Freedom of the Seas~May 4th~Third Week of Cruising: My Diary

[maxs mom]

the booth and TexasGal.....Looks like June 29th is a popular sailing. Wish I could go with you!

 

kruzerci......I will be glad to cruise and cruise for you right now and report back until you can do this, too!!

[fish6]

Hi Jane,

I noticed you went to the Windjammer for lunch on your sea days....did you go to the MDR at all this trip? We have never been to the MDR yet for lunch and I really need to make an effort to get there as I hear it is great!

Thanks,

Donna

[maxs mom]

Hi Jane,

I noticed you went to the Windjammer for lunch on your sea days....did you go to the MDR at all this trip? We have never been to the MDR yet for lunch and I really need to make an effort to get there as I hear it is great!

Thanks,

Donna

 

Hey Donna!

 

I would love to go to the MDR for lunch, but John is a picky eater and does better in the WJ. We ate in the MDR on the last sea day on Indy when we were invited to eat with officers. We just ordered off the regular menu instead of having a special menu. I thought the menu was very good. I would love to eat there every now and then, but John won't go there.

[ARCruisinNana]

We met the Concierge, Bertie. Bertie is usually the Diamond Concierge, but he was filling in for the regular one, who was on vacation. We met Bertie the last time we were on Freedom and he does a very nice job.

 

 

The Concierge Lounge closes at 8 on Freedom as opposed to 8:30 on all the other ships.....so I made our Chops reservations tonight for 8 o'clock. We were seated at a very nice table. They were rolling out the new menu here, so we got to see what that was like. Lots of talk about it on CC. Most people have condemned it before they have even tried it. (Just shaking my head!) I can tell you one thing......We had an excellent meal tonight. Yes....some things were missing that we liked, but other things were added that were just great.

 

I have always ordered the Chops Salad....and it was one of the things that was taken away. Instead they had a warm goat cheese salad. I ordered that. Oh my goodness.....this was absolutely superb!! I moaned the whole time was eating this. So good!

 

 

John ordered his usual French onion soup....still on the menu and he pronounced it wonderful.....not salty at all. I got the petit filet and it was great. Cooked perfectly. We usually order onion rings, but sadly, they are gone from the new menu. We split a baked potato instead.

 

We inquired about the Mud Pie, but got the saving money excuse and making it in house song and dance.....so we passed on the Mud Pie. (They really should call it something else....Jello Surprise or something.) We ordered the Red Velvet Cake and Berry Cheesecake for dessert. They were good....especially the cheesecake. We each ate a little of each with our coffee.

 

 

The manager and the chef came out and over to our table to get some feedback on the new menu. We were mostly positive about it and they were happy. So my advice is to give it a try. I was very happy with our experience.[/size][/font]

 

I'm so happy to have another one of your reviews to read:D The goat cheese salad sounds really good. We are going on Navigator in 3 weeks. I'm looking forward to seeing the new menu and trying a couple new items. I really hope they still have the "real" Chocolate Mud Pie;)

[joand452]

Thank you for posting the link to this review on your Indy review! I was looking forward to it.

 

DH is in a relatively new job and is very constrained as to when he can take time off. He can only do a 7-8 day cruise if the dates fall correctly. He's a payroll mgr and has to be there certain days of the month. Thank goodness he had a good staff in 2011-2012 when we were able to do our two B2Bs. They were awesome. I'm looking forward to our Bermuda cruise next year, but only five days!! But first we get to spend 8 days on Quantum. Phew!!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[BDsquared]

We are in 7244 and 7242 in November! Thanks for the picture! Did you have any noise from the elevator or notice a lot of motion from the ship?

 

Thank you for taking the time to do this review!:)

[fish6]

Hey Donna!

 

I would love to go to the MDR for lunch' date=' but John is a picky eater and does better in the WJ. We ate in the MDR on the last sea day on Indy when we were invited to eat with officers. We just ordered off the regular menu instead of having a special menu. I thought the menu was very good. I would love to eat there every now and then, but John won't go there.[/size']

 

Thanks.....I will try it out hopefully on my next cruise :)

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

Muster was at 4.

 

Thanks for doing this review. We board in 24 days (but who's counting?).

 

Are all muster stations outside on Freedom?

