Live, Freedom 3-15-2015

[BillB48]

Wow, gorgeous bird, although I have no idea what it is....

 

Cindy

 

Scarlet Ibis... no bird expert here, just thought the bird looked like the white ibis that we have a lot of in this part of Florida, so the Scarlet Ibis was easy to find.

[suizas]

Beachcampin, can you feel the vibration that cruisers have been talking about on Freedom on previous cruises? If so, how noticeable would you sat it is. Thanks! Have fun in Cozumel!

[Beachcampin]

Beachcampin, can you feel the vibration that cruisers have been talking about on Freedom on previous cruises? If so, how noticeable would you sat it is. Thanks! Have fun in Cozumel!

 

 

We have felt very little vibration. Fixipod has been repaired so that may have something to do with it. Also, the wind and seas have been calm the whole trip. Only time I've noticed anything that made me uncomfortable was in the viking crown, but that's not unusual.

[Beachcampin]

A few random items.

 

Another turtle:

 

 

Water is so beautiful here.

 

 

One last shot from hell, which really was just a swamp with rocks sticking up. I've seen similar formations on Coco cay. Though I will say the Hell jokes never did get old as I thought they would, which is probably why this place exists as a stop.

 

 

Menu from vintages. There were no prices, but I did see them advertising a wine paring meal at vintages for $49. This may be the menu for that.

 

[Beachcampin]

Today's compass.

 

 

 

 

[Beachcampin]

Had a great view of Cozumel this morning.

 

 

 

Until our friend Navigator decided to join us one last time. It was fun watching her dock.

 

 

[Anastasia6236]

Had a great view of Cozumel this morning.

 

 

 

Until our friend Navigator decided to join us one last time. It was fun watching her dock.

 

 

 

Hey Beachcampin,

 

THANKS again for your thread. Love the pictures and so helpful. With that said, I would like to do a live thread for 03/29 FOS cruise. I have started a test but am having trouble getting the full size pictures. Just posting a small photo. Any suggestions? Thanks, Lee

[Beachcampin]

Thanks!

 

I've just been using tapatalk and it was really easy and quick. If it hadn't worked so well, I never would have considered doing this. Try putting a space between pictures when your uploading them. I noticed this sometimes affected the pictures.

[BillOh]

 

Oh, good, at least on your trip the starboard side is facing the pier. I hope it is that way the day we are there. Love watching the late returners from my balcony.

[Anastasia6236]

Thanks!

 

I've just been using tapatalk and it was really easy and quick. If it hadn't worked so well, I never would have considered doing this. Try putting a space between pictures when your uploading them. I noticed this sometimes affected the pictures.

 

 

Thanks, I think I did it!!!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Susie51]

The water picture in Grand Cayman is stunning. I appreciate your dedication to posting. Thank you for your Navigator pics.

[UCONN Women Rule]

Thanks, I think I did it!!!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Are you going to take pics on our cruise Lee?

[Rotherham_Cruiser]

We are sailing on Freedom on April 19th and appreciate the excellent info on this thread.

 

Big trivia fans but not sure about a 9:30 morning trivia date. I'll still be supping coffee and OJ at that time.

 

If anyone has been on both Princess and RCCL are the Non Alcoholic coctails comparable to the excellent moctails on Princess?

 

Will swing it as to whether we purchase a drinks package

[sg1phileshipper]

Scarlet Ibis... no bird expert here, just thought the bird looked like the white ibis that we have a lot of in this part of Florida, so the Scarlet Ibis was easy to find.

 

 

Thank you :D. We have no exotic birds over here, except sometimes in the zoo...

Cindy

 

 

Verzonden vanaf mijn iPad met Tapatalk

[Anastasia6236]

Are you going to take pics on our cruise Lee?

 

I plan to! As long as the internet, this iphone, and my limited skills will all cooperate. 😊

[Beachcampin]

So, the best tip I can relate to everyone about Cozumel, is do not let your wife buy bongos for your kids as a souvenir. Absent that I can offer very little from this trip. We just did a little shopping (ahem) and enjoyed an empty boat as we've been here many times and were exhausted from the last few day's activities.

 

These guys are stationed just past the security checkpoint when you enter the boat from the ship. We've gone with them in the past and had great experiences. The prices here are just the jumping off points from which to begin negotiations.

