Bit of a (surprise) Blog – Freedom of the Seas – Western Caribbean – 17th March 2013

[LuckiStac13*Majesty*]

Linda, have a great cruise! Labadee looked beautiful today, one of my favorite spots. I hope to sail the Freedom someday, looks like a gorgeous ship.

[rrodriquez2]

That's the way they've done Corona on Labadee for a few years. Our IOS cruise last week had glass instead of those bottles. We were told again...college kids drank the other ones.

 

Also, we didn't get the cool Labadee cups, just a clear plastic solo cup like you'd get at your dentists office but with the same giant straw. Overall the more I see other cruises the more I realize how much last weeks IOS was subpar compared to the normal RCCL stuff.

 

Great photos, the weather looks ideal on your Labadee day.

[LuckiStac13*Majesty*]

That's the way they've done Corona on Labadee for a few years. Our IOS cruise last week had glass instead of those bottles. We were told again...college kids drank the other ones.

 

Also, we didn't get the cool Labadee cups, just a clear plastic solo cup like you'd get at your dentists office but with the same giant straw. Overall the more I see other cruises the more I realize how much last weeks IOS was subpar compared to the normal RCCL stuff.

 

Great photos, the weather looks ideal on your Labadee day.

 

Unfortunately, I had the same thought. I didn't get to sail IOS as planned this Feb, but after reading reviews of other ships, Indy doesn't seem to compare. Just going by reviews. Lots of little things that are missing on Indy, it seems. I think I will book Freedom for my next cruise!

[rrodriquez2]

Unfortunately, I had the same thought. I didn't get to sail IOS as planned this Feb, but after reading reviews of other ships, Indy doesn't seem to compare. Just going by reviews. Lots of little things that are missing on Indy, it seems. I think I will book Freedom for my next cruise!

 

We heard people talking about the special corona last time they were in Labadee. I had no idea what they were talking about/bummed over until these photos. Same with the Labadee cups. The buffet also looks much neater and more organized. It looks like a totally different cruise. It looks like what I thought I was getting on the RCCL cruise last week but didn't.

 

Lesson learned, ships in the same class can be vastly different.

 

Great photos, this is a real unique opportunity for most of us to see how it's handled just a week after I was in those same ports.

[devvt]

I was on IOS last week and my two Labadoozies (and my husband's two as well) looked just like the photo posted - those are the same cups they've been using for years - in fact, we have so many of them we didn't even bring them home this time.

[MrFunInTheSun]

Looks like you you had a great day in Labadee. One day I'll make it there, looks like such a beautiful place.

[devvt]

The IOS buffet in Labadee last week looked EXACTLY like the photos that have been posted of today's buffet. Just like the Labadoozie cups, the Labadee buffet has looked EXACTLY the same for years no matter which RCCL ship has stopped there.

[NorbertsNiece]

Ahh, Labadee! Thanks for taking the time to post and your pix are great. Is the pub smoking or non-smoking, please?

 

Will find out....

 

Ahhh sorry about that!!! Anyhow we pregnant people are suppose to stay away from foods prepared with raw eggs or non pasteurized soft cheeses. Now I love my salads and was wondering if the Cesar dressing is prepared with raw eggs and if the feta cheese in the Greek salad is pasteurized. I know it's quite specific but I thought it would be worth asking :). Thank you in advance

 

I have a breakfast date with the Head MDR Chef tomorrow (no kidding - explanation to follow). Will ask him.

[NorbertsNiece]

FlaPeach : I have the Vintages wine menu. It is too big for me to photo but I will happily scan and then post a link to view on my return. Drew has given me a brochure about the Art on Freedom. Again this is extensive and way too big a task to photo etc so again will scan on return.

 

I have run into the Norwegian family whose luggage went adrift. You remember them on Day 1. ALL their luggage went adrift. They are hopeful to receive it tomorrow in Jamaica as their daughter is getting married on Grand Cayman on Thursday….. she has her dress fortunately but the shoes etc are currently elsewhere.

 

The internet package I purchased initially is about to run out. Had I foreseen how slow it was going to be I would have purchased a larger package initially. There is no way to top it up. It has to expire first so I will have to log on for 3 minutes or so, log off so I don’t get charged .75c per minute then log back in and purchase a new package. How antiquated.

 

Want to give a big thumbs up to the Guest Services team. Each and every one of them has been polite and efficient. In fact every time I pass a crew member a greeting is offered by them regardless of their status. This makes one feel very much at ease and comfortable with ones surroundings. I will miss this very much. My next venture is a river cruise on the Rhone so my blogging will be on a different board …..

 

When I got back from Labadee I headed straight away to the pool and swam a few ‘lengths’. I had it all to myself. No problems finding a bed. Took pics of the empty children’s pools.

