Brief Freedom Eastern Review plus compasses, menus, etc.

[brillohead]

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This picture wins the internet for today!!! SEA LION CUDDLES!!!!!

[bobmacliberty]

So I guess this review isn't turning out to be so brief. Might have made more sense to organize it better instead of just randomly jumping between topics. Too late to start now, so let's talk about alcohol.

 

As I said earlier, DW and I bought the Premium Drink package. Total cost per person was a little more than $400 for the week. We do a fair amount of drinking when we cruise and usually spend almost this much. With the recent drink price increases, we decided that the "all inclusive" approach would be worth it. It helped that we had $400 OBC so it felt like one package was free. We were very satisfied with the wines that were available, although our waiter at Giovanni's Table didn't believe that a $12 glass of wine was included in the package (a Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc for those interested) and we had to practically force him to go check with someone.

 

We spent most of our pool time in the Solarium and never had to wait behind more than a couple of people to be served. We often were served immediately. Winston was an occasional bartender in the Solarium. I remembered Winston from the Explorer when it cruised out of Cape Liberty, as he does a great job. Reports of the death of the wandering waiter proved to be greatly exaggerated:

 

 

Same is true for the death of drink menus, at least in a few places:

 

 

Drink menu at the bar in the Windjammer

 

Drink menu at the Bull and Bear Pub

 

The Bull and Bear Pub usually only had 1 or 2 options on tap. There was Beck's available early in the cruise, and Stella available almost the entire cruise. I think they were out of Stella on the last day (not that I was in there every day). They had many bottle choices.

 

I also want to recognize one of the bartenders on Coco Cay (who also works the Sky Bar ;)). I won't call him out by name because I don't want to get him in trouble, in case he did something that he wasn't supposed to. It was about 2:00 and we were sitting at a picnic table after finishing eating. He was carrying a tray of Coco Locos. I asked if they were included in the drink package. He said that they were in the souvenir cups, which weren't included, and that he would need to charge us for the cup. We have several of the cups from Labadee so I said never mind. He then said, no problem...he'd give them to my wife and I at no extra charge. He then went on to give virgin versions, also in the souvenir cups to my daughters, at no charge. He might have only been getting rid of his inventory late in the day but he definitely made us feel special. Nice tip and a Wow card for him.

[bobmacliberty]

Changing topics yet again...this time onboard shopping. I've always been nervous about buying expensive watches onboard, never knowing if I'm getting a good deal or getting taken. DD20 was not actually 20 until the Monday after the cruise. For her birthday, she wanted a Michael Kors watch. She had picked one out before the cruise so we had a good idea of what it cost. The Michael Kors store had a sale...buy one, get one 50% off (sound familiar?). DW was also in the market for a new watch and saw one that she really liked. Before buying onboard, we checked a few jewelry stores in St. Thomas and St. Maarten and none could match the ship's prices. One store in St. Thomas practically accused us of lying about the ship's sale to negotiate a better price with them. While we could have found either watch by itself a little cheaper on one of the islands, no one could come close to matching the50% sale. We ended up saving more than $100.

[S.A.M.J.R.]

Drink menu at the bar in the Windjammer

No Lava Flows? :mad:

[ham_bone]

Thanks for the BOOZE update! I never thought this would be a huge concern but it def has become one. I have never had a bar bill under $400 and thats even with making friends with some bartenders that hooked us up during the day and if we saw them staffing shows. One server (wont name him) saw me on day1 of a trip over a year since seeing him on a different ship & called me out by name from across the deck. I guess i have a problem, but I hope to see the doctor again.

[bobmacliberty]

No Lava Flows? :mad:

 

These aren't complete menus. Lots of Lava Flows being served (I even tried one myself :D). I'm partial to Miami Vices, and an occasional Mohito. DW enjoyed Tanqueray and Tonics. They could essentially make anything that you asked for so long as they had the right booze.

[bobmacliberty]

Thanks for the BOOZE update! I never thought this would be a huge concern but it def has become one. I have never had a bar bill under $400 and thats even with making friends with some bartenders that hooked us up during the day and if we saw them staffing shows. One server (wont name him) saw me on day1 of a trip over a year since seeing him on a different ship & called me out by name from across the deck. I guess i have a problem, but I hope to see the doctor again.

 

Not a problem at all. Royal Caribbean has done you a huge favor by setting the max amount for your bill. :)

[serene56]

We went to the excursion desk as soon as we boarded because I believe that they sell out. I don't remember seeing the option to reserve a cabanette online ahead of time, but that might also be a possibility. Someone else might be able to confirm. Once we got off the tender on the island, we went into the excursions building and checked in. We then waited for the next tram to take us to the area where the cabanettes are located. Once you arrive at the cabanette area, there is someone to assign you your particular cabanette, and then bring you water. The fruit was delivered late in the morning (don't remember exactly when). The cost was a little more than $50 for 2 people and the charge goes on your ship account. Shade, water, fruit, and a nice beach with fewer people. Worth the money to me.

