Cheapo dad's trip report on Freedom of the Seas

[harryfat1]

The Freedom’s golf course is ok, but not very exciting. The newer ships definitely have more going on at their mini golf area. The RCI web page showed that Adventure of the Seas is supposed to have a new 2 story golf course. That would very interesting to see and try out. More points for the southern Caribbean route. Decisions, decisions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

By time we finished playing golf it was 4:15 as more people start to get back to the ship for the all important 4:30 “all board” deadline. As we haven’t had chance to walk around the outside of the promenade deck, it’s also a good time to do so. As everyone knows by now, I love the mega ships (I like them big and round) but the one thing about Oasis class ship is the outside Promenade walking area is way too enclosed for my liking.

 

Yes, I know they need to put the life boats somewhere but in looking at how much more open space the Freedom has, it’s just night and day. I mentioned that in my Allure trip report when I compared it with the Mariner. Same concept here.

 

Pics from the Allure

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the few openings on the Allure

 

 

 

 

Pics from Freedom – see the difference? Much more open

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the best view around the outside PR area in the open space.

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

As we walked around the outside PR taking pictures, we heard over the PA system from the captain that we will be departing a bit later than the scheduled time because some passengers made a mistake in taking a taxi to the wrong pier – I assume that’s the downtown one where the Rhapsody of the Seas is docked since there was much confusion on which ship will dock where (see my previous posts). Don’t know the fault lies with the passenger or the taxi driver in going to the wrong pier.

 

Somehow those passengers or the crew from the Rhapsody contacted the Freedom to let them know there’s a problem/confusion of passenger at the wrong pier. Another reason to either take the hard copy of the daily compass off the ship or take photos of the page 4 local contact info in case you need to contact the ship/local reps for whatever reason. So the ship is willing to wait for the taxi to make its way back here.

 

I would hate to be in that taxi…

[Canadian1]

harryfat1,

 

I have to agree, we loved deck 4 too! Love the bump out where you can see along the side of the ship. First saw this on Indy and still continue to love it on Freedom.... never experienced it on any of our other ships. Also love the fact that you can go to the very front of the ship. Can't do that with many anymore.

[harryfat1]

 

 

 

 

 

So if you are superstitious, the fact that you even have to be in a life boat is bad news and then having to be in lifeboat 13 can’t make you any happier

 

 

 

 

The family trying out the deck chairs

 

[harryfat1]

harryfat1,

 

I have to agree, we loved deck 4 too! Love the bump out where you can see along the side of the ship. First saw this on Indy and still continue to love it on Freedom.... never experienced it on any of our other ships. Also love the fact that you can go to the very front of the ship. Can't do that with many anymore.

 

Totally agree.

 

Missed not having access to the helipad area on the Allure. Will be showing some helipad pics as we do the deck 4 outside tour.

[harryfat1]

Workers taking a break

 

 

 

 

Speaking of taking a break, saw an opening to the crew rest area and snuck in a picture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don’t know if these people are Harmony passengers or from the Freedom. If from the Freedom, technically they are pier runners as the “All Aboard” deadline was 4:30 and this picture’s time stamp was 4:48 PM. If Harmony, no issues as they are staying until 7 PM that night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Canadian1]

Been back for 5 days now but reading your review makes me feel like I'm "sort of " still on it. Thanks for keeping the good memories alive :)

[harryfat1]

Been back for 5 days now but reading your review makes me feel like I'm "sort of " still on it. Thanks for keeping the good memories alive :)

 

Hey, why do you think I'm still doing this?

 

Technically we've been off the cruise a month ago and I'm just looking at the old pictures and retelling the story as if we were still on vacation.

 

Cheapo dad scores with 2 for 1 cruise vacation and the second one is even better as besides being free, I don't have to be on the long plane ride...

[Canadian1]

Hey, why do you think I'm still doing this?

 

Technically we've been off the cruise a month ago and I'm just looking at the old pictures and retelling the story as if we were still on vacation.

 

Cheapo dad scores with 2 for 1 cruise vacation and the second one is even better as besides being free, I don't have to be on the long plane ride...

