Freedom of the seas review 6-23 to 6-30

[lanord]

Yes, we are still reading!  Really enjoying your review as we were on FOS in January.  We also did the Kayak & Snorkel Eco Adventure in Antigua with our entire group of 16 family members and we had a blast!

 

[renza]

Yes please continue. I went on freedom when it was first out. Now we have been taking all the oasis class ships. Love them. Back on Oasis March 2020 and just got off Symphony. We have freedom booked next June after dry dock. A little worried to go back now because it just doesn’t have many food options. We love park cafe for lunch. Not into having to ever go to a buffet or dining room for lunch. I look forward to hearing the rest of your review. 

[BNL1213]

Thursday June 27th - St. Lucia, my favorite port day

 

It was the same wonderful drill for this morning. I got up, got my coffee and walked out onto the balcony.  I was treated to a very pretty rainbow!

 

and another great view pulling into port!  

 

Today's plan was a little different from the previous days in that we had booked a private excursion for this day.  I had done some research on what exactly we wanted to do and decided to go with Spencer Ambrose's speed boat and sugar beach break tour.  Since we had to be onshore meeting with Spencer by 8:15, we quickly got packed up.  We were due to arrive at any moment, so we went down to the gangway and stood in line for us to be cleared to depart the ship.  It was a very long line, but once cleared it took us two minutes to get off the ship.  We made our way out of the security area and quickly found someone holding a sign for Spencer's tours.  We paid the balance we owed and were soon on our way to the dock to board the speedboat.  We were definitely on our way by 8:30am and it was a SPEEDY ride.  The water was a bit choppy and there was a lot of wind, so it was a bouncy ride. Luckily we were not bothered by it at all and just watched the beautiful scenery go by.  We soon pulled into a resort to drop off 3 people who were only interested in the half day snorkel.  We then took off towards another spot and here everyone got off the speedboat.  Everyone but DS and I were being loaded onto a bus to go to the mud baths.  DS and I were loaded onto a smaller boat where there were two women waiting, who were picked up from a resort nearby. 

 

Spencer had left us to go with those folks going on the mud bath tour. So we had a different guide drive us to sugar beach.  But on our boat was the cooler with all of the beverages! so we were with the right guide as far as I was concerned...  Off we went again and very quickly drove head on into what our guide called a small bit of liquid sunshine, but what DS and I called, as we were laying on the floor of the boat, a complete monsoon rainstorm with raindrops so big and fat hitting our face at a high speed that we had no choice but duck for cover!  lol, it was crazy but cleared out quickly and the sun was back out just as we turned the corner towards sugar beach, which was nestled right between the two pitons.  

 

We got off the boat and made our way over to the public part of the beach and grabbed two loungers close to the water.  We wanted to hurry and get right in and start snorkeling since there were not many people here at this point.  I had asked our guide for some snorkel equipment and he handed us each a mask and snorkel tube.  I hadn't thought much of the fact that we didn't get fins or a float (foreshadowing), but was so eager to get in the water since I heard this snorkel trail was amazing.  We quickly locked up our valuables in our beach chair safe and made our way to the water. We had to climb and walk over a bunch of rocks to get in the water, which was a little challenging.  I personally found it much easier to sit and slide in get in deep enough to put my face in the water instead of walking/wading in since the rocks were so tough to manage.  When I put my face in we were immediately surrounded by a ton of fish.  We went in a little more and I was shocked at the variety of fish and coral and sea life.  I was so surprised it was so close to shore.  As we got deeper and deeper in we saw more and more.  I will apologize that this day was definitely the one day we took the least amount of pics.  We just spent so much time in the water and had no waterproof camera.  I really regret it since we saw so much while snorkeling here.  DS kept popping up from the water to call me over to come look at this or that!  We had a blast.  We kept going further and further along the base of the piton following the snorkel trail.  I really liked how they roped it off so you didn't inadvertently swim into an oncoming boat.  

