Freedom OTS

[pema]

Has anyone recently been on Freedom OTS out of Miami 4 night Nassau / Cocoa cay with information on how it went 

[fla33023]

Was on 3/20 - 3/24. MDR was good, WJ was so-so. No long waits for drinks at any bar and 12-yr-old didn't complain about the internet at all! All in all, another good cruise. 

[midisfan]

Just back from a trip including the 3/27-31 4 Night on Freedom. I believe it was a sold out cruise.  This was our first cruise with Royal and first cruise post pandemic. Only previous experience has been with Disney cruise line so we found ourselves trying to compare the two. 

 

If you have any specific questions I can try to answer them. In the meantime, a few observations...

 

Embarkation process was very efficient. From the time we were dropped off to the time we were on the ship was probably less than 15 minutes. We had an 11:30 boarding group and arrived at the port just before 11. We were coming from Fort Lauderdale hotel and our Uber driver must have been a former Nascar driver.

 

Straight to Muster station and so grateful for the way its done now. Wish Disney wouldn't have gone back to the traditional way.

 

Purchased the unlimited dining and was concerned about reservation times being gone but had no issues getting anything we wanted. Was expecting a long line to make reservations but again no issues. Walked over to a table set up on the Promenade and there was nobody in line.

 

Purchased deluxe beverage package, never had to wait for a server at any bar we went to. Personally, we wouldn't do the package again because we didn't get the value out of it but it so convenient and great to try no stuff.

 

MDR. We only had one dinner on Caribbean night and the food was not very good. Breakfast on the other hand was.

 

Windjammer, again a miss for us but only tried during breakfast.

 

Other thoughts on Coco Cay Beach Club, Blue Lagoon, Specialty dining and Disembark if anyone is interested just ask.  

[davekathy]

1 minute ago, midisfan said:

Just back from a trip including the 3/27-31 4 Night on Freedom. I believe it was a sold out cruise.  This was our first cruise with Royal and first cruise post pandemic. Only previous experience has been with Disney cruise line so we found ourselves trying to compare the two. 

 

If you have any specific questions I can try to answer them. In the meantime, a few observations...

 

Embarkation process was very efficient. From the time we were dropped off to the time we were on the ship was probably less than 15 minutes. We had an 11:30 boarding group and arrived at the port just before 11. We were coming from Fort Lauderdale hotel and our Uber driver must have been a former Nascar driver.

 

Straight to Muster station and so grateful for the way its done now. Wish Disney wouldn't have gone back to the traditional way.

 

Purchased the unlimited dining and was concerned about reservation times being gone but had no issues getting anything we wanted. Was expecting a long line to make reservations but again no issues. Walked over to a table set up on the Promenade and there was nobody in line.

 

Purchased deluxe beverage package, never had to wait for a server at any bar we went to. Personally, we wouldn't do the package again because we didn't get the value out of it but it so convenient and great to try no stuff.

 

MDR. We only had one dinner on Caribbean night and the food was not very good. Breakfast on the other hand was.

 

Windjammer, again a miss for us but only tried during breakfast.

 

Other thoughts on Coco Cay Beach Club, Blue Lagoon, Specialty dining and Disembark if anyone is interested just ask.  

Does the change room for the gym/spa still have change rooms with showers, sinks and lockers?

[midisfan]

13 minutes ago, davekathy said:

Does the change room for the gym/spa still have change rooms with showers, sinks and lockers?

I'm sorry, can't answer that one. My most strenuous work out was fitting into my clothes on day 4.😅

[midisfan]

For those interested in the bottled water package, I purchased the package under the older pricing and we were given 16.9 ounce bottles of Niagra brand water.

[ZoeyVictoria]

We were also on the 3/27 to 3/31 cruise. Embarkation was very smooth, we just walked straight through. We had a 1 p.m. reservation at Giovanni’s and they were happy to move us to noon.  It was not crowded at all, and the food was great. We took cannoli dessert to go.  Cabins opened as we were getting ready to leave the restaurant. 
 

Our cabin was a complimentary casino interior. We bid on several Royal Up categories, but were unsuccessful. The room was fine, but narrow. It would have been impossible for either of us to get out of bed in the “king” formation, so we had to have the beds separated and sleep apart. It did make it easier to move around the cabin. 
 

We had something unmemorable In the WJ later (salad?), as we were still full from Giovanni’s, plus cannoli for a bedtime snack. The WJ was really crowded at breakfast, with the usual items. We tried El Loco Fresh for lunch, and were not impressed. Standing in line outside with music blaring and people everywhere was not a good start. Gary had a chicken burrito which was dry and mostly beans and rice. I had a cheese quesadilla with a teensy amount of cheese, but enjoyed the sour cream and guacamole. We will not try it again in the future. Dinner was formal night in the MDR and was surprisingly good. We did not notice the smaller portions that have been mentioned. We each received two pieces of tenderloin that appeared to be 3-4 ounces each and were somewhat tender but flavorful. Breakfast in the Diamond lounge was very good. Coco Cay had the usual good food at the Snack Shack.  Mozarella sticks have been reduced from four to three and are smaller, funnel cake is smaller. Dinner (Caribbean night) was okay.  Under the chicken dish description on the menu is a note that grilled chicken is available. Gary ordered it and it was a chicken breast, mashed potatoes, and veggies. It looked like a way to add a “classic” to the menu without backing down on their new menu. I had only appetizers because we had snacked in the Diamond lounge and I wasn’t hungry. The last night was fine.  I had two appetizers for my entree; both were brought at the same time. 
 

