Freedom of the Seas May 15th - Eastern Review!

[tropiclvrs]

It's the Coco Loco, and since we are both having slow days at work, I searched for the recipe:

 

1 oz. Dark Rum

1 oz. Coconut Rum

1/2 oz. Cream of Coconut

1/2 oz Papaya juice

1/2 oz. Orange juice

1/2 oz. Pineapple juice

1/4 oz. Grenadine

 

Garnish Pineapple and Cherry

 

Instructions:

Mix all the ingredients and blend with ice. Raise glass and toast!

 

I think we found something we have to try this weekend, Love.

 

(For the curious, Mommags123 is my wife :) )

 

Is the Coco Loco the same as the Labadoozie? Mmmm...those are my fav :p

[Clarea]

Is the Coco Loco the same as the Labadoozie? Mmmm...those are my fav :p

Same thing.

[scgssny]

Enjoying it all, thanks for the review! Glad that you had a blast :)

[createmem]

we love the Coco Loco - now I have to make some this weekend!

 

Sorry for not typing last night, but its the midwest and we had possible tornado activities! So I didn't want to get involved in writing and then not hearing sirens or something dumb like that. No tornados after all - so that was good.

 

So lets talk about FOOD and more specifically, Giovanni's table. We loved Portofinos and the options there, so I was a bit apprehensive, especially when I read online reviews that brought up food quality and service issues. We had a great waiter, and a wonderful time. Our food was excellent. It is a lot of food, and we were stuffed when done.

 

We started off with Appetizers, I got the scallops and Allyson got the mozzarella with prosciutto. Both were wonderful and the presentation was well planned. For our entree - we both got the Grilled lamb chops with merlot reduction. This was excellent. Well flavored and the chops were a perfect medium rare. We each got a different pasta dish to try, I had the crab ravioli and Allyson had the gnocchi with Gorgonzola sauce. The ravioli was good, but I far preferred the flavor of the gnocchi. Now we have a restaurant here in Omaha that makes the best Gnocchi with pine nuts and cheese sauce, but this dish was a close 2nd!

 

Dessert was a bit disappointing for me. I love Tiramisu, but was not happy with the Tiramisu at Giovanni's. Admittedly I am a Tiramisu snob and have only one that I love. Giovanni's serves all of their desserts tableside from a cart. They have cannolis, chocolate cake and other things as well. The cannoli's with Ricotta were quite good, but the flavor of the Tiramisu was dull and didn't have enough espresso flavor.

 

After dinner, we hung out at the Schooner bar and R Bar for a while. The piano guy on Freedom (sorry - remember I am bad with names) is excellent and this is one of the better cruise ship piano venues.

 

The next day (Wednesday) we docked in St Thomas. Since it was a later arrival we had breakfast in the main dining room. This was quite good (better than the windjammer for us).

 

We didn't have plans for St. Thomas. We have been there several times before and since we knew we would be at the beach the next day, we wanted to just take the day slow. We didn't rush to get off the ship, I think it docked around 11 and we got off after 12. We decided instead of taking a taxi to downtown to just look around the shops close by. Right near the ship was a Senor Frogs, and Allyson badly wanted to hang out there. I think she has seen one too many spring break movie or been on a few too many cruises with my sister who told her about wild times in Cozumel at a Senor Frogs. Needless to say, we hung out at the Senor Frogs for a couple of hours drinking and eating! I have attached the photo taken of the ship from the Senor Frogs. I knew if she drank too much I would definitely be able to get her safely back onboard!

[BillOh]

Tendering was NOT an issue for us, but we are not early birds! We decided to eat breakfast at 8:30 and left the ship just after - so we were on the island and in our beach chairs by 10:15! We got right on a tender and were able to catch the tram quickly because we rented the beach loungers for $59 total on the quiet beach - highly recommend to get away from the music and chaos!

 

Thanks! I've been to Coco Cay 3 times all on Majesty. Back in 2007 we were there the same day as Soverign and it was disaster, but I think since then RC has put more tenders that are larger. Someday I'll go back on a larger ship.

[createmem]

We had dinner in the dining room Wednesday evening, and then after dinner did our normal rounds at the Schooner and R Bar. It was an early to bed night for us (midnight) because we had to rush off the ship the next morning to meet our tour in St Maarten.

 

We ordered breakfast from room service for Thursday morning and it arrived fresh and hot. We might have over ordered and probably could have made do with 1/2 of what we ordered, but we weren't sure how much food would be on a pastry plate or fruit plate. Don't judge - we still ate just about all of it!

