Freedom of the Seas Eastern Caribbean Photo Review- Jan 26th, 2014

[usckatieh]

I've absolutely loved both your reviews and the details you put into them. We are booked on Oasis for our 20 year anniversary and I think it would be awesome to take our kids on Freedom next. So when I saw this review I was excited. Im curious what your impressions are of Freedom after being on Oasis. I've wondered if any ship can compare and would love to hear your thoughts. Thanks!

 

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

 

I've got that coming up next! Truthfully, I think the Oasis spoiled us a little but the Freedom is still a great ship. I'd definitely sail on the Freedom again!

[usckatieh]

After lunch, we went back for our second watercolor class, this time to paint a beach scene while the boys went to watch Turbo in 3D again. Her newest master piece (can you tell I’m a proud momma?)

 

 

Kasiah and I finished our art lesson before the boy’s movie was over so we went to the pool deck to grab an ice cream and she become enthralled with the guests vs officer’s pool volleyball game. I’m not usually one to watch volleyball, but I was really impressed with the enthusiasm that the activities team has for their events. And it was kind of interesting to see 20 people pile into one side of the sports pool to get beaten by the 6 undefeated officers.

 

 

For the afternoon, we took the kids to play with their friends at Adventure Ocean and DH and I enjoyed a leisurely stroll through the ship. We spent a few minutes checking out the Solarium (beautiful and a very quiet place to relax), watching the waves go by and marveling at how sailors crossed the oceans way before satellite and GPS, and finally taking advantage of our C&A buy 1 get one free milkshake at Johnny Rockets. How romantic.

 

 

I was curious to watch the Best of the Best Flowrider competition so we headed up to the sports deck before dinner. Here’s the grand winner tearing up the waves! It’s definitely not as easy as the 4 talented contenders made it look.

 

 

As we made our way to pick up the kids at Adventure Ocean, one mom ahead of us was trying to convince her 3 year old daughter that it was time leave the music and games and to go to dinner. The tense negotiations ended up with the 3 year old laying on the floor kicking her feet and screaming “I don’t wanna go!!!” The mom calmly looked over, smiled and said, “That’ll be me tomorrow.” BEST description of the last day of cruise vacation EVER! And sure enough, I seriously considered throwing a tantrum or holding a sit-in or hiding under a slot machine or doing whatever it took to stay on that boat on disembarkation day, but I know that resistance is futile and real life must eventually start again…unless you’re Super Mario. ;)

 

At dinner, we enjoyed using our C&A buy 1 get 1 free glass of wine. I am not the kind of girl to go without using a coupon, especially one for free moscato! Truthfully, our drinking on this cruise was limited to 4 glasses of wine and one scotch for the DH so we get off pretty cheap on the alcohol-related expenses.

 

I’ll leave you with our last photo of the day- a fat little towel baby.

 

 

Coming up- Disembarkation and some Freedom to Oasis comparisons

[usckatieh]

Day Eight- Time to Suck It Up and Get Off the Boat

 

Disembarkation was pretty uneventful. We go with the early bird, self-disembark so that we can get on the road as soon as possible and avoid the customs long lines. I did put on my survey that they NEED to open both sides of the Windjammer on disembarkation morning. We got there about 5:30am and the WJ was busier than lunch on day 1 and they still were turning people away from the left side of the buffet and seating area. That could stand some improvement. We got in line to leave about 6:00am. Be aware that if you have children, to self-disembark you have to be able to handle all of the luggage and have one free hand to get up and down the escalator. Nathan had an ingenious idea to use his shoelaces to tie the big car seat to his bag so that and the combination of 2 rolling bag with all other bags being shoulder bags/backpacks really helped our balancing act. Customs took less than 5 minutes to get through and we were on our way! We grabbed a guy with a taxi van and paid the $26 to take the 4 of us back to the Sheraton. I’m pretty sure that was on the high side for cab fares, but we were able to cram all our luggage in and get going in 3 minutes flat, so I’m not complaining. We were on the road before 7:00am and home before 3:00pm!