Lol, good point. Also you don't get a cold the night you get home from said plane and then have to call in sick for 2 days.

[Canadian1]

Getting late over here in EST, checking out.

 

Looking forward to reliving my vacation tomorrow!

[harryfat1]

Lol, good point. Also you don't get a cold the night you get home from said plane and then have to call in sick for 2 days.

 

Getting late over here in EST, checking out.

 

Looking forward to reliving my vacation tomorrow!

 

Now was that a "real cold" or a wink-wink post cruise blues kind of "cold" with some forced coughing in the background for dramatic effects?

 

Wow, you're in East coast Canada? Yes, you are up late. Have a good evening. I'm waiting for the pictures to be uploaded. Like watching paint dry.

[harryfat1]

This last picture was taken at 5 PM and still no sail away even though all board was technically at 4:30, but with some late passengers coming, who know what the final time will be. At any rate, the only camera we had with us walking around was my cell phone and by then, the battery level down to 8% from all the pictures taken earlier in the day.

 

At the 8% battery level, all the battery saving protocol gets triggered and photo taking on the phone was almost impossible. Not good. So it was time to go back to the cabin and bring out the big guns for more photo ops as we wait for sail away.

 

 

 

Ah, so much nicer to have 2 cameras with zooming capacities. As good as these cell phones are, their digital zoom is totally crap. Nothing like having the SLR or megazooms.

 

 

 

Looking toward downtown, we saw that the Rhapsody already pulled away from the dock and sailed off at 5:15

 

[harryfat1]

More pics of Cozumel as you see the waves in the water with Freedom is starting to pull out as well as we slowly head toward the bow of the ship

 

 

 

 

Mega zoom of the Carnival Paradise’s aft. We once stayed in the aft view cabins under the word Paradise. They were priced as regular ocean view cabins.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another perspective on the Promenade view deck. Now you see the water and how much space versus the Oasis class ships

 

 

[harryfat1]

Trying to zoom in to catch the Rhapsody before she is gone. See her way in the horizon as I put the camera on the railing to get a steady shot to zoom in

 

 

 

 

 

 

That is one pointy butt…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don’t be the 101st person to this station

 

 

[harryfat1]

Here are shots from the front by time we finally made it out.

 

Need to walk up

 

 

 

 

Harmony’s bow

 

 

 

 

As you would expect, it was very windy at the front. Hold onto your hats or just not even have it. Not that sunny anyway.

 

 

 

 

Picture of the bridge.

 

 

 

 

Zooming into the officer on the bridge. He saw me zooming into him so he looked down instead. Camera shy.

 

For you ship experts, I assume those are the windshield wipers for the ship similar to the car for the rainy days? Next time I will try to zoom it in even more

 

 

[JamesEM]

My experience has been that Cozumel seems to have highest rate of pier runner, especially when there is an evening departure.

[barbeyg]

Your husband's company have nicer people than the places I have worked for.

 

 

And nicer people than the one I work for too! [emoji846] I do work in a Corporate payroll dept, and could tell you stories that make your hair stand on end. [emoji15] We were actually thankful when we were moved to a separate 'locked down' building. [emoji846] That's not to say that there aren't some great people where I work. Thanks for your kind words on payroll people!

 

Loving your review, its keeping me entertained while I wait for our cruise. Even if we are eastern, not western. The dry wit is one of the things keeping me going during the crazy year end work.

 

 

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[tigerbeth]

Harry thanks for your review , I have been lurking from early on .

Enjoy reading reviews of cruises we may not get to do as we are in Australia.

Love all of your stories & digressions !!

Our first cruise on RC is coming up in March which should be fun .

Lamenting the fact that your cruise is coming to an end ! However I have just discovered that there is a new 'Norris' review over on the Celebrity boards ! Yay ! Love his work too !

Thanks for all or hard work

 

Cheers

Beth

[Canadian1]

Now was that a "real cold" or a wink-wink post cruise blues kind of "cold" with some forced coughing in the background for dramatic effects?

 

Wow, you're in East coast Canada? Yes, you are up late. Have a good evening. I'm waiting for the pictures to be uploaded. Like watching paint dry.

