Trip Review: Freedom Of The Seas, Eastern Caribbean, May 17 - 24

[Clarea]

Thanks Michael,

 

Any answer to my other question about anywhere on the 9th deck can you look all the way down to the promenade.

I know you can on deck 8 but not sure about 9

Thanks

You can look down to the Royal Promenade from the area between the elevator lobbies, both forward and aft centrums.

[iuki]

I am really enjoying your review. Thank you for sharing.

[lyban]

Bob, you have mentioned that before but I still do not understand because on the diagrams they look different than on the diagrams for the decks 8,7,6,

 

Also when seeing a photo of the promenade and looking up you seem to only see as far as deck 8.

[Clarea]

Bob, you have mentioned that before but I still do not understand because on the diagrams they look different than on the diagrams for the decks 8,7,6,

 

Also when seeing a photo of the promenade and looking up you seem to only see as far as deck 8.

Maybe I don't understand your question. Are you asking how far up that Promenade staterooms extend? If so, the highest PR staterooms are on deck 8.

 

Otherwise, I can see down to the ends of the promenade from deck 10, if I'm looking down the forward or aft centrum.

Edited May 29, 2015 by clarea

[daninwi]

Day Three: At Sea (Tuesday)

…Room service came knocking preciously at eight-thirty, stirring Tara and I from our light sleep, with the deliciousness of breakfast consisting of eggs, sausage, bacon, hash browns, and my favorite part of the room service breakfast, grilled tomatoes; much to my surprise Tara doesn’t like these, so I get a bonus offering!

The little glasses of orange juice remind me of the Dixie Cups I used to have to pee in, to pass the drug test portion of the high school sports physical, alas, breakfast is delicious…not overly warm, but also not stone-cold.

After quick showers, we discover the toilets are not working yet again, and a subsequent call to Maintenance is placed once more. This time, we are told they are aware of it, and this is affecting some one-hundred and fifty cabins; maintenance says this is a top priority for them.

Tara had an appointment at eleven with the Vitality Spa for a ladies “Top To Toe Special”, which consisted of a back massage, shoulder massage, foot and ankle massage, and facial.

This special was apparently only supposed to be while we were in Coco Cay, however, they told us “due to popular demand”, and it had been extended. The total retail value was one-hundred and forty-nine dollars, plus the automatic gratuity.

Tara went back and forth as to whether or not she should do it, and I told her she should since she works very hard at home, and a good massage would really help relax her.

While Tara was doing her ladies thing, I ventured up to the Rock Wall, sadly disappointed to see that it was closed due to the high winds; soon after I found out we were sailing into apparent winds of forty miles an hour.

With the Rock Wall a no go, I found a perfect spot to work on my tan, located towards the aft section of the ship on deck twelve. I started reading my Kindle and soon found my eyes becoming heavy, so I put that away in my bag, and foolishly (!) took off my and fell asleep.

I woke up shortly before one and immediately felt a terrible pain on my face; a quick trip to the public restroom discovered that not only did the toilets work up on deck twelve, but I had turned into Lobster Michael, as I had intense sunburn on my forehead, where my hat had been protecting me prior to taking it off and falling asleep.

To make matters worse, once I took off my sunglasses, the area surrounding my eyes what white, making me look like Lobster Michael, with bright white Raccoon eyes…Tara got a kick out of that for the rest of the trip.

After picking Tara up from the Spa, which was met with a verdict of “I’m glad I did it, but I won’t do it ever again”, we headed over to Johnny Rockets for some lunch. Impressively stunned by how many people are thinking the same thing for lunch, we wait a brisk ten minutes for a table before being seated inside.

The outside seating looks to be where it’s at, on any given “normal” day when the winds are trying to blow people over. Lunch consists of the BLT for Tara, the Original for me, along with two Coke’s and the half-onion rings / half-fry side; we pass on dessert and for seventeen dollars, (including an extra tip), we leave very full and satisfied.

Leaving Johnny’s, we turn to the left and enter the Challenger’s Video Arcade.

As a Recreation Manager here in Orlando, I am always checking out the “competition” to see what new games and ideas they have to see if I can incorporate it into my resort. Nothing calls out to us, until we get to the other side of the Arcade and come across this game called “Black Out!”

