Cheapo dad's trip report on Freedom of the Seas

[harryfat1]

Harry I want to thank you for your entertaining, and informative reviews, and wish you a very happy new year!

 

I'm also a big trip planner (yes, accountant here too ;)), there is so much to see and do on board, that you could never possibly find out about it all without doing research and reading reviews like yours. I'm off to make good use of an hour or two, checking out your Allure review as we are on Oasis this summer. Lots to learn!

 

Hi,

 

Thanks for the compliment and Happy Chinese New Year to you as well. I think most Finance people are trained to be at least some sort of planner type as you can’t just handle numbers without pre-planning.

 

 

You will see that an hour or two won’t even scratch the surface on the amount of info available on these boards for the Oasis class ships.

Edited January 30, 2017 by harryfat1

[harryfat1]

Hey, just posting back with my link to my review on Adventure, will be posting first entry tonight

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=52144705#post52144705

 

Welcome back. I trust you guys had a great cruise. I will be following your trip report for sure.

[harryfat1]

I saw these art auction stuff outside of Studio A/B. Not like I know squat about art, but if that’s your thing, the ship has big promotion on the art thing daily. I attended one of these many years ago and got some freebie alcohol while there and the rest of the cruise, because I had signed up for my name at the first auction, they kept spamming me with daily invites at my cabin asking me to come back to the next day’s art auction.

 

This is a totally personal preference thing – given I like to people watch/see things/taking pictures of things happening, if I had an hour to kill on the cruise, I would opt for art auction than being at the solarium staring at my toes since there are more stuff happening at the auction and I can take pictures to see why such “art” is worth $500.

 

As I am big on trying to point out events on the ship that are seldom reported by reviewers but is a regular part of the cruise life, art auction is one of them. Also on this list is Bingo or casino play or spas or people exercising in the gyms. All those activities you always see people participating in them on every cruise but seldom showed up in trip reports.

 

So I just want to mention that there are many other relatives in the tainted family tree that we know exist but not talked about (pick whatever weird relatives you have in your family tree like grandpa or cousins or neighbors…).

 

For you newbie’s, cruising consists of many different type of activities, no single trip report will cover it all regardless how detailed it is. It’s physically impossible to be at all the places at the same time. You will need to discover what weird relatives in your family tree that previous trip reports failed to discuss and create your version of crazy aunt in the basement. Maybe some money embezzling cousins…

 

 

 

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

More people doing last day shopping (visit uncle in prison to talk about possibility of parole)

 

 

 

 

As we took various pictures with the ship’s photographer the previous evening with the Santa hats, we dropped by the Photo area to see what they looked like. So we went off to visit the crazy aunt. Last day of the cruise is sort of like family reunion – you go from place to place to visit everyone making sure you have done everything.

 

There was one particular set we wanted to see but couldn’t find it. We looked up and down at every panel. By day 6, there are literally thousands of pictures and you have to make sure you are looking at the right sections. With all 6 of us looking and not finding it, we went to ask the worker about it.

 

As luck would have it, we found the gal that actually took our pictures working behind counters and she remember us (guess it wasn’t too hard – not too many Asian family wearing 6 Santa hats and suits/dresses). So with her help, she found the pictures digitally and she had to do a special request for “reprints”.

 

What that means is they will reprint some of the missing photos and we had to come back after 9 PM to see if we wanted them. No obligation to buy, even on the reprints. Just to see if they looked any good.

 

 

 

 

Casino area

 

 

 

 

Saw a Panasonic mega zoom camera for $300

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

Few more random pictures of the ship area as we went from place to place. As they are kind of standalone pics, I’ll just lump them here as a group

 

 

 

 

Love the colorful glass works

 

 

 

 

 

 

More RP pic

 

 

 

 

The Café had NOTHING to eat…Oh, no, we will all die from starvation

 

 

 

 

Friday to rest of the world, Day 6 to ship people

 

 

[SherriZ366]

OK, done with breakfast, they had some sort of event where they have the ship’s officers at RP and the captain will sign the t-shirt if you buy one.

 

As we didn’t get a chance to have our picture taken with the captain on day 2 (see earlier post), this is the makeup time. My typical impression of RCI ship captains is that they are typically much personable than the Carnival ship captains which looks like they are being tortured when they are forced to come out to meet with guests at the first formal night for 30 minutes of photos and then never be seen the rest of the cruise.

 

On the Mariner and Allure, both captains were friendly and talkative when they met with passengers. On the Allure, captain Tor talked to my younger son about his camcorder around his neck the first time he met us at the welcome back party and on the second occasion when we had our picture taken with him on the formal night, he said “Hi, we meet once again” as he remembered us from previous time).

 

The Freedom’s captain - not so much. Had the one picture taken with us and just walked away. No interaction whatsoever. Oh, well…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s the price and the reason for the t-shirt as a fund raiser for good cause

 

 

 

 

The t-shirts themselves (visit uncle Bob in prison time)

 

 

 

 

 

Captain Been is very quiet. We have neer sailed with the other Captain -- Toni Calne but we understand that he is more personable.

