Freedom of the Seas Early Trip Report- July 7, 2018

[suesnake2002]

So glad Lisa is ok. And don't worry about your drink package break even point. It's so much more than alcohol. Have fun

 

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[ravenrob]

Tropical Storm Beryl?

 

Oh no....looks like there is a Tropical Storm making its direct path for the Lesser Antilles. All the weather reports say that it will pass over the islands on Sunday. Hoping that the storm is clear by Wednesday and Thursday.

 

Everyone say a prayer and cross your fingers and toes!!!

 

:(:(:(

[ravenrob]

Arrived at BWI at 6:45AM and was through security by 7:00AM. Plane is just about 15 minutes late. However should make up time in the air!!!

 

 

 

See you in San Juan!!!

 

Cheers!!

 

 

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[MaiseyM]

Looking forward to your reports. I haven’t even considered cruising without my kids yet bc they’re still all at home. It would be a different experience for sure. Pros and cons. Have fun!

 

Btw, good choice in the car. I have the same one and love every bell and whistle!

 

 

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[time11130]

Looking forward to read about your cruise. We just booked a cruise and have never been out of San Juan before but we have been on Freedom in 2012 out of Florida.

Have a GREAT time!

[MA cruisers]

Have a great trip. Happy Anniversary and Happy Birthday to Lisa. We will be on Freedom for the 3rd time in October and cannot wait to sail her again.

[ravenrob]

Arrived in San Juan right on time. We made it to the hotel by 1:30.

 

Checked in but room wasn’t quite ready but we grabbed lunch across the street at a nice little bar/restaurant named Atabey. Great burgers and hummus. The Tito’s Vodka was good too. [emoji2]

 

Room was ready after lunch and we have an ocean view suite with a balcony and the corner window has a great view of the Pan American pier too!!!

 

We spent two hours by the pool and I had two Pina Coladas while there.

 

Had dinner on Ashford Avenue and back to the room to pop open the bottle of Champagne that Lisa’s brother sent to us to celebrate. [emoji898][emoji898][emoji898]

 

That’s all for today.

 

Will end with some pictures from today:

 

On final approach to SJU airport:

 

 

Poolside at the Vanderbilt Condado Hotel:

 

 

Next update from Freedom of the Seas!!!

 

Public Service Announcement:

 

I will not be posting from the ship because we do not anticipate having the Internet package on board.

 

 

 

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[kwbound]

Hope you have a wonderful trip with wonderful weather and Beryl peters out to nothing. We are sailing on Freedom next month, so I'm looking forward to your opinions.

[PhoenixCruiser]

Cannot wait to read your review!

[ravenrob]

Hi everyone..sitting in San Juan airport waiting for our flight home. Could have easily made a 12:20PM flight back to Baltimore but we wanted to be safe and are waiting for our 2:15 flight.

 

There is a Margaritaville in the Southwest pier so looks like where will be having lunch. [emoji2]

 

Quick summary of trip with a more detailed review to follow later tomorrow.

 

Ship was beautiful. The food was excellent. The Junior Suite was a plus but showed a slight bit of wear and tear but to be expected.

 

The Piano player in the Schooner Bar, Kelly Goodrich, was amazing. We were there 6 out of seven nights. They lost $$$ on us with the drink package because of Kelly. [emoji2]

 

Dining room servers excellent. Chops was awesome.

 

The only drawback was Windjammer on the two sea days. They need to think about the configuration during the next dry dock.

 

Ports were great. Aruba, Curaçao, St. Maarten and St Thomas.

 

A slight itinerary adjustment early in the week due to Beryl really did not affect us much.

 

 

That’s all for now!!!

 

 

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[Ella2]

Looking forward to your full review! Boarding Freedom this Saturday! :D

[EeyoreFan1967]

Can't wait for your full review! Decided on a memorial day sailing in 2019 and want to read all I can get. Glad you had a great time!

[Denise5374]

Looking forward to reading your full review. Going on Freedom 8/18!!!

[PhoenixCruiser]

Thanks!

[sonyashay]

Can't wait to hear your detailed review of the trip!

[brtwnr]

Looking forward to reading your full review. Going on Freedom 8/18!!!

 

 

 

I'm on the 8/18 sailing as well.

[plantlady095]

My family is on the Sept.1 sailing and we are looking for something to do in Aruba. Does anyone have any ideas or tips? I have always heard that Aruba is strikingly beautiful but I need a tad more than that before arriving there. Please!

[Clarea]

My family is on the Sept.1 sailing and we are looking for something to do in Aruba. Does anyone have any ideas or tips? I have always heard that Aruba is strikingly beautiful but I need a tad more than that before arriving there. Please!

Check out the port of call forum: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=168

[blusun]

Following along. we are on her Aug 11th!

[Dragonkeper]

Following along. we are on her Aug 11th!

 

I am also on the Freedom Aug 11. I am going into San Juan on Aug 9.

[plantlady095]

Check out the port of call forum: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=168

Thanks! That is a great idea!

[ravenrob]

Hi all....it’s now been two weeks since our fabulous cruise on the Freedom of the Seas. Sorry it has taken so long for this report but I needed to decompress to the reality of no longer being on vacation and being back to reality.

 

Here goes for Cruise Day 1:

 

I awoke early around 6:00AM and looked out our room window to see the following:

 

 

I then headed down to the gym to get my workout in and had this view from the treadmill:

 

 

I wish this was the view from the treadmill at my gym every day! [emoji2]

 

Lisa awoke around 8:00 AM and off to breakfast we went. We found a nice little place right down the street from the hotel called Waffler Avenue. Little walk in place where you order at the counter and sit outside to have your meal. Great place with reasonable prices.

 

After breakfast we walked around La Ventana al Mar Park and took some pictures of Condado Beach.

 

 

Then it was back to the room to get ready to leave for the Lady Freedom.

 

Our goal was to leave the hotel by 11AM and we were out of the room by 10:30 and in the lobby by 10:45 awaiting our Uber.

 

I ordered our Uber and off we went to the Pan American pier and after a short ride we arrived at just about 11:00. Total cost of UberXL ride from Condado Vanderbilt hotel to Pan American pier was $7.75 not including tip.

 

We made our way into the terminal after leaving our luggage with the porter and made it through security check and were checking in by 11:15.

 

Upon arriving at the check in counter there was a piece of paper informing us of a slight itinerary adjustment due to Tropical Storm Beryl. Instead of stopping at St. Thomas on Sunday, we were heading directly south to Aruba and Curaçao on for a full sea day on Sunday. No big deal as we made it to St. Thomas on Friday at the end of the cruise. More to come on this later in the review.

 

After checking in we were on our way up the escalator to board Lady Freedom by 11:35.

 

Once onboard we decided to check out our dining room table for first seating. We discovered the we were placed at a table for four people. Not that there is anything wrong with sitting with others, we decided that since it was a special occasion for us, we would prefer a table for ourselves each night for dinner. We found the dining room manager and he promptly found us a nice table for two in the Isaac Dining Room instead of a table for four in the Galileo dining room. Such great service by the awesome dining room staff of Freedom.

 

Then it was off to Windjammer to have lunch at 12:15. The crowds were starting to arrive but we found a table to relax and have a leisurely lunch. Drink #1 of the day with lunch was a pina colada!!!!

 

Cabins were not going to be ready until 1:30 so we finished lunch and walked the promenade to check out what was in store for the next week.

 

Before the promenade walk, we made our reservation at Chops for our Anniversary celebration on Sunday night.

 

Before we knew it the cabins were open.

 

We then made our way up to deck 10 to cabin 1244 to find the following:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was courtesy of our DD, Allison who arranged this on her own as a surprise for us through Royal Caribbean. (Of course it was courtesy of both kids but the older one paid for it. [emoji2])

 

I kept wondering why she kept asking us for our itinerary the entire week leading up to our cruise. The one thing I left out was our booking number. Now I know why. [emoji2]

 

Of course Allison spent a good part of the afternoon texting us to see if we were in our cabin yet. [emoji2]

 

Seeing this surprise really makes you appreciate the job you have done as a parent. ❤️

 

Sorry for the brief digression from the review....

 

After calling Allison to FaceTime and thank her for the surprise, we then headed upstairs to the Pool Deck.

 

This is where we ran into fellow CC member, prekteacher, Barbara and her husband Tom as they were leaving the pool. We are so glad that we met up with them.[emoji2][emoji2][emoji2]

 

Lisa and I hung around the pool for another few hours and we also met BalogMom and their family as well.

 

Around 4PM we headed to the cabin and the luggage had arrived and we unpacked and got ready for dinner.

 

After dinner it was a stroll on the promenade and waited for the opening night show.

 

After the show we were off to the top deck for sail away from San Juan. A beautiful nighttime view of Old San Juan at sail away:

 

 

This would conclude our first exciting day onboard Freedom.

 

Off to the gym for a workout.

 

Hopefully next update later today or tomorrow.

 

Cheers,

 

Rob

 

 

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[khm1]

Subscribed! I am eagerly awaiting more of your review. My family and I will be on Freedom in January. We have never sailed her before. We are doing the ABC itinerary along with St. Maarten. I can’t wait to see your photos and hear about your experience.

[EeyoreRN]

LOVE your review! Booked Freedom (the other itinerary) for May of next year and cannot wait!

 

How sweet and thoughtful of your children to send that surprise for your anniversary. You and Lisa did a great job!

 

The Vanderbilt looks lovely. I have been poring over maps of San Juan and would never have guessed that you'd have a view of Pan American Pier from there. We are staying practically next door at the Condado Plaza by Hilton...maybe we will have a view as well?

 

You are so lucky you have direct Southwest flights from BWI to SJU. I'm actually contemplating driving down from NY to catch one of those...I think it's our closest airport for direct Southwest.

 

How was the food and service in MDR on night one?

[kbklcamp]

Subscribing to this fun report

 

 

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