TRIP REPORT w/pics Freedom Western 4/26th to 5/3

[denamo]

Yea, Bill! Enjoying your FOTS review. Will be getting a Freedom class ship, Liberty, in Galveston later this year.

 

Love living your cruise through your review and pictures.

[BillOh]

This morning my picture posting site seems to be down. I promise Cozumel and Nachi Cocum coming soon! Also Cape Kennedy post cruise excursion.

[beej]

Congratulations on becoming Diamond.

[seabeew]

Congratulations on reaching Diamond, Bill.

[seabeew]

And, congratulations to Gina for reaching Diamond and Happy Mother's Day, too.

[BillOh]

Yea, Bill! Enjoying your FOTS review. Will be getting a Freedom class ship, Liberty, in Galveston later this year.

 

Love living your cruise through your review and pictures.

 

I would consider that in the future, Gina has family Houston. Though I'm not sure how a freedom class ship would be tending in Belieze. I haven't been to Roatan yet.

[BillOh]

Day 6 Cozumel

 

A great cruise was already on day 6. While it was coming to an end, I was satisfied with the great time I was having. I think I failed to mention that Night 5 was the Quest. It was ok, a few new quests, mainly the same ones. CD Casey Pelter adds his personality nicely. I was on a team that was cheating badly, but in the end that didn't matter as I don't think they really kept score. I think, though have no evidence the winners were chosen randomly and I didn't even see the medal get handed out. I'll say it publicly, I was on team 29 and our captains cheated in the worst way with their prepared bag. In the end it didn't matter, we had fun. Maybe this is the way it should be.

 

 

 

Ok, now we are in Cozumel, As we were backing into our spot, our old friend Navigator was sneaking in behind us.

 

 

She helped us form what I like to call Royal Caribbean Canyon.

 

 

At the point the above picture was taken, all of these people were from Freedom and Navigator hasn't been cleared yet. My personal history in Cozumel was -

 

1st time - on Freedom - Went to Playa Mia in 2008 - Didn't like it. (If you went their for the Mexican cooking class you liked it, but not a great beach resort, at least back then.)

 

2nd time - On our friend Navigator in 2009, we did parasailing right at the port. While it was a great excursion, I hated it because I hate heights and this was on my wife's bucket list.

 

3rd time - Jewel in 2012. My friends wife wanted to do the swim with dolphins and while this is something I have personal reservations about, I had heard the places at Cozumel were nicer than Costa Maya. I think it was FAMILYGOBOSTON who told me that. (This really is a great forum) That was nice for the ladies.

 

So this was our 4th time in Cozumel and many of the reviews I have read since 2012 seem equally divided between Nachi Cocum and Mr Sanchos. HOSTFAITH had one really good review about the latter I had read. 8 or 9 months ahead of time I brought it up in the roll call and again got good feedback on both. One member said they had already reserved Nachi, so I said what the heck, and reserved it. More and more of our group decided to do that as well, so of the 53 people there that day, 30 were from Freedom's roll call. We took a cab ride over with 2 other people from Freedom so our ship was 32 of the 53 people there that day. I think the cab ride was $7 each for 4 of us. I said our small bills for port shopping and gave the driver $20.

 

The ride was about 20 minutes in a nice airconditioned van.

 

 

More about Nachi at lunch time (US - Eastern) today.

Edited May 11, 2015 by BillOh
typo

[bubba83]

Loving the review!

[BillOh]

Overall I was pleased with Nachi Cocum having researched it and my expectations were right on target. I found their reservation system via their website to be easy to use and well supported by the staff.

 

After checking in near the taxi stand this was my first view.

 

 

Here is the beach looking north.

 

 

Here is the beach looking south.

 

 

I probably spent 30 minutes in our chair all day and that much swimming. We probably spent most of our time at the pool with the swim up bar and hot tub.

 

 

The pool was nice, clean and comfortable. When we first arrived the hot tub was probably 95 degrees, but shortly after arrival they must have turned on the heat because later in the day it was between 103 and 104. (I can tell hot tub temps to within .5 degrees F. Its my gift. :cool:

 

Here is my wife ordering another Margarita.

