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Brief Freedom Eastern Review plus compasses, menus, etc.

bobmacliberty
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bobmacliberty "Live from...." Rare

bobmacliberty

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Thanks for the review and photos, would you happen to know how much it cost to rent a taxi in St. Maarten?

 

I heard similar rates as what Bob posted to Orient Beach...about $10 per person each way. I can't confirm though. There is also a water taxi that you can take to the downtown Philipsburg area. I think it's only a few bucks a person. Check the St. Maarten port board for more/better info.

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love2fish

love2fish

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I see you're from OH. In talking with Kelly, DH & I learned he is also from OH. I don't remember exactly what area but he and his wife (who is on the ship with him) are living the dream. They love it! So jealous.

 

We were amazed watching Kelly's hands on the monitor behind him. As I'm sure you noticed, he would frequently take one hand off the keyboard to wave it around while he continued playing with the other hand. Without looking at the keyboard, he would then drop his hand right back to where it was supposed to be to play the next chord. That may be normal for a pianist that puts in many, many hours, but it's impressive for a non-pianist to watch.
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pam_1024

pam_1024

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One more post on entertainment. The Love and Marriage Game Show, and the Quest were both outstanding. I think it was the best Quest that I've seen. Lots of audience members were very engaged, including a guy who had what I'll call a wardrobe malfunction, and an older woman who at different points donated both her teeth and her bra. Now that's commitment.:D

 

The CD was Jamie Fentiman. At first impression, he was a little too over the top for me, but he definitely grew on me as the cruise progressed. He showed great improv skills at the Quest, Love and Marriage, and Belly Flop contest, building in whatever happened. His staff also did a very good job. The Millionaire, If you know it dance it, and Friendly Feud game shows were all packed and lots of fun.

 

Since I mentioned Jamie, here is the Officers and Staff Handout:

8A831772-CA8B-4A81-B018-FCD1F4ECAC2E_zps6qe5hwlt.jpg

 

Captain Tor and Hotel Director Michael Rasmussen were both very visible on TV and throughout the ship.

 

Love Captain Tor. He has been captain both times I sailed on the Freedom. He married a lady from here in Kentucky (Louisville) and lives here when he is on leave. Also, I found out on the last cruise that Michael's girlfriend is the lady aerialist. I know this because he walked beside me in the Walk for Wishes and I asked if he was married. :p He was so nice and chatted with several different walkers.

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John&LaLa "Live from...." Rare

John&LaLa

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Love Captain Tor. He has been captain both times I sailed on the Freedom. He married a lady from here in Kentucky (Louisville) and lives here when he is on leave. Also, I found out on the last cruise that Michael's girlfriend is the lady aerialist. I know this because he walked beside me in the Walk for Wishes and I asked if he was married. :p He was so nice and chatted with several different walkers.

 

Try and sit with him when he is a celebrity dealer in casino. He's a hoot

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S.A.M.J.R.

S.A.M.J.R.

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Love Captain Tor. He has been captain both times I sailed on the Freedom. He married a lady from here in Kentucky (Louisville) and lives here when he is on leave.

Do they live in Louisville? We're in Richmond (just south of Lexington).

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SherriZ366

SherriZ366

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Captain Tor. I tipped him 4 times I think. He bought drinks for table
That's cool. I like him a lot. I don't remember seeing anything about Celebirty Dealers in the Compass. DH spends a lot of time in the casino but I don't think he has ever had a Celebrity Dealer.
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John&LaLa "Live from...." Rare

John&LaLa

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That's cool. I like him a lot. I don't remember seeing anything about Celebirty Dealers in the Compass. DH spends a lot of time in the casino but I don't think he has ever had a Celebrity Dealer.

 

Did it on Freedom a few years ago. We had Hotel Director then. They do it on second formal night.

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niksmom630 "Live from...." Rare

niksmom630

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Great review and photos! Thanks for sharing....brought back lots of good memories from our day in St. Maarten when we sailed Oasis last February. We really enjoyed the Bernard's tour also, but did feel a bit rushed from place to place, and we even opted for the private tour!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

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brandonjordan

brandonjordan

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We recently did the Freedom Eastern cruise from June 14-21. I had planned to do a full day by day novel of a review, but that's probably not going to happen now. Too busy at work. I'll instead do a brief review and post all of the cruise compasses, menus, and other assorted things that I "scanned" with my phone.

 

Overall grade...B+. We all felt much better after day 7 than we did after the first couple of days (maybe it took a few days to relax?). I was definitely in the "what happened to the Wow" mode after day 1. More on that coming up.

 

A little background before I get into the details. We are a family of 4 and were in adjoining balcony cabins. DW and I were in 8280, and DD20/DD17 were in 8278. No connecting door but our steward opened the balcony partition. This is our 4th Royal cruise and 5th overall. First Royal cruise was amazing on Liberty (western). Second Royal cruise on Allure (also western) was even better. We were hooked. Third Royal cruise was a 5 day Explorer Bermuda cruise out of Cape Liberty that was a little disappointing because seas were very rough first day out and last day back. That wasn't Royal's fault though and we very much enjoyed both Bermuda and the ship. We had high hopes for Freedom based on so many people saying that it's their favorite ship, and based on fond memories of our Liberty cruise.

 

Details on specific elements of the cruise (dining, entertainment, ship condition, etc.) and a few pics to follow. I'll also post links to everything once I get it all uploaded.

Hi Bob, Sorry but I couldn't find link to the Compasses. Would you mind sending it to me at adele@sircoconsultants.com. Thank you so much.

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gram2kids

gram2kids

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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.

 

1E545A9C-C015-47D6-89B8-E17D41ECDD5A_zps8wwr9srn.jpg

 

_CM_6445_zps5vuzoxjz.jpg

 

_CM_6449_zps32icrtje.jpg

 

_CM_6448_zpsj4vkwvzb.jpg

 

_CM_6446_zpsajsmiqev.jpg

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

 

_CM_6447_zpsz2mid6fu.jpg

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

 

 

Can you tell me if it was difficult reserving one of the cabanettes on CocoCay? Do they get booked up quickly? I won't be arriving onto FOTS until around 1:15 due to a late flight getting into MCO that morning. I really need one of these cabanettes cause I need to stay out of the sun as much as possible but still want to enjoy spending time close to the beach. Any suggestions?

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  • 2 weeks later...
cajuncowgirl13

cajuncowgirl13

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Can you tell me if it was difficult reserving one of the cabanettes on CocoCay? Do they get booked up quickly? I won't be arriving onto FOTS until around 1:15 due to a late flight getting into MCO that morning. I really need one of these cabanettes cause I need to stay out of the sun as much as possible but still want to enjoy spending time close to the beach. Any suggestions?

 

 

I'm curious as well if they sale out fast???

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

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OSUZorba

OSUZorba

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Maho Beach Post

 

I love Maho Beach. FYI: The landing Delta aircraft is a 737. The Landing Air France is an A340. And the Delta Taking off is a 757.

 

I am surprised the 757 didn't give a good blast. They must not have done a short field takeoff, which is when the let the engines achieve max power before releasing the brakes, while making sure to start on the very end of the runway. They have also moved the fence back a few feet in recent years.

 

FYI: I take nice sunshade safety glasses when I go to Maho and have always been thankful for them when riding the fence.

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