Would be a real cold with a red nose from all the nose blowing [emoji40] , oh well starting to feel better!

 

In Ontario here, so east but not Atlantic time east.... was still pretty late.

 

Good morning and have a great day.

 

Happy writing and reliving.

[TickledBlue]

As we walked around the outside PR taking pictures, we heard over the PA system from the captain that we will be departing a bit later than the scheduled time because some passengers made a mistake in taking a taxi to the wrong pier – I assume that’s the downtown one where the Rhapsody of the Seas is docked since there was much confusion on which ship will dock where (see my previous posts). Don’t know the fault lies with the passenger or the taxi driver in going to the wrong pier.

 

Somehow those passengers or the crew from the Rhapsody contacted the Freedom to let them know there’s a problem/confusion of passenger at the wrong pier. Another reason to either take the hard copy of the daily compass off the ship or take photos of the page 4 local contact info in case you need to contact the ship/local reps for whatever reason. So the ship is willing to wait for the taxi to make its way back here.

 

I would hate to be in that taxi…

 

It's good to know that while it isn't wise to test the captains patience, he really doesn't want to leave any passengers stranded at a port.

 

A few years back, there was a similar situation as yours -- multiple RCCL ships at the International Pier and one RCCL ship parked downtown (Punta Lagosta).

 

Going back to the ship from Chaakanaab Park, we shared a taxi with some people we did not know. They simply told the taxi driver to go back to the pier. The taxi driver asked which one and they told him the one with the Royal Caribbean ship. They didn't know the name of their ship (which they had to be on for at least 2 days to get down to Cozumel).

 

Their complete lack of attention to a very basic detail astounded me, someone who easily ranks 9+ on your analality scale. (Yes, I went back to post 44 to use your spelling. In doing so, I probably broke through level 10).

 

I spoke up to let them know that they could very likely be at a ship docked at the International Pier and tried quizzing them on generalities like where did they embark on the cruise and and how big was their ship. They concluded that they probably needed to be dropped off at the International Pier. At least it was early in the afternoon so they probably weren't pier runners even if they needed to catch another taxi to Punta Lagosta.

[euphio]

Harry:

 

You (and the folks in this thread) are my kind of people. My wife likes to joke that I like to plan vacations almost as much as I like going on them. Love your writing style, your kindness and your photos.

 

As I won't be going on another cruise until the earliest 2019 (we already have our next two vacations planned - see how we're alike?) I like to occasionally check into the boards here to see what's up. I've spent quite a few lunch hours over the last few weeks reading your review. Thanks for injecting some much needed fun and frivolity into my life!

[IRcruisin]

Kudos Harry, another great read! Love the color coordinated outfits for the family! That's part of my "anality" even my clothes in my closet are by color 🙊🙊🙃

[joand452]

...

Going back to the ship from Chaakanaab Park, we shared a taxi with some people we did not know. They simply told the taxi driver to go back to the pier. The taxi driver asked which one and they told him the one with the Royal Caribbean ship. They didn't know the name of their ship (which they had to be on for at least 2 days to get down to Cozumel).

 

Their complete lack of attention to a very basic detail astounded me, someone who easily ranks 9+ on your analality scale. (Yes, I went back to post 44 to use your spelling. In doing so, I probably broke through level 10).

 

I rank myself about an 8-9 on THE scale, but, how do you NOT know the name of the ship you've been on for a couple of days??? We've been cruising for almost 13 years, and I know the name and itinerary (not day by day, but at least I know eastern, western, etc.) of each cruise!! And it really drives me crazy when I'm talking to a person who just finished a cruise, and they have no idea of what ship they were on.

 

Harry, love the photo of you family yukking it up playing minigolf. I'm sure it was candid, but they way they're all laughing, it almost looks posed.

 

Need to add that I don't have to look at my CC signature for ships/itineraries, either! ;)

Edited January 26, 2017 by joand452

[harryfat1]

I'm at work, so can't do long relies. But doesn't your sea pass have the name of the ship on it?

 

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Edited January 26, 2017 by harryfat1