MITSUGIRLYS FREEDOM OF THE SEAS REVIEW & PICTORIAL

[TravelGirlinDallas]

I always love your reviews! Thanks for taking the time to post all of your stories and the details and pictures. Your cabin looks AMAZING! I hope you had a fantastic time - you and your family certainly deserve it. 

[EeyoreRN]

Thank you for the beautiful photo tour! What a treat!

 

[blueridgemama]

5 hours ago, lottiegreen56 said:

 

 

Chuck, Nancy and the rest of the Democrats must have pull over at Royal now! 16 year olds voting and in the adult area, we’re doomed!

 

As an aside, sorry to hear about Billy’s losses. I really enjoy Your reviews and Kendra and Billy and their kids remind me a lot of my niece and nephew and their kiddos, really sad to hear about misfortunes.

 

Why must you inject politics into this??

 

To the OP: Thank you for your review and beautiful pictures.

 

Edited May 6, 2019 by blueridgemama

[mitsugirly]

8 hours ago, perfect match said:

We got back late Saturday from our Symphony OTS Cruise, and I’m happy I only had 4 pages of your review to catch up with! We really loved Freedom, so I’m excited to see her again through your eyes. Helps to relieve my post Cruise depression, too! 

 

Our sympathy to Billy, and also the rest of your family on your recent losses. I hope your time on Freedom gave you the break you all needed.

 

Congratulations on your graduation! 🎓  I’m sure you will have no trouble filling the free time you will now have without having to spend so much time on school! 

 

Can’t wait to hear about all of your latest adventures. 

 

I hope you had a wonderful cruise Nancy and thank you for your sympathy. The Freedom was definitely a much needed break. No trouble filling time at the moment...since I have this long review to do. LOL

 

4 hours ago, lottiegreen56 said:

 

 

Chuck, Nancy and the rest of the Democrats must have pull over at Royal now! 16 year olds voting and in the adult area, we’re doomed!

 

As an aside, sorry to hear about Billy’s losses. I really enjoy Your reviews and Kendra and Billy and their kids remind me a lot of my niece and nephew and their kiddos, really sad to hear about misfortunes.

 

Thanks so much and they have had to endure a lot lately. 😞

 

2 hours ago, blarko said:

The ship looks beautiful! I’ve never sailed Royal but WOW! May be time to “jump ship” from Carnival for me 🤔

 

Royal is very very nice and we loved the ship.

 

1 hour ago, LuCruise said:

Wow , you take amazing photos!  Royal should hire you for their advertising!  When I think of Royal's ships, one of the first things I think of is how beautiful they are, and you've really captured that.  Except..I don't remember seeing the Mitsugirly logo around any of the other ships like that...lol.

 

How did you find Freedom compared with Carnival and NCL?  How were the activities?  The food? Entertainment?  (I'm guessing you'll get to that 🙂 ) . Loving your review.

 

Why thank you for the comments about the pictures.

 

I think the Freedom has become one of my favorite ships now. It's right up there with a few of my favorites from Carnival and NCL. Honestly, I love them all and can find the good and bad in every line.  Carnival seems to have a lot of activities going on during sea days and I didn't notice as much on Royal. I don't feel like there are as much announcements from the CD on Royal either. Everyone is friendly on all lines an all lines seem to keep the ships in tip top shape with constant cleaning. The food on Royal was amazing and I would have to say better than the other 2 lines (at least in the buffet), which includes variety. However, food available 24/7, nothing beats NCL and their O'Sheehans on the ships. Entertainment...well, I'm not much for the singing and dancing or broadway shows so when I think of entertainment, I think of variety such as magicians, acrobats, comedy and so on. This cruise they had a little more to offer than the last on the Jewel, but that's because it included an ice skating rink. There were a lot of song and dance shows...which we didn't go to because we just don't care for them. NCL puts on some amazing shows so I'll still have to say that I like their entertainment best. However, I'm sure once you get into the Oasis class ships things change and become better with the water shows and all.  Carnival has a comedy club on every ship and we love to go to those and they are offered every night.

 

1 hour ago, sandebeach said:

Really enjoying your photos and review, they are great!

 

Thanks so much.

 

1 hour ago, bobmacliberty said:

I'll second the opinion that the Promenade View cabins are not noisy.  Our kids have stayed in them a couple of times.  The only time they complained was when there was an early morning Zoomba class.  Anything that disturbs a (then) teenager before 9:00am is "annoying".  I think they are classified closer to an inside than an ocean view.

