Freedom of the Seas 1/9/11 Review

[Cruisinbeaner]

GRAND CAYMAN (not really) & THE SPA:

We got up the next morning and I could see that we were south of Grand Cayman. The captain had said that we would be going south of the island and then up the west coast to loop back around to where the ship would “anchor” to allow for tendering into Georgetown. Instead of looping around the island though, the captain came on the announcement system to let us know that we would not be able to stop in Grand Cayman because the port was closed due to weather (basically rough seas).

At the time I wasn’t very disappointed because I was getting concerned about tendering and our planned excursion if seas were rough. We had reservations through a private company for stingray swimming and snorkeling. I would have gotten seasick for sure! So when the captain announced that we were missing the stop I was not too upset. In retrospect I am more bummed out because I was looking forward to that excursion quite a bit. But, the weather can’t be controlled and I already knew that I wouldn’t have enjoyed the excursion with that day’s weather. Nothing to be angry about unless I want to curse the weather, and that’s a waste. Besides, as it was I spent the day on the ship in slightly rough seas, but still better weather than I would have been experiencing back home in MN.

So, we ended up with an unexpected sea day. A beefed up Cruise Compass was published with additional activities. I made an appointment at the Spa for a massage, and DH and DD spent some time in the arcade and out on deck catching some of the sparse sunshine. That night was the second formal night, and we made it our mission to have our pictures taken at as many of the areas set up by the ship’s photographers as we could. We succeeded in getting a few that we ended up buying, so the marathon was worth it! After dinner we went to the production show in the Arcadia theatre. It was wonderful, as the shows had been all week.

Our spa experiences: My massage appointment on this unexpected sea day was the first of three interactions we had with the spa during our cruise. We had a problem each of those three times. Looking back at it I almost feel like maybe I became a diva or something because how could someone possibly have a complaint about every appointment?? But, no, I do not think I was being a diva!! And actually, out of the entire week, the only negative experience we had was with our spa appointments.

I had an appt for a bamboo massage and was given the wrong massage (hot stone). I had been told I had a credit for the massage from my TA but then when I tried to use it was told it was only for a Swedish massage. The spa manager did make good on this, but between having to argue for the credit I was told I could use and being given the wrong massage, I wasn’t impressed.

Second, DD and I had manicure appts at the same time. We wanted to get them together because we are dorky like that. We were told her manicurist was running 10 minutes late, so I stared mine thinking she’d join me soon. In the end, she was a half hour late and DD didn’t start her manicure until my nails were under the dryer. I was done about 2 minutes after she started. Again, kind of disappointing because I had asked if I could wait so we could get our manicures done at the same time but was told that most of the time would be in sync.

And finally, DD and I had appointments for the Salon Sampler package on the last sea day. DD’s started a half hour before mine, but I was done 20 minutes before her. DD was brought into a private massage room and laid on the comfy bed, while I was told to lean back in a chair and prop my feet on the window ledge (I am NOT kidding – major leg cramps). Apparently, I got the real package, and DD got some bonus stuff because there happened to be an opening in the private room. Cool for my DD really, but it was odd that nobody told us this. If I had not had the real deal we would have thought the Salon Sampler included all of the extras DD got. This one just left us feeling that it was kind of odd that two people had appointments for the same thing but one got 50 minutes longer and a substantially different treatment. Like with the other interactions we had with the spa, I was surprised at the inconsistency and disorganization.

Like I said, the spa provided the only negative experiences of our week. And those were lessons learned. I can’t say that I definitely would not use the spa again, but I would be really cautious to make sure everything is recorded correctly and that I understand everything before doing so.

Next we’ll visit our final stop – Cozumel. And then sail on home, back to reality!

[KnJB]

Thank you so much for posting a review on the ships spa. I would like to get massages but I'm skipping the ships spa. Any recommendations for massages at any of the ports?

[Daycare Provider]

I loved your reveiw about Jamaica..I could almost smell the jerk chicken..my favorite;)...thank you for posting your reveiw....while in Cozumel; do you remember how far away margaritaville is from the port?....

Angela

[Cruisinbeaner]

COZUMEL & THEN THE END:

Cozumel: After our unexpected sea day when we missed out on stopping at Grand Cayman, we were ready for some fun in the sun in Cozumel. That’s not quite what we got though! We had booked a day at the beach at Nachi Cocum, including massages and parasailing. When we woke up to cloudy and cool (70s) weather, we decided to play it by ear and see if the sun would power through and make a day at the beach enjoyable. We had planned to shop a little before heading the beach, so we optimistically packed our beach bag and decided to start our day searching for souvenirs.

After getting off of the ship, we looked for a taxi to catch to downtown for shopping. Rather than waiting in line at the terminal for a taxi, we walked down the street a half block or so and were able to quickly catch a cab to take us downtown for shopping. Our cab driver drove like the typical taxi driver you expect to take your life into your hands. Wow! We survived the trip and were delivered to the outskirts of downtown (basically the first area of downtown from the terminal). We dug in a shopped, finding souvenirs and silver jewelry.

In the end, the weather did not improve, and the day even included several quick rain showers. We did not go to the beach, and ended up shopping for a few hours and then eating at a nice restaurant on the main drag (Pepe’s I think).

We grabbed a cab back to the terminal and shopped a little more. I was surprised to find that jewelry prices in the store we checked at the terminal were cheaper than they were downtown (even after bartering the downtown prices). We bought a few more souvenirs and then found a table at Senor Frogs (not a lot of open tables!). We spent a couple of hours at Senor Frogs, enjoying the music and the sun when it showed itself.

We were back on the ship a little early because DD was performing as Madonna in the 80s Dance Party that night, so we had to get to dinner early. We were already at dinner when the ship was leaving, so we didn’t get to watch the runners. But, we were on our balcony to see the runners for the Mariner which was docked right next to us and left earlier than us. There is definitely an element of entertainment to watching the runners. That evening we attended the Dance Party after dinner. And then we stayed in Studio B for Quest. That was a lot of fun!

Winding down: After Cozumel, we had one final sea day as we sailed back to Port Canaveral. We woke up early, as had been our routine. Every day of the cruise, was we ordered coffee and o.j. from room services and this helped to serve as our wake up call. After relaxing in our room and balcony for an hour or so, we got ready and headed to breakfast in Portofino.

We had been invited to a tour of the bridge that morning, so all three of us attended that. The tour was really interesting and we all enjoyed it. I was almost as interested in seeing the living quarters of the bridge staff that we had to pass by in order to get the bridge!

After the bridge tour, DD and I had our spa appointments that I discussed a few posts back. And then after finishing up at the spa, we met DH on deck and hoped to catch some sunshine. We were not successful in this endeavor! The chairs that were actually in the sun were fully occupied or were so exposed to the wind as to be uncomfortable. We grabbed some chairs in the shade that we thought would eventually get some sun. But after an hour of waiting while covered with towels to stay warm, we gave up!! We had better luck on our balcony getting a little warmth.

Packing occurred on this afternoon, but that’s all I want to say about that because that’s NOT fun thing to do!! That final evening, we attended the Farewell show, which we enjoyed (especially the aerial act again!). We then went to dinner and enjoyed the awesome service of our waitstaff or the last time. The experience we had for dinner really did add to the satisfaction we had with our cruise!

And that brings our cruise to an end. What a great time we had. The three of us were pretty sure we’d enjoy cruising, and as it turned out we were definitely accurate in that. We are now working on figuring out which cruise we’ll book next.