Freedom of the Seas Eastern Review June 5 - June 12

[piner11]

Just back from Eastern Caribbean on Freedom of the Seas.

 

First off, Graham Seymour had to have been the best Cruise Director that we have seen. He was very entertaining, funny, and really made this our best cruise ever. Our many thanks to Graham for a job well done. He really made this trip a wonderful experience.

 

Now on to my review:

 

Stayed at the Country Inn’s and Suites using the Park and Cruise deal. They did a great job getting us both to the ship and back with no problem. As some had mentioned, the free continental breakfast is very crowded the morning of the cruise since both Royal Caribbean and Carnival guest stay at the hotel. We just brought our food back to the room.

 

Arrived at pier around 10:45am. The sign at the pier showed that boarding was around 12:30pm, but we were onboard around 11:30am. The Windjammer already had a lot of people by the time we made it up, but found a table for 8 with no problem. Never had trouble finding a table at the Windjammer anytime during the week. Found the food really good in the Windjammer throughout the week. Had breakfast, lunch, and dinner there throughout the cruise, and always found many choices. We have a 7 year old, so, only ate at the formal dining room once. The food was good, but we liked the speed and choices in the Windjammer better. Plus, we packed a lot less formal wear knowing we would spend more time in the Windjammer.

 

Our room was ready promptly at 1:00pm, and our 6th floor balcony room was perfect.

 

The life drill went pretty quickly and soon we were on our way out of Port Canaveral.

 

I can’t really say enough about how nice this big ship is, but getting around was fairly easy.

 

Coca Cay, Bahamas – the private island was very nice. As other have recommended, walk to the back of the island to get the true beach experience. The beaches to the left are more like small lagoons. Also, the Cocoa Locos were worth trying. In regard to the frozen drinks here and onboard, it seems that they no longer mix the alcohol in the blender with the frozen drink, but rather pour it over the top. I don’t remember this being the case in the past, but it has been a couple of years since our last cruise. No big deal, you just have to stir or may get a blast of liquor in one sip.

 

St. Thomas – Having been to St. Thomas before, we did the swimming with the turtle’s tour. However, since we were only in St. Thomas a short time, we never had time to make it to town. I really enjoy walking though town, so, will have to wait until the next trip.

 

St. Martin – Did the Bernard’s private tour. Very good tour and our driver, Noel, was wonderful. Very informative about the island. We did go to Orient beach, but did not go to the right toward the nude beach; however, some guy decided to take it all off before making his way to the nude side. So, you may see it all even if you do not wander to the nude side. Having been there before, we knew what to expect. Still a beautiful beach.

 

Having planned this trip a year in advance, it took forever to get here, but went by in a flash. But a wonderful time was had by all.

 

A couple of final notes:

 

While they charge you for the blended coffees, the self service Seattle’s Best coffee on the Promenade deck is free. And it is much better than the Windjammer.

 

Make sure you keep your room keys accessible at the end of your cruise. They need to scan it before you can get off the ship. We packed our daughter’s and had to quickly find it.

 

Also, since we drove to Port Canaveral, we carried our luggage off the ship, and were back at the car around 7:00am.

 

For those of you going on the Freedom in the near future, you will have a wonderful time.

[ALSEAU]

Thanks for taking the time to post a review. Sounds like you had a great cruise.

[Nanatopiper]

Thanks for writing the review. We're so glad you all had a great time. It's good to hear wonderful things about FOS. Thanks for the tip about the coffee. Our intentions is to bring along our own flavored creamers, since we like the flavored coffees. :)

 

This will be our first sailing with RCCL, and we can't wait.

[rcboh]

Can you tell me if they have put a Cupcake Cupboard on the Royal Promenade on the Freedom? I know they did on the Liberty, but wasn't sure if they did the same on Freedom.

Thanks!:)

[cruisebabe50]

Thanks for the great review! It seems like we don't see that many about the Freedom and we are sailing in just 31 days!!! It is nice to see that everything seemed good to you.

[Eng23]

Can you tell me if they have put a Cupcake Cupboard on the Royal Promenade on the Freedom? I know they did on the Liberty, but wasn't sure if they did the same on Freedom.

Thanks!:)

Yes Freedom now has a Cupcake Cupboard, I'm looking forward to it in October. :D

[sailingawaysoon]

Just back from Eastern Caribbean on Freedom of the Seas.

