LIVE From 10/15 Freedom of the Seas "Crown & Anchor" Cruise

[realent]

realent,

 

We were in 6342 on this voyage and just loved the cabin, great location, on the middle of the hump with 6340, I think.

 

It's the first time since I got back to read this blg and it brings back many fond memories, it was one of the best cruises that I have ever taken. Thanks to all of you.

 

Donna

 

THANK YOU DONNA! We are in 6342 and our friends in 6344. Any chance you have any pics of the balcony or the view from the balcony? We would love to see them...

[barnismom]

Barnismom, you missed one HOT man! In line with the 20 others for the sexy leg contest. Ken caught me an hour before in my little pink boa (all my DH got at a Halloween store) asking if I could be a judge. He was doing the belly flop contest & his assistants put up 6 chairs for the judges but had none. So I am looking around & saw Emma who I flagged down to help in her boa & she got 2 more & then another upstairs saw me flag her down to join us & soon we had 6 ladies sitting which surprised Ken when he turned to look. So it was SHOWTIME WITH THE PBS GALS!

 

So we have Chris wearing his waffle robe, acting quite shy at showing his legs. Great actor with Ken, who had stated that we could not know any husbands, boyfriends, friends, etc and we got Chris. So one by one from 74 years old to 19 year old Puerto Rican, we had them parading, dancing, some quite sexy including one who slipped on his butt & went into the splits. I voted the Puerto Rican as FLAMINGO LEGS & Emma had Tourist legs for Chris.

 

The Chris, walks in front of me handing me a rose as he did the other ladies before me & starts to jirate in his robe. Then he unties it & off it comes to pink cutoffs with PINK BOA SOCIETY on the rear with him jirating even more & me waving the gold & pink boa he put around my neck as we got going, then he unzips the cutoffs & down they come with the boa caressing his legs to a pink SPEEDO with PBS on the back. The place was wild!!!!! Then Emma gets him for more fun. Take it galfriend............

 

If anyone got the video, make me a copy as I heard we are the show! Even my husband got a laugh out of it!!!

FYI, I have the distinction of being married to the first Pink Boa Society contestant and winner; Mr. Sexy Flamingo Legs. I think those who were on the maiden voyage will attest to his performance. In fact, Ken Rush, was aghast!

 

Although I was not there to see Chris' performance or I think you call him HUNKSTER, he deserved his win. FYI, it is EMMY not EMMA.

 

Janice

[emmy]

FYI, I have the distinction of being married to the first Pink Boa Society contestant and winner; Mr. Sexy Flamingo Legs. I think those who were on the maiden voyage will attest to his performance. In fact, Ken Rush, was aghast!

 

Although I was not there to see Chris' performance or I think you call him HUNKSTER, he deserved his win. FYI, it is EMMY not EMMA.

 

Janice

 

Hey Janice... indeed the first revealing of the PBS Pink Speedo by your dear hubby on June 4 Freedom was a show stopper..that pink speedo is under lock and key now awaiting the third PBS contestant. I am very proud of both of 'my ' PBS men

:D:D

 

Love ya EMMY

[zotzer]

that pink speedo is under lock and key now awaiting the third PBS contestant.

 

You all make me want to cry. The memories of hunting down the pink 'speedo', and then sitting on the pool deck and "branding" it with the PBS moniker.....ahhhhhh, memories! Chris had BETTTER have that thing on the Liberty, or his non-pink-clad arse will be mine! ROFL

 

T

[mimikens]

Nancy, we had a great shuttle service from FLL to the hotel in Miami. In fact, our driver picked us up, later, and took us to dinner ... and then, the next day, shuttled our luggage to the pier and then came back and shuttled us to the pier! And then the driver got on the ship with us! Is that a coincidence or what??? I can highly recommend her services. Just call 1-800-Mimikens! ;)

 

I must admit that the 800 number is presently not working. I doubt either Jan or Michelle would rave about the shuttle service as they both had to hold bags on their laps from the airport to the hotel. However, the shuttle was prompt!

[emmy]

You all make me want to cry. The memories of hunting down the pink 'speedo', and then sitting on the pool deck and "branding" it with the PBS moniker.....ahhhhhh, memories! Chris had BETTTER have that thing on the Liberty, or his non-pink-clad arse will be mine! ROFL

 

T

 

Tracy ~ I did check with Adrienne about whether he would be on Freedom in December. Unfortunatley for you but I am sure he is very happy to be at home right now. He left the ship for vacation on Sunday when we did. He remembered you and I also finally got to meet Deddy..actually the first morning ... don't know how I missed him on the June 4 sailing...

 

When I saw this enthusiastic greeter at the Windjammer I had to get closer to check out the name tag... it was Deddy and I spoke with him a bit about the June 4 sailing.

 

hope all is well with you..

[AFT_LOVER]

as we met some many folks on Freedom and what a great time we all had. SO yes, I heard about the original Freedom Mr Flamingo legs, as I awarded one on Jewel last May also. So that is your husband who uses PeeWee's avatar? I got such a laugh out of him & Chris prior to the cruise. Chris made us proud too!

 

I have a dear friend Emma who I may use it for Emmy without any disrespect as I speadily type.

