Freedom of the seas Western Mediterranean trip report 14-21 May 2017

Background

This was our first ever cruise. We were a family party of four from Ireland; my two sisters, my mother and myself. My mother had always dreamed of a cruise holiday. She turned 80 a few months ago so we decided to buy her the cruise as her present and go along with her. We took a flight from Dublin to Barcelona on the morning of our cruise and similar on the final day of it.

On arrival in Barcelona airport, we quickly claimed our luggage and were met by RCCL reps. These helped us with the infamous luggage tags and directed us to our coach. We were at terminal B in the port within 30 minutes.

Embarkation: We cleared security swiftly and then joined a large but moving line for the check in desks. We had checked in online a few days previously so expected things to go smoothly here. Well we must have had the most inefficient or most in experienced member of staff on the planet. She issued my sister and I with seapass cards, refusing to include the stamp for our prepaid drinks package and refused to give us card stating our onboard credit. She was very abrupt about fixing this and told us to sort it out onboard. We werent too happy about this especially as the rest of the party had no bother getting theirs done at the next counter. Our photos were taken and we later discovered that the wrong photos were matched to both our cards. Other than that, we could board immediately and without a further queue.

There were three cruise ships in port that afternoon. Freedom, NCL Epic and Celebrity Princess. We were first to leave. Each of us were wowed by Freedom within five minutes of boarding her. Everything exceeded our expectations, even our interior cabin on deck nine. The atmosphere was great, staff so friendly and the sun was shining. We enjoyed a not too crowded WJ for lunch before checking out our cabins and then we settled on deck 12 for the sailaway. I went and found the helipad, which was very quiet but the view was better from deck 12. Helipad great though if you want a quiet sailaway with no music.

We had been given MTD when we booked and were given a window table for four in Galileos on deck five. A mild headache had been brewing most of the afternoon and became suddenly severe at the dinner table, erupting like Vesuvius with three spectacular vomits. Result I had to be carted off to bed and our table and that next to us had to be reseated. I can't tell you how mortified I was to start our cruise like that. I can only assume it was a rare migraine.

I have lots of photos to post here, including the day one menu and cruise compass. I have tried to upload them and am being told something about a missing security tag on them. Can anyone help? Years since I have attached photos to a forum.

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That's great thanks, looking forward to reading the rest of your review

Day Two

We arrived in Marseille at 9am. After a great nights sleep I felt like new and after breakfast in the WJ, I took to the jogging track for a walk. Four of us disembarked about midday and walked to where the free shuttle bus was. we had to wait 40 minutes for it but once it came it was plenty big for a crowd and didnt take long to reach Joliette. We walked to the old port from there. It took about 10 minutes. I took the little train to Notre Dame de la Garde. It was about €8 return journey and the bumpiest journey in my life. The views were great from the basilica. I just did a quick visit and came back to the old port and then walked to Joliette and got a shuttle straight away.

Made it back on board a tad late for the meet and mingle but just in time to be given raffle tickets. Won a bottle of wine and my sisters won some RCCL merchandise. Very poor turnout but apparently many did not receive their meet and mingle invites and didn't know it was on. Such a pity.

It was the first formal night, so we dressed in all our finery and made it back to our window table in the MDR. Unfortunately I only got a photo of the menu the first night. Food in the MDR was very good but needs more variety. Service was very good and our waiter Nicholas and assistant Marion were lovely. My mother got her extra dessert with birthday candle and waiters and manager singing happy birthday to her. She was ecstatic with the little bit of fuss.

The headline show was Marquee. Being a big fan of musical theatre, I loved this show. Great singing, dancing and costumes and some of my favourite musicals were covered. Just wished it could have gone on for longer. We all headed to bed after that.

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Enjoying the photos.:)

Day Two

 

Made it back on board a tad late for the meet and mingle but just in time to be given raffle tickets. Won a bottle of wine and my sisters won some RCCL merchandise. Very poor turnout but apparently many did not receive their meet and mingle invites and didn't know it was on. Such a pity.

 

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Tim

The cruise compasses are taking up alot of photo space. I might just post photos and if anyone requests the compasses I can post them together. I have plenty of ship photos as well as port ones so if anyone wants any particular place let me know.

Would be great if you could post the rest of the compasses somewhere altogether, thanks. Also our first cruise but with kids as well so trying to work out dining times etc to tie in with activities. Thanks again

Day 3

I was the only one of our party going ashore today. Was up bright and early, had breakfast in WJ and a km or two on jogging track and got the tender boat to Villefranche at 7.45am. Villefranche was spectacular from the sea and seeing the ship from the tender boat was equally beautiful. The tender boat took less than ten minutes to reach the little dock.