 

A few notes about the Freedom vs Oasis

 

Freedom Advantages

 

For kids, there’s not much besides the Carousel and the diving show that I think they would have missed being on the Freedom instead of the Oasis. I can’t tell if it was just the way the pool deck was laid out on the Oasis but the H2O zone seemed bigger on the Freedom. The pool area, activities, Adventure Ocean, and entertainment was close enough to the same on the Freedom and Oasis that for the price, the Freedom is a great value for young families!

 

One thing that I loved about the Freedom was the poolside movies! I don’t remember those on the Oasis and it was so fun to sit in the hot tub after dinner and enjoy a new release (if you can’t tell, we’re big movie fans)!

 

DH also thought the MDR on the Freedom was even better than the Oasis and we were very happy with both. Every meal that came to us was presented well and tasty! It’s not gourmet, you have to keep in mind, they’re cooking for thousands of people but they’re totally in line with/above high end catering!

 

Freedom is also a great ship for the price! The great price on our cabin meant that was could sail 6 months after our last cruise, versus waiting a year. And as I said at the beginning Port Canaveral took 2 hours off a very long drive.

 

Oasis Advantages

 

On the top of the list of things I missed about the Oasis was Central Park. To me, is absolutely astonishing to have a garden paradise floating around in the middle of the ocean. I used Central Park as a quiet place to read a book, a photogenic place to take pictures on formal night and simply a pretty way to walk from one side of the ship to the other. It’s gorgeous at night too. While you can feel the night breeze on the pool deck too, it just seems so much more romantic in Central Park.

 

I think the kids would have enjoyed some of the boardwalk features like the carousel, the candy shop and the donut shop but we didn’t really spend much time there on our trip, so it wasn’t top on my list of things I missed. I like the comedy club, dive show and broadway shows on the Oasis but again, missing those didn’t make a huge difference in my satisfaction on the Freedom.

 

For those that like to work out, the running track is much better situated on the Oasis. On the Freedom, it’s at the top of the pool deck so there’s chairs lined along both side and it’s really hard to walk on that deck without blocking the runner’s path. I can’t remember what deck the track was designated for on the Oasis but it was similar to Freedom’s deck 4, where you had a good view of the ocean on a lower deck but not a lot of pedestrian traffic.

 

I also liked how the Oasis had their specialty dining spread out around the ship. On the Freedom, it was like you were walking to the WJ and then decided to step off into the doorway for Chops. Silly little detail but in my mind, making it separate from WJ increases the perceived value and give a more intimate, elite experience and when you’re choosing to paying extra for a special meal, I think that’s important.

 

I think what our travel agent mentioned when we booked our first cruise on the Oasis is kind of true- you really do get a little spoiled by starting with the Oasis, but the Freedom has a great atmosphere and a crew as well, so I’m glad we tried her out too!

 

What Now?

 

What’s the first thing you do when you get off a Royal Caribbean cruise? Plan your next trip (if you haven’t already)! For our next cruise, we’re trying to decide between a Southern Caribbean out of San Juan and/or maybe a spin on the Oasis again so the kids can experience the extras and Nathan can possibly get the scuba class we keep chasing after! Either way we want to start dragging family members on the cruise to enjoy the fun with us! DH’s parents live in California and my mom just retired so both grandparents love to spend time with the Grandkids and a cruise vacation seems like a great way to justify some more cruising fun!

 

If you’d like to see more of my photography, my personal blog is http://www.hartphotoblog.com. I wanted to get this review posted first, but I’ll be blogging cruise photos too very soon!

 

Thanks for following along with my review and feel free to ask any questions! Happy cruising! :D

[freedomfirst]

Thanks so much for this review! We are doing the same itinerary (with the San Juan stop) in a few months, and it was great to get a glimpse of the kinds of things my 6 year old DD and I will get to do together! Well written and beautiful photos, LOVED it!

