Freedom of the Seas Review (September)

Sorry this is late, but just now got around to it.

A Week of Awesome

Freedom of the Seas

September 20-27, 2015

Cabin: 7255

Category: PR

Captain: Ron Holmes, Canada

Cruise Director: Casey Pelter, Canada

Our Cruise Experience: This makes 32 cruises, 5th with Royal Caribbean

September 19th:

We leave Charlotte early in the morning and arrive in Cape Canaveral around 3:00ish. Check-in at the Radisson was quick and easy. We put our luggage in the room and walked around the facility. The Radisson is a beautiful hotel with three pools, a business center, and a fitness center.

We drove around the area before deciding on Papa Vito’s for dinner. A quaint little Italian restaurant, Papa Vito’s knows how to feed you beginning with a large side salad and I do mean large. So, I’m sitting here thinking, if the size of the salad is an indication of the entrée, we’re in trouble. Yep, I was right. I order the chicken parmigiana and ohmigosh it was so big, I had to take half back to the hotel and eat it later even though I was still full from dinner! Oh, yeah, you also get these wonderful garlic knots that we couldn’t eat all of either. Those came with us as well. They have several early bird specials and we got the buy one get one dinner, which is a pretty good deal.

After dinner we decided to drive around Cape Canaveral since we didn’t have time last year. Our first stop was Manatee Sanctuary. A peaceful park, it’s dedicated to saving the manatee and loggerhead turtles. We saw a double rainbow, one was very faint, while the other one was a full rainbow with the arch. I’ve never seen the entire rainbow before and I took that as a sign that the trip would a good one.

From there we drove into the port area and walked around an observatory taking pictures, and then into the Port Canaveral Cove where the famous Grill’s restaurant is located along with several others. Leaving there we head back to the Radisson. I used my key card a couple of times for the room and the business center and then suddenly it wouldn’t work anymore. I go to the desk and they re-key it. Tried again, and nope it still didn’t work. She tried again and still no luck. She calls maintenance and Jeff comes. He asks how many key cards I’d had and I told him this was my third one. He takes the card and goes to the room with us. He tries it and it doesn’t work so he sticks his magic card in and that corrects the problem. We spent some time talking to Jeff and he’s an interesting man. He’s also a good man who knows how to take care of his customers.

We were also on that sailing. Looking forward to your review :)

Our Cabin:

We had a PR category on deck 7 which is an inside with a window that overlooks the Royal Pavilion. It was kinda neat. I loved sitting on the window seat and looking out the window watching everything that was going on. The shower, however, is extremely small. I’m not a big girl, but I was claustrophobic in it. I saw some 300+ pound people who I know couldn’t get through the door. After the first night’s shower, I opted for the fitness center’s showers. Those showers aren’t huge, but they were bigger than the one in our cabin and you can certainly get through the doors!

With the beds pushed together, we had a loveseat, window seat, coffee table and a chair at the vanity. Not much room between the foot of the bed and the wall, though.

The Ship:

The ship is beautiful and is a mini-Oasis of the Seas. It doesn’t have Central Park or the Boardwalk, but it does have the Royal Pavilion, the rock climbing wall, and one Flow Rider as well as Johnny Rockets. Specialty restaurants are Chops Grille, Sabor, Modern Mexican, and Giovanni’s Table.

The Solarium pool is the adults only pool. The main theater is large and I was so impressed with the curtains. Just looking at the detail of the painting or whatever it is, just amazed me. I’m sure it was screen printed, but there were variations in the women’s hair and eyebrows. The dresses were covered with sequins or rhinestones that sparkled when the light it hit them. You can’t see the detail in the pictures, but trust me, it had to take a long time to complete. I envisioned women in some poor country painting it and sewing on all those little sequins and rhinestones.

Now for the day to day reports and ports of call…

Day One:

We had reserved the park and ride to the terminal with Radisson. After breakfast we checked out and loaded our luggage into the lobby to wait for the shuttle. We booked the first shuttle out at 10:30 and we were checked-in and headed to the buffet by 11:30. The computers were down when we got there and we had to wait to check in a little while, but not too long. Since we couldn’t get into our cabin until 1:30, we checked our carry-ons so we wouldn’t have to drag them around everywhere we went.

Dinner in the dining room was okay, not the best we’ve had. My slow roasted beef had a lot of fat in it and really wasn’t all that good. The crème brulee was good.

We went to the Welcome Aboard show after dinner and enjoyed that. Comedian, Jeff Jenna came on after the show and he is quite funny.

Day Two:

Coco Cay is the stop for today and I was looking forward to going since it’s one of my favorite spots. Coco Cay is a pretty little private island that provides a relaxing day, outdoor lunch, and activities. I’m really disappointed that we had to miss it, but I had a severe case of vertigo and just couldn’t go.