 

So as we got out pretty far from shore, I could see we were coming to the end of the trail.  But I could also see that the water was getting ROUGH out here and the current was making it a little tough to swim back towards the beach.  And that's when I realized my stupidity.  We had no fins and no flotation helping us...just masks with a snorkel tube.  DS was just happily swimming along side of me snorkeling away, not realizing my panic.  I kept lifting my head up and getting hit in the face with a wave.  So I soon started to try and swim harder towards the beach against the current.  I was not making good headway and getting a little frustrated and a little scared.  DS will tell you this is when I went full blown panic and I guess I kicked him in the face trying to swim fast (oops).  So as he was sputtering and spitting out water he swallowed (dramatic) from my apparent kick to his face, I yelled at him to FOLLOW ME BACK, THIS IS NOT SAFE!  we swam our little legs off and eventually made it back to a safer spot and was able to snorkel a little more as we headed towards the beach.  When we got back to the chairs DS had to continue to talk about the face kick (whatever) and insist HE was fine, and that it was me being dramatic.  Maybe I was a little panicky, but I really think they should give you fins and a float vest or something.  Anyway, we relaxed on the beach for a while.  There were locals there making these cool things out of the tree palms, like fish and roses, so we were tipping them and they kept coming back with more and more.  I loved them!  

 

It was around this time that the folks who went to the mud bath arrived to sugar beach, so it quickly got filled up.  Soon after we were served a buffet lunch of chicken, rice, beans, plantains and salad.  Everything was so delicious.  There was a constant flow of whatever you wanted to drink and the guides were super friendly and accommodating.  There was a small tent set up with some handmade items you could buy and a house with restroom and changing rooms.  It really was a great spot!  

 

at this point I went back in the water to snorkel some more and was able to see even more fish that I hadn't seen the first time in.  As I was coming out, I noticed a guy there with a kayak filled with fresh fruit making smoothies.  I didn't really feel like a smoothie but asked if there was any way I could have some fresh fruit to snack on.  Well, he made me an entire to-go container filled with all the fruit he had and explained what each one was.  He gave me mango, papaya, passionfruit and some others.  DS and I ate so much of this fruit.  It was so juicy and delicious.  I had to share it with other people sitting around me too, because I couldn't believe how juicy and fresh it was!  

 

So that's how we spent our day, just lounging, snorkeling, eating and drinking.  But as good things usually  have to come to an end, we were told it was time to load back onto the boat.

Here we are waiting to get back on!  (Do you see any injury to DS face? No? he's so dramatic!)  Soon we were off on the boat at a bit of a slower pace this time.  We cruised by some areas while Spencer explained where we were and what each little cove was or who had houses there that were famous.  At one point we stopped and watched some kids jumping off a cliff into the water while we cheered as they did flips and such.  They eventually swam over to the boat and spencer tossed them some of the soda from our cooler.  We cruised on and got some great photos of the pitons as we sped away.

 

Here is a couple of shots of the scenery and one of the coves we drove through:

 

 

Eventually we made our way back to the dock, where we said our goodbyes to Spencer and thanked him for a spectacular day.  I would re-do that excursion every time I went to St. Lucia if I could.

 

Back on shore, I wanted to do some shopping, while DS wanted to get back to the wifi on the ship.  So we went our separate ways.  There were a lot of shopping spots right near the ship here.  I got a lot of souvenirs to bring home to family and friends.  I eventually made it back on the ship and to our cabin.  As DS and I were discussing how much we missed our favorite waiters in the dining room since we had skipped the night before, I noticed an envelope on my bed.  I opened it up and in it was my invitation for the Chef's Table for that evening!!! 

 

So apparently I had a reservation all along, or maybe I got in from a cancellation, I don't know!  But I was going!  And I needed to meet at Bolero's in less than an hour!  DS was fine to eat at the buffet and go play basketball with his new friends, so I rushed through to try and get dressy in the short time I had.  

 

So up next (tomorrow, I promise!), I will get into deep details on my Chef's Table experience!  I did take a bunch of photos and will go through the whole night. 

 

 

 

[BNL1213]

Thursday night, July 27

 

Hello again!  I am back for part 2 of my 7/27 day to get into the Chef's Table.  I will start by saying that I waited to book my reservation until I was on ship because I was hoping the price would drop.  But that didn't happen and then when I made it, as stated previously, the reservation got lost and I thought I was out of luck.  But alas, it came through in that mysterious Royal Caribbean way!

