FREEDOM LIVE - April 23 to May 7 - Let's sail the Atlantic together!

[judeniece]

Hi Cindy, the character breakfast do you book this before you go or when you are on the ship?? Is there an additional cost for this?? This will be right up my daughters street she will just love it... glad your weather is improving.

[sg1phileshipper]

Hi Cindy, the character breakfast do you book this before you go or when you are on the ship?? Is there an additional cost for this?? This will be right up my daughters street she will just love it... glad your weather is improving.

 

It was available to book prior to our cruise, but I booked on board. Price is $10 per person.

 

 

 

Cindy

[sg1phileshipper]

Monday May 1st

For those sailing soon on Freedom, do not worry, we had wifi yesterday, I was just too lazy [emoji12]

Had breakfast in MDR and since the sun was out, I headed to the pool deck. It was still very windy, but a chair out of the wind was really nice. I stayed there reading until after 2, when the sun was gone and it started to drizzle.

I walked to Michael Korse with my niece through Skype, since the handbags were 25% off. She found a nice one, so I'll be taking that home. They had Caribbean t-shirts on sale for $5.

I had dinner at the Windjammer, because they had lasagna bolognaise! No show for me, because I had to get up pretty early.

Cruise compass

 

 

Cindy

[sg1phileshipper]

Sailing into Lisbon this morning was wonderful. Glad I got up early and had finished breakfast in time to watch Freedom sail under the bridge. It was still very dark when I got up

 

 

Cindy

[sg1phileshipper]

A fellow CC'er had organised a private tour through premium tours to Cascais and Sintra and it was awesome. The Portuguese coast is truly amazing!

 

 

Cindy

[sg1phileshipper]

Sintra is a village up in the Mountains where we visited Quinta da Regaleira. It is truly gorgeous

 

 

Cindy

[sg1phileshipper]

All aboard was 4.30. Did we make it back to the port one time? Of course! Did we get on the ship on time? Heck no! The lines outside the terminal were ridiculous

Lady Freedom waiting for us

Once past security check, we got stuck in another line...

 

 

Cindy

[sg1phileshipper]

Sailing out of Lisbon is truly beautiful. We first sailed by Celebrity Silhouette

Somehow I got so caught up in the beauty and taking pictures, that I forgot to take some with my iPhone.

Had another delicious dinner in MDR. The food has been amazing so far!

Tomorrow we will be in Cadiz where I have booked a tour to Sevilla with SpainDayTour. Really excited. And a huge thank you to Sue fog organising this wonderful tour. But before I go to sleep, here is the cruise compass for tomorrow

 

 

Cindy

[sg1phileshipper]

See who I found in my stateroom tonight, just casually hanging out. On my side of the bed nonetheless.... How rude!!!!! I am glad he's not smoking a cigar though...

 

 

Cindy

[caseythegr]

See who I found in my stateroom tonight, just casually hanging out. On my side of the bed nonetheless.... How rude!!!!! I am glad he's not smoking a cigar though... Cindy

 

Love it, they really think outside the box sometimes with the towel animals. Hope you're still having a great time.

Laurie

[sg1phileshipper]

Wednesday May 3rd

Again I got up early to watch the ship sail into Cadiz. And it was a very narrow channel to get into Port. I don't think a bigger ship would fit. Then Freedom had to turn around to park. She's one big lady!

They actually use a car to help with the mooring lines

I had an excursion planned with SpainDay Tours to Sevilla. It is a 90 minute drive from the port, but they are very-well organised and charge about half of royal.

Lisbon us a gorgeous city, but it was a bit hot. First we visited the Spanish Square and it's very beautiful

 

 

 

Cindy

[sg1phileshipper]

Next stop was Alcazar. Although we had a very good guide, I lasted too long. A bit of information is very good but we got an overload. But Alcazar is very pretty, though really crowded!