The premise of “Black Out!” is simple enough; it is a touch screen game, where you use your fingers to throw alien-like creatures at the sun, in the events of cleaning the sun up from dirt. It is a redemption prize game, meaning that if you completely cover the sun, you will win a G-Shock watch.

Friends, this game is incredible addicting, and far too easy to add money to your Sea Pass card to play; a mere sixty dollars later and we have reach a personal high score of covering ninety-nine percent of the sun, but no winner yet and no watch. Sad panda!

We then head down to Guest Relations to check on my on-board credits, and are told to stop by after dinner and they have been found and are just waiting to be posted correctly.

We spend a few hours in the room, (toilet is back up and working now), taking an afternoon nap, before heading to the main dining room to meet up with our dinning friends at the table next to us, for a theme of ****ake; tonight Tara had the beef sliders, and I went back to the marinated grilled chicken breast, as nothing else really jumped out at me.

We talk about what we have planned to do tomorrow in St. Thomas, and all come to the same consensus that we would like to spend some time up at the famous Mountain Top, so we plan to meet up at eleven-thirty tomorrow morning, right outside the Galileo main dining room.

We went to see the nine o’clock headliner show, featuring the musical talents of Mr. Tony Tillman, and friends, if he is on your sailing, DO NOT MISS THIS SHOW!

This was, far and away, the best production, of any kind, that we had ever seen on a cruise ship. His bio in the Cruise Compass says that he performed as Sammy Davis Junior is a Las Vegas production, and he really does “wow” the crowd.

He has an incredible repertoire of songs ranging from Motown to Lady Gaga, and from Elvis to Justin Bieber. Please do not miss this show!

Following Mr. Tillman’s incredible performance, we donate another forty dollars to the Casino Royale fund, grab some adult beverages, and head up to the Helipad.

By now, it is shortly after eleven o’clock in the evening, and the pathway leading to the Helipad is completely pitch-black, which, in all honestly is a little nerve-wracking.

That said, once you get to the actual Helipad and look up, the view of the stars is unbelievable and the pictures that I took, simply don’t do the universe justice. We stayed out there for about twenty minutes, mesmerized by the beauty of the world, before noticing some incredible lighting in the distance in front of us.

A quick trip to Guest Relations to check on my on-board credit and surprise (!) it is still not there. The agent is very nice and assures me it will be there tomorrow before we leave St. Thomas.

Off to the cabin we go to get some sleep, as tomorrow we are in St. Thomas…

 

Great Review! enjoying the detail and perspective. We are heading on a family trip the first week of Oct; this will help put some priorities in place of us!

[Mott1086]

Day Four: St. Thomas (Wednesday)

…We get up shortly before ten in the morning; have a quick breakfast in the Windjammer, followed by hanging out on the Helipad to watch us pull into port. We don’t stay very long on the Helipad, as the skies open up and bring with it the rain.

A morning mudslide is acquired as we head back to the room to grab our bags for St. Thomas. Our room steward is there and he informs us that the toilet system is acting up again (have you lost track yet?). Tara gives off a disgusted laugh, and we head down to the Galileo dining room.

The taxi service to the “world famous mountain top” consists of Tara and I, along with our dinner friends, and last roughly fifteen minutes.

We give the driver ten dollars (tips included) each, and ask if he is able to come back and get us in about an hour; he says he doesn’t want to lose out on the revenue as it’s technically the slow season on the islands, so he waits in the round parking lot for us.

We spend the hour shopping, taking in the sights from the outside patio, which, even with the ongoing rain is majestic, and having several of the famous banana daiquiris. Note of caution here, friends…those banana daiquiris are delicious beyond words, but incredibly strong!

We head back to the ship, and our dinner friends stop by a local restaurant to try out some seafood for lunch. (At dinner, they tell us that the lunch was a disappointment, and they would have been better eating on the ship). Tara and I are dropped off near the ship and spend some time shopping the local stores, only picking up a new pair of sandals for Tara.

