's right (don't let that go to your head) you are holding out on us.

 

I actually didn't take many of those this trip! I REALLY wanted to take pictures of this chair hogging couple behind us one day, so I could shame them, but I think I was too relaxed to be mean. 

 

Even though I'm sorry to see your report nearing it's end it's okay because I will probably go back and reread it at some point.  I've been reading trip reports over on cruise critic for the western Caribbean FOS.  I think I've even read a couple that took place the same cruise you were on (didn't you see a medical helicopter your day at Labadee? Some guy over on cruise critic had it in his report, too).  So now I've got all these trip reports swimming around in my head and I want to go back and take note of the good excursions.

 

Yes, you are right... there are 2-3 reviews on Cruise Critic from my sailing. I could have posted this there, but they only allow 6 pictures per post. Plus, I like you guys better. :) Feel free to ask anything you think would help you! 

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

It’s official…. We’ve reached the end. Sad day.

 

Saturday, April 5^th continued

 

If you’ve been reading along, when we left off, Jason and I were eating dinner on our anniversary. We’d just consumed about a thousand appetizers, so it’s time for the main course(s)!

 

I mentioned before that they had a lobster tail special at Portofino that night. I wanted lobster, but I had a problem. I also wanted a steak, and so did Jason. It’s general practice on RCCL that at specialty restaurants you can have as many appetizers and desserts as you want, but you can only have one entrée. But, it doesn’t hurt to ask, right? So we did, and our waiter said that we could order our steaks and that he would also put in an order for the lobster tail duo which we could split. Winning!

 

Here’s my steak. It was good… not to die for, but good. Being Big Green Egg people, Jason and I are picky about our steaks. We usually only order steak at places like Ruths Chris or Bones. This was not as good as those, but was better than many restaurants

 

 

Lobster tails. Yum! Cooked perfectly.

 

 

The sides were very good as well.

 

Then it was time for dessert. They had crème brulee, and I’d heard from another couple that it was the BEST. Remember, I had pretty disappointing crème brulee at the beginning of the cruise in the main dining room. This time they didn’t disappoint!

 

 

It was fantastic! And I thought the chocolate strawberries and anniversary message were a nice touch.

 

Jason got the dessert sampler. Fancy.

 

 

I tried some, and it was very tasty too!

 

Here’s a shot of the restaurant as we were leaving. Very nice. We were the last out but were never rushed.

 

 

And that’s all I’ve got from Saturday night. We went back to the room to put our suitcases out, made a couple stops at our usual places to have some drinks and say bye, and headed to bed.

 

 

Sunday, April 6^th Debarkation Day

 

RCCL offers two different options for debarkation.

 

One option is self carry. This is good for people who pack fairly light and especially good for people who need to leave super early for a flight or those who would like to linger or don’t want to have a set time to leave. Basically, you carry your own bags off and can leave any time. Jason and I considered doing this, and then our sanity returned. We had a lot of luggage!

 

The other option is that they give you a set time to be at a meeting point to leave the ship. You leave your tagged luggage out the night before, and then go to the meeting place in the morning. You then leave when your number is called. That’s what we did. Our time slot was 8:30 and we were supposed to report to the Champagne Bar.

 

We arrived a few minutes early to hear some directions. Z’s friend from Adventure Ocean was in charge there. He enjoyed seeing her again.

 

Some last pictures on the ship.

 

 

You can see we didn’t wait long.

 

 

There’s a bit of a line, but it moved quickly.

 

 

Booo Hoooo, there’s no turning back!

 

 

We got a luggage valet to bring our bags through customs and to our car. Jason and I were laughing at that point that we had even considered trying to manage them and a 5 year old on our own. His tip was worth it!

 

Our last look at the Freedom of the Seas

 

 

The ride home was pretty uneventful. We hit some traffic, but not nearly as bad as I thought. We did see a lot of blowouts while in Florida.

 

A shot of some impressive towing from the way home.

 

 

In Closing….

 

We REALLY enjoyed our cruise on the Freedom. I think Jason enjoyed it more than he thought he would. We are excited to return with my mom for Thanksgiving in 2015 (got the year right).

 

My thoughts on…

 

The drink package- The premium package was worth it for us especially with the inclusion of soda and bottled water. Since it includes tips, a few beers at the pool and wine at dinner will make you break even. Drinks afterwards are adding to the value.

 

Z’s soda package- Not worth it. I thought it would be a treat, but since he doesn’t drink soda at home, he wasn’t too interested in it. There are so many drinks for free: milk, juice, flavored waters (which were his favorite) that we lost money on the package.