 

We had booked our tour for the day with Bernard's Tours and they were wonderful to work with. The walk to get to their tour tent was quite far from the ship and we were rushing to get there. We had a group of 10 people total on our tour and we did the $45 per person island tour which included a stop at Orient beach, Marigot and Maho Beach plus some other surprises!

 

Starting on the dutch side, our tour guide was very knowledgable and took us to a beautiful overlook on the french side. An islander educated us on Sea Urchins and since neither of us wanted to hold one, we moved on quickly. From there we drove to Orient Beach. The fee was $10 for 2 beach chairs, umbrella and punch. We stayed there for about 90 minutes enjoying the sun, the fine powder like sand and the water. This beach was nicer than Coco Cay, and we enjoyed being in the water (I saw no fish!) Did I tell you that I love the ocean and beach but don't like the fish part?!

 

After our time in Orient Beach, we drove to Marigot. We had read about Sarafina's Bakery and Allyson and I were STARVING! We love french food and were very excited to try Sarafinas. Our tour van pulled up right across from the bakery and others in our group wanted food, so we told them about the bakery. Needless to say everyone went there. We had the most delicious roast beef and brie sandwiches with fruit tarts, macaroons and champagne!

 

Across from the restaurant is a small market and we walked around a bit and picked up a few small trinkets. Next we went to Maho Beach to watch the planes come in to the airport. That airport is super busy and the planes quite loud. It was fun to see this, but after about 15 minutes, we were done. The group stopped there for an hour, so we sat at the touristy bar and had bottled water. We really could have skipped this part and spent more time at Orient Beach.

 

The tour group was dropped off at about 2:30 and we meandered through the shops before getting back on the ship. We were tired and hot, so naps were great before our way too early dinner at Sabor.

 

Cheers!

[createmem]

Thanks! I've been to Coco Cay 3 times all on Majesty. Back in 2007 we were there the same day as Soverign and it was disaster, but I think since then RC has put more tenders that are larger. Someday I'll go back on a larger ship.

 

They have it looked like 5 pretty decent size boats to tender. When we had issues once tendering in Grand Cayman, we noticed Royal using some of their lifeboats in addition to the tenders. I don't think they did that at Coco Cay, but it worked well in Grand Cayman :)

[Mcnall731]

Love reading this review!! Going on Freedom of the Seas April 15 2017 !!!

 

 

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[swimmer9]

Hi all - Just recently off the amazing Freedom of the Seas which sailed the Eastern route May 15th through 22nd!

 

I am happy to answer any questions (if able) for interested future cruisers,

 

Hopefully you can answer some of my questions! We're taking this cruise in August for our honeymoon and it'll be my first Royal Caribbean cruise. Since everything is going to be new for us, and I hate not knowing what's going on, I have a bunch of questions, and this seemed like a safe post to ask :)

 

• you said the beach on coco cay was semi-private. if I dont have a lounger and just want a regular beach chair, can I still use this beach? on the NCL islands, we usually use the beach with the cabanas even if we dont have one since they're more quiet
  
• are the main dining rooms open when you first board? We tend to avoid the buffets when you first get on because those are usually packed
  
• is there a difference in the dining room you go to, or are they exactly the same, just on different floors?
  
• we have MTD - do we need to make reservations? We like the freedom of freestyle dining because on any NCL ship we've ever been on, we never had to wait to be seated, and we'd rather eat our meals as a couple, not as a group with strangers
  
• we dont need our life vests for muster drills, correct? Are these in public spaces, like the dining room, or a lounge?
  
• we drink a lot of water too and usually fill up plastic water bottles- is this frowned upon? I can understand the unsanitary aspect I guess..
  

 

I had more questions I'm sure, I just can't think of them at 11pm!

[A2Mich]

Hopefully you can answer some of my questions! We're taking this cruise in August for our honeymoon and it'll be my first Royal Caribbean cruise. Since everything is going to be new for us, and I hate not knowing what's going on, I have a bunch of questions, and this seemed like a safe post to ask :)

 

• you said the beach on coco cay was semi-private. if I dont have a lounger and just want a regular beach chair, can I still use this beach? on the NCL islands, we usually use the beach with the cabanas even if we dont have one since they're more quiet
  
• are the main dining rooms open when you first board? We tend to avoid the buffets when you first get on because those are usually packed
  
• is there a difference in the dining room you go to, or are they exactly the same, just on different floors?
  
