My View: Freedom (and the verdict on 1700 vs. 7408)

We just returned from our third adventure on Freedom of the Seas. I will be sharing my views of the ship/cruise and the verdict on the corner aft cabins that we had. These include 7408 from a previous cruise (mirror image of 7708) and 1700 (mirror image of 1400), which we had on this cruise.

I will try to complete this within 7 days so that it does not drag on. I will be sharing:

Tips

Too many pictures

Our experiences

Adventure Ocean Programs

Compass (if needed, as another CC member on our cruise is posting some or all of them)

If anyone has a burning desire to have the Adventure ocean programs sooner than when I get to them, just ask at APDMOM@live.com

For those who skim-read the reviews (yes, I know you are out there), I will try to post the tips in red so that you don't have to read through details you may not be interested in.

As always, it is with great regret that my signature now says.....

Leading up to the event...

We booked this cruise in April 2014, then promptly got a great price drop on May 1, 2015 (The original and real BOGO deals). So, with a price of $2,755 for a D1 with 3 passengers (taxes and fees included), we decided to splurge on the D1 to get one of the famous corner aft cabins: 1700 (mirror layout of 1400, and similar to Voyager class 1388 and 1688). The D1 was only $30 more than the E1, so it was the natural choice to try the new experience.

We previously had corner aft 7408 on FOS and 7708 on Indy (similar to Voyager class 7388 and 7688). The verdict is out on our personal preference...

First, some picture comparisons:

7408/7708: Corner aft category E1 (Sleeps 3)

Inside: Just a standard sized balcony cabin inside. No extras here.

Outside: Extra large balcony:

1700: Corner aft category D1

(Sleeps 3...or maybe even 4)

Inside: Extra large interior - about the size of a Junior suite. The bathroom is standard though.

At night, the couch turns into a bed. I personally think it can fit two, but I am not sure if this cabin is sold as accommodating 4. (Maybe someone could weigh in here...PS Thanks, irishgal... I knew it would not take long. Cofirmed - it accommodates up to 4 passengers).

Yes it accommodates 4 people.

1700 Outside:

Larger than normal balcony:

A view to the right from our balcony (Or in this case the left side of the ship/port side):

I will be back tomorrow with some size calculations and the verdict on our balcony experience.

Bookmarking! Sailing on the Freedom in FIVE DAYS!!

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Yes it accommodates 4 people.

Thanks for letting us know so quickly! I have edited my post to include the info. :)

Bookmarking! Sailing on the Freedom in FIVE DAYS!!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I will try to rush through the review as quickly as possible :) Enjoy your final countdown to bliss in the Caribbean!

The Verdict on the balconies:

In order to explain our verdict, I will share some comparisons:

Measurements of balconies (roughly, using DH's shoes)

7408 and 7708 = about 196 square feet

1400 and 1700 = about 175 square feet

Inside measurements:

7408 and 7708 = (standard for E1)

1400 and 1700 = about the size of a junior suite, but with regular bathroom

Having experienced both of these, the E1's win with flying colors (7408 and 7708), and here are the reasons we came to that verdict:

1. Although the surface of the balconies are very similar, the corner of 1700 and 1400 is very crammed, as the roof slants down with a sharp angle. This really limits the useable area. (DH is 6'4")

You can see it pretty clearly in this picture:

2. Most days, 1700 was too hot to use in port, especially when no breeze came from the aft of the ship. There is no draft that can cut through, like there is on 7408 and 7708 (as it has the large opening to the side).

Opening seen clearly in this picture:

3. We spend a lot of time on the balcony itself, and therefore do not mind the smaller rooms. Our cabin hacks (coming up shortly) make up for the decreased storage.

4. The view from 7408 and 7708 encompass a lot more of the side of the ship, whereas the view from 1700 is more confined to the aft of the ship.

5. We like climbing stairs! There was only one flight of stairs up to the Windjammer, and we prefer deck 7 for the additional exercise before breakfast :D (and to avoid climbing 7 flights of stairs after dinner :eek: )

I am going to cheat a bit on this review and share my cabin hacks from my previous reviews: (Independence and Oasis)

 

1. Put a rag in the tray for your shampoo, soap, and razor - that way they do not fall through the slats onto the shower floor...

 

 

2. Pack empty ziploc bags for those late night snacks - grab extra cookies from the Promenade Cafe or from the Windjammer...

