Freedom Of The Seas Cancelled for the month for Jan 2015

[SherriZ366]

I beliee that it ws a partial. The other poster said that it was being moved to the Jan 18 sailing on the Explorer which is a 6 night and still available on the website.

 

When the sailing on the Freedom was cancelled it was cancelled for 2 weeks at the same time initially.

 

I think that the early dry-dock is an unplanned event that occurred after deciding to send her over to Australia later in the year. As her 5 year dry- dock was due in 2016 perhaps it made since to do it a year early as they have excess capacity in Port Canaveral with both her, Freedom and Enchantment being there for Winter 2015/2016. Since January is a relatively slow time and reduced prices it was most likely the easiest time to take her out of service for a few weeks.

 

Perhaps extending the dry-dock to the full month is to do some significant upgrades to her such as we're done to the Navigator in order to prepare her for a very lucrative Australian market. Also her proximity to the Grand Bahamas shipyard where they did the Navigator upgrades was another possibility.

Are you sure she is going to Australia? Later in 2015. We are booked on her for Jan. 2016 and though she would be staying in Port c until at least Feb. 2016.

[SherriZ366]

Earlier in this thread there were a couple of posters who spoke directly with RCI who told hem it was Drydock. Someone also posted that the tour group is now being changed to the Explorer they just haven't updated their website.

I'm also wondering about excess capacity in Port C as they are building a new terminal.

[TheGaDawgFan]

Are you sure she is going to Australia? Later in 2015. We are booked on her for Jan. 2016 and though she would be staying in Port c until at least Feb. 2016.

 

And we're booked on her for Thanksgiving 2015.

[notsomadhatter]

Perhaps extending the dry-dock to the full month is to do some significant upgrades to her such as we're done to the Navigator in order to prepare her for a very lucrative Australian market.

 

It's possible but I think unless they pull all of the sailings currently being sold from November 2015 onward your timeline is off. We're booked for mid-Nov.

[Tall-Cruiser]

Are you sure she is going to Australia? Later in 2015. We are booked on her for Jan. 2016 and though she would be staying in Port c until at least Feb. 2016.

 

Explorer is going to Australia and not Freedom. Also its Freedom that will be going to Dry Dock in January, not Explorer. A RCI agent mentioned the same to me just this past week about Freedom going into Dry Dock.

 

Edit - According to this schedule Explorer goes to Dry Dock in February.

 

 

http://www.creative.rccl.com/Sales/Royal/General_Info/Flyers/12028421_Revit_QuickReference_Guide.pdf?cid=int_0082

Edited May 18, 2014 by Tall-Cruiser

[Ourusualbeach]

Are you sure she is going to Australia? Later in 2015. We are booked on her for Jan. 2016 and though she would be staying in Port c until at least Feb. 2016.

 

Sorry. I meant the Explorer going to Australia and then got the ships mixed up in talking about the dry docks.

 

I still think that taking her out of service for a month long Drydock a year early when they have the Explorer there is probably easier than waiting until 2016.

[Tall-Cruiser]

Sorry. I meant the Explorer going to Australia and then got the ships mixed up in talking about the dry docks.

 

I still think that taking her out of service for a month long Drydock a year early when they have the Explorer there is probably easier than waiting until 2016.

 

Since it is going to be a month long dry dock they must be doing some major enhancements or changes?

[Clarea]

Since it is going to be a month long dry dock they must be doing some major enhancements or changes?

Royal has not publically revealed the changes to Explorer, but my guess is that it's going to be similar to what they did to Navigator.

[jules815]

We'll be sailing on Freedom for the first time in September, a b2b beginning 9/7.

 

How is the condition of the ship? Should I be concerned?

[Clarea]

We'll be sailing on Freedom for the first time in September, a b2b beginning 9/7.

 

How is the condition of the ship? Should I be concerned?

Royal takes very good care of their ships. I'd not be concered sailing any of their ships.

[APDMOM]

We'll be sailing on Freedom for the first time in September, a b2b beginning 9/7.

 

How is the condition of the ship? Should I be concerned?

 

The ship looked great when we cruised last year. I am not concerned about our December cruise at all. I am the skeptic here :) I still do not see any official confirmation abotu FOS doing the dry dock. The list published by Tall-Cruiser does not show FOS as going into dry dock. I'm one who says, "I will believe it when I see it." Waiting for an official announcement from RCI (and not their customer service reps who often do not know starboard from port - that is a slight exaggeration) ;)

[MomtoCCC]

Earlier in this thread there were a couple of posters who spoke directly with RCI who told hem it was Drydock. Someone also posted that the tour group is now being changed to the Explorer they just haven't updated their website.

 

I'm booked on Explorer for Jan 18. Would this be a full charter or just a large group on board? I guess I should find out what this group is...

[BillOh]

Nothing published yet. May just be standard 5 year maintenance and inspection.

 

But she is 8 years old. If I remember right she debuted in early 2006? But she did go back in for awhile when they added the big screen, electronics and cupcake cupboard. Maybe that was 5 years ago?

[tartan cruiser]

I, like you, APDMOM had doubts about FOS dry dock. We were booked on the 1/18/2015 cruise and heard rumors it was being cancelled. Told by CSR that it was going into dry dock and the l/11/2015 cruise was also cancelled. Didn't believe it because they were still booking the Irish Stars cruise for that date. Emailed Adam Goldstein's office to get a definative answer. Ms. Carino from his office called and confirmed FOS was scheduled for dry dock on those dates. Since then 1/25/2015 and 1/04/2015 have also been cancelled. My GUESS is they originally had planned a 2 week dry dock but somehow were able to get the space for the month of January and decided to take advantage of the opportunity. Probably have not officially announced this because it has all happened very recently. Hoping for Oasis class amenities being added to Freedom class ships and crossing my fingers it's all completed by our cruise on 2/1/2015.

