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Fantabulous Freedom


lovelife
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Second port was St. Thomas. We had never gone to downtown but rather hit the beaches or sailed over to St. John. This trip we took a very hot taxi ride to town but were not impressed. I'll stick to the gorgeous beaches.

 

Here comes the pilot boat

 

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A magnificent port

 

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Downtown Charlotte Amalie

 

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Random ship photos

 

I call these things at the end of the stair rails "fried eggs."

 

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Another Promenade view

 

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The other side of Boleros

 

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This little area is out the door behind the Solarium. No seats were available on sea days.

 

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Coke machines

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Lobster night (actually Fisherman's Plate)

 

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Don't you love being waited on hand and foot?

 

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DH had the prime rib. He didn't like the long potato things and gave them to me. I found them delicious. The waiter insisted on bringing DH a fisherman's plate also.

 

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Don't know if it was this night, but I had Cherries Jubilee. I love it.

 

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I wish I could remember the name of this dessert. It was to die for.

 

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DH's vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup.

 

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Third and final port of call was a favorite of mine -- St. Maarten.

 

We watched the pilot boat approach from our balcony

 

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Immediate port area

 

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In the past we used this dock but this time we had a much further walk

 

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Pretty Lady

 

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Immediate Port Area

 

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Later we paid $20 for two loungers, umbrella, and a bucket of five drinks on the town beach which I think is a great deal. The water is fantastic and we relaxed and played for a few hours. We saw lots of fish in the water.

 

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Eventually we headed back to the ship to again enjoy it briefly sans the masses.

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On our final day we got the packing over with early in order to make the most of the last day.

 

Turning in the beach towels. Wouldn't want to be charged $25 for those thin, stringy things.

 

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It had been smooth sailing until the last day when we rocked and rolled a bit.

 

Water rushing over the steps

 

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The new paint looks great. Hope everything is complete for the next passengers.

 

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Final morning with dividers open

 

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This is all I could manage to eat that last morning

 

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DH, on the other hand, had no problem

 

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Back in Port Canaveral

 

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Same ships back in port

 

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WRAP-UP

 

We had beautiful, hot weather all week. I believe it rained overnight once.

 

We had some very good to great food on this cruise. Anyone can certainly find good food to eat and plenty of it. I always say If you can't find something to your liking on a ship, then you cannot be pleased.

 

Since we were on essentially back-to-back cruises, we could have used our $10 off coupon for the usual special laundry deal but it was not offered on this cruise.

 

Although I have read on these boards smoking was no longer allowed on cabin balconies, it was definitely allowed on Freedom and even stated in print. I have never received any notification regarding a new smoking policy (not that I smoke).

 

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Something I had never seen before was a priority line at Guest Services for Diamond and above. It was nice being able to walk right up and be helped but I felt bad for the folks already in line and apologized to them when I was waited on first.

 

Freedom class is a favorite of mine and I loved the Freedom as much as Liberty. However, due to the inconvenient port I will try Independence next time I'm up for a Freedom class ship.

 

It was a quick and smooth disembarkation and we grabbed a taxi to the Country Inn where we had reservations for the night prior to our next sailing on Enchantment the next morning. RCI no longer provides accommodations for back-to-back cruises with a day in between but the Country Inn was very reasonable. The taxi driver said it would be between $10 and $12 to take us the .53 mile to the hotel. I'm not sure what route she took but she charged us $14.55!

 

It was only 9 am so we asked the hotel clerk if we could store our luggage there until check in. To our delight, we were allowed to check into our room right then.

 

We first laundered our clothes from the first cruise in the facilities provided on each floor of the hotel. We swam in the lovely pool and used the hot tub which we had all to ourselves. What a joy after a week of crowds.

 

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We saw the Disney ship sail by from the hotel entrance

 

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At dinner time we took the hotel clerk's advice and ate just down the street at Kelsey's. It was really good. Later we must have walked four miles but it certainly did us good after a week of stuffing ourselves on Freedom.

 

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This is the only gator I saw the entire trip -- a concrete one!