• we have MTD - do we need to make reservations? We like the freedom of freestyle dining because on any NCL ship we've ever been on, we never had to wait to be seated, and we'd rather eat our meals as a couple, not as a group with strangers
  
• we dont need our life vests for muster drills, correct? Are these in public spaces, like the dining room, or a lounge?
  
• we drink a lot of water too and usually fill up plastic water bottles- is this frowned upon? I can understand the unsanitary aspect I guess..
  

 

I had more questions I'm sure, I just can't think of them at 11pm!

 

I was on this same cruise last year, and most likely nothing has changed. Can't answer your question about the beach chairs.

 

Main dining room is NOT open on embarkation day until dinner seating. The only options are Windjammer buffet and Sorrento's. There is only ONE main dining room - it is simply split across 3 decks - one for MTD and the others for early and late seating. Reservations are not required for MTD, but MAY get you seated a bit quicker. DO NOT bring life jackets to muster drill. Muster drill was held on outdoor promenade deck underneath your assigned lifeboat - not in lounges or other air conditioned area (though I have heard that sometimes they do have it indoors). As for the water bottles, they will not allow you to directly fill your bottle. You can take a few glasses of water (their inclusive drinks are pre-poured into glasses already - passengers do not have access to any type of dispenser other than the Freestyle Coke machines) and pour into your water bottle and ask for extra ice if needed.

[createmem]

Hopefully you can answer some of my questions! We're taking this cruise in August for our honeymoon and it'll be my first Royal Caribbean cruise. Since everything is going to be new for us, and I hate not knowing what's going on, I have a bunch of questions, and this seemed like a safe post to ask :)

 

 

 

• 
   
  
• you said the beach on coco cay was semi-private. if I dont have a lounger and just want a regular beach chair, can I still use this beach? on the NCL islands, we usually use the beach with the cabanas even if we dont have one since they're more quiet
   
  
• are the main dining rooms open when you first board? We tend to avoid the buffets when you first get on because those are usually packed
   
  
• is there a difference in the dining room you go to, or are they exactly the same, just on different floors?
   
  
• we have MTD - do we need to make reservations? We like the freedom of freestyle dining because on any NCL ship we've ever been on, we never had to wait to be seated, and we'd rather eat our meals as a couple, not as a group with strangers
   
  
• we dont need our life vests for muster drills, correct? Are these in public spaces, like the dining room, or a lounge?
   
  
• we drink a lot of water too and usually fill up plastic water bottles- is this frowned upon? I can understand the unsanitary aspect I guess..
   
  

 

 

 

I had more questions I'm sure, I just can't think of them at 11pm!

 

 

 

The semi private beach you would pay to use with the beach loungers. All other beach areas are free to use, we honestly just wanted to try out the loungers and loved it! It's a reserved area. There are lots of places but I can't speak to how hard or easy it is to get chairs. I assume much like it is on board the ship on a sea day. On the beach we were on, there was a woman who walked around and took care of the area, and she did tell several people it was a reserved area when they just tried to go and sit in a chair.

 

The main dining rooms are not open when you come on. I think the sandwich and pizza place on deck 5 are. We loved the sandwiches there for snacks. My daughter tried the pizza place but said it wasn't amazing pizza. It was just okay.

 

All of the dining rooms are one big space. 3 stories high. We had my time, so we were on the top floor. When we got in the ship, we went and reserved for 8pm each night. There may be a way to do this ahead of time but I didn't see that. We had the same table and waiters every night. The dining rooms are all the same even though it encompasses 3 floors of the ship. I think with RCLs my time, you can make a different reservation for each day, they gave us a card with a number to call to change our reservations, but it was easier to remember 8pm each day. We were seated each night at a table for 2, but we did strike up conversations with those around us. You could keep your conversation to yourself if you wanted. We never waited with our reservation, but there may be people who did, I just don't know.

 

No life vests were needed for muster. I am grateful for that because I always get super hot under that thing. Where the life boats are I know there are storage areas for additional vests.

 

On the water, I did see people with water bottles and cups brought from home refilling those so it's allowed. They even have water bottles for sale in the gift hop if you wanted to use it and I saw plenty of people with those. Since we had the package, I didn't worry about it and used the bottled water. My daughter likes Perrier and she had plenty of that. In the windjammer and dining room, I did drink their water in cups and it tasted fine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[createmem]

Oh and our muster station was in a lounge. It said so on our cabin door. When we were liberty in 2008 it was in the theater. They did say to remember your station and report there not to deck 4 where the lifeboats would launch from. Everyone has a different place to go depending on your cabin. I would refer to the cabin door and your drill station for all of that.

