Cheapo dad's trip report on Freedom of the Seas

[legion]

Anxiously watching for yiur review on Cozumal .love your reviews.Will be doing an island tour by dune duggy on Feb 15. Your review has been so informative for this inexerienced cruiseR.Thanks!!! [emoji3][emoji475]

 

 

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[bobmacliberty]

As part of the cruise registration before we left home, we informed RCI that we have a flight in the evening so they assign us a later luggage tag #22. Looking at the list, the last one is #39. Since we are in no hurry to get off the ship, that’s the one we want. Typically you read stories of people trying to run off the ship ASAP on the last day. We are the opposite. We don’t mind being the last couple hundred to depart the ship on the last day. Later on that night I would go to guest services and switched out to tag #38. Just want to point that out now as I remember it. Old man memory being what it is, I will likely forget to mention this important aspect later on. So it’s best to talk about now as I still remember it.

 

Harry - You may know this, but no need to change luggage tags from 22 to 38. You can't get off the ship BEFORE your number is called, but you don't have to get off WHEN your number is called. We take our time the last morning with a relaxing breakfast (as relaxing as it can be on the last day), and then walk off the ship when we are ready...usually well after our number has been called. An advantage of this is that it's usually easier to find your luggage, since most of the rest of the luggage in your numbered area has already been claimed.

[harryfat1]

Anxiously watching for yiur review on Cozumal .love your reviews.Will be doing an island tour by dune duggy on Feb 15. Your review has been so informative for this inexerienced cruiseR.Thanks!!! [emoji3][emoji475]

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

Thanks for continuing to follow along.

 

You and the other newbie cruisers are my primary audience as I know you folks prefer to have more details in the cruise planning that the veteran cruisers don’t need.

 

Not sure if my Cozumel info will be that useful for you as we did a private tour, but maybe you can get something out of it when we visit the east side as I believe the dune buggy folks ride out there.

[harryfat1]

Harry - You may know this, but no need to change luggage tags from 22 to 38. You can't get off the ship BEFORE your number is called, but you don't have to get off WHEN your number is called. We take our time the last morning with a relaxing breakfast (as relaxing as it can be on the last day), and then walk off the ship when we are ready...usually well after our number has been called. An advantage of this is that it's usually easier to find your luggage, since most of the rest of the luggage in your numbered area has already been claimed.

 

 

Thanks for pointing that out. Yes, I know we can depart any time after our number is called but the reverse is not true.

 

It’s just another one of my many paranoia to leave my luggage is “alone” if everyone in the numbered group already has taken their luggage. After having my luggage taken from me and not returned until 24 hours later from a previous cruise vacation, I prefer to hide my luggage in the group of other people’s luggage.

 

By getting a late number, I was trying to be compliant in case people are trying to kick us off the ship, I can say our number is not called yet.

 

We typically buy suitcases that have some sort of color on them instead of pure black so it’s easier to see from afar. But I’m sure many veteran travelers know to add something additional to the handle bar area to make your luggage stand out.

[sg1phileshipper]

Harry, other than the WJ and Cafe Promenade, was something else open for lunch on boarding day? Thanks. You review is still awesome

 

 

Cindy

[harryfat1]

Harry, other than the WJ and Cafe Promenade, was something else open for lunch on boarding day? Thanks. You review is still awesome

 

 

Cindy

 

Hi, Cindy,

 

Thanks for continuing to follow along the trip report.

 

Truth be known, I am running out of new jokes. My comedy writing team (of one) is having a writer’s block to come out with anything new & witty to talk about. It’s like watching a 2 hour comedy movie that stopped being funny at the 1:20 mark. But at least there are pictures to keep the folks entertained.

 

As for your question, I scrolled back to post #188 and was going to reference that for you to look at and then to my embarrassment, I realized I scanned page 4 twice and missed page 3 on where they list the places that were open when you board the ship. Ooops. DUH! :o

 

Surprised no one pointed out that error. Guess nobody cares to read the scanned info. Like I said, not a professional reviewer.

