Live from the Freedom of the Seas - March 18, 2012

[Daghis]

If it's day 5, it must be Grand Cayman!

 

This was a very early morning as we had to meet at the Arcadia Theater for our excursion at 7:45. We decided the previous night to use the room service card to order breakfast to be delivered to our cabin.

 

We got ready early and right on time, the food arrived, just as we had requested, including eggs, bacon, pastries, cereal, etc. A nice assortment of items, all delivered hot and fresh.

 

After breakfast, we headed down to the theater just in time to see that they were already starting to load the first tender, so we continued down to deck 1 and boarded the boat.

 

Here's a humorous moment. While sitting on the upper deck of the boat, I felt something hit my back. I felt around to see what it was, and it was wet. Bryan looked over and shared with me that I had been the victim of a fly-by bird pooping! Oh, well... it'd wash off in the water anyway, so I didn't worry about it.

 

 

The tender ride over to land went well. We got pretty good views of the ships that were there and the ones that were still coming. We were joined by two Carnival ships (Conquest and Magic), the Norwegian Pearl, and the Seven Seas Navigator. Once on land, we queued up for our excursion group, and then waited in line for a while. In retrospect, I think that a private tour might have been a better option.

 

By 8:30 (ship time), we were loaded up onto buses and headed out to the marina where we boarded the Sea Goddess and taken out to Stingray City. The ride took a lot longer than I expected, probably around half an hour.

 

Stingray City was bustling with tour boats.

 

 

 

By the time we arrived, there were about 200 people in the water already. Judging by the excited people in the boat next to us, I was expecting that it was going to be fantastic.

 

Unfortunately, I'm not quite sure what happened. When we got into the water, Bryan and I walked around the sandbar and saw very few stingrays. I did manage to catch one swimming by and feed him some squid, a very unique experience to have the squid sucked out of your hand like that. It wasn't quite the madhouse of stingrays everywhere that I had remembered from the last time I did an excursion like this back in 1998. Of course, back then, we were the first boat to arrive, so the squid were eagerly awaiting their feast.

 

Bryan talked with one of our boat's guides who explained that Stingray City can get much busier than this, with so many boats packed in and so many people on the sandbar, it's difficult to get around.

 

Anyway, after we spent about 10-15 minutes with the stingrays, it was over to the reef for some snorkeling.

 

 

I have to admit that I didn't get a chance to make it over to the reef myself. I was in the water for a bit, but found myself fighting with the snorkel and mask and decided that I'd be more comfortable back on the boat, so I climbed aboard and enjoyed the time watching others snorkeling and seeing the sights.

 

Before too long, it was time to head back to the marina, so another half-hour ride back to land, then we waited about five minutes for the buses to show up. It was a bit disorganized trying to pack about a hundred of us onto the buses that showed up one at a time, but I assume we all made it back.

 

Once we returned to the port, we decided to walk around, do some souvenir shopping, and get some lunch. We ended up going to Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville. Yeah, classic tourist food. We had conch fritters, Bryan had a chicken salad, and I got a Jerk BBQ cheeseburger... boy, was it spicy! It was actually too hot for me to finish. What flavor!

 

By now, it was getting to be about 2:30, so we headed back to the port so we'd be sure not to be late. We were supposed to be on the last tender by 3:15.

 

We found a bit of a surprise at the port. There was a huge line for the tenders snaking around the open area, back and forth. It took us a few minutes to find out where the end of the line was. While we were waiting in line, it started to rain. I used my ship's towel to keep somewhat dry. :)

 

We finally boarded the tender around 3:00, and the line was still plenty long after us. They were running multiple tenders, so as ours was pulling away, they had already started loading the next one.

 

 

We ended up with our tender getting back to the ship by 3:15, but we were stuck on the tender, waiting for everyone to get through security, for about 20 minutes. That was another surprise.

[Daghis]

Tonight was the second formal night, so we had planned to go to Chops instead.

 

A quick note about how we ended up going to Chops. Remember the incident I mentioned with our SeaPass folios being confused in the system? Well, possibly related to that, Guest Relations decided to comp us with dinner in Chops and a bottle of wine! We were shocked. We explained that it wasn't necessary as there was nothing wrong, but she insisted. It was very kind of her, and we really appreciated it!

