Living the Suite Life- Freedom May 11-18 TR

[Raenstoirm]

Sea Day continued…

 

Stephen had this incredible urge to be outside, but it was so windy, the crew kept closing decks. Eventually he gave up, so we went to the concierge lounge for the last time, got our last free strawberry margarita and gave Bertie and my favorite waiter/bartender a few extra dollars for their help over the week. Then it was off to dinner. We opted for the MDR for our last night and then went to pack so our bags could be put out for the porters before 11. Then it was off to the farewell show and another stroll around the ship before late night comedy and finally calling it a night since we had to get up early for disembarkation.

 

 

 

 

[Raenstoirm]

Day 8

Sunday May 18

Disney World

 

Since we were flying in and out of MCO and we are Disney people, we couldn’t not go to Disney at least for a few hours. Because of a huge price difference in flying home Sunday vs Monday, 36 hours in Disney only “cost” us $150.

We did not get up as early as we had planned, but we still managed to get off the ship by 8:30. We grabbed a porter and then found all of our bags, skirted through customs (who couldn’t believe we hadn’t bought any jewelry) and then over to wait for our rental car shuttle. We must have just missed the Avis shuttle since it was the last one to arrive, but it wasn’t a big deal. We weren’t the only ones with tons of bags getting on the shuttle either. And once we got to Avis, the car was waiting (amex platinum perk), so it took all of 5 minutes and then we were off.

The ride to Disney was a bit crazy. Stephen insisted that the GPS on his ipad was wrong and took his own road. Turns out the ipad was right, but we only added a few miles to the trip with our little detour. Checking into the Swan was a breeze and our room was ready so we brought all 6 bags up to it so we could rearrange things for flight.

First stop was Hollywood Studio for Star Wars weekend. I had wanted a picture with the fab 5 in Star Wars outfits, but the line was taking forever so I gave up on that idea and we left the line. I did buy a pin though. We rode the Great Movie Ride and then bailed on the park since it was packed.

 

 

 

 

 

[Raenstoirm]

Disney World continued…

 

Next stop was Epcot. We had fastpasses for Nemo, Soarin, and Spaceshp Earth and surprisingly we needed them for everything but Nemo. We booked dinner at Les Chefs de France and circled the world showcase twice. We got our 4th FP+ for Maelstorm, but after dinner I decided to head back to the room for a quick nap. Stephen stayed in the park and used that fastpass plus road Test Track single rider before heading over to get me.

 

 

 

 

 

I was already awake when he came in so we were all set to head to Magic Kingdom. Lines were really nutty at MK as well up until 10:30, when people just disappeared. Everything was walk on for hours. We got to ride every ride in the park multiple times between 10:30 and 2 am when the park closed. It was great.

[Raenstoirm]

Day 9

Monday May 19

Disney World

 

I had set an alarm, but I wound up getting up at 8 anyway, so I shut it off. The goal of the morning was getting the alcohol into the suitcases in such a way that the airline wouldn’t break them. I packed and repacked 3 times before I just gave up with a que sera sera. We picked up the car from the valet, loaded up our bags and headed to Hollywood Studios. Parking and trams were a pain in the bum, but soon enough we were in the park. It was crazy again, but not as bad as yesterday. We got to do everything we wanted within three hours except Toy Story since its only FP+ left was for late in the evening. We even got to ride ToT two times in a row.

After that, it was back to the car and over to the Magic Kingdom. This time we had to ride the tram and the monorail to get to the park. It was slightly less crazy, but not by much. We could not get on any of the mountains, but we had ridden them multiple times the night before so that wasn’t that big of a deal (and we will be back in 4 months anyway). I made sure we got to see the new Festival of Fantasy Parade, but we did not get to ride the new mine train.(They started allowing guest s to ride it a few days after we left). The park was very hot and surprisingly crowded, so it was actually pretty easy to say goodbye to my favorite place this day. We hopped on the monorail and then the tram and then back into the rental car. Finding the airport was relatively easy, but I definitely miss the convenience of the magical express! We will not be using a car again anytime soon! Car drop off was a disaster, but the platinum amex gives us some sort of priority something or other, so it only took 5 minutes. The flight was uneventful, as was the drive home. We walked in our door a little after midnight and totally crashed!

