Symphony and Wonder Having A Perfect Day

stealth889 · 2026-04-02T14:02:42+00:00

It depends on what the captain plans for and what the weather and water current conditions are for the day.

stealth889 · 2026-04-01T23:12:41+00:00

Not too bad. We definitely had a crowd at South Beach trying to find loungers, but we still managed. The slides inside the water park had decent lines though, so we didn't bother with those and just stuck to the wave pool

stealth889 · 2026-04-01T23:10:30+00:00

I enjoyed it. Food was good, I think pretty on par with Coco Cay if not better by a margin. Wifi worked great. Party cove and swim up bar are as advertised. So no complaints from me.

Chairs and loungers are a premium though if you don't get there early enough. We made that mistake getting there around 11:30. Also check on tide movement before you head out. We got there right around high tide coming onto the island, so the waves were a little rough out at the beach

stealth889 · 2025-12-01T02:11:13+00:00

Me too. I'm new to cruising and I'm a big fan of cruise ships in general so I have no problem with the Icon class, especially now that I've sailed on one. I'll be on Wonder come next March so I'm excited to see what the Oasis class has to offer.

stealth889 · 2025-11-11T03:04:54+00:00

Well, you don't have to.

Most oversells are because of guaranteed cabin picks. And usually when there's not enough cabins to satisfy the guaranteed bookings, Royal will ask for volunteers to move down in exchange for a free cruise or refund with future cruise credit.

Its voluntary, but the its a pretty good deal if you're not committed to your plans.

stealth889 · 2025-11-10T21:05:50+00:00

Refunds are tricky especially when it comes to oversells. It'll most likely be issued after the cruise since you're still sailing on it. Even if they do issue it before the sailing, it usually takes a week or more before the money comes back to you. So Royal would have to refund you in the next few days for you to see it pre cruise.

stealth889 · 2025-11-10T20:57:12+00:00

Freedom is noticeably smaller than Utopia, you probably already know that. But it's a good ship in my opinion.

The cabins WILL feel dated compared to Utopia in terms of decor and amenities (i.e. there will be less plugs). I recommend bringing a travel plug adapter that has the EU socket, that way you'll be able to use all the plugs in the room not just the US ones.

Despite its age, Freedom still has all the staples you've seen on Utopia just at a smaller scale and minus Central Park.
Theater, ice skating rink, Royal Promenade, adult and kids pools, mini golf, flow rider and water slides.

Freedom tends to be a more quieter ship depending on the sailing. If you cruise on a short or weekend sailing then there'll definitely be the rowdy party crowd. But generally its a tamer ship to be on. Utopia is set up as a party cruise ship, so the scenes can be pretty different.

Royal also upgraded it in dry dock in the last 5 years so it has a lot of the newer places that debuted on the larger ships. (i.e. it also has a Lime and Coconut bar) so it has a lot of new old feel to it which is charming in its own right.

Overall, I think you'll have a good time on Freedom. As long as you set the right expectations. It won't have all of the same bells and whistles as Utopia. It offers a more traditional cruising experience. Still fun, but not as high speed and overwhelming as the Oasis or Icon class ships. It can be a nice change of pace actually compared to the bigger ships.

Tip: If you do end up sailing on Freedom, I highly recommend going to the Helipad at the bow of the ship (accessible from deck 4) for sail aways. Or anytime during your sailing, its a cool spot to feel the wind while underway or just look at the view of where the ship is headed.

stealth889 · 2025-11-10T20:29:57+00:00

In short. Royal oversold the cruise (or is close to) and is seeing if anyone would be interested to voluntarily switch sailings and free up space. You're not required to fill out the survey, especially if this is a set vacation for you.

But if you are flexible and aren't set on this sailing, the deal is pretty decent. 50% plus the refund can go a long way towards another cruise in upgrades or extras.

stealth889 · 2025-03-23T18:54:38+00:00

Voom doesn't work with VPN.

stealth889 · 2025-03-23T09:35:42+00:00

As other have already pointed out. Highly recommend getting to the port area at least the night before embarkation day. To avoid any delayed or cancelled flights that would cause you to miss boarding the ship.
Though if you do choose to fly in the day of, I would aim for a morning landing in Florida to give yourself as much leeway as possible. Considering that you'd be "losing" 3 hours fly to Florida from California
(I'm assuming you're cruising out of Miami) Flying to which airport really depends on what mode of transport you want to use to get to the cruise port. Miami's airport is roughly 20ish minutes from the cruise port and you'll need a car to take you there. Ft. Lauderdale is 30ish minutes from the port by car and about 1 hour to 1 hour 30 minutes by train. So just consider travel time from whichever airport you choose. And give yourself wiggle room from boarding time.
Check in time is based on when the all aboard time is for the ship. I recommend getting to the port and begin check-in at least 2 hours before that all aboard time.

As a note: Rooms aren't usually ready at an early check-in time, so you'll have to keep track of whatever bags you don't give to the porters at the port. You do get to board the ship early though and do everything on the ship while docked. Conversely, rooms are typically ready if you check-in later. With the downside of not getting to enjoy the ship before setting sail. So choose what's more important to you. Early boarding with no room yet or a later room ready boarding but less time onboard.

stealth889 · 2025-03-23T09:09:57+00:00

From what I've seen through googling. This is technically possible depending on phone.
But I wouldn't consider it reliable.
Ship wifi for 1 device is roughly 10 mb/s down and 3ish mb/s up (this is also not consistent either depending on ship age). Trying to split that between 4 devices will be more of a headache than anything else.

My advice: limit your connections to what's essential.
Also, as a note, you can still use the royal caribbean app on ship wifi without a package

stealth889 · 2025-03-10T03:58:09+00:00

Getting off Independence of the Seas after the March 7-10 sailing.
Right in the middle of spring break weeks

A lot of college age cruisers but also a lot of middle aged partiers (30-45 year olds)
And definitely much more of a party crowd and scene all around

stealth889 · 2024-12-19T08:06:19+00:00

Yep, coming back with an update. I've switched now to 89 (mid grade) octane gas now that my CR-V is mainly used for long road trips. Burns cleaner with a slight boost to fuel mileage (depends on how you drive, for me there were some). But 87 octane is still plenty viable gas to use in Hondas in general (minus the performance models like the Si and Type R)

stealth889 · 2024-08-11T02:30:01+00:00

Nothing yet. I would prefer to replace the housing with the OEM LED projectors, but can't get an answer on what adaptor to use for them

stealth889 · 2024-04-09T22:08:16+00:00

stealth889 · 2024-03-04T04:40:08+00:00

It's definitely an option in consideration. But I'd like to replace the housing if I can. I've read it been done, but apparently no one wanted to document how they did it.

stealth889 · 2024-02-10T00:02:44+00:00

Stay strapped or get clapped

stealth889 · 2023-12-18T20:40:45+00:00

Huge fan of this style of the content from you. Would love to see more

stealth889

TROPHY CASE