 

Not eating in the Main Dining Room every night…. This was at the request of Jason, and I actually enjoyed it too. It’s nice to hang out at the pool when you’re the only ones there. I think we ate in the main dining room 3 times, Windjammer 2 times, room service one night, and one night at Portofino. Windjammer actually has a lot of the same food as the MDR during dinner, so it’s a good option for those who don’t want to dress for dinner or prefer a quick meal.

 

My Time Dining- We loved the flexibility, and the waiters still remembered us and gave us great service. While you can make reservations, it doesn’t seem necessary.

 

Our excursions- We enjoyed everything we did, but it’s more relaxing to not be with a huge group from the ship. Our DIY excursion in Jamaica and unplanned beach day at Labadee were much more relaxing than the ship excursions. I’m still glad we did them though because we got to see some cool things.

 

Highlights of our cruise…. Spending time without “technology” as a family, room service, seeing Z meet dolphins, our beach day in Jamaica, our meal at Portofino, having date nights every night, live music, the ice show, Z’s delight with the “hot pool”…. I could go on.

 

Things I/we wanted to do but didn’t…. See the Dreamworks parade (we missed it the first night and they only did it once on our cruise for some reason, See some shows in the main theater, spend more time in the adults only pool area, watch people on the Flowrider, enter Jason in the sexist man competition (I’m only saying that one to see if he’s still reading)

 

So what’s ahead for the GDF family? We are heading to Topsail Hill for the first 2 weeks of June. I probably won’t do a full TR since I did one last year, but I will post some picture perhaps. My mom and I will be spending a week at a campground on Tybee Island in July. And maybe, just maybe pixie dust will come my way, and Jason will end my Disney ban with a trip to the Fort for Spring Break 2015. We’ll see how much he loves me…. Hint… hint… 

 

The End 

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

Debarkation is always so sad.  I feel your pain!

 

Really enjoyed your closing thoughts.  I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for Jason lifting your Disney ban.

[Beckers 1,136]

Do you feel dinner was worth the extra charge ?

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Great job on this report.

 

That last dinner looks great.

 

I appreciate your closing thoughts.

 

I think that y'all definitely made the right choice taking this longer cruise over the shorter DCL cruise.

 

I may price some RCCL cruises myself.

 

TCD

[Helmsey......Todd 134]

Great TR!! Between this and other cruising TR's it is making me think it might actually be something I enjoy....
I was worried from your post about after your anniversary dinner "We went back to the room to put our suitcases out, made a couple stops at our usual places to have some drinks and say bye, and headed to bed." if you guys forgot to pick Z up, but alas I can see him in pictures from leaving so it appears you didn't forget him :)

 

Thanks for taking the time to put this together and let us in on all your family fun.

[dblr....Rennie 224]

End of trip sad.

Trip report GREAT thanks a lot for posting it

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

Debarkation is always so sad.  I feel your pain!

 

Really enjoyed your closing thoughts.  I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for Jason lifting your Disney ban.

 

It is sad. It's a little easier knowing we'll be going back, even if it is a long time away.

 

As far as the ban, he won't even have to lift it! It's supposed to be a year of no Disney, and our last trip ended in February. I want to go in April 2015. That's 14 month! More than a year! I'm being totally reasonable, right?

 

Do you feel dinner was worth the extra charge ?

 

Absolutely. It's a more intimate atmosphere, and the food is better. The meal on land would have been over $100

 

Great job on this report.

 

That last dinner looks great.

 

I appreciate your closing thoughts.

 

I think that y'all definitely made the right choice taking this longer cruise over the shorter DCL cruise.

 

I may price some RCCL cruises myself.

 

TCD

 

The last meal was really good. I'm hungry again just thinking about it. I think next time I'd plan to do that meal earlier in the cruise. By the end, I got full much quicker. I could have eaten all of that yummy risotto if we'd gone on Monday or Tuesday. 

 

I'm glad we did the cruise with Royal. It was a fun time. But I do still want to go on a Disney cruise. I think that will be a 3-4 night at the last minute though. 

 

Great TR!! Between this and other cruising TR's it is making me think it might actually be something I enjoy....

I was worried from your post about after your anniversary dinner "We went back to the room to put our suitcases out, made a couple stops at our usual places to have some drinks and say bye, and headed to bed." if you guys forgot to pick Z up, but alas I can see him in pictures from leaving so it appears you didn't forget him :)

 

Thanks for taking the time to put this together and let us in on all your family fun.

 

You should give cruising a try! 

 

Yes, I forgot to mention picking up Z... I realized that after I posted it. We did get him though. Ha ha! 

 

End of trip sad.

Trip report GREAT thanks a lot for posting it

 

It is sad. But my husband could "surprise" me with a trip to Disney to cheer me up. Wouldn't that be nice? :)

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Great report! 

 

I appreciate all the information you provided....some of which I can put to good use in less than 7 weeks!! 