[NorbertsNiece]

Pool pics

 

 

 

 

 

 

[NorbertsNiece]

From 'Olive or Twist'

 

 

 

 

Photo packages

 

 

 

BINGO

 

[NorbertsNiece]

A question was asked at the M&M about the Godmother..... Drew.... if you are following..... I found this :

 

 

 

Tonight's MDR menu taken from the interactive board

 

 

 

 

[NorbertsNiece]

More menu. Classics are the same.

 

 

 

Ok.

 

The next posting needs a heads up.

Just saying.

[NorbertsNiece]

I don’t know where to start the next bit.

 

Currently sitting in the Online Centre where there appears to be an excellent Internet signal so will write this all up before connecting, disconnecting and reconnecting as previously described. I am sitting in a window seat with a beautifully lit up scene rolling out before me.

 

Shrek is in the promenade having his photo taken. His Mrs was about earlier. So surreal.

 

Start at the beginning girl.

 

So.

 

This afternoon I showered and tried to tame my hair. Took a stroll. Spoke to you earlier. Around 4pm there was advertised an ‘Art 101. Everything you ever wanted to know but didn’t dare ask’ event. Awesome. A bit of culture. When I arrive there are works of art on screens and on pedestals. Little bells start ringing. The room has one couple sitting there. I am approached by a young man inviting me in. I ask him if this is a talk or a sale. He says it’s a talk. I reply ok then so I won’t be asked to buy anything then. He says well you can buy something if you want. Alarm bells. Then I see the ‘Park West’ logo embroidered on the front of a cloth. I high tail it out of there. Don’t get me started on auctions at sea.

 

And that’s all I’m prepared to say about that. But this 180 was just a practice for what was to occur later. Teaser.

 

I get to play BINGO. That’s different to anything called BINGO I played previously on Independence…. Automated…. More money donated to RCCL coffers but it was fun and over very quickly…. Hmm…

 

I am busy doing nothing until dinner at Portofino at 6pm. There’s a very strange raffle at the everything $10 stall. I see some chunky rings I may buy in the schmutter shop. You know the type of thing…. Bling without value.

 

Let me digress for one brief moment. I spent 2 weeks on Adventure last year. Didn’t go hungry. Was fed brilliantly and they had sussed the GF aspect to within a hairs breath of being perfect. So I had expectations. Portofino on AoS treated me really well for the most part…… dessert was a shambles….. but from the get go I was comfortable and reassured. I’ve already told you that it’s been a hit and miss ride here but I get that it’s a learning curve and am ok with being an instrument of that. If Ginnie, gxchan, is reading this she will know how that was for me at Johnny Rockets on Adventure and it’s thanks to her I have developed some negotiation skills. It’s all there in the blog.

 

Back to tonight.

 

I go and sit outside Windjammer to wait for my friends. They close the doors and everyone on the other side are not allowed in. Well I’m sitting in the quiet. Others come through as they have Portofino reservations but the WJ diners are being kept out. I go out to meet the others and we have to push through those waiting.

 

We have nice seats. 10 of us. And a lovely waiter. He brings the beautiful basket of breads for the others. I have Gluten Free bread for you he says. Yeah. It’s the same bread. Only this time served on a WJ plastic plate. Really special. No effort to dress it up or present in a different way. I ask for my bottle of wine which should have been sent up from the MDR. I have a feeling I’m going to need it. It arrives and I sip some. I return the plastic plate. Untouched. Everyone else is served Crostinis on sharing plates I think. I ask where’s mine? Waiter shrugs you don’t have any. Everyone is oohing and aaaahing at their nibbles. Second 180 of the day. Only I can’t take the glass with me. My wine is poured into another glass.

 

Exit stage left.

 

I have a quick look at what’s happening in WJ but am in no mood to deal with the noise and the need for dietary guidance. There’s a suit with a one gold braid on his sleeve. Poor man. I bend his ear. I ask for the only name I have in my head that has anything to do with dining as provided by Drew on Monday. Think he’s about as high as you can go. When he shows his gold braids are so many that they have merged into one really really really thick one.

 

I bend his ear too. Poor man. He calls out the Executive Chef who is ex Adventure but not there when I was. I bend his ear. Poor man. I am calm. Sober. And am being as supportive of their need to learn as I can. Multi braided man calls down to the MDR to the lovely Nikki who is the MTD Manager. You need to know how amazing this woman is. I was watching her last night clearing tables…. She is incredibly hands on and I doubt much goes on that she doesn’t know about. He tells her to take care of me personally and to reserve a table for me at 715pm. You can see how long this has taken. He makes a breakfast date with me for tomorrow at 8am in the MDR. I have to confess to not being keen on this. He has offered to serve me Portofino food in WJ tonight as I am refusing to go back in but I don’t want that. I wanted the experience too.