 

That's amazing that they were able to sound proof those rooms. The parties they had there nightly were LOUD!! Bouncing off the walls! All the lights and strobes. I wondered if it might disrupt the rooms along there.

 

44 minutes ago, LuCruise said:

Ditto.  We've stayed in them a couple times (and have booked in the summer again).  They're actually fun to watch out the window.  I think we may have had one late night where we heard noise, but otherwise, it was fine.  They're a great alternative to a standard interior.

 

It definitely looks like something different (and an upgrade from an interior). I just think it would be neat to have a balcony there as well.

 

44 minutes ago, fyree39 said:

Haha.  I say that often enough. 

 

Great pictures and thanks for doing all of this for us.  I'm wondering if the Freedom is in the same class as the Jewel of the Seas. We were on the Jewel several years ago and I thought it was absolutely beautiful.  The Freedom seems to have that same elegance with a lot of glass.

 

I don't believe it is. I made this comment to my neighbor and they said it wasn't the same class. The Freedom is their favorite ship.

 

6 minutes ago, dreadpirate3 said:

 

Yes! We were on Freedom with Abe Hughes, who  is great, and their morning show played every day from 6 AM -12 on one of the channels on the TV.

 

I saw you got a response on the Promenade View Interior rooms already, but people who choose inside staterooms for cost reasons love them, since they still have a window. They are very popular.

 

I don't think I watched tv enough to notice there was a show on. Darn, that would have been interesting to see.

 

3 minutes ago, dreadpirate3 said:

 

Freedom class is the largest before Oasis and Quantum classes. Jewel is a Radiance class ship.

 

Ahh, there's our answer. 🙂

[mitsugirly]

6 minutes ago, TravelGirlinDallas said:

I always love your reviews! Thanks for taking the time to post all of your stories and the details and pictures. Your cabin looks AMAZING! I hope you had a fantastic time - you and your family certainly deserve it. 

 

Thanks so much. I'm glad you enjoy them. The cabin was absolutely amazing! We had a great time thanks.

 

6 minutes ago, EeyoreRN said:

Thank you for the beautiful photo tour! What a treat!

 

 

Thank you for commenting and glad you are liking it.

[mitsugirly]

DECK 12

 

Adventure Ocean

 

This will be the FIRST TIME that I didn't step foot in a kids club. Sakari absolutely had no interest in this. I could tell over the last few cruises that she just wasn't into the kids club anymore. Another sign of her growing up. 😞

 

Since Kambriah is still in the kids club...I managed to get a few pictures of the hallway leading up to it. LOL The minute Sakari seen where we were going...she immediately turned around and said "no".

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

Johnny Rockets.

 

We didn't even find this place until much later on the cruise. This is a "specialty" restaurant that you have to pay extra for. Someone had told me that it's around $6.95 but actually it was more like double that. But includes everything on the menu.

More about it later...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

SKY BAR

 

This bar is located up above the pool area and there's seating for those who enjoy the sun. LOL

 

 

Also in this area are 2 domes (one on each side), so I'm including them in this section. These domes are up over the adult whirlpools in the Solarium down below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

VIDEO ARCADE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

FLOWRIDER

 

Did you realize you can ride this for free? As long as it is during the "stand up" time. If you are doing the boogie boards and laying on it then you have to pay. They also give lessons but it was super expensive (I think $350-500+)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

ROCK CLIMBING

 

The kids really wanted to do this but it never seemed to be open when they went up there. I believe Kendra said they close early...maybe 6pm? When you have a port intensive itinerary, this makes it hard to do with only 1 sea day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other sports related...

 

 

 

 

Edited May 6, 2019 by mitsugirly

[mitsugirly]

DECK 14

 

 

OLIVE OR TWIST

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 6, 2019 by mitsugirly

[mitsugirly]

DECK 15

 

Skylight Chapel

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

Well, that concludes my photo tour of the ship. I'm sure I have missed some things. Sorry if so.

 

Now I get to (what I think) is the exciting part....port days and what we did.

 

I don't have anything ready and sorted yet so I probably won't start that part quite yet. But I'll try to get things together as soon as I can. I'm off to work for the day....

