My First Review FREEDOM of the SEAS 7/26

[Rick-n-Lisa]

My Freedom Review PART 1
Eastern 7/26/09 - 8/2/09

Me, DH and DS, 15. Also friends and their DS, 19 and DD, 14.








We had an interior cabin on Deck 6. We usually are on Deck 10 because we spend a lot of time on Pool deck but we absolutely loved the location and proximity to everything. We did My Time Dining, Deck 5 and used the stairs everywhere. I think we might have been in the elevator 4 times total. Was a great workout. First Platinum cruise.

So here’s the skinny:

Arrived at port 10:45. No line to drop bags. No line to get through security. No line to check in. We were checked in by 11AM. They said they would start boarding in 10 minutes. We waited in the middle where the platinum cruisers could wait. We were second ones on ship. That was cool! This was around 11:15AM. We walked around for awhile and checked everything out then headed to WJ at 11:30 for lunch. There was a long line so we walked around some more and came back and still a long line. It didn’t open until after 12 due to an unexpected health inspection.

Food was good as usual in the dining room- not 5 star but then I don’t expect 5 star.
Had dinner there 5 of 7 nights. One night Chops- Excellent! One night Café Promenade.
Had Breakfast in MDR a couple of times, very good and Lunch one day, again very good. That Salad bar was great!
Breakfast in WJ a couple of times, was good. Lunch in WJ only once, first day and was okay. Then again, it IS a buffet. No complaints. Others in my party ate in the WJ several times for lunch and also had no complaints.

Entertainment was ok. Did not go to production shows. Comedian, Chaz Elstner- thought he was not funny at all. (Did not see his late night/adult show) Magician, Drew Thomas, was very good. Love & Marriage was funny, but would like to see them change the questions a little. We also had the original Drifters and they were fantastic. After 6 cruises the entertainment is repetitive so we don’t get too excited about it anymore.
Walked through the Schooner Bar several times and thought the Piano player wasn’t very good. The Pub guitar player was good.

Service was good as usual too. Our Room Steward, Solomon did a good job, all our waiters and assistant waiters were great. Bartender service was also good however, I have noticed the last couple of cruises (the other on Sovereign) the bartenders don’t seem as friendly or happy. I always tip extra to the bartenders. I may have just been spoiled by the bartenders on Mariner though.

[Rick-n-Lisa]

PART 2

Ports:
Coco Cay: Did nothing





St. Thomas: Went to Sapphire Beach and snorkeled, Jet ski’d and Parasailed. Fantastic day. Saw a lot of cool fish and they came right up to us. They sell kibbles n bits to feed them but beware of the seagulls when you are trying to feed the fish!! Ha Ha that was a trip! Beach was beautiful, there were restrooms which were in decent shape. They were clean, just old. Food service was available, both a snack bar/grill and waitress from the resort. We didn’t get anything so I can’t say how quality or prices were. No one on the beach trying to sell anything to us. We also used Papa Bear from Air Force One tours and he was awesome!







St. Maarten: Did the Canopy tour and absolutely LOVED it. It wasn’t easy but so much fun! It is a combo of obstacle type runs and zip lines. Swinging rope bridges, tight ropes, etc. I am 47 and in ok physical condition and did not have a problem and would do it again. They also have an extreme zip line which is all zip lines but not offered through the cruise line. Next trip… The new pier here looks like it is almost done. Sorry no pics.



All in all we had a fantastic cruise. The ship is in good condition, staff always cleaning. My only complaint would be the band at the pool did not play long enough or often enough and there were times in between where there was no music. The chair hogs were out in full force. I saw plenty of deck patrol people but did not see them removing people’s things. Of course I didn’t stand around for 30 minutes waiting either. They had both sides of the stairs that go up to the sky bar roped off for concierge guests but less than half actually being used at most times.
Ship was full but didn’t have any issues with lines too long or too many kids running around.
If you have the opportunity and have not seen it before catch the kids pirate parade on the Promenade. Ours was Wednesday night. It was the cutest thing and funny!