 

 

[Jooools]

oooo more, more! Loving reading your review

edit: just realised when I posted this that you had posted more since I had sat down to read. Ooops.

Edited May 25, 2014 by Jooools

[Sophia2007]

Loved reading your review. Thank you!

[Yorkvillain]

Wow, great review. Thanks!

[EbayCruiser]

Thanks for the Great review!! I really loved all your pictures!

 

We have never sailed on Freedom and we have booked her for Fall of 2015. We have "snagged" room 1700 (a D1 almost the size of a JS on the aft). Now, I am thinking about upgrading to a GS before the BYGOHO sale is over.

 

What do you think?

[RCI Cruisers 004]

Great review ! Thank you for the memories ! We just got off Freedom on May 4th and miss her. We found a great deal about a month before our cruise and upgraded to an OS from our GS. We love being spoiled by the suite life and don't think it would be easy to go back to a smaller room ! Thanks again

[Tyron]

Great review! :cool::D

[cruisenfever]

We still had time to kill, so I suggested we drop our bags off at the porter and then return the rental car so we had less to deal with on the shuttle. Dropping the bags off was easy, as was returning the car and soon we were on the rental car shuttle head to the Freedom of the Seas. Because we are suite guests, check in was a breeze and soon we were on board. I hadn’t done much research for the trip, so the ship layout was a mystery. We did some exploring, had a snack in Sorrentos (the pizza place) and the windjammer (buffet) and then found the concierge lounge (suite guests only) and hung out in there until the rooms opened at 1.

Great Review with wonderful pictures. Just a slight correction from your first post. The Concierge Lounge is for Suite Guests as well as Pinnacle Club Members and Diamond Plus Members. This is standard on all RCI ships.

[Raenstoirm]

Thanks for the Great review!! I really loved all your pictures!

 

We have never sailed on Freedom and we have booked her for Fall of 2015. We have "snagged" room 1700 (a D1 almost the size of a JS on the aft). Now, I am thinking about upgrading to a GS before the BYGOHO sale is over.

 

What do you think?

 

We had originally booked a JS. We had been on a Cabin Crawl on Grandeur the year before and thought the extra space and double points were worth the little more. We had also seen a GS on the same crawl, but figured it was out of our price range. When we booked Freedom there were no GSs available and the OS was definitely out of our price range, so it wasn't even an option. A week before the cruise a GS opened up and it was only $1000 more than the JS so we snagged it. I wasn't sure the price tag was going to be worth it, but it really really was. We spent a lot of time in our room and balcony which we have never done before (besides all the other perks I highlighted in my review). We were actually talking last night about all the things we didn't do on board this trip (mini golfing for example) because we spent a lot of time just relaxing. Our first choice will always be a suite now, if we can find a good deal. (We are going on Disney Dream this fall and I looked to see what a suite would be....$8,000 for 4 nights! :eek: So we will not be in a suite for that cruise. :rolleyes:

Edited May 25, 2014 by Raenstoirm

[Raenstoirm]

Great Review with wonderful pictures. Just a slight correction from your first post. The Concierge Lounge is for Suite Guests as well as Pinnacle Club Members and Diamond Plus Members. This is standard on all RCI ships.

 

Semantics! :D

 

There was some other sort of lounge upstairs that was diamond and above or something. We are not diamond so we couldn't go in. Oh and for those that care of such things, suite guests could eat meals in Portofino and diamond and above had Chops.

[cruisenfever]

Semantics! :D

 

There was some other sort of lounge upstairs that was diamond and above or something. We are not diamond so we couldn't go in. Oh and for those that care of such things, suite guests could eat meals in Portofino and diamond and above had Chops.

Not really, unless there is a sign on the door that states "For Suite Guests Only". :D

 

There are 2 lounges on Freedom. A Diamond Lounge for everyone Diamond and above and the Concierge Lounge for Suite Guests, Pinnacle Club and D+ Members. If you were a Diamond Member, your SeaPass would have been programmed to use both lounges. PC and D+ Members have access to both lounges.

