RCL: Freedom of the - Southern Caribbean

[skwak]

Hello:

We are long-time Disney Cruise fans. In fact, we just hit Platinum. We absolutely love DCL!!

We have never been on RCL but are considering their 7 night Southern Caribbean cruise June/July 2019. The driving force for us to perhaps try is really two-fold:

• DCL is just REALLY increasingly expensive. For a group of 4 the difference is something like $11K vs $4K. Even if RCL adds another $1,000 for incidentals that DCL includes, that is just so much of a difference.
• We want to try a different itinerary and DCL in the Caribbean does not offer a great deal of variety.

We would really like feedback from everyone especially anyone who has been on the Freedom of the Seas!

 

[DisMommyTX]

We have not taken the RCL Southern Caribbean cruise, but we have sailed 20+ times on different lines, and DH and I did a 7 night Carnival cruise out of Puerto Rico several years ago. The itinerary was excellent! Ours was an island hopper visiting 6 different ports in 7 days, each with a unique culture and feel. We loved the ports! However, the clientele was strikingly different from any other cruise we have ever been on. We liked DCL but are also very comfortable on RCL, NCL, and Carnival, and would happily take our kids back on every trip we have been on--except this one. The other passengers were simply overpowering. An overwhelming majority of the passengers were from Puerto Rico or South America and the cultural etiquette was significantly different than we have experienced on any other cruise. There were lots of very large, boisterous families engaging in loud discussions in various dialects of Spanish or Portuguese (lots of Brazilians onboard), frequently escalating into yelling matches. Long lines were made longer by large groups joining whichever family member was closest to the front. Seat saving in the buffet area and shows was ridiculous, etc. I apologize if that sounds like I am stereotyping, but I assure you that it was the reality we experienced.

I would LOVE to take an ABC cruise down to Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao, so I have researched this one extensively. While the RCL ship and itinerary sound great, reviews indicate that they are still having some of the same problems managing their clientele. Perhaps the price difference on DCL might discourage some of the larger families/groups?

Regardless, I LOVE the Southern Caribbean itineraries and have never had a bad cruise! RCL has great ships and onboard experiences which I would usually highly recommend, especially at that price point! I'm sure you would still have a wonderful time, but just beware that this my not be your typical RCL cruise and is likely to be WAY different from your DCL experiences.

 

[DnA2010]

I've been on Freedom (not for the Southern but we are def considering once our DD1.5 is older) and she is a great ship- similar in size to the Fantasy if I remember correctly. What sort of specifics are you looking for?

 

[GZanta77]

Love the Southern Itinerary - Aruba and Curacao really have a much different feel - whereas many of the islands in the main lesser antilles group can start to feel a bit samey after a while. I would support DisMommyTX in her comments about clientele. Definitely a much larger Latin American/Hispanic contingent. I have learned to let the little things slide whilst on a cruise, but some fellow passengers did led the red mist descend with some of the seat saving and line cutting antics. It is largely just cultural differences - no-one being offensive or rude or anything. I would have no problem going again - even with kids.

Haven't sailed Freedom, but have done her sister ships Liberty and Independence X2. Love the ships, probably my favorite class of RCL ship, although I have not done Quantum class yet.

 

[skwak]

Thanks everyone. I have a few reservations which I will try to explain here:

Will a RCL cruise feel special (magical) like DCL? These vacations are a great deal of money and as such you really want to feel special when you are on such a vacation. DCL definitely does that better than anyone else we have found. Will RCL have a similar vibe? Will the staff have that twinkle in their eye?

Will the kids, age 13-17, enjoy RCL like they do DCL? As many of you know if your kids are not happy, you are not happy.

Will RCL be a non-stop nickel and dime event? DCL includes many, many extras in their prices. Same at the Theme Parks. Will RCL feel like you are just getting gouged at every corner. For example I looked into booking directly the other night and was surprised at what is considered more money just when booking:

• Want the same class room on a higher deck - more money
• Want to be able to cancel the cruise - more money
• Want midship - more money

It is almost like they post a low price only to land you at a much higher price for basics.

Lastly the clientele concerns me. I am not concerned about ethnicity. I honestly not care if you are white, black, brown or green. I do prefer to be around pleasant, considerate, friendly guests. I do want to be around relatively well-behaved children.

Am I crazy?

 

[GZanta77]

The last time I felt 'special' on a cruise was on Princess Cruises 20 years ago - service standards have generally declined as cruising has become more mainstream.

I have never cruised Disney, but have friends who have sailed both. In general they don't regret trying RCL, but they definitely miss the 'Magic'. However, as one pointed out - $5000 in your back pocket goes a long way to compensating for lack of magic. Your value equation may of course be different.

As for the kids - my kids have been cruising since the age 4 and 7 - and were 13 and 16 on our last RCL cruise. We have cruised Princess, Carnival(x2) and Norwegian (x2) as well as 5 RCL cruises. They by far enjoy the kids clubs on RCL the most. I will say though, my 16 yo on the last cruise found a group of kids on the first day, and just hung out with them a lot of the time, independent of the kids club.