[mmn531]

Day Eight- Time to Suck It Up and Get Off the Boat

 

Thanks for following along with my review and feel free to ask any questions! Happy cruising! :D

 

Thanks for this wonderful review. One question in st. Marteen. Did you do any pre planning with Joyce? Or did you simply get in the car and tell them where to go? I am going there in Sep. and would like to do a tour and possibly end it at the Galion beach area for some beach fun and local food.

 

Great pictures BTW and you kids are cute as can be!

[usckatieh]

Thanks for this wonderful review. One question in st. Marteen. Did you do any pre planning with Joyce? Or did you simply get in the car and tell them where to go? I am going there in Sep. and would like to do a tour and possibly end it at the Galion beach area for some beach fun and local food.

 

Great pictures BTW and you kids are cute as can be!

 

Joyce has a sample itinerary on her website, so I had initially emailed her about our preferences (no shopping), La Galion early in the day, and finding some photogenic spots and our driver had a plan in mind to basically circle the island and get to the beach early. If you wanted to hit the beach late, he could just swing around the island the other way, so it was a little combination of preplanning so they knew what we had in mind and then working out the details the day of. We ended up driving through the French district to look at food options, but DH decided he'd rather eat back on the boat, so they're very flexible with plans on the fly. The island isn't huge and they knew all the backroads to even skip traffic so I think it would have been easy to change direction. Hope that helps!

[SherriZ366]

Joyce has a sample itinerary on her website, so I had initially emailed her about our preferences (no shopping), La Galion early in the day, and finding some photogenic spots and our driver had a plan in mind to basically circle the island and get to the beach early. If you wanted to hit the beach late, he could just swing around the island the other way, so it was a little combination of preplanning so they knew what we had in mind and then working out the details the day of. We ended up driving through the French district to look at food options, but DH decided he'd rather eat back on the boat, so they're very flexible with plans on the fly. The island isn't huge and they knew all the backroads to even skip traffic so I think it would have been easy to change direction. Hope that helps!

Skipping traffic is important with so many ships in St. Maarten on most the days we stop there in the winter.

[SherriZ366]

Katie -- enjoyed your review. Your kids are just precious. Loved the lost tooth. How do you pronounce your daughter's name?

 

Please let us know what you book next so we can be on the lookout for your next review.

 

Hope you did not have too many hassles with the snow/ice in Columbia. I know they closed the Legislature again so figure the roads were bad and we heard that lots of folks lost power. Worst winter since we moved to SC since 2004 but we did not get much ice.

[S.A.M.J.R.]

Great job on the review, and your pictures are fantastic!

 

Thank you for the AO Compasses. DW & I are taking our kids on their first cruise on Freedom in June (Western). We'll compare to our first cruise on Oasis last year (sound familiar?).

 

Out of curiosity, how do you pronounce your DD's name? It's very unique.

[cruzinlady1947]

Excellent review and pictures. Your children are just too adorable. Your little man in his hat for formal nights, is just too cute. And love the toothless grin of your daughter. I bet they are a delight to spend time with. Lucky children to be cruising at that age.

 

Thanks for doing this. I know it is time consuming and takes a lot to do. Really appreciate it. So many good reviews on CC. I love them all.

 

Thanks again,

Gwen :)

[LizzieandLuke]

Hi Katie,

 

I was so sad that your review ended -it was like my vacation was over too. :(

 

Although my kiddies are a bit older than yours (11,9) what were you over all opinions of the kids club. Your daughter seemed to enjoy it. Did you ever use it past 10? (You seem a lot like my family - not late night people but I would like hubby to see the late night comedy show.) Did you feel it was well supervised? Were your kids entrenched in activities or was it more of a do what you want to do? My nine year old is very immature - did they stick to the age brackets or could he play with the 7 and 8 year olds?

 

I know you had early dining - were you able to make it to any shows and did you bring your little guys?

 

Thanks,

 

 

Jen

[usckatieh]

Great job on the review, and your pictures are fantastic!