 

I was told they do not rent these ahead of time. They are given out on board as a first come first serve. And Suite guests gets first dibs.

50 bucks is cheap considering Royal is quoting me 250.00 and it holds 6 people

[cajuncowgirl13]

Following are thoughts on a variety of things related to the cruise, sometimes with accompanying pictures.

 

 

 

Check In - Check in was a breeze. Easiest and fastest that I've ever experienced. We arrived at the terminal at around 10:45 and quickly went through security and up the escalator. We used the C&A line for Gold (and Platinum?) and only had to wait behind a couple of other parties. They started boarding and by the time we had completed check in, had announced that Golds could now board. We were on the ship by 11:00. We quickly went to the excursion desk to sign up for Cocoa Cay cabanettes and parasailing. We then bought our drink packages and went to Windjammer for lunch. No problem finding a table around 11:30.

 

 

 

CocoCay- First time at CocoCay for us and we really enjoyed it. I'd highly recommend the cabanettes, at a total billed amount of $53.75 for 2 people. This include 2 loungers, the cabana covering, fruit, and a cooler with ice and a couple of large bottles of water. It's all in a much less crowded area that felt quite a bit more relaxing (see item 26 on the map below). You need to take a shuttle to get there (although you could walk if you wanted) but we never had to wait long.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Barefoot Beach near cabanettes looking away from the main part of the island

 

 

 

 

Barefoot Beach near cabanettes looking back toward main part of the island

 

 

Can you reserve those early?? Or just when you get onboard

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[bobmacliberty]

I was told they do not rent these ahead of time. They are given out on board as a first come first serve. And Suite guests gets first dibs.

50 bucks is cheap considering Royal is quoting me 250.00 and it holds 6 people

 

I think you're talking about the cabanas for $250. Those are larger wooden structures on the opposite end of the island (number 1 on the Coco Cay map). The cabanettes are just 2 loungers with a clamshell like "tent" over the loungers to give you shade. I think the cabanas are given first to suites, as you said, but the cabanettes are available to anyone. Still you may be right that they are not available ahead of time and are given out first come first serve. We grabbed ours at the excursion desk a few minutes after 11:00 when we boarded.

[bobmacliberty]

Can you reserve those early?? Or just when you get onboard

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

I don't know definitively whether or not you can reserve early. I think it's only onboard as I don't remember seeing them listed online. Maybe someone else can confirm.

[S.A.M.J.R.]

These aren't complete menus. Lots of Lava Flows being served (I even tried one myself :D). I'm partial to Miami Vices, and an occasional Mohito. DW enjoyed Tanqueray and Tonics. They could essentially make anything that you asked for so long as they had the right booze.

Thanks. I've read people saying they'll make drinks not on the menu, but it's still nice knowing they're serving the drink you like.

[bobmacliberty]

Here come the dinner menus. Disclaimers:

• I don't have day 3 since we ate at Giovanni's Table. I do have the Giovanni's menu.
  
• I also don't have day 6. That was the second formal night (lobster night) and my family of 4 was seated with 2 other couples at an 8 top. I was likely engaged in conversation and forgot about the menus.
  
• I took these with my iPhone using a scanning app. While they looked fine on the small iPhone screen, some are a tad blurry at full size (especially the Giovanni's Entrée page)
  

Oh well...you get what you pay for.

 

Day 1 - Mojo:

 

 

Day 2 - Saffron:

 

 

Day 3 - Giovanni's Table:

 

[bobmacliberty]

Day 4 - Pimiento

 

 

Day 5 - Basil

 

 

Day 7 - Pomodoro

 

[bobmacliberty]

General thoughts on food...The MDR entrees ranged from OK to good. Nothing really jumped out as spectacular. Several of the appetizers were very good. DD20 threatened a couple of times to just order several appetizers as her entire meal. I'm sure that our waiters would have been fine with that. Desserts were also good but not great. I'm a Crème Brulee fan but it was too runny for my tastes.

 

Lunch seemed to lack variety...at least variety of stuff that appealed to me. To be honest, there were several hot options each day. Still, I ended up getting a cheeseburger most days, with an occasional pasta and sauce.

 

We enjoyed breakfast the most. For some reason, we had never eaten breakfast in the MDR before. We always either went to the Windjammer or had room service. We had breakfast in the MDR twice and really enjoyed it. Breakfast in the Windjammer was also good. We had no problem finding a table and the food was consistently hot and tasty.

