Random thoughts-FOS 9-4-11

[KG1924]

We just got back from a great trip on the Freedom of the Seas, so I thought I'd share our thoughts since you have all been so incredibly helpful every time I've planned a cruise :)

 

First, a little background. This was the very first trip my husband and I have been on together alone. We're 28 years old, have been together for 12 years and married for almost a year. We actually got married on the Oasis last year, but even for our "honeymoon" we were with 50 of the best family & friends anyone can ask for....which is the nice way of saying we were NEVER alone :D. We have been on 5 cruises, all on RC except one Carnival trip in the mix. We're not exactly veterans, but we're not newbies either. But this time we didn't have our "planners" in the group (ie, my mother and sister) so we were somewhat headed in to the unknown.

 

As far as our cruising style, we don't particularly care too much about shows, kids areas (only a fantastic dog at home to care about...he can't come with as much as I begged :p) or food in particular. We care about live music, fun people (staff and fellow cruisers) and good drinks. We are drinkers....especially on vacation...an apparently it doesn't slow down just because it's the 2 of us!!! We don't save menus or compasses, and I will have a pretty hard time telling anyone what went on which day, but I will try my best!

 

Ship: Beautiful ship, liked the size, but it felt exactly the same as our Adventure and Mariner cruises. The positive side is that we felt like we were familiar w/ the ship from the get go, the down side is that we lost the element of surprise. Our most recent cruise was the Oasis, so we found ourselves comparing a lot of things to her since it was most fresh in our minds. It's kind of like comparing apples to oranges, but it was hard to get the "fresh, new" feeling of the Oasis out of our minds. Now the Freedom is hardly run down in the slightest. But in comparison, it looked dated compared to her newer, bigger sister. Again, not a complaint, just an observance.

 

Cabin: We had an ocean view balcony, D2 category, #7232. Good cabin, close to elevators, easy to find (I've gotten lost many times on other ships after a few cocktails late at night:p) Only slight issue we noticed was early in the trip somebody's balcony partition a few cabins up was VERY noisy on a windy day. You could actually hear it inside the cabin. Not sure what happened, but it was gone by that evening. Possibly just a wind situation (??)

 

Cruise Director: Graham Seymour (sp?) We have never really noticed/remembered cruise directors in the past. He stuck out and in a very good way. Very entertaining, liked his morning shows and his comedy show late one evening. He definitely kept us laughing!

 

Pools: Nice, clean, but felt a bit crowded for us. We had absolutely amazing weather this week. Sunny and hot-I would imagine that's what kept everyone in the pools! We haven't frequented the Solarium much on other ships. We actually like the music and silly games that go on around the main pools. This time around, we almost only swam (not sure if that's what you would call it...more like plopping my rear in the water for a few hours w/ a drink in hand!) in the Solarium. It wasn't usually as crowded and we really liked the "bar" w/ the stools in there. Word of caution-the pool is pretty deep in there! Now, I'm 5'1", so that didn't help, but my husbands a foot taller than me and he thought they were kind of deep for regular wading pools as well. Those stools really came in handy. The only thing we would have changed is that they would play at least some soft music in the background. I know people go there to relax, but even elevator music would work for me. Again, if that's my biggest "complaint", things are pretty good!

 

Food: As I said before, we are not foodies. I'm hardly a gourmet cook at home, so we're pretty easy to please. We ate in the dining room most nights (late seating) and for the most part everything was pretty good. Our table mates were a nice couple from Canada, but they were almost always about an hour late. The wait staff never skipped a beat and we were almost always on our dinner course by time they came in. Again, didn't impact us too much, but I felt bad for the staff. We never got desert (too full from dinner and we're not sweets people anyway-prefer a cocktail as our dessert) We also ate in the Windjammer 2 nights, which we have never done for dinner before. In fact, we only went to the Windjammer one time on our last cruise, but we were probably there about 5 times over the week. One night we went there because we felt like going pretty casual and at our pace. The other night was because we overindulged in Cozumel and kind of slept a bit during dinner :p.

We got Sorrento's pizza a couple nights on our way back to the cabin as well. Not pizza we're used to up here in Chicago, but did the trick.

We did get room service twice. Once the morning we were in Grand Cayman. It worked out well because we needed to be up for an excursion we had planned, so it served as a wake up call as well. It was ok, gave us something in our stomach for the morning. The other time was very late at night when we had forgotten to get pizza on our way back...I somehow ordered way too much food (I blame the strong drinks! More on that later!) and immediately felt very bad when the food came. The service both times was prompt and efficient, even when my tipsy self ordered enough food for an entire family!!

 

Staff: Overall, they were fantastic!! Our head waiter was non-existant (doesn't affect my dining experience either way) our waiter (Albert) was nice, but our asst. waiter (Mladen) was amazing!!! He made us laugh every night and we thoroughly enjoyed our time with him.

Steward (Sebastiano) was good, seemed like quite the magician on how he knew exactly the right times to be in and out.

