Cheapo dad's trip report on Freedom of the Seas

[harryfat1]

OK, back to the trip report.

 

So we made it back to the port area. Wasn’t interested in shipping for anything GC based (aka as visiting the uncle in prison) so just stood in the long line for the tender back. At the time I didn’t understand why there was no line for the other gates to return to Disney or Celebrity ships but the line for Freedom had several hundred people and we were in it. And within 5 minutes after we lined up, easily another 50 to 75 lined up after us. So more people in the Freedom line than all the other ships lines combined.

 

Back at port

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

Part of the reason after coming home and checking cruise tt is that the Disney and Celebrity ships stay later in GC than us so their last tender is much later than the Freedom’s 3:15 time. The people on those ships can hang out longer at the beach or wherever. Another thing is your typical half day tour starts at 9 AM and end around 1 PM if there’s no lunch involved. So many people’s tour are ending now around 1 something and they are ready to go back to the ship to clean up and eat lunch.

 

Long wait for tender

 

 

 

 

With each of the tenders holding 250+ people so the line did move quickly once a new tender came back to port. But I guess the later you wait to come back o the port, the longer the lines will be. The official last tender back is 3:15. Don’t miss that one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The only thing good about tendering is that it gives you a water view perspective on the ships that you can’t get if the ship is docked. We sat way in the back trying to get good picture shots but that’s a bad thing when you exist the tender as they exist from top and front first so the bottom and rear people are the last of the 250+ to get off. The waves were pretty choppy so that made getting off the tender a challenging proposition with the various workers lending a hand to sturdy passengers as they got off the tender.

 

 

[harryfat1]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

 

 

Wanted to take picture of the green blue water

 

 

 

 

Disney cruise - way overpriced. This is about the closest cheapo dad will get to one

 

 

 

 

 

 

Epic

 

 

[harryfat1]

So we made it back to the ship. Here’s one tip I have for newbie cruisers. Do not try to take the elevator at deck 1 when you get back to the ship at the gangway area. That’s because EVERYBODY and their cousin is there after being out in the heat. They just want to grab the fist elevator nearest them and especially during the holiday season when every family is like 8+ people, good luck trying to squeeze in there. Not to mention you really DON’T want to squeeze in with tons of people smelling sweat/ocean water/suntan lotion in an enclosed elevator for many decks, if you know what I mean…

 

Here is what to do, so assume on your cruise; you got back on deck 1 on the starboard side. By pass the elevators and walk up the stairs to deck 2 (I know it’s hard but you can suck it up and do it). Go ACROSS the ship to take the deck 2 port side elevators. That side should have much fewer people using it as the gangway is on the starboard side and that’s where the people are. Much easier to catch an empty elevator from there and get back to your cabin. The key is to know where the crowd is and go away from it. You’re welcome. Buy me lemonade from the WJ next time we cruise together as a thank you…

 

 

Familiar look of RP

 

 

 

 

So back to the cabin to use the rest room and wash hands before eating. I always like to make our cabin colder before I leave for the Caribbean ports as you will come back hot and sweaty and you will enjoy the extra AC in your cabin. Nothing like that “Ahhh, back to cabin” feeling of cool AC when you open the door. You can always turn up the heat after you take a shower and feel normal again but initially I prefer it to be cooler.

 

 

As a side note, it’s always interesting that in the morning; every cruiser is full of energy and can’t wait to get off the ship (SHOW ME THE TENDER!). Then when you are done, you can’t wait to go back to the cabin (RUN BACK TO THE SHIP) and relax and rest after a long hot day playing outside. Take a “before you get off the ship” selfie and note the happiness the facial expression as you finally arrived at the port. Then take a selfie hours later as you drag your sorry buns back to the cabin all hot and sweaty and tired to see if there’s any difference…

[harryfat1]

Oh, for those of you that read my previous trip report, you will recall that I like some special effects of the photos. Here are a few I just randomly picked to try out just to see how it would look. I like the interesting effects.

 

 

This is the same picture as the one I just shown.

 

 

 

 

One of the MDR from before

 

 

 

 

Solarium on sail away

 

 

 

 

Belly Flop contest

 

 

[harryfat1]

Enough digress talk. Time to eat. By time we got the food, it was almost 2:30. WJ closes at 3 on many days so if you want WJ lunch, plan accordingly on when to come back in time.

 

 

 

 

 

I liked the first plate so much that I almost got the exact same things in the second plate. I normally don't like turkey much but the one at WJ that day looked really moist.

 

 

 

 

 

WJ has mousse type of dessert daily. I ate more mousse desserts in 6 days than I had the past year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saw the Celebrity ship Reflection right outside the WJ. Norris can tell you how she is from his cruise by the end of the month. As we may be on her sister come December so I made sure I have a clean shot of the ship.