 

We aren't foodies so the quality of food in the MDR doesn't really impact us too much one way or the other. I have great respect for what it must take to feed that many people over an entire week, so my expectations are not very high. I definitely cut Royal some slack if they can't live up to a 5 star restaurant on land. That said, I expected more out of Giovanni's Table. That was probably the biggest food disappointment.

 

We have typically eaten as a family at a 4 top. Twice we were seated with others (once breakfast and once dinner). I found that I really enjoyed the conversation with others. Everyone seems to have great stories to tell. We're now considering choosing traditional dinning in the future such that we'll be seated with someone else, assuming that traditional dining survives.

 

Now comes my confession. I didn't spend any time thinking about packing before the cruise. On the last night, I threw a bunch of bathing suits, t-shirts, shorts, and dressier Hawaiian style shirts into a suitcase, along with my Tux. No other long pants. I was one of those people wearing shorts in the MDR, and even on Giovanni's Table. I definitely wasn't alone. To be clear, I'm talking about nice Tommy Bahama linen shorts and silk shirts, so I didn't really feel guilty at all.

[Newtoncruise]

I have a lot of info about St. Thomas and St. Maarten, but let me quickly cover a few random bits of info.

 

Internet -

 

One of the comedians was Chris Bliss. He also does an amazing juggling routine sync'd to a medley of Beatles music. See a Youtube version here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfiq8Z4dBwE

 

Loved this......I hope he is on freedom in August! Saw Paul McCartney do this live in Liverpool a few weeks ago.....only singing it though!

[bobmacliberty]

Loved this......I hope he is on freedom in August! Saw Paul McCartney do this live in Liverpool a few weeks ago.....only singing it though!

 

If Paul McCartney only knew how to juggle...he might have been more successful in life. :D

[bobmacliberty]

Don't know where to fit this into a review, so it gets its own post. Here's the welcome onboard document for C&A Gold members that was waiting for us in our cabin:

 

 

We took advantage of the 10% of internet discount but that was it. We did spend more than $25 on Royal logo stuff and could have received 10% off, but we forgot completely about it. I no longer have the receipt, and I guess it's possible that they automatically added the 10% discount, but somehow I doubt it.

 

Never thought about it before but they must have a nice printing setup somewhere on ship. I believe that they print the Cruise Compasses and other documents every day onboard rather than having them all pre-printed before the cruise. Anyone know for sure?

[brillohead]

Never thought about it before but they must have a nice printing setup somewhere on ship. I believe that they print the Cruise Compasses and other documents every day onboard rather than having them all pre-printed before the cruise. Anyone know for sure?

 

Yes, those have always been printed up on-board, going back decades.

[ham_bone]

Loved this......I hope he is on freedom in August! Saw Paul McCartney do this live in Liverpool a few weeks ago.....only singing it though!

 

in LIVERPOOL! ive seen him at fenway & the boston garden and he was amazing both times but I would trade both to see him in Liverpool.. Such a great performer even at this age.

[weejasser]

Loving your review. Thanks for the effort.

 

I'm on FoS in Aug. Previously when I've been to Coco Cay they had some fixed parasols at the far away beach - looks like Barefoot Beach on the map. This was before they had the cabanettes. Any idea if the parasols are still there?

thanks

[serene56]

Thank you so much for the menus. This will help with the planning

[bobmacliberty]

Loving your review. Thanks for the effort.

 

I'm on FoS in Aug. Previously when I've been to Coco Cay they had some fixed parasols at the far away beach - looks like Barefoot Beach on the map. This was before they had the cabanettes. Any idea if the parasols are still there?

thanks

 

Thanks. I didn't see any parasols. We didn't really walk down the beach from where the cabanettes were, so it's possible that they moved them somewhere else. Looking at the couple of pictures that I took from Snorkel Beach, I don't see any umbrellas at all, other than the one over the lifeguard stand. There's natural shade from trees for some of the loungers so if you're concerned about shade, I'd get there early.

[bobmacliberty]

Thank you so much for the menus. This will help with the planning

 

My pleasure. I wish I had taken pictures of the Day 6 menu, but I guess that all you really need to know if that it's lobster night. :)

[Newtoncruise]

in LIVERPOOL! ive seen him at fenway & the boston garden and he was amazing both times but I would trade both to see him in Liverpool.. Such a great performer even at this age.

 

I'm from liverpool...so it was his home gig and was amazing.....sorry to butt in on the thread but when he did back in the ussr followed by live and let die it was really special.

 

I'd love to come to a concert in Boston.....last time I was there I saw wet wet wet.....and the curfew was 10pm in the park.....they pulled the plug on love is all around....1994