 

 

Some other scenes around the ship today.

 

 

 

Epic, a Pricess and ship and one other joined us in port today.

 

 

[//announcer voice] And we reluctantly bid a fond farewell to Cozumel Mexico and their bongos of doom. [end announcer voice]

 

[Beachcampin]

So I guess we're running out of runway here and there's little info that I have left to give. I will say that despite all the grousing on these boards there were a lot of people drinking large quantities. No way for me to know if it was more or less, or how many were on the package. Some businesses would rather sell lower volume at higher margin. Not sure if that royal's direction, but it did make me purchase the drink plan despite diamond benefits. It worked financially for me under new pricing or old and I had some great drinks as I tried to drink better spirits than what are available through diamond lounge and vouchers.

 

My complaint about it is this. Look at these bars and tell me what you notice.

 

Schooner bar.

 

 

New Star bar.

 

 

Very little selection. For the Scotch drinker, no JW Gold or Blue or anything else for that matter other than entry level scotch, virtually no bourbon, 'top shelf' area is literally empty. This is embarrassing that a company with a sophisticated purchasing organization should have this kind of scarcity. There are bottles and bottles available in the shops, yet the beverage managers can't stock the shelves fully.

 

In a positive note, the bar tenders were fantastic in every bar we went to. Spent time chatting with several and enjoyed our time immensely. This is despite the fact that I never tipped extra beyond the 18% that I was already charged. I will, however be delivering some extra to a few who went above and beyond, despite the fact I was not leaving anything extra.

 

I do have a little more, but that will have to wait.

[Beachcampin]

Final day compass. Sigh.

 

 

 

 

 

And the elusive R bar menu.

 

[counsdr]

Ahhhh, I enjoyed quite a few of these!!!!

My favorite was Red Velvet Cake and my Daughter's was Lady Marmalade!!!

How do you post your pictures? I haven't been able to figure out how to do that!

Thanks,

Cheryl

PS Enjoy your last day on board!

[Beachcampin]

Ahhhh, I enjoyed quite a few of these!!!!

 

My favorite was Red Velvet Cake and my Daughter's was Lady Marmalade!!!

 

How do you post your pictures? I haven't been able to figure out how to do that!

 

Thanks,

 

Cheryl

 

PS Enjoy your last day on board!

 

 

Good morning Cheryl, when writing a reply here there are four buttons below the text. One is a square, I just press that and select the picture. Sometimes the buttons do not appear and there is a '+' to the left of the text. After pressing that, the text screen expands and the picture buttons appear again.

[Beachcampin]

There was a question a while back about the diamond lounge. Bertrand is back and the servers up there were excellent and so friendly. We didn't spend much time up there because we bought a package and we have friends with us who are not diamond. However, it was never crowded. Only about 250 diamonds and DP aboard and most, like us, were probably traveling with nondiamond guests.

 

Last night was the first time we felt the spring break nature of this cruise. No excursions to get up for the next day, kids have formed into rival clans, and are more familiar with the ship. Anyway, there was some elevator games and all the fire doors were closed in some of the halls. Rest of the time it's been ok. Maybe if you're cruising during spring break (or similar) it's better to be on one with more ports so folks are more likely to go to bed early.

 

Expect the pool deck to be insane today, but my skin will thank me for staying indoors today.

[Corndog819]

Is the second formal night usually the night FOS is in Grand Cayman? I had assumed it would be the night of Cozumel

[Lionesss]

Really enjoying this thread.

 

Loved the Freedom, having sailed her twice.

 

Thanks

[Beachcampin]

Is the second formal night usually the night FOS is in Grand Cayman? I had assumed it would be the night of Cozumel

 

 

 

Not exactly sure, but it seems that they've been experimenting a bit here and there.

[depplep]

Beachcampin, love the review. We're on Oasis in the fall and I'm trying to find a current drink menu for the Champagne Bar. This is my favorite bar onboard and we have the premium drink package. I'm trying to determine if it would be better to buy champagne by the glass and pay the difference or buy the bottle and get the 20% discount. If you have time would you mind taking a picture of the drink menu? If it doesn't fit into the schedule, no worries. Thanks.

Edited March 21, 2015 by depplep
Added more info