Annefran

Can't believe you didn't mention your quiet next door neighbours and beach buddies at Cozumel! lol

Kev

Oh my bad, we had wonderful glorious neighbors that never ever made a peep! Miss you Kev!!! :D ;)

Thank you for your wonderful review! That Residence Inn you stayed in, was that on Astronaut Boulevard?

 

We're booked on an FOS Easter September of 2014, so I will live vicariously through your review:)

Yes it was. It was right over the bridge and in a great location. It appeared to be a relatively new hotel. Very nice large rooms, wonderful free breakfast and I saw there was a place outside to sit at night near a firepit. Enjoy!

30 May 2013 (Grand Cayman) – We booked Stingray Swim through the ship. It started to lightly rain on our way to the small pier to catch our boat. We had a small boat run by 2 brothers. They were very nice and helpful. The skies opened up once everyone was at the Stingray sandbar. I stayed on the boat to take photos. It rained so hard it was hailing! Everyone including those of us who stayed on the boat got soaked. The brothers took several photos of the girls kissing, holding and feeding the stingrays. They made a CD of the photos for $30 (about 12 photos on the CD). Darline & I split the cost to share the photos. It was an early excursion and we were back at the pier area to shop and have lunch around 11am. It rained on/off all day. It was a waste of a day in port unfortunately. We had lunch at Hard Rock Café and stopped in Guy Harvey’s store for the girls to buy t-shirts. Guy Harvey was there and signed the girl’s shirts. Wondering who Guy Harvey is, so was I! Apparently he’s very popular among the college kids. He’s an awesome painter too. Look him up online.

Tonight was the Royal Suite cocktail party for Suite, Diamond Plus and Pinnacle C&A members. The suite was awesome. Apparently the gentleman, Zeke and his wife are Pinnacle members who have the suite cabin one week a month until October. You were greeted at the door by a waiter with champagne. He had a 3 piece band, hors d’oeuvres and open bar from 4-6pm. We were allowed to walk around the suite and take photos. It was pretty spectacular to see how other half lives, lol. Afterward we went to the Concierge for a few drinks and then had dinner in Portofino’s. The menu had changed since last our cruise last May and I really didn’t like the new menu. OK, I’m not a foodie by any means and all these sauces or fancy-smancy things really aren’t my thing. Ha-ha!

Tonight was the Quest, which we love. Our cruise-mates weren’t feeling that great and didn’t make the show. The Quest never disappoints and it didn’t this night either!

31 May 2013 (Cozumel) - A little overcast but sunny day. We were off the ship by 10:30am. We grabbed a taxi after working ourselves through the maze of stores near the pier. We booked Nachi Cocom All-Inclusive resort for the day online. Again not through RCI, I found it on CC. Thanks CC’ers! We went through a little rain storm on the way there. It was about a $20 taxi ride with tip for the four of us. We were greeted at the entrance by an attendant. They gave us sombreros to put on and took a photo. Darline bought the photos for us as a surprise. We had paid our balance at the front desk. It was $55 per person. It included use of the facilities; pool, Jacuzzi, beach, loungers, hut umbrella, all food and drinks. By far one of the best days on the cruise. J The pool was small and nice. The beach was clean and the ocean water beautiful. There were clean bathrooms also. We had a designated waiter for the day, Carlos. He got all our drinks; bottled water too and our food. We gave him a $10 tip up front and then another $5 for getting us the taxi at the end of the day. There was only cruise ship people there (RCI & Carnival). The food was wonderful. The guacamole was the best I have tasted, was definitely homemade. They only allow 100 people for the day. It was not crowded at all. The locals come to give you their “spiel” about renting jet skis, glass bottom boats, banana boating and massages but once you say no they NEVER bother you again. We rented towels ($5.00 each) to not have to drag them off the ship and also a float matt ($7.00), well worth it. It ended up being a gorgeous day without any additional rain in sight. We were there from about 11am-3:30pm. We informed Carlos when we wanted to leave and there was a taxi waiting at the entrance for us. We went back to the pier and shopped a little before getting back on the ship.

