Off the Freedom Yesterday a few notes..

[jillpra]

IN the JS, did you get priority boarding and debarkation?

[John&LaLa]

IN the JS, did you get priority boarding and debarkation?

 

Boarding yes, debarking no

[Russ Lomas]

Also was on that cruise. Some thoughts...

 

Room 1864 on deck 12 is awesome.

I would love to hear more about your cabin and deck 12. We have 1804 (family panoramic) booked for a future cruise on the Freedom. How was the motion at the front of the ship that high up? Any noise from the deck chairs above or the spa below? I am assuming the hallways are pretty quiet since there are relatively few cabins on that deck.

 

Room steward, not so much. room wasn't cleaned very well. There was a lot of dust everywhere. Plus, he missed the prescription bottle of \/iagra left behind in the bathroom by a previous guest (thanks Mr. Green, whoever you are...but totally not needed! ;) )

irreversible at this point.

Sorry your cabin steward was not quite UP to your expectations. Maybe he should have popped a couple of those pills and and he would have been UP to your expectations;)

 

Mr. Green taking Mr. Blue pill (and leaving them behind for you to find and share with all of us on CruiseCritic):eek:

[John&LaLa]

I would love to hear more about your cabin and deck 12. We have 1804 (family panoramic) booked for a future cruise on the Freedom. How was the motion at the front of the ship that high up? Any noise from the deck chairs above or the spa below? I am assuming the hallways are pretty quiet since there are relatively few cabins on that deck.:eek:

 

Seriously doubt there is any noise from the deck above. ;)

Unless you are staying below the deck in the third picture.

[idkanything]

...

Lastly, they need to do something about the smoke from the casino. When looking at your pictures in the photo gallery on deck 4, it's overwhelming. I know I have to accept it when in the casino. When outside of it, no one should have to deal with it.

 

We were on the Freedom on Aug 23rd (when they rerouted us western cause of hurricane Danny), and it was so wonderfully fantastic! Booked another trip on her next October. I just love this ship.

 

I just had to agree with you on this. I'm an ex-smoker who uses those fake electronic cigarettes now, I still really miss it and love the smell of smoke, but even I was surprised they kept the picture gallery right there next to the casino.

 

On a side note, my daughter did indeed bring her hula-hoops, and had a blast using them up by the pool :)

[mcd2745]

I would love to hear more about your cabin and deck 12. We have 1804 (family panoramic) booked for a future cruise on the Freedom. How was the motion at the front of the ship that high up? Any noise from the deck chairs above or the spa below? I am assuming the hallways are pretty quiet since there are relatively few cabins on that deck.

 

 

 

 

No noise from above. It's basically empty above you (why haven't they re-purposed that space in some way to get more use out of it?) as the picture posted by John&LaLa displays.

 

Halls were relatively quiet. You would just see some other guests at the typical times people would be coming or going to their stateroom like right before dinner or port arrival, etc.

 

The view is awesome and while I was worried about movement - especially since the first night we were dealing with a lot of wind & rain from the remnants of Erika - but it was never an issue. Although, after that first night, we had wonderfully calm seas.

[RAYMORRA]

Odd...the Loyalty Ambassador told us it was ONLY the Freedom cutting out the Welcome Back party when we asked why we hadn't gotten our invitations...I'll let you know what Corporate says when they respond to my "Why?" email...

 

Well that's a bummer! It still lists it on the website! What did they offer in exchange for the welcome back party?

[tlatrice]

you have to look under activities not dining.

 

Thank you!!!! Found it! I was looking under dining:o.

[Russ Lomas]

No noise from above. It's basically empty above you (why haven't they re-purposed that space in some way to get more use out of it?) as the picture posted by John&LaLa displays.

 

Halls were relatively quiet. You would just see some other guests at the typical times people would be coming or going to their stateroom like right before dinner or port arrival, etc.

 

The view is awesome and while I was worried about movement - especially since the first night we were dealing with a lot of wind & rain from the remnants of Erika - but it was never an issue. Although, after that first night, we had wonderfully calm seas.

Thanks for the reply. Hopefully they will not start line dancing classes on the open deck above us at 6 am or anything silly like that. Looks like we may have a nice quiet private sun deck above our cabins for us since nobody else uses it.