We had an hour of free time before returning to the port. We got back a little after 18.45 and all-aboard was 8.30, so it was perfect. I ended up eating in the Windjammer, cause 7 pm was too tight and I wanted to shower

 

 

Cindy

[sg1phileshipper]

Night of Wednesday to Thursday we sailed through the smallest part of the Street of Gibraltar around 2 am so I set my alarm to experience it. Though it was very windy, it was a unique experience

 

 

Cindy

[sg1phileshipper]

Thursday May 4: Malaga

I had nothing planned and wanted to sleep in. Unfortunately I forgot to turn off the PA system in my stateroom and got woken by Captain Espen that we had arrived. I decided to go back to sleep and woke up around 9.45. A quick shower and I was out by 10. Walking out on deck 4 like boarding with the bridge was very nice

I walked to the beach and it is gorgeous in Malaga. Freedom, with being so big and all caught a lot of attention

They were also restocking food for a good part of the day, sniffer dogs and all

We were also being fuelled from around 3 until after 7. We had latecomers again and I guess that they were lucking fuelling wasn't done. Captain Espen does not wait for latecomers and I heard 10 people were left behind in Lisbon.

It was sunny and quite warm so I spent a good time reading.

I had dinner at Sabor and it was outstanding! That guacamole is wonderful

Dessert was so good I forgot the pics.

Also went to Love and Marriage and it was pretty nice

 

 

Cindy

[sg1phileshipper]

I can not believe today is our last sea day and the cruise will be over soon. You know that when you get the luggage tags.

I ordered room service for the first time ever and I like the concept. Of course, I did continental!

Last round of Master Sea Chef was on and it was good for another laugh.

Weather is not very good, but despite that I have decided that a crossing is my favorite cruise.

Tonight is the last formal night.

Missing Cruise Compasses coming later!

 

 

Cindy

[flirtyfloridacouple]

Never got to say goodbye to you cindy! It was so wonderful meeting you!

 

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[cruisingbajan]

Nice review and pics. Thanks for sharing.

[cococruiser]

Hi. I've really enjoyed your trip! I'm going on Freedom in August. Haven't been on Royal for 23 years !

 

 

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[prmetime]

Really appreciated and enjoyed your posts! Do you happen to know if Freedom has magnetic walls/ceiling? Thanks.

[snowbirdrose]

Really appreciated and enjoyed your posts! Do you happen to know if Freedom has magnetic walls/ceiling? Thanks.

 

Most cruise ships do..I'm pretty sure that Freedom does..

[FOXTROT]

We were also on this cruise . Would like to share several lessons learned on this cruise: 1) wrap everything in your suitcases in plastic. This was the first it has ever rained in Fort Lauderdale, a lot of the luggage got totally soaked. 2) We got tired of the ok food in the MDR for dinner & the slow service. We started eating dinner in the Windjammer. When the doors opened they had music playing, waiters dancing & was very up beat. The food was better than the MDR & the service was a huge improvement.

[ramja96]

We started eating dinner in the Windjammer. When the doors opened they had music playing, waiters dancing & was very up beat. The food was better than the MDR & the service was a huge improvement.

 

This has to be a first for me. I've heard people say they prefer the Windjammer over the MDR,but not to this extent.

 

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[snowbirdrose]

This has to be a first for me. I've heard people say they prefer the Windjammer over the MDR,but not to this extent.

 

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My approach to the MDR has always been to book a sharing table and meet new people. For me it is as much about conversation and friendship as it is about the food and service. Dining for me is meant to be leisurely. If I'm in a hurry or don't want to dress for dinner after a long day ashore the room service or the Windjammer are my choices. Travelling solo I find it much easier to meet new people to share the dining experience in the MDR.

[snowbirdrose]

This has to be a first for me. I've heard people say they prefer the Windjammer over the MDR,but not to this extent.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G928A using Forums mobile app

 

My approach to the MDR has always been to book a sharing table and meet new people. For me it is as much about conversation and friendship as it is about the food and service. Dining for me is meant to be leisurely. If I'm in a hurry or don't want to dress for dinner after a long day ashore then room service or the Windjammer are my choices. Travelling solo I find it much easier to meet new people to share the dining experience in the MDR.

[prmetime]

Most cruise ships do..I'm pretty sure that Freedom does..

 

Yes I agree, but just wanted to make sure before I pack! Have you been on Freedom or is this just a guess?