We were exhausted from the humidity and sun all day, so we went took our time getting ready for dinner. We ate in the Windjammer but cut our dinner short because the ship was rocking/rolling. Tonight was the ice show, Freedom on Ice. As always a great show and it always amazes me what the skaters can do in such a small space. Our cruise-mates loved the show. The 70s Parade was also that night. Always a lot of fun with the shooting the t-shirts and throwing glow in the dark rings out to the audience. Later on it was Silent Disco night in the Crypt. If you have never been to one, definitely stop by. Here is how it works: you are given a headset with 2 different channels that have entirely different songs. You are the only person that can hear that song you are tuned into. Very funny to see everyone dancing and singing to entirely different songs.

1 June 2013 (Sea day) – Another gorgeous day, no rain in sight. We sat up on deck watching the Sexiest Man contest and other activities as the ship glided along the quiet sea waters. Today we had to pack and get ready to leave our cruise vacation. I hate packing! We met our new cruise friends in the Concierge for farewell drinks and then headed to the MDR for dinner and to say goodbye to our waiters, Batman & Robin. The show was a production show with RCI singers/dancers, a comedian (very funny guy) and an aerial act.

Final thoughts: Loved our GS and will definitely have one again on one of our next cruises. Our cabin steward, Darell was by the far the best we have had in all our cruises. He couldn’t do enough for us. The Ultimate Coupon books are gone and all coupons are loaded onto your seapass cards now. A list of coupons is provided in your cabin. The Concierge was nice and our waiter, Troy entertained us every night with one of his many stories from his life. The RCI was all friendly, helpful and always had smiles on their faces. Freedom of the Seas is a well maintained ship.

28 May 2013 (Labadee) – We were up early and off the ship to enjoy our Over the Water cabana in Labadee. The weather was a bright sunny absolutely gorgeous day. We had cabana OTW7. We floated on mats in the water majority of the day and chatted with our friends. The buffet was very yummy. A wonderful day had by all. We highly recommend the cabanas. This was our 3rd time with a cabana; we have had a beach, hilltop and now over the water. Once back on the ship, the girls had Flowrider lessons and did very well. The group was only 6 people with 2 instructors.

We opted to eat in the Windjammer because the girls had Flowrider lessons and missed our 7:30 dinner time. Tonight’s show was a magician/illusionist that was on X-Factor, sorry I’m terrible with names! He was great and the RCI singers/dancers also participated in his show. Afterward it was over to Studio B for Battle of the Sexes; men vs. women. My DD & Chloe were on the women’s team. They to perform various types of activities to earn points; example Chloe put on a huge T-shirt and the ladies had to blow up balloons to stuff into her shirt. Whichever team had the most balloons won that event. It was hilarious and lots of fun. The women ended up winning.

29 May 2013 (Falmouth, Jamaica) – We woke up to sunshine. We decided to try going to Braco Beach Resort an all-inclusive for the day. I had read about it on CC. I have to mention I am NOT a fan of Jamaica and if we ever stop there again, will just stay on the ship. We have been to Dunn River Falls and went to Bamboo Beach another time. We paid for transportation in the trip too. This was not through RCI. We had to walk outside of the cruise port to meet our driver in front of the Courthouse where he was waiting for us in an air conditioned van. The 10 minute walk was horrible with all the vendors harassing us to take their tours, horrible. Anyway, we climbed into the van and after a 30-35 minute drive we were at the resort. It was a very pretty resort although we found out later more for the locals then tourists. The price included use of the facilities (pool/beach), lunch and all drinks/alcohol. It was extremely windy on the beach and got cloudy after about 30 minutes there. It rained for majority of the afternoon. The food was ok, the drinks were served in very small cups and my DD and her friend were constantly being harassed by all the boys/men there. We will NOT ever go back. We called our driver and went back early to shop at the pier area. Again, I’m NOT a fan of Jamaica.

That night we ate in the dining room. The new menu has a different spice each night as its highlight and then the foods are centered on the spice. The food was ok some nights were better than other nights. We loved our wait staff and requested the same waiters every night we were there. Tonight’s show was Once Upon a Time, great great show. They took fairy tales and put up to date music to them. Definitely don’t miss this show. The Love & Marriage Show was later that night. I didn’t go, but DD and her friend did. I’ve seen it too many times to count. I needed a good night’s rest.