 

Thank you for the AO Compasses. DW & I are taking our kids on their first cruise on Freedom in June (Western). We'll compare to our first cruise on Oasis last year (sound familiar?).

 

Out of curiosity, how do you pronounce your DD's name? It's very unique.

 

Thanks for reading guys! Kasiah sounds like "Mariah". We found her name in my geneology from 1800s- not sure what area, but we're thinking Irish. :D

 

Katie -- enjoyed your review. Your kids are just precious. Loved the lost tooth. How do you pronounce your daughter's name?

 

Please let us know what you book next so we can be on the lookout for your next review.

 

Hope you did not have too many hassles with the snow/ice in Columbia. I know they closed the Legislature again so figure the roads were bad and we heard that lots of folks lost power. Worst winter since we moved to SC since 2004 but we did not get much ice.

 

Now everyone's talking about our earthquake in SC. Apparently some people in Columbia felt it but I must have slept right through it. I blame it on being rocked to sleep on the cruise ship for a week.

Edited February 15, 2014 by usckatieh

[usckatieh]

Hi Katie,

 

I was so sad that your review ended -it was like my vacation was over too. :(

 

Although my kiddies are a bit older than yours (11,9) what were you over all opinions of the kids club. Your daughter seemed to enjoy it. Did you ever use it past 10? (You seem a lot like my family - not late night people but I would like hubby to see the late night comedy show.) Did you feel it was well supervised? Were your kids entrenched in activities or was it more of a do what you want to do? My nine year old is very immature - did they stick to the age brackets or could he play with the 7 and 8 year olds?

 

I know you had early dining - were you able to make it to any shows and did you bring your little guys?

 

Thanks,

 

Jen

 

Hi Jen! I'm sad when the review is over too. Sometimes I go back and look at my Oasis one just to live it all over again though! :)

 

We never went past 10 at AO, but if we did it would have been for the comedy show too! I'd love to see Quest but with kids that wake up at the crack of dawn, I'd rather get my sleep! I did feel like the program was really well supervised. Whenever I walked in for pick up or drop off, I noticed they had a way for keeping the kids really engaged by keeping the activities fresh, which amazed me. I think the organized activities was the key. I saw the little kids doing playing independently sometimes but I always saw the bigger kids organized into some game or activity. I'm pretty sure they stick to age brackets, but on occasion with our groups, they brought the younger kids with the older ones when they had smaller groups.

 

We did have early dining and we didn't go to all the shows but we did plan some 7:00 activities without any issue. I usually let the waiters know ahead of time that we wanted to wrap up within an hour or whatever and they just stepped up the service to help us make it on time.

 

I hope you and your family have a great time!

[erikandre]

Katie!

 

It's Erik & Rebecca, your table buddies from Oasis! Thank you for your wonderful review, as well as your lovely pictures. Your children are beautiful! I'm so glad you had a great time together!

 

We just booked a room tonight with our travel agent for July and you're not kidding.... the cost savings on Freedom vs the Oasis ships are dramatic. We have to do July because of Rebecca's teacher schedule, but glad to see savings on the Freedom.

 

Thanks again! Erik

[Mom.to.2]

Love your review and AMAZING pictures!!!!

 

A question about your private tour in St. Maartin...did you expect Joyce to personally give you a tour, or did you know it would be someone else (Makk)? I've got Joyce booked for our day in port this April, and my understanding is that she does all her own tours. Am I mistaken?

 

We also plan to visit Le Gallion for a good chunk of the day.

 

TIA

[TheGaDawgFan]

Great review! Great photos! I'm sad it's over. Can't wait to be on the Freedom in 6 weeks. Your review really got me excited.

[usckatieh]

Katie!

 

It's Erik & Rebecca, your table buddies from Oasis! Thank you for your wonderful review, as well as your lovely pictures. Your children are beautiful! I'm so glad you had a great time together!