[BillOh]

Thanks for the start. Your reviews are enjoyable. For me, I'm returning to Freedom for the first time since 2008 and keep looking at the pictures looking at the Oasis like Upgrades. Is the TV system like the Oasis where you can see your reservations?

Edited May 29, 2014 by BillOh

[maxs mom]

I'm so happy to have another one of your reviews to read:D The goat cheese salad sounds really good. We are going on Navigator in 3 weeks. I'm looking forward to seeing the new menu and trying a couple new items. I really hope they still have the "real" Chocolate Mud Pie;)

 

Carolyn......I'm afraid the original Mud Pie "has sailed"! I doubt we see it again unless there are massive amounts of complaints! :o

 

The key to that goat cheese salad is that the goat cheese is warm and melts in your mouth. So wonderful!

Edited May 29, 2014 by max'smom

[maxs mom]

Thank you for posting the link to this review on your Indy review! I was looking forward to it.

 

DH is in a relatively new job and is very constrained as to when he can take time off. He can only do a 7-8 day cruise if the dates fall correctly. He's a payroll mgr and has to be there certain days of the month. Thank goodness he had a good staff in 2011-2012 when we were able to do our two B2Bs. They were awesome. I'm looking forward to our Bermuda cruise next year, but only five days!! But first we get to spend 8 days on Quantum. Phew!!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Love Bermuda. We're always looking for deals on those cruises. Sounds like you are doing all right with your cruises. You have some good ones booked.

[maxs mom]

We are in 7244 and 7242 in November! Thanks for the picture! Did you have any noise from the elevator or notice a lot of motion from the ship?

 

Thank you for taking the time to do this review!:)

 

Wonderful! I think you will like those cabins. We heard no noise whatsoever. There was no motion either, but we had calm seas. If you have some bad weather, it could be a different story anywhere on the ship. The problem with the forward cabins is that it is a long walk to go anywhere......even more so than the aft cabins. You have to have a plan when you leave your cabin in the morning because you just can't run back to the cabin for something. We found it best to go down to deck 5 and walk the length of the ship on the Promenade when going to the dining room or the Windjammer or even the Concierge Lounge. You get used to it.

[maxs mom]

Thanks for doing this review. We board in 24 days (but who's counting?).

 

Are all muster stations outside on Freedom?

 

No.....There are quite a few muster stations located in the dining room, some of the lounges, and the theater. I love it when that happens!! Not sure if we will get a life boat....but at least we can sit comfortably.

[maxs mom]

Thanks for the start. Your reviews are enjoyable. For me, I'm returning to Freedom for the first time since 2008 and keep looking at the pictures looking at the Oasis like Upgrades. Is the TV system like the Oasis where you can see your reservations?

 

Hey Bill! I enjoy reading your reviews also!! Thanks for stopping by!

 

There is an interactive tv system. You can check your on board account and book excursions, etc. Not sure what you mean by seeing your reservations. I guess that's what you mean. It usually works pretty well.

[judatt]

Looking forward to your continued review of the Freedom. We will be on Freedom in August. We are veteran Celebrity cruisers (also have an NCL and a couple of Carnival) but this will be our first time on RCCL. Fortunately Celebrity and RCCL are sister companies so they gave us reciprocal Diamond status. We have a small group (5 cabins) of friends and family.

 

My wife (a nurse) retired 7 years ago and we both love her being retired. I'm still working (CPA) but she travels with me almost all the time when I'm gone on business and we always try and tack on a few days vacation when we are in nice places.

 

One of these days I'll join her in retirement and we hope to do a lot of what you and your husband are doing - last minute cruises and extended cruises whenever we can.

 

Thanks again - and continue looking forward to your review of the Freedom. David

[Ocean Boy]

Great, I get another week of cruising. It's a good thing that one of us is retired.:p

[maxs mom]

Looking forward to your continued review of the Freedom. We will be on Freedom in August. We are veteran Celebrity cruisers (also have an NCL and a couple of Carnival) but this will be our first time on RCCL. Fortunately Celebrity and RCCL are sister companies so they gave us reciprocal Diamond status. We have a small group (5 cabins) of friends and family.

 

My wife (a nurse) retired 7 years ago and we both love her being retired. I'm still working (CPA) but she travels with me almost all the time when I'm gone on business and we always try and tack on a few days vacation when we are in nice places.