 

 

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[Icesk8rReedy]

We spent a lot of time in R Bar too. The main guy, Bruce, was awesome. He made me several things not on the menu. One he just made up on the fly and I raved about it so much that he tried my 2nd one and wrote down the recipe. Even my husband liked that bar the best. By far the most friendly too.

[createmem]

The R Bar is by far the best bar on the ship. The staff there goes out of their way to take care of its customers. I love hanging out in the Schooner too - but its far too crowded most nights for it to be a pleasant experience.

 

After our day in St Maarten, we had dinner in Sabor. I was really excited for this place. I love Mexican food, and had already tried the guacamole - super yummy. Sadly, this place was beyond disappointing. Perhaps if our wait staff had tried it would have been better. We were in and out in 45 minutes, no one ever explained the drinks or offered the tequila or margarita options I had read so much about in advance. Our waitress seemed quite bothered by our selections for meal choices (we both wanted the same thing.) She pushed and pushed and Allyson decided to change her meal (but really she hated it and would have been happier with her first option). Dessert wasn't explained and it was a large sampler plate. It would have been nice to know what the not so obvious items were. And last, the food itself was underwhelming. I have had better at local restaurants here and paid far less. The Guacamole was quite good, though we maybe could have used more spice! If I could just have gotten that for later - that would have been great!

 

We decided to take in movies on the pool deck - Zoolander 2 and How to be Single. Not great movies, but it was a nice option. And I really don't remember the Windjammer closing so early. At 11, we wanted a small snack, and would have to go to deck 5 to get something. One thing we liked on Carnival was the buffet area always having something when we were watching a movie. Its not a necessity, just would have been nice!

 

The next two days were sea days, and we really just took life slow. Waking up when we wanted to, napping when we wanted to, eating when we wanted to. I just grabbed breakfast at the coffee place with my Starbucks and landed in the Solarium to read. At 9am, there were NO chairs to be found, so I sat a table each morning and then would move over to the lounge chairs after lunch. Its annoying beyond anything to see so many chairs taken at 9am with NO people around. I certainly could have asked the deck patrol to move items many times over, but decided if people wanted to be rude - so be it.

 

On Friday evening was the "lobster" formal night. I love lobster, but really its nothing special on the ship. What is super special at that dinner is dessert - that Grand Marnier Souffle! Its my favorite dessert ever on any cruise ship. We asked our waiter for 2 each and he brought us 4 each and then soaked them in the vanilla sauce. It was heaven (and really 3 is my limit, but I still ate the 4th one!) We had everyone at tables around us ordering that souffle for a 2nd dessert. All agreed its heaven!

 

The next evening our waiter surprised us with a copy of the recipe (its serving size is for 100 guests though) so everyone is invited over for souffle at my house!

 

We disembarked the ship at around 8:30 on Sunday morning, and were at the airport by 10am. We did use RCCL's airport transportation. Thankfully our planes were all on time and we arrived home by dinner!

 

All in all it was a great cruise! Looking forward to the next one!

[Mommags123]

Thank you for a wonderful and entertaining review.

We go in July and I can hardly wait... was living vicariously through your review.

:)

[createmem]

Thank you for a wonderful and entertaining review.

We go in July and I can hardly wait... was living vicariously through your review.

:)

 

Enjoy! Now we are trying to decide if we do Freedom or Liberty again in 2017 or if we finally dive into Oasis or Allure. I just really love the Freedom class and am afraid I will be disappointed with the next level!

[AmberTeka]

Loved your review. Thank you for taking the time to write it and post it

 

We sail for the first time ever ON RCI this September. I felt Like I got a good feel for RCI from your review. Food Pictures were Lovely!!!

 

While we will be doing the Western Caribbean cruise.........I love St. Martins. MY favorite place to go is the Mall of the West Indies.

 

Sounds like you two had a grand old Time!!

 

I even forgive you for those BRUTES ...those CORNHUSKERS who used to come down to Alabama or New Orleans or Miami and beat the Crimson Tide.......sometimes..........BIGGEST players I have ever seen in my life..........Forget Notre Dame.......it was those Cornhuskers who could mess up a perfect Year......!!! Roll Tide!

Edited June 6, 2016 by AmberTeka

[scgssny]

The R Bar is by far the best bar on the ship. The staff there goes out of their way to take care of its customers. I love hanging out in the Schooner too - but its far too crowded most nights for it to be a pleasant experience.