Service was excellent at the MDR, WJ, and bars. No issues at all, just good service

 

I thought one of the shows (Once Upon A Time) was excellent.  It reminded me of the shows on MSC.  The other show was related to Broadway and we just don’t enjoy Broadway music. 
 

Debarkation was not good. We used self-assist and were assigned the earliest time, 7:15.  We walked straight from the cabin to the deck without stopping, then came to a screeching halt. We stood in an unmoving line, then finally started moving and merged with the people leaving from an area closer to the gangway.  I believe it was Key people. Our passports are being renewed and are delayed (ten weeks so far), so we had to use the birth certificate line.  There was one person working it for a while before another person was added.  The time spent watching guests digging through bags for their birth certificates was frustrating.  Even with self-assist and parking in the port garage, it took over an hour from cabin to car. 
 

We usually do not travel during spring break or any time schools are not in session. This year, due to extended family issues, it was either cruise on March 27 or forfeit a free cruise.  We were told that there were 1,300 children on board.  We spent a lot of time in the casino and solarium, but it was impossible to avoid the crowds.  We enjoyed the cruise and don’t regret going, but it will be our very last spring break cruise. 

[midisfan]

14 hours ago, ZoeyVictoria said:

Debarkation was not good. We used self-assist and were assigned the earliest time, 7:15.  We walked straight from the cabin to the deck without stopping, then came to a screeching halt. We stood in an unmoving line, then finally started moving and merged with the people leaving from an area closer to the gangway.  I believe it was Key people. Our passports are being renewed and are delayed (ten weeks so far), so we had to use the birth certificate line.  There was one person working it for a while before another person was added.  The time spent watching guests digging through bags for their birth certificates was frustrating.  Even with self-assist and parking in the port garage, it took over an hour from cabin to car. 
 

We had an 8:45 time slot with Royal Theater Deck 3 as the waiting lounge. As we made our way to the theater after breakfast we saw a huge line and congestion at Schooner. After navigating through that, we get to the stairs to go down to deck 3 and a staff member tells us to just get in the line, the letter was wrong. Made it back through to stand in a line that wrapped from the casino through Schooner out to Port side deck back through the Theater and out to the Starboard Gangway. Quite a bit of standstill and people being turned back to go to guest services. Even though we hardly stopped once off the gangway (No line on the passport side and about 2 seconds to scan faces) it still took close to 45 minutes to get outside to wait with the masses for an Uber.

 

That was probably our only real negative from the entire cruise. While the food in the MDR and Windjammer was disappointing, the specialty dining and Playmakers made up for it. We figured with a sold out ship during spring break it would be crowded but to our surprise it really only felt that way on the pool deck. 

Edited April 4, 2023 by midisfan

[ZoeyVictoria]

1 hour ago, midisfan said:

We had an 8:45 time slot with Royal Theater Deck 3 as the waiting lounge. As we made our way to the theater after breakfast we saw a huge line and congestion at Schooner. After navigating through that, we get to the stairs to go down to deck 3 and a staff member tells us to just get in the line, the letter was wrong. Made it back through to stand in a line that wrapped from the casino through Schooner out to Port side deck back through the Theater and out to the Starboard Gangway. Quite a bit of standstill and people being turned back to go to guest services. Even though we hardly stopped once off the gangway (No line on the passport side and about 2 seconds to scan faces) it still took close to 45 minutes to get outside to wait with the masses for an Uber.

 

That was probably our only real negative from the entire cruise. While the food in the MDR and Windjammer was disappointing, the specialty dining and Playmakers made up for it. We figured with a sold out ship during spring break it would be crowded but to our surprise it really only felt that way on the pool deck. 

I suspect the initial problem with debarkation might be related to luggage. When we finally got into the terminal (probably around 8:00), we noticed very little luggage in place. It seemed odd that they would hold up the self-assist people because luggage was not yet available, but there are many cheaters in the self-assist line who also have checked luggage, and there would not have been space for them to wait for it.   We got lucky this time because there were fewer than usual self-assist people. So many families with children had too much luggage to participate. 
 

What did you think of Blue Lagoon?  I have been twice, but not for several years and the reviews haven’t been as good as they used to be.
 

 

 

[midisfan]

1 hour ago, ZoeyVictoria said:

What did you think of Blue Lagoon?  I have been twice, but not for several years and the reviews haven’t been as good as they used to be.
 

 

 

Initially we had not planned to get off the boat in Nassau but I decided to book Blue Lagoon about two weeks out so the only thing available was the Beach day with lunch for $80 per adult. We met in the Theater at 9 am for a 9:30 departure but they had around 700 people signed up for Blue Lagoon. We didn't arrive on the Island until close to 11am and were told we had to depart on the 2pm boat back. Needless to say there wasn't much time to explore the island. The included lunch was good. Hamburgers, Hot Dogs, Chicken. I think the VIP or Adult beach excursion had a different menu and unlimited visits.  Beach area was nice and still plenty of seating if you go farther away from the dock area. We enjoyed the time we had, just felt rushed. 

 

If we do a cruise with Nassau again, we will probably try Pearl Island to compare but I would try Blue Lagoon again if it wasn't during a Holiday week. 

Edited April 4, 2023 by midisfan

[ZoeyVictoria]

1 minute ago, midisfan said:

 

Thanks, that is similar to the other comments I have seen. We usually walk to the bus station and take a random local bus to see the non-touristy part of Nassau. This time we just took the water taxi round trip without getting off.