Lunch is the usual fare at the Windjammer, and is one of the busiest we have seen it all week; true, the on/off rain situation didn’t help the situation. After lunch, Tara is feeling tired, so she heads back to the cabin for an afternoon nap, and I head up to deck twelve to work on my tan, This time I was smart and lathered myself up with lots of Target brand SPF 30; at the end of my two hour tanning session, I had a brilliant tan going on. It’s amazing what sun block can do! :o)

When Tara got back to the cabin for her nap, she found a business card of the Front Office Assistant Manager stuck in our door, asking us to please come see her at our earliest conveniences. Figuring it was about our on-board credit, we get dressed for dinner and once again head down to Guest Relations.

Tara has some slight reservations about going before dinner as we were still in St. Thomas, and they told us yesterday to wait until after we left; I understand her thinking, but said that the card from an office would surely trump what others had told us previously.

With emails and bank statements printed and in my hand, we talk to an agent at Guest Services.

When I tell her I should have three-hundred and fifty-dollars on my account, she types something in the computer, rolls her eyes, and mutters, “There is no way you can have that much coming to you”. Too stunned to say anything, I stand there with my mouth open. Tara, on the other hand, shows the agent the card from the Front Office Officer and asks why she can’t talk to her. The agent replies with a “She will tell you the same thing I do”, to which Tara says she wants to talk to her.

Moments later, the Officer comes out and is incredibly sweet and kind. She brings us to the back and I get on her computer and forward all the information and emails I have from my account to hers. She says that she will work day and night with shore side in Miami to alleviate the problem. I thank her kindly and tell her that I would like to cancel my reservations at Sabor.

She asks why, and I tell her that I don’t want to give the company any more money based on how we were just treated by the previous agent. The Officer apologizes and says she will get our reservations cancelled.

With the commotion at Guest Relations, we are significantly late to dinner, which tonight is Pimento. Stressed out about the credits, I order a mudslide at dinner and Tara orders a Wild Berry Lava Flow. Tara settles on her favorite, the Garlic Tiger Shrimp, and I choose the lasagna.

The usual after dinner trip to the Casino is calling our name and for once I end up winning. I slip a twenty into the Cash Wheel and on the first spin am up to a total of forty-five dollars; Tara, however, does not do so well, as she loses her twenty on a wild horses game.

We hang around the Royal Promenade, people watching and checking out some sales, before heading over to the Arcadia Theatre, shortly before nine to check out the Drew Thomas “Now You See It” Show.

The Arcadia is packed, and we settle on seats in the left side of the balcony. The show starts with a huge video package introduction as to who Drew Thomas is, and all his accomplishments on America’s Got Talent. I am all about telling the audience who a performer is, but this just seemed like overkill.

The show has a weird flow of an “illusion” being performed, followed immediately by Royal Caribbean singers and dancers performing random songs and dances.

At one point I turn to Tara and ask her “What the hell are we watching?” To Drew’s credit, the trick with the quarter and the Coke can was really cool!

All in all, the show had the potential to be really interesting, but for Tara and I, it fell very, very flat for two main reasons.

One, the singing and dancing mixed in between “illusions” as I mentioned above simply just did not work and reminded me of “bathroom break matches” during a pro wrestling show.

Secondly, based on where we were sitting, we could clearly see trap doors, wires, platforms, and such that gave the “illusions” away. This was the most disappointing to see. I get that you want to pack in as many people as possible, but why allow guests to sit where they can watch a show and see the secrets of the “illusion?”

After wasting an hour of our lives that we will never get back, we hit the restrooms, grab a few beverages from the Arcadia Bar, (mudslide and Coke, of course), and find seats on the main floor for the Love And Marriage Game Show.

Advice: if you are going to the Love And Marriage Game Show, show up at least thirty minutes early; the place was a legit sell out and several guests were standing up at the back of the theatre.

I don’t want to give too much away about this show in the event that you haven’t seen it, but, as expected, it was the highlight of the cruise.

The three couples were a riot, and the questions that were asked of them were a mix of questions we had heard before on other ships, and a blend of new ones mixed it. I keep trying to get Tara to audition, but she is still a little too shy.