 

Drink Service overall was great. We met some good bar tenders and kind of stuck with them. They all seemed to be heavy pourers!!! We felt that the prices of drinks had gone up a bit since our last cruise, but they tried to get you your money's worth!! I was a bit dissapointed that they didn't have the beer cooler deal on this sailing. We asked around, got different responses, but the verdict was they didn't have it on this cruise. It saved us quite a bit last year on the Oasis. You would think we would just drink less.....but what fun is that????

 

Fellow cruisers: Overall, no problems. Occasional rude people w/ the elevators (I just think really bad thinks about them, but refrain from saying them out loud) We met some amazing people this week. We always meet a few people on past cruises, but I think that since it was just us two, we were more open to chatting up other people.

 

Ports: We liked the Western Caribbean (have only done Eastern and Southern in the past) but if given a choice between Eastern/Western, we'd probably pick Eastern. Unless Grand Cayman is in the mix... we loved Grand Cayman!!! Favorite island so far, just a bit expensive!!! We didn't care too much about Labadee, but we don't particularly enjoy just the beach all day. I think it was poor planning on my behalf and that we need to give it another chance....

Falmouth-eh....we kind of wondered why we were there. We didn't want to plan a trip to Ocho Rios because we didn't want to sit in a van for over an hour each way. Looking back, I wish we had. Shopping there was pretty uneventful and we stepped out of the gates for about 10 seconds...and vowed to never do that again. We were bombarded as soon as our foot left the gate and you can only smile and say "no thank you" so many times before you go crazy! Again, probably just poor planning on my behalf...a redo would be nice!

Grand Cayman-did Stingray City w/ Fatfish Adventures. Amazing time on the jet ski tour. I highly recommend them!!!

Cozumel-have been there while on land trips to Playa Del Carmen, Mexico, so we just shopped and drank....and made sure we stumbled to the dock WAY before we needed to! I did not want to be that couple running to the ship!!!!!

 

Live music: Scott was a guitar player in the pub. Very nice guy, talented and aimed to please. We met him late one night in the Casino and he was great to chat with. The piano player in the Schooner bar was pretty good as well (I think Patrice was his name) The music in the Viking Crown Lounge was a bit mellow for our taste, but I'm sure others liked it.

 

Overall-FANTASTIC trip!!!! We loved traveling just the 2 of us. We had no schedule to keep or places to meet up w/ our group. My husband and I got to sit, talk, dance, laugh, and drink together the entire time and we truly had a blast. I would definitely sail the Freedom as well as the Freedom class again. I think I may still prefer the Oasis class a bit, but it's close. Overall, a great time :)

[Pichu21]

Great review! Puts a smile on my face since we just came off the Oasis a few months ago and booked the Freedom! We havent been on any Voyager/Freedom class ship so this will be a brand new experience!! Again, thanks for the review!! We are also staying on the ship in Falmouth and doing Stingray City in Grand Cayman. I'm glad to know those are good choices :)

[riclop]

Glad you enjoyed your cruise... I'll drink to that!!!!!!!

[KG1924]

Great review! Puts a smile on my face since we just came off the Oasis a few months ago and booked the Freedom! We havent been on any Voyager/Freedom class ship so this will be a brand new experience!! Again, thanks for the review!! We are also staying on the ship in Falmouth and doing Stingray City in Grand Cayman. I'm glad to know those are good choices :)

 

You will definitely like the Freedom! The layout on both classes are great, very easy to get around. We were a little worried going from the Oasis to the Freedom-the Oasis is such an amazing trip and we thought we would be a little let down. We weren't at all! It will be good for you especially because that layout of a ship will be brand new to you. We liked the Solarium on the Freedom much more than the Oasis-it's completely open and the canteleaver hot tubs are in the Solarium (which = no kids) The only things we missed were very silly things. For some reason we really liked the pretzel dogs in the wipe out cafe on the Oasis (good quick snack rather than going to a full lunch) Obviously that will not make or break a cruise!! Have a great time!!

[jsmeeker]

Any photos?

 

 

I'll be on Freedom, but not for over a year!!! I see you like bars. What was your favorite bar on FoS??

[KG1924]

Glad you enjoyed your cruise... I'll drink to that!!!!!!!

 

Ha! You know, I just reread my original post and I guess I really did make us sound like a couple lushes!!! There's just something so relaxing to us to have a drink in hand with the ocean in view. Although, by the end of the week, I do think we needed a detox of sorts! :p

[alexkrn46]

Thats for the review and why Love Graham.

[KG1924]

Any photos?

 

 

I'll be on Freedom, but not for over a year!!! I see you like bars. What was your favorite bar on FoS??

 

Yes, I have some photos, but not with me at the moment. I promise I will attempt to upload at least a few (never have before)

 

I didn't realize how much I focused on the drinking....we did more than just drink!! We probably liked the pub the most, which we tend to frequent on all of our cruises. We like the live music and the comfy feel of the pubs. We also frequented the Sky Bar while by the pool (we are dreaded smokers as well, and this was one of the areas you could smoke at on the top deck)

 

Another thing that we really enjoyed that I had forgotten about was on the last sea day. We went out on the helicopter pad (missed that on Oasis) and just as we got out there, about 50 dolphins started jumping! It was really amazing to see and they were everywhere!!