 

At any rate, I just re scan a whole new set for you (made the pages bigger on computer screen for easier reading of the small fonts). Now it has all 4 pages and if you look at page 3, it looks like the places that are open for lunch is WJ, Café promenade and Sorrento’s Pizza. Unless you consider cupcakes place a lunch place…:D

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

Another canyon view

 

 

 

 

Side by side butts

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sad to say our ship doesn’t have the biggest butt in the pier.

 

 

Our butt

 

 

 

 

Their butt

 

 

 

 

I like them big and round

 

 

 

 

I’m not sure about the slide. The purple thing sticking out kind of ruin the roundness feel to it

 

 

 

[sg1phileshipper]

Hi, Cindy,

 

 

 

Thanks for continuing to follow along the trip report.

 

 

 

Truth be known, I am running out of new jokes. My comedy writing team (of one) is having a writer’s block to come out with anything new & witty to talk about. It’s like watching a 2 hour comedy movie that stopped being funny at the 1:20 mark. But at least there are pictures to keep the folks entertained.

 

 

 

As for your question, I scrolled back to post #188 and was going to reference that for you to look at and then to my embarrassment, I realized I scanned page 4 twice and missed page 3 on where they list the places that were open when you board the ship. Ooops. DUH! :o

 

 

 

Surprised no one pointed out that error. Guess nobody cares to read the scanned info. Like I said, not a professional reviewer.

 

 

 

At any rate, I just re scan a whole new set for you (made the pages bigger on computer screen for easier reading of the small fonts). Now it has all 4 pages and if you look at page 3, it looks like the places that are open for lunch is WJ, Café promenade and Sorrento’s Pizza. Unless you consider cupcakes place a lunch place…:D

 

 

 

 

 

 

I re-read the boarding day compass again before asking the questiin and I didn't even realize I read the same page twice. Double DUH!!!!

I think we all read the scanned pages, but we're just too high on the anal scale to point out mistakes [emoji6]

Thanks again and You're still keeping me highly entertained.

 

 

Cindy

[harryfat1]

Carnival Glory

 

 

 

 

I will give you folks 3 guesses on what the theme color of the day is

 

 

 

 

Obligatory port picture

 

 

 

 

Here’s the Freedom

 

 

 

 

There were 8 ships in port that day and I guess there are not enough pier slots for everyone so the Crystal ship had to tender her passengers in. I don’t recall reading too many trip reports where ships tender into Cozumel

 

 

 

 

 

The pier is a very active place with some water based tours starting at the edge so they don’t have to walk far out to meet up with their tour

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

So after more than enough pictures of the pier area, we had to make our way out of the maze of gift shops they throw in your way. It would be way too easy (and far less profitable) if they had a big wide straight boulevard with signs that say “Cruisers’ exit from compound here if you don’t want to stop for the shops”. Not going to happen.

 

 

 

 

Instead, you have walk to this way to get out. Here is where you get the feeling of a rat in the maze trying to get to the other side - right, left, right...

 

 

 

 

Tad bit early for shoppers in the shops at 8:45

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s the outside view of the International terminal. Just remember to check the Cruisett web site and count how many RCI ships will be in port the same day you are. If 3 or more, your ship may or may not be docked here. The Rhapsody is few miles down by downtown area instead. I don’t know where Celebrity ships dock at Cozumel and if they count against the 2 slots at the International pier.

 

 

[harryfat1]

Tried to walk across the street without getting hit by a car or truck as there are no signal lights and found the Hard Rock Café to meet up with the tour people. Sure enough, there’s the 2 taxi driver with my name on a white sign and we checked in with them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other cruisers with their private tours are meeting with their drivers here also

 

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

The default private Cozumel tour company that CC uses in the Cozumel forum and on Trip advisor is Tours Plaza. Very highly rated by all. But as there were 8 ships in port that day with at least 28,000 people, by time my wife’s friends decided to do this tour with us, Tours Plaza didn’t have any space for us as I think their web site said they only have a fleet of 9 vehicles.