Breakfast that morning wasn’t much better, but the grits were good! We Southerners must have our grits and cooking them is a skill. Lunch in the dining room today was really pretty good. They had a BBQ sandwich plate special and I really liked it. My husband got a shrimp pasta dish that wasn’t enough for him, there really wasn’t much of it.

By late afternoon I was feeling better. Tonight is the first formal night. I can’t remember what was served in the dining room that night.

The production show for tonight is “Marquee”. I have to say that RCI’s production shows are much more professionally done than other lines we’ve been on. This show was not your typical cruise ship show either. It was totally different and very professional.

Day Three:

Today is our first sea day. We wanted a chair at the Solarium, the adults only pool, but that was a crap shoot! Even though there is a sign telling you not to reserve chairs, there were towels on many of the chairs for hours before anyone showed up. Even then, some of the ones that people were saving were vacant except for the lonely towel for several more hours. On the last day they decided to do something about it. One of the Deck Patrol guys came around folding the towels a certain way and when people figured out what was happening, they called the people who were supposed to be in the chairs to get their “you know whats” down there, or they voluntarily gave up the reserved chair.

We walked around exploring the ship and got some pizza at Sorrento’s that was good. They also have some desserts.

Dinner in the dining room tonight, was again not so good. I got a fish that was tough and I gave up trying to eat it. My husband opted for the every-day steak, and ended up with that every night the rest of the cruise. Dessert was a soufflé and since that’s one of my favorite desserts, I got that. It was pretty good. We hit the Windjammer around 9:30 to supplement our dinner choices. The Windjammer has a good selection of things and some nights they had a taco bar that was pretty good.

Tonight’s show was Joel Mason, who is an impressionist and performer. He impersonated Elton John and did a great job. He sang several of the great Sir Elton’s songs, but it is more comedic than singing; nevertheless, we enjoyed him and had seen him before.

Day Four:

Day four landed us in St. Thomas. Although a very beautiful island and one I love, we didn’t get off the ship because we’ve been there so many times and done almost everything there is to do there. This was a relaxing day for us.

Dinner…I think this is the night I began getting the linguine pomodoro. I really think this was the best dish on the menu. I know there will be those who will disagree with me and that’s fine, everyone has different tastes and I’m sure the majority liked the selections and flavors, but they didn’t appeal to me. Nothing I ate was mouth watering.

Tonight’s entertainment was “Now You See It”, with magician, Drew Thomas. If you watch America’s Got Talent, you may remember him. He didn’t win, but was a runner up. His magic was classy, professional, and AMAZING! We were on the second row and I still don’t know how he did some of the things he did, especially the levitating! Truly an amazing show.

Day Five:

Day five brought us to Saint Maarten. We had booked an island tour with Bernard’s. It’s $45 per person for Tour #2. Follow his directions exactly or you will miss his tent as it is somewhat away from the hustle and bustle and out of the way of the main area. We’d done this tour several years ago and enjoyed it, so we thought we’d take it again. Our tour guide was the Mailman and if you book this tour, I hope you are lucky enough to get on his van. He gives us a history lesson of the island and answers questions along the way. Our first stop is Orient Beach and we spent close to two hours here. It was a very hot day (90 degrees) and I had to find some shade after an hour. As we leave Orient Bay, Mailman begins to hand out drinks…water, which I drank a lot of, soft drinks, beer, and his secret recipe of rum punch… Those who got the punch seemed to like the “punch” they got from it, if you know what I mean!

The Mailman:

Bernard:

From the beach we headed to Maho Beach and Princess Juliana International Airport; yep, the airport where the airplanes fly in inches from your head. Of course the last hurricane has washed away the beach and it’s all rocks now, but the beach should wash back up in no time. The airplanes are impressive at how low they fly over. Everyone stands in the street now waiting on the jets with cameras ready, right in front of the Danger sign! We saw Da Party Bus drive in, an excursion we pondered over taking. I was glad we’d opted for the air conditioned bus with Bernard’s!

Leaving the airport we head to the French Side of the island for lunch and more sightseeing, then it’s back to the ship with some photo opps along the way. Bernard stepped on our bus to see how things were going before we left. From here we went to the Iguana farm…there were so many iguanas and they were so cute!

Tonight’s entertainment was the Ice Show. Ohmigosh…they are wonderful! Some of the skaters are Olympic skaters and the show was excellent. We actually saw it twice and I’m glad we did because I missed some things the first night while trying to take pictures. This show also features an aerialist, who is excellent.

Day Six:

Today is our second sea day and it rained – hard…another day for exploring the ship, and finding more places to eat. This was our second formal night and lobster night…I wish I had opted for the prime rib. The lobster tails were good, but they were very small and hard to get out of the shell. Waiters we’ve had on other cruise lines would take it out for you, but not these waiters.

The production show tonight is “Once Upon a Time, A Comedy Musical of Classic Fairy Tales”. Again, a very professionally done show and different from any other cruise line’s that we’ve seen.