 

Anyway, Chops was fantastic! I was a bit nervous going into it because of the negative experience we had with Chops on the Oasis of the Seas. Here on the Freedom, however, it was like night and day. The service was spectacular, and the food was awesome. The crab cake and onion soup were good (although the onion soup was too hot and needed to cool down a bit), and the filet mignon I had for the main course was cooked perfectly and was so tender. The Chocolate Mud Pie was a fantastic complement to the meal, too!

 

After dinner, we stopped by the cabin and saw our first towel animal.

 

 

This was the first time I'd seen an alligator before, so I was quite amused by it.

 

It was soon time to head up to the next production show, Once Upon a Time. On our way to the theater, we passed through Boleros and ran into someone from our roll call thread. We sat down with her and had a great chat. And then we continued to the theater.

 

We did miss the first half of the show due to the wonderful conversation, but we enjoyed the second half. I was entertained by the adaptation of fairy tale stories to modern music. The sets were cute and the singing was good. I had a good time there.

 

Afterward, it was time to head to the casino (where it was a no-smoking night, which is a very nice thing to do on formal nights) where they were having "Celebrity Dealers". The ship's staff, including the Captain himself, were doing some of the dealing. It was a lot of fun watching them helping entertain the guests in this way.

 

Then, just after midnight, it was "Secret Agent Night" in the casino. They had a random drawing and people selected could choose to take on a "secret mission" where they had to do certain challenges in the casino to win prizes. It looked like a lot of fun. Unfortunately, I wasn't selected, so I didn't get to go on any missions myself.

 

And then it was time for bed. Tomorrow, Cozumel!

[burtonnm]

Good Review ;)

 

I enjoyed the pictures. I didn't take a single picture with my camera. So it was nice to re-live the cruise through your pictures.

 

As for the cabin partitions being open. The cabin next to me had their divider slid open for the whole cruise with the cabin next to them. So I am going to say that yes it is allowed.

 

No Grand Cayman pictures?

 

I swam with the stingrays on a private excursion. I had a several stingrays swimming all around me. To the point it creeped me out until I got used to it. My excursion captain had small fish we were feeding them. Maybe we stole all of the stingrays away from everyone else since we had food. LOL. I was able to pick one up and hold it. It was my favorite thing about the whole cruise :D

 

On a side note. How many towel animals did you get? Our room attendant was not the best. And on top of it we got 1 towel animal the whole time. *two thumbs down*

 

 

Sorry to hijack this thread also, but can you give me more info about the private excursion you did to Stingray city? Was it less crowded for you because you were on your own? Or did it not matter since all the tour groups were in one place anyways? We have opted out of Sting Ray City for our upcoming cruise because we thought it would be too crowded. But if a private excursion is offered we may consider that.

[luv2cruiserccl]

Would you mind sharing that website that tracks for you? I know it sounds lame, but I'm tired of doing fake bookings every day to see if mine has dropped :D

 

 

I also would love to know what website you are talking about!!!!!!!!:eek:

[kimala]

Hey there Mark,

 

Really enjoying your posts! We are going back on the Freedom...Was on her before in '08. Last year we were on the Oasis and we're very interested in your comments regarding going back on a "smaller"ship after experiencing the Oasis class.

 

Also just noticed your from McMurry PA...me too. I graduated from Peters Twp HS. 1978.

 

Thanks again for the review And keep up the great work.

 

Kim

 

...Don't think I had heard back from you? I saw someone else brought up about Oasis vs Freedom and you were very positive about Freedom.I think I will feel the same. How long have u lived in Mcmurray? Homeboy.

[Daghis]

I also would love to know what website you are talking about!!!!!!!!:eek:

I don't think we're allowed to discuss that site here. I think it's censored by the forum software.

 

You can find it if you Google for "cruise price drop alerts" though.

 

...Don't think I had heard back from you? I saw someone else brought up about Oasis vs Freedom and you were very positive about Freedom.I think I will feel the same. How long have u lived in Mcmurray? Homeboy.