 

So I headed to Bolero to meet up per the invitation.  I got so lost trying to find Bolero, btw.  I kept walking right by it, because for some reason I thought Bolero was a restaurant, and that we were to meet in the bar of the restaurant.  Anyway, I eventually just asked a ship's officer I ran into on my wandering and led me right over to the bar I had walked by half a dozen times.  Oh well.  So I immediately met a couple there and started chatting. I was a bit nervous attending this alone, but I also didn't want to miss out!  And being such a last minute invitation, I didn't have time for social anxiety to kick in!  The bartender handed us all champagne to sip on while we waited for our host and the other dinner attendees to join.  After about half an hour, we were escorted to our table that was tucked up on a balcony in the dining room.  It was a really interesting location since there were no other tables around us, but a little louder than I was expecting for fine dining.  We each had our own personalized menu left at our assigned place setting, which outlined each course along with the wine pairing (check out all the wine glasses provided!!). 

 

 

When we sat, our host/server explained the process and what we can expect.  It wasn't long before we got our first pour and first course, the Scallop Carpaccio

Delicious once I removed the slice of radish.  It was very strong and overtook the taste of the fish.  A nice start, though!  The server came by and then introduced each of us to the next wine and described course two, the Smoked Tomato Soup.  

 

omg..... omg..... so damn good.  I practically licked the whole bowl.  It didn't look like it would be very interesting when they put it down... i mean, looked like regular old tomato soup with a dollop of cheese and some croutons.  But the taste was unreal.  That smokey flavor was so addicting!  and then having the wine with it.  It was crazy good.  

 

Next up was the lobster salad, which was actually three chunks of lobster tail.

 

Really interesting flavor with the sweet of the pineapple and vanilla.  I may have wolfed that one down way too fast.  Of course, at this point, we are three or four glasses in with wine and conversation really starts to get funny and loud.  We had such a crazy fun outgoing group that it made it that much better.  

 

Our next course was not a favorite of mine at all, but I normally don't like fish with skin on, plus it was over a mediterranean flavored salad that is just not normally my jam.  

 

But that was fine because that meant I could save room for the main course coming........  And we finally were switching to a red wine.  I was so surprised to see that they were serving us Caymus, which is a really really yummy Cabernet at a higher price point than I normally pay for in the wine store!  So score for me!  Our Chef would come out every course or two and explain how he prepared and what the flavors were in each dish and how they played off each other.  Very interesting and he was super personable.

Beef Tenderloin (sorry, started eating before remembering to snap - wine brain!)

 

and finally our dessert which was a such a unique experience..... they came by with this chocolate ball:

And the server came over to each plate and poured hot chocolate over it until the ball melted around a scoop of ice cream.  OMG, it was decadent and delicious. 

 

 

At this point I am so far deep into the wine I don't remember if we had a dessert wine.  I don't believe we did, pretty sure we were still just enjoying the Caymus.  We then sat here for about another half hour or so chatting.  Such a fun night!  I was concerned at the price of it, but when it was over, I would definitely say it was worth the price for the experience.   I can see how some people would be one and done with Chef's Table, but I would definitely try and do it again when we go on our next cruise in a couple of years.

 

The dinner got over a little after 10pm which meant too late to attend the Quest unfortunately.  I was looking forward to it, but at this point I was so FULL and tired, I looked forward to just going back to the room.  

 

Ok, you probably already think I am little crazy, but I have a question as a first time balcony passenger.  Every night I thought it would be great to grab a drink and head back to my room to sit on the balcony and read or play a game with DS.  But every time I did, it made me so uncomfortable to sit out there!  I just felt like it was so dark and the waves were rough and crashing and that I would fall off, never to be heard from again.  I just didn't enjoy it out there at night as much as during the day.  Such a strange and disconcerting feeling.  Does anyone else feel that way at night on your balcony?

 

So that concludes Thursday.  Tomorrow is our Barbados day!  

 

 

 

[palmettostatecruiser]

42 minutes ago, BNL1213 said:

Thursday night, July 27

 

...

 

Ok, you probably already think I am little crazy, but I have a question as a first time balcony passenger.  Every night I thought it would be great to grab a drink and head back to my room to sit on the balcony and read or play a game with DS.  But every time I did, it made me so uncomfortable to sit out there!  I just felt like it was so dark and the waves were rough and crashing and that I would fall off, never to be heard from again.  I just didn't enjoy it out there at night as much as during the day.  Such a strange and disconcerting feeling.  Does anyone else feel that way at night on your balcony?

