This is our second cruise on FOS and our fourth RC cruise. Our cruising history includes Holland America (twice to Alaska), Carnival (once), Disnney (once) and Celebrity Solstice class ships (seven times) with our next booked for December 2015. We enjoy our close proximity to Port Canaveral (40 minutes) (which is where we alway cruise from when choosing RC) versus a 3 to 4 hour drive to Port Everglades or Port of Miami which is where we depart for Celebrity, which is usually our first choice in cruising. We found the new Terminal at Canaveral to be amazing, we were on the ship in record time.
I really cannot understand how some of the reviews for FOS can be so low. Our dining experience in the MDR as well as the Buffet were excellent. Of course there is always some bland food at the buffet, but there are so many choices. The table attendants were constantly offering tea, coffee, etc. and the tables were cleared very promptly. Our head waiter and assistant in the MDR were possible the BEST we have ever had from all of our cruises. We only attended one of the shows, so we honestly cannot critic there.
We dined once in the Sabor Mexican specialty restaurant which was absolutely a fabulous experience. The service was excellent and the food fantastic! The Red Snapper was some of the best we have ever tasted.
This is the first time we have not booked a Veranda room in the history of our 15 cruises, we had an ocean view window facing the front of the ship onto Heli-pad. Our room attendant pointed out to us on the first day that it was important to keep the drapery closed in the evening "in order to not disrupt the staff in the bridge". We were to find out later that day that you can see directly into these windows from the heli-pad area and that there is also a camera pointing at the windows. We had already planned to always book a veranda room in the future regardless as we enjoy the extra space and the sound of the ocean but this reinforced our decision for the future.
This is our first time in the new Terminal at Port Canaveral. There were an abundant of workers and we were moved very quickly through the process. We did not do an excursion.
We have visited the private island in the past and being Floridians, we are not that fascinated by a beach. We enjoyed the lunch and had drinks at the bar, returned to the ship after around 2 hours.
We walked around the port shopping area for approximately 2 hours and then went to Margaritaville for a beverage. Good service and the servers will enter a code into your phone for WiFi while you are there as a customer. The area beyond the gate at the port looks very depressing, we have not taken a tour or walked beyond the gate.
Grand Cayman has a very nice area just outside of the cruise ship area that we walked to in the area of the Port. We did not take an excursion. There are nice shops for cheap souvenirs as well as clothing, sunglasses, jewelry, etc.
We take a taxi to the "Forum" shopping area and then walk leisurely back towards the ship, shopping and having a beverage here and there. It is a long way from the International Pier to the shops, so a taxi is recommended.