Freedom B2B Trip Review 4/28/13 - 5/12/13 (picture heavy)!!!

[Clarea]

Hi!! Is it possible to order from the MDR menus (breakfast and dinner) when you're in a junior suite? Did you have or make any special requests? Can you ask for a Starbucks coffee in the morning?

 

I am really enjoying your review and all the pictures. Thanks for doing this! :)

The Junior Suite does not have any MDR menu ordering perks for room service.

[Mel8730]

I've stayed at the Hyatt three times and I think it is fantastic. The rooms are excellent and the location can't be beat (in the photo, those blue monitors are airport arrivals and departures) - the hotel is literally in the airport. Both restaurants are excellent. Hemispheres overlooks a runway, providing a spectacular view. Probably the only drawback is if you get a room on the far side of the hotel (the hotel goes around the airport atrium), you end up with a hike to the elevators. Not bad, unless you have lots of bags, but a bellhop can cure that.

 

 

Thank you for your quick response! The Hyatt sounds perfect.

[luvsun22]

Loving your review! I have a Next Cruise Certificate screaming to be used and am thinking of Freedom, so this is great research for me. :D

[AZAficionado]

Great pictures. Considering sailing Freedom. Have questions about the Solarium. Does it have a retractable glass ceiling or is it open to the sky?

Enjoyed the Solarium on the Jewel with the covered ceiling.

It is open. However, the engineering of it makes the sitting area warmer (or maybe it just seemed warmer). Having sailed on Vision-class, I have to admit that the retractable glass ceiling is pretty cool.

Hi!! Is it possible to order from the MDR menus (breakfast and dinner) when you're in a junior suite? Did you have or make any special requests? Can you ask for a Starbucks coffee in the morning?

 

I am really enjoying your review and all the pictures. Thanks for doing this!

There is only one room service menu. It is the same for every cabin and I think it is standard fleet-wide (someone with more knowledge, please confirm/deny). We ordered room service once for breakfast (stay tuned for the details on that). We didn't make any special requests, but did order Mimosa's which resulted in a courtesy call and an adult in the room had to be present to sign for the room service. Starbuck's coffee is not an option. You can ask for anything, but that doesn't mean you'll get it. FYI, there is a coffee maker in the room with Seattle's Best coffee, but we never used it.

 

Fantastic Review!!! When we sailed the Allure they offered after dinner shots. Is this something they offer on the Freedom also?

 

Can't wait till Sept to see the FREEDOM!

 

~Steph

I'm really not sure. Nobody came by our table and I didn't see anything like that, but I also wasn't really looking. There are only a handful of bar staff and everyone at our tables were ordering entire bottles of wine with dinner and many did coffee afterward. If I were a bartender, I wouldn't have targeted our table. I'm sure if you ask, they'll get you what you want.

 

 

To everyone else: Thanks again for the support and encouragement. I'm so glad you are all enjoying the review. Feel free to keep asking, commenting or whatever!

[AZAficionado]

Day 2 - At Sea

 

 

And, of course, the paperwork.

 

[AZAficionado]

I think it was pretty obvious to everyone on board that the ship was not in dry dock, but was out on the open ocean and it was really windy. I heard the occasional complaint or comment, some just a bit over the top ("You can't even move, it is so rough "). We were not hit by a tsunami! It was 4 - 6 foot seas. You couldn't even see the liquid move in a glass of water. People, don't complain until they put sea sickness bags in all the stairwells, like they did when I was on Vision with 12 to 18 foot seas...end of rant.

 

We stumbled out of bed and headed up do some laps on the jogging deck. Way too windy for that (the wind was pretty bad), so it was off to the Windjammer for a light breakfast. We were out of the cabin for maybe 20 or 30 minutes. When we got back, it was made up and immaculate. Still no sign of the attendant. It was then that I realized we were dealing with a ninja!

 

The late night antics of Day 1 were taking their toll and there is only one cure for that: a Bloody Mary from the Squeeze bar. The four upper deck bars (Pool, Sky, Solarium, and Squeeze) are the only ones open before noon or 3 pm. Squeeze is aft and the other three are all forward. So, Squeeze bar became our go-to for early afternoon (or morning) beverages. A nice touch is that the Cigar Lounge attendant also works the Squeeze bar for a few hours during the day.

 

 

Bloody Mary (nice and spicy).

 

After a few hours of lounging on the balcony (protected from the wind) and listening to music (love my Beats Pill), we headed to Cafe Promenade for coffee (the Bloody Marys were not enough) and got enticed into some lunch.

 

Iced and hot Starbuck's. Iced only comes in one size. Cafe Promenade is not a full Starbuck's. You can customize your drink some, but not like at a "real" Starbuck's. They give you a "Buy 6, Get 1 Free" card.

 

Ham & Swiss Croissant (excellent, flaky with a nice hint of mustard) and Salami & Provolone (good, on a whole wheat poppy seed roll, just a bit dry).