 

 

[harryfat1]

More pics of the gingerbread setup outside of WJ

 

 

 

 

Guess now is good time as any to discuss the “next cruise” on the Freedom. Back on the Allure, I recall that the list to meet with the next cruise people had a lot of name on the sign up list whenever I walk by it. On the Freedom, the list of people signed up for appointment is few and in between. Every time I walk by there, I stop and look at the flyers on the glass wall as the family is typically doing something nearby on RP. The lady probably recognize me by the end of the cruise as I am there daily at the outside. she always smiled and asked if I need help and tried to explain the next cruise program to me. But as we are looking to do a non Royal cruise next year, I wasn’t really locked into booking a future cruise while on board.

 

I don’t recall us doing anything after lunch. In theory we could have gone up on deck 12 to watch the last tender come in and sail away. But after a long and hot day in port, I think we just took shower and washed the sand off from our swimming trunks and just relaxed in the cabin. So no sail away pictures from GC.

 

Yeah, yeah, stop complaining. You get what you paid for…

 

[harryfat1]

Later on in the day, I think we went down to the photo area and visited the crazy aunt in the basement and looked at the various pictures we have taken so far from the cruise. I think I mentioned that on the Allure, the facial recognition software was great in grouping our pictures together. The Freedom’s facial recognition software is pretty buggy. I tried to slide m card on many different occasions and they have less than 25% of the picture in there.

 

One key feature to note is that if you find any pictures you like. For example, day 2 formal night, take that picture and bring it to the counter to ask them to save it to your cabin’s folio physically, just give them your cabin number. That way your good picture won’t go back to circulation the remainder of the cruise days as it will NOT be in the same location the next day and you have to hunt for it daily. By saving your favorite pics in your own folio will save you lots of time in only storing away the good pictures you might want. You are not obligated to buy anything in the saved folio. Just a place holder to keep the pictures you like.

 

Especially as Crown and Anchor member (peasant plus 1 or more cruisers), you will get some sort of photo discount as part of the loyalty program. For us gold level peons, it’s BOGO at 50% off per person. So just group your pictures in sets of 2 to take advantage of the discounts. Just save them until last day to decide.

 

Of course, the drawback is everyone else is waiting until last day also to buy their pictures. There’s always a ton of people at the photo area on last day to buy their pictures – especially on these holiday cruises with big family reunions. People want to remember the special occasions.

 

So if you are pretty sure you want that early picture from day 1 or 2, buy it sooner than later to avoid the lines on last day. Of course, in reality you wait until you see how you look after the second formal picture to compare with the first one to see which is better and up buying only on last day.

 

Couple pics of the casino area again as it’s just right next to the photo area

 

 

 

 

 

 

I like the glass work by the wall in this section – I want to say I remember seeing something similar to this back on the Mariner. Wonder if RCI decorates this section of the ship similarly with other ships in the fleet

 

 

 

[JamesEM]

On our cruise I stopped by the Future Cruise Office to pick-up a new Cruise Vacation Planner and was surprised to see there weren't any passengers waiting in the office. The sales lady started to give me her pitch, and I said "no thanks, I'm not interested in buying a future cruise certificate, at my age I have stopped buying green bananas", you should have seen the look on her face.

[drrich2]

Harry:

 

Enjoy your style, and by way of thanks I have something to suggest you might enjoy. Ever tried making a photo book with captions? I like Blurb; the latest software lets me customize text & photo boxes. Image wrap prints a photo of my choice right on a hard bound cover.

 

I used to make a book for special vacations, like cruises or scuba diving trips. Now that we've got a little 3 year old girl, I make a 'family book' for each year, broken down using months of the year like chapters, with an opening summarizing the month, and lots of captions and photos in the pages. Unlike a traditional photo album, it tells a story and the images fit together in a greater narrative. A few bucks extra gets me a PDF version that I can view on tablet or a computer.

 

Since I write it, I get to endow it with my, um, 'unique perspective' on life (e.g.: religious, political, cynical, snarky, poison her in advance against druggies & other types I don't want her marrying, etc...). And since I'm 47 and due to turn 62 within a month of her turning 18, if I'm going to impact future generations, so to speak (or just remember when my hair wasn't white), this might be it.

 

There are a number of such book-making services. It seems to me your style, enjoyment for forming trip reports, role in your family bringing their special moments together, would lend themselves to this sort of satisfying endeavor.

 

It reminds me to make sure my family does something worth writing about once a month. Drives my wife nuts that any special trip or what-have-you earns the quip 'And this'll be one for the book!' On a guiltier note, I send a copy to my out-of-state parents who we don't visit enough...

 

Richard.

[meatloafsfan]

Hi Harry,

 

I love your review - we're sailing on the Freedom next month (same itinerary - 6 nights) so this couldn't come at a better time for me!

