Cheapo dad's trip report on Freedom of the Seas

[truffles2]

You are aware of all the ship superstructure on those aft balconys aren't you?

[Biker19]

You are aware of all the ship superstructure on those aft balconys aren't you?

 

Not really any more than a regular balcony.

[Clarea]

Not really any more than a regular balcony.

If we are still talking about Freedom class, there is much more superstructure in the view on an aft balcony than on a side facing balcony.

[Biker19]

If we are still talking about Freedom class, there is much more superstructure in the view on an aft balcony than on a side facing balcony.

 

This is almost as subjective as the food in the MDR - how "aware" is one of that difference? And there's the issue of one's understanding of what superstructure is.

 

Biker, who was hoping Harry would hurry with his review so these off topic discussions would take place at the end.

Edited December 30, 2016 by Biker19

[Clarea]

This is almost as subjective as the food in the MDR - how "aware" is one of that difference?

I would be aware of this:

 

[Biker19]

I would be aware of this:

 

Yes, I suppose some of it may depend on exact cabin too.

[Clarea]

Yes, I suppose some of it may depend on exact cabin too.

That's true, there are more obstructions on the lower decks.

[harryfat1]

This is almost as subjective as the food in the MDR - how "aware" is one of that difference? And there's the issue of one's understanding of what superstructure is.

 

Biker, who was hoping Harry would hurry with his review so these off topic discussions would take place at the end.

 

Sorry, I have to work everyday this week. At work right ow. Just taking my lunch break and checking my phone info. My work's firewall blocks access to all personal email as well as postings to forum chats such as cruise critics. So I can't upload and post from work even if I wanted to. Can only do it from home late at night or early in the morning before I go to work.

 

My last trip report is up to 1,300 posts from me and various members. We are on 100 now, so we're not getting to the end for awhile even if this one won't be as long as the previous one.

 

But please feel free to discuss this as needed - I'm fine with it. I didn’t know about this super structure thing until now and it's helpful info and that's the whole point of the report - to help future cruisers on their vacation.

 

 

 

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

[Biker19]

My last trip report is up to 1,300 posts from me and various members. We are on 100 now, so we're not getting to the end for awhile even if this one won't be as long as the previous one.

 

It will eventually get there.

[truffles2]

Not really any more than a regular balcony.

 

 

 

I beg to differ

 

 

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[Biker19]

I beg to differ

Sure, OK, you are right.

 

Biker, who wonders how many more examples to point out the error in my subjective assessment will be coming.:rolleyes:

[Clarea]

Sure, OK, you are right.

 

Biker, who wonders how many more examples to point out the error in my subjective assessment will be coming.:rolleyes:

Bob, who is sending an email to John, so he can add more examples.;)

[niksmom630]

:D:D HAHAHAHA....I hopped onto this thread at just the right time. Very funny, gentlemen!

 

Bob, who is sending an email to John, so he can add more examples.;)

 

Sure, OK, you are right.

 

Biker, who wonders how many more examples to point out the error in my subjective assessment will be coming.:rolleyes:

 

Harry, I followed along with your last review and really enjoyed it. Thank you for taking the time to share your trip and photos. I will be waiting patiently for your next installment.

[travellink]

Yes, I suppose some of it may depend on exact cabin too.

 

Our cabin is 7414 and I am a little disappointed in the obstructive view but maybe the size of the balcony and the view of the wake will make up for it, so possibly not a deal breaker.

[truffles2]

Truffles, who was not trying to rub it in but searching for the photo whilst the others replied....

 

John....

[Biker19]

At this pace of post whoring, Harry won't have a problem getting to the 1300 posts his Allure thread has.

 

Harry, you were saying about Day 0..........

Edited December 30, 2016 by Biker19

[h20skibum]

Harry,

 

Glad to see you are getting in to your report. I hadn't checked the Royal forum for a couple days (spending too much time on the Celebrity and Princess forums for my next two cruises), and here you are up to page 6.

 

The work thing gets in the way of reading and posting. We have to fly everywhere for our cruises, and our April one will see us doing a cross country to SFO for that one. We always seem to get the red eye on the way back from there.

 

Looking forward to more of your report.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[drrich2]

I'll be interested to see how you reckon the Freedom-class experience, coming at it from an Oasis-class experienced perspective.

 

When we cruised Liberty of the Seas (pre-water slides), it seemed to me Voyager-class, a tad bigger, plus a flow rider (that was some years ago). Since we don't flow-ride, figuratively and literally, it was 'more of the same' (note: I like Voyager-class fine).

 

When we cruised Oasis & Allure, it was a different kind of experience. Central Park enhanced my cruise more than I would've thought. Spent most of my childhood in the country, so a manmade fake natural area with piped in bird sounds didn't sound appealing...but it was really nice, and made walking through the ship nicer. The Boardwalk was nice, too, especially with a carousel and play structure offerings for our toddler.

 

But I sure miss the kind of itinerary we enjoyed on Adventure; the largest ships are so limited in where they can stop. First world problems...

 

So when all is said and done, please let us know what your family thought of the 'compare and contrast' between the 2 classes.

 

Richard.

Edited December 31, 2016 by drrich2

[harryfat1]

Dear Harry

after a crazy week at work, I only found out today that your new report is up. I was worried I might have missed something, but you have not yet even boarded which is great!

 

Thanks for the particular photo of Freedom aft; it is showing our aft cabin (no 1700) for our Transatlantic cruise next spring (I was not able to quote the photo).

 

Looking very much forward to rest of your story! Thank you!