Dress in the dining room: Saw it all - jeans, shorts, t-shirts, flip flops, nice dresses, tuxes. We always conform to the “suggested attire” and seem to notice those that do not because the majority do follow the “suggested attire” . Formal nights were Monday, Coco Cay day and Thursday, St. Maarten day, as is the norm. Thursday was Lobster night. You can pretty much find any cruise compass for the eastern and it will be 99% the same for any date you sail the eastern. We did Mariner Eastern in 2005, 2006, 2007 and Freedom Eastern last week and the compasses could have been reused each time. The same could also be said for the menus.




The kids had a great time. (All teens so I can’t answer any questions about Adventure Ocean) DH and DS did the Flowrider. The surfing part was hard but the boogie board was easier. Long lines for this though. You can do private lessons for $60 per person for 1 hour with a max of 8 people signed up for the session. DH and DS did this Monday night after dinner and there were only 4 signed up so they got a lot of time and really got good on the boogie boards, even turning flips. It was fun to watch this and some of the folks really went down hard. Some were very good at it.

Casino: Almost always had a good crowd and I think there were 3 nights non-smoking in there. Of course there was the occasional “rule breaker” here. Lots of machines and tables. Many of the machines were multi denomination where you could change it from .05 to .25 or $1.00. But it seemed that the penny and nickel machines were always full and many, many quarter machines open. They should think about trading some of them out. Tables were $5.00 minimum although one day from 4-7PM they had $3.00 min. They also had slot and black jack tournaments.

My cruise of firsts: You may not believe this but this was my 6th cruise and my first time getting ice cream on the pool deck, playing mini golf, first time did not have 1 frozen drink (unless you count the milkshake at JR), first time eating breakfast or lunch in the MDR, first time not going to a beach in St. Maarten, first time getting a tattoo(one of those henna ones on the promenade-only lasted 3 days!), first time parasailing, first time zip lining, first time hitting what I consider big on a slot machine ($251.00 on penny slots!) and of course first time platinum so first time having robes in the room which I used every day!

Debarkation: We had Orange 1 tags and our time was 8:30. We were actually called by 8:15 but still having breakfast. We walked out of the WJ at 8:25 and were in the car by 8:45. No line to get off the boat. No line at Customs and about 5 minutes to see our luggage on the conveyor.
The only bad part was actually having to leave!

Hope you enjoyed! For those of you that feel compelled to slam my OPINION of anything or correct my grammar and/or spelling please use that energy instead to do something nice for someone.

[sailingawaysoon]

Thanks for the nice review. I think we have similar "firsts" on the same ship. We will be first time Platnium when we go back on the Freedom in August. On our last cruise I parasailed for the first time. How did you like it? I don't know that I'll do it again, but it was something I wanted to try. I would love to try zip lining, what did you think of that? Oh, I hit what I considered to be a big payout while on the Freedom also, it was a little over $1,000 on a quarter machine (can't remember the exact dollar amt). I never found the ice cream (froz yog) machine in May, where is it? I'll have to be on the lookout for it when we go back. Oh, is the music in the Pub with a lady that likes people to dance w/tambourines? Just wondered if she was still there. Thanks again for the review! Happy future cruising.

[James MTL]

Lisa,

Thank you for the comments and I will certainly NOT be doing any slamming! My family is sailing her this November with our 15 and 12 year old boys and we too are on Deck 6. This has been my lucky deck # so far as I have always been on this deck: Enchantment, Grandeur, Explorer and now Freedom. What CAT stateroom did you have?

James

[1999]

Originally Posted by Rick-n-Lisa

Hope you enjoyed! For those of you that feel compelled to slam my OPINION of anything or correct my grammar and/or spelling please use that energy instead to do something nice for someone.

I think your type of reviews are fabulous! short & too the point.
Thanks I really enjoyed it!

[KevinNYC]

Thanks, Lisa -- great report!

[Rick-n-Lisa]

I liked the parasailing and would probably do it again somewhere else. The zip line course I loved, but keep in mind it was more than zip lines. If you only want zip lines you have to book your own, cruise ship does not offer. It was at the Loterie Farm. The staff there was very nice. The ice cream machine is on Deck 11 (pool deck) on the Starboard side kinda between the Splash Zone and the regular pool. They had vanilla, chocolate and swirl. The guitar player in the pub was a man but I heard about the lady with tambourines. Your jackpot makes mine look tiny! Good for you! One day I hope to hit for $1000 or more.