 

Edited May 11, 2015 by BillOh

[viperrtblck]

Has anyone ever been to Paradise Beach in Cozumel? If so how would you compare the two, Paradise Beach and Nachi Cocum?

[BillOh]

Has anyone ever been to Paradise Beach in Cozumel? If so how would you compare the two, Paradise Beach and Nachi Cocum?

 

I have heard people speak of it, this is one case where the port section of the forum may be helpful. If anyone wants to answer the question, I have no objection. My only comparisons are Nachi and Playa Mia and that is no comparison. (More shortly)

[Bimmer09]

Loving this review! Thanks for all the time and effort you have put into sharing this with us.

 

Keep it coming!

 

Norris

[BillOh]

We had a very nice time in the morning, I think we arrived at Nachi by 10:30am. About 1pm we started getting hungry so we got dry and moved into the dining area.

 

 

As you can see its a nice looking clean place. I had mostly American type food, Nachos, burger, chicken wings. Whatever we ordered they brought us in a reasonable time. A couple of people ordered grouper and they said it was excellent. I was too busy socalizing and eating to take any pics, but I really did like this place and would happily go again.

 

We did hit the beach one more time and tossed back a few more rounds at the bar before asking them to call our taxi at around 3pm. As for the bar, I'm not much of a connasewer ;) about such matters. My wife said her margarita was good and I can tell they made her happy. Several other "sex in the pool" shots were passed around. I mainly drank a few Dos Equis (sp) and a few of those shots. We had a good time and it was definitely one of the nicer days I have spent in Cozumel. I would go back again, but I hope to dive in Cozumel sometime since I now have a few Caribbean dives under my belt.

 

By the time we organized ourselves the taxi driver was there and he charged $5 each for 8 people coming back. I'll be back later tonight to wrap up Cozumel and soon I will have a few pictures from the last Sea day and the Cape Canaveral excursion.

 

I just checked my notes and I did have one minor problem with the Coke Freestyale machines this day. It was the only problem all week and was pretty minor. More on that tonight.

[Ocean Boy]

 

I just checked my notes and I did have one minor problem with the Coke Freestyale machines this day. It was the only problem all week and was pretty minor. More on that tonight.

 

Oh no, there goes the Coke Zero.:eek::p

Edited May 11, 2015 by Ocean Boy

[BillOh]

Oh no, there goes the Coke Zero.:eek::p

 

Reasonable guess, but wrong. My wife likes the Minutemaid Light lemonaide. I was getting her some and as soon as I started it, it changed to empty and said MAKE ANOTHER SELECTION. My wife didn't want another selection, so I tried to get the lemonaide from the machine right next to it, but it told me I had to wait 20 minutes till refill even though I didn't get anything. This was our only problem all week.

[BillOh]

I mentioned I had several Dos Equis. I may have forgotten one other drink I had.

 

 

The taxi ride back was uneventful. We actually bypassed all the port shops as we had seen them before.

[BillOh]

Oh, by the way, I can now confirm that I didn't get double points for the JS update. Most of you knew that, but I can now officially confirming that we got 7 points for the cabin we paid for. I'm not complaining, just clarifying.

 

Dinner on night six had the Chicken Cordon-blue.(sp)? I've had this twice since it was added to the 7 day menu and loved it both times. Not a sophisticated culinary choice my any means, but I've always enjoyed it till this time. The chicken part was a little dry, but not terrible, but when I cut it in half the cheese and ham portion would have fit in a thimble. This is the absolute worst thing that happened to me this cruise! That is meant to indicate what a good time we were having. Ok,

 

I just remembered, what was really the worst thing that happened this cruise. On Voyager, Majesty, Navigator, Freedom, Jewel, and Allure we were always on the main floor of the dining room. We have all seen the parade of waiters and the speeches made on the last days of the cruise, but at least on the main dining room floor you can see it. When we boarded and checked out our table I obviously noted we were on deck 4, or the 2nd level of the dining room. (Deck 5 was MTD) We found our table was along the balcony overlooking the main floor. I thought that was good and we picked what seats we would like so we got there early and sat where we could see our tablemates and look over the railing. This was good for 5 of the 7 nights. On this night, some of the singers and dancers did a routine on the main floor only. While we were right in the middle of dinner dozens of people from the outside of deck 4 dining had to rush the balcony to see what was going on while we tried to eat. It's really hard to eat with people pushing by you and standing with their backsides against your chair. At least it lasted only a few minutes. I didn't dare touch my drink or silverware during that time, so I chewed on a roll.