 

Glad the halls are quiet. I would have expected that. Nice not being on the main hallway where you get kids running by at all hours or lots of drunks coming back from the bar at the wee hours (oh sorry, that was our Carnival and NCL cruises).

 

We are really looking forward to the view. There is an 8 day cruise with another line that I really like the looks of but I think I want to stick with the cabin for the 6 day cruise this time around. It looks amazing. Glad to hear there was not too much movement for you. It does not affect me, but we have had the family cabins at the bow just below the bridge on the Liberty and we felt the movement a lot more. It just rocks me to sleep, but the DW told me afterwards it made her a bit queasy.

[wolfcathorse]

Odd...the Loyalty Ambassador told us it was ONLY the Freedom cutting out the Welcome Back party when we asked why we hadn't gotten our invitations...I'll let you know what Corporate says when they respond to my "Why?" email...

 

MJ has cut them out too. On my 8-24 sailing there was no welcome back party. The 3 top cruisers were invited to dine with the LA in a corner of the dining room on Deck 4, same menu as the rest of us. But the LA did say that soon they would be bringing back the Top tier welcome back event. There hasn't been a Captain's Welcome Aboard reception (first formal night) in a long time.

[CruiseDancer]

Unfortunately, I didn't save all the Compasses and Adventure Ocean schedules. But basically, on the sea days when they really need to open all day, they are open from 9am to Noon, then close for two hours (why?). Open again from 2pm-5pm, then close again (why?). Then they were open from 6:45pm to 10pm for the regular program, and then from 10pm-2am it's the "late night party zone" when it costs $7 per hour, per child. IIRC, they may have been open more continuously while in the ports (other than Labadee - since they have a program onshore there), presumably for people who want to leave the kids on the ship while they visit the port - roughly eliminating that noon closure, but I believe they still had that evening closure. The hours may have been tweaked slightly to accommodate the hours in port.

 

This has been my experience with the Adventure Ocean as well. They close at those times for lunch and dinner. What is wrong with having the kids back with the family for lunch or dinner?

 

Plus, if you have early dining, you can expedite the kid's meals and take them to the AO staff that come to the dining room to pick them up. It's called My Family Time Dining. You don't even need to sign up ahead of time for it anymore.

Edited September 17, 2015 by CruiseDancer
correcting typos

[mcd2745]

This has been my experience with the Adventure Ocean as well. They close at those times for lunch and dinner. What is wrong with having the kids back with the family for lunch or dinner?

 

Plus, if you have early dining, you can expedite the kid's meals and take them to the AO staff that come to the dining room to pick them up. It's called My Family Time Dining. You don't even need to sign up ahead of time for it anymore.

 

Not everyone keeps the same daily schedule or eats at the same time. What if you have second seating dinner (as we did)? We're eating at 8pm when they are closed from 5:00-6:45pm. We're not at dinner when they are closed then. So, it may work out fine for those with early seating, it doesn't at all for those with second seating.

 

On sea days, we prefer to sleep later. So if we don't hit the Windjammer for breakfast until say, 10:30-11:00am or so...we're not going to be eating lunch at noon (or at all - maybe just a quick slice from Sorrento's) when they close for 2 hours. It's as if they are trying to force people into a particular schedule. Their hours should be continuous throughout the day.

[John&LaLa]

I guess staffing limitations demand that the attendants be given time off to eat, those hours probably work for the majority.

[serene56]

Unfortunately, I didn't save all the Compasses and Adventure Ocean schedules. But basically, on the sea days when they really need to open all day, they are open from 9am to Noon, then close for two hours (why?). Open again from 2pm-5pm, then close again (why?). Then they were open from 6:45pm to 10pm for the regular program, and then from 10pm-2am it's the "late night party zone" when it costs $7 per hour, per child. IIRC, they may have been open more continuously while in the ports (other than Labadee - since they have a program onshore there), presumably for people who want to leave the kids on the ship while they visit the port - roughly eliminating that noon closure, but I believe they still had that evening closure. The hours may have been tweaked slightly to accommodate the hours in port.