 

After our day in St Maarten, we had dinner in Sabor. I was really excited for this place. I love Mexican food, and had already tried the guacamole - super yummy. Sadly, this place was beyond disappointing. Perhaps if our wait staff had tried it would have been better. We were in and out in 45 minutes, no one ever explained the drinks or offered the tequila or margarita options I had read so much about in advance. Our waitress seemed quite bothered by our selections for meal choices (we both wanted the same thing.) She pushed and pushed and Allyson decided to change her meal (but really she hated it and would have been happier with her first option). Dessert wasn't explained and it was a large sampler plate. It would have been nice to know what the not so obvious items were. And last, the food itself was underwhelming. I have had better at local restaurants here and paid far less. The Guacamole was quite good, though we maybe could have used more spice! If I could just have gotten that for later - that would have been great!

 

We decided to take in movies on the pool deck - Zoolander 2 and How to be Single. Not great movies, but it was a nice option. And I really don't remember the Windjammer closing so early. At 11, we wanted a small snack, and would have to go to deck 5 to get something. One thing we liked on Carnival was the buffet area always having something when we were watching a movie. Its not a necessity, just would have been nice!

 

The next two days were sea days, and we really just took life slow. Waking up when we wanted to, napping when we wanted to, eating when we wanted to. I just grabbed breakfast at the coffee place with my Starbucks and landed in the Solarium to read. At 9am, there were NO chairs to be found, so I sat a table each morning and then would move over to the lounge chairs after lunch. Its annoying beyond anything to see so many chairs taken at 9am with NO people around. I certainly could have asked the deck patrol to move items many times over, but decided if people wanted to be rude - so be it.

 

On Friday evening was the "lobster" formal night. I love lobster, but really its nothing special on the ship. What is super special at that dinner is dessert - that Grand Marnier Souffle! Its my favorite dessert ever on any cruise ship. We asked our waiter for 2 each and he brought us 4 each and then soaked them in the vanilla sauce. It was heaven (and really 3 is my limit, but I still ate the 4th one!) We had everyone at tables around us ordering that souffle for a 2nd dessert. All agreed its heaven!

 

The next evening our waiter surprised us with a copy of the recipe (its serving size is for 100 guests though) so everyone is invited over for souffle at my house!

 

We disembarked the ship at around 8:30 on Sunday morning, and were at the airport by 10am. We did use RCCL's airport transportation. Thankfully our planes were all on time and we arrived home by dinner!

 

All in all it was a great cruise! Looking forward to the next one!

 

Awesome review, thanks for taking the time to write! One question, we are sailing on Freedom in three weeks and I tried to book RCI transportation back to the airport and they wouldn't let me make the reservation because our flight is at 12:05 and they wouldn't take anyone booked before 12:30. What time was your flight scheduled?

[DISFANS3]

Great review, we are also WDW FANS and also RCI fans.

[zeberdee]

Good review thanks, but could you explain what you mean by 'safe subjects' to talk about, just so that we don't inadvertently offend any USA citizens.

In the UK its normal to discuss politics and religion, although it sounds like that chap voiced his own opinion rather than it being a general discussion.

[createmem]

Good review thanks, but could you explain what you mean by 'safe subjects' to talk about, just so that we don't inadvertently offend any USA citizens.

 

In the UK its normal to discuss politics and religion, although it sounds like that chap voiced his own opinion rather than it being a general discussion.

 

 

 

Sorry for my delay. In the US, it used to be said that you don't speak of religion and politics when you are with friends, family and those you don't know. It seems with social media these days, many don't have a filter on the things and subjects you should stick to in the presence of those you don't know. I find when making conversation with those I don't know it's best to stick with where are you from, and then build from there. I certainly wouldn't bring up politics on a cruise at a meal. And I feel I am a good conversationalist and generally like to engage with others. Have a great cruise!

 

 

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[savuka]

From a fellow Husker (Fremont), thanks for the review. We're on FOS next March. It'll be our first time on RCI.

 

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[sootydog]

On this cruise in September. Excited! Your reviews are brilliant. How much do RCCL charge for transfer to the airport?

[Clarea]

On this cruise in September. Excited! Your reviews are brilliant. How much do RCCL charge for transfer to the airport?

Last year it was $37.50 per person from Port Canaveral to MCO.

Edited August 19, 2016 by clarea

[sootydog]

Thanks Clarea