Royal Carribean-7 Day Carribean Cruise

Yellowledbetter

Hi all,looking for some advice,tips etc.
We will be heading on our Honeymoon in October for a 7 day Carribean cruise which sets sail from Fort Lauderdale and I was hoping some on here may be able to share their experiences with us ,be they good,bad or indifferent.
Needless to say we cannot wait for it,first time cruisers!! I'm aware of it being hurricane season around that time but is there anything else we should be aware of or look out for?

Cheers

Oafley Jones

Yellowledbetter wrote: »

Hi all,looking for some advice,tips etc.
We will be heading on our Honeymoon in October for a 7 day Carribean cruise which sets sail from Fort Lauderdale and I was hoping some on here may be able to share their experiences with us ,be they good,bad or indifferent.
Needless to say we cannot wait for it,first time cruisers!! I'm aware of it being hurricane season around that time but is there anything else we should be aware of or look out for?

Cheers

I've done two cruises, both the western and the eastern Caribbean on RC Freedom of the Seas. Was really skeptical before the first one but really enjoyed them. October should be fine as the worst of the season should be behind you. And even if it isn't, these ships are surprisingly quick when they need to and will divert. It actually happened to us on our first cruise. They just put the boot down and we ended up in a different Island. Bit annoying if you really wanted to see a specific place but it can happen.

If you've an specific questions I'll do my best to answer them.

Yellowledbetter

Thanks for the reply. We're going on the Oasis Of The Sea,seems like a cracking dingy I must say!! It's the Western Cruise so our stops are Haiti,Jamaica and Mexico. Out of interest did you do any excursions on the port days? Only thing we have left to book are our drinks packages so we're still undecided about those

Oafley Jones

Yellowledbetter wrote: »

Thanks for the reply. We're going on the Oasis Of The Sea,seems like a cracking dingy I must say!! It's the Western Cruise so our stops are Haiti,Jamaica and Mexico. Out of interest did you do any excursions on the port days? Only thing we have left to book are our drinks packages so we're still undecided about those

I'd really like to try an Oasis Class ship next time out. They're fecking huge. Freedom was the biggest cruise ship in the world till Oasis came along. Here's the two together in Mexico. These pictures still don't show how massive they are. The only package we bothered with both times was the water one. Decided that we were probably going to spend the bulk of our drinking time in the bars. Plenty of Mojito variants were consumed. Our last cruise was our honeymoon as well. Worth making sure that they (RC) have a note on that. Might get you one or two extra perks if you're lucky. Also should help with the main dinning room. You don't want to be stuck on a table of ten on honeymoon.





Unfortunately, Mexico was the only one was actually visited on your list. The only stop we didn't do a trip was in Grand Cayman in the first year. Like the good Irishman I am, I managed to scald myself in Coco Cay the day before and wasn't up for much. Not a great place besides. I'd highly recommend doing some of sightseeing trips. And so would RC, it's basically how they make money from you. Specifically for you: We did do Tulum in Mexico. It was excellent. Very far away though. You got of the ship, got a ferry across and then got on a 90ish minute coach to get you there. Was fascinating. Pics again don't do it justice. After, we were brought for dinner at a private beach and to do whatever we wanted for a bit.

ProudDUB

Get a walkie talkie set here before you leave, so that you can keep in touch with each other while you are at sea. Your Irish mobiles won't work while you are at sea. Or if they do, the roaming charges will be huge. It may seem a tad silly, but these boats are something like a half a mile long from end to end. If you are out having a beer/shopping and your other half is back in the cabin, its one hell of a loooooong walk back to ask them if their mother would like a glass dolphin as a souvenir. You can usually buy walkie talkie sets on board, but they cost a lot more than what you'd pay for them here in Power City.

hdowney

I second ProudDUBs walkie talkie suggestion. That I think is an invaluable piece of kit tbh. Enjoy your honeymoon. Take each day as it comes and just relax and take it all in.

spurious

Just be careful of not interfering with emergency frequencies with walkie-talkies.

hdowney

how do you avoid that? like a specific frequency or the like?

spurious

Yes each country has its own band of frequencies. Just stay out of them.

We weren't on one of the huge ships, but we arranged in advance if we ever lost each other, we'd meet at our muster station, which they will assemble you at on your first day as part of the safety drill.

hdowney

that's another good suggestion if you do lose your travelling companion.