Freedom of the Seas W Caribbean June 13th sailing - pics and videos

[Quigley10]

Hi all,

 

I've been hanging out obsessively all week, posting intermittent comments about our trip aboard the Freedom W Caribbean, June 13th sailing. While I won't write up a full review right now, suffice to say that this was by far the best cruise we've ever taken...case in point, we've rebooked for the same ship, same itinerary and even the same PR stateroom for next year. Compared to our previous cruises (7, inc 3 on RCI and 3 on Carnival), this cruise blew the others out of the water. :)

 

Our videos are online at http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=quigleychan&aq=f. Pictures (all 564) are online at http://www1.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=2283754012/a=94795436_94795436/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/.

 

We booked rather spontaneously in May for cat Q, and ended up with a PR stateroom. The first PR stateroom we were assigned was a connecting stateroom, so we switched to a non-connection, 6327. It was amazing. Tiny room, but great for people watching and the perfect location...2 doors away from the aft staircase. It was a 1-minute walk to the promenade, including Cafe Promenade's evil mudslide cookies. :rolleyes: We could see the parades set up from our room, which was fun. Couldn't see the actual parades from our room. It was fairly quiet despite being a PR room - the only noise we ever heard was from Bolero's at night - Latin music.

 

A highlight for me was ice skating. In my past life, I was a figure skating coach, so I brought my skates. They run an advanced skating session on the sea days strictly for those who brought their own skates - there were a total of 3 of us on board...and for 30 minutes on Monday, I was the only one on the ice. It was amazing. Definitely a highlight.

 

Ate in Galileo's for dinner, main seating. We brought little bags full of chocolates and with thank-you notes for our waiters and cabin steward, which they enjoyed. Excellent service all around. Had great tablemates, and our table overlooked the other two floors of the MDR. Couldn't ask for a better location. Thai Chicken was a little rubbery, but with good sauce. We liked everything else. The rolls were awesome. :) Ate in the WJ every day for lunch; consistently nice selection. Their pizza was pretty lousy, but the salads in particular were great! Some of the desserts weren't great, so I stuck with cookies for my lunch desserts.

 

Rock climbing, mini-golf, the Flowrider and (do I admit this?) even the H2O zone were incredible for us - a married couple in our 20s. There are secret sound-proof karaoke studios in the "On Air" bar on Deck 3. We must have sung 20 songs in there...and we firmly hope that no one could hear us! Lots of fun.

 

Never had a problem getting chaises on the pool deck, even at around 1 PM. We usually sat on deck 12, since it had better availability.

 

Didn't do much in the way of excursions, but enjoyed everything we did:

 

Labadee: Yoga on the beach (surcharge), Dragon's Tail Coaster. Both were great, and we'd highly recommend them. Will try ziplining next year. (Labadee tip: you can get cabanas and mats for free once the original renters head back to the ship in the early afternoon. :))

Ocho Rios: Ship day, walked to Island Village. Look forward to seeing Falmouth next year.

Grand Cayman: Took a private stingray tour with Stingray Sailing. Excellent, excellent, excellent. They got wonderful reviews on TripAdvisor, which is why we went with them. There were 20 people on our cat, all from the ship, and we paid noticeably less than for the RCI excursions to Stingray City. We had a wonderful time and have already rebooked with them for next year. A top-notch operation.

Cozumel: Taxi to Paradise Beach. Lots of fun, although the water got murky with a lot of people there. Good for swimming and beach - nice nachos, too. They use purified water for their drinks and ice. Shopping in Cozumel too much fun. (Cozumel tip: There's a beach next to Senor Frog's on the pier. Hop in the water and go for a swim for stunning pictures of you in front of the ship.)

 

Happy sailing!

[kh81828587]

There are secret sound-proof karaoke studios in the "On Air" bar on Deck 3. We must have sung 20 songs in there...and we firmly hope that no one could hear us! Lots of fun.

 

 

Wow, I didn't know about this soundproof room. We went to karaoke each time they had it in Pharoh's Palace, and I would have loved to try it, but no way would I really sing in front of anyone. We're going on another cruise in Sept., 2011 on the Freedom and I'm going to look for this. Are you sure no one can hear you? I sure wouldn't want to ruin anyone's vacation listening to me sing. LOL

[Quigley10]

I checked with my husband, who occasionally stood outside of the soundproof karaoke room to watch the World Cup while I sang. He said that it was incredibly muffled. If you put your ear up to it, you might be able to hear something, but that's really all.