 

Caramel Cookie (pretty good, soft with a bit of crunch), Double Chocolate Espresso Brownie (excellent, more of a cake with ganache than brownie, a chocoholics' dream), Oatmeal Raisin Cookie (good, chewy with just enough raisins) and Mandarin Crumble Cake (excellent, moist yet crumbly with just a hint of orange).

[AZAficionado]

Then it was back to our regularly scheduled lazing on the balcony. By mid afternoon, the balcony was in the sun which was really nice. Eventually, there were refreshments and my wife tried something new.

 

Caipirinha (very good, Cachaca, lime, sugar, very malty, not for everyone or me).

 

After almost 30 hours on board, we finally ran into our cabin attendant (actually, he came looking for us)! For those of you sailing in 9338 or in any of the hump cabins, you will probably be at the far end of your attendant's area, meaning you probably won't run into them much. However, every time we went looking for our attendant, he would suddenly appear right away (or so it seemed). He did a fantastic job.

 

Nothing goes better with formal night than dinner at Chops. We were seated at a table for two by the windows, allowing for a nice view even though it was dark outside. The service was outstanding and was like what you would get at any upscale restaurant on land.

 

They start you off with some bread, butter and a delicious spread made of something I can't remember now.

 

Warm Goat Cheese & Basil Soufflé (excellent, slightly crispy outside, light and fluffy interior) and Asian-Inspired Spicy Tuna (excellent, touch of sesame oil and chili oil with a late burn).

 

Broiled Veal Chop (outstanding, huge, bone-in, cooked to perfection, very tender and flavorful), Petite Filet Mignon (excellent, tender, juicy, good size, perfectly cooked) both with Green Peppercorn Sauce (very good, rich savory sauce with a hint of peppercorns).

[AZAficionado]

Roasted Potatoes with Prosciutto & Parmesan (good, nice mix of tender potatoes, frizzled prosciutto and melted cheese) and Fried Onion Rings (good, nothing special or extravagant, a guilty pleasure)

 

Chateau Batailley Pauillac, Bordeaux 2006 (excellent, a hint of fruit, earthy, good structure). A fantastic match with the meal.

 

Hope you came hungry because that's Mud Pie (excellent, light and fluffy, super rich chocolate taste) and the biggest slice I've ever seen of Red Velvet Cake (excellent, moist with a creamy frosting, with a white chocolate triangle). We had two bites and threw in the towel. You can have dessert "to go" or they will wrap up whatever you didn't finish. We declined both because we knew all of it would get eaten - it was that good.

 

I'm not much of a show person, especially when I'm cruising. But since we had two weeks on board and I was going to write a trip review, I figured a show or two wouldn't kill me. So, we went to the Late Night Adult Comedy Show with Tom McTigue. It was a 45 minute stand-up act that was pretty funny. Some of his jokes weren't that great, but he did a really good job of weaving one joke throughout his act. It was an adult show (18+ only). As he put it "The only thing worse than having to explain something to your 13 year old is discovering that you don't have to explain it..." Overall, it was worth seeing.

 

For those who saw the show: <Indian accent>Can I put my finger...???</Indian accent>

 

At 1:00 am, we decided to call it an early night and head to bed. After all, we have to be up, dressed, fed and ready to go at 8:00 am for Labadee. I'll tell you how that worked out tomorrow...

[flarad]

Well, hurry up and get off on May 26th so we can get on!!!!:D

 

And we follow you on June 2nd! Great review. Thanks for all the info.

[JoTop]

hehehehe!! :D Really, I hope you enjoy it as I hope we do too!!

 

quote=clcurry;38384949]You're trying to end my cruise before it even begins. For shame! :p

[AZAficionado]

Oops...

 

Forgot to include this guy, who was hanging out in our cabin at the end of the evening.

 

[Jtm2233]

N q

[Navigat8]

Loving your review and eagerly awaiting the next instalment. Booking Freedom at the weekend for next October.

 

Thank you for your fantastic efforts with this. :D

[heatherandnick]

Loving your review. Thanks!

[nyonefivetwo]

I was on your second leg and I too am doing a review. It was the best cruise we have ever done!

I have subscribed to your review and look forward to more!

 

I was too! I was thinking about doing a review, but I forgot about taking pictures :mad: I was too busy relaxing...oops.

[CaribbeanCrush]

Great review! Love the pictures. We'll be onboard 247 days, 22 hours and 55 minutes... but who's counting? :D

[MLW070]

Enjoying reading your review!!

[bigkauhuna]

AZAficionado This is the best review I have seen. Keep up the great work with the picture and review. If RCCL had reviews like this they would sellout every ship. Thank you for the great review it has sold me to add this ship to a future cruise.