Yeah, I am very positive about the Freedom of the Seas and am looking forward to sailing on her again in October.

 

I've been here in McMurray for about eight years, so a somewhat recent transplant (from California).

[Daghis]

Before I start in on Cozumel, I forgot to mention that the adult comedy show was last night. Graham Seymour did a wonderful act and was a lot of fun. He sold DVDs of his performances (both family-oriented and adults-only), so from watching that, it would seem that the routine doesn't change very much. Nonetheless, I'll still be happy to see him again next time.

 

So, Friday was Cozumel, and we had the "Dolphin Push, Pull, and Swim" excursion planned. I note that this excursion was booked through the ship; I had previously done the "Royal Swim" with Chankanaab's Dolphin Discovery directly in the past, so I can now compare the two.

 

Before heading off the port, looking out our balcony, I got to see the Carnival Magic docked near us.

 

 

The Carnival Conquest was coming in, too.

 

 

And for those who may be curious about the wet varnish I mentioned earlier, here's the sign they hung on our balcony warning us.

 

 

Anyway, after a quick Windjammer breakfast eaten in Chops Grille, we headed off the ship and found our meeting spot for the excursion. In terms of organizing everyone and getting us from the port to Chankanaab, they were very well organized and efficient. Even though we used taxis instead of buses, it still went very well. Once we got to Chankanaab, we were grouped up, given our life vests, and proceeded out along their platform and then into the water to meet the dolphin that we'd be interacting with.

 

I don't have any pictures from the dolphin experience as Bryan has those. I'll share them when I get copies later on.

 

We were in a group of twelve with one dolphin. The trainer would alternate between swimming activities and up-close activities like petting or kissing the dolphin. One activity was to swim out and the dolphin would come up to us and rest in our open arms as if we were cradling a baby. Another would be to have us hold on to the dolphin's flippers as we were pulled back to the platform. Lastly, we'd ride a boogie board as the dolphin pushed on our feet, propelling us through the water.

 

After the dolphin experience, we went into another tank where we interacted briefly with a manatee. It's amazing how large and gentle a manatee is.

 

I'll comment that one difficult part of this experience for me was standing on these metal grate platforms in my bare feet. It was a bit painful. I would imagine that using water shoes would have been a better idea, if that's permitted.

 

Anyway, in comparison, I do have to admit that booking the Royal Swim directly with Dolphin Discovery was a better experience. In that, you interact with two dolphins. The "pull" part of the experience has you hold onto the dorsal fins of the two dolphins as they pull you back to the platform together. The "push" is really neat in that you simply float on the water, and the two dolphins each push on your feet, propelling you through, and also up and out of the water.

 

Cost-wise, the two excursions are pretty comparable. The price of the taxis is pretty minimal between the port and Chankanaab ($7+tip each way for two people).

 

So, if you're thinking about doing dolphins at Chankanaab, book directly instead.

 

After the experience, we took a look at the photos that were taken. It used to be that they made videos and sold them, but I don't think they're doing that any longer as I didn't see any prices on the wall for them. Instead, you can buy a CD of all the people in your group for $79 for one person and $30 for each additional person. The CD that we got was $109 and had about 60 photos on it. (They do take lots of photos when you're interacting with the dolphins.)

 

I was happy after getting out of the water to shower off the biodegradable sunscreen that was running down my face and put on the normal Coppertone spray that I had. We then got dressed and headed out.

 

We got a taxi from Chankanaab to downtown San Miguel where we walked around a bit and had lunch. I'll comment that we found a large open square area off the main street where we discovered a 7-11. We were able to pick up two sizable drinks (a 600 ml Diet Coke and a 500 ml fruit juice) for $1.50 total. It was much cheaper than buying drinks from vendors on the main street.

 

We had lunch at this restaurant that I don't even recall the name. The food was good, and I loved their salsa! It was so fresh with tomatoes, peppers, onions, and cilantro. Yummy! After the meal, they put a shot of something in front of us, and we drank it. All I knew was that it was blue. I asked what it was and was told "Windex!". :D

 

We walked around a bit more, looking for t-shirts and small trinkets, and eventually decided to head back. We got a taxi very easily and headed back to the port.