 

 

3. Pack a flashlight with a magnet. Notice how the light switch for the bathroom is to the right of the door, outside the door, and how the door swings open to the right? Poor planning! (At least this was not the case with 1700). Everyone wakes up to that bright light when you turn it on at night. So, bring a magnetic flashlight to put just inside the bathroom for easy access at night. It is also helpful to use inside the safe to find your iPod among all the other electronic devices, camera lenses, passports, and $1 bills...:eek:

 

 

More tips!

 

4. Bring one of those plugs that allows for multiple items to be charged at once:

 

 

Here is what you get in the cabin (including the European outlet for my friends on the other side of the Atlantic)

 

 

In the bathroom:

 

Here is what you get in the "cooler". It was definitely NOT a fridge. The water was even just a little cooler than room temperature in there.

Packing Tips:

Before we leave home, we always take a picture of each piece of luggage that will be checked in at the port. This way we have a picture, should one get lost. I also cross pack a few sets of clothes for each family member in our two main suitcases. If one gets lost, we are not stranded without much to wear.

 

I read a great tip to pack magnetic hooks, which really helped save space on the counters. I hung our hats there, and also the wet swimwear.

 

Another way to dry clothing is to pack clothing pegs - we only use it during the day, and if it is not windy:

Pack the "Over the door organizer". It is great for storing sun lotion, hair products, brushes, combs, etc.

Taking a pic of your luggage is a great idea. We had our luggage stolen right out of our car. Sent the police our pics and the luggage was found before we sailed.....only missing some jewelry.

Here are a few more cabin tips, in case you are new to cruising, or never discovered these:

Behind the mirrors by the dresser is more storage space. Look right next to the lights on the dresser. Here is the mirror cabinet, opened:

There is also one mirror in the bathroom that can open to reveal cabinet space:

Closed:

Opened:

A few more pictures of 1700:

What you get in the bathroom: Just shampoo and a bar soap.

Time for some motherly duties. I will be back with our pre-cruise stay and sail away later tonight. :)

The Verdict on the balconies:

 

Having experienced both of these, the E1's win with flying colors (7408 and 7708)

YAY! We have 7708 booked for next summer on the Indy for 2 weeks! I figure with 6 sea days and a lot of ports I can spend A LOT of time on that balcony looking out!

Hi!!! I was just sitting here looking through my pictures when I decided to get on CC! And here you are, reviewing our cruise! SO, I'm following along, so I can relive it through someone else's eyes! :D

YAY! We have 7708 booked for next summer on the Indy for 2 weeks! I figure with 6 sea days and a lot of ports I can spend A LOT of time on that balcony looking out!

Definitely a good choice! If you have not already done so, you can look at my Indy review linked in my signature. We had that same cabin on Indy!

Hi!!! I was just sitting here looking through my pictures when I decided to get on CC! And here you are, reviewing our cruise! SO, I'm following along, so I can relive it through someone else's eyes! :D

Hi Tamara! Thanks for reading along! I would love to hear about your experiences too. Hope all is well at home :)

A pre-cruise tradition: Radisson Resort at the Port

For our pre-cruise stay, we chose the Radisson Resort at the Port for a third time. We always have a pleasant stay here, with the convenience of the shuttle to the port.

We booked the hotel more than a year in advance at $171 for the Park & Cruise rate. This rate was much higher than our previous $145 per night, so we checked frequently for a price drop. Finally, 3 days before our stay, a CC roll call member (Thanks Fred) posted the price drop for us. We were able to upgrade to a two room suite for only $138.00, so we got a better room for a much lower rate. So, keep checking those hotel prices!

The Park & Cruise package includes free shuttle for two people per room. Every extra person pays $12 for a return fare. Considering the port parking, we therefore paid about $44.00 in essence for a two room suite. Not too bad for this penny pincher!

We like the fact that you can book the shuttle in advance with Radisson. Already in February, we had confirmed seats for the 10:30 a.m. shuttle.

Internet at Radisson was sporadic. The first few hours after arrival were excellent. After about 8 p.m. it got slow... to slower... to losing connection. My guess is there was higher usage those hours, resulting in slow and non-existent internet. So, if you have need for good internet, this is not the place to stay.

Also, the hallway outside our room was noisy, with the outside door opening a lot. We were in building 6, which has inside corridors. If this is your preference, ask for a room in building 6, but away from the exterior door. We had room 601, right by the entrance, so pretty much all foot traffic passed our room. Our room was obviously one of the newly renovated rooms - very clean with updated furniture, TV's and very new looking bathroom fixtures. The room had a microwave, fridge, coffee-maker and a sink in the kitchenette. No dishes were provided though.

