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LIVE from Freedom of the Seas 12/4 Western Caribbean

iahawkfan21

By iahawkfan21,
in Royal Caribbean International

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iahawkfan21

iahawkfan21

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Good Morning! What were your thoughts on Maya Chan?

 

 

Absolutely amazing. The ride out there is pretty rough due to road quality, but once you're there it's fantastic. Open bar all day, they will even bring you drinks in the water. Dozens of floating chairs and your group gets their own private seating area.

 

Don't even get me started on the food which may be the best part. All in all. Extremely relaxing day, wonderful staff, and we will definitely be back here the next time we're in Costa Maya.3dfb5fb8cc6c3c7f90acbe50a11a503a.jpg668e0909e21ad0a3a92cd01c91154d46.jpg740c01055ee55c56ea32a772072f3bbc.jpga6e2b4379d880b452391a8e2e061398a.jpg

 

 

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scottygirl

scottygirl

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Absolutely amazing. The ride out there is pretty rough due to road quality, but once you're there it's fantastic. Open bar all day, they will even bring you drinks in the water. Dozens of floating chairs and your group gets their own private seating area.

 

Don't even get me started on the food which may be the best part. All in all. Extremely relaxing day, wonderful staff, and we will definitely be back here the next time we're in Costa Maya.

 

 

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Looks beautiful! Can't wait!

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iahawkfan21

iahawkfan21

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Did you happen to notice if there was a chocolate breakfast in the MDR on the this itinerary? I think there was one on the 8 day.

 

 

 

This has been a great live review. I've gotten a lot to be excited about for next month! Thank you!!

 

 

 

I never saw anything about it but we also only ate in the MDR for breakfast one time the first morning.

 

 

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Glitch1928

Glitch1928

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I'm afraid to ask, but it looks like no more lobster night? Not that it's as good as it used to be, but still nice to have :-)

 

 

It was on the second formal night - listed as fishermans platter on the menu. [emoji4]

 

 

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Agavegirl1

Agavegirl1

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Since this is one of the few things Hubby is looking forward to (as in Fisherman's platter on second formal night) I am eager to know as well if you can request additional lobster. I have read in other trip reports that if you want they will put as much lobster as will fit on the plate. If it is one small tail and a few shrimp, he will be pretty anti-cruise in the future.

 

As in "here's your suit honey but remember, you get to eat a bunch of lobster tonight" anti-cruise.

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iahawkfan21

iahawkfan21

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Can we ask for 2 lobsters right from the start lol

 

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We got one lobster and four shrimp On our plates. Our waiter brought us more of each item without us even asking so no issues there. I only had one as I don't personally love lobster but I saw others with several.

 

 

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iahawkfan21

iahawkfan21

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We were off the ship and at our car at Park n Go by 915. Other than the rain this morning disembarking was very quick and well organized. We've stopped in Palm Beach for some coffee and a break but I will write some summaries when I get home this afternoon.

 

Thanks to everyone for following along and if you have any remaining questions ask away and I'll answer what I can.

 

 

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iahawkfan21

iahawkfan21

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Have they returned prime rib to the MDR dinner menu? We just got off Independence on 12/8 and we were glad to see it had been restored to the menu for 1st night and also the night with lobster. Hope this is a Fleet-wide trend.

 

Thanks in advance for your response.

 

 

 

I don't remember seeing prime rib in any of the menus. I checked my photos and it wasn't there. The only photo I don't have is the last nights menu as we didn't make it to the MDR so it could've been on that one. It was not in the first five nights.

 

 

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iahawkfan21

iahawkfan21

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Again, thanks to everyone for following along. Below I'll give my opinions/summary on the week. Feel free to ask any questions you have as I know it helped me a lot along the way.

 

Overall: Amazing week. Any week I'm on a ship is better than being at work. We love cruising and are very easy to please. We never had to visit guest services the whole week which is always a bonus. We love Freedom and will definitely be back on her down the road.

 

Travel/Embarkation: We drove down the morning of about 2 1/2 hours and had no issues. Used Park n Go for the first time and was very satisfied. Roughly $60 for the 6 nights and there was a shuttle waiting as soon as we got there.

 

Around 11am there were almost zero lines at the port for checkin. Never had such a quick and efficient checkin. All told, we left the house at 8am and even with a stop for coffee and restrooms as well as parking the car we were in the WJ eating at 1130.

 

Stateroom: We had Cat E3 balcony room 7288. This was our first balcony room as we can't usually justify the additional cost and spend very little time in the room. We liked the room and the extra space it brought. That said, we found we were out and about on the ship a lot and didn't really get a ton of use out of the balcony. Stateroom attendant was excellent with all requests but we will probably go back to a Promenade room next time unless the price is competitive.