You will have a great time on this ship! There are rarely any negative reviews that come up, so that's gotta say something!

[jsmeeker]

Yes, I have some photos, but not with me at the moment. I promise I will attempt to upload at least a few (never have before)

 

I didn't realize how much I focused on the drinking.... we did more than just drink!! We probably liked the pub the most, which we tend to frequent on all of our cruises. We like the live music and the comfy feel of the pubs. We also frequented the Sky Bar while by the pool (we are dreaded smokers as well, and this was one of the areas you could smoke at on the top deck)

 

 

Don't feel that there is anything wrong with that. :D ;)

 

Seriously, the bar/drink scene will be important to me, too. Hell, I just made a cocktail to read through the forums.

[green eyed lady]

Do you know if they had Battle of the Sexes any night? :confused:

[paggerscorvette]

 

 

 

We care about live music, fun people (staff and fellow cruisers) and good drinks. We are drinkers....especially on vacation...an apparently it doesn't slow down just because it's the 2 of us!!!

 

Ship: Beautiful ship, liked the size, but it felt exactly the same as our Adventure and Mariner cruises.

 

 

Pools: We actually like the music and silly games that go on around the main pools.

 

We met some good bar tenders and kind of stuck with them.

My husband and I got to sit, talk, dance, laugh, and drink together the entire time and we truly had a blast. :)

 

When I read your review, I thought did I just write that or is she my long lost twin sister?Geez, can't be twins, maybe long lost daugher, LOL.

We also have been on the Adventure and the Mariner. We both loved our little drinkies. When we are on a cruise and find the right bartender, I am hooked to his waist.Best one was in Boleros on the Mariner, what a hoot he was.

Anyway, glad you enjoyed your cruise, can't wait for mine. Very nice review

[Desertbelle]

Thanks, I love reading reviews like this. After 15 cruises this will be our first time on one of the "mega" ships (haven't even been on anything as large as the Explorer class...we usually do longer cruises which are usually on older, smaller ships). I am getting so excited for our B2B November cruise on the FOTS...it sounds like we are going to need 2 weeks to do everything.

[KG1924]

Do you know if they had Battle of the Sexes any night? :confused:

 

I'm not 100% sure, but I did find a couple of the compasses when double checking the pockets of our suitcases before putting them away. I will look at what we do have tonight and get back to you :)

[KG1924]

When I read your review, I thought did I just write that or is she my long lost twin sister?Geez, can't be twins, maybe long lost daugher, LOL.

We also have been on the Adventure and the Mariner. We both loved our little drinkies. When we are on a cruise and find the right bartender, I am hooked to his waist.Best one was in Boleros on the Mariner, what a hoot he was.

Anyway, glad you enjoyed your cruise, can't wait for mine. Very nice review

 

Well, if we ever end up on the same cruise, I'm sure we'll meet while enjoying some drinks!!! Our favorite bartenders/servers were Denys at the Sky Bar (but his last week is this week-you'll miss him :o) but Kerry was also great up there. We also liked a pretty Asian woman (can't believe we didn't catch her name!!) in the Schooner bar.

You will have a great time. She's just like a big sister to the Voyager class, great layout!! Have fun and maybe I'll meet you and your hip-attached bartender some day!!!

[KG1924]

Thanks, I love reading reviews like this. After 15 cruises this will be our first time on one of the "mega" ships (haven't even been on anything as large as the Explorer class...we usually do longer cruises which are usually on older, smaller ships). I am getting so excited for our B2B November cruise on the FOTS...it sounds like we are going to need 2 weeks to do everything.

 

We like the "mega" ships, but can't say that we've ever been on a small ship either! My husband and I both noticed that we walked MUCH less on the Freedom than the Oasis. While it's still a BIG ship, the Freedom didn't feel overwhelmingly larger than the Voyager class, even though there's a significant difference in tonnage. I still think the Promenade makes a huge difference as far as walking when comparing smaller ships to the Voyager class and up. A couple times we took a cabin "hallway" rather than go down and walk through the Promenade. Even though it's essentially the same distance, the hallway seemed to take forever, where as a stroll through the promenade is nice and cozy and seemed to take no time whatsoever!

We could easily have stayed on another week (I say that about every cruise though....) We never did get to do the Flowrider like we had planned (tons of fun on the Oasis) and there were some activities that we wanted to do and timing didn't work out. Have so much fun!!!!! Maybe you guys will be converted to the "Mega" ships after all..... ;)

[jsmeeker]

I'm gonna keep on the bar theme because it seems you may be the best person to answer this question. :D

 

What's the best place on FoS to get a bloody mary in the morning? Surely there must be at least one bar that's open at like 8:00 or 9:00 AM.