[Ocean Boy]

Reasonable guess, but wrong. My wife likes the Minutemaid Light lemonaide. I was getting her some and as soon as I started it, it changed to empty and said MAKE ANOTHER SELECTION. My wife didn't want another selection, so I tried to get the lemonaide from the machine right next to it, but it told me I had to wait 20 minutes till refill even though I didn't get anything. This was our only problem all week.

 

Actually, I find it interesting that the machines are somehow linked so that all the machines know when you last used any of the others.

[rjh8115]

Has anyone ever been to Paradise Beach in Cozumel? If so how would you compare the two, Paradise Beach and Nachi Cocum?

 

We went to Paradise Beach back in 2014 and loved it. They have a very nice beach area and very clean pool and rest rooms. The food was very good and reasonably priced. We will be returning the next time we're in Cozumel.

 

~ Rick

[BillOh]

Actually, I find it interesting that the machines are somehow linked so that all the machines know when you last used any of the others.

 

I've seen the inside, (acutally several times on Allure) and they are basically a networked PC running Windows XP. (This was in 2013) They do read the RFID chip and can tell all that you have drank, when and what. What I find interesting is everytime I get it, it says that it expires in 2 weeks. I wonder if B2Bers can scan the system and only pay for 1 week? Any b2bers comment, or did I just blow the scam for everyone?

[BillOh]

Friday May 2nd was the sea day, the last full day of the cruise and also our 24th anniversary. Originally I had scheduled the ice skating show, a cupcake class, and dinner at Chops for us..

 

A few weeks before the cruise we got an email that reservations for the ice show were now first come first seated for the ice shows. I suppose that make sense, but without the reservation, we just forgot about it. I got up and skipped the gym and ran/walked 2 miles. I really made a break through in my recovery from back surgery this trip, and I was loving running on Freedom's track. As for Allure vs Freedom I'll call the track a draw. Allure's track is much larger and dedicated (mostly) On Freedom if you don't get your running done before 8:30 its real difficult. I love the fresh sea air and fighting a head wind on Freedom's track. As a road runner you have to do this anyway, its good training. It can get real hot on Allure's sheltered track.

 

While I was feeling better, I wasn't ready to take on the flowrider again. Freedom's flowrider was my first. I did stop by for a visit.

 

 

After our last and enjoyable breakfast in the WJ, I went back to our room and looked out our balcony and saw what looked like a small aircraft carrier shadowing us a couple of miles off our port side. This photo was taken with a 300mm lens, steadied against wall of the balcony and enlarged. I couldn't identify the ship, but my Navy Nephew confirmed my hunch that this was the USS Wasp. He served 4 years on the Nimitz class USS Lincoln. He saw the Wasp when his cruise returned to Port Everglades the next week. (He was on one of those previously mentioned garbage skows.)

 

 

Below is one of her escorts. If I read the number right this is the USS McCampbell. But I suspect I read the number wrong (85) as it looks like from her website that the McCampbell is in the South Pacific.

 

 

Next on our agenda was a visit to Johnny Rockets. We achieved one more trip goal here. We ran into Spire (ccname) and his new fiance. They were from our hometown area and I didn't get to meet them because I didn't get the invite to the Meet and Mingle. They were among the last people I wanted to try and say hello to. Reportedly they are about to set a date and cruise on Royal for their honeymoon. So nice to meet you guys.

 

On the Allure vs Freedom, I'll give Allure the edge for the JR's because they serve breakfast and its a great place to have that breakfast. Though the Johnny's on Freedom is more like the original diners.

[LuCruise]

Happy 24th Anniversary! What a wonderful celebration.

 

Loving the Allure vs a Freedom comparison. Freedom sounds like a great cruise.

[BillOh]

Actually, I find it interesting that the machines are somehow linked so that all the machines know when you last used any of the others.