Bed is calling our name, so we set the alarm for eight, and fall off to sleep with dreams of St. Maarten in our minds…

[Mott1086]

Day Five: St. Maarten (Thursday)

….Once again, breakfast is in the Windjammer, followed by a mudslide, and a quick shower back in the cabin. We are off the ship by ten in the morning, and are taking the obligatory touristy picture in front of the pink St. Maarten sign.

I head to the restroom, while Tara heads to the information desk to inquire about getting a taxi to Orient Beach; they tell her that taxi service is twenty dollars, per person, each way.

While we both think that forty dollars is extremely high, Orient Beach is what we really wanted to do in St. Maarten, so we head around the shopping center and find three other guests ( one couple, and one other lady), from the Freedom also going to Orient Beach.

We find a great driver named Rico, who looks identical to Danny Glover, (in fact, he told us to call him Danny), and he charges us eight dollars each to go to Orient Beach, and seven dollars back. Including tips, each of us give him a twenty for his service; much like the driver in St. Thomas, Rico/Danny, stay with us at Orient Beach as we enjoy the day.

Orient Beach is located on the French side of the island, and contains both a nude section and clothing optional section; we opt for the clothing optional section, and find a great section right in front of the Kakao Bar & Grill. For twenty dollars, we get two padded chaise loungers and an umbrella, so Tara is able to get her much-needed shade for her light skin.

After dropping off my bag on the chair, and hitting the restroom, I make a mad dash for the Caribbean water. St. Maarten has the most beautiful water that I have ever seen, and I can only describe it as a light turquoise color that is crystal clear and you can see for hundreds of yards in front of you.

The water is calm, with select moments of little waves that don’t quite have the power to knock me down. It is incredibly warm, and the sun beating down on me makes for a perfect afternoon. Tara soon joins me, as well as the other couple that drove over with us. It is a perfect beach day with a fair amount of people on the beach, but not entirely overly crowded.

Tara and I had talked on the way over about not wanting to spend money on food and drinks, since they were readily available on the Freedom; however, I was getting hungry and as expected, I needed a mudslide.

Tara and I shared a great cheeseburger and fries, along with a mudslide and Coke, including a tip, for twenty-five dollars.

The only downfall of Orient Beach is all the vendors that constantly stop by and harass the beachgoers with their merchandise. From watches, to bandanas to hats and hair braiding, there is probably a vendor stopping by every five minutes.

While a simple “no, thank you” sends them on their way, it is still a nuisance to deal with.

We are back on the ship by three and after a quick shower and power nap, dinner, in the theme of Basil is served at our usual table, one-hundred twenty-five, with our dinner friends at the table next to us.

This evening, Tara settles on three Crab Cakes for dinner, and I chose the Chicken Cordon Bleu. This was the only dinner all week that was not up to par, in my opinion. I remember having the Cordon Bleu on the Allure and it was incredible. This trip, I found it dry and a little overcooked.

More monies were lost in Casino Royale after dinner, and then we had a few drinks in the Bull and Bear Pub with our dinner friends.

We hung out there until the Seventies Dancing In The Street Event.

This is always a good time, and I was amazed at how many guests they can fill in the Royal Promenade. Our Cruise Director, Casey and his staff did a phenomenal job of getting everyone to shake their booties.

Our final adventure this evening took us up to deck fourteen and the Viking Crown.

The bar up there has been renamed (?) to Olive and Twist and was the home of the Silent Party.

If you have not yet attended this event, please make sure you do next time the ship you are sailing offers it.

Participants are given a set of headphones, with the option of switching between channels A & B.

Two DJ’s are playing totally different songs through the headphones exclusively, and the guests listening to said headphones are dancing on the floor.

The best part is being on the outside of the dance floor watching everyone, as they bust out in song, without any cares of the world.

We close the Silent Party down and head off to bed. Tomorrow is another sea day…

[Mott1086]

I am really enjoying your review. Thank you for sharing.

 

Thank you for the kind words! :o)

 

-Michael

[Mott1086]

Great Review! enjoying the detail and perspective. We are heading on a family trip the first week of Oct; this will help put some priorities in place of us!

 

Thank you so much for the kinds words.

 

You will have a great time, as she's a great ship!

 

-Michael

[Mott1086]

Thanks Michael,

 

Any answer to my other question about anywhere on the 9th deck can you look all the way down to the promenade.

