"Finally" Live from Freedom! 9/6 - 9/20/15

[jules815]

Good morning everyone! We've had a bit of a rough start to our cruise on FOS. Today is the first day we've been able to get an internet connection. Many people were having issues; different error codes, etc. Our concierge, Rahul, finally stepped in yesterday and initiated a help desk ticket (RC IT..ha ha), and this morning it seems to be working, albeit a little slow, but what we expected. So first 3 days with no internet, and elderly parents back home, so felt a little bit of a panic with not being able to check in. Our concierge offered complimentary use of a phone if we wanted.

 

We boarded on Sunday for two weeks. We arrived at the pier early, around 10:30ish. (We spent the night in Orlando on Saturday, had a rental through Hertz, then took the Hertz shuttle to the pier.) We're in a suite, so we sat in the nice section while we waited to board. I believe that area was open for Pinnacle - Diamond, and suites. This was our first time sailing from the new terminal...it's very nice.

 

This is where we had a bit of a problem. Got to our stateroom at 1pm. The door was open, and our stateroom attendant, Jasmine, was frantically working to get it ready. She's absolutely WONDERFUL...probably our best steward to date. We asked her if she'd like us to come back in a little while, so we threw our carry-ons into the closet, and went away for another hour. When we returned to our room the door was closed, but now neither of our cards would open the door. Went down to guest services and they escorted us up to our room, let us in, and took our cards. It took 5 hours to have new cards and a working lock on our door. I think they had to replace the entire lock on the door.

 

But back to the musty odor...which is now gone. The reason the room wasn't ready was because there was a leak and they had replaced the carpeting during turn-around on the bedroom side of our room. (We're in an owner's suite, so bedroom area is separate from living room) Everything on the bedroom side of the tv has been replaced.

 

Back to the door locks. Now we could get into our room, but our cards didn't work for CL access, so they had to print separate "extra key" cards for use in the lounge.

 

We're still having an absolutely wonderful time. Have met people on board from past cruises, and nice to see familiar staff on board who also remember us. We've just pulled in to St. Thomas, beautiful weather, so we're getting ready to disembark.

 

I'll post more later....here's a picture I took about 10 minutes ago. Hope it works!

[Lionesss]

Loved the Freedom, one of our most memeorable cruises, keep the review coming.

 

Enjoy!!

[cajuncowgirl13]

I can't wait to hear more!!!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[John&LaLa]

Do you know if D+ are allowed in CL. Rumor is they are not.

[loeytalldog]

Thanks for the "live" report! I think they need to do more than put an IT help ticket for the internet on FOS, something is seriously wrong with it and has been for a while now!

 

Are you by any chance in an Owners Suite on deck 10?

[ddebaets]

Thanks, Can't wait! :-) will be on FOS in 6 months!

[jules815]

Oh they are...but bring your shoe horn, it's been very crowded. And I've heard the D Lounge isn't any better and they haven't opened up Olive or Twist for overflow either. The friends we made last year on FOS who are with us this year are Pinnacle and D+ and were complaining about the D Lounge.

[jules815]

Yes loeytalldog, OS on deck 10, Starboard Side. Really nice location.

[Cruisingthesuitelife]

Thank you for taking the time to do this as live as you can with the internet problems.

 

I'll be in an OS on the starboard side next year (on the hump), so am really excited to see your pictures!

[jules815]

Do you know if D+ are allowed in CL. Rumor is they are not.

 

Okay just figured out how to actually quote from my tablet. :) Yes, D+ were in there on the first day, and I assume they still are. There's no "gold card only" sign posted there. We've been told lots of P's and D+ on this cruise, and will be the same next week. It seems like every Pinnacle we've met at breakfast is also doing a b2b, too.

[DHADEN]

Hi, Julie!!

 

Looking forward to meeting you next week. Take good care of the Freedom, and get all the bugs worked out for us! :p

See you next Sunday in the Schooner Bar!

[John&LaLa]

Okay just figured out how to actually quote from my tablet. :) Yes, D+ were in there on the first day, and I assume they still are. There's no "gold card only" sign posted there. We've been told lots of P's and D+ on this cruise, and will be the same next week. It seems like every Pinnacle we've met at breakfast is also doing a b2b, too.

 

Laura will be there next week with you. Is there a waiter named Bo in the CL? He was there in June, great at lemon drops. He's married to one of the dancers I believe

[jules815]

Hi, Julie!!

 

Looking forward to meeting you next week. Take good care of the Freedom, and get all the bugs worked out for us! :p

See you next Sunday in the Schooner Bar!

 

She's a beautiful ship...our favorite. The internet thing was frustrating, and we thought maybe it had something to do with them having to issue new key cards when the door lock didn't work. Anyway, it's working just fine now, and as much as we'd love to unplug for our vacation, we do need to check in on our parents at assisted living.