[harryfat1]

Captain Been is very quiet. We have neer sailed with the other Captain -- Toni Calne but we understand that he is more personable.

 

Oh, well, guess they all can't be like Captain Johnny

[harryfat1]

Headed back to RP as we have decided to use up some more of the OBC and bought the 2 for $20 t-shirts. Of course, there are lines on last day of the cruise for souvenir shopping and they have one whopping cashier to handle the crowd. Lovely.

 

So for those with a sharp eye, when you are on the Freedom take a look at the price tag of the paddle display. Count those digits. The sales person said that’s the most expensive item on the ship…That’s the family joke every time we walked by and noted the price tag.

 

 

Really? One cashier on last day of cruise at the gift shop? Isn’t that the busiest time?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

So after I stood in line with various cruisers to wait to pay for the t-shirts, my wife pointed out that they are selling in clearance prices for these magnet bottle openers. If they had “Grand Caymans” on it, they are $1.49. If they are just generic “Caribbean” on it, they are 88 cents (Whoever priced this must be Chinese or wants to sell to Chinese folks as that’s a Chinese lucky number).

 

Was there a typo? 88 cents? Really? Never thought I would find anything on a RCI ship store for less than a dollar. When you can buy something on the cruise ship that is less than what you would pay at the local dollar store, you have found a bargain. So went back in the long line again to pay the 2 of these – one for us and one for the in laws.

 

 

 

 

Saw this interesting t-shirt of the Freedom at 2 for $30. So it’s a little more than the 2 for $20 but it has more interesting design. But I think the material might peel and come off after few washes. Besides it doesn’t have the 2 numbers I find more interesting such as the length and the width. If Harmony has a similar t-shirt with the back theater as the key feature and shows the width of her aft, I would be looking to buy one. I like them big & round

 

 

 

 

Here’s the cost of rum cakes if you didn’t get them while at GC. Or you can just buy them on Amazon for couple dollar more.

 

 

[harryfat1]

RCI has the towel folding demonstration but they pale in comparison to how Carnival does it. Since Carnival opens up the entire theater and have folks go up to the stage and learn how to fold them. But then again, Carnival also try to sell you their towel folding book so there’s a financial incentive to make a bigger production out of it. The RCI version is some small table by the side of RP with a handful of people trying to watch.

 

 

 

 

Now this is a personal preference item but for our family’s liking, the music at the RP on the Freedom is WAY too loud. I understand they want a band there at times to drum up the atmosphere but the volume level is way too loud for such confined space. Maybe since the Allure is bigger and the sound can dissipate with more space but on the Freedom, when the singers are singing on the top of the bridge, you literally have to yell at someone to carry on a conversation. They should dialed it down a notch or two on the volume scale. It’s one thing to crank it for the 70’s dance party but another thing at 11 AM when people are shopping. They shouldn’t be the similar volume.

 

Do we really need a band playing music and singing right above us as we shop? They could just as well pipe in some top 40 music as some background music

 

 

[harryfat1]

We walked outside and took few pictures of the ocean from deck 4 area as the ship headed eastward. Like I said, I like the ocean well enough but after few pictures, my ADHD gets the best of me as it’s the same ocean. Nothing new to look at. Time to move on to something that is changing

 

 

 

 

Fair amount of people like to hang out in this area as it’s not as noisy as the pool deck

 

 

 

 

All the open outdoor space on deck 4 has Oasis class beat

 

 

 

 

Last picture from here. Saw a cruise ship from afar but since the camera’s zoom in nil and I didn’t have the mega zoom camera with me, couldn’t make out who it was

 

 

[harryfat1]

Few more pics of the area before we head off to lunch

 

I like this picture. It’s my wife’s suggestion to take the picture of the bridge from this angle

 

 

 

 

 

 

You folks tired of seeing the RP yet?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

This is the last lunch at the WJ for this cruise.

 

Everyday I walked by the drinks area and forgot to take a picture of it, so finally remembered this time. For the newbie cruisers to RCI or to cruising in general, at the WJ, the ship has the drinks stations at the WJ. All the drinks are prepared for you so just take it and go. Unlike Carnival where you get your own drinks, RCI does it for you. Note the water section. Especially useful to get those clean cups to full your water bottles in the morning if you are leaving the ship on port days. Don’t get the water at RP if you have a choice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Waiting for them to clean the table. Not always easy to find a big table during the popular lunch time on sea days. Port day lunches are easier as people are off the ship

 

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

So this is roast pig day. Check out the pigs’ head(s). Very common occurrence with the Asian community to see the whole pig, including the head. Put that head on a stick and you will have the Lord of the Flies. Dang, cheapo dad almost sound literate. Key word is almost…

 

One little piggy went to town…

 

 

 

 

Two little piggy went to town…

 

 

 

 

 

 

My lunch

 

 

 

Here is the pork itself with salad for me. Yeah, yeah, I know, pork and salad is a weird combo. We like what we like and leave it at that. You have your shrimp or salmon salad and I have my pork salad.