 

When we returned, we saw that the Island Sky had docked next to us.

 

 

We got back on board and found a surprise hanging in our cabin!

 

 

How wonderful!

 

Dinner was back in the main dining room tonight. Wanting something different, I ordered the Maine lobster. It was $24.95, but seemed to be a nice alternative to the menu options that were available.

 

The lobster was okay. I liked that they split it, making it very easy to get the meat. I would have to say that the twin lobster tails I had in Portofino's were better, though.

 

Afterward, we headed up to Olive or Twist to listen to pleasant music while enjoying some wine. I had become a fan of Aussières Blanc chardonnay, so I got a bottle of that to enjoy. I like how they handle bottles of wine purchased at venues. You can either take them with you, or they'll hold onto them for you so you can have more when you come back.

 

Then it was down to the casino for a bit where I had a bit of luck and got my first "hand pay" (when the machine locks up and you have to wait for someone to bring you cash). Unlike a land-based casino, though, they were very slow to deliver the money, taking 15-20 minutes. Also, the machines were set with a low threshold for hand pays of just $500. Land-based casinos in the US follow tax laws and generally set them at $1200.

 

After playing for a while longer, it was time for bed. I wanted to be well rested for our last day on board.

[Daghis]

We got up a bit later on Saturday, knowing that we'd need to be rested to get up early the next morning.

 

We managed to get some breakfast before Windjammer closed, and then wandered around a bit. Bryan had his "All Access Tour" at 11:00 for 3 (it turned out to be 4) hours, and I had the Royal Slot tournament at 1:00, so after breakfast, we split up for the day.

 

By the time the last qualifying rounds for the slot tournament were finished, I amazingly was still in the top 15. I was #15, but I still qualified. Unfortunately, I ran into a snafu. While Andreea was starting to run the semi-final rounds of the slot tournament, I had just hit another hand pay. I needed to stay by my machine until they brought me the money, but I needed to be at the slot tournament area for my round. Fortunately, it barely worked out. I was in the third semi-final round, so while they were playing the first two, the guy (also helping set up the slot tournament machines) got my me money, so I was then able to join the slot tournament.

 

I didn't do very well during the semi-finals, and wasn't one of the top three. Oh, well. The guy sitting next to me did very well on his machine and was one of the top three. The prizes for the top three ended up being a bit over $100, $200, and $300 each.

 

After some more playing in the casino, I ran into Bryan who had just finished his tour. He had a great time and took hundreds of pictures. He went off to play "win a cruise" bingo. I didn't feel lucky enough for that, so I decided to hit up the steam room for a bit of "me time" before dinner.

 

After getting properly relaxed and ready for the evening, I returned to the cabin, met up with Bryan (who didn't even get close to winning the cruise), got dressed for dinner, and then headed off for our last meal in the dining room.

 

While eating tonight, we saw several other cruise ships in the distance, and it was a bit of a game to try and identify the cruise companies by the shapes of their ships. We figured out most of them, including seeing Celebrity, Princess, and Carnival.

 

And now, time for sadness. It was time to return to the cabin and pack. Fortunately for me, I was able to get everything packed up in about fifteen minutes. Bryan took about an hour. :)

 

We did find this in our cabin when we entered, though, and this cheered us up a little:

 

Our final "night cap" for the cruise was to go to Johnny Rockets and get milkshakes. Because there was an "Intimate Jazz Cabaret" going on in Olive or Twist, we got our milkshakes to go and headed up there. I liked the music, but it was way too loud. I guess I'm getting to be one of those old, crotchety men, wanting to yell out "Turn the music down!" :)

 

With that, it was time to head to bed. It was going to be a relatively early morning. Even though we weren't getting off that early, we still needed to start getting up around 6 or so.

 

I'll mention here that we had filled out the departure form requesting a 9:15 time to leave. They gave us #2 luggage tags anyway which would have been a 7:15 departure. I went down to the Guest Relations desk and exchanged them for #23 tags. That would suit our time much better. There wasn't any need for us to rush off the ship since we were just picking up a rental car and heading off to Kennedy Space Center for the day.