Once ashore, I followed the shoreline around the corner until I found the steps leading to the railway station. Had trouble operating the ticket machine. Someone did it for me and as a result I got a ticket to Cannes for something like 1.20. We had a bit of a wait for the train but it was fast and comfortable when it came. I took it to Cannes. It was the day before the film festival started so there was plenty of excitement with the preparations. Cannes is very easy to get around on foot. The golden palm imprints near the festival hall was enjoyable, as was a walk along the seafront. I also took the little train around the town. This covered the festival side and also the old town which is beautiful. Really enjoyed my few hours here and glad I went.

I then took a train to nice. Weather was very hot and I didnt stay here too long. There was construction work on the promenade, so I veered into McDonalds for free wifi instead. I think nice is a pretty city but I was feeling tired at this point and wanted to explore the little town of Villefranche as well before tendering back to the ship.

Loved Villefranche. Full of charm and very pretty, although a little too quiet. There was a small market here, which was worth a look.

Back on board, I found my family on the pool deck. They had enjoyed a day chilling out. We all enjoyed the usual lovely dinner. My sisters went to the show that evening, which was the group "Fourever". They thought it brilliant. My mother and I strolled through the evening offers on the royal promenade. Later, my sister and I took a lounger on the pool deck under the stars to watch LaLa Land on the big screen. Retired to bed very tired but happy.

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Waterlegs,

Looking at your pictures (Thank you so much for those!!), it looks as if Chops and Giovannis were not open for dinner on night One? Only Sabor? Then Giovanni's opens on Day Two, but Chops doesn't open until Day Three? Is that correct?? I certainly hope it is not!

Thanks!

Waterlegs,

 

Looking at your pictures (Thank you so much for those!!), it looks as if Chops and Giovannis were not open for dinner on night One? Only Sabor? Then Giovanni's opens on Day Two, but Chops doesn't open until Day Three? Is that correct?? I certainly hope it is not!

 

Thanks!

I noticed that too. So disappointed as I have purchased the BOGO restaurant deal for nights 1 & 2. It's a milestone birthday for me on embarkation night. Looks like I will be eating Mexican! Lucky I love Mexican food! Had been hoping for Chops, with a beautiful sea view....

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I noticed that too. So disappointed as I have purchased the BOGO restaurant deal for nights 1 & 2. It's a milestone birthday for me on embarkation night. Looks like I will be eating Mexican! Lucky I love Mexican food! Had been hoping for Chops, with a beautiful sea view....

 

 

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Unfortunately, most of my party does not like Mexican food. I like Sabor, we've dined there before and enjoyed it, but it is certainly not what I was hoping for. But I realized that if you go into Cruise Planner and just try to make reservations for Chops on night 1 or 2, it will allow it, so now I'm really confused!! But maybe there is still a chance for your birthday dinner at Chops!!:D

Unfortunately, most of my party does not like Mexican food. I like Sabor, we've dined there before and enjoyed it, but it is certainly not what I was hoping for. But I realized that if you go into Cruise Planner and just try to make reservations for Chops on night 1 or 2, it will allow it, so now I'm really confused!! But maybe there is still a chance for your birthday dinner at Chops!!:D

Mmm interesting! Maybe it's not the plan for only Sabor to be open on all sailings? It's not much of a saving and definitely not BOGO if only Sabor & Giovanni. Glad to hear you enjoyed Sabor. Wherever I celebrate , I'm intent on enjoying myself. I'm just glad I'm forewarned. To the OP- thanks for taking the time to do this review. Very much enjoying your travels

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I hadnt noticed that myself as we didnt do any speciality dining. The food was great in the MDR. My only reason to do speciality would be for more variety. We did eat in the WJ after the Florence/Pisa tour as we were pretty tired and felt like a less formal atmosphere. We were glad of that and food was good there too.