 

No matter. I found another company online and booked through them. Depending on how many people you have, your pricing will be different.

 

The deal we had was $30/pp for 4 hours of private tour in 2 vehicles to accommodate 16 people. As luck would have it, there breakdown was one van of 6 (us) and another bigger van of 10 (the other family) so it all worked out.

 

We had been to Cozumel just 2 years prior on the Allure and we saw the ruin already so no need to go back. We had visited a tequila tasting place in Puerto Vallarta few years back so didn’t need to tequila tasting. Ditto for the chocolate place. So we just elected to do a private tour where we can just see parts of the island we didn’t see last time. And with a group of 16 of multi generational folks that moves at different speeds, private tour offers the most flexibility.

 

Technically this is my third visit to Cozumel but slightly embarrassed to admit I have yet to see what downtown area looks like. So that was the first stop on the tour.

 

So we all packed in the 2 vans and headed for downtown. Here are few pics on the way there

 

 

 

 

The 536 van is the other family's van

 

 

 

 

 

[B&J_Pgh]

As side note, Drew was promoting the magic kit at the show for the kids to buy to get him/her started on being a magician at home. I saw at least 2 sets of families trying to buy them later on at the gift shop the remainder of the cruise. One mom balked at the $35 price tag and put it back on the shelve (no price tag on the box so she had to stand in line to ask), the other kid’s dad begrudgingly paid for his kid’s magic kit and said the kid better be practicing this when he gets home and perform at all the future family gatherings to get his $35 investment back.

 

So, we’re off to dinner after the show. As I was making a big deal out of nothing at the “smart/dumb casual” dress suggestion few days ago, we showed at the dinner and guess what? The waiters were all wearing Caribbean night! Oh, yes, wonderful. Another great communication effort by the Freedom staff! No, not exactly…

 

So they tell people on their daily compass to dress “smart causal” and then the MDR workers wear Caribbean night. I packed 2 Hawaiian shirts for the cruise. You all have already seen the first one as that was the boarding picture. I was saving the last one later on. But had I known tonight was going to be “Smart Caribbean night” at MDR, I would have dressed accordingly with my Hawaiian shirt and have people think I am waiter and tell me to fill their water for them…

 

So you said - who cares about what to wear? Well, the waiters have the song and dance routine for the festive Caribbean night. That’s one thing I missed not being on the Carnival cruises – they have singing and dancing waiters. The Fun ship, right? Remember one of my 3 E’s of cruises - Entertain me. On our Allure cruises, we had no dancing waiters. Glad to see some on the Freedom. Especially since they no longer have classical music in the back of MDR, at least they have singing waiters.

 

From cost perspective, it makes sense. No need to pay extra for the classical musicians. Just make your waiters sing. They’re there already.

 

 

I will have some pics from the song and dance at the end of the dinner. Better if on video with music. Go look it up on YouTube if this interests you.

 

We've been home from this cruise about 4 hours and I wanted to let you know that Thursday night dress (for the seafood platter) is now called "Carribbean" and not smart casual.

[harryfat1]

We've been home from this cruise about 4 hours and I wanted to let you know that Thursday night dress (for the seafood platter) is now called "Carribbean" and not smart casual.

 

Welcome back. Hope you folks had a great cruise.

 

Thanks for the update. Yes, it makes sense to have the right theme displayed on the daily compass or else why even have it?

 

In theory, there should be no “smart casual” night at all for the 6 night cruise. Days 1 and 6 are the first and last night and we all know how casual those are. Days 2 and 5 are formal nights. Days 3 & 4 are the Caribbean and 70’s night. Done. No need for smart or dumb casual night.

[harryfat1]

OK, time for the detour that nobody asked for or cares about but you are getting it anyway.