 

they close for lunch and dinner. Counselors need to eat too. and with so many kids with allergies today the cruise lines do not want the responsibilities

[serene56]

Thank you!!!! Found it! I was looking under dining:o.

 

 

when does it open up? I dont see it listed under dining or activities

[Merion_Mom]

when does it open up? I dont see it listed under dining or activities

 

If your next cruise is in April, as your signature says, then it is probably too early.

[serene56]

If your next cruise is in April, as your signature says, then it is probably too early.

 

 

thanks a lot. when does it open? about 60 days?

[mcd2745]

I guess staffing limitations demand that the attendants be given time off to eat, those hours probably work for the majority.

 

I'm sure that's the answer...they are not adequately staffed. So when a counselor or two goes on break...they have to shut down the entire operation.

[robtulipe]

DW wants to know if there is Zumba dance fitness offered as an activity onboard Freedom? Thanks ahead for any responses. :)

Edited September 17, 2015 by robtulipe

[John&LaLa]

I'm sure that's the answer...they are not adequately staffed. So when a counselor or two goes on break...they have to shut down the entire operation.

Nah, they just lock the kids in the closet

Is that what you were fishing for

 

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

[ommax2]

As for AO hours, I would guess this is for the staff...who really do need a break from your angels...after all, working with children constantly with out a break is tiring. If they are not your own, it is much more so. This is a risk management solution....done to protect kids and staff. Trust me....it's a good thing!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[serene56]

If the "clubs" did not close kids will be in there 24/7 (unless its paid)

and those kids will never see their parents.

 

This is not just on this ship- but every ship we ever sailed the "clubs or camps" are closed during the day at some time for about an hour or so.

 

even land vacations-- those clubs also close.

[casinostreer]

On our upcoming Freedom trip, our VERY ACTIVE 4 year old plans on using Adventure Ocean quite a bit. She remembers seeing it from our last cruise, and she just used a similar "gym" on land that she LOVED.

 

On port days - it's open the entire day, assuming that the parents might be off the ship for the entire time in port. On sea days, they are closed for a couple of hours at lunch and a couple of hours at dinner. We're looking forward to this time to eat and swim with our daughter, knowing full well she won't want to leave and spend time away from new found friends unless she has to.

 

I'm sure the above poster wasn't saying this - but if a couple of hours with your kids during the day is too much, why not leave them with the grandparents or some other relative while you're on vacation? :-)

[mcd2745]

Ahhhhh...can always count on the CC crowd to be super-judgemental.

 

If we let her (we don't, BTW, for all you judgemental folks), our daughter would want to spend all day, every day in the clubs. It's a testament to the quality of the program, so kudos to RCCL and the AO staff. However, our son (now in his teens), was very different. He didn't care to be in there long when he was younger. We did though let our daughter skip dinner with us (we fed her earlier) a couple of nights because we had second seating dinner while the club was open and there were activities scheduled that she really wanted to participate in.

 

I'm in agreement that the closing times are a function of staffing. Clearly, they are not adequately staffed enough to remain open while the counselors rotate their breaks. For those who say all similar clubs/programs close during the day, that is not true. The clubs on DCL remain open continuously, as they have a much larger staff. Like everything else, there are pros and cons to each. While I find it frustrating it forces them to close on RCCL, the smaller staff allows the children to get to know the counselors (and vice-versa) much more than on DCL. As I said, there's 2 sides to every coin.

Edited September 18, 2015 by mcd2745

[casinostreer]

Ahhhhh...can always count on the CC crowd to be super-judgemental.

 

I apologize - I seriously meant no judgement. We have left our daughter at home with family a LOT when we go on certain vacations. (Vegas can be stressful for my kid. :D)

 

Our daughter would be in there all day as well. It just happens to coincide with our schedule of meals.

 

I see your point, though. If you can be open all day on port days, why not sea days? Doesn't the AO staff need to eat on port days? I'm not sure if it's entirely about meals. Maybe (just spitballing) it's because on sea days there are too many people in the WJammer to keep an eye on the kids like there is on port days. I have no idea if that's it - but it just came to mind.

 

(Again - sorry if I came off judgy - not intended.)