[SherriZ366]

Sorry. I meant the Explorer going to Australia and then got the ships mixed up in talking about the dry docks.

 

I still think that taking her out of service for a month long Drydock a year early when they have the Explorer there is probably easier than waiting until 2016.

Thanks for the clarification. We know that EX is going to Australia. I think FR's unexpected drydock has everyone mixed up. FR will be drydocked in January and all Jan. cruises were cancelled. We were booked on the Jan. 25, 2015 sailing and are now on the Feb. 2015 sailing.

[SherriZ366]

I, like you, APDMOM had doubts about FOS dry dock. We were booked on the 1/18/2015 cruise and heard rumors it was being cancelled. Told by CSR that it was going into dry dock and the l/11/2015 cruise was also cancelled. Didn't believe it because they were still booking the Irish Stars cruise for that date. Emailed Adam Goldstein's office to get a definative answer. Ms. Carino from his office called and confirmed FOS was scheduled for dry dock on those dates. Since then 1/25/2015 and 1/04/2015 have also been cancelled. My GUESS is they originally had planned a 2 week dry dock but somehow were able to get the space for the month of January and decided to take advantage of the opportunity. Probably have not officially announced this because it has all happened very recently. Hoping for Oasis class amenities being added to Freedom class ships and crossing my fingers it's all completed by our cruise on 2/1/2015.

And we;re looking forward to enjoying the new features on the Feb. 22, 2015 cruise.

[geocruiser]

We were on FOS 1/26/14. I thought the ship looked in great shape. The only thing that we noticed (and lots of other PAX did not say anything) was one day there was a strong smell of fuel by the aft elevators that went up to our deck seven. When I did smell it, I went to the desk on deck five. The man behind the desk came over to smell it and then made a very quick phone call. The smell lasted for several hours. I never found out why this happened. But most PAX just did not say anything. It was strong smell. They fixed what ever it was. Just telling you about this cause maybe it need some more work in this area.

[Cloudscout]

When we were on FOS last month, we were told that Portofino WAS being changed over to Gionvanni's Table within the next year. I suspect that work is at least part of what is planned for January's dry-dock.

 

As for other ship maintenance, I would expect them to refinish the woodwork as the railings and such were starting to look a bit weathered.

 

Still, that shouldn't take a whole month. Perhaps they're also going to install some backup power systems like the Oasis and Allure have?

[APDMOM]

I, like you, APDMOM had doubts about FOS dry dock. We were booked on the 1/18/2015 cruise and heard rumors it was being cancelled. Told by CSR that it was going into dry dock and the l/11/2015 cruise was also cancelled. Didn't believe it because they were still booking the Irish Stars cruise for that date. Emailed Adam Goldstein's office to get a definative answer. Ms. Carino from his office called and confirmed FOS was scheduled for dry dock on those dates. Since then 1/25/2015 and 1/04/2015 have also been cancelled. My GUESS is they originally had planned a 2 week dry dock but somehow were able to get the space for the month of January and decided to take advantage of the opportunity. Probably have not officially announced this because it has all happened very recently. Hoping for Oasis class amenities being added to Freedom class ships and crossing my fingers it's all completed by our cruise on 2/1/2015.

 

Thanks for getting a more official statement :) I would definitely not mind if they do some updates... Just as long as they don't change the cabin numbers. We have 1700 in Nov 2015 and really look forward to it!

[SherriZ366]

When we were on FOS last month, we were told that Portofino WAS being changed over to Gionvanni's Table within the next year. I suspect that work is at least part of what is planned for January's dry-dock.

 

As for other ship maintenance, I would expect them to refinish the woodwork as the railings and such were starting to look a bit weathered.

 

Still, that shouldn't take a whole month. Perhaps they're also going to install some backup power systems like the Oasis and Allure have?

Changing Portofino into Giovanni's Table is one of my guesses. They just did this to Independence and have don this on other ships that have been dry-docked recently.

[wheretonow?]

We are on the 12/28 FOS - anyone been on the week before drydock? Should we be concerned with facilities being closed to be "prepped" for drydock? Pretty aggravating as it's a holiday cruise and we have a large group.

[A6cruiser]

We are on the 12/28 FOS - anyone been on the week before drydock? Should we be concerned with facilities being closed to be "prepped" for drydock? Pretty aggravating as it's a holiday cruise and we have a large group.

 

We are on the same sailing 12/28/14 New Years Cruise. I was thinking the same thing that they may be prepping for dry dock and even crew will have their mind set on some time off while the ship is on dry dock.

 

Anyone sailed on a ship the week before dry dock?

[LindaO]

We are on the same sailing 12/28/14 New Years Cruise. I was thinking the same thing that they may be prepping for dry dock and even crew will have their mind set on some time off while the ship is on dry dock.

 

Anyone sailed on a ship the week before dry dock?

 

The crew does not have time off during dry dock... but rather work long hard hours... their duties are just different. You should see no change in service, venues or activities the week before dry dock... the sailing will be normal. I hope you enjoy your cruise!

[A6cruiser]

The crew does not have time off during dry dock... but rather work long hard hours... their duties are just different. You should see no change in service, venues or activities the week before dry dock... the sailing will be normal. I hope you enjoy your cruise!

 

 

Thank you for the reassurance. This is good to hear.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[kruzerci]

But she is 8 years old. If I remember right she debuted in early 2006? But she did go back in for awhile when they added the big screen, electronics and cupcake cupboard. Maybe that was 5 years ago?

 

Yeah, I can't believe she is 8. I remember I saw her in Miami the day she left for her maiden voyage in June 2006.

 

I believe her big drydock was right before we sailed on her in 2011, so she would have been about 5 years old and the 2015 will be nearly 4 years after that.