 

Miryam

 

 

 

 

 

Hi, Miryam,

 

It is nice to chat with you once again. Glad you were able to find the link and jump over to this thread.

 

No fear on missing anything. It’s like reading a book. You can start anytime. Especially since your Freedom cruise doesn’t start until April.

 

But I must warn you, the Freedom does not have the small wonders like the Allure so there’s one less activity for you to track down.

[harryfat1]

We booked the Freedom six night Western Caribbean cruise for Dec 2017 while on the Adventure OTS Nov. 26 th Southern Caribbean cruise from San Juan. I was hoping to find a decent review before our sailing next year and was delighted to find your review so I subscribed right away. We booked an aft mini suite on deck seven. We have never had an aft cabin nor a suite (fellow cheepo) but decided to splurge since we would be getting a future cruise discount from our Adventure sailing amounting to 25% off based on our cruise fare. The price was still more than I wanted to pay, especially for only a six day cruise, but we can still change the booking. This may depend upon your review. No pressure Harry!

 

Hi, Bobby,

 

Not sure I can live up to the “decent” standard but I am pretty sure my trip report is long. We are at post 100 and we haven’t even boarded the ship yet…

 

Looks like the fellas have chimed in on your cabin so you might want to do a little more research online for the exact view to make sure you are fine with whatever obstructions.

[harryfat1]

Hi, Biker/Truffles2/Bob,

 

I appreciate the info you folks provided. That’s the whole point of these boards is to help other cruisers on their upcoming vacations.

 

It’s better that Bobby learns about the balcony views before he shows up so he has time for other options – if he chooses to.

[harryfat1]

Harry,

 

Glad to see you are getting in to your report. I hadn't checked the Royal forum for a couple days (spending too much time on the Celebrity and Princess forums for my next two cruises), and here you are up to page 6.

 

The work thing gets in the way of reading and posting. We have to fly everywhere for our cruises, and our April one will see us doing a cross country to SFO for that one. We always seem to get the red eye on the way back from there.

 

Looking forward to more of your report.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

 

Hi,

 

I see you will be sailing on the Summit next year. We were on her sister ship, Infinity, to Alaska few years back. You will enjoy Celebrity cruise experience.

 

My brother in law’s family is also looking to do a 15 day Hawaii cruise next year and they asked if we want to go with them. Not for me. Too many sea days for me as the ship is out in the open ocean. I get sea sick at drop of hat. I would be tossing cookies daily on such long cruise.

[harryfat1]

I'll be interested to see how you reckon the Freedom-class experience, coming at it from an Oasis-class experienced perspective.

 

When we cruised Liberty of the Seas (pre-water slides), it seemed to me Voyager-class, a tad bigger, plus a flow rider (that was some years ago). Since we don't flow-ride, figuratively and literally, it was 'more of the same' (note: I like Voyager-class fine).

 

When we cruised Oasis & Allure, it was a different kind of experience. Central Park enhanced my cruise more than I would've thought. Spent most of my childhood in the country, so a manmade fake natural area with piped in bird sounds didn't sound appealing...but it was really nice, and made walking through the ship nicer. The Boardwalk was nice, too, especially with a carousel and play structure offerings for our toddler.

 

But I sure miss the kind of itinerary we enjoyed on Adventure; the largest ships are so limited in where they can stop. First world problems...

 

So when all is said and done, please let us know what your family thought of the 'compare and contrast' between the 2 classes.

 

Richard.

 

Hi, Richard,

 

Yes, I will likely compare our experience with the Allure during and post trip report. I won’t spill the beans so you will need to read to the end to get my opinion.

 

Actually the family is in that discussion now as my younger son video tapes and talks into the camcorder (the YouTube generation) for the entire cruise. Think he said he recorded 7+ hours of raw footage from the cruise so we are watching just a little bit of it nightly and talk about the vacation itself and how it compares to the other cruises we have been on.

 

We’re on day 2 in the video, so the video is ahead of the CC trip report as the video has no anal spreadsheet to talk about…:p

[harryfat1]

The 2 drawbacks of the GalleryOne compared to the Dania beach hotels are 1) no free airport shuttle 2) no free breakfast. Since we arrived late and woke up late the next day, we would have missed the free breakfast anyway as we didn’t show any signs of life before 10 AM local time. Even then, you are talking about only around 5 to 6 hours of sleep after last night’s ordeal.

 

The original grand scheme planning was to go to supermarket down the street (Publix) and get food for tonight’s dinner and then hop on the water taxi to go all the way down to Hollywood beach to have lunch there while cruising by all the giant cruise ships to take many photos. Well, those plans sound great when you plan them at home in perfect world by saying we can do this and that and that. In real world, things happen and you sometimes need a plan B.

 

Since we were all hungry, we made our way out of the hotel and headed over to the Galleria mall and ate lunch at the food court. It’s not fancy dining by any means but it fits the bill and it’s close by. The boys had the Philly sandwiches and I had the Hibachi Grill Teriyaki checking. Actually with some spicy Sriracha sauce on top, it tasted pretty good for food court as the guy makes your food on order so it was super hot and fresh.

 

 

Here is the picture of hotel from the front:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hard to think about buying a Christmas tree from the lot wearing t-shirt and shorts and sandals but here it is as we walked by a lot on the way.

 

 

 

 

Galleria Mall from the outside where the rich people dine outside by the sidewalk café and cheapo dads eat inside at the food courts:

 

 

[harryfat1]

Food Court

 

 

 

 

The boys had the Philly Cheese Sandwiches:

 

 

 

 

Dude making my lunch – note the Sriracha sauce: