LIVE - Freedom of the Seas Transatlantic - Barcelona to Fort Lauderdale - Oct 22-Nov 5

[SailBreakaway]

Thanks for bringing her home safe! It was a tough job but somebody had to do it [emoji12][emoji109][emoji482]

 

 

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[bitsy123]

Thank you for sharing your cruise...I enjoyed all your wonderful photos

[bobmacliberty]

I also enjoyed another Miami Vice.

 

 

 

One of my favorite sights...A Miami Vice on a cruise ship railing.

 

Thanks for taking the time to do this. I enjoyed it greatly.

[sgregel]

One of my favorite sights...A Miami Vice on a cruise ship railing.

 

Thanks for taking the time to do this. I enjoyed it greatly.

 

You read my mind. Plan on duplicating this photo the week of Jan. 14th on Freedom.

Sandy

[dreadpirate3]

I'm sorry debarkation day has come. I hope you have a pleasant and safe trip back home.

[LuCruise]

Amazing review. Thanks for sharing.

 

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[Newbcruiser1]

Hello from the beautiful... Fort Lauderdale Airport...? Haha! Sadly, I am not writing today's post from the Freedom of the Seas! But I suppose today would count as day 15!

 

We docked super early, around 3:30am - yup, you guessed it! At the dreaded pier 29! Self-disembarkation started right on time at 6:15, and they started calling luggage tag numbers at 7:00.

 

I woke up around 6am. I just had to leave enough time for a last breakfast in the Windjammer. When I arrived, I realized I should have headed for the MDR. It was a madhouse! But the awesome greeter was dressed up as usual (note the Freedom TA pin he's wearing from one of our CC roll call members!), and there was this lovely sign hanging:

 

 

My last breakfast:

 

 

It was a beautiful day outside:

 

 

 

 

 

After a 25 minute trip down to guest services to have something fixed on my bill, I headed off the ship at 7:30 as scheduled. Unfortunately I seem to have missed the window with no line-ups. I hit a line-up on the Promenade deck, a line-up down the gangway, a line-up in the terminal, and a line-up at customs. This whole process totaled an hour.

 

Within 1 minute of getting through customs, I was headed for a cab! I was stopped and offered a shuttle ride to FLL for $11. At first I said "nah I'll take a cab" and then realized it was about to leave so I hopped in and off we went. It took about 7 minutes to get to the airport, and I was dropped at the correct terminal (terminal 2).

 

Unfortunately the Air Canada counters (even for bag drop off) were not open yet so it was mass chaos! I checked in at a kiosk, printed my bag tag and my boarding pass, and then spent the next 2 hours in line. The agents arrived and opened the counters about 40 minutes into that wait, and the remainder of the time was spent moving at about 2 steps every 5 minutes! Yikes.

 

They were really being strict with baggage, weighing both checked bags and carry-ons, and making people put their carry-on bags in the size thingies. Many people ended up opening their luggage to shift things around which only slowed down the line more.

 

I tried to get on an earlier, direct flight home. Unfortunately it was overbooked! As such, I am now waiting for my flight which leaves just before 2pm, and will have a 2 hour stop in Montreal l. I will not arrive in Toronto until 8:30pm, so it's going to be a looooong day!

 

 

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[Newbcruiser1]

FINAL THOUGHTS:

 

Overall, this cruise was fabulous! The weather was wonderful, itinerary was fantastic, and I met so many nice people!

 

Just to break it down a bit:

 

SHIP: The ship was in pretty good shape. They were doing lots of work inside and out (sanding, painting, etc). As I mentioned early on, when I first entered my room it appeared somewhat old and worn but either I got used to it or it wasn't actually that bad. The fridge was very cold (particularly as I filled it up), the bathroom was clean, the couch was in decent condition, etc.

 

ITINERARY:

4 ports on a TA cruise? Need I say more?! The itinerary was fabulous! It was great being able to see the different Canary Islands, and to explore Seville! I would definitely recommend a similar itinerary!

 

DINING:

The food and service in the MDR each night was wonderful! My tablemates all agreed that it was much better than on many of our recent cruises! In fact, I went in expecting to be disappointed with the food as I have been in the past, but I was pleasantly surprised. It was very well prepared, and while not always served piping hot, it made up for that in flavor! The service was amazing as well - I don't know if we just lucked out with our waiters, or if everyone got the same wonderful service! This was one of the few times that my waiters really earned that "10" on the survey!

 

The Windjammer was wonderful for breakfast. Great food choices, always hot, efficient egg station, freshly made over-easy eggs with no wait, frequent drink service, etc. I cannot say the same for the food at lunch (as is typical on RCI, I find), but it was a little better than most cruises I've done with RCI. And while I didn't eat a full dinner in the Windjammer, they had plenty of choices, and the sushi was above average for Windjammer sushi!

 

Chops - food was quite good, steak was incredible, service was a bit of a miss.

 

Johnny Rockets - average service, good food!

 

Other dining - Promenade Cafe and Sorrento's always had great choices, and the service was good! They also had pre-packaged Izumi sushi in the Promenade many days. I am unsure of the price.

 

ENTERTAINMENT AND ACTIVITIES:

 

The nightly entertainment was the typical RCI entertainment. Some hits, and some misses, and generally targeted towards the middle aged and older crowd. I personally prefer the entertainment on the larger ships and on NCL's megaships, but overall it was passable.

 

There were SO many activities planned throughout the cruise! Even with 14 days, I did not have time to attend everything I wanted to! They really outdid themselves there! If you're wondering what the heck I'm talking about, check out the last page of each cruise compass that I posted! Truly amazing variety of activities!!!

 

OVERALL:

Amazing!!!

 

The Symphony of the Seas TA next fall is going to have big shoes to fill! :) I know that the ship will be incredible but I can only hope that the service will be as fantastic and the crew as friendly!

 

To everyone that has been following along for the past 2 weeks - THANK YOU! And thank you for your kind comments! Those are what kept me going with this review!

 

To those with future cruises booked on the Freedom, you're going to love it!!! To those considering a Transatlantic cruise - DO IT! I would suggest a fall cruise starting in Spain or Italy for your first one as you're likely to have better weather!

 

Happy to try to answer any questions that anyone might have!

 

Thanks once again for following along!!! [emoji3]

 

 

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[Gabruska]

I have been following your review and want to thank you so much for sharing. We will be on Freedom next Saturday and can't wait. I am glad you enjoyed yourself! I hope one day we can do TA.

 

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[breezy_carol]

Thank you so much. this was great! I hope you get home without difficulty.

[wallis7219]

Great review ! Well done! Going to be boarding our TA on Navigator of the Seas in the morning!!

 

 

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[PCWalton1]

Thank you for taking the time and effort to bring us along on your cruise. I had a great time on your transatlantic, a cruise I will probably never do so it was great to follow along.

Well done. :D

[lazydayz]

Thanks so much for taking us along. Safe travels home.

[Kissmya63]

Thank you so much for doing this! I'm going to miss seeing the daily pics, which were fantastic! We're on Freedom in April. And now a TA is on my bucket list!

 

Safe travels!

[FionaMG]

Thanks very much for your review. It has been very enjoyable. I have not cruised this class of ship but would certainly like to in the future. :D

[WayTea]

Thanks for the great review of your trip. Your pictures and commentaries were very good.

Have a good trip home. It’s a bit cool and very soggy in Toronto. Probably not a nice welcome back home, but I know that you have the memories to overcome the terrible weather here.

[Virtopia]

Thank you for this review - it was great! I'm from Toronto as well and will be doing my first TA next November solo. I'll be on the Jewel from Rome to San Jan and I can't wait.

[#55worktoplay]

Thank you for taking the time to share your vacation. It was a great review and your pictures were very well done.

 

Soggy and wet in Ottawa but mild, it could be worse!

 

This went by so fast I can only imagine how fast it went for you.

 

Safe travels to T.O.

[RM]

Thanks for sharing your vacation with us and for posting the greeter this morning in the windjammer. We Love Victor and hope we get to see him in a few weeks.

[lauraapp]

Thanks for sharing!Great review!

[pamela27]

Thank you for your amazing review. Couldn't wait till you posted your daily activities.

Can't wait to see this ship for real in May.

[Single_dreamer]

I enjoyed reading your review of the freedom. I'll be sailing on her next month! I'm very excited. I'm glad that you shared photos of your stateroom and the trick about moving the bed against the wall. I did have an inside room but changed to a Promenade. I hope that there will be enough space.

 

I'm interested in learning more about where you stood for the sunsets and the part of the the solarium that was quiet with chairs.

 

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[imlulu]

Great review! Thanks for taking the time from your vacation to post.

[Newbcruiser1]

I enjoyed reading your review of the freedom. I'll be sailing on her next month! I'm very excited. I'm glad that you shared photos of your stateroom and the trick about moving the bed against the wall. I did have an inside room but changed to a Promenade. I hope that there will be enough space.

 

I'm interested in learning more about where you stood for the sunsets and the part of the the solarium that was quiet with chairs.

 

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You'll be just fine in the Promenade room! I've stayed in them several times. They're set up with the bed on the side wall like a balcony room, and the corners of the bed are rounded so no issues walking around the furniture! :)

 

My location for the sunsets varied depending on wind and whatnot, but they were some combination of deck 11 in the solarium or the "private box" area which is just through a door from the front of the solarium on each side, deck 12 above the pool, the helipad, and the Promenade deck. I just made sure I was in a location where my view was not obstructed by any filthy tinted glass! :) It was easy to predict where the sunset would take place because the ship maintained its course almost directly west for the whole second week. As such, the sunset was always forward and slightly to the port side of the ship.

 

 

 

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[Debbie1029]

I have so enjoyed reading about your cruise! Was it hard to pack for 2 weeks or did you plan on having laundry done aboard? I. Also concerned that after 2 weeks my clothes wouldn’t fit so packing might be a real problem lol!

 

 

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