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LIVE BLOG WITH PICS: Freedom OTS - Western Med - 21 May 2017

TheGinBoy
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TheGinBoy

TheGinBoy

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We made it on board! Cabins were ready for us at about 1340. Dropped our hand luggage, picked up our Coke Freestyle cups and headed to The Windjammer.

 

Two coke freestyle machines either side of windjammer/jade.

 

Found my some of the legendary Honey Stung Chicken too!

 

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Clarea

Clarea

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Did you happen to notice if there is a duty free booze ship at Barcelona port?

Love the honey stung chicken definitely a guilty pleasure!

There are duty free shops (including liquor) inside the cruise terminal.

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TheGinBoy

TheGinBoy

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So we're finally off. We're leaving Barcelona.

 

We've had a few drinks onboard. Sampling the specials from each bar, well I have - Alan doesn't drink.

 

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My favourite bartender so far is Sonia in the Viking Crown, although Troy in Boleros is a close second!

 

Sailway was windy but fun, we spent it up on the helipad!

 

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Muster drill was as to be expected. Out on Deck 4, C12 for us, most people were there on time but there were still people sauntering up 20 mins later as the drill finished.

 

Interestingly there are lots of Chinese and Thai people on this sailing, so they had their own Muster drill in the theatre from Chinese & Thai hosts.

 

I can confirm the Coke Freestyle machines are present and well stocked with cartridges.

 

We noticed 6 massive rolls of carpet at the aft of deck 4 earlier (where you'd go to view the wake) so assume there's some refurbishment happening during this sailing. Haven't seen any roped off areas etc though.

 

We have been having some issues with the Royal-WiFi / Voom though. Lots of people having trouble connecting, but apparently they've dealing with it. I got the combined 'Deluxe Drinks Package & 1 Device Voom' deal, so eager to get it working.

 

But hey, as long as the ship keeps sailing and the alcohol keeps flowing I'm happy!

 

 

 

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TheGinBoy

TheGinBoy

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So our cabin is a Deck 2 interior.

 

I've never had an interior cabin before. Always Balcony or Ocean View. But as this cruise is SO port intensive we didn't think we'd need a balcony, and money we saved could go on drinks packages and speciality dining.

 

It's small. Very small. But that said perfectly appointed. Lots of storage. Drawers and cubbies everywhere. The bed was set as a double, and not the twin we ordered, but Adil said he'd change it for us.

 

The bathroom has a glass shower screen rather than the rapey curtain of doom. Which is always a relief. Little to no noise, no movement, just by the centrum lifts.

 

Coffee table has made an appearance in this room. I'd normally cheer for that in a balcony cabin, but in a deck 2 interior it just gets in the way.

 

Also mildly disappointed that RCCL are still using the incredibly 1990s turquoise & terracotta decor on Freedom. It's not a HUGE amount of work to swap curtains and such out for the newer navy and white. But it is what it is. And it's comfortable - so that's all good.

 

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judeniece

judeniece

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Ohh have a fab time , once all those lovely cocktails are in you won't see the decor [emoji23][emoji23] enjoy soo excited for this as this will be us in 42 days [emoji106][emoji106][emoji106][emoji484][emoji484][emoji484]

 

 

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ELLIETAM

ELLIETAM

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Hello: Have a wonderful time on your cruise. May I ask for a favor? I am confused on what I am seeing on the Deck Plan for Deck 2, some indicated that there is a pair of restrooms right by cabin 2540 and some site show it as 2 blank white spaces. Can you please what is located all the way in the front on the port side of Deck 2? We also have an interior cabin for this cruise, as you have mentioned that it is so port-intensive and after a long day at port, we just will be using the cabin for shower and sleep. Thank you so much!

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gsuoumu

gsuoumu

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You know I'll be making R-Bar my second home, and I try never to miss the quest!

 

Hope we can sail together again soon!!!

 

 

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I'm late to the party but are Bruce and Aston still in FOTS R-Bar? They were amazing.

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TheGinBoy

TheGinBoy

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Dinner! My favourite word!

 

So we're on My Time Dining (hereafter referred to as MTD). We headed to the MDR (deck 5) at 7:45pm and pretty much walked straight in. We were shown to a table for two with no problems.

 

Tonight's menu was: Mojo

 

For starters I had the escargot and seafood coconut soup. (Forgot to take pics but was lovely)

 

For mains I had the Prime rib with baked potato. Perfectly cooked. Perfect size. Piping hot.

 

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Then for desert I couldn't not have the BBB (Banana Baileys Brûlée).

 

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Our server was Nadezhda (Nadia) and she was LOVELY! Kudos to her!

 

Now we're off to the LGBT meet up at R-Bar.

 

 

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TheGinBoy

TheGinBoy

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Morning all!

 

So it's the morning after the night before...

 

The LGBT meet-up went well, only six of us which seemed odd as this ship has more queens on it than a Texan beauty pageant, but hey ho. Everyone got on well, we stayed in R-Bar for a few hours, and then headed up to the Viking Crown.

 

We had some more drinks and a laugh, but sadly I dancing as the DJ was only playing Spanish language songs - which apparently no one knew. The bar was packed, but the dancefloor was dead. I've popped a note in the Cruise Director's box asking for some music with wider appeal.

 

Anywhoooo... it's breakfast time now. I've gone for pancakes & bacon, waffles & chocolate, and a Bloody Mary. Because why not!

 

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Then we'll head into Marseilles port and old town. We're doing our thing for the day, because we are strong independent homosexuals and we don't need no shore excursions.

 

Also need to pop into Zara and buy a shirt for formal night tonight as the one I brought with me is really creased and no time to get it laundered!

 

 

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mcatmcat Great Review Rare

mcatmcat

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Thank you theginboy, I know its the beginning of the cruise but based on your last experiences with royal do you feel so far that people are dressing better or more casual? I always sail from Florida and I have an idea on what to expect from others but I'm sailing from Barcelona soon and I was wondering what to expect.

I was in MSC divina last year with lots of European and I was surprised how well dressed they were during the week even for boarding day.

 

 

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ronandannette

ronandannette

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Thank you so much for posting! Could you share your Cruise Compass and some menus?

Have a wonderful cruise!

 

I won't be collecting and scanning cruise compasses or menus. Sorry' date=' it's FAR too much like my day job!

 

 

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We're just off the May 14 sailing; I'll post the Compasses when we get home next week. We were completely amazed and overwhelmed by our first visit to the Med and we "touristed" so hard each day that we ended up doing almost nothing on the ship itself. I'm sure theginboy's review will be much more well-rounded than any report I could make. Have a great week ginboy!!

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