We were told that because of severe hurricane damage to the pier that RCCL uses at CZM, we needed to tender there too. The good news was that the tender left us off right in the heart of the shopping district. No need to take a cab from the shopping area to the pier, as in the past. I don't know the status of repairs and by the time you cruise, it may be fixed.

Didn't you just answer your own question? (bold emphasis mine)

I don't know if you're joking, but you're comparing a stationary stadium to a moving vessel. In fact you need a mechanical engineer for this problem as well.

Well, there's a silver lining in every cloud.

One last question and this is important!!!!

What are the "lucky" roulette numbers in the Freedom's casino??

We're planning to pay for our cruise the first night at the tables.

Cholula, if I knew that, I would have had my next cruise already paid for!

Well, gollee! I was just fixin' to build me a stajeeum that can move like a boat! Thanks for straigtin' me out.

Whatever.

Listen. I didn't mean that offensively in any way. If I understand what you're asking about, the pillars at the stadium are much higher strength materials, reinforced in the ground, and need to carry mostly a fixed load. Although you might think the "pillars" on the ship look similar, they're much weaker materials and yet the structure on the ship has to be designed to handle dynamic loading from all directions. For example, as the ship sways the gravity force is changing direction relative to the ship. One is a more civil engineering and the other more mechanical. Engineering problems are usually a trade-off. If you want a true open space in a stadium with no obstructed views, you have to make some sacrifice in some other area, maybe cost, materials, weight, changing the pitch of the roof or something else. On the ship, this kind of trade-off was probably either not worth it or not possible given safety or monetary constraints.

If anyone is sailing on Freedom tomorrow, Sunday, August 27 out of Miami, please be advised that due to Tropical Storm Ernesto, your itinerary has changed. I understand that you will now be traveling through the Eastern Caribbean. This was told to me by a couple who are staying on for a second week and were informed of this change in itinerary by Guest Relations.

Doesn't Norwegian Cruise Lines have a few US-flagged ships? I was reading an article about Pride of Hawaii, which is a US-flagged ship with an entirely US crew. It holds 2,466 passengers. The article also mentions Pride of America and Pride of Aloha, also US-flagged ships.

Yes you are right I was not aware of these vessels ( probably since they do not operate out of Florida or the Gulf coast) but I checked with a friend who is a Marine Class surveyor and he confirmed their commission within the last two or so years.

By law US registered vessels must be fully manned by US crews ( and the attendant higher costs) and is one of a number of reasons there so very few such in existence.

mike

I don't know how to post multiple quotes to reply to, but I do have a few comments that refer to many items in this thread:

* regarding sailing with kids - perhaps the most famous and best cruise line catering to families was not even mentioned - don't forget Disney Cruise Line. They do an amazing job with children of all ages. And it's a great line for adults without kids as well - they have a dedicated adult only pool, spa, coffee bar, restaurant (Palo) and even an adult-only dining rotation. If you play it right, you wouldn't know there are a bazillion kids on-board. By the way, Disney is more all-inclusive than other mass market lines because they do not charge for soft drinks or ice cream cones.

* regarding docking in Cozumel - Hurricane Wilma last year destroyed BOTH of the city's pier facilities. As far as I know, all ships must still tender there. I have not seen an ETA for the new dock facility. The last time I was there, 13 ships were anchored and tendering. Because you have to use tenders operated by the city (cannot use the ship's own tenders) it was a slow process and they have not re-built very much there yet. My best recommendations for Cozumel right now are to either tender directly to the Tuluum Ruins as a shore excursion or take the day to relax on the ship. It's peaceful and quiet and the spa discounts massages and other services while in port.

* regarding taking independent shore excursions rather than thru the cruise line - not a good idea for two primary reasons - safety and security. If the shore excursion you bought thru the cruise line has a problem (mechanical) and you won't get back until after the ship departs, the cruise line will either wait for you or pay to get you to the next port. If you buy it on your own and the same mechanical problem occurs, you're SOL and have to get yourself to the ship. Also, remember the accident earlier this year in Chile that killed many members of a group from NJ? They bought that independently and the tour operator was not licensed, bonded or insured. The cruise lines check out their tour operators very thoroughly to avoid those situations.