I know you can on deck 8 but not sure about 9

Thanks

 

Sorry for my delay in answering, as I must have missed the question. As far as looking down, we were able to go near the elevators on deck nine and look down all the way to the Royal Promenade.

 

Hope that helps!

 

-Michael

[lyban]

That does help alot Michael. thanks for taking the time to answer:)

 

Bob, looks like you were right all along. I do not know why I doubted you after all you have come to my rescue so often answering questions.

Thanks again;)

[basebare]

Michael, your review is great! Can't wait to board FOS in July for the same itinerary. We have done the eastern route many times, but looking forward to celebrating our 25th anniversary (and empty nest) on board with our friends who will be celebrating their 20th! Love to read your take on things and love that even with some bumps in the road you aren't being a debbie downer on your trip. It is easy to look at the negative, but glad you stayed positive!

Patti

[beej]

Michael, can't wait for more. Can't wait for another chapter in the missing, no you can't have that much, money. I truly hope that you contact them now that you are home, if, for nothing else than the rudeness. You deserve compensation for toilet and dollar mishaps. I'll be ready tomorrow for another chapter. It's great

[ampc007]

I have heard so much about the silent Disco from friends who insist we must go!! I can't wait to try that! sounds like a blast!

[Mott1086]

Day Six: At Sea (Friday)

… Breakfast, as has become a tradition now, was up in the Windjammer, consisting of the usual breakfast suspects.

I have really become a fan of the made-to-order omelets, and my favorite consists of cheese, tomatoes, onions, green peppers, and ham.

The Freedom really has a good set-up in the middle of the buffet, with quite a few omelets stations going at once. I did not wait more than a few minutes for any of the omelets that I ordered all week.

After a quick trip up to our room to figure out plans for the head, and yet another session of the toilet not working, we left to head out on our adventures for the day.

As today was our first of two seas days on the return trip home, I wanted to soak up as much of the Caribbean sun as I could; as expected, Tara, with her light-skin tone, was not a fan. In the end, I spent about two hours tanning, while Tara watched some Bingo.

We met up shortly after noon, and headed to the Arcadia Theatre to watch the new movie, “Home” in 3-D.

We were really excited to see this movie, as it featured the voice talent of Jim Parsons (Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory, one of our favorite shows).

We were sorely disappointed and ended up leaving about thirty minutes into the movie for two main reasons:

First, the Arcadia was incredibly cold, with the air condition possibly being in the mid-sixties. Both Tara and I were in shorts, and we were freezing. At one point, Tara thought her legs were going to freeze off.

Secondly, the movie was really, really slow going. The premise is cute enough, but it was way too slow for Tara and I. I would not recommend this movie, sadly.

After leaving the Arcadia, we made another generous donation to the Casino Royale fund, this time in the amount of fifty dollars apiece. Go big, or go home, right?

After the Casino, I was feeling really tired, so I went back to the room to get a quick afternoon nap. Tara stayed on the Royal Promenade to do some window shopping, and ran into some Freedom Officers that were doing a meet and greet / question and answer period.

As luck would have it for Tara, she ran into the Executive Housekeeper, and let her know about all the issues we were having with the toilets this trip.

Tara said she understood that things happen, but that as a guest of Royal Caribbean, we paid more than the competition, and expect basic functions like water and the toilets to work.

Tara said she (Housekeeper) was very apologetic, and would follow up personally tomorrow to ensure everything was up to par.

Tara came back around five, woke me up, told me the story of the Executive Housekeeper, and we got ready for dinner, which tonight featured dishes themed to Jasmine. Tara went with the Fishermen’s Plate; I settled on the Braised Beef Duo.

Our dinner friends were going to see the Once Upon A Time show in the theatre this evening, and asked us if we wanted to join.

Having seen it in January, Tara and I passed, as it wasn’t anything that peaked our interest the first time, let alone a repeat performance. Our dinner friends went to see Once, while Tara and I went to play some eighties music trivia in the Schooner Bar.

After doing fairly well in trivia, we head back to the room to change and get ready to meet up with our dinner friends at the Bull and Bear. We open the cabin door and much to our delight there is a voicemail.

