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“Freedom”, I won't let you down 'Cause I would really, really love to stick around. Live B2B - July 21-28th

A&L_Ont

By A&L_Ont,
in Royal Caribbean International

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A&L_Ont "Live from...." Rare

A&L_Ont

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We have been home for about an hour. Suitcase are unpacked and laundry is sorted. Grandma got her bottle of gin and has headed home. Tomorrow we will have her over for a steak dinner as an extra thanks. 
 

Lucy also appears to be happy that we are home. I think. 
 

IMG_9151.thumb.jpeg.79b3acdf6c2b9d427cbe844e772e0d43.jpeg
 

I also can’t believe how the hydrangeas have grown. We got 3” of rain while we were away. 

 

IMG_9153.thumb.jpeg.5a9dc3505688c2a2935006decbf71bea.jpeg

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A&L_Ont "Live from...." Rare

A&L_Ont

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4 hours ago, h20skibum said:

Thanks for taking us along.  Interested in your take on the short cruises, doing B2B

 

Safe travels. 


Final thoughts are crafted and will be posted between loads of laundry tomorrow.  Lisa and I chatted often during the cruise and on the trip home. 
 

 

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Sea Dog "Live from...." Rare

Sea Dog

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Welcome back! I’m sure Owen and Lucy were glad to see you. Looking forward to your thoughts. With a lot of people unhappy saying Royal is going downhill, I’m curious on your take.

Cheers!

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Ocean Boy

Ocean Boy

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28 minutes ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Welcome home.  Lucy looks thrilled to see both of you.   

Where is Owen?  Did you check out the cars in the garage yet?  LOL

Thanks for sharing your cruises with us.  I really enjoyed🤩

Kind of reminds me of the car in the garage in the movie Ferris Beuler's Day Off.😀

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Jimbo

Jimbo

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11 hours ago, A&L_Ont said:


  Lisa and I chatted often during the cruise and on the trip home. 
 

 

Oh you 2 were still talking after the B2B cruises. 😉  Sounds good, can't wait to hear what you say about doing two short cruises B2B instead one just a 7 night cruise.

 

 

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A&L_Ont "Live from...." Rare

A&L_Ont

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I’m going to break our final thoughts into a few segments, to make it easy to follow along. 
 

 

Itinerary

It would not have been our first pick, but it was practically our only choice. That said it was very decent. The two stops at Coco Cay were very.  Stopping and getting off the ship in Nassau was a change for us. There are huge port improvements.  Going to fish fry a great outing. We made our other stop at Nassau a “sea day” and stayed on ship. Our final true sea day seemed anticlimactic as we could see MIA all day, but the ship kept us out of the rain and in the sun.

 

Food

All around it was really good. I might have picked a food dish that wasn’t to my liking but they were all cooked properly. We found specialty dining restaurants were not as busy on the 3/4 day sailings compared to a 7 day cruise on Oasis Class ships. For example, there were walk ins at Giovanni’s at 7pm on the last night. Suite breakfast in Chops was very nice, we also ate at Hibachi, Playmakers, Chops Steakhouse and Giovanni’s.  No issues at any venue. 

 

Cabin - Grand Suite

On top of our comments earlier in the review, Lisa found the toilet to be mounted high. Her feet dangled. We figure the toilet was a replacement toilet which was higher.  The tub is a bit of a step up to get into as well. The height is OK for us, but we thought both our moms would have a problem getting in. Cabin was in a great location right by the forward elevators. Those forward elevators on dissemination morning were quiet compared to the masses at the aft elevators. 

 

Pool deck

We spent all of our time at the solarium pool. Great bar staff and waiters. They made frequent rounds and drinks came quickly. On a positive note none of the pools were closed because anyone had an “accident”. I’m not sure if they are heated or if the sweltering heat kept them at 88 degrees. 