* regarding charging for specialty restaurants - on mass market lines this is standard. The lines sell the all-inclusive nature of cruising to mean you can eat free any time you want somewhere on the ship. It does not mean you can eat free everywhere on the ship. The charge varies greatly by cruiseline and by restaurant and in buying a cruise this must be factored in. However, I repeat - there is always something free to eat and many guests sail without ever paying for an extra french fry. On Freedom specifically, the reason they charge the minimal fee for Johnny Rocket's is to keep people moving thru the restaurant. They tried it for free and found teenagers especially lingering over a soft drink and talking to friends for hours. This gives more guests a chance to try something extra for not much money.

All-in-all though, cruising is still a great vacation and everyone should try it!

Tendering there was very quick for me (on RCCL in Jan.), but I don't know how many ships were there at the time. Also, it was odd to see crew selling beer, water, and t-shirts on the tender, all while a Spanish-dubbed US action movie played with loud explosions 8:00 in the morning.

Just returned from the 8/27 sailing of Freedom of the Seas. Although Hurricane Ernesto caused some havoc in the Caribbean, our ports ultimately were not changed and we traveled on our original itinerary to Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Montego Bay and Labadee. Tendered in every port but Montego Bay. Tendering was fast and painless. Cozumel dock is not ready yet but should be in a few weeks. (Carnivals smaller ships can dock in Cozumel now.)

Although we had a great cruise, there were several BIG negatives. The first is simply that there are way too many pax on this ship. RCCL added more staterooms than their Voyager class (we sailed the Mariner last year so we have a good comparison) but did little to increase the facilities. Elevators are overworked. Restaurants are crowded.

Food was good in the dining rooms and waitstaff was excellent. Food and service in Chops and Portofino was top notch.

Housekeeping staff was excellent.

Flow rider was fun but very busy. Sign up takes place 30 mins before the session and you must arrive early if you want to participate. Rock climbing wall was rarely crowded. Kids H20 Zone was fun for the little ones. Pools are fresh water throughout the ship, which is nice.

Ports were fine but not as good as the Eastern itinerary. Shopping in Jamaica and Labadee is repetitive and merchants are annoying to the point of being ridiculous. I know they are poor people who rely on the cruise trade but I honestly think they'd make more $$$ if they laid off the constant hawking and just let you shop.

Our ship was made up of well over 60% non-native English speaking pax, which I found surprising.

Elevators were slow and erratic. Kids pushing all the buttons, and people getting on at Deck 4 only to get off at Deck 5 didn't help (c'mon people, walk off the buffet food for heavens sake!).

Casino payout was poor...no surprise there.

Debarkation was long. We took the last call as our flights were late in the afternoon, so we had no rush, but many people with noon and 1p flights were cutting it way too close. Do not make an early flight out of Florida unless you have only carry-off luggage (RCCL allows this) or take the early am tags.

All in all, the ship was beautiful, the staff was excellent. Weather couldn't have been better for our vacation as we left ahead of Ernesto and came back in behind him. But the ship holds way too many people and common areas were not built to accomodate the larger pax numbers.

One note on Johnny Rockets - the history of surcharges is interesting.

Originally, when Voyager launched, there was a charge, and it was quickly removed.

For a few years, Johnny Rockets was free on all 5 Voyager Class ships. The result of this was that kids filled the place whenever it was open. They'd set up shop in there, order burgers, fries, etc and stay there eating all day (and often ordering something, taking one bite, then ordering something else.) As a result, there were long waits for the rest of the passengers, many of whom never bothered to eat there because of the wait and all the kids.

The $3.95 service charge really cut down on the kids using Johnny Rockets as their hangout instead of Adventure Ocean. Also, all Crown and Anchor members (Gold, Platinum, and Diamond) get a coupon for one free meal at Johnny Rockets. (Also, the $3.95 gets you all the food you can eat while you're there.)

As for mustering, almost all passengers muster on outside decks, not in contained indoor areas. I've been on 6 cruises, and have never seen a partial muster drill. (Although, as was mentioned, passengers and crew do not muster at the same time.) In fact, every cruise I've been on has seen a full lifeboat drill on one side of the ship in at least one port.

Is this in the coupons delivered on your first day? I'm only gold, but have another cruise this January. Thanks.

Yes. Couples who are C&A members should get two booklets.

Gold gift (this time, a leather picture frame) was not delivered until around the 5th day out.