 

Continuing the Allure vs Freedom theme, lets go back to the Freestyle Coke Machines. Allure has 2 at Sorrentos, 4 in the windjammer and 1 at the Wipeout Cafe. There were occasional lines on Allure. Freedom had the same setup except no wipeout cafe. This seemed like just the right amount of Machines for the people on board. I never had to wait beyond 1 person.

[BillOh]

Next up was the cupcake making class. My wife enjoyed it on Allure in 2013 so I signed her up again and she had a great time.

 

 

Slight edge to Allure regarding the Cupcake Cupboard and the class. I think Allure's shop is a little bit bigger and they offer more classes during the week including a kids/family and an adult only one. While it was relatively minor. Gina had an 8 year old next to her that was having difficulty started getting figidity. She was with her Dad and he really was doing a good job helping her and engaging with her, but she got frustrated and fell off her stool. Luckily, no injury.

 

In two previous Allure cruises I managed to almost totally avoid the Dreamworks characters. I had accidentally scheduled the cupcake class about the same same time as the parade, so here is an obligatory picture.

 

 

The last time I saw her she was wearing a pink tutu and was walking the wrong direction on Allure's running track going around the aft corner. :eek:

 

At the end of the Parade CD Casey Pelter said a few words and disappeared into the ceiling.

 

 

Since Cruise Directors move around, its not fair to do this in an Allure vs Freedom mode, but who says I have to be fair? Both Times on Allure I had Ken Rush. The majority thinking on him, from what I can tell is he does his job well, but isn't very personable one on one. I don't know how fair that is, but Ken does run an excellent Quest and Love and Marriage and regardless of what you think of him, he gives out a lot of useful information. I have never spoken one on one with him. His morning shows were especially helpful with matters of that day.

 

At first, I didn't like Casey's morning show. I was going to say his show had no useful information, but he did let his Activities Director Belle read some important info. Casey's morning show, filmed around 11pm the night before was totally unrehearsed. Each night Casey would be in his Royal Caribbean bath robe sitting at his desk. (He get's a big thumbs up right there) He would also plug the drink of the day even though it was obvious he thought it was horrible. He also referenced his ASK THE CD box at Guest Services. The first day it was empty, but as the cruise went along it would fill up. Each day he would ask a trivia question and send a prize to the winners cabin. The winner was the first person's message that he read with the correct answer. I came close to winning when I did a "shout out" to my wife for our anniversary. My message was the 2nd one read. Some of them were humorous and it was real obvious he was reading them all for the first time. I'll end by not passing judgement on either CD, I did like them both, but I did see Casey out and about more and did speak to him a couple of times. Very nice ambassador for Royal.

 

Our final dinner, which was our 34th anniversary was at Chops at 7pm. I didn't take any photos. I give Freedom the edge vs Allure as I prefer the sea view dining, which occurred right around sunset that Saturday evening. Malmj's husband had told me about a black peppered bacon appetizer that was added to the menu. I ordered it instead of my usual onion soup. What arrived looked like it was the size of the strip steaks served at the buffet on Labadee. I would say it was easily 6-7 ounces of bacon. It was melt in your mouth goodness that probably was 50% salt and 50% fat. I won't call it an orgasmic experiences, but my eyes did roll back for awhile. I would eat this eveyday in the MDR. Gina had an excellent Petite Filet and I had the Veal chop. Both desserts were excellent. We finished in time to join our tablemates for a coke while they were getting their desserts. We really wanted to see them one more time and to thank the best wait staff we had since Jewel 2012.

 

Not much more to say about day 7. Coming up Disembarkation and the Cape Canaveral post cruise excursion.

Edited May 12, 2015 by BillOh

[Dave & Mel]

Continuing the Allure vs Freedom theme, lets go back to the Freestyle Coke Machines. Allure has 2 at Sorrentos, 4 in the windjammer and 1 at the Wipeout Cafe. There were occasional lines on Allure. Freedom had the same setup except no wipeout cafe. This seemed like just the right amount of Machines for the people on board. I never had to wait beyond 1 person.

 

Bill, were you able to get any pictures of the Sunshine on April 25th?