 

I head down to the MDR and find the ‘Ode to Freedom’ with Emmy’s name on!! (Pink Boa Cruisers were on the inaugural Freedom Cruise).

 

When Nikki sees me she gets extremely animated. She has remembered me from the previous night (I had said hi to her as she had been table surfing) and had ordered a GF Lemon Meringue Pie to be sent to my room… in fact it was on its way!! She gets it intercepted. She seats me at a window seat and I bend her ear. Poor girl. I tried to explain that I was happy with the MDR food as described on the menu and didn’t need or want special treatment otherwise though my expectations had been dashed and there had been some disappointment where breakfast was concerned. I also said that it is unreasonable to expect a diner in Portofino paying a supplement to receive the same standard of food as WJ.

 

There are waiters crawling out of the woodwork bending over backwards to be helpful. I have a menu and my food is served before I get a chance to see who is sitting around me….. I know they have been listening. You know that sense of when you look at someone and their neck twists rapidly in a different direction. I am served 3 different slices of bread. Sigh. One is a multigrain and is relatively edible. The other 2 are the ones I have tried previously. What is that old saying? Why repeat something again and again and expect a different result?

 

I am not kidding. My starter is finished and removed and the main is served within seconds. Seconds. OK it’s not hot as clearly it has been waiting for me. But it’s delicious.

 

Then ‘My Girl’ comes on the background music. ‘I’ve got sunshine, on a cloudy day, When it’s cold outside….. I got the month of May ’…… That one. You already know that music can set me off. This is another one of those songs that links me to my daughters (there are 3) and their dad who is no longer with us. So first the realisation of what I’m hearing coupled with rack of lamb which is delicious, a glass of wine, and I have my head in my hands and tears beginning to trickle.

 

The Head Chef is standing there. He thinks I’m crying over the food.

 

I bend his ear. Poor man. So now my dinner is cold. I couldn’t care less. The whole area of the dining room now knows my business. Sigh. Nikki walks by and I wave. Chef will be at breakfast tomorrow baking me pancakes. Sigh. He will make pasta for me tomorrow night. Sigh. I keep telling them I don’t want singling out. I’m ok with the MDR evening menu. Nikki wants to get me cookies and pastries. I’ve told her I’ve had a GF cupcake and GF pizza and I’m fine. So now everyone wants me to be happy and they want to feed me. I thought *I* was the Jewish mother! I remember many, many years ago my father had a record or a book by an American comedian called : You don’t have to be Jewish to be a Jewish mother….. neither do you have to be a mother…. This may explain why my girls head for the fridge whenever they come to visit…. I may need to re-programme them.

 

I was in and out of the MDR in 45 minutes. Some kind of record.

 

I had to get this off my chest. So have missed the show. I’m ok with that. I have this to upload with the pics from today and then an early night. I have an 8am date with a chef and his boss. Sigh.

Edited March 20, 2013 by NorbertsNiece
Grammar rubbish.... should have proof read before posting

[rrodriquez2]

I was on IOS last week and my two Labadoozies (and my husband's two as well) looked just like the photo posted - those are the same cups they've been using for years - in fact, we have so many of them we didn't even bring them home this time.

 

At the bars you got a clear solo cup if you had the drink package. You could not buy from the servers or I should say they wouldn't give up the fancy cups they had for the incremental price of the cup $3.85 I think it was until the end of the day when they had to dump what was left (suspect they make better tips selling the full drink/cup). At the BARS (bar/buffet nearest the water park) and the bar behind the beach north of the water park they were also both often out of the drink itself. You don't get the cup unless you're willing to pay for it but for whatever reason people with the PI weren't allowed to buy either until the very end of the day when they were trying to get rid of the ones the servers were carrying around. Again hit of miss with the inclusive packages. The fancy coronas must never have made it onto the island that we saw. I suspect you didn't have the package.

 

I'd be curious to hear about how late the pools and bars stayed opened on FOS. We were just commenting on how the bar near the kids pool was closed no later than 6 all nights, and that the back bars were usually closed pretty early too along with the pools being roped off/tubs almost at the same time.

 

It's great to compare. I feel better knowing what's going on for this FOS is more in line with previous RCCL experiences. This looks IMO like a much different cruise.

[rrodriquez2]

FlaPeach : I have the Vintages wine menu. It is too big for me to photo but I will happily scan and then post a link to view on my return. Drew has given me a brochure about the Art on Freedom. Again this is extensive and way too big a task to photo etc so again will scan on return.

 

I have run into the Norwegian family whose luggage went adrift. You remember them on Day 1. ALL their luggage went adrift. They are hopeful to receive it tomorrow in Jamaica as their daughter is getting married on Grand Cayman on Thursday….. she has her dress fortunately but the shoes etc are currently elsewhere.