 

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We signed up for the first hotel shuttle to the port the following morning at 10:30. It was $5 per person and a good service.

 

So ends this review and I will begin my separate Enchantment review. WARNING: That one will not be so favorable.

 

I LOVE FREEDOM!!!!!

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Thank you for the great review. We will be on the Freedom this Sunday for western Caribbean. Thanks for posting a daily compass. It is really neat to see all the activities that are going on.

 

Did you have any experience with the golf simulator? I have used some good ones and horrible ones in the past and was curious if this would be worth it.

 

Thanks again.

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Thanks lovelife for the wonderful review. I will be on the Freedom in about 36 days using a mobility scooter. Can you tell me if there were things to do right at each port? My travel partner is also going to be using a scooter as well so we will be limited on mobility.

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Sorry, I didn't use it -- only mini golf for me. Maybe someone else with experience can answer??

 

 

Thanks again for this review, the effort is appreciated. Some of my cruise friends want us to join them on Oasis in '15, but these pictures keep me wanting to go back on Freedom.

 

 

Speaking of Mini golf was the course in good shape? That might seem an odd think to ask, but when I was Freedom it was her 100th cruise and she was approaching 2 years old. The ship was wonderful and in great shape with the exception of the minigolf. The course was tore up and the equipment was horrible. On one hole I saw my ball dissapear under some carpet. When I lifted up that carpet the ball fell into a hole and I heard it rattle around downward for several decks. (This is as close to a bad experience I have ever had on RC ;)

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Thank you for the great review. We will be on the Freedom this Sunday for western Caribbean. Thanks for posting a daily compass. It is really neat to see all the activities that are going on.

 

Did you have any experience with the golf simulator? I have used some good ones and horrible ones in the past and was curious if this would be worth it.

 

Thanks again.

 

I was on Freedom in September and did use the Golf Simulator. I did the longest drive competition. I didnt like the fact that the rubber tees we SO TALL and felt I kept getting under it. I have a higher ball flight. If you hit the ball higher on the screen it didnt register correctly. I normally drive the ball between 280 to 305. Mine registered 170yards. I noticed some of the other guys with low ball flights did get the distance. One even hit the cart path and bounced. Ended up about 340yard drive. It looks like fun if you had a little more time with it. You should try it.

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Thanks again for this review, the effort is appreciated. Some of my cruise friends want us to join them on Oasis in '15, but these pictures keep me wanting to go back on Freedom.

 

 

Speaking of Mini golf was the course in good shape? That might seem an odd think to ask, but when I was Freedom it was her 100th cruise and she was approaching 2 years old. The ship was wonderful and in great shape with the exception of the minigolf. The course was tore up and the equipment was horrible. On one hole I saw my ball dissapear under some carpet. When I lifted up that carpet the ball fell into a hole and I heard it rattle around downward for several decks. (This is as close to a bad experience I have ever had on RC ;)

 

We played mini golf last month on Freedom and the course was in good condition.

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Thanks lovelife for the wonderful review. I will be on the Freedom in about 36 days using a mobility scooter. Can you tell me if there were things to do right at each port? My travel partner is also going to be using a scooter as well so we will be limited on mobility.

 

You should be able to at least enjoy the shops at St. Thomas and St. Maarten. I did see scooters at Coco Cay

 

Thanks again for this review, the effort is appreciated. Some of my cruise friends want us to join them on Oasis in '15, but these pictures keep me wanting to go back on Freedom.

 

 

Speaking of Mini golf was the course in good shape? That might seem an odd think to ask, but when I was Freedom it was her 100th cruise and she was approaching 2 years old. The ship was wonderful and in great shape with the exception of the minigolf. The course was tore up and the equipment was horrible. On one hole I saw my ball dissapear under some carpet. When I lifted up that carpet the ball fell into a hole and I heard it rattle around downward for several decks. (This is as close to a bad experience I have ever had on RC ;)

 

You should definitely try Oasis class at least once. It is quite incredible.

 

Yes, the mini golf course was in good condition. If that was your only nearly bad experience, then yay - that's fantastic!

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