 

I should probably do some more research on our ship to see what it offers.  I know it's an older, smaller one than your ship so it won't have all the options, but I'm sure it still has things I want to be prepared for.  Lord knows no one else in INC's family will do it.  :rofl3:

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

Dave, what ship are you sailing on?

[dvccamper 32]

Thank you for sharing your wonderful trip with us! Your pictures and descriptions were great, very helpful in planning.

If I can ask, how did the tipping work? Did you have to prepay with My Time Dining? But what about when you went to the other restaurants? Do you then tip there too? Did you have to do the drink package for the entire week? I could totally see it working for me on the days at sea. Not sure if we're in a port all day, though, how much I can possibly drink, ha!

I really do have to go back and reread this report. When you started it I had no idea I would have booked this cruise by the time you finished it.

Hope Jason will lift the Disney ban for you! My husband is a bit of a Disney crank but I talked him into two nights at VWL before we get on the cruise. No parks but that's okay, just happy to be there.

[momof3kids-Yvonne 594]

Excellent report!

We also got a luggage Valet to bring our bags through customs and to our car. Zipped right through the customs line.

How long did it take you to realize your home phone would not connect you to room service? That was most disappointing for me following our cruise.

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

Great report! 

 

I appreciate all the information you provided....some of which I can put to good use in less than 7 weeks!! 

 

I should probably do some more research on our ship to see what it offers.  I know it's an older, smaller one than your ship so it won't have all the options, but I'm sure it still has things I want to be prepared for.  Lord knows no one else in INC's family will do it.  :rofl3:

 

A lot of the ships have the same features because they've been refurbed; you may be surprised!

 

Thank you for sharing your wonderful trip with us! Your pictures and descriptions were great, very helpful in planning.

If I can ask, how did the tipping work? Did you have to prepay with My Time Dining? But what about when you went to the other restaurants? Do you then tip there too? Did you have to do the drink package for the entire week? I could totally see it working for me on the days at sea. Not sure if we're in a port all day, though, how much I can possibly drink, ha!

I really do have to go back and reread this report. When you started it I had no idea I would have booked this cruise by the time you finished it.

Hope Jason will lift the Disney ban for you! My husband is a bit of a Disney crank but I talked him into two nights at VWL before we get on the cruise. No parks but that's okay, just happy to be there.

 

We prepaid standard tips that covered MDR, steward, and something else. We did tip extra at the specialty restaurant. I've heard $10 per person is considered a good tip; some do none or $5 per person. We felt the service level was well worth $10 a person.

 

You do have to order the drink package for the whole week, except I think you can start it on day 2 and have it prorated. But we were on the ship around 11:15 on the day we boarded. Do keep this in mind, you have 4 ports... 1 is Labadee where you can use the package off the ship. Another is Grand Cayman where you're back on the ship at 3:30. That means Jamaica and Cozumel are the only time you'll be somewhere you can't use it for a significant time. Would you get the soda package otherwise? It's $6.50 a day PLUS gratuity. The $55 for the drink plan includes gratuity... so $55-$8.25 (15% gratuity) is $46.75. If you would order the soda package, you're down to $40.25. Throw in 2 bottles of water per day (we usually drank more because we brought them off the ship with us), and you're down to  at least $36.25.... that's about 3 glasses of wine or 4 mixed drinks.

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

Excellent report!

We also got a luggage Valet to bring our bags through customs and to our car. Zipped right through the customs line.

How long did it take you to realize your home phone would not connect you to room service? That was most disappointing for me following our cruise.

 

Yes, the valets kind of "help" each other out in those lines. It was nice.

 

Regarding room service, I'm still in denial. But you know who is also heartbroken about it? Z! He got soooooooo spoiled!

[MrGaDawgFan....... Jason 4]

For the record it was a great trip report honey. I lived reliving it as well. BTW. I am still listening

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Dave, what ship are you sailing on?

 

Enchantment of the Seas. 

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

Dave, I was hoping I could help you.  But I've never sailed an RCCL Vision class ship.  So sorry!  But I'm sure you will have a great time on any RCCL ship.

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

For the record it was a great trip report honey. I lived reliving it as well. BTW. I am still listening

 

Good report because it was a good trip! I'm glad you're still reading along.... Maybe you got some ideas..... 

 

Enchantment of the Seas. 

 

That's the ship they cut in half and added to. I just googled it, and they have a bungee trampoline. We need pictures of you doing it!!!!! 

[DaveInTN 3,247]

 

That's the ship they cut in half and added to. I just googled it, and they have a bungee trampoline. We need pictures of you doing it!!!!! 

 

Correct....the whole cutting in half thing turned me off, but it's been a number of years and hasn't sunk yet. 

 

And I'm pretty sure you will not see pictures of me with bungee cords.  I like my feet firmly planted.