Day Seven:

Our last sea day. Today is another rainy day, but not enough to give up your pool chair over. It was quite hot where my chair was because there was no breeze and I finally surrendered, got a shower and walked around the ship getting those last minute photos.

The production show was the “Farewell Show Spectacular” which featured Aerial Adagio, Duo Sparkle and comedian, Jim David. Duo Sparkle is an amazing act with a couple who are aerialists. At one point they “flew” out over the audience. They are worth the time to see. Jim David was very funny and we’d seen him before as well. You will enjoy his shows.

Food:

Besides what has been mentioned above, other foods I got were pizza from Sorrento’s and some desserts and a shrimp sandwich from the Pavilion Café. From the Windjammer, I liked the taco bar, the “beef stew” and the cheeses. The Windjammer also has a strawberry kiwi water that is very good if you can get it from the right station. It has a really nice flavor.

They did have some really good rolls in the dining room and my favorite is the pumpkin roll. All the rolls are soft and easy to eat.

We had my time dining and didn’t try any of the specialty restaurants.

Pluses: There are interactive menus at each elevator. For instance if you want to see tonight’s menu, press Dining, Complimentary or Specialty, and choose your dining room and the menu comes up. It also has entertainment, things to do and maps to help you get there.

Debarkation: We opted for self-debark and were off the ship, on the shuttle, in our car and on the road by 7:04. Can’t beat that!

All in all we liked the Freedom of the Seas and enjoyed this cruise. We’ll probably sail her again.

Click here for entire album:

(you may need to click to the left to keep pictures in order)

What a fantastic job of reviewing you've done! Thank you so much, you've made me even more determined that we will be sailing on her next year.

Your photo's are brilliant too, they really let people see the real ship, food and places.:)

Thanks for taking the time to write a review. Sounds like you had a great trip.

What a fantastic job of reviewing you've done! Thank you so much, you've made me even more determined that we will be sailing on her next year.

Your photo's are brilliant too, they really let people see the real ship, food and places.:)

Thanks for taking the time to write a review. Sounds like you had a great trip.

Thank you both very much.

It looks and sounds lovely. Can I ask a quick question as we are thinking of booking for next September. Were there many children on board as my mother is 77 and is worried it is all going to be too young for her?

It looks and sounds lovely. Can I ask a quick question as we are thinking of booking for next September. Were there many children on board as my mother is 77 and is worried it is all going to be too young for her?

Yes, there were children of all ages. One night when we got into the elevator there were four pre-teens in it laughing. They had pushed the buttons to all the floors. I looked at them and said, did you do that? They didn't say a word...I said, well I'm sure they have you on camera and pointed up. They got off at the next stop.

Thank you for that review. We are seasoned cruisers but for the First Time ever, we will be on FOS next September, God Willing.

Your review of the shows was marvelous. I really enjoy them more than anything else on ship ( other than winning in the casino which is I guess not going to happen )and now I know to NOT miss a one of them.

Thanks ago. Also for the taco bar. I hope they had hard shell tacos....whine, whine , I love them and now everyone only has the soft tacos.

Thank you for that review. We are seasoned cruisers but for the First Time ever, we will be on FOS next September, God Willing.

 

Your review of the shows was marvelous. I really enjoy them more than anything else on ship ( other than winning in the casino which is I guess not going to happen )and now I know to NOT miss a one of them.

 

Thanks ago. Also for the taco bar. I hope they had hard shell tacos....whine, whine , I love them and now everyone only has the soft tacos.

Yes, the taco bar had hard shells. We actually got a great deal on FOS for September of next year with a different itinerary and I can't wait! We are sailing Sept 4th; when is your sailing?

Thanks for posting your review! We leave on Freedom in 2 weeks :)

Provided the haeadliner shows stay the same for our cruise, was the magician also a comedian, or was it more serious?

Thanks for posting your review! We leave on Freedom in 2 weeks :)

 

Provided the haeadliner shows stay the same for our cruise, was the magician also a comedian, or was it more serious?

The magician was very serious. Drew Thomas is his name and he was a runner up on American's Got Talent a few years back. He's a very classy, professional magician and there was a little comedy, but it is mostly a serious act and if he's still on when you go, I promise you will love the show.

We are on Freedom next month and would like to dine at the speciality restaurants. In your opinion, which nights had the least favorite menus? We may get the three restaurant package once we get on the ship.

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We are on Freedom next month and would like to dine at the speciality restaurants. In your opinion, which nights had the least favorite menus? We may get the three restaurant package once we get on the ship.

 

 

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In my opinion it wouldn't matter. The second formal night had prime rib. I got the lobster which was really sad. My husband got the prime rib and it looked very good and he said it was good. I don't think you could go wrong with any night.

Great review - you mentioned many things that aren't on typical reviews which were very helpful and interesting!

Great review - you mentioned many things that aren't on typical reviews which were very helpful and interesting!

Thank you! I try to be thorough and talk about things I'd want to know. Anything that can help someone else is a bonus.