Freedom of the sea questions

[Steeni]

We are headed out of PR on Freedom of the sea. Few questions for those who have been...

1. what time can we board? Do they do the stupid window time check in like Anthem?

2. Are any of the balconies obstructed? We booked a quarentee this time and as diamonds usually make but if upgrading to a cabin is available, should I do that? I really don't care where on the ship I am. 

3. Do they have theme parties, although there is a heavy port of call itinerary? What parties do they have?

4. Suggestion for shore excursion in Granada?

Happy to accept other hints.  It's NOT the ABC cruise, its the "saints" itinerary! Thx fellow awesome cruise peeps! Love you all!

[stevea36]

1- around 11am.   btw, boarding times are not enforced at any North American ports AFAIK.

2- yes, you will get the random obstructed balcony, tops of lifeboats, window washing equipment, etc.  Being a Diamond has no bearing on the assignment of a GTY.

3- yes, they do have theme parties.  You will have to find someone who has recently done the saints cruise to find out which ones.

 

Steve

[Ourusualbeach]

11 minutes ago, Steeni said:

what time can we board? Do they do the stupid window time check in like Anthem?

Anytime you want  to. Boarding times are not enforced in a North America, even on Anthem 

[bonsai3s]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

The Freedom was "cleared" of passengers between 9:45am to 10:15am.

New passengers started boarding around 11am.  If there are two ships on the same day, traffic could be bad into the Pan American Pier.

Note: The Freedom doesn't sail until 8:30pm...two musters, for us the first one was around 4:30pm, and there was a second muster for those arriving late.

We were on the Freedom for B6B and theme nights were: White night, Tropical night, "Dress your Best", and the rest mostly casual.

 

One thing unique about the Freedom sailing out of Puerto Rico...you'll find numerous beautiful young ladies celebrating their "Quincenearas" (sp) and were all wearing beautiful long gowns.  All the family members were also dressed to the 10's...very nice.

 

If you haven't been to Puerto Rico lately, Uber is now available from the Luis Munoz International Airport and all over town.  It's a great option if you don't care for taxis.  There are now designated shareride locations at each terminal at the airport.  For the Pan American Pier, there is currently no designated areas for Uber...the parking lot across the cruise terminal is used for pick-up and drop-off.

 

Happy Sailing!

[EeyoreRN]

I sailed on this itinerary last May and we had a white party and a 70's party, and 1 or 2 formal nights. It's an amazing cruise, can't wait to repeat.  Did you check your cruise planner recently?  Many saplings have had another Saint added...St. Maarten!

[SG65CB]

Grenada - if you are a beach person you should go to Grand Anse Beach. If you are a tour person make sure your tour includes a spice demonstration - Grenada is the island of spices and you can get some nice fresh spices to take home. 

 

I did a tour there that included spices, waterfalls, volcano, hot sulfur springs, a fort, and ended at Grand Anse Beach. There is a terminal when you get off the ship and people inside are hawking tours, I just booked one of those. 

 

Drink a Carib Shandy ginger beer. 

 

EDIT - just noticed you are new to Cruise Critic. There are forums for each port of call, you can check there for ideas regarding Grenada. Look for "Ports of Call", then Caribbean, then see the list of islands. 

Edited February 27, 2020 by SG65CB