 

FYI, I have the distinction of being married to the first Pink Boa Society contestant and winner; Mr. Sexy Flamingo Legs. I think those who were on the maiden voyage will attest to his performance. In fact, Ken Rush, was aghast!

 

Although I was not there to see Chris' performance or I think you call him HUNKSTER, he deserved his win. FYI, it is EMMY not EMMA.

 

Janice

[zotzer]

Tracy ~ I did check with Adrienne about whether he would be on Freedom in December. Unfortunatley for you but I am sure he is very happy to be at home right now. ..

 

Bummer bummer bummer! Every time people came back talking about Adrienne, I thought "dang, he's not on vacation yet!" LOL Had a feeling he'd be off.

 

Did you miss dear sweet Jesus? He's on vacation now, but will be back on the second week of Nov.

 

I also finally got to meet Deddy..actually the first morning ... don't know how I missed him on the June 4 sailing...

 

Isn't he a stitch??

 

It's been great reading about your second go 'round. Sorry I couldn't have been there, but you all with be with me in spirit in Dec!!

 

T

[emmy]

It's been great reading about your second go 'round. Sorry I couldn't have been there, but you all with be with me in spirit in Dec!!

 

T

 

Tracy.. the June 4 crew were all there with me in spirit..as we arrived pierside I felt all of your presence there with me and especially as I was going up the escalator to the embarkation lounge.. you were all there walking every step of the way.

 

Have a good second cruise on Freedom:)

[barnismom]

as we met some many folks on Freedom and what a great time we all had. SO yes, I heard about the original Freedom Mr Flamingo legs, as I awarded one on Jewel last May also. So that is your husband who uses PeeWee's avatar? I got such a laugh out of him & Chris prior to the cruise. Chris made us proud too!

 

I have a dear friend Emma who I may use it for Emmy without any disrespect as I speadily type.

Hello again!

 

Yes, my DH has the PeeWee Herman avatar! He actually started with George Clooney, moved onto Brad Pitt and settled on PWH. Anyhow, if you thought Hunkster's performance was special you must book GENESIS in 2009 as the two of them will be on board; god willing!

 

Janice

[AFT_LOVER]

With Freedom that incredible, we are ready for Genesis!

 

Just hoping the innaugral week will be in an vacation acceptable time for dear Jerry who has a Govenor controlling his vacation period. Feb-May is great & we are cruising 6/18 on Jewel, but maybe not. Then on Sept 14 member cruise on Radiance in Alaska for 2 weeks. And that is our 4 weeks a sea. He is a 20 year employee & I cannot believe he doesn't get 5 weeks!

 

I am ready to judge that event which will be the EVENT OF 2009! Chris was so great, what an actor. He does live up to my nickname of HUNKSTER for him.

 

 

Hello again!

 

Yes, my DH has the PeeWee Herman avatar! He actually started with George Clooney, moved onto Brad Pitt and settled on PWH. Anyhow, if you thought Hunkster's performance was special you must book GENESIS in 2009 as the two of them will be on board; god willing!

 

Janice

[freedomshipmate]

Hello again ~ I’m sorry for the infrequent posts but the internet service is extremely slow and pretty unreliable. That’s how it goes with internet service on ships so don’t let it frustrate you. I think I spent the last $20 of my packaged minute time just trying to load pages after I was connected. Couldn’t get email to send at all last night (could receive but not send). It appears to be working fine this morning so I’ll try posting once again.

 

We had a terrific day in Jamaica yesterday. Docked in Montego Bay and we were supposed to do a tour (arranged privately) that took us to do river tubing. However, they’ve had a lot of rain recently and our guide discouraged us from the tubing. We instead chose to go to Mayfield Falls instead. The trip there was an adventure in itself. A beautiful ride deep into the mountains (took about an hour to get there) where we learned a lot about the people who live in the mountains along with all the things they grow (have you ever smelled all-spice leaves (actually pimento leaves that they use to make all spice – what a wonderful smell).

 

When we got to Mayfield Falls, we walked down to an area where there was a restaurant and several shops where we met our guide to “walk the river and water falls.” There were changing facilities and lockers. Our guide, Dave, was fantastic and he navigated the river and falls with us, taking special care to accommodate the four of us. It took about 90 minutes or so to walk the entire river to where it starts. It was far better than our trip up Dunns River Falls several years ago. It was uncrowded, personal, quiet, and less strenuous. I’d say most people could do this tour with a good guide like Dave.

 

We then drove back to town and ate at the Pig Pit, a local place that had great jerk chicken, pork, sausage and shrimp (we were the only tourists here). It was exactly what we like to do when visiting a port. It was very reasonable, too -- $9.00 for both Amanda and me. Our final stop was at the Jamaican Bobsled Café where Amanda wanted to get a t-shirt. They have lots of photos and the actual team bobsled from the Olympics. A fun spot (and their food looked pretty good too).

 

Last night we dined in Chops. A great meal….much thanks to Laura for treating the hosts to a delightful evening.

 

News on Abe (Cruise Staff) ~ We just learned that Abe has been promoted to Cruise Director and will be moving to Rhapsody in a couple of weeks. Amanda and I were just talking about the fact we thought he’d be a cruise director before too long and then we heard the announcement. