Trip Review: Freedom of the Seas 4/26-5/3/15

[BillOh]

 

Great shot of Barefoot beach from the ship! We were on the port side, which in this case isn't the port side ;)

[TYSONBOXER]

We will be going on liberty in July, just a question about the cabanas in Labadee , how do you book it, can you book it before we go, or do you have to book on board?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[BillOh]

Suite guest and I believe Pinnacle members can reserve the ones on Barefoot Beach through the ship's concierge before boarding. The one on Nellie's can be booked at the excursion desk once onboard, which is what I did.

[John&LaLa]

Suite guest and I believe Pinnacle members can reserve the ones on Barefoot Beach through the ship's concierge before boarding. The one on Nellie's can be booked at the excursion desk once onboard, which is what I did.

 

Since D+ have access to Concierge, they can ask to be put on waiting list for BB. No guarantees

[dee1321]

Can you tell us the location of this Cabana? My wife and I will be in Labadee in September and would love to have a cabana but most of the pictures I have seen they are not easily accessible. Many appear to have steep steps and my wife is not very mobile. Can we make a special request for a "beach cabana"? In addition, can you make reservations online or must they be made when onboard. I've seen conflicting reports on this. Thanks for the great review.

 

DrB

I am not sure what the cabana number was but the concierge said in our confirmation it was called a "water front" cabana. It was on Barefoot Beach. Hope this helps.

 

Since we were in a suite, I emailed the Freedom of the Seas concierge about 3 months prior to our cruise and he said he would email me the week before our cruise to see if we wanted the cabana. He then asked our preferences of cabana type and he then he sent an email to me a few days before we boarded with a confirmation for a cabana. My understanding is they do not allow you to book online any more and that you must go to the excursion desk as soon as you board to see if any cabanas are still available if you do not book a suite or higher for accomodations.

Edited May 11, 2015 by dee1321

[dee1321]

Day 4: Falmouth, Jamiaca: We did not get off the ship on this port or any of the other ports the rest of the cruise. We had purchased the drink packages and wanted to relax and enjoy the pools and the ship amenities when in port.It was very nice not to rush through breakfast to get off the ship to make an excursion or rush back to the ship to get showered for dinner.

 

Navigator of the Seas docked with us in Jamiaca and we enjoyed watching her come into port. This morning I attended a Find-A-Word challenge in the Schooner Bar and won a first place medal! Woo Hoo! ;);) After that I had a massage scheduled in the spa. (The massage gift certificate was emailed to me from our travel agent for booking with them. It was a 50 minute swedish massage and was very nice) Stipulations were that it had to be scheduled while the ship was in port, (not a problem for me, since we were not getting off the ship) and the tip was not included. The massage was very nice! After my massage, I met my husband poolside and we enjoyed the pool the rest of the day. The movie screen at poolside showed the movie Annie beginning at noon and it was very enjoyable to watch a movie poolside.

 

Entertainment for the night... we attended the pre-dinner Ice Show which was very good. The costumes were great! After dinner we went to the Love and Marriage Show. We always have a good time watching that. We did learn tonight that suite guests had reserved seats in the entertainment venues. We did not know about that before tonight. Needless to say, for the rest of the cruise we began using those seats when going to a show. Also, for those who did not attend Love and Marriage there was Dancing Under the Stars poolside from 10:30pm- 12:45am.

 

Dinner attire in the main dining room was "tropical Casual" for tonight.

[dee1321]

 

[dee1321]

Edited May 11, 2015 by dee1321

[dee1321]

[dee1321]

[dee1321]

[dee1321]

After the Love and Marriage Show, we returned to our cabin and found a small envelope on our bed. It was an invitation to have dinner with the cabin the next night. We were so confused and were not sure what to make of it. The next morning as we arrived in Grand Cayman someone from the Captain's staff called the cabin to see if we had received the invitation and asked if we would be attending. We said we would LOVE too! At this point, we were not sure how many people would be going or if all suite guests were invited, we just had no idea what to expect. After all we are only gold members in the Crown and Anchor so we did not have many Crown and Anchor points. The invitation said it was formal attire and their would be a cocktail party prior to dinner. The dinner was at the early seating, but since we would not be going ashore that would not be a problem.

