Freedom of the Seas - Sept. 10 Review

[travelwitch23]

sept 11, 2006. five years later. glad we are on a ship and don't have to watch the tributes all day. it makes me cry a lot. monday day at sea.

 

tour of the spa and make spa appts. A combo massage, 25 min. foot massage and 25 min. back massage, pedicure, and hot oil treatment.

Let me just say the spa staff is warm, friendly, non-condensending and very competent. I thoroughly enjoyed all my treatments during the week. I also did the boxing class on mon at 11am. It was a great workout, a lot of fun and sweat and I enjoyed all the attentio from the jocks standing around pointing and laughing at us women in the boxing ring. I planned to do it again (it is offered three more times this week) but get a big water blister on my toe and can't put my tennis shoes on the rest of the week :(

 

husb picked up our tickets for all nine of us at 930am with no problem or line this am. he got there a little early (maybe 9am) :)

 

whatever you do skip the stupid shopping talk at 10am. what a complete waste of time. and skip the "platinum shopping book" for an addl $20 buckaroonies. It is a flush down the commode unless you want to spend all your time in port on a scavenger hunt for junk (read: free tanzanite earrings, have u ever seen these dots:??)

 

important stuff

 

casino open 9am

 

photo gallery 9am-11pm

 

shops 9am-11pm

 

foodie info

 

breakfast, buffet 6am-11am

 

dining room, deck 3, 8-10

 

lunch, buffet, 11:30-3pm

 

lunch, dining room, 12-2pm, deck 3

 

dinner, dining room, main 6pm, late 8:30

 

buffet, dinner, 6:30-9pm

 

snacks

 

cafe prom 24 hrs

 

ben jerrys 11-11pm

 

johnny rockets 11:30am-midnight

 

sorrentos - 11:30am-3am

 

buffet, {TEA} windjam, 3-5pm

 

boleros and casino midnight delights 12-1am

 

activities

 

tickets to ice show 945-11am, on air club

 

slot tournament, 1030am, casino

 

bingo 1115am, pharoah palace

 

boxing, 11am

 

12noon, pilates class

 

12 noon, blackjack tourney, casino

 

1230pm, poolside games/belly flop

 

1pm scrapbook workshop, olive or twist

 

1pm, art auction preview, pharoash

 

130pm sexy legs contest poolside

 

wine thing, 130-230pm, vintages

 

3pm, dodgeball tourn, adults, basketball ct

 

4 pm, ping pong tourn, deck 14

 

wine tasting, vintages, 430-530

 

captains reception 730-830, promenade (skip this)

 

Marquee production show, arcadia, 9 and 10:45pm

 

battle of the sexes, 1015, pharoahs palace

 

jazz, poolside, 11-12

 

karaoke, 1115p-1245, pharoahs palace

 

entertainment

 

peter ritz, schooner (piano) bar, 10-1am

 

carib fusion, poolside, 1245-130, 230-3, 315-4. 430-530

 

a bunch of other entertainers are available from jazz to classical

 

more later

 

getting tired

 

still haven't recovered

 

kim

[travelwitch23]

my husb complained about having to bring the rollup table all week and how heavy it is. we packed it in a big duffle bag along with our snorkeling equipment and a lot of my husbands shoes and clothes. If we had it to do over again we would probably carry it on as it is (11 pounds) in the case along with the snorkel equipment (about 5 pounds) since we had pre ordered our wine and champagne and didnt bring any beer or wine or booze on with us. we really had nothing to carry on except our docs and meds and cash and credit cards and so we could have carried it on and been able to probably do self debark. since we had two large garment bags, one 25" suitcase on wheels and one huge duffle bag we were unable to do the self debark and delayed our arrival home by about 7 hours. It would have been nice to have those 7 hours to relax/sleep and then do the mounds of cleaning, laundry, etc that was required when we finally arrived home at 230pm.

 

the rollup table was phenom but don't sacrifice the self debark for it. find a way to make both work. it was awesome having a big table to have coffee and meals on our balcony. the little patio table is barely big enough for a cup of coffee and ashtray.

 

kim

[Hooked on Cruises]

Kim,

 

Thanks for the info on the table. No matter how much it weights I am still bringing it with me. People tell me I can ask the stateroom attendant to bring me a table? How has time for that? I rather be comfortable and not eat from my lap. Can I bring at as a carryon on an airplane? We are a coming to Miami a day early so I will probably carry it to the ship. I cannot wait to enjoy my 1st Aft balcony. As I said to my husband, our room is a little bigger than a standard room, haha.

 

Boba

[travelwitch23]

and it did not disappoint. I don't know about the airlines - i assume if you had enuf weight allowance you could check it but i have never flown for a cruise yet ;}

 

my husb is retired and all we can afford now are carib cruises from fla and trips to the blue ridge and smoky mtns. we are in love with these choices and have decided to forgo europe and australia for now --- but hopefully in the future.

 

for those of you who are scared of the movement on the aft it is nil. never felt a thing, never got "rocked" to sleep (what a disappointment)

only time i felt anyting was in olive or twist (felt a slight vibration but no seasickness) the seven cruise virgins we sailed with never got a hint of seasickness and took nothing.

 

more to come

 

kim

[travelwitch23]

and it did not disappoint. I don't know about the airlines - i assume if you had enuf weight allowance you could check it but i have never flown for a cruise yet ;}

 

my husb is retired and all we can afford now are carib cruises from fla and trips to the blue ridge and smoky mtns. we are in love with these choices and have decided to forgo europe and australia for now --- but hopefully in the future.