James, the 3 of us had an interior room. We were actually in a "middle" hallway. Towards the back of the ship. It was really a good room and good location for the price.

Hope you all have a great time!

[danajjj]

Nice review, thanks!

[UK Cruiser2]

Originally Posted by Rick-n-Lisa

My Freedom Review PART 1
Eastern 7/26/09 - 8/2/09

Me, DH and DS, 15. Also friends and their DS, 19 and DD, 14.








We had an interior cabin on Deck 6. We usually are on Deck 10 because we spend a lot of time on Pool deck but we absolutely loved the location and proximity to everything. We did My Time Dining, Deck 5 and used the stairs everywhere. I think we might have been in the elevator 4 times total. Was a great workout. First Platinum cruise.

So here’s the skinny:

Arrived at port 10:45. No line to drop bags. No line to get through security. No line to check in. We were checked in by 11AM. They said they would start boarding in 10 minutes. We waited in the middle where the platinum cruisers could wait. We were second ones on ship. That was cool! This was around 11:15AM. We walked around for awhile and checked everything out then headed to WJ at 11:30 for lunch. There was a long line so we walked around some more and came back and still a long line. It didn’t open until after 12 due to an unexpected health inspection.

Food was good as usual in the dining room- not 5 star but then I don’t expect 5 star.
Had dinner there 5 of 7 nights. One night Chops- Excellent! One night Café Promenade.
Had Breakfast in MDR a couple of times, very good and Lunch one day, again very good. That Salad bar was great!
Breakfast in WJ a couple of times, was good. Lunch in WJ only once, first day and was okay. Then again, it IS a buffet. No complaints. Others in my party ate in the WJ several times for lunch and also had no complaints.

Entertainment was ok. Did not go to production shows. Comedian, Chaz Elstner- thought he was not funny at all. (Did not see his late night/adult show) Magician, Drew Thomas, was very good. Love & Marriage was funny, but would like to see them change the questions a little. We also had the original Drifters and they were fantastic. After 6 cruises the entertainment is repetitive so we don’t get too excited about it anymore.
Walked through the Schooner Bar several times and thought the Piano player wasn’t very good. The Pub guitar player was good.

Service was good as usual too. Our Room Steward, Solomon did a good job, all our waiters and assistant waiters were great. Bartender service was also good however, I have noticed the last couple of cruises (the other on Sovereign) the bartenders don’t seem as friendly or happy. I always tip extra to the bartenders. I may have just been spoiled by the bartenders on Mariner though.

We did this cruise as the second of our B2B. Totally agree Chaz Elsnter was not funny at all.We sat in the Schooner and the paino player was c*** Apart from these two points the cruise was FANTASTIC..

[cruiselovers24]

We were on this sailing with you & agree with many of the points. The comedian was not funny at all & we too have been on many cruises so have seen the shows all before but we still went & enjoyed them. Just surprised that in 3 years since we were on Freedom last the shows, costumes, etc were all exactly the same. Even drew thomas had the exact same performance.

What did you think of the CD Allan. We thought he was one of the best we have had and was very visible and absolutely hilarious!

We thought the ship was extremely clean and saw people constantly cleaning as well. We even saw them touching up the outsie of the ship with paint & rollers in St. Maarten.

We were not impressed with CoCo Cay at all. Almost did not get off as it looks barren and tiny from the ship.

We did notice the crowds & kids more than on any cruise. But the H20 zone and kids programs keep them busy.

Hope you enjoyed your cruise as much as we did and thanks for the review!

[peteukmcr]

Lisa - thanks for your concise review, very much appreciated. We're back on FOS for the 2nd time doing Eastern in just over 6 weeks.

I'm getting more and more interested in breakfast in the MDR, seems lots of good reports. Only done it once before and wasn't happy at being sat at a large table with a large family (nothing against them, but I'm not the chatting type at breakfast!).

Nice to know a lot of people are keeping to the suggested attire for dinner.

[Rick-n-Lisa]

I thought Allen Brooks was very funny. He cracked me up during the Love & Marriage show!