Hoping it’s either regarding the on-board credit or the housekeeper regarding the toilet issues….we hit the jackpot!

The front desk manager had left us a voicemail saying that they FINALLY (!) have the on-board credit issue all settled and they have found my money. In addition, as a good will gesture, they were adding an extra fifty dollars to my account.

After letting out an enamored sigh of relief, there is a knock at the door. Tara and I are confused as we aren’t expecting anyone, but, still intrigued, we open the door. Much to our surprise, it is the Deck Nine Supervisor.

He is following up with Tara in regards to her conversation with the Executive Housekeeper earlier in the day. We tell the Deck Supervisor that the toilet has been working this evening, and it’s just frustrating to never know whether or not it is going to work.

The Deck Supervisor is very nice and wants to offer us some compensation as the ship has had abnormal toilet vacuum issues.

Originally, he offers us dinner at Chops Grille for tomorrow (Saturday), but we politely decline as we really like our dinner friends and don’t want to eat without them.

He then offers us lunch at Sabor tomorrow (Saturday), but we decline that too. We tell him that we are not looking for compensation in any form; we just wanted someone to know the issues so that it’s not a bigger deal on future cruises

.

Finally, the Deck Supervisor says that he cannot, in good conscious, leave without ensuring that we are satisfied. We tell him that we are satisfied in that it was brought to someone’s attention and appreciate the follow-up. He again insists on something, and tells us that he is going to drop off a letter later, entitling us to a ten percent discount on a future cruise. We thank him for his time, shake his hand, tell him this is not necessary, and wish him a good night.

We head down to the Bull and Bear to meet our dinner friends, and Tara has a Coke, and I deviate from my traditional Mudslide and have an Ultimate Mai Tai.

These Ultimate Mai Tai’s are so good, that I have a total of three this evening.

We grab a few slices of pepperoni pizza from Sorrento’s and head upstairs to get some much needed sleep.

Tomorrow is our final day…sad panda…

[beej]

So glad that the mysteries of the vanishing coins and the no vacuuming toilets were solved. Better yet, and hurray, you deserve it, that you got compensation. Sorry that this great review is slowly winding down. Waiting for the next chapter.

[heathkatem]

Thank you for this amazing review. I am a first time cruiser and will be celebrating our honeymoon on the same cruise. I too have fair skin and am glad to hear that there are some shady spots on the beaches. Sounds like you and your wife had a great time.

[Wildcatfish]

He again insists on something, and tells us that he is going to drop off a letter later, entitling us to a ten percent discount on a future cruise.

 

Hmmm... 10% off a future Oasis cruise wouldn't be so bad!

 

Nice that he made the offer and recognized the inconvenience.

[debsters41]

I am especially happy that you took the issues in stride, and even more so that Royal tried to make amends :D The rest of the story?

[ddebaets]

What a wonderful review!!! Can't wait for the rest! Will be doing an Eastern on FOS April 2016 - 304 days!! :-)

[bobmacliberty]

Thanks for the great review! We're on the same cruise in 12 days. :D:D Hope they have the toilets fixed by then.

[Mott1086]

Day Seven: At Sea (Saturday)

…We woke up on this, our final day of the trip, around 8:00 am, and headed to the Windjammer for one last cruise vacation breakfast. The Windjammer was exceptionally slow in terms of guests who were up there this morning, and Tara and I had exceptional service. This whole trip the service in the Windjammer had been great, and we really loved the added bonus of having servers walking around with beverages on their trays, so that the drinks were readily available.

After breakfast, we spend the next few hours packing back in the room, exploring the ship, losing more money in the Casino, and trying, yet again, unsuccessfully, to win the watch with the “Black Out!” game in the Arcade.

For lunch, we head back to the Royal Promenade and take part in Freedom Fest. Freedom Fest is a buffet-style event, with different sections located throughout the Promenade, and includes sections of cheese, meat, bread, desserts, and cookies.

All in all, Freedom Fest was a lot of fun, and brought out a lot of people from outside down to the Promenade.

After Freedom Fest, Tara and I went to play a round of Bingo in the Star Lounge. For fifty-five dollars, we got a computer, (which hold thirty cards), as well as three paper cards which required manual punches.