 

 

First off, Graham Seymour had to have been the best Cruise Director that we have seen. He was very entertaining, funny, and really made this our best cruise ever. Our many thanks to Graham for a job well done. He really made this trip a wonderful experience.

 

Now on to my review:

 

Stayed at the Country Inn’s and Suites using the Park and Cruise deal. They did a great job getting us both to the ship and back with no problem. As some had mentioned, the free continental breakfast is very crowded the morning of the cruise since both Royal Caribbean and Carnival guest stay at the hotel. We just brought our food back to the room.

 

Arrived at pier around 10:45am. The sign at the pier showed that boarding was around 12:30pm, but we were onboard around 11:30am. The Windjammer already had a lot of people by the time we made it up, but found a table for 8 with no problem. Never had trouble finding a table at the Windjammer anytime during the week. Found the food really good in the Windjammer throughout the week. Had breakfast, lunch, and dinner there throughout the cruise, and always found many choices. We have a 7 year old, so, only ate at the formal dining room once. The food was good, but we liked the speed and choices in the Windjammer better. Plus, we packed a lot less formal wear knowing we would spend more time in the Windjammer.

 

Our room was ready promptly at 1:00pm, and our 6th floor balcony room was perfect.

 

The life drill went pretty quickly and soon we were on our way out of Port Canaveral.

 

I can’t really say enough about how nice this big ship is, but getting around was fairly easy.

 

Coca Cay, Bahamas – the private island was very nice. As other have recommended, walk to the back of the island to get the true beach experience. The beaches to the left are more like small lagoons. Also, the Cocoa Locos were worth trying. In regard to the frozen drinks here and onboard, it seems that they no longer mix the alcohol in the blender with the frozen drink, but rather pour it over the top. I don’t remember this being the case in the past, but it has been a couple of years since our last cruise. No big deal, you just have to stir or may get a blast of liquor in one sip.

 

St. Thomas – Having been to St. Thomas before, we did the swimming with the turtle’s tour. However, since we were only in St. Thomas a short time, we never had time to make it to town. I really enjoy walking though town, so, will have to wait until the next trip.

 

St. Martin – Did the Bernard’s private tour. Very good tour and our driver, Noel, was wonderful. Very informative about the island. We did go to Orient beach, but did not go to the right toward the nude beach; however, some guy decided to take it all off before making his way to the nude side. So, you may see it all even if you do not wander to the nude side. Having been there before, we knew what to expect. Still a beautiful beach.

 

Having planned this trip a year in advance, it took forever to get here, but went by in a flash. But a wonderful time was had by all.

 

A couple of final notes:

 

While they charge you for the blended coffees, the self service Seattle’s Best coffee on the Promenade deck is free. And it is much better than the Windjammer.

 

Make sure you keep your room keys accessible at the end of your cruise. They need to scan it before you can get off the ship. We packed our daughter’s and had to quickly find it.

 

Also, since we drove to Port Canaveral, we carried our luggage off the ship, and were back at the car around 7:00am.

 

 

For those of you going on the Freedom in the near future, you will have a wonderful time.

Thanks for the review. Can't wait till our cruise on the Freedom in August!

[Texmike]

We cruised the Eastern Caribbean on the Freedom in 2008 and loved it

 

We really enjoyed St. Thomas

[thomasale]

My wife and I took this cruise by ourselves in Oct 2009. We did not go to the restaurant once as we enjoyed the Windjammer so much. We had MTD and chose to eat upstairs each night.

 

We are going again in a few days only this time with 2 of our adult children (24 and 28) and our dearest friends that we eat with at least once a week. We got the late seating and I have already sold the others on the WJ benefits and I am glad to read that you enjoyed it on your cruise.

 

We will do the specialty restaurant once and the rest upstairs. I am really looking forward to this trip and my wife who has worked every day since January well...you can imagine what her thoughts are.

 

Cheers!

[RM]

Do you remember what was on the dining room menu the 1st night?

[PhotoBob2011]

Thanks for the review. I'm leaving in a few days on the Freedom of the Seas. This will be our first ever cruise.

[rcboh]

Thanks for the info. We are sailing on the Freedom on August 28th!!!