Why Now is the Best Time to Cruise
If you’ve been hesitant to cruise, fear no more. Let me tell you why now is the best time to cruise! We’ve cruised many times before and now more than ever, it is the best time to do so. Here is why.
My top reasons why you should cruise now:
- Less people (no lines / no crowds)1
- More cleanliness (sanitizing)2
- Personal services3
- Less mess at the buffets4
Throughout this post I will incorporate these reasons of why cruising is best now (watch for the 1, 2, 3, 4, superscripts), based on our personal recent experience, and everything we did on and off the Freedom of the Seas ship by Royal Caribbean to make our 25th wedding anniversary the most memorable ever!
On the ship
DEALING WITH A VIRUS
It was a very pleasant surprise to see how Royal Caribbean has been dealing with the pandemic. I have to give them huge credit for all the work they’re doing to keep their passengers safe and healthy. All of my top reasons I listed above1-4, in other words the consequences because of the virus, is what makes 𝙉𝙊𝙒 the best time to cruise.
FOOD
If you want a buffet, you got it. However, if you want to serve yourself, it’s not happening. I actually like it better this way because people are just messy sometimes when they serve themselves. Plus, everyone is touching the serving utensils.4 You can go up as many times as you want and you can also tell the servers to give you an extra portion, but you many not do it yourself. As for places to eat, there are many options! Our ship had a pizza place (buffet), Johnny Rockets (extra charge), the main dining room (more formal & not a buffet), Hibachi restaurant (celebrated our anniversary here & an extra charge), Italian restaurant (an extra charge), steakhouse (no photos & an extra charge), poolside food (we didn’t partake), Windjammer Café (buffet & we ate here a lot), and island port food (buffet).
Pizza place
Pizza is all they have here and they have about 3-4 different types of pizza.1 It’s located in what I call the mini-mall. It really does look like a mall with shopping, bars, and food. Photos to come below.
Main dining room
The food at the main dining room was delicious. It’s more formal, but jeans, t-shirt and flip flops are just fine. I wouldn’t recommend shorts and if you’re in a hurry, I also wouldn’t recommend it here. The menu consist of fixed dishes and you can order them every day if you want, but they also have new menu items you can try every day as well. There were two appetizers that I really wanted to try one night and they said it was alright to get both so I was excited! Also, as you can see I loved the desserts. We had fantastic service from our waiter and assistant waiter.3
Poolside food
I can’t say much about poolside food because we didn’t try it. However, it is an option and it’s great to have options.
Hibachi
This is where we really celebrated our 25th anniversary. What a surprise it was when Izumi brought out a chocolate dessert plate in honor of our anniversary!3 It was the perfect ending to our dinner! Everyone in the restaurant sung us Happy Anniversary to the tune of happy birthday. The food was spectacular and there was a lot of it! The waiter made it very special because we were the center of attention at our table and he made a heart out of the rice.
Johnny Rockets
It’s nice to see an old favorite onboard the ship. If you love burgers, this place has almost every kind burger imaginable. We have eaten at Johnny Rockets in the past and that’s why we skipped it onboard, this time. There was plenty of food to go around on the ship at other locations!
Giovanni’s
We didn’t eat here, but I just had to take photos of this restaurant because it’s beautiful! I’m sure their food is up to par with the main dining room. We had a tough decision on deciding where to have our anniversary dinner from many of these restaurants on board, but we ultimately decided on Hibachi.
Island port food
Since we’re talking about food, I had to include the one port we stopped at, Coco Cay. Since Coco Cay is a Royal Caribbean Island owned by the Bahamas, all the food was included just like the buffets onboard the ship. It was great not having to worry about money on the island. The food was Caribbean themed and included tropical non-alcoholic fruit punches, water, and desserts! Chill Island is the section where the buffet is so we just made ourselves cozy on the beach nearby. I will talk more about our island port below.
Windjammer Café
It seems that everywhere I go, I take more dessert photos than anything else! I wish I would have taken photos of the quantity and quality of food this place has! These are the reasons why we ate here most of the time. It’s open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.1 The café has two very long hand washing stations (one on each side) and it is strongly recommended to use them before you enter the café.2 They have staff there making it a fun experience as a reminder to do so with their “washy washy” slogan.
ENTERTAINMENT
There is something for everyone. I understand there are other cruise lines that are more famously known for families with children. However, don’t underestimate Royal Caribbean. You will not be bored not even for a minute while on Freedom of the Seas. Here’s why!
STATEROOM
Our room was serviced by our steward twice a day.2 However, even if it’s the cleanest room we always wipe it down ourselves before making ourselves comfortable. It’s a habit I have especially once the pandemic started. He was there in case we needed anything throughout our journey. We opted for a balcony room and we are so happy we got it. I’m not sure if we can ever go back to a room with a porthole window or none at all. There was plenty of room for the two of us with even a small couch, cooler, and safe!
Sometimes it’s the small touches that make a difference and Royal Caribbean delivered. The towels were so cute the way our steward folded them into animals or objects. The daily cruise directory was set out for us by evening time turndown so we knew exactly what activities and important information were happening the next day.3 Also, don’t forget that with Royal Caribbean you are allowed to bring a 12 pack of soda per stateroom. Check with their rules prior to boarding though in case these rules change.
Who doesn’t love this?
More cool stuff on the ship
𝙃𝙞 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚!
At the port of Coco Cay
We were supposed to dock at Nassau, but Royal Caribbean had to cancel that port. We were still able to dock at Coco Cay, the private island for Royal Caribbean owned by the Bahamas. My husband and I were there 25 years ago and this time it looked very much developed. There is more to do here than you may think. From chilling at the beach, zip lining, to a water park, there is something for everyone and very well worth getting off the ship and enjoying.
We decided not to book any excursions this time around and just chill at a section of the island literally called “Chill Island.” The location was fantastic because the lunch buffet was nearby! Waiters came to service us with drink options. By the way, ALL food and drinks (except alcohol) are included. The food was delicious and so were the tropical drinks.
Since we didn’t do anything else but chill and snorkel, we decided to take the free tram around the island and that’s how I took all the photos of the other spots you can visit. The tram will even take you back all the way to the ship!
We had an amazing 25th anniversary trip on the Freedom of the Seas by Royal Caribbean. If you’re not sure whether to cruise now or not, in my personal opinion NOW is the best time to do so!
If you have any questions that I can answer about this cruise or others we have taken, please feel free to comment below and I will answer them. And if you have cruised recently, what did you like best about your experience?
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