 

One thing I will add about the rooms is the beds weren't very good. We had an egg crate topper on the mattress but both agreed this was the worst sleep we got in our several cruises, including previously on this ship. Didn't detract from the overall experience but they weren't very good at all and will mention it in the survey.

 

Crew: Everyone we met gave great service and always had a smile on their face and gave us a greeting. While we've never had really bad service, there are always a few unhappy ones here and there. This was far and away our best week yet.

 

The one complaint if any is the spiel from the MDR waiters which has been addressed. We ate in the MDR 4 of 6 nights and their service was fantastic. However, it truly is awkward having them explain how anything less than 10s are looked at like they're horrible. We were polite and while they truly did earn top marks in my book, that's never little chat.

 

Activities/Shows: We were out and about on the ship probably more than we've ever been but did the least we've ever done. A lot more sitting, reading, and people watching. As we've seen all the shows before we only did the opening night show and I saw a part of the late night comedy. His opening night act was better than day 2 but still very funny. My parents saw all of them including the ice show and really enjoyed them all. My wife did a few trivia sessions and said they were fun. There's plenty to do if you want, but we chose to simp,y relax this week in a comfy chair or at the pool mostly.

 

Ports: I won't go into too much but will be glad to answer any questions.

 

Grand Cayman two of our group did another tour with Nativeway and enjoyed as we have before. My dad and I took the local bus to the Cayman Islands Brewery and went on the tour. I can't recommend this enough if you want something different and the bus system is very cheap and easy to use.

 

Cozumel we took a taxi downtown and had a lunch at our usual favorite (Casa Denis) and shopped a bit. We walked the roughly three miles back to the ship, stopping at the occasional beach bar along the way.

 

Costa Maya we went to Maya Chan. The taxi ride their is pretty rough with the roads there but that's where the problems ceased. Perfect day, excellent food, service, and drinks. We had nearly 30 from our roll call there too. Another can't miss IMO.

 

Food: I realize this is a very subjective issue and I'll be up front and say I'm not a picky eater. We ate in the WJ every morning for breakfast and found it more than adequate. Nothing gourmet but good. Lines weren't unbearable and even managed to get an omelette a couple times with no wait.

 

Lunch onboard was always WJ with the exception of the last day where I went by myself to Sabor. Lunch again was always pretty good. Nothing mind blowing but I always found something to enjoy and certainly didn't go hungry. Sabor was one of the best lunches I've had in a long time. I will be glad to post some pictures if desired but suffice to say it was worth the $19 charge.

 

Dinner we did in the MDR 4 nights and WJ twice. I found the fish and chicken dishes to be better prepared than beef entrees. Only had one appetizer I really didn't like and that was just me trying something new. Crab cocktail was probably the saddest as it was mostly shrimp and coleslaw. Lobster also doesn't really do it for me so I wasn't too impressed. All in all it was pretty good. We however enjoyed the WJ better. Not that the food was any better but we liked being able to go in shorts and flip flops and be casual. Many of the main entrees were there. As we start cruising more, especially longer cruises we'lol probably move away from the MDR mostly for this reason.

 

Other than my Sabor lunch we didn't do any specialty dining. I never felt it necessary at any point but in the future we may try some on one of the packages just for variety and I'll definitely be back to Sabor, although the lunch was so good I can't really see the need to pay the extra $10 for dinner. Overall, was pleased with the food.

 

Drink Package: I got the Deluxe Package for $41 per day plus the 18%. My wife doesn't drink so stuck to the free offerings. I found bartenders to be friendly and never really had to wait long for a drink. A couple I frequented (Olive or Twist and Boleros) remembered my order each time. I usually tipped $1 with each drink (personal choice) and never had bad service. That said, I saw many who didn't tip extra and were not treated any differently. Make it a personal choice and don't feel bad if you don't prefer to. Tried some new stuff, found a couple new ones for home, and really enjoyed the draft offerings at the Pub.

 

Disembarking: Group 25 estimated time was 915 but we were called off the ship, through customs, back to Park n Go, and on the road by maybe 930-945. Very easy and extremely efficient compared to past cruises.

 

Miscellaneous: The new deck chairs are a definite improvement. I got to the gym I think four times during the week and really like the facilities. Did a variety of treadmill and weights and there were plenty of options. I always went real early (6am) or late (after 8pm) so never had issues waiting. The usual chair hogs were out in the Solarium but I always managed to get a sunny spot even if it meant squeezing in between two groups or asking nicely for someone to slide over which actually worked. Never used the main pool. Also, some very good music acts around the ship, make it a point to explore in the evening.

 

Sorry for the novel, but wanted to pass on my thoughts and opinions. Appreciate the followers and look forward to sharing my reviews the next time around!

 

 

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