 

We just booked a room tonight with our travel agent for July and you're not kidding.... the cost savings on Freedom vs the Oasis ships are dramatic. We have to do July because of Rebecca's teacher schedule, but glad to see savings on the Freedom.

 

Thanks again! Erik

 

Hey Erik! We missed you guys this time! :D. I'm glad to hear you get to sail again soon! Maybe we can sync up dates one summer! Take care and have fun!

[usckatieh]

Love your review and AMAZING pictures!!!!

 

A question about your private tour in St. Maartin...did you expect Joyce to personally give you a tour, or did you know it would be someone else (Makk)? I've got Joyce booked for our day in port this April, and my understanding is that she does all her own tours. Am I mistaken?

 

We also plan to visit Le Gallion for a good chunk of the day.

 

TIA

 

Hi Tia! Yes, Joyce did let us know ahead of time that she had another tour that day so Makk would be our guide! I imagine it was a busy day with so many ships in port! She was also there when we arrived to see if we needed anything! Thanks!

[proudpatriot07]

Thanks for your review! We also live in SC (Chas.) and are really happy to have a nice, large RCI ship so close in Port Canaveral. We've been on FOTS before but we are doing the same itenerary you guys are. Really looking forward to it and thanks for the tips on Puerto Rico. It looks like you and your family had a great time and I hope you're staying warm in Columbia!

[luvsun22]

Your children are beautiful and your photos are amazing! Thank you for sharing your trip!

[mollyeilis]

Nice report, thank you!

 

We were actually on the exact same cruise, and I was almost expecting to see us in your pictures. But while reading it seems like we consistently zigged when you zagged, so we were never in the same place at the same time!

 

Ahead of time I couldn't justify Joyce or Bernard's prices just for our family of 3, but reading of your experience with Joyce's employee maybe next time we'll go for it.

 

 

 

Thanks for the Compasses, even tho I am a little bummed that I don't see any spa specials yet on them.

 

If I may...the specials were either in the half-sheet inserts or were totally separate pages that you could find or be handed almost anywhere. There were spa specials every day.

 

 

 

Again, if I may...from our experience with Adventure Ocean, they had the 9-11 year olds in with the 6-8 year olds for at least the last 4 days of the cruise. My guy is 9, and they didn't even have the 9-11 year old area open, even the first open house type day. We dropped him at the 6-8 year old area, and they were combined the whole time. Since we weren't in the same place at the same time as you guys, I bet they were never in there at the same time (he doesn't recognize her from the pictures), but he had a really good time in there. He got a bit spoiled from two DCL's last year, but once he figured out how to have a good time in AO (without the dance floors and in your face theming) it was great.

 

 

Oh and it looks like you went the *pretty* way for the forts. Lucky! We went to the left off the ship to walk along the street that's something like " la princessa", and ended up making a slightly wrong turn that got us where we were going (El Morro) but it wasn't as pretty as your pictures! :) The walk from El Morro to Cristobal and then back to the ship, however, was nice. (yes I dragged my guys to both, LOL)

[usckatieh]

Hey Molly! It's funny how you develop patterns in a weeks trip. I saw some. People just about every day and some just once! I'm glad you got to see both forts. I might try that now that I have a better feeling for where things are in San Juan. We were so confused at first and just followed the crowd!

[Buckeye State Cruisers]

I loved your review. We also love the Freedom. You can tell that you are a professional photographer your pictures are so beautiful. I loved seeing your trip through the excited faces of your children.

 

When you mentioned Barefoot Beach I think you are talking about the beach on Labadee, Haiti (western caribbean) It is the suites and cabana rental beach.

[Buckeye State Cruisers]

oops I checked your map and there is a Barefoot Beach on Coco Cay :o.

[nicstress]

Loved your review! We are going on this cruise 1/25/15, so exactly a year later :) Our boys will be 4 and 6 and it will be their first cruise. I was very excited to see all of the CCs and AO daily planners. Our cruise stops in St Thomas instead of San Juan. Thanks again for your great pictures and all of the cruise details! Your kids are adorable!