Hi All, DD & friends wanted me to write a review of our FOS cruise. Here it is, I hope it's helpful and let me know if you have any questions. Will try to answer as many as I can. Happy Cruising!

Freedom of the Seas – 26 May – 2 June 2013

25 May 2013 – A little background: I was traveling with my daughter who is 20 years old (Julie), her friend (Chloe) and her mom (Darline) for this cruise. We are Diamond plus C&A members and this was our friend’s first cruise. We had an early afternoon flight from Newark to Orlando. This was our first experience with JetBlue and really liked it. While standing in line to check in, we met a NY Giant Michael Cox. He had just been drafted and was absolutely the nicest young man ever. My daughter & her friend took a photo with him. By the time we got to Orlando, picked up our luggage, called Cocoa Beach Shuttle and got on board it was after 5pm. We were at our hotel Marriott Residence Inn by 6pm. I had Marriott points and enjoyed a free night’s stay. J Would highly recommend this hotel, it was clean, had a complimentary breakfast and so close to the pier area. I had some cruise friends in the area and they took us to ABC Liquors to buy our 2 bottles of wine that we could carry on board.

26 May 2013 - The hotel supplied van transportation to the pier (1.2 miles away) but we opted to grab a taxi because they weren’t shuttling people until noon time. We wanted to be on the ship as early as possible. We were at the pier by 11:30am and on the ship by noon time. Very quick and easy embarkation process, props to Port Canaveral! My daughter had no idea that I had booked a Grand Suite and still didn’t even after she got her gold seapass card. I finally couldn’t hold in my excitement any longer and told her as we were boarding. So much for waiting until we got to our cabin, lol. We had a quick lunch in the Windjammer along with the other 1000 people J and then headed to our respective cabins. We first stopped at our friend’s cabin on deck 8. I had them book a center hump cabin and they loved the location. We then went to see our first ever, GS on deck 10. Opening the door and seeing the GS for the first time was a wonderful experience. It was huge; we loved the bathroom and the extra-large balcony area. I will say I like the walk-in closet much better in the Junior Suites but other than that, love, love, love the GS and all its amenities!!! We spent the next few hours making spa appointments and exploring the ship. We had an informal Meet & Mingle with our CC group at 3pm. It was nice to finally put faces to all the names that we had been chatting with all these months. Sail away was around 4:30 and took some great photos of Kennedy Space Center.

We opted for MTD this cruise because early seating was too early, 5:30pm. We had a table for 4 and our wait staff, Batman and Robin was wonderful and very attentive. We had a standing reservation of 7:30pm every night. We saw the Marquee stage show that evening. It was montage of different famous Broadway plays with the RCI singers and dancers. It was good but not great, just my opinion. More on the shows during the week later. We were all exhausted that night went to bed before 11pm to get up early for our spa appointments.

Forgot to mention, my DD received a call in our cabin asking if we would like to have dinner at the Captain’s table the next night. My DD was so excited and couldn’t believe our luck. More on that tomorrow. Our Cruise Director was Richard Spacey and Assistant Cruise Director was Jamie. We had Richard as our CD on Explorer last May and he has become one of our favorite CDs ever. Two Make a Wish families were on our ship for the week and they held various auctions for galley tours, port announcements and I think a sports package to the highest bidders.

27 May 2013 (sea day) – My DD, her friend and her mom had early spa appointments. My hot stone massage wasn’t until 3:30pm. The sea day was bright and sunny but extremely windy with some passing showers. Majority of the lounge chairs were bungee corded down. I asked a pool attendant to unlock a lounger for me and sat near a very nice couple from St Louis. Eventually my DD and her friend joined me. The pool suite area was above the Sky Bar. I didn’t sit there due to the high winds plus it’s not a very nice area. I was disappointed in the suite area and made a comment on my review card that they change the area back to in front of the Sky Bar and along the tiered decks. This pool day was filled with the Men’s Belly flop contest. Always a great event and even better watching it on the large pool screen. I went to my hot stone massage and found out I had several knots in my calves and neck area. I was a bit bruised afterward but know free ;).