 

The next morning, I was hoping we'd be able to have our Windjammer breakfast in Chops again, but Chops and Portofino's were closed. We did find a place to sit and enjoy our last shipboard meal.

 

We got back to our cabin, packed up our last remaining belongings, and headed to Pharaoh's Palace to wait. I think we were there for about 10 minutes before they called #23, and then we headed down to deck 4 and off the ship.

 

We were waiting in the terminal for about fifteen minutes to finally get to a customs/immigration officer. The one we had was friendly and then it was off to get our luggage. I didn't understand why they would have called #23 when our luggage wasn't there. We waited about another ten minutes for our luggage to appear.

 

Bags in hand, we headed outside over to where we were told to wait for the Budget shuttle. It started to rain. We moved back under a covered area until the rain stopped a few minutes later.

 

The shuttle arrived, and we were on our way.

[ambernjoshsmom]

Thanks for the great review we leave for our first cruise (25th annv.) on April 29th. This has been a great review.

[landni]

How long was it between the time you got off the boat to the time your bags were ready and left customs? I have our shuttle company picking us up at 8am and wonder what time I should request to depart.

 

Also, regarding Johnny Rockets, did you pay 4.95 for the milkshake? Can you buy it separate? Just wondering how they charge?

[Daghis]

How long was it between the time you got off the boat to the time your bags were ready and left customs? I have our shuttle company picking us up at 8am and wonder what time I should request to depart.

I'd say that it was about 45 minutes from the time our number was called and we were finally outside the terminal. Customs can be quite a long wait depending on what's going on, so you will want to get off quite early just to be safe. I don't know whether you need to do self-disembarkation or just get a 7:15 numbered tag.

 

Also, regarding Johnny Rockets, did you pay 4.95 for the milkshake? Can you buy it separate? Just wondering how they charge?

Johnny Rockets has two different charges, each one charged independently. There's a charge if you order food from the menu (sides, burgers, dessert, etc.), and another separate charge for milkshakes. If all you want is a milkshake, you only have to pay for that, and you don't have to pay the cover charge.

[Daghis]

Final random thoughts to close out this live and not-so-live review...

 

I want to say again that the service we received on the Freedom of the Seas was among the best we've had on Royal Caribbean. With only a single exception, we felt as though people were trying their hardest to do everything they could to serve us and satisfy our wants and needs.

 

I had read about "WOW cards", but we didn't receive any, which is a shame because we could have easily found a couple of people to give them to.

 

I didn't like playing "find the musical venue" when they shuffled the various musical groups around to different venues. I tend to have a particular style of music I enjoy listening to when I'm relaxing onboard, and I prefer if it were in a single place so that the servers there can get to know me and my preferences.

 

I really liked that the privilege of being able to eat Windjammer breakfast and lunch in Chops or Portofino's is now available to Platinum-level or higher Crown & Anchor members. That was a very nice alternative to the normal buffet dining experience.

 

Despite statements I've made about it before, it turns out that Skype did work on the ship. I was able to use my iPad to connect home and chat with DH on our last day. That was really nice, and a lot cheaper than voice minutes on the cell phone. FaceTime, however, didn't work.

 

I'm concerned about the various housekeeping cutbacks, such as fewer towel animals and elimination of the $25 laundry special. To be honest, those things specifically don't bother me that much individually, but I'm concerned that future cutbacks may be more significant.

 

I think that Graham Seymour is my favorite Cruise Director, and I'm thrilled that he's currently planning on being on the Freedom of the Seas in October when we return.

 

I had a terrific time on the cruise and am looking forward to sailing on her again in a little over six months.

 

Thank you all for joining me vicariously, and I hope we get to cruise together soon!

[Beachin2]

Excellent (and balanced) review. We sail on FOS B2B on 4/15 - was nice to get detailed fresh info.

[Tricia1972]

Thank you for your review.

 

I too am sailing on Freedom on April 15th (:)) and really appreciated the review, and the Sea Compasses. It really helped me and my husband a lot.

[bikergal78]

Sorry to hijack this thread also, but can you give me more info about the private excursion you did to Stingray city? Was it less crowded for you because you were on your own? Or did it not matter since all the tour groups were in one place anyways? We have opted out of Sting Ray City for our upcoming cruise because we thought it would be too crowded. But if a private excursion is offered we may consider that.