 

So that concludes Thursday.  Tomorrow is our Barbados day!  

 

 

 

I am thoroughly enjoying your review as we are planning to do the Spencer Ambrose tour as well, but DH is insisting on the mud baths when I would like to just snorkle and chill!

 

I had to laugh at the above. We only cruise balcony now because I'm basically spoiled, but the first time we did, on that first day I was IN LOVE with everything about it. That is, until that night when I went out before bed to enjoy my new happy place...DUN DUN DUNNNN. It FREAKED me out to be out there at night sitting back in the chair where I couldn't see the ship lights.  I made hubby come out & sit with me for awhile, lol.  I got over it though, now I lay out there at night and fall asleep😉

[kaf61]

Thoroughly enjoying your review.  So what happened next????  LOL

[MzShae]

On ‎7‎/‎16‎/‎2019 at 12:39 PM, BNL1213 said:

Thursday night, July 27

 

Hello again!  I am back for part 2 of my 7/27 day to get into the Chef's Table.  I will start by saying that I waited to book my reservation until I was on ship because I was hoping the price would drop.  But that didn't happen and then when I made it, as stated previously, the reservation got lost and I thought I was out of luck.  But alas, it came through in that mysterious Royal Caribbean way!

 

So I headed to Bolero to meet up per the invitation.  I got so lost trying to find Bolero, btw.  I kept walking right by it, because for some reason I thought Bolero was a restaurant, and that we were to meet in the bar of the restaurant.  Anyway, I eventually just asked a ship's officer I ran into on my wandering and led me right over to the bar I had walked by half a dozen times.  Oh well.  So I immediately met a couple there and started chatting. I was a bit nervous attending this alone, but I also didn't want to miss out!  And being such a last minute invitation, I didn't have time for social anxiety to kick in!  The bartender handed us all champagne to sip on while we waited for our host and the other dinner attendees to join.  After about half an hour, we were escorted to our table that was tucked up on a balcony in the dining room.  It was a really interesting location since there were no other tables around us, but a little louder than I was expecting for fine dining.  We each had our own personalized menu left at our assigned place setting, which outlined each course along with the wine pairing (check out all the wine glasses provided!!). 

 

 

When we sat, our host/server explained the process and what we can expect.  It wasn't long before we got our first pour and first course, the Scallop Carpaccio

Delicious once I removed the slice of radish.  It was very strong and overtook the taste of the fish.  A nice start, though!  The server came by and then introduced each of us to the next wine and described course two, the Smoked Tomato Soup.  

 

omg..... omg..... so damn good.  I practically licked the whole bowl.  It didn't look like it would be very interesting when they put it down... i mean, looked like regular old tomato soup with a dollop of cheese and some croutons.  But the taste was unreal.  That smokey flavor was so addicting!  and then having the wine with it.  It was crazy good.  

 

Next up was the lobster salad, which was actually three chunks of lobster tail.

 

Really interesting flavor with the sweet of the pineapple and vanilla.  I may have wolfed that one down way too fast.  Of course, at this point, we are three or four glasses in with wine and conversation really starts to get funny and loud.  We had such a crazy fun outgoing group that it made it that much better.  

 

Our next course was not a favorite of mine at all, but I normally don't like fish with skin on, plus it was over a mediterranean flavored salad that is just not normally my jam.  

 

But that was fine because that meant I could save room for the main course coming........  And we finally were switching to a red wine.  I was so surprised to see that they were serving us Caymus, which is a really really yummy Cabernet at a higher price point than I normally pay for in the wine store!  So score for me!  Our Chef would come out every course or two and explain how he prepared and what the flavors were in each dish and how they played off each other.  Very interesting and he was super personable.

Beef Tenderloin (sorry, started eating before remembering to snap - wine brain!)

 

and finally our dessert which was a such a unique experience..... they came by with this chocolate ball:

And the server came over to each plate and poured hot chocolate over it until the ball melted around a scoop of ice cream.  OMG, it was decadent and delicious. 