 

Someone who might be doing their first cruise on Freedom not booked in a suite but are a new PC or D+ Member might think that Freedom has their own rules when it comes to the CL.:)

 

Unless things have changed, breakfast and lunch in Portofino is available for all Gold Card Holders which includes Pinnacle Club Members. When we were on board, breakfast was ordered from a special menu. For lunch, we just got what we wanted in the WJ and then sat in Portofino.

Edited May 25, 2014 by cruisenfever

[maxy35]

Hi, we have booked the Freedom for Nov next year. Can I ask, what rental car firm did you use? Heard that most if not all you can drop off the car near the port? Was worried about it being too far to walk back. Nice to see they shuttle you back to port. Was planning on doing the same as yourself, bag drop first then lose the car. Usually do everything through rccl, were coming from Scotland and booking this far in advance they over charge for flights/transfers imho. So we have booked cruise only, and see how we get on. Plan on hiring a car the day of returning also to do some shopping on our own prior to going back to Mco.

 

Great review btw, and pics!

[BillOh]

 

 

It looks like this fish posed for the pic.

[Raenstoirm]

Hi, we have booked the Freedom for Nov next year. Can I ask, what rental car firm did you use? Heard that most if not all you can drop off the car near the port? Was worried about it being too far to walk back. Nice to see they shuttle you back to port. Was planning on doing the same as yourself, bag drop first then lose the car. Usually do everything through rccl, were coming from Scotland and booking this far in advance they over charge for flights/transfers imho. So we have booked cruise only, and see how we get on. Plan on hiring a car the day of returning also to do some shopping on our own prior to going back to Mco.

 

Great review btw, and pics!

 

We used Hertz coming in and Avis going out (deal shopping). There are no rentals walking distance from the port. They are all in the main part of Cocoa Beach (10 minute drive maybe). Each one has a free shuttle to and from the port though, so that is not an issue and if you stay at a hotel the night before, many of them have free or low cost shuttles to the port as well. We dropped our bags off at the port before returning the rental and getting on the hertz shuttle, but we did have them on the Avis shuttle coming back. We had 6 bags for 2 people! :eek: Packing is not a skill I have. The shuttle was packed to the max since we were not the only ones that had overpacked. But the driver didn't seem fazed, so I guess over packers are common. It really wasn't a big deal.

[maxy35]

We used Hertz coming in and Avis going out (deal shopping). There are no rentals walking distance from the port. They are all in the main part of Cocoa Beach (10 minute drive maybe). Each one has a free shuttle to and from the port though, so that is not an issue and if you stay at a hotel the night before, many of them have free or low cost shuttles to the port as well. We dropped our bags off at the port before returning the rental and getting on the hertz shuttle, but we did have them on the Avis shuttle coming back. We had 6 bags for 2 people! :eek: Packing is not a skill I have. The shuttle was packed to the max since we were not the only ones that had overpacked. But the driver didn't seem fazed, so I guess over packers are common. It really wasn't a big deal.

 

Thats great, thanks for that. Thats the plan for us, had a few bad experiences with the after cruise care with Rccl and there transfers. Last time in port Canaveral we were put on a bus for the hotel we were going to. Then 90 mins later we were told they put us on the wrong bus and waited another hour for that bus to leave. Same sort of thing last year in port Everglades. Off the Liberty onto Oasis after the Transatlantic we only needed to walk, but with all the luggage we decided to to the motorised transfer offered. You can imagine my dismay after 2 hours and still not on the ship!! Rccl really need to sort out their £%$£ on the docksides. Either that or they need to set out some sort of training for those they employ!! :mad:

[Scspartan76]

Sounds like our upcomming trip. But we are doing WDW for 8 days first, staying at the Yacht club, then eastern Car on Freedom and then 3 days disney again:D

[bigbny1]

Great Review, I just booked a Grand for next may, one ?, last year i was on Explorer and there was an area on deck with yellow towels designated for GOLD card holders, is there an area on Freedom ?? thanks ...Brian