There were a total of four games played, and we did not win anything on any of the games. Alas, nobody won the “all spaces” game, and so the final Jackpot Bingo was going to be worth around $3,000 and we were going to play that later tonight.

We spend some of the afternoon taking a much-needed nap as we are both ridiculously tired today, and also sad that our cruise vacation is almost over. Alas, we have the Anthem and Oasis booked for next year!

Jackpot Bingo took place at four in the Arcadia Theatre, with cards going on sale at three-fifteen. The first three games were a bust for us, and we were two numbers away in the Jackpot round, when someone who ate dinner two table away from us, jumped in with a “Bingo!” She was a very nice lady from New York, who won a total of just over $2800

After Bingo, we headed back up to our cabin to change and head down for dinner. Our last dinner consists of Pomodoro-themed dishes, and Tara and I both settle on the Beef Sliders for our last meals in the Galileo Dining Room.

During this entire week, our server and assistant server at dinner have been absolutely incredible.

They were always available with our Cokes, provided us plenty of bread, and great recommendations whenever Tara and I were undecided.

While we had already pre-paid our gratuities, since we had My Time Dining, we also took care of them with the WOW envelopes, as they most definitely deserved it.

After settling on plans to meet up with our dinner friends later at the Bull and Bear Pub, we headed back up to the cabin to finish packing and the dreaded process of putting our luggage bags outside, ready for the evening pickup.

Tonight’s drinks of choice at the Bull / Bear include the Ultimate Mai Tai’s for me and a few glasses of Coke for Tara. We found some of our other dinner friends walking along the Promenade, and they joined us for a few moments as we reminisce about the wonderful week that we had.

We exchange contact information with our friends, and then Tara and I take our traditional last lap around the outside of the ship, before settling back in the cabin for disembarkment tomorrow.

Tara and I are involved in a great sleep, when around midnight; there is a terrible, banging noise coming from the deck above it. To us, it sounds like one of the luggage carts was not tied down properly and was banging from side to side. I stepped out of the cabin to see if there were any other guests trying to find out what the noise was; there wasn’t, but I was able to find a crew member still looking for luggage. I asked them what the noise was, and they said they were not sure but were going to look in it for us; five minutes later it stopped.

…Disembarkment Day was a few hours away, so we tried to get some sleep…

[Mott1086]

Day Eight: Disembarkment Day In Port Canaveral (Sunday)

…We woke up around seven in the morning, showered, and were in line to exit the ship by eight. The line moved exceptionally well, and by the time we got to Customs, our luggage bags were already there. A brief ten-minute wait took us through Customs, and onto the shuttle by nine, with an arrival at home around ten-thirty, (after the shuttle stopped at Orlando International Airport and a hotel).

We walked into the house, were greeting by our kitty who missed us greatly, and dropped of our luggage.

We were officially home and the memories of the Freedom trip, May 2015 were still fresh in our minds.

[Mott1086]

Overall Thoughts:

Overall, both Tara and I gave this Freedom trip an eight out of ten, so a solid “B”.

Yes, we had some issues with the on-board credit and toilet issues, but the officers and crew onboard the Freedom really went above and beyond in rectifying the situations for us.

The service, as Tara and I have come to expect with Royal Caribbean, was top notch and the food and selection was even better.

As I mentioned earlier in the review, I had purchased the Premium Package for around four-hundred-and-five dollars; looking at all my receipts for the individual alcoholic drinks, soda drinks, and bottled water that I purchased, the total without the Premium Package, had I purchased all these drinks individually, was over five-hundred-twenty dollars.

All in all, I got my money worth by purchasing the Premium Package.

Our cabin was perfect for what we needed it for; a place to sleep, showers, and occasionally use the toilet. While we traditionally book a balcony for seven-night cruise vacations, we would definitely book an inside cabin again if the price was right.

I originally had planned to attach some pictures to this review, but am having trouble uploading them, so, I can’t promise they are coming, and I apologize about that

Thank you for taking the time to read this review, and I hope it helps some of you in your planning on an amazing Freedom cruise vacation

Next up: The Anthem nine-night cruise vacation coming up in 338 days.

-Michael

[beej]

Welcome home Michael and Tara, and thanks for the great review