Day 4

Early rise to meet our tour group from roll call and find our RIL guide to take us to Florence and Pisa. Security at La Spezia was abit strict. The police would not allow us walk certain ways to find our Romeinlimo vehicle. Turned out there was a shuttle bus to take to the port gate first. Once there our guide Vini welcomed us and brought us to the van which was waiting across the road from the port. There were eight of us booked on this tour. Vini was very pleasant and extremely knowledgeable with good enough english. He had cold bottles of water for us. Unfortunately the microphone was gone for repair so hearing everything was a little difficult but he did his best. We had a two hour trip to Florence, passing through the Chianti region and tuscany hills. We saw the famous white marble quarry clearly in the distance as we drove. we headed first for the Piazza Michelangelo to get the panoramic view of the city. Unfortunately this was all closed on the day because the Giro d'Italia was passing through. Vini left us off in the centre of the tourist area, near the Accadamia, as some people had a visit booked. He was very clear about meeting point and time and gave us clear recommendations and directions on what to see and where to eat in the area. There was a huge queue at the Sante Croce basilica so we didnt get inside. The building is magnificent on the outside however. Very difficult to get a good photo because it is in a confined space and many tourists about. The replica of David was surrounded by scaffolding as the fountain there is being upgraded. We enjoyed walking to the Ponte Vecchio and the nearby markets. All the buildings and museums were impressive from the outside. We went to a cafe for italian lunch and free wifi before returning to our meeting point. I would return to Florence again if I had a few days to spend there. It was pretty but felt we couldnt see it in a few hours. On route to Pisa, we visited a vineyard very briefly as some of the group wished to purchase wine. Then on to Pisa, which was really nice, but again time was too limited here and I would have liked to visit the surrounding buildings. Vini seemed very anxious to have us back to the ship on time, understandably. We were back with plenty of spare time and we ate in the WJ that evening.

Apologies, it was this night that my sisters went to the show "Fourever" and loved it. We then went to the "dancing in the street" 70s night on the royal promenade which was good fun and finished with a few drinks in the very quiet Olive or Twist in VCL.

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Another enjoyable activity I forgot to mention on day three was the cha cha dance class. This took place in the Star Lounge with two or three of the professional dancers. It was really good fun and they were very encouraging.

Day 5

This was the Citavecchia port. We had all been to Rome before so we decided to stay on board and relax as it was a port intensive itinerary and Rome was quite a distance from port too. So a day onboard started with a little lie in, breakfast and then the whirlpool in solarium. Dipped in and out of the pool, read on the poolside lounger and did 2km on the track. Grabbed a cold food plate from WJ for a poolside lunch. Took some time to visit areas of the ship I hadnt yet been to. After dinner in the MDR we went to the Freedom ice show which was great. Very talented skaters and choreographers. Had a few scoops in the Schooner bar afterwards where the music was good.

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Thanks for posting the compasses they have been a great help in deciding if we cruise on this ship. As my daughter is a Dreamworks fanatic we were considering a sailing this summer. However seeing how few character appearances are listed each day compared to the other D/W ships we have sailed on we have decided not to.

Thanks for posting the compasses they have been a great help in deciding if we cruise on this ship. As my daughter is a Dreamworks fanatic we were considering a sailing this summer. However seeing how few character appearances are listed each day compared to the other D/W ships we have sailed on we have decided not to.

Glad they are of help. Was worried if they were clear enough to be ledgible. Not sure how the other ships are but I thought there was alot of Dreamworks characters on it. Not alot of characters but they appeared often. They were present on deck 11 for first sailaway and they were usually present by day or evening in the royal promenade. Then on the final day there was a dreamworks parade which I really enjoyed. Also the Once Upon a Time show. Not dreamworks but great for kids.

Day 6 Naples

I had another shore excursion booked with RIL via our roll call. There were seven of us booked for Pompeii, Positano and Sorrento. After an early rise and quick breakfast I met the group and we were very easily met by our driver Alex. He spoke good english, was a great safe driver and his van was better than the one in La Spezia...less high and easier to get in and out of. He didnt have water for us but he was great all round. Very witty and pleasant young man. He consulted with us for planning the day and it was decided we would visit Positano first and eat in Sorrento, with Pompeii in the afternoon. He took us on a motorway and then on to the Sorrento coast, stopping for photos and then to the Amalfi coast, stopping again. His knowledge of the area was great. Positano is beautiful and quite unique to any place I had been to before. I have never been to Greece but Alex compared Positano to Santorini. I need to sign off now but will continue this later. Will post a pic to sign off.

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So in Positano, we browsed through the narrow stairways of shops and art galleries until it brought us down to the beach, in photo above. Very small place but very beautiful. We then met up to continue on our way to Sorrento. Few more pics of Positano and the coast road.

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I loved Sorrento as well. I went to the small limoncello factory and was able to taste lots of different flavoured limoncello and limoncello themed biscuits too. The pure yellow stuff was a bit strong for me but I loved the creme di limoncello and bought some of that. Then found an al fresco cafe where I got a very large margarita pizza, a full salad and a large glass of wine for €10 and free wifi with it. I expected Sorrento to be expensive and had half planned on buying a sandwich or pizza slice and walk while eating but I really enjoyed this meal and some quality alone time too.

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