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

For lunch, Freedom made a HUGE cake at the WJ thanking everyone for sailing with them. Well, at least the part that was still left over by 1 PM looked like it was a thank you. I can’t vouch for what was the other 1/3 that has already been eaten. Maybe it said something else like “good to get rid of you cheapo cruisers as we welcome the bigger spenders on the real Christmas cruise tomorrow” but I can’t verify that.

 

 

 

 

Here is the slice of cake from it. I didn’t get it, my son did.

 

 

 

 

More mousse and tiramisu for me. I’m telling ya – I ate more mousse on this cruise than I did the entire year. Their dessert needs better selection like scooped ice cream from the dinner WJ. It can’t cost that much more to offer it at lunch as well.

 

 

[JamesEM]

Happy belated Year of the Rooster, a coup of years ago when we were in San Francisco and DW and I had Dim Sum in a Cantonese tea house for the first time, what a great experience that was.

[InletBill]

Haha, I am way too old to be up at 3 AM. Those were the good old college days. Nowadays the only reason I am up at 3 AM is to go to the bathroom…

 

I assume you mean this purple picture?

 

That's the one. I tried to get a similar picture while on Liberty a year or so ago and there were always people on it. Finally got it after midnight one night. Great shot, love it!

[IRcruisin]

Bahaahaa.....😂😂😂 I'm afraid I'd truly be up a creek without a paddle if I had to pay that price! They can't be serious?!! Somebody in their sales department must be "dinghy"!! 😂

[fletch1027]

Happy New Year to you as well.

 

Yes, for us Disney folks, we like to just drop in that “Hidden Mickey” trick. I used to wear the my cartoon Christmas ties on the cruise on formal nights at MDR but my wife think they look too childish so I’m just stuck at the basic colors nowadays as a “mature looking dad” – whatever that means…:rolleyes:

 

Hidden Mickey trick? Not sure what you're talking about. Unless you're looking close, you may not notice it right away... :D

 

As a guy in my mid-40's, this is my version of “mature looking dad”. It works on formal nights as well as when I wore it to church yesterday... :)

 

 

I also have a few subtle Star Wars ties that barely have spouse approval...

[fletch1027]

Captain Been is very quiet. We have neer sailed with the other Captain -- Toni Calne but we understand that he is more personable.

 

Captain Toni was awesome on our "last Freedom cruise from Port Canaveral" cruise in October. He made the call to change our itinerary from Coco Cay to Grand Cayman because he knew our Coco Cay day would have been too windy - then during the morning announcements they mentioned the other ships that had to cancel their CC stops... :)

[CallieS]

I'm thoroughly enjoying your review! I sailed on Harmony last week, and my family used your elevator tip when coming back onto the ship from our excursions. It worked like a charm!

 

Also, I'm happy to report that there were several trays of smoked salmon in the Windjammer for breakfast everyday. No need to ask for the secret stash. Maybe the availability varies from ship to ship? Maybe the newest ship gets the bells and whistles? Who knows. :rolleyes:

[Mapleleaf14]

I will be leaving on the Navigator this Friday. Hope that the salmon is out!!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[GrooveInWhichWeMove]

But we weren’t ready to shop yet. We were trying to head out to Studio A/B to get some ice skating time in. One problem - so is everyone else. That day was much more windy so all the sun worshipers came inside and the morning skating session was full by time we showed up and they turned everyone away saying the skating sessions are all booked the whole morning. So this was the only picture we had of the skating area.

 

 

 

 

Thus if skating is high on your list of things to do, plan to go to Studio A/B early in the cruise or whenever they have it. Because it will be swamped by last day - especially on popular kids vacation time like our sailing with 1,000+ kids under age of 17, many of those love to skate.

 

As we skated on the Allure couple years ago, it would have been nice to skate but it wasn’t a must for you. So plan accordingly for your cruise.

 

Ah, finally, after reading your review like a Where's Waldo? book, I finally spot myself in a picture! I'm in the line for skating, wearing the grey hoodie - you can see the back of my head. How exciting!

 

Skating was definitely busy - I had come before the 1st session and signed up for the 2nd one. I also tried to go earlier in the week but again would have to wait for sessions, and at that time I would be busy later so I knew it wouldn't work out.

 

I hadn't skated since I was a child so I was surprised I could still do it. :)

[Coralc]

I will be leaving on the Navigator this Friday. Hope that the salmon is out!!

 

So are we! I guess we will have to catch the ending when we return. :D

 

~Patti :)

[jlb91454]

thank you for a GREAT review. I love your style.

 

I will be leaving on the Liberty of the Seas the end of February