Just off FOS. WOW!!!!

[Cruzin RN]

FOS, Eastern June 5-12

 

DH and I, cruise #21 on RCI. 1st time on Freedom Class ship.

 

Too many details to describe it all..so I will rate my experiences from A-C!!!!

 

A+

The ship...beautiful!!!

The entertainment...the best on the high seas!!!! No matter what type of music you like...it is here!!

Graham Seymore...so funny...see his late nite comedy show...hilarious!!!

 

A

Main Dining Room...IMHO, food was great. Windjammer, equally good. Staff, remembered your name, drinks, lemon for water,etc.

Friendly staff ship wide!!! Diamond lounge...wonderful, beautiful view.

 

B

Port time in St Thomas 11:00-6:30...felt rushed when trying to get back from St. John. past cruises to St Thomas were 8:00-6:00....IMO, more relaxing, not watching the clock and fighting crowds.

C

Spa experience..long story, but the bottom line is that they screwed up my appt up and then was rude about it.(maybe your husband cancelled it???) I am not a "speak to the manager" type, but I had to this to get rescheduled same day....so much for a relaxing treatment......

 

Overall....near perfect trip,

wonderful trip...beautiful ship...especially good music acts...Anatasia Band, Latin group, Harmony duo (classical) and the production shows!!!

 

Will be glad to answer any questions!!!

[davsarmom]

Did you do an excursion to St John's or did you go on your own. I just looked at the excursion we booked with RCL and see that it is not to get back until 6:30. Will we have a problem?

[AF-1]

Glad you had a great trip. I will be sailing Freedom in six months. I bet she will be just as clean, and the staff just as friendly as your cruise.

[Cruzin RN]

Did you do an excursion to St John's or did you go on your own. I just looked at the excursion we booked with RCL and see that it is not to get back until 6:30. Will we have a problem?

 

We did it on our own,...you should be fine if you book thru RCI (I think they are required to wait on you if it is the tours fault for returning late).

 

We wanted to do something not available on an excursion, so thats why we went on our own...

 

ST JOHN IS AMAZING>>>>>>>>>:)

[above sea level cruiser]

Did you do an excursion to St John's or did you go on your own. I just looked at the excursion we booked with RCL and see that it is not to get back until 6:30. Will we have a problem?

 

That is the beauty of booking through the ship. They will wait if you are late.

[kenoqueen]

did they have coolers of beer or just bucket of beers? also, how are the hairdryers in the rooms and did you have a balcony room? if so, were there robes in the room?

Thank you. we are sailing 2 weeks from today, can't wait!

[kenoqueen]

one more question, do you know if they let you bring on case of water? We have done it in the past but I recently read on a post that RC doesnt allow it.

[Langley Cruisers]

SO happy for your overall positive experience! :) Have your 20 other cruises been on smaller ships? Or you have sailed Oasis? You don't show a cruise history, so thought I'd ask. Did you love the Royal Promenade? We enjoy grabbing a coffee and cookie at the Café and just watching people. We love Vayager-class ships; have sailed 3 times on that size and LOVE it. Trying Brilliance in a few weeks!

[Cruzin RN]

one more question, do you know if they let you bring on case of water? We have done it in the past but I recently read on a post that RC doesnt allow it.

 

I saw someone with a case of water down the hall; we took a 6 pack of coke, sprite and water in the suitcase, no problems;

 

I saw buckets of beer, but didn't see the coolers;

[Cruzin RN]

did they have coolers of beer or just bucket of beers? also, how are the hairdryers in the rooms and did you have a balcony room? if so, were there robes in the room?

Thank you. we are sailing 2 weeks from today, can't wait!

 

We had a Jr. Suite (9558); yes, we had robes, but not sure whether it was because of being in a Jr. Suite or being diamond.

 

The hair dryer was fine, but I have short hair so I doesn't take long to dry. It is the type that you must hold the button down the whole time...annoying if you take more than 5 mins, Im sure.

 

Have a ball on your trip...We loved it!!!!

[Cruzin RN]

SO happy for your overall positive experience! :) Have your 20 other cruises been on smaller ships? Or you have sailed Oasis? You don't show a cruise history, so thought I'd ask. Did you love the Royal Promenade? We enjoy grabbing a coffee and cookie at the Café and just watching people. We love Vayager-class ships; have sailed 3 times on that size and LOVE it. Trying Brilliance in a few weeks!

 

 

this is our first cruise on Freedom class; We have sailed Mariner, Adventure, Majesty, Sovereign, Empress, and Monarch.