Breakfast in the MDR was really nice. Thier pancakes are very good. Their french toast is double thick slices and one morning they had chocolate french toast. DH had it and thought was good. I'm sure you could ask for a table for 2 but the couple of times we ate there we were sat with others. One day an 8 top and one day just 4 of us. The people we met were very nice both times.

And yes, it seems as though most do dress accordingly for dinner which does make those who don't stand out. When you are seated you can't really tell what people are wearing, unless a t-shirt but we noticed it mainly waiting to enter the dining room when others were coming out or getting in line for MTD. Very few had on shorts, jeans and t-shirts but there were enough to notice. Doesn't ruin my dinner but I am one of those that likes to dress up on the cruise for dinner. It's part of the whole experience for me. What others choose to do is their business but if everyone started dressing like that for dinner I think it would really take away something. Just my opinion. But there are 2 other threads on this topic going on right now so let's just put it to bed in this thread.

Have a wonderful cruise! I need to book another now so I can have something to look forward to.

[F5Loar]

Wow! What a review. We were on there same ports 2 weeks ago and you could have written our reivew day by day! We did the zip line too but I did give out towards that very last zip. Glad I did it but probably not do it again. We felt the same about the food and you were dead on with the dress code "busters". We noticed it was quite a lot on our early seating. Just wish they would enforce it or do away with it or at least those that choose to not dress up at least go up to the Windjammer. Think of the money they would save if they shut down the Windjammer at night and made everyone eat in MDR dressed in anything. I like the dress code but without enforcement it's a joke to see how far some will carry it. They enforce the swimmies in the pools, the arm bands on the flowrider/ice skate/rock wall , the adults only section, the chair hog limit why not the DR dress code? In St. Thomas we did the Sea Blaster snorkel instead of a beach. Coco was a waste for us as the jelly fish were biting that day so we came back to an empty ship and enjoyed the ship pools alone until about 3PM so that was really nice. JR's was great at lunch that day too. Did Chops and it was great. We liked the FofS so much I signed us up for the Oasis in Jan. 2011.

[Rick-n-Lisa]

Did my pictures get zapped by mods or is something wrong on my PC? If they did get zapped what is the rule?
Thanks!

[Lionesss]

Great Review.
Lisa, did you think that it was a pain, leaving the ship on shore excursions due to the number of people.
We did the Mariner last year out of Port Canavral, and are looking at doing the Eastern Freedom next summer.
Any input appreciated.

Thanks

[marci22]

Originally Posted by UK Cruiser2

Totally agree Chaz Elsnter was not funny at all.

+1

My 17yo said after the show, "He wasn't funny at all; his humor was sophomoric".

[Rick-n-Lisa]

Sue- We got to St. Thomas at 11 and were supposed to meet our driver at 11:15. We left the room (deck 6) a few minutes after 11 and took the stairs and got stopped on deck 4 in a line to leave the ship. It took maybe 10 minutes or so to get off. So I don't think it was that bad actually since the majority try to get off as soon as they let you.

St. Maarten we got in at 8 and we left the ship at 9 for a 9:15 excursion and walked right off.

[Lionesss]

Thanks Lisa.
I put this thread in my favorites and will check it from time to time as I am sure you will have more to share.

Later

[1999]

Originally Posted by Rick-n-Lisa

Did my pictures get zapped by mods or is something wrong on my PC? If they did get zapped what is the rule?
Thanks!

I don't see them either anymore.
They were so nice to look @.
Not sure if it's a PC thing or a crappy cc.com server issue.

[UK Cruiser2]

Originally Posted by Lionesss

Great Review.
Lisa, did you think that it was a pain, leaving the ship on shore excursions due to the number of people.
We did the Mariner last year out of Port Canavral, and are looking at doing the Eastern Freedom next summer.
Any input appreciated.

Thanks

We were on Freedom for 26th July sailing.At Coco Cay we joined the line for tender at deck 3. Thirty minutes later we were still in line.The member of ships staff announce that it was raining,we turned and decided to stay on board.Maybe we just hit a busy time for tenedering...This still didn't spoil our wondeful cruise on a beautiful ship.