 

 

At this point I am so far deep into the wine I don't remember if we had a dessert wine.  I don't believe we did, pretty sure we were still just enjoying the Caymus.  We then sat here for about another half hour or so chatting.  Such a fun night!  I was concerned at the price of it, but when it was over, I would definitely say it was worth the price for the experience.   I can see how some people would be one and done with Chef's Table, but I would definitely try and do it again when we go on our next cruise in a couple of years.

 

The dinner got over a little after 10pm which meant too late to attend the Quest unfortunately.  I was looking forward to it, but at this point I was so FULL and tired, I looked forward to just going back to the room.  

 

Ok, you probably already think I am little crazy, but I have a question as a first time balcony passenger.  Every night I thought it would be great to grab a drink and head back to my room to sit on the balcony and read or play a game with DS.  But every time I did, it made me so uncomfortable to sit out there!  I just felt like it was so dark and the waves were rough and crashing and that I would fall off, never to be heard from again.  I just didn't enjoy it out there at night as much as during the day.  Such a strange and disconcerting feeling.  Does anyone else feel that way at night on your balcony?

 

So that concludes Thursday.  Tomorrow is our Barbados day!  

 

 

 

I've only had a balcony once, but I loved sitting out there at night alone. Just looking at the stars and listening to the waves. I fell asleep several times.

[BNL1213]

Friday - June 28th - Barbados

 

Today, I wanted to be prepared to leave the ship promptly at 8:30am since our plan was to go to the Boatyard and I wanted to be sure we got a front row lounger with an umbrella, so we wouldn't have a repeat of the crazy crowded beach day in St. Kitts.  Everything pretty much went according to plan and we were departing the ship right on the nose, but it was a very long walk to get to where the taxis were.  They had shuttles on the dock when everyone departed the ship, but they seemed to be crowded and maybe a bit disorganized so we just chose to walk.  This port was a little bit more industrial than the others, so nothing too exciting to see as we walked.  We reached the end of the dock at the shopping point, where we found this sign so had to get a quick pic, which turned out to be the only photo we took all day, ugh!  Sorry to you guys, but we really were just enjoying it and didn't have our phones out.

 

We walked through the shopping area and ended up out where the cabs lined up.  We were able to quickly hop in a cab as the last two people and off we went to the Boatyard.  It wasn't a long drive, maybe 10 minutes before we arrived.

 

The Boatyard was just opening and like we had hoped, we got a front row seat on the water.  When we checked in and paid we were also able to sign up for the first boat to go snorkeling, which comes with the price of admission.  So we went and sat in our chairs and relaxed for about an hour.  It was so windy!!  Some umbrellas were already blowing over and it was still early.   But the sand was so soft and the water was beautiful.  There was a water trampoline and a big inflatable slide in the water in front of us, as well as a long dock with a rope swing.

 

So after about an hour, they called us to check in for our boat ride to go snorkel with the turtles.  We went and checked in and were given a life vest and snorkel mask.  Shortly after, we were walked down the dock to board the boat.  The staff is very organized and almost a little strict about following instructions, staying seated while the boat is moving etc, which made me very comfortable, actually.  When we arrived at the turtle/snorkel spot, I was surprised because it wasn't far off shore and we were just in the middle of all of these other boats.  Some were actually coming in and leaving close by while we swam.  It was kind of busy and we were contained to a small area with not only everyone from our boat, but others from the boats surrounding us.  I thought it was really crowded and kept getting kicked around.  But the snorkeling was so good!!  there were so many turtles and fish to see.  It was just too crowded to enjoy.  we stayed in the water for about 20-30 minutes before we were loaded back up and we sailed close by to another spot which was a sunken boat.  There were a TON of fish here.  Again, also crowded, but I really tried to just sort of swim in place above the shipwreck and look at all the beautiful fish!  We probably got another 20-30 minutes to snorkel here as well before being called back onboard.  We then headed back to the Boatyard.  I would say the trip was about 1.5 hours in total.  Which was much longer than I expected.  Despite the crowded conditions, I still can't believe that little trip was included with admission.  What a great bang for your buck!  