 

Hope you are still enjoying the review and everyone have a wonderful day. 🙂

[E23NK1]

13 hours ago, mitsugirly said:

And the last thing I have for deck 4 is that you can go outside and down the entire side of the ship is a smoking area.

 

 

 

This is the one thing that I miss on the Oasis class ships....I looooove the full open deck.

[Getting out there]

Flowrider is free if you lay down. I think it's free laying or standing. Lessons you just have to pay for.

[WisconsinFan]

Thanks for sharing. We were on this cruise as well. Freedom is one of our favorites for sure! Looking forward to your port reviews to see what you decided to do.

[purplephenom]

Great start.  I don't have an RC cruise planned, but I remembered you mentioned your next cruise was on RC on a different post, so I've been stalking this board looking for it!  Can't wait to read the rest.  

 

As for Sakari's art, if she has an ipad now, check out the app Procreate- it's not free, but its a great app and if you google around a bit, always highly rated and recommended.  I don't work for them or anything, just a happy app user.

[pghsteelerfan]

Hey there!  I was really looking forward to this and just hopped on RCI's boards today to see if you had it started yet, and yea!!!  I've gotten caught up with all you have and am really enjoying, as I always do.  But the ship!!!   Holy ship, it's beautiful!!!  Is Freedom of the Seas larger than Adventure?  We were in port (St. Thomas) with Freedom of the Seas on our Carnival Glory cruise, 9 years ago this month.  We were on a tour to St. John and there were a few on the tour with us from Freedom and they told us about the ship and we were floored - an ice skating rink ON a cruise ship?  But even thought it's the part you don't look forward to doing, I enjoyed seeing it.  We've done one RCI cruise (Mexican Riviera in Jan. 2000) on Rhapsody of the Seas, which at the time seemed large but probably considered smaller with the newer ships today.  I am still really looking forward to seeing what all you guys did in ports since we seem to have the same interest (beaches). 

 

Again, congrats on that degree and so happy all of you were able to get a break from the tragedies at home.  Oh, I almost forgot but "pop" IS the correct term, although some prefer "soda".  Lol!!!  I'm from the Pittsburgh area, so I still say "pop" (and yinz) even thought most refer to it as "soda" here in VA.  I'm looking forward to following along. 

[mitsugirly]

4 hours ago, E23NK1 said:

This is the one thing that I miss on the Oasis class ships....I looooove the full open deck.

 

Yea they are nice I agree!

 

4 hours ago, Getting out there said:

Flowrider is free if you lay down. I think it's free laying or standing. Lessons you just have to pay for.

 

Good to know. I ask the hubby again and he said they did say standing and laying "at certain times". They must have been doing lessons at the time we were there (they were laying down at the time we went there the second time around) and he withheld that info from me and said you have to pay. 

 

3 hours ago, WisconsinFan said:

Thanks for sharing. We were on this cruise as well. Freedom is one of our favorites for sure! Looking forward to your port reviews to see what you decided to do.

 

I hope you had a wonderful cruise. We thought the ship was amazing!

 

3 hours ago, purplephenom said:

Great start.  I don't have an RC cruise planned, but I remembered you mentioned your next cruise was on RC on a different post, so I've been stalking this board looking for it!  Can't wait to read the rest.  

 

As for Sakari's art, if she has an ipad now, check out the app Procreate- it's not free, but its a great app and if you google around a bit, always highly rated and recommended.  I don't work for them or anything, just a happy app user.

 

Glad you were able to find me. 

 

I think the Procreate app is what they were advertising and showing us when we were at the store and considering getting her a brand new one. They had 2 different types that they recommended. I wanted to me sure that she was going to be able to use the program she has already and the new pen with it...not to mention making sure she didn't break the ipad as much as she does her phone. 😮   

 

Actually I just looked it up and it was Procreate they suggested (and also something called Linea sketch). 

 

I really want to get her a Wacom but man she has to be a good girl for that and I'm waiting to see how things go when she starts her new school in August. 🙂

 

 

47 minutes ago, pghsteelerfan said:

Hey there!  I was really looking forward to this and just hopped on RCI's boards today to see if you had it started yet, and yea!!!  I've gotten caught up with all you have and am really enjoying, as I always do.  But the ship!!!   Holy ship, it's beautiful!!!  Is Freedom of the Seas larger than Adventure?  We were in port (St. Thomas) with Freedom of the Seas on our Carnival Glory cruise, 9 years ago this month.  We were on a tour to St. John and there were a few on the tour with us from Freedom and they told us about the ship and we were floored - an ice skating rink ON a cruise ship?  But even thought it's the part you don't look forward to doing, I enjoyed seeing it.  We've done one RCI cruise (Mexican Riviera in Jan. 2000) on Rhapsody of the Seas, which at the time seemed large but probably considered smaller with the newer ships today.  I am still really looking forward to seeing what all you guys did in ports since we seem to have the same interest (beaches). 

