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LIVE from the Freedom of the Seas * Feb 15, 2015 * Western Caribbean!

ckrobyn

By ckrobyn,
in Royal Caribbean International

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ckrobyn

ckrobyn

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I have thought about whether or not I would actually start a LIVE thread, and here I am :o. Here is what I know.... I have my laptop with me and we plan to secure unlimited internet for our DD, so I can hop in here a few times a day and hopefully answer some questions. I am great at taking picture, just bad at posting them. If anyone has suggestions on where to upload photos and then post here, please let me know.

Okay, so here are some details. I have been on CC for a long time, so many of you know me by now. I have sailed exclusively with Royal, and if I am not mistaken, this will be my 26th cruise. We have sailed on the Freedom 5 times, and we are excited to be sailing again and have an opportunity to see a ship immediately following a dry dock.

We will be enjoying Owners Suite 1334, I believe it is called the "Degas" Suite. We have stayed in OS's before, but not on Freedom class, so we are looking forward to a much larger balcony. I have received my email from the Concierge (Rahul) and have successfully reserved an Over the Water Cabana on Labadee.

 

Okay, so now that we have those details out of the way, I can tell you that we flew from Toronto to Orlando last night. We left -20 degree weather and are now enjoying a sunny and warm Florida day. I have been checking Accuweather regularly, so I know the temps are cooling off here, and we will likely see about 62 at Port Canaveral for sailaway, but it will be sunny :)

We are staying at the Omni Resort at Champions Gate. A lovely place about 20minutes from Disney. We have stayed here before, and we are in a 2 bedroom villa once again. Tomorrow we are changing hotels for the next 2 nights and will be staying at the Hyatt Regency Orlando ( I have a business trip here in May, and wanted to check it out beforehand) When I mentioned to the hotel that we are celebrating our 20th Anniversary, I received an email from the General Manager letting us know that we had been upgraded to the Metropolitan Suite - what a lovely gesture. We can't wait to see the suite tomorrow.

 

We plan to drive down to Port Canaveral on Saturday afternoon to watch the ships sail out, and maybe have a light dinner at Grills. Our intent is to leave Orlando at about 8AM Sunday morning and pick up another couple we are sailing with ( we met on the Adventure last February!) Hi Jackie and Todd! :D and head to the port. Royal Caribbean has left me 2 voice mails and 2 emails instructing us to make our way to Terminal 1. I am interested to see this terminal as I understand it is new.

 

I will be posting on some of our activities here in Orlando over the next few days, as well as to write down some of the questions I am sure some of you have and will want to know about the ship for your own cruise :) We are planning on visiting the happiest place on earth tomorrow.....you know, the place with the mouse....:p

 

More later....

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Woodmnky

Woodmnky

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I look forward to hearing more about this ship from a seasoned RCI cruiser. We are scheduled for our first RCI cruise on Freedom in 2 months. I am sure that you are going to have so much going on, but I would be extremely grateful if you could inquire as to whether the new Family Ocean View rooms on deck 12 will have the extra half bathroom like the ones on Explorer. It is no big surprise that the reps on land have no idea, but I am hoping that this information may be better know by those onboard.

 

Enjoy your day with the mouse. We are AP holders and we are cheating on Mickey a bit to cruise Freedom.

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ckrobyn

ckrobyn

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I look forward to hearing more about this ship from a seasoned RCI cruiser. We are scheduled for our first RCI cruise on Freedom in 2 months. I am sure that you are going to have so much going on, but I would be extremely grateful if you could inquire as to whether the new Family Ocean View rooms on deck 12 will have the extra half bathroom like the ones on Explorer. It is no big surprise that the reps on land have no idea, but I am hoping that this information may be better know by those onboard.

 

Enjoy your day with the mouse. We are AP holders and we are cheating on Mickey a bit to cruise Freedom.

 

I will find out as much as I can, unless someone who already knows pops in here and answers before me :)

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TomAceEsq

TomAceEsq

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Thanks for doing this, Robyn! My wife and I will be on her in four weeks and can't wait to see her through the eyes from a seasoned cruiser like yourself. I also plan on starting the Wednesday before we sail since we have a bedroom suite on a train from Denver-Chicago-Washington DC-Jacksonville.

 

Happy Cruising!

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cynthialanderson67

cynthialanderson67

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Yeah excited to follow along. We will be on Freedom in August on the Western Caribbean. Am excited to here what you do in Jamaica. It's the one place we don't have a solid plan. Would you mind taking pictures of menus for the little cafe's such as Cafe Promenade, Wipeout Cafe, and Seven Hearts. Thanks enjoy your cruise and thanks for bringing us along. :D

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jtdlmc

jtdlmc

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Looking forward to your live report! Our first RCI cruise will be on Freedom in Feb 2016! Not sure what the weather is like in Toronto but we about 2.5 hours Southwest and are under an extreme cold watch and they have closed most of Highway 402 this way due to whiteouts! I'm ready for this winter to end!!!

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ckrobyn

ckrobyn

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Yeah excited to follow along. We will be on Freedom in August on the Western Caribbean. Am excited to here what you do in Jamaica. It's the one place we don't have a solid plan. Would you mind taking pictures of menus for the little cafe's such as Cafe Promenade, Wipeout Cafe, and Seven Hearts. Thanks enjoy your cruise and thanks for bringing us along. :D

 

 

Haha! We don't have plans in Jamaica either! [emoji15] I actually had the Red Stripe Beach excursion booked, but then I read the reviews and cancelled. It's apparently a tiny beach and the sand is covered with pine needles!?!???

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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mellibee

mellibee

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Haha! We don't have plans in Jamaica either! [emoji15] I actually had the Red Stripe Beach excursion booked, but then I read the reviews and cancelled. It's apparently a tiny beach and the sand is covered with pine needles!?!???

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

We have been to Jamaica twice and did the river tubing excursion both times. Our family loved it!

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ckrobyn

ckrobyn

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I'm looking forward to your review! We are on the Western after you. If you are planning on going to the captain's corner, can you find out the progress with fixing the propulsion system, and if the captain is planning on modifying Western itineraries in any way?

 

 

Absolutely!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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jules815

jules815

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Hi Robyn,

 

Thanks so much for doing this! Enjoy your time in Orlando and Happy Anniversary. :)

 

I'll be following along. My husband and I will be sailing on FOS in September in OS 1320. Would love to see any current OS pictures; especially the balcony. :)

 

Also, look forward to seeing pictures of your cabana on BB.

 

Have fun and thanks again!

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SherriZ366

SherriZ366

Posted
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Robyn -- could you please find out about whether FR will have the new Internet packages -- choice of speeds:

Basic: 256 Kbps

2 devices: $129.99

1 device: $69.99

Daily: $14.95

Hourly: $9.99

 

Premium: 1 Mbps

2 devices: $189.99

1 device: $104.99

Daily: $19.95

Hourly: $11.99

 

Premium Plus: 4 Mbps

2 devices: $199.99

1 device: $119.99

Daily: $24.95

Hourly: $14.99

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