 

 

I used "Stingray Sailing" for my excursion. Heard about them via the Grand Cayman threads. There were only 20 of us on the boat total. So it was very nice. Once at the sandbar there were several boats parked up next to it. We kind of parked out of the way just a little. Chip is the Captain and his dad is also on the boat. Photographer was pretty cool too.

[Buffett fan]

Thanks so much for the review, I've thoroughly enjoyed cruising vicariously through your eyes!

[lrc04]

Enjoyed the review. Thanks!!!

[minnie00]

The current Cruise Director is Graham Seymour. He's fantastic. I thought he was better than Allan Brooks, but that's my personal opinion.

 

 

The cabanas do appear to be all the same. The only difference is location (Nellie's Beach versus the Barefoot Beach Club, and by the water, on the beach, or on a hilltop).

 

Are they worth it? That's a hard question to answer. I really did enjoy having a "home base" (as Bryan put it) on Labadee to stash our stuff and hang out. It was certainly very nice and relaxing to be able to do that. I'm not completely sure it was worth $150 for one or two people for our cabana, but if you can share the cabana with a few more (up to 6 people total), then I think the cost can be very reasonable.

 

Plus, if you do get a cabana, you do get access to the private (suites only) beach area which is a bit less crowded and that can be desirable.

 

I didn't know there were cabanas for rent anywhere but the "suite guests" beach....we were able to get a cabana on our Oasis cruise last Sept.

I found to to be absolutely worth the $150 and even my DH agreed. We enjoyed the nice chairs and TOWELS (yes towels already there) and it was nice to be on the wood cabana out of the sand. We used the floaties in the really nice bay too.

The food was good, we loved the shrimp. and the Labadoozie was the best.

The beach boys swept the cabana and were very attentive for refills, etc.

We like being in the quiet and secluded area.

Our cabana was right next to where Dhagis's was...I think. :) in the back. I thought the water ones were nice but not sure if I woudl pay extra for them.

:D

[minnie00]

Breakfast was basically fine, nothing fancy. It was tricky finding a table, but the servers worked together to clean the tables quickly and help people looking for one find a place to sit down. It worked reasonably well. Later on in the week, I would take advantage of the Platinum status and eat my Windjammer food in Chops instead.

 

I am curious about this...on the Oasis I thought it was for Suite guests or maybe Diamond??

can Platinum use the area too? (we are plat)

thanks!!:p

LOVE your review !!!

[Daghis]

I am curious about this...on the Oasis I thought it was for Suite guests or maybe Diamond??

can Platinum use the area too? (we are plat)

thanks!!:p

LOVE your review !!!

I had also thought that it was only available to higher status, perhaps Diamond or Diamond Plus and higher as well as suites, but it was definitely Platinum and above on the Freedom of the Seas. I don't know whether it's that same level fleet-wide.

 

Thanks... And you're very welcome, all!

[NEcruisers????]

Was there flavored water available for no charge in FOS?

[minnie00]

I had also thought that it was only available to higher status, perhaps Diamond or Diamond Plus and higher as well as suites, but it was definitely Platinum and above on the Freedom of the Seas. I don't know whether it's that same level fleet-wide.

 

Thanks... And you're very welcome, all!

 

thats good to know, thanks and I enjoyed your review !!

[Daghis]

Was there flavored water available for no charge in FOS?

Yes, I remember seeing flavored water in Windjammer. I don't know about elsewhere, though.

[Palm City Cruiser]

Enjoyed reading about all your recent adventures aboard Freedom. A nice preview of things to come for us as we board on 13 May for the same Western itinerary. Question for you please. On your posted Cruise Compasses the Main Dining time is 5:30PM. For our cruise RCL is posting 6PM for Main Dining. Do you remember if 5:30 was the original plan or did they move it up one-half hour at the last minute. The Compass show times appear to be the same as what's being posted for us. Thanks for your reply.

[cruzinisgood]

Our e doc's says boarding starts at 1:30 but have heard you can board as early as 11am which we were planning on doing. Does this sound right?