Yes, we love the Royal Promenade; We ate lunch on day one in Cafe Promenade while 4000 other people were scratching their way to the Windjammer (lol).

 

An idea I had this trip. I took a few ziplock bags so I could take cookies and sandwiches back to our balcony throughout the week I watched folks take those open plates up the elevator too many times on other ships!!!:eek:

Have fun on the Brillilance...We've never sailed her.

[GAPeach68]

We just sailed FOS also. We did the STG4 St. John shopping tour and it was NOT the 6 1/2 hrs. they advertised. We didn't leave St. Thomas until 11:30. We had to meet the ferry to go back @ 4:00. We had less than 5 hrs. on St. John. I am glad we saw St. John but it was a tease. We did everything running. I was surprised that the RCCL ferry came back so early.

[AggieCard]

We did it on our own,...you should be fine if you book thru RCI (I think they are required to wait on you if it is the tours fault for returning late).

 

We wanted to do something not available on an excursion, so thats why we went on our own...

 

ST JOHN IS AMAZING>>>>>>>>>:)

 

 

Cruzin

How did you guys go to and from St. Johns? I know you did it on your own, but can you tell me how you did this. What was the cost? How long did it take each way? Is it worth it?

 

Going on same cruise as you in 3 weeks and torn as to whether or not we should go to St John.

 

Thanks

[GAPeach68]

AggieCard -

I know I am not the OP but if you are adamant about going to St. John, I'd suggest you do one of the RCCL excursions and then just do your own thing once you get off the ferry. They DO NOT care. They even said "If you're going on your own, see you later".

 

One couple in our group asked about taking a ferry back earlier. They said they only go every hr. on the hr. and go to a different port than the ship. They advised that the cab ride is expensive and traffic is bad getting back to the ship.

 

Lastly, once we got back on the ship we watched several runners. I am so thankful that wasn't me!

[Dett]

did they have coolers of beer or just bucket of beers? also, how are the hairdryers in the rooms and did you have a balcony room? if so, were there robes in the room?

Thank you. we are sailing 2 weeks from today, can't wait!

 

We had the cooler of beer in January. You might have to look for it as it won't be everywhere. We found it on the pool deck.

[AggieCard]

AggieCard -

I know I am not the OP but if you are adamant about going to St. John, I'd suggest you do one of the RCCL excursions and then just do your own thing once you get off the ferry. They DO NOT care. They even said "If you're going on your own, see you later".

 

One couple in our group asked about taking a ferry back earlier. They said they only go every hr. on the hr. and go to a different port than the ship. They advised that the cab ride is expensive and traffic is bad getting back to the ship.

 

 

GAPeach

 

Thank you so much for the response. You said that you did the 4.5 hour tour with RCCL...Did you think it was worth it? I know that you said you were rushed, but if you knew what you know now would you go again?

 

Was it worth the $40?

 

Anything that you can give me is very much appreciated.

 

Thanks

[teaysvalley]

We were on the same cruise. Yes it was excellent. We were on the same FOS cruise 2 years ago and this one was even better. Excellent waiter, food, and service. No issues or complaints on our end, just wish we had more time to enjoy everything going on during the day and evening.

 

I felt the ship was less crowded this time. I don't think it was full...had no problem finding a table in the WJ at any time, even the first day. At certain times the ship seemed like no one was on it. Also, we had no problem getting a chair near the pool.

 

The Radisson return shuttle was a different story. I posted my experience with that in the I Work in the Port Canaveral thread.

[GAPeach68]

If you want to see St. John and not be nervous, then the RCCL excursion is the way to go. But is it worth it? Not sure. We paid $150 for 3 adults (my 13 yr. old is considered adult?!). Then we paid $6 each way to Trunk Bay and got to spend 40 minute there. We paid $8 to get in there. So total - $206. Oh, and we spent $80 for lunch. Lunch was very good though and I had 2 drinks and my husband had 2 beers. I know we can't control the weather and our day started out rainy and was overcast all day. So.....with that said, I am glad we hadn't planned a beach day. The weather was perfect for what we were doing. The ferry company RCCL used was very nice. They served a rum punch on the way back that was very good and plentiful. My only real complaint is that they should've let us stay there a bit longer because we got back way earlier than we needed to.

[Cruzin RN]

Cruzin

How did you guys go to and from St. Johns? I know you did it on your own, but can you tell me how you did this. What was the cost? How long did it take each way? Is it worth it?