[LBeeE]

AZAficionado, great review, thanks for taking the time to share this. I am going on FOS for the first time in a few weeks. I have a question Re: your stateroom fridge, I was wondering if you recall if there was a way to set/maintain the temp inside, ... was it cold enough for food/medications? Also, was it that full when you arrived? If so I guess I may need to ask them to take some of the stuff out.

[markeb]

Love the review!

 

And, we're in 9338 in just under 60 days! Your pictures tell us we chose well (and got darn lucky)!

[StarSong2001]

Was your stateroom attendant Mauricio by any chance? He was great.

[AZAficionado]

AZAficionado, great review, thanks for taking the time to share this. I am going on FOS for the first time in a few weeks. I have a question Re: your stateroom fridge, I was wondering if you recall if there was a way to set/maintain the temp inside, ... was it cold enough for food/medications? Also, was it that full when you arrived? If so I guess I may need to ask them to take some of the stuff out.

To be honest, I completely forgot about the minibar until the last day of our second cruise. I just snapped a photo and that was it. It didn't seem cold at all inside and it was full (I assume from when we arrived). Like any other hotel, unless you get permission, I expect they will charge you and replace anything that is missing. I never use the minibar at hotels as they are usually ridiculously expensive.

 

If you have medications that need to be refrigerated, you should talk to someone at RCCL in advance. I'm betting the medical staff can arrange something.

 

If a "minibar person" could jump in here, that would be great.

Was your stateroom attendant Mauricio by any chance? He was great.

Yes, he was. Best attendant I've ever had. I never saw him, unless I needed him, and then he was right there. There were times when we would put out the "make up my room" sign, head out to the Windjammer, forget something, go back to the room, and he was done making it up and nowhere to be seen. Total ninja.

[AZAficionado]

Day 3 - Labadee, Haiti

 

 

Some light reading...

 

 

A quick note about Labadee: Some people say that this is a "private island" owned by RCCL. That is very misleading. The area is privately owned by RCCL and it is located on an island - the island of Hispaniola, which is home to the countries of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. But RCCL's area is not a "private island" or any other kind of island. It is a private property in Haiti. Having said all that, because it is private property and on the desolate north side of Haiti, you get an experience that is similar to being on a "private island".

 

Since Labadee is RCCL's private property, when you leave the ship it often seems like you didn't. The food and bars are run by ship personnel (you'll see familiar faces) and the standard currency on the island is your Sea Pass card. Shopping with the local vendors is the exception (they take cash). So, you might need some cash, but not for food and drinks.

 

Labadee is one of the places where I've taken a Shore Excursion (Castaway at Malfini) and I've taken it twice. Yes, it was that good. However, I did not take it this cruise. But if you like getting away from it all, it is worth considering. However, this time the plan is to take in all the sights, including the Dragon's Breath and hiking trails, hang at the beach and just relax.

 

It was a beautiful day in Labadee. As you can see, we were not alone.

[AZAficionado]

Needless to say 8:00 am didn't happen, not that we really thought it would. After a quick bite at the Windjammer, we were off to explore, then relax. Order is really important on that. Do it the other way and "explore" never happens.

 

 

A little ship on ship action, for those who love that kind of thing...

 

Our first destination was Dragon's Lookout Point where you can experience the Dragon's Breath.

 

Along the way is the Dragon's Breath Pub and this is the patio. Simply gorgeous!

 

We got a great view of Adrenaline Beach as we passed the end of the zip line.

 

Our destination. When we got out there, it was really cool. Because of the holes in the rocks, you can hear what sounds like a dragon breathing each time a wave hits below. Worth the short walk out there. It isn't always open depending on the tides and sea conditions.

 

Next we hiked the various nature trails. Don't miss out on this. The slopes are a little steep and you'll probably burn off 1/10 of a Red Velvet cake slice, but the views at the overlooks are worth it.

 

See??? That is looking east with our backs toward Adrenaline Beach.

[AZAficionado]

The beach cabanas, which you can rent as an excursion (renting a floating mat is also an "excursion"). RCCL just recently built more cabanas in the hiking trail area that provide some amazing views, but are not on the beach itself.

 

This is Nellie's Beach. Not too shabby.

 

The Aqua Park which I've heard includes a complimentary upper-body workout for adults who enjoy this area with their kids. The kids don't seem to have that issue.

 

Columbus Cove, the most recent addition. Looks terrible...

 

Of course there is a water slide for an additional charge.

 

All that walking around made us thirsty, so we grabbed a couple of Labradoozies. Delicious, ice cold (like a slushy), refreshing with plenty of rum. Now, you don't want to confuse a Labradoozie with a Cocoloco, like some of the bartenders do as they walk around asking if you are "ready" for your "vacation medication". It is true that both are made with basically every flavor of Island Oasis mixer, frozen, and then rum is poured on top. But it is a Labradoozie only while in Labadee. Next week it'll be a Cocoloco.