 

So when we returned to our chairs, we felt like we may be ready for lunch so I went and grabbed some menus for us.  While I was there, I realized I also got a free drink with admission.  Wow!  It gets better and better at the Boatyard, I thought.  So we decided on lunch, which was just a couple of sandwiches and fries.  They were great!  good beach food.  As the afternoon wore on, the party really gets going here.  The bar is always filled with people in and out and hanging around.  Just a great fun vibe all around.  We had decided to swim out and slide down the inflatable.  Hilarious trying to climb that thing.  My poor DS had to yank me up because I could NOT get my fat booty up on that thing, but once I was on the platform I could climb the ladder easily and slid down over and over.  Such a blast.  

 

We hung out reading and snoozing on our chairs until about 3pm.  Our all aboard time had changed to much later, so I don't think we had to get back to the ship until 6 or 7pm for an 8 or 9pm departure.  But since we had been at the beach since 9am, we decided to head back around 4.  It was a great day, but I was so sad leaving since we knew this was our last island.

 

Once back on board, I decided I didn't feel like hanging around on the ship while DS played basketball, so I got off and went shopping.  They had a lot of little shops and carts of handmade items here so I really did some damage to the budget!

 

Nothing too exciting to report this evening, since we just had dinner and wandered around the ship again.  

 

Saturday June 29th - Sea Day

 

I woke up early today and grabbed some breakfast at the buffet and brought it to a lounger in the Solarium that would end up being my station for the remainder of the day.  I got a great spot out of the sun overlooking the sea and cracked open a new book with a goal of finishing it by end of day.  I did manage to escape for an hour to go to Sabor to do the Guacamole making class.  It started out with a host showing everyone how each of 3 margarita's is made.  And then they came around and asked us each which one we would like to order.  So as we sipped our margarita's, the host went through step by step how to made the guacamole with all of the ingredients that were already provided on the table.  Once we were complete we were able to order an appetizer and main course from the full Sabor menu.   I was not expecting to not only have all the guac I made PLUS a full lunch, so I was really full when it was done!  Afterwards, I was ready to go back to my lounger for a nap.  My waiter had asked if I wanted dessert, but there was just no way I could've fit that in, so he brought me a to-go container with a little piece of every dessert offered. I was so touched!  How sweet of him.  Needless to say I enjoyed all of it at my lounger while I read throughout the afternoon.  Here's a little snippet of how I spent the afternoon:

DS checked in and out with me throughout the day since he spent most of it hanging with the kids he met playing basketball.  

 

But soon it came to the late afternoon point, where I needed to give up my great pool deck spot and go to my room to get ready for our last dinner.  

 

After dinner they had given everyone small cakes to celebrate Royal Caribbean's birthday

 

We took a couple of pics with our servers who were just two of the best guys on the boat

 

 

And we got a great towel animal when we returned to our room

Don't judge me for the amount of pillows I use!  lol

While DS went to play with his new friends, I packed us all up and put our luggage out.  It was so sad to leave.  I always look forward to going home when vacation is ending, but this time I just didn't want to get off the boat.  And I also knew we wouldn't be taking another cruise for a while.  These were the best islands I had ever seen and I absolutely loved the boat.

 

So alas, the next morning came and we had to go!!  We probably left our room around 8am and headed to the buffet, which surprisingly was not as crazy crowded as I expected.  Since our flights didn't leave San Juan until 4:45pm, I had made us a plan to go to a beach club in Isla Verde.  So we got our breakfast and took our time eating.  As we were ready to head out, DS realized he left his backpack in the room.  Ugh!  So off we went rushing back to the room before it got cleaned out.  Luckily our keys still worked and it was right there on the bed.  

 

So we started the debarkation process.  We walked off the ship without much of a line and into a large warehouse where we went to find our luggage.  After we grabbed both bags we then stood in a VERY VERY long line to get through customs.  I would say that took about an hour.  But once through we got right into a taxi with no wait and were soon on our way to Isla Verde.  We had booked a beach break excursion through Island Marketing.  It didn't include transportation to or from the beach club, but it did include luggage storage, two loungers, an umbrella, lunch, beach service for drinks, 4 of which were included in the price! the location was at the Water and Beach Club Hotel.  It was not a bad deal at all. 

 

I spent most of the day just floating around in this gorgeous water knowing I had to leave it soon.