Edited May 11, 2015 by dee1321

[dee1321]

Sorry for the duplicate post... this post needed editing and forum would not let me edit it so I had to repost part of it....

 

After the Love and Marriage Show, we returned to our cabin and found a small envelope on our bed. It was an invitation to have dinner with the captain the next night. We were so confused and were not sure what to make of it. The next morning as we arrived in Grand Cayman, someone from the Captain's staff called the cabin to see if we had received the invitation and asked if we would be attending. We said we would LOVE too! At this point, we were not sure how many people would be going or if all suite guests were invited, we just had no idea what to expect. After all we are only gold members in the Crown and Anchor, so we did not have many Crown and Anchor points. The invitation said it was formal attire and there would be a cocktail party prior to dinner. The dinner was at the early seating, but since we would not be going ashore that would not be a problem.

 

Wow, we felt so very special when we arrived at the cocktail party. The cocktail party was held at Boleros Bar. Little did we know it was a very small group of passengers that would be dining with Captain Tor Olsen. There were 4 couples plus another officer and his wife. We met everyone during the cocktail party and then were led to the dining room and seated at the Captain's table. Once Captain Olsen arrived we were given a special menu, our photo was taken, and dinner began. It was just lovely and was the highlight of our cruise! I was actually seated next to the Captain. He was so nice and very easy to talk to. I have no idea why we were selected or who selected us, but I felt very special indeed!

[rtw68]

Enjoying your review! We will be on Freedom next April (our first Royal cruise) and have only been on Carnival thus far.

 

Looking forward to more!

[dee1321]

 

Dinner with Captain Olsen. I had worn my sequin dress to the first formal night and my husband did not have a tuxedo, but they made us feel welcomed!

[dee1321]

Menu for dinner at the Captain's table:

[dee1321]

Thursday Day 5: We stayed on the ship and enjoyed the pool area once again. Had breakfast in Chops again. (complimentary for suite guests) Passengers going into Grand Cayman must use tenders to get off ship. Several other ships were in port that day with us.

 

While on board there were several trivia challenges. Big Screen showed a movie again poolside around noon. Ice skating was available late afternoon. Tonight was the second formal night in the dining room. The show tonight was A Comedy Musical of Classic Fairy Tales at 7pm and 9pm. We did not go to this due to having dinner with the Captain. There was also some type of Family Feud Game Show at 8pm as well as ON Air being open for karaoke.

[dee1321]

[dee1321]

Quest Game Show was tonight as well. It began at 10:45 and it is an adult type scavenger show. We enjoyed seeing everyone laugh and have a good time during it.

[John&LaLa]

 

Dinner with Captain Olsen. I had worn my sequin dress to the first formal night and my husband did not have a tuxedo, but they made us feel welcomed!

 

My fly was open for my Captains table picture. :eek:

 

But I was wearing a tux. ;)

[dee1321]

Day 5 continued: We thoroughly enjoyed our dinner with the captain and met some lovely people. Captain Olsen was very easy to talk to and the food was wonderful! After dinner we returned to our cabin and there was another invitation on our bed for a galley tour the next day. I believe all the suite guests were invited to attend.

 

I played a little in the casino that night and won $100 which was BIG time for me. lol

[dee1321]

Edited May 15, 2015 by dee1321

[BillOh]

Hey, what happens at Quest is supposed to stay at Quest! Good thing I am not in this photo.

[BillOh]

That is our cheating captain with the red pony tail. They came with a large bag of stuff.

[John&LaLa]

That is our cheating captain with the red pony tail. They came with a large bag of stuff.

 

Really not fair, that's why I don't go anymore. I think it's time to come up with a new way for folks to make fools of themselves