[jules815]

Laura will be there next week with you. Is there a waiter named Bo in the CL? He was there in June, great at lemon drops. He's married to one of the dancers I believe

 

I'm not sure if his name is Bo. I'll check when I pop in later. Honestly haven't spent much time in there because it's been so crowded.

[John&LaLa]

I'm not sure if his name is Bo. I'll check when I pop in later. Honestly haven't spent much time in there because it's been so crowded.

 

No worries. In June we had the place to ourselves so we chatted a lot.

[jules815]

We've had dinner each night in the mdr. Service has been good, and it was very good last night. Tonight we're having dinner in Giovanni's. We haven't been to any shows. I guess you could call us boring cruisers. We just really enjoy unwinding and doing not much of anything. There's a Drew Thomas magic show tonight; one at 7pm and another at 9:00. Might try to make that, but if we don't, we know we can catch it next week. We did get off the ship today in St. Thomas, but no excursions. We walked a little toward town, and then an open air bus filled with locals came by and we hopped on that. It was meant to be. The woman sitting next to us was from Michigan and has been living here since 83. We told her we wanted to get lunch, and she told us about a great restaurant, and she was right. If you're ever looking for a nice place for lunch in St. Thomas, go to Gladys'. As I type this I just heard a loud cheer coming from the pool deck above. That's the first we've heard from above all week. No chair dragging, toilets flushing, etc. Back to Gladys' We both had the jerk chicken, which was wonderful, and we shared an order of plantanes. They had great home made hot sauces on the table, and really yummy key lime pie. More later..tablet needs a charge. :)

[Geema]

I'm pretty sure the bed in the Owners Suite can't be separated, but want to know for sure :). I would like to book it but my cousin is coming with us and we would prefer two beds. Thanks.:rolleyes:

[Merion_Mom]

Do you know if D+ are allowed in CL. Rumor is they are not.

 

I TOLD you that is was nonsense/a passenger misreading. ;)

[John&LaLa]

I TOLD you that is was nonsense/a passenger misreading. ;)

 

Unfortunately I asked here before your contribution in the Diamond thread. Just looking for facts

[John&LaLa]

I'm pretty sure the bed in the Owners Suite can't be separated, but want to know for sure :). I would like to book it but my cousin is coming with us and we would prefer two beds. Thanks.:rolleyes:

 

Kissing cousins?

[casinostreer]

So glad you're having a good time. We're the same type of cruisers - relaxing, unwinding, etc. Enjoy it!

 

We'll actually be down the hall on deck 10 in a couple of weeks. :) Take good care of her. Let us know how you like Giovanni's!! We're eating there 2x and once at Sabor. Doubtful we'll go to Chops as we had some less than stellar experiences there on Allure and FOS last year.

 

Happy Cruising!!

[jules815]

I'm pretty sure the bed in the Owners Suite can't be separated, but want to know for sure :). I would like to book it but my cousin is coming with us and we would prefer two beds. Thanks.:rolleyes:

 

It's one big bed, can't be separated.

[John&LaLa]

Julie, have they added new loungers to St Tropez yet?

Edited September 10, 2015 by John&LaLa

[jules815]

Julie, have they added new loungers to St Tropez yet?

 

Finally able to get back online today. Made the mistake of logging out from my tablet to try to use my phone instead. Kept getting an error that we still had other devices online, which we didn't. I tell you what, the internet on this cruise has been HORRIBLE. I don't expect super zippy fast, but not being able to even log on is so frustrating. Especially with elderly parents in a nursing home, and we told the nursing staff we'd be reachable via email. Anyway, I'm back on my tablet, and won't be logging off. (the "you'll be logged off after 2 hours" hasn't happened yet, so hopefully I'll still be online when I return from dinner later.

 

About St. Tropez. We finally took a walk up there this afternoon. I did actually notice loungers that look like they're brand new, but there is still so much open space up there! I would be so surprised if they didn't turn that area into something to generate revenue. There were people up there using the area, but there's so much space, there'd be a cluster of 3 or 4 loungers with people in them, then maybe another cluster of chairs 20 feet away from them. The shady area was pretty full, but yes, loungers look new, they were plentiful, and lots of open space.

[jules815]

So glad you're having a good time. We're the same type of cruisers - relaxing, unwinding, etc. Enjoy it!

 

We'll actually be down the hall on deck 10 in a couple of weeks. :) Take good care of her. Let us know how you like Giovanni's!! We're eating there 2x and once at Sabor. Doubtful we'll go to Chops as we had some less than stellar experiences there on Allure and FOS last year.

 

Happy Cruising!!

 

 

We had dinner in Giovanni's on Wednesday night and it was wonderful. Kivwe (I'm sure I didn't spell that correctly) is the hostess. She was our waiter last year when it was Portofino, and we were so happy to see her there again this year. Food and service was wonderful.