 

My guess is that he's correct - if anybody had heard me sing, chances are we would have had a man (or two, or ten!) overboard!! :eek:

[kh81828587]

Did you have to sign up ahead of time to use the room? My son and his girlfriend will be traveling with us, and I bet they would love this also. Sept. 2011 seems so very far away right now.

[bionicman97]

Enjoyed the pictures.

[welsh292003]

Hi all,

 

I've been hanging out obsessively all week, posting intermittent comments about our trip aboard the Freedom W Caribbean, June 13th sailing. While I won't write up a full review right now, suffice to say that this was by far the best cruise we've ever taken...case in point, we've rebooked for the same ship, same itinerary and even the same PR stateroom for next year. Compared to our previous cruises (7, inc 3 on RCI and 3 on Carnival), this cruise blew the others out of the water. :)

 

Our videos are online at http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=quigleychan&aq=f. Pictures (all 564) are online at http://www1.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=2283754012/a=94795436_94795436/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/.

 

We booked rather spontaneously in May for cat Q, and ended up with a PR stateroom. The first PR stateroom we were assigned was a connecting stateroom, so we switched to a non-connection, 6327. It was amazing. Tiny room, but great for people watching and the perfect location...2 doors away from the aft staircase. It was a 1-minute walk to the promenade, including Cafe Promenade's evil mudslide cookies. :rolleyes: We could see the parades set up from our room, which was fun. Couldn't see the actual parades from our room. It was fairly quiet despite being a PR room - the only noise we ever heard was from Bolero's at night - Latin music.

 

A highlight for me was ice skating. In my past life, I was a figure skating coach, so I brought my skates. They run an advanced skating session on the sea days strictly for those who brought their own skates - there were a total of 3 of us on board...and for 30 minutes on Monday, I was the only one on the ice. It was amazing. Definitely a highlight.

 

Ate in Galileo's for dinner, main seating. We brought little bags full of chocolates and with thank-you notes for our waiters and cabin steward, which they enjoyed. Excellent service all around. Had great tablemates, and our table overlooked the other two floors of the MDR. Couldn't ask for a better location. Thai Chicken was a little rubbery, but with good sauce. We liked everything else. The rolls were awesome. :) Ate in the WJ every day for lunch; consistently nice selection. Their pizza was pretty lousy, but the salads in particular were great! Some of the desserts weren't great, so I stuck with cookies for my lunch desserts.

 

Rock climbing, mini-golf, the Flowrider and (do I admit this?) even the H2O zone were incredible for us - a married couple in our 20s. There are secret sound-proof karaoke studios in the "On Air" bar on Deck 3. We must have sung 20 songs in there...and we firmly hope that no one could hear us! Lots of fun.

 

Never had a problem getting chaises on the pool deck, even at around 1 PM. We usually sat on deck 12, since it had better availability.

 

Didn't do much in the way of excursions, but enjoyed everything we did:

 

Labadee: Yoga on the beach (surcharge), Dragon's Tail Coaster. Both were great, and we'd highly recommend them. Will try ziplining next year. (Labadee tip: you can get cabanas and mats for free once the original renters head back to the ship in the early afternoon. :))

Ocho Rios: Ship day, walked to Island Village. Look forward to seeing Falmouth next year.

Grand Cayman: Took a private stingray tour with Stingray Sailing. Excellent, excellent, excellent. They got wonderful reviews on TripAdvisor, which is why we went with them. There were 20 people on our cat, all from the ship, and we paid noticeably less than for the RCI excursions to Stingray City. We had a wonderful time and have already rebooked with them for next year. A top-notch operation.

Cozumel: Taxi to Paradise Beach. Lots of fun, although the water got murky with a lot of people there. Good for swimming and beach - nice nachos, too. They use purified water for their drinks and ice. Shopping in Cozumel too much fun. (Cozumel tip: There's a beach next to Senor Frog's on the pier. Hop in the water and go for a swim for stunning pictures of you in front of the ship.)

 

Happy sailing!

 

 

Yes, I agree. Terrific photos Quigley10. We were on the same cruise with you and it brings back lots of good memories. You did a nice job of capturing the mood of the ship.