 

One of these days I'll join her in retirement and we hope to do a lot of what you and your husband are doing - last minute cruises and extended cruises whenever we can.

 

Thanks again - and continue looking forward to your review of the Freedom. David

 

Hey David! Good to hear from you! I hope you will like RCI! We took one Celebrity cruise and absolutely loved it.

 

Hang in there and retire when you can. I highly recommend it!

[maxs mom]

Great, I get another week of cruising. It's a good thing that one of us is retired.:p

 

I'm glad it's me!! Glad to have you along!!

[Surfguyxxx]

Hi Jane,

 

Loving another review. The concierge lounge on our jewel cruise closed at 8 pm as well. Thought it was just this ship.

 

We were on the Legend last month and the CC lounge closed at 8 also.

[jules815]

Monday ~ May 5th ~ Coco Cay ~ (Oops.....At Sea)

 

Then we always eat breakfast in the MDR. On most ships there is dedicated area for D/D+/P members in the MDR' date=' but not on this ship. That is such a disappointment, but we have been on this ship before and were prepared for that. So we ate breakfast with two very nice couples this morning. One couple were cruise veterans like us and the other couple were cruise virgins from Florida!!!! I know....hard to believe.

 

 

[/size']

 

If they randomly seat you in the MDR for breakfast anyway, what's so special about the dedicated area for D/D+/P members? Better MDR service?

 

I don't get it.

[maxs mom]

If they randomly seat you in the MDR for breakfast anyway, what's so special about the dedicated area for D/D+/P members? Better MDR service?

 

I don't get it.

 

Well....there are lots of tables for two....or you can sit with others if you like. And the service is much better in my opinion. You basically have the same servers every day and they know your likes and dislikes, etc. You don't have to explain everything to them every day. They call you by name. We usually get the same thing every day and by day 3.....we don't even have to order. To me.....it's a big deal!

[jules815]

Well....there are lots of tables for two....or you can sit with others if you like. And the service is much better in my opinion. You basically have the same servers every day and they know your likes and dislikes' date=' etc. You don't have to explain everything to them every day. They call you by name. We usually get the same thing every day and by day 3.....we don't even have to order. To me.....it's a big deal! [/size']

 

I didn't know they even did this on other ships. I can see why you'd like it!

 

I'm enjoying your review. We'll be sailing for the first time on FOS in September.

[maxs mom]

OK......so tonight is the first formal night. We got to the CL at about the same time as Shelton and Jack. The bar servers were wonderful and we were served right away.

 

 

 

We were soon joined by Sherri and Chuck.

 

 

 

We had a great time visiting and getting to know them. I told Shelton that it was nice to speak "southern" with someone! They are from North Carolina, too.

 

We closed down the CL and meandered down to our 8:15 MTD reservation. There was no line. We had a table for two. The wait staff was nice and polite, but we had been spoiled big time on the Independence. Dinner took about an hour and there were several small children in our area which was a bit unusual for this late. They were all well behaved, however, and one toddler named Sam even shared his sippee cup with me!.

 

Havaa......the head MTD hostess/Maitre D.....came over to speak with us. Promod and Greg had e-mailed her from the Independence so that she could look out for us. She said to let her know if we needed anything. Promod spoke very highly of her.

 

We both ordered the strawberry cheesecake for dessert and it was delicious.

 

 

John had a massive headache, so we went straight back to the cabin from dinner. That kept us from losing in the casino!!

Edited May 29, 2014 by max'smom

[Royal2464]

Thanks for the start. Your reviews are enjoyable. For me, I'm returning to Freedom for the first time since 2008 and keep looking at the pictures looking at the Oasis like Upgrades. Is the TV system like the Oasis where you can see your reservations?

 

No, the Freedom does not have the reservations on their interactive menu. As far as I know it is only available on Oasis class. It is a great feature though, no need to bring a list or calendar of your shows, etc., it is all there on your TV

[maxs mom]

I didn't know they even did this on other ships. I can see why you'd like it!

 

I'm enjoying your review. We'll be sailing for the first time on FOS in September.

 

Yes.....the Freedom is the only ship we've been on that doesn't do this. Some ships do a much better job at this than others. But this is my favorite D+ perk other than the Concierge Lounge, of course.