 

Service was NOT great at all in terms of getting any drinks or food.  It was like deja vu with St. Kitts and Carambola.  I had to keep walking back into the hotel to see if we could just get a water.  They kept assuring me someone would come by to bring us menus but nobody ever did.  I went back in around lunch and found a waitress who brought me a bottle of wine in an ice bucket (NICE), as my 4 drinks, and promised us lunch would be ready soon and she would bring me some menus.

 

So I was satisfied with that for sure!!  It was another really windy day, so sand was pretty much everywhere again.  But overall, it was a gorgeous spot, so we just adapted to the wind.  There was no risk of umbrella's flying, they were tied down pretty well!  After about an hour, we were getting hungry.  And it was about 1 or 1:30 at this point.  We had a plan to hit the pool to rinse off the sand before changing to head to the airport around 2:30-3 so I was getting worried about timing.  I found our waitress at the entrance to the beach and asked about lunch, which she said was just chicken or burgers.  Not sure why she had mentioned a menu earlier, but whatever.  I was desperate and hungry.  And I think ready to start going home.  So we grabbed a quick lunch from the grill and ate fast.  We headed to the pool at the resort and swam around a little getting clean and then went into the locker rooms nearby to change into plane gear.  I had brought plastic ziplock bags to store our wet suits.  When we retrieved our luggage from the porter I stuck the bag into the front pocket and off we went to the aiport.

 

Flight home was uneventful for the most part.  We had a layover in NY and barely made our connection but soon arrived back in Boston and home.  

 

So sad it's over.  But hope you enjoyed my little recap.  I am sorry I didn't have too many photos and probably rambled on a bit.  But I thought I would give back a little to cruise critic since I had gotten so many good tips from here.

 

Thanks all!

[pretty princess]

Great review. Thank you for sharing!

[JamesEM]

Thanks for your review and photos, will be on this cruise shortly.

[Sea Dog]

16 hours ago, BNL1213 said:

Don't judge me for the amount of pillows I use! 

I am the same way. I was concerned about getting extra pillows and when I asked our cabin attendant about getting more he said "How many do you want?" I said 4 or 5 and he give me six.  Love your review and the excellent thoughtful writing you put into it. We are looking to go on Freedom for our next cruise to ABC's.

[tcmagnum]

Love your review!!

My DH is the same - 5 pillows aren't enough for him.

 

[loug1601]

What a great review! Thank you so much for sharing your cruise with us!

FYI...I’m also a 4 pillow girl!

[BNL1213]

On 7/23/2019 at 6:40 PM, pretty princess said:

Great review. Thank you for sharing!

Thanks for reading!

On 7/24/2019 at 3:24 AM, JamesEM said:

Thanks for your review and photos, will be on this cruise shortly.

 

On 7/24/2019 at 9:52 AM, Swank Pad G said:

I am the same way. I was concerned about getting extra pillows and when I asked our cabin attendant about getting more he said "How many do you want?" I said 4 or 5 and he give me six.  Love your review and the excellent thoughtful writing you put into it. We are looking to go on Freedom for our next cruise to ABC's.

20 hours ago, tcmagnum said:

Love your review!!

My DH is the same - 5 pillows aren't enough for him.

 

18 hours ago, loug1601 said:

What a great review! Thank you so much for sharing your cruise with us!

FYI...I’m also a 4 pillow girl!

So glad I am not the only one who asks for a ton of pillows!

 

Thanks everyone for stopping by!  

If any of you have any questions about the ship or islands/excursions, definitely feel free to ask.  I am happy to answer!

[beyjonce]

On 7/23/2019 at 3:55 PM, BNL1213 said:

So we started the debarkation process.  We walked off the ship without much of a line and into a large warehouse where we went to find our luggage.  After we grabbed both bags we then stood in a VERY VERY long line to get through customs.  I would say that took about an hour.  But once through we got right into a taxi with no wait and were soon on our way to Isla Verde.  We had booked a beach break excursion through Island Marketing.  It didn't include transportation to or from the beach club, but it did include luggage storage, two loungers, an umbrella, lunch, beach service for drinks, 4 of which were included in the price! the location was at the Water and Beach Club Hotel.  It was not a bad deal at all.

 

We stayed at the Water and Beach Club Hotel after our cruise on Freedom in May! One thing worth mentioning is the VERY fun rooftop pool at that hotel. The Sunday Funday party they throw up there would rival ANY pool party I’ve been to on South Beach or in Vegas.