 

The internet package I purchased initially is about to run out. Had I foreseen how slow it was going to be I would have purchased a larger package initially. There is no way to top it up. It has to expire first so I will have to log on for 3 minutes or so, log off so I don’t get charged .75c per minute then log back in and purchase a new package. How antiquated.

 

Want to give a big thumbs up to the Guest Services team. Each and every one of them has been polite and efficient. In fact every time I pass a crew member a greeting is offered by them regardless of their status. This makes one feel very much at ease and comfortable with ones surroundings. I will miss this very much. My next venture is a river cruise on the Rhone so my blogging will be on a different board …..

 

When I got back from Labadee I headed straight away to the pool and swam a few ‘lengths’. I had it all to myself. No problems finding a bed. Took pics of the empty children’s pools.

 

FWIW you can buy a $10 all day pass in Jamaica right at the little hut in the middle of the port when you get off. It'll give you a PIN number that you use to log in. very fast connection and worked on the ship too. Just be aware it seems to be tied to a single device. compared to the internet connection on the ship it was like 2013 vs 1990.

 

The $10 pass worked until we were about 200 yards from port steaming away, it has no time limit.

Edited March 20, 2013 by rrodriquez2

[NorbertsNiece]

Ode to Freedom.

 

Emmy or breeezy if you have a better copy of this please post it.

 

 

GF Ceviche

 

 

 

 

 

My Girls (and boy)

 

[NorbertsNiece]

FWIW you can buy a $10 all day pass in Jamaica right at the little hut in the middle of the port when you get off. It'll give you a PIN number that you use to log in. very fast connection and worked on the ship too. Just be aware it seems to be tied to a single device. compared to the internet connection on the ship it was like 2013 vs 1990.

 

The $10 pass worked until we were about 200 yards from port steaming away, it has no time limit.

 

Gosh thanks for the heads up.

 

No idea what time we are getting back from our excursion tomorrow. All aboard is 630pm so will likely be heading straight for dinner after returning... and I have to dine in the MDR now....

 

And....

 

Had to come here to tell you this..... will post pics tomorrow.... flyer for an Art Auction on my bed and a plate of cookies and pastries on the dresser...... doesn't get more extreme than that really.....

[aliciacr02]

Will find out....

 

 

 

I have a breakfast date with the Head MDR Chef tomorrow (no kidding - explanation to follow). Will ask him.

 

Thank you! I'm sorry you are having all that trouble with the food, I hope it improves for you as the cruise goes on.

[loeytalldog]

 

 

I don't even know where to start looking..... will have a word about and see what I can surmise....

 

Thanks for any help, we are back on FOS in June for the Western Caribbean and would love to be able to tell my husband that they really do have the roast beef sandwiches!

[Luv06012012]

Hi Linda,

 

Hang in there with the food...I'm sorry to hear of the troubles. The one and only time we sailed on NCL last year, we had trouble with my lil guy's lactose free milk being available all the time (even though it was noted and ordered pre-cruise). I know your frustrations. They didn't have any when we boarded but they actually sent out a staff member at the next port to purchase some and put it in our fridge in our room....it barely fit they had to empty the whole fridge, etc.

 

One question if you don't mind...how much are the cupcakes at the cupcake shop?

 

Thank you so much for sharing all of this info with us....it is so much appreciated!

[FlaPeach]

Thank you for getting the wine list from Vintages. :cool: Can't wait to see it upon your return to reality. I'm enjoying your updates - really ramping up the excitement for my cruise. Sorry to hear about your food woes though. Hope you get it straightened out today. :)

[Lynne95]

Linda, your story of your GF trials brought tears to my eyes. I remember the difficult time you had on the Explorere, and when we did the Mystery Dinner. GF food is not a new subject, you would think they would have gotten some conistenancy by now! Hope today is a better one, and all this attention brings about some nice changes for the next person with food allergies.

 

You are doing a lovely job with this blog!

[susanrobert]

Thank you for taking the time to post this review. You're doing a wonderful job!! I hope your food issues are straightened out soon!

 

I have one favor if it's not too much trouble. Can you take a photo of the suite seating by the pool? I have heard it's in a terrible location.

 

Many thanks!!

[CruiseJunky]

OMG, THIS IS TOOOOOOOOO FUNNY.

 

Linda, I tried to get us on the ship as well to surprise Patty and Scott, but it was already booked, YOU would have been shocked as well, that would have been hysterical.

 

Have a great time, I am very jealous, but looking forward to our December cruise with everyone. Are you going to surprise us as well? Ask Patty if we are doing the "girls cruse"???????? I am ready to go.

 

xxxxxoooo

Marni