Room pictures (one down side was that the room did not have a bathtub - just a shower):

Sailaway Day is Here!

After a countdown of 85 weeks, our embarkation day has finally arrived!

A first glimpse of our ship, as seen from the shuttle:

Our shuttle was scheduled for 10:30 a.m., so we were in the lobby and checking out at 10:10. The shuttle process is very well organized and we were on the shuttle by 10:20 a.m. We went through security quickly, walked right up to the check-in counter, then waited in the boarding area by 10:50. Boarding started right at 11:00 a.m. We waited for platinum to be called, and I was very surprised by the large number of platinum members entering the ship with us. We crowded up the gangway, but the crowd quickly cleared out once we entered the ship.

We entered the ship on deck 4, so we took the stairs down to deck 3 in order to avoid the crowds mulling around the drinks sales, Adventure Ocean information, etc. This was a good plan, as an empty elevator showed up after just a few seconds. We ate in the Windjammer since it was still fairly quiet. We were seated by 11:30 and it got very crowded by the time we left at 12:10 p.m.

Lunch in the Windjammer:

Exploring “our” ship:

The port from the aft viewpoint:

During ship exploration, I was a little disappointed to see that about 70% of the Promenade Café had been closed off for renovations. This included the area with the bench seating that we used to frequent for a morning tea or cappuccino. Fortunately, tables and chairs had been set up on the sides of the promenade, so there was still space for our tradition. The renovations did cause for quite a bottleneck in that area of the promenade during rush times (during rainy sea days and the parties/sales/parade). It was a minor inconvenience and I assume the renovations will be worth the small discomfort we experienced on this cruise.

The arrows in this picture indicate the temporary structure that they installed to work on the expansion of the Next Cruise desk. We found out that they are increasing the next cruise staff member team to 7, up from the current 4 members.

No announcement was made about rooms being ready, but we headed to our room around 1:10 p.m. The room was indeed ready, with stateroom attendants in the process of vacating the hallways. Our stateroom attendant was Johnny and he did a great job with our room.

TIP: You can go to the Main Dining Room on boarding day, usually around 11 am to 3 pm on deck 4, to see where your assigned table is located. We went to the main dining room to see whether our request for a small table had been granted. Sure enough, there was a table for 4 assigned to us. It was right by the windows on deck 3 - a really nice and quiet spot!

Both our checked suitcases arrived around 3 p.m. and we were able to unpack before the safety briefing. Safety briefing/muster drill was a bit longer than in the past. After the sirens, we waited about 15 to 20 minutes for the announcements and briefing to ensue. It was fortunately cool on deck and we were about to start a seven day cruise! No complaints about completing this necessary part of the process. No life jackets are required and they do scan every seapass card at your muster station.

A shout out to Mark Setter (?I think I have his last name right?). He came around to the muster station to remind everyone in a somewhat witty, yet firm way, that the muster drill is important, asking everyone to pay attention during the announcements. It was the best attending crowd I had seen in a while!

My View: Day One - Sail away:

Sail off was a rainy, windy affair, but we had the security of our balcony to wave our flag at the webcam.

Now, you may be asking, “Why does a bald man need a hairdryer?”

The answer: A cold front was moving into Port Canaveral, and DH’s head got really cold on the balcony (I would not know, as I have a lot of hair:p). I think this is a sign that he has been watching way too many survival shows...

Our First Night's Dinner: Mojo

We had a good laugh, as DH received a German menu, which he promptly passed along to me, as I am the one who knows "Deutsch" :D . Mahlzeit!

I know food is subjective, but I will share my impressions of our dishes for those who are interested.

Watermelon chilled soup - 4/6

Smoked Fish Rillettes - 3/6

Mojo Pork - too tough, but roasted sweet potatoes were great. 1/6

Seafood spaghetti - 3/6

Peach and blueberry cobbler - very good - not too sweet. 4/6

Tonight, they had a Dreamworks Dance party on the promenade. This is a change from the schedules we had before. Basically, what used to be the Dreamworks Sailaway is now a Promenade dance party - same songs, same dance routines, lots of fun, but way too crowded. It was impossible for us to dance along where we were standing. In my opinion, it worked much better as a Sailaway Party.

With the Dreamworks now moved to the promenade, Sailaway is covered by “Temperature Band” (we missed this as we opted for our sheltered balcony).

With that, our first day comes to a close. My view of day two will follow tomorrow. Here is a sneak peek:

My View: Day 2 - At Sea