 

Plus, I have to thank you for the information about requesting a dining table. As an only occasional Royal cruiser (I go where the deal is), I didn't know this. Thanks to your information I contacted Royal, asked for a large table, gave them the dimensions of my mother's wheelchair (which ends up wider than the regular dining room chair due to the wheels), and they came back with a dining assignment. They even turned a table for 8 into a table for 7, taking out the extra chair so there's enough room for my mother to comfortably roll up to the table!.

 

Thank you so much for all of your information sharing. I really do appreciate it.

[Ourusualbeach]

Hi Harry,

 

I love your review - we're sailing on the Freedom next month (same itinerary - 6 nights) so this couldn't come at a better time for me!

 

Plus, I have to thank you for the information about requesting a dining table. As an only occasional Royal cruiser (I go where the deal is), I didn't know this. Thanks to your information I contacted Royal, asked for a large table, gave them the dimensions of my mother's wheelchair (which ends up wider than the regular dining room chair due to the wheels), and they came back with a dining assignment. They even turned a table for 8 into a table for 7, taking out the extra chair so there's enough room for my mother to comfortably roll up to the table!.

 

Thank you so much for all of your information sharing. I really do appreciate it.

 

Totally off topic (sorry Harry) but I saw your screen name and I'm assuming that you are a fan of the band and not the processed meat.:D

 

Just saw in the paper the other day that they have made the "Bat out of Hell" album into a musical. Opening in The West End (London) soon and plans on bringing it to Toronto.

[scottygirl]

 

 

Guess now is good time as any to discuss the “next cruise” on the Freedom. Back on the Allure, I recall that the list to meet with the next cruise people had a lot of name on the sign up list whenever I walk by it. On the Freedom, the list of people signed up for appointment is few and in between. Every time I walk by there, I stop and look at the flyers on the glass wall as the family is typically doing something nearby on RP. The lady probably recognize me by the end of the cruise as I am there daily at the outside. she always smiled and asked if I need help and tried to explain the next cruise program to me. But as we are looking to do a non Royal cruise next year, I wasn’t really locked into booking a future cruise while on board.

 

I know you mentioned perhaps going on a Celebrity cruise next. You can book a Celebrity cruise in the NextCruise office and you will get whatever promo they have going on. Conversely you can book a Royal cruise on a Celebrity ship.

[gobo2]

Wait, the WJ closes at 3? When does it reopen?

(Sorry, OT but I promised 24 hour a day food everywhere when I sold this trip to my Disney addicted crew.)

[Clarea]

Wait, the WJ closes at 3? When does it reopen?

(Sorry, OT but I promised 24 hour a day food everywhere when I sold this trip to my Disney addicted crew.)

Usually 6pm or 6:30pm.

[Canadian1]

Wait, the WJ closes at 3? When does it reopen?

(Sorry, OT but I promised 24 hour a day food everywhere when I sold this trip to my Disney addicted crew.)

So the daily will list the different places and their hours. That being said there truly food 24hrs a day, just in different spots sometimes. Trust me you WON'T go hungry [emoji12] [emoji481] [emoji484] [emoji488] [emoji487] [emoji507] [emoji509] [emoji505] [emoji523] [emoji519] [emoji535] [emoji485]

[SherriZ366]

Usually 6pm or 6:30pm.

I think after 3, WJ reopens for a snack buffet like tacos, salad, desserts and then probably re-opens for dinner around 5 or 5:30 PM.

[Clarea]

I think after 3, WJ reopens for a snack buffet like tacos, salad, desserts and then probably re-opens for dinner around 5 or 5:30 PM.

That's the way it was for years, but I'm seeing some ships (cannot remember which) that are closing at 3pm and not re-opening until dinner.

[SherriZ366]

Wait, the WJ closes at 3? When does it reopen?

(Sorry, OT but I promised 24 hour a day food everywhere when I sold this trip to my Disney addicted crew.)

Cafe Promenade is open 24 hours a day with mini sandwiches, desserts and in the morning breakfast pastries.

[SherriZ366]

That's the way it was for years, but I'm seeing some ships (cannot remember which) that are closing at 3pm and not re-opening until dinner.

We have mostly sailed on FR during the last few years so I guess I am going by their venue hours.

[joand452]

...

 

I like the glass work by the wall in this section – I want to say I remember seeing something similar to this back on the Mariner. Wonder if RCI decorates this section of the ship similarly with other ships in the fleet

 

 

 

I think this may be by Dale Chihuly. The decorations outside of Bolero's on Mariner and Explorer (as well as at The Atlantis in Nassau and some Las Vegas resorts) are by him. If not, this is definitely his style!

[southnam]

Room service too 24 hrs a day. Service Fee charged after midnight though.

 

Sent from my BlackBerry Dtek50

[pudy68]

This is such a fun, witty thread. I appreciate your time & efforts. Many times I have LOL'd. Does your wife find you as amusing as your fellow travelers??? :)

[vamartha]

Just getting caught up, thanks Harry for sharing. Your last "review" was fantastic!

 

And your boys have grown up a bit! :)