 

for those of you who are scared of the movement on the aft it is nil. never felt a thing, never got "rocked" to sleep (what a disappointment)

only time i felt anyting was in olive or twist (felt a slight vibration but no seasickness) the seven cruise virgins we sailed with never got a hint of seasickness and took nothing.

 

more to come

 

kim

[travelwitch23]

slept in, husb brought coffee from the wj, hot oil treatment and scalp massage with david at spa at 9am. loved it, love having someone rub all the "lumps" out of my head. suggestion: if you go for this have them give you a little high quality spa shampoo that will get the oil out --- I struggled for 3 days trying to get the oil out and my photos looked really bad - like a greaseball. ask them for a free sample of the shampoo to take back to your room for later on. i didnt get my sample until i got my foot massage 2 days later and altho i hid it from my room stew knowing how thorough he is he found it and threw it away!!!!!!! ask your therapist for it when you have treatment done and you won't have this prob.

 

boxing lesson at 11aM. fab. 6 girls and 1 fine sculpted guy. the personal trainer was very "fit" also. it was a blast, and i must admit i sweated about 2 gals of beer?water?straightsweat? out.......great workout

 

more a little later

kim

[travelwitch23]

After the hot oil treatment and the boxing it was time for a pedicure. I grabbed a quick lunch in the buffet and went for my pedicure in the spa.

It was among the best I have had albeit kinda pricey. If you really need one (like I did) don't hestitate to pay the 61 dollars for the spa pedicure. If you con't really need it, consider yourself lucky and move on.

 

Dinner this night was spotty but the "filet mignon" was more like a huge slab of pot roast. It didn't do a thing for me and it was the final straw in the maitre' d's cap. He demanded that I order something else as I didnt like the chunk of meat and I obligingly orderd the chicken. It was as bad as I thought it be and the next thing I knew I had four or five bites of chicken and told everyone to stay out of my way. Bland, boring

 

more tommorw

love

kim senna.

[TITISSA]

2. The stateroom - I splurged and booked an Owners Suite and honestly it was the best decision I made! So many people say you never use the stateroom, but I did quite a bit... when I wanted some quiet time or just to catch the top of the news, it was a great place to stretch out... relax, enjoy a drink before dinner, etc. And not to forget the ENORMOUS balcony... a table, two chairs and two chaise lounges! I guess for someone who's not so outgoing (I tend to prefer my own space), this really made the vacation... having that space to enjoy.

 

 

Loved your review! Do you have any pictures of your Owner's Suite? Thanks.

[ChristieNJ]

Hey Kim....

The boxing workout - was it kinda like a kickboxing class, like set to music & all? Or was it being shown actually how to box in a ring? I want a good workout, I don't want to stand around being shown little intricate moves and all that. What exactly was it like and how long was it?

Thanks! :)

[pxgrant]

THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS. ENJOYED THEM. DH and I sail her on 10/14/07 - a ways away but really looking forward to our 3rd cruise. 1st on Costa Atlantica (when she was new), 2nd on Caribbean Princess (when she was new) and now we're trying RCI.

 

Happy Cruising All!

 

Peggy, Norwood, MA:)

[travelwitch23]

It was not like kickboxing at all, I couldn't have made it too long doing all that.:p

There were about 8 people in our class and we stood in the boxing ring and did a 15 min warmup with a personal trainer. It consists of stretches and some boxing moves without the gloves.

 

Then you learn some more moves, put the gloves on and box individually with the personal trainer with him telling you what kind of blows, jabs etc to use. It is pretty fun and really gets your aggression out. I was too tired to really beat anyone up when I was done.;) You work out about another 15 min with a partner and the medicine ball and the punching bag independently alternating with others. One hour total.

 

SOrry I haven't posted anymore of my review; work was especially harrowing today and I am about ready to call it a night

 

maybe tomorrow

 

still recovering from my vacation

kim:eek:

[catnt2]

of the group was 5 people who were in three promenade cabins - 7329, 7327, and 7325. They all loved their cabins.

KIm

 

Kim is there anyway you can ask a question to one of the Promenade Cabin guests.......Do they have an electric outlet near the promenade window? We are leaving next month and I have some fun stuff to decorate our window!!

[travelwitch23]

I just asked my friend that was on the cruise. She stated that the only plug in the room is on the vanity sorry:(

 

kim

[ChristieNJ]

Bring an extension cord!!! :)

[catnt2]

Thanks for checking....:D....I guess we will need to bring an extra long extention cord!!

[Diane&4girls]

Nice reviews! Thanks!

Can't wait to see Adrian again. Seems like we've known him forever!

[SAS21]

I'm wondering if Adrianne is transfering to Liberty when she comes out next summer. Anyone know? Would love to see him again, but we aren't sailing on freedom till 4/2008.

[SAS21]

double post
By the way great review!

[sdear]

I didn't ask him, but I sure asked him to make me a few mojitos along the way ! Wheeeewww are those good !

My stateroom attendant and our waiter both told us they applied to go to Liberty. They told us that half of the staff that brought out FOS will get moved, to get Liberty off the ground. Both of them also said they started with Freedom overseas from the time she left Europe.

Adrian gathers quite the crowd every night at Boleros. I bet RCI wishes they had ALOT more of him to go around lol.

[SAS21]

He Gave Me His Emial Address But Has Not Responded To The Email I Sent Him. Another Cc'er Posted That He Tried Also With No Response. Maybe He's Too Busy Learning All Those Great Tricks & Jokes. He Was A Blast!! We Would Really Like To See Him Again.