 

Again, congrats on that degree and so happy all of you were able to get a break from the tragedies at home.  Oh, I almost forgot but "pop" IS the correct term, although some prefer "soda".  Lol!!!  I'm from the Pittsburgh area, so I still say "pop" (and yinz) even thought most refer to it as "soda" here in VA.  I'm looking forward to following along. 

 

Glad you were able to find my review. Glad to have you here. 

 

It is a beautiful ship for sure! I was in aww with it. It looks like it may be  bigger when I look it up. Freedom holds 4515 double occ and Adventure holds 3114 at capacity it says. 

 

Haha about an ice skating rink. I'm pretty sure back in the day (in the 80-90s) the ship I went on (either NCL or Royal) had an ice skating rink on it at the time so I don't think that's something new. I know that NCL put an ice skating rink on their Epic in 2010 but it wasn't a "real" ice rink. It was some type of material that they laid down at the basketball field and then would take up when the skating session was over. It was A LOT of work for the employees and I watched the episode of Undercover Boss and it had the CEO, Kevin Sheehan, on it undercover and when he seen just how much work it was for the employees to put it down and take it back up...he did away with it. 

 

Thanks for the congrats on the degree. I swore I was never going back to school again. I'm so done and so over it at this point. lol 

 

I love it when I find another "pop" person. People look at me crazy when I say it and I've never had that problem in the past until I started cruising. LOL

[mkcurran]

5 hours ago, mitsugirly said:

Well, that concludes my photo tour of the ship. I'm sure I have missed some things. Sorry if so.

 

Now I get to (what I think) is the exciting part....port days and what we did.

 

I don't have anything ready and sorted yet so I probably won't start that part quite yet. But I'll try to get things together as soon as I can. I'm off to work for the day....

 

Hope you are still enjoying the review and everyone have a wonderful day. 🙂

Congrats on finishing school!

I'm happy to be here to read another one of your reviews. Especially since it's likely that my next cruise will be out of San Juan. I'm figuring out the snorkeling thing now in preparation. 

 

So I will be looking for recommendations on where to snorkel.

[WisconsinFan]

We did have an amazing cruise! I am looking at your photos to see if we end up in any of them 🙂 I am a "pop" person as well, but Wisconsin has slowly moved from "pop" to "soda" over the years.....now can anyone direct me to a bubbler?

[mitsugirly]

5 hours ago, blueridgemama said:

 

Why must you inject politics into this??

 

To the OP: Thank you for your review and beautiful pictures.

 

 

 

Thanks and glad you like them. 

 

3 minutes ago, mkcurran said:

Congrats on finishing school!

I'm happy to be here to read another one of your reviews. Especially since it's likely that my next cruise will be out of San Juan. I'm figuring out the snorkeling thing now in preparation. 

 

So I will be looking for recommendations on where to snorkel.

 

Thank you and glad you are here for the review. 

 

Are you going to the same ports?

[mitsugirly]

3 minutes ago, WisconsinFan said:

We did have an amazing cruise! I am looking at your photos to see if we end up in any of them 🙂 I am a "pop" person as well, but Wisconsin has slowly moved from "pop" to "soda" over the years.....now can anyone direct me to a bubbler?

 

Glad to hear it. Haha, I've done cruises in the past and people have spotted themselves. Kinda neat and fun. 

 

Hello fellow "pop" person. hehe

 

Now wait, what is a bubbler?

Edited May 6, 2019 by mitsugirly

[WisconsinFan]

3 minutes ago, mitsugirly said:

 

Glad you hear it. Haha, I've done cruises in the past and people have spotted themselves. Kinda neat and fun. 

 

Hello fellow "pop" person. hehe

 

Now wait, what is a bubbler?

A bubbler is what us in southern Wisconsin call a drinking fountain 🙂

Edited May 6, 2019 by WisconsinFan