 

Ship

We found it to be in great condition. Sure if you looks in the corners you will see some wear and tear but she was built in 2006. She has all the features of an Oasis Class ship, just on a smaller scale. As for entertainment, it wasn’t Oasis Class but we knew that coming in. No ATS etc, but we enjoyed the ice show, the schooner bar, the pub and some of the shows that involved guest participation. We heard that Freedom is ranked second in guest satisfaction of all RC ships and we can see why. 

 

Internet

We found it to be exceptional anywhere on the ship.  From connecting, to watching videos, to uploading videos to YouTube.  Interesting enough, I could not get a speed test to run at anytime.  I muse if RC is blocking this from happening, not that it really matters.  I was just curious. 

 

Crew

They were friendly and always seemed willing to please. Harry our cabin steward was awesome.  Really every crew member we came across from Guest Services to the towel station we’re willing to help. 

 

Senior Officers

They were highly visible throughout both cruises. We saw them on the Royal Promenade in the day and night, on deck at sail away, greeting guests every port day while coming back to the ship, and the Captain had his breakfast most mornings among the suite guests in Chops. It was nice to see them out so much, and they seemed to be approachable.

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A&L_Ont "Live from...." Rare

A&L_Ont

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A couple items of concern we thought was worth noting. 

 

Hand washing - cleanliness among guests

We only saw people hand washing at the windjammer where they were highly encouraged.  We rarely saw other people use it at other venues and locations such as Sorrento’s, Playmakers, or even getting back on the ship.  I wonder with guests getting off the ship ever 3/4 days they have departed before sickness can become an issue. Could it be people are lazy, the ship isn’t pushing it or a combination of both.  Maybe it’s just a pandemic lag on my part, but I was always a fan of hand washing and sanitizing well before 2020.  The ships itself is clean, the guests however IMO could wash their hands more.  I didn’t sniff armpits, but I didn’t smell any from afar either. 😉

 

Vaping

I don’t want to turn this into a debate, just wanted to note who followed the designated locations for those that didn’t. We wanted to note vaping. We saw people sneaking quick vapes around the pools, the Schooner Bar, and Studio B during the Quest.  These were the spots we saw it first hand.  On the first sailing one of the Quest Vaper’s was a team captain.  The CD called him out and took points away before the competition started.  On the 4 day sailing the guilty vaper was in the second row.  The CD saw it, called them out, and again removed the 5 points like the cruise previous.  I’d like to commend the smokers who stayed in the designated areas, and took the time to go there VS sneaking a vape off in the corner of a room.

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A&L_Ont "Live from...." Rare

A&L_Ont

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Guests demographics for each sailing.

 

Three night sailing 

This certainly was a weekend party vibe. People who left work early Friday afternoon and were headed back to work Monday morning. We in fact met the Deputy Mayor of Holleywood Beach and that’s exactly what he did. Lots of bachelor/bachelorette parties and groups of friends away for a weekend. There were some families with kids. Lots of folks from Florida, Georgia and we met some from as far as Ohio. The Quest was a riot with the party cruise guests. 

 

Four night sailing

This was less off a party atmosphere. We saw many more families, honeymooners and even a few babies in strollers. Either way the casino was just as busy. 

 


There were many first time cruisers that we met on both sailings. At both Quests more than half the people there had never been to one.  All of the newbies we met were have an amazing time and would return to cruise again.  All age demographics were well represented.

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A&L_Ont "Live from...." Rare

A&L_Ont

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Our thoughts of a 3/4 night B2B cruise.  

 

This B2B itinerary worked for us with our limited time frame and schedule. We would have preferred a 7 day with no turn around day but it was not a big deal. If there had been a 6 night cruise, we probably would have taken it over this B2B. That said it was a great sailing. 

 

Thanks for following along and being a part of our anniversary cruise. As of now our next cruise is in March, unless something else comes along. Until then take care of yourselves and see you then. 

 

If you have any questions let me know and we will gladly answer them. 

 

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