DD & I had to meet at the Champagne Bar for cocktails prior to dinner with the Captain. Once we got there we realized we weren’t having dinner with the Captain but with the Hotel Director. He was actually a wonderful personable man and we enjoyed meeting him. His wife was visiting for the month and joined us for dinner. Loved meeting you Suzanne! There were 3 couples and another mother/daughter that joined us. We had our own special menu and wines for dinner. They took a photo and gave us all a copy of the menu plus the photo of the table. We met a couple that had the Royal Suite and were hosting a cocktail party later in the week in their cabin. We received an invitation later in the week from them. More on that the day we went. Dinner was great and we made friends with a couple seated next to us, Eric and Colleen from Rochester, NY that would be our friends for the remainder of the cruise.

The show that night was Re-Voiced (I think that’s what they were called). It was an all-male group that didn’t use instruments and only their voices to make music. They were superb and not to be missed. We met them later in the week and took photos.

Anyone else starting to become very disappointed in these studio cabins? When they were first announced I was excited and the possibilities they would add for solo sailers. Since then it's sounding more and more like the interior ones are not true inside cabins as they won't feature the virtual balcony. They also seems to be intended for the use with the modular cabins and will only be sold as solos at a later date closer to sailing like they do with the family category cabins that are meant for 5 or more. The balconies on the other hand will be available from day 1 but the now official word that a secondary passenger can be booked at the 3rd person rate is leading many non solo cruisers to view it as a more cost effective manor of sailing. Will any of these "solo" cabins actually end up being sold to solo sailers?

Starting to think some of the same thoughts too. I was very excited about the solo cabins also. I don't like the idea about the inside cabins being part of the the modular family situation either and will only be available for later booking. If that was the case, they should provide more balcony and inside cabin that aren't part of that for solo cruisers. Maybe they will, who knows? Hopefully they will make changes as they go along to the ship. :cool:

Hi All,

We are very excited for our Freedom of the Seas cruise May 26th. We sailed on it's sister ship, Liberty several years ago. I am a fan of the Voyager class but I think Freedom class is going to take that over after we sail. This is our first time doing MTD. I did make our reservations online for 7:30pm every night. I'm hoping to change that to an early seating either 6:45 or 7:00pm once we board. Do I go to the Main Dinning room to try to change that on boarding day? Or would the Concierge be able to do that for us? 7:30pm was the earliest time when I booked online. That is a little late for us but still didn't want to do the early seating (as we always have in the past) because it was way too early, 5:30pm. I have read we can request the same waitstaff, which is great. There will be four of us sailing. Anything else I should know about the ship, any great secrets you can share? Happy Sailing!

<<<<<<This person is extremely happy excited about a new ship sailing out of Bayonne. So tired of all the negative-nellies that are upset about Quantum not being in Florida. Not all RCI ships have to sail out of Florida. I love love love that I can drive 40 minutes to the port and get on the ship. We have sailed on the Explorer of the Seas five times over the years and loved our cruises. It is way overdue for a new ship. Choose to be happy folks!!! So much less stressful. :p;)

There will be 16 studio staterooms, 12 with balconies, will be sold with no single supplement.

 

Many interior staterooms will feature 80-inch video display monitors offering live feed from cameras on the exterior of the ship, providing what the line is promoting as “virtual balconies".

I will definitely be interested in these cabins but only the ones with the balcony. I usually cruise with my college aged DD but sometimes I want to cruise during the year with friends and find it hard to find someone to go with me. This will be great but I'm sure as you all said wildly popular and will probably book quickly for cruises. At least it's a great option for single mom's like me. :D

General question; I emailed our Concierge for our May 26th FOS cruise to reserve our Labadee cabana. I haven't heard back yet. I know we have more than month to sail.

When do you think the Concierge will email me back, 2 weeks prior to the cruise? We are staying in a GS and are Diamond Plus C&A. Should I email him again if I don't hear back soon? I know that they are switching Concierges in late April. Thoughts?