 

In the early part of your review you bring up an interesting point that we are now wrestling with. Given that we had the most awesome cruise on the Freedom, can we replicate the quality of the experience on another ship?

You indicated this was the best cruise you've been on... and you've been on 7 other cruises... including 3 on Royal Caribbean and 3 on Carnival.

 

Can you do a smaller ship after Freedom?

 

Has anyone else had a fabulous experience on FREEDOM but later topped it on another ship?

 

I'd be really interested in knowing.

 

Thanks,

 

Nick!

[Quigley10]

Kh-You don't need to sign up in advance for the karaoke rooms. One of the two was out of service on our cruise, and the other was rarely occupied (other than by us!). I wonder if nobody knows about them?

 

Nick-I would also be curious how cruising post-Freedom is. We are rebooked on her for next year, but we still are keeping our eyes open for good weekend deals on the Monarch.

[pack your bags]

Thanks so much for your wonderful review. Freedom is definitely one of the ships that I want to go on. We are on the Grandeur in September and will be in Grand Caymen and Cozumel also. Glad to read about Stingray Sailing, I have been really trying to narrow down which company to go with for the Stingrays. Really enjoyed looking at all of your pictures, they were great!!! Looks like you had a really awsome time!!!

[Donna - dsw]

Thanks for sharing - love the photos!

[Quigley10]

Glad to read about Stingray Sailing, I have been really trying to narrow down which company to go with for the Stingrays.

 

The funny part was that we'd assumed we'd be the only ship people on the tour (prior to arriving at the pier, that is). However, all 20 or so guests were from the ship, including some seasoned cruisers we'd met our first day. When we saw the official excursions with 50+ people on board, we congratulated ourselves on having done our TripAdvisor/CruiseCritic research! :rolleyes:

[pack your bags]

The funny part was that we'd assumed we'd be the only ship people on the tour (prior to arriving at the pier, that is). However, all 20 or so guests were from the ship, including some seasoned cruisers we'd met our first day. When we saw the official excursions with 50+ people on board, we congratulated ourselves on having done our TripAdvisor/CruiseCritic research! :rolleyes:

 

Yes, I have done alot of research also and knew I wanted to use a private company, not through RCCL. I have just been having trouble deciding who to use. Thinking we are leaning towards Stingray Sailing, we are definitley looking for someone with smaller groups. Glad to hear you had such a great experience with them, and the wonderful pictures are helping with the decision too. I think you are possibly the only person who takes more pictures on vacation than I do, lol!!!!! Thanks so much for your input.

[Quigley10]

I think you are possibly the only person who takes more pictures on vacation than I do, lol!!!!! Thanks so much for your input.

 

Hehehe...I can justify any number of photos, as long as it's below 100 per day!! :)

[KMagz]

Loved the photos & review -- took me back to my Freedom (eastern) cruise last year. We've got another booked (western) and bet I will view your photos many times between now and then!

 

Thanks for sharing.

[Gon2hwe]

Great review Quigley! Trying to come up with time to do one. Glad to know you had as much fun as we did! Well, except being seasick the first few days.

[Quigley10]

Thanks, all! Gon2hwe, it was great meeting you at the M&M. Sorry to hear about your seasickness, but glad you had a good time nonetheless. It was a fun cruise...I miss the World's Smallest Captain!

[CruiseLover15]

Enjoyed your pics and videos.

[pbinn]

Awesome review..loved the pics and videos. We are going next May, and now I am more excited than ever. When I first saw the itinerary and it said Labadee, Haiti was a stop, I thought to myself "what would we do in Haiti" haha , Well I didnt know it was such a wonderful beach area there, and the coaster looks like fun too. Did you have to book that in advance, or do you just pay for it when you get on the island? How much, do you remember? Can you just ice skate whenever, and I assume they will rent , or give you skates if you dont have them?

[Quigley10]

Thanks! The coaster is $15/ride-driver + 1 (or no) passengers. We pre-booked, but you certainly didn't need to do so.

 

The rink is open for public skating during sea days and I think twice at night. They have free skates you can use, also helmets and wrist guards (I think). Have a GREAT time!!

[Gator0178]

Thanks for the review and Pics! We sail on her for the first timr May 1, 2011 with about 40 friends and family!:D