 

The other day we were side tracked with various sites of the western states and rocks. Had time today on a weekend to dig into the old photo archives for more rock pictures. These are older ones from our trip to Sedona Arizona. Yes, more rocks. The red color type.

 

We went to Sedona via Vegas. So here are few Vegas pics. We got a great rate for the Bellagio so we stayed there. The place is super crowded during the holidays but that’s part of the charm to see the sights and the people with it. All the people on CC that are worried about crowd will need to stay away from Vegas during the holidays

 

First picture is the Valley of Fire place outside of Vegas. This shows how wide open the whole area is

 

 

 

 

The other day I was talking to someone about the glass art work on the Freedom being similar to the Mariner. She mentioned that Vegas has some as well. So dug up the archive and found this one on the ceiling of Bellagio

 

 

 

 

The holiday decoration inside the Bellagio hotel. Must visit place for all Vegas visitors, especially during the holidays when it’s all decked out.

 

 

 

 

Outside of Bellagio looking at the fountains that are set to music

 

 

 

 

Here is the picture of the magnificent Hoover dam from above

 

 

 

 

To take the Hoover Dam picture, you have to walk outside on a freeway bridge overlooking several hundred feet down with 20+ MPH December wind blowing at you leaning against the railing. Yeah, trying hard not to shake when you lean over and take a top down picture

 

 

[Biker19]

You can't get off the ship BEFORE your number is called

 

Sure you can (like the embarkation time, this is a suggestion), but your luggage may not be there yet.

[B&J_Pgh]

it's true about the pool and a small beach area are free. We were just there Thursday and same holds true since first their in 2011

[harryfat1]

Sure you can (like the embarkation time, this is a suggestion), but your luggage may not be there yet.

 

That’s true. Since you don’t need to show any luggage tag info to get off the ship, in theory if you are assigned tag #30, you can stand in line with tag #10 or whatever earlier in the process and then just wait for your #30 luggage to come out at the bottom of the terminal.

 

Classic case of hurry up and wait.

 

Do they yell at you at the security area for getting off the ship out of turn and have to stand and wait and take up space?

[harryfat1]

it's true about the pool and a small beach area are free. We were just there Thursday and same holds true since first their in 2011

 

Thanks for the confirmation. This info will be helpful for the future cruisers.

[harryfat1]

Continuing on with the detour route.

 

Here are the Sedona Arizona red rock pictures. Very pretty area. Everyone should make it a point to go there at least once.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

However I can’t just promote all the neighboring states without showing something from the home state of CA. Here are some pictures from the famous redwoods up the north coast

 

 

 

 

Hiking in the redwood forest area

 

 

 

 

Trying to show the size of these things

 

 

 

 

For those that wants the actual measurement on some of the bigger trees

 

 

 

 

Diameter of a redwood - wearing my old Alaska cruise t-shirt from Ketchikan

 

 

 

 

Roots of a fallen Redwood tree. Look how it spreads out and note how long the trunk is in the background - I know very few people sees this everyday. How about that? Take a picture

 

 

[harryfat1]

Given this tends to be the ocean loving crowd here at CC, I’ll show few pics from the rugged CA north coast next to the redwoods

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

(OK, enough digression, onward on the Cozumel tour. I assume that’s why you folks tuned in, right?)

 

The drivers dropped us off outside of an air force base for our first stop. I did not know that US/Mexico had a military base here as part of the WW II fight. Read the info if this info interests you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Making this bigger for those reading it on the computer

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

Here’s the simple Mayan façade ruin for those that couldn’t make it to the real one. Works well for big group as we had 16 people standing at various parts of the staircase and everyone’s faces were visible.

 

 

Check out this tree. I know somebody here on CC would be interested in it

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s our driver. Looks like other tourists wants to take a picture here also

 

 

 

 

Edited January 22, 2017 by harryfat1

[harryfat1]

Some nice scenery of the water front area

 

Here is the Rhapsody of the Seas docked on downtown. That could easily have been us at the pier instead of them.