Show off! :D

Above the Sky Bar

 

 

 

Wow that's high above the crowd! Thanks for the information. :)

Hi All, we are sailing on FOS late May and have our first GS, so excited. Can someone tell me where the suite lounge area is near the pool? Just curious. Thanks!

Hi All,

I have a couple questions about the WiFi on the Freedom of the Seas. My DD has to register for her classes for the Fall Semester on May 29th. It's very important that she register that day when it opens because she is doing a Semester at Sea and she needs certain classes. We will be sailing that week on the Freedom of the Seas. I was going to tell her to bring her laptop and we could just buy the package for the week. My questions are: is it fast? She needs it to be fast to navigator through the pages to register. Next question: are there hotspots on the ship that are better than our cabin? Last question: do we have to buy the package for the week or can we just purchase for that day?

Thanks so much for any information you can share. We have never brought our laptop with us before just used RCI's computers. They would be too slow for this process. :rolleyes:

Good chance,but no sense trying to email him early April......he'll be on vacation..

AD Adventure -(Concierge)Sucel Nickings(Silvia Abreu De Gasperi on vacation mid March)

AL Allure --(Concierge)- Rahim Fraoui (till 03/31/13) and Dexter Fraser (as of 02/17/13)

(Fernando Ugalde Nadal on vacation as of 02/17/13)

(Diamond)"Ana" Anayansy Jimenez as of 02/17/13

BR Brilliance -(Concierge)Betsy Medrano till August 2013 (Anis Tebbeb/Carlos Guiza Grandas)

(Diamond) (coming May 2013)

EN Enchantment -(Concierge)Iryna Tsybulnykova as of 02/16/13(Reyno Varkevisser on vacation 02/16/13 till 04/01/13)

(Diamond) Jasmin Villajuan

EX Explorer- (Concierge) Mario Reyes as of 01/13/13

FR Freedom (Concierge)- Bertrand Almeida (02/10/13 till April)

(Willie Salaya)

(Diamond)- Mangesh Jambhulkar till 06/2013

GR Grandeur-(Concierge)-Ruth Romo( Israel Sanchez on vacation as of 03/17/13)

(Diamond)Efren Aguirre

ID Independence (Concierge)Ryno Strapp till 03/30/13

(Raj Bhugwath)

(Diamond) -Columella Arandia as of 06/30/12

JW Jewel -(Concierge) Diego Tripaldi(on vacation 04/27/13-06/29/13)

LG Legend -(Concierge)Rahul Barua (as 02/06/13)

(Diamond)-Andrew Finegold(as of 02/06/13)

LB Liberty- (Concierge)-Carlos Ortiz(until May 2013)

(Diamond)-Oana Popa(Denzil Fernandes vacation as of 03/13/13)

MJ Majesty - none

MA Mariner -(Concierge)-Sebastian Henter as of 03/03/13 ( Luca Iorio)

(Diamond)-Nizar Laatiri

MN Monarch - none

NV Navigator – (Concierge) Mahmoud Messaoudi(Ricardo Mock on vacation as of 02/09/13)

OA Oasis (Concierge) Allan Fajardo and Charmaine Fernandes(till 05/04/13-back June)

(Diamond) Carolina Cullbera till end of March 2013(Francis Calimag)

RD Radiance -(Concierge)Juan Diego Miranda-Allen(Gazetty James on vacation 03/05/13-05/17/13) (JD on vacation again 07/26/13-08/30/13)

(Diamond) Shim Hyun "JJ" till 05/17/13

RH Rhapsody -(Concierge) Amit Chattopadhyay as of 01/23/13

(Diamond)Pretty Shamu(as of 03/11/13) Karen Hernandez

SR Serenade - (Concierge)Francois Roux (Nadja Djurdjevic)

(Diamond) Rami Tabassi till 05/05/13

SP Splendour–(Concierge) Gustavo Butcher as of 01/19/13(Telma Santos)

Silvia Abreu De Gasperi(mid March)

(Diamond)Carolina Costa till 03/13

VI Vision - none till 10/23/13

VY Voyager -(Concierge)Jayeon Hong(Yangyang Qi end of March)

 

 

 