In general, compare RCL cruise to a decent land based beach resort. Great setting, lots of amenities and good service - just don't expect exceptional service. It happens sometimes, but is no longer the norm.

 

[msjprincess]

Thanks everyone. I have a few reservations which I will try to explain here:

Will a RCL cruise feel special (magical) like DCL? These vacations are a great deal of money and as such you really want to feel special when you are on such a vacation. DCL definitely does that better than anyone else we have found. Will RCL have a similar vibe? Will the staff have that twinkle in their eye?

Will the kids, age 13-17, enjoy RCL like they do DCL? As many of you know if your kids are not happy, you are not happy.

Will RCL be a non-stop nickel and dime event? DCL includes many, many extras in their prices. Same at the Theme Parks. Will RCL feel like you are just getting gouged at every corner. For example I looked into booking directly the other night and was surprised at what is considered more money just when booking:

• Want the same class room on a higher deck - more money
• Want to be able to cancel the cruise - more money
• Want midship - more money

It is almost like they post a low price only to land you at a much higher price for basics.

Lastly the clientele concerns me. I am not concerned about ethnicity. I honestly not care if you are white, black, brown or green. I do prefer to be around pleasant, considerate, friendly guests. I do want to be around relatively well-behaved children.

Am I crazy?

What types of things are included on DCL vs RCCL? The only thing I can think of off the top of my head is soda and character breakfasts.


I enjoy RCCL as much as I enjoy WDW. My kids all enjoy RCCL. But not everyone feels the same as us. For me, no amount of "magic" is worth such a big difference in price. YMMV.


It's funny how people look at things differently. When they started the nonrefundable fares I didn't look at it as they want more money for me to be able to cancel. I looked at it as I can save money if I want a nonrefundable room. Same with higher vs lower deck and mid ship vs forward or aft.

We've sailed on Freedom and Independence twice. My kids had a great time.

 

[skwak]

We've sailed on Freedom and Independence twice. My kids had a great time.

Can I ask what age your kids are? Have you sailed the Southern Caribbean?

Sometimes I think we have a bit spoiled with DCL. They cannot do enough for you. Everything is spotless. They must clean the restrooms 24/7. Want 3 main courses and 2 desserts, no problem. Room Service - 100% included in the price 24/7. Same smiles from all of the crew that you see at WDW in Lake Buena Vista.

Maybe RCL is worth a go!

 

[Denise W]

Can I ask what age your kids are? Have you sailed the Southern Caribbean?

Sometimes I think we have a bit spoiled with DCL. They cannot do enough for you. Everything is spotless. They must clean the restrooms 24/7. Want 3 main courses and 2 desserts, no problem. Room Service - 100% included in the price 24/7. Same smiles from all of the crew that you see at WDW in Lake Buena Vista.

Maybe RCL is worth a go!

I have sailed DCL 8 times and 4 other lines 7 times. I don't feel DCL is any better or "magical" than the other lines. My daughters did not even like the kids clubs on DCL. We had issues on DCL cruises as well as other cruise lines. DCL got into the cruise business years after the other big names did, and they made lots of mistakes at first. Soda was not free on DCL at first. I know because I was on the Magic in 1998 and the Wonder in 1999. I like RCCL just fine and have 4 more cruises planned with them coming up.
Denise

 

[msjprincess]

Can I ask what age your kids are? Have you sailed the Southern Caribbean?

Sometimes I think we have a bit spoiled with DCL. They cannot do enough for you. Everything is spotless. They must clean the restrooms 24/7. Want 3 main courses and 2 desserts, no problem. Room Service - 100% included in the price 24/7. Same smiles from all of the crew that you see at WDW in Lake Buena Vista.

Maybe RCL is worth a go!

Besides the fact that they now charge for room service, what you describe sounds exactly like my RCCL cruises. You can order as much as you want for dinner. For me that isn't the room service thing isn't that big of a deal. I think I only ordered room service once back when it was free. Even now if I wanted room service I don't think $6.95 for all of us isn't too bad.

No I haven't done Southern Caribbean yet. We're actually debating booking Freedom for President's week next year.

My kids are 13, 14 and 17.

 

[DnA2010]

I THought the service on a Disney and on Royal was honestly equal... well actually we’ve had better dining room service on our royal cruises. You can also order as much food as you want on other cruise lines - no issues there. We never felt nickel and dimed at all- yes they charge for pop on Royal but you can buy a lot of pop with the thousands you save. For us we’d rather have twice the vacations as we see the product as pretty darn similar.
We’ve been on the fantasy as well as Oasis and freedom. Our fantasy cruise was twice the cost of our oasis cruise and that was a VGT in the off season. Yes we had an amazing time, but the prices are so high now that I don’t see us cruising again when we can do two cruises on our lines for the same cost.

 

[skwak]

yes they charge for pop on Royal but you can buy a lot of pop with the thousands you save

That is very true. I think it is just a mindset adjustment on our part. Pay the money, get the soda cards for the kids and stop focusing on this trivial item.