 

Going on same cruise as you in 3 weeks and torn as to whether or not we should go to St John.

 

Thanks

 

We got off the ship as soon as cleared, right after 11:00am..hopped a taxi to Red Hook ($10 a piece). Had to wait for the 12 noon ferry ($12 a piece roundtrip tickets) at Cruz Bay by 12:15. Took a taxi to Caneel bay($5 a piece) and walked the trail to the free and uncrowded beach of Honeymoon beach.

 

Stayed for 2 hrs and taxi'd back to Mongoose junction and Cruz Bay for

shopping..($5 a piece)

 

Just missed the 3:00 ferry, so chilled in the High Tide bar and tried some local

beers...returned on the 4:00 ferry...another $10 a piece for the taxi back from Red Hook. Total cost for 2 of us was around $75 or so... We like to do the Red Hook ferry because it is shorter, dont know if it is cheaper or not.

We were back in St. Thomas by 5 and went into a few shops...by 5:30, back to the ship

 

The op are correct in saying that you are safer to stick with RCI excursions, but we have done it on our own enough, and we like the freedom of it (guess we have the freedom to get left there too, lol)

[kenoqueen]

Thank you for the information.

[ff274]

I was on the same cruise and ask about the cooler of beers and bar staff said they stopped it after drydock......so only buckets of beer......Had a great time and we lucked out and missed most of the rain and no problems in any 3 ports......Great week, our 3rd time on FREEDOM.......love the adult area and hot tubs.

[bob123]

Missed you somehow ff274, but got to meet Cruzin RN and share some laughs. Hope to meet up with everyone again on a future cruise. I agree about the short stay in St Thomas. Our group did the Turtle Cove snorkel trip and had an amazing time, although watch out for the "temporary" tattoos the trip operators slap on you on the way back to the ship. They don't come off that easily.

 

DW and I were fortunate to get a bridge tour, my first. I was surprised how uncluttered it was and how few control consoles there were. Everything is so automated. The ship runs almost exclusively on autopilot except for arrivals and departures. The captain came onto the bridge while we were there and we had a nice interchange.

 

MDR food was actually surprisingly good, given the comments to the contrary on CC. I stayed away from the desserts though, and many in our group found them inedible. I just had ice cream with chocolate sauce every night. Can't go wrong with that. We did arrange with the head waiter to get Grand Marnier souffle for the second formal night, and it was as good as I remembered. They also brought us some extra cherries jubilee. We had an excellent meal at Chops one night. I couldn't finish the 10 oz filet since it was so big. The baked potato was the largest I've ever seen. We also ate at Portofinos and I was very disappointed. The lamb chops were so-so but the service was terrible. It took us 2 1/2 hours to eat, even though the place was almost empty. Chops was far and away the better of the two.

 

Hope everyone returned home safely.

 

bob123

[Jimnbigd]

one more question, do you know if they let you bring on case of water? We have done it in the past but I recently read on a post that RC doesnt allow it.

 

On my December 2010 Voyager OTS I took a gallon of unopened drinking water with no problems. On my March 2011 Voyager OTS the gallon of water was confiscated and returned the last day. So, I say chance it but be prepared that it might be taken and returned to you the last day. Note that any booze is always confiscated and often not returned. It did not spoil our March cruise, but I still wonder what changed and why the rules were being strictly enforced then. You can take an empty bottle and fill it with the ship's tap water -- and the tap water is fine I think.

[AggieCard]

Then we paid $6 each way to Trunk Bay and got to spend 40 minute there. We paid $8 to get in there. with that said, I am glad we hadn't planned a beach day .

 

GAPeach

 

I really appreciate all of your responses and I am sorry to continue to ask you questions, but I hope you don't mind but I have one more.

 

You said that you only had 40 minutes on the beach, was this because you guys did something else before hand or is this because of how long it takes RCCL to get you there? I just want a beach day and only getting 40 minutes isn't worth it to me.

 

Thanks in advance

[Dett]

I was on the same cruise and ask about the cooler of beers and bar staff said they stopped it after drydock......so only buckets of beer......Had a great time and we lucked out and missed most of the rain and no problems in any 3 ports......Great week, our 3rd time on FREEDOM.......love the adult area and hot tubs.

 

Guess maybe they stopped them on Freedom. However, they still had the coolers on the Allure on our May/June 2011 cruise so they are still around RCCL. I looked for them on Freedom in June of 2010 and they didn't have them. I bought mine on Freedom in January of this year which was before dry dock. So I think that it changes from time to time so I would still look around if you are interested.