To email the concierge,use the 2 letter code for ship(i.e EX for Explorer),followed by an underscore then Concierge@rccl.com

The underscore is ONLY between the ships two letters and Concierge.

i.e

EX_Concierge@rccl.com

 

 

**For the Rhapsody RH_SuitesConcierge@rccl.com

**For the Grandeur GR_SuitesConcierge@rccl.com

 

**On Oasis and Allure you need a 01 or 02 in the email address since there are 2 concierges on each ship

i.e

OA_Concierge01@rccl.com

OA_Concierge02@rccl.com

 

 

On ships with Diamond lounge concierge,add the word Diamond in front of Concierge

i.e

FR_DiamondConcierge@rccl.com

We are on Freedom of the Seas May 26th. Will Willie Salaya be our Concierge? I have to email him early April about getting on the list for our Barefoot Beach cabana. Thanks!

We did Bamboo Beach in January 2009 on our own. They picked you up in an air conditioned bus in Ocho Rios Pier. They guides were very friendly and knowlegable about the sites you saw along the way. I think it took between 30-45 minutes. They would only take cash no credit cards. The beach itself was very nice, right down the way from the Beaches Resort. They will provide hair braiding and massages for cash. There was a small little shop for touristy stuff. The lunch of jerk chicken and rice was great. They will serve you at your lounge chairs. They had some entertainment, dancers etc. They will get people up to dance with them. My daughter & her friend rented a jetski in the neighboring beach for a 1/2 hour. There's a small little pier off the beach that you can walk on and sit at the end to enjoy the view. We had a great time. I think you would enjoy it. It's a very relaxing day at the beach.

Does anyone know how much the taxi is to MM and how long it takes from Falmouth pier? We are going in May 2013 and DD wants to do the bobsled. We have already experienced the Falls and don't want to do that again. I heard the pool at MM is beautiful and the food is great. True, not true? Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Absolutely loved your review. We are doing this same cruise next May 2013, me, DD and her friend. We loved the Liberty of the Seas and I'm doing the Independence of the Seas in January with my sister. So I will have done all the Freedom class ships by next year. Loved your reference to the "Bickersons". We always encounter those people at check-in on boarding day and wonder if they are going to do that their entire cruise???? :rolleyes:

Here we go - direct link from CLCP's website via NJ Turnpike (take Exit 127 from GSP for the Turnpike to Exit 14A) Keep right at the Toll Plaza & follow signs straight ahead for Rt. 440 South (sign for Cape Liberty on the poles) - upon reaching the entrance to CL - you will be making a left turn at the traffic lights to get in.

 

http://www.cruiseliberty.com/dirpark.htm

 

or use this - if you are using GSP all the way

http://www.mapquest.com/maps?1c=Atlantic+City&1s=NJ&2a=14+Port+Terminal+Boulevard&2c=Bayonne&2s=NJ&2z=07002&cid=lfddwid

Thanks so much, those are the directions I remember! You are the best!

Hi All,

Christine had given me great driving directions to Cape Liberty and I cannot find them. We will be driving North on the NJ Parkway coming from central/southern Jersey. Can someone post good directions? My brother is dropping us off and he doesn't have GPS. We are leaving on May 24, 2012. Thanks in advance. Happy Cruising!

AL_Concierge01@rccl.com

Thanks so much! Have a great New Year! :D

Hi all,

Will be on the Allure of the Seas next week. Does anyone have the conceirge's email address that you can share with me? Rather than post it here, you can email me at AnneR40@yahoo.com with the email address. Truly appreciate it. Happy New Year and Happy Cruising!

Twenty six (26) too many!! We cannot wait to board the Oasis of the Seas for our Thanksgiving cruise and to celebrate my DD's 18th birthday on Thanksgiving. YES she's my Turkey Baby! We were booked in a Central Park Balcony cabin but I upgraded us to a Junior Suite Guarantee as a birthday surprise for her. I an not going to tell her until we get to the pier. She will be so happy! Enjoy your next cruise all. ;):D

This story touched my heart. Aqua you are the best ever! So glad it all worked out. Incrediable, just incrediable story. Congrats!!!