I think part of our hesitation is that we had tried a Norwegian Cruise about 10 years ago and had a terrible time. I know that may not translate to RCL but it was the absolutely worst vacation that we were ever on. We came back and needed a vacation to recover from our vacation. It has made us hesitant to try something other than DCL.

Since I have everyone helping I was piggyback another related question:

It seems like RCL runs a different special every few weeks and the price/package changes a bit. Since we have a little while to book, is there a particular offer that we should be waiting for from RCL?

Thanks everyone for all the help!

 

[GZanta77]

That is very true. I think it is just a mindset adjustment on our part. Pay the money, get the soda cards for the kids and stop focusing on this trivial item.

I think part of our hesitation is that we had tried a Norwegian Cruise about 10 years ago and had a terrible time. I know that may not translate to RCL but it was the absolutely worst vacation that we were ever on. We came back and needed a vacation to recover from our vacation. It has made us hesitant to try something other than DCL.

Since I have everyone helping I was piggyback another related question:

It seems like RCL runs a different special every few weeks and the price/package changes a bit. Since we have a little while to book, is there a particular offer that we should be waiting for from RCL?

Thanks everyone for all the help!

Our first norwegian cruise on the Pearl 8 years ago was also horrible - at least in terms of ship and service. We pretty much swore we would never sail norwegian again, but last year we tried one of their newer ships in Europe and had a great cruise.

As for RCL deals - just a case of monitoring prices and booking when you feel comfortable with the price. Prices change all the time and sometimes the discount goes up, but so does the base price and you are no better off than before. You can generally get a price adjustment if fares go down after you have booked and before final payment.

 

[SonyaShay]

I have only cruised 3 times and all have been Disney (1x Dream and 2x Fantasy).

I have booked Freedom for the Southern June 2019 and look at it like this: The cruise is so port intensive that I am not going to spend much time on the ship. If I totally hate the ship I only have 1 sea day which is the final day of the trip. Worst case is we chose to sleep all day since we will be worn out from 2 days in San Juan and then 5 straight days of island hopping and tours. For the price I am paying there is no way I could see all these places any other way. And the cost of this 7 day in June in a Panoramic Ocean View room on a top floor is LESS than a 7 day on the Wonder in January in a basic oceanview room on a low deck.

 

[hdrolfe]

I haven't done the southern route but we have been on Freedom twice. We enjoyed it so much the first time we did it again. First time we were in an inside cabin and second time a balcony. Both times we really enjoyed the ship.

 

[mrp4352]

Even if you book non-refundable, as long as you aren't changing the cruise date you can still usually get the price adjustment. You do have to keep an eye out - with the last sale, i would have saved $100, but lost $150 in on board credit...

As for RCL deals - just a case of monitoring prices and booking when you feel comfortable with the price. Prices change all the time and sometimes the discount goes up, but so does the base price and you are no better off than before. You can generally get a price adjustment if fares go down after you have booked and before final payment.

 

[jim o'reilly]

Thanks everyone. I have a few reservations which I will try to explain here:

Will a RCL cruise feel special (magical) like DCL? These vacations are a great deal of money and as such you really want to feel special when you are on such a vacation. DCL definitely does that better than anyone else we have found. Will RCL have a similar vibe? Will the staff have that twinkle in their eye?

Will the kids, age 13-17, enjoy RCL like they do DCL? As many of you know if your kids are not happy, you are not happy.

Will RCL be a non-stop nickel and dime event? DCL includes many, many extras in their prices. Same at the Theme Parks. Will RCL feel like you are just getting gouged at every corner. For example I looked into booking directly the other night and was surprised at what is considered more money just when booking:

• Want the same class room on a higher deck - more money
• Want to be able to cancel the cruise - more money
• Want midship - more money

It is almost like they post a low price only to land you at a much higher price for basics.

Lastly the clientele concerns me. I am not concerned about ethnicity. I honestly not care if you are white, black, brown or green. I do prefer to be around pleasant, considerate, friendly guests. I do want to be around relatively well-behaved children.

Am I crazy?

True, RCL does Nickel and Dime you but Disney does Ulysses Grant and Benjamin Franklin's you!!!

There's no company that does a better job and taking your money than Walt Disney Co. I'm sorry but i cannot fathom spendingthousands of dollars in soda or wifi. just doesn't happen. I would say on average, for the same date, room and ship, disney is 2-3 times more expensive than RCL.

Have been on Freedom Southern cruise, smaller than Oasis class ship but still very large. I didn't have any kids at the time but there were a lot of Puerto Ricans on the ship. They are loud, yes but very friendly people. Although with the devastation of the past hurricane season, not sure how many have the money to go on a cruise. Lots of activities to do and teen center has a 12-17 year old section only. Unfortunately, my daughter is 6 so i'm not sure what to expect at the teen area.

 

[skwak]

True, RCL does Nickel and Dime you but Disney does Ulysses Grant and Benjamin Franklin's you!!!

Now that is funny! Yes, as much as we just love WDW and DCL they are certainly not inexpensive. We are never disappointed but truthfully if DCL was not getting so expensive we probably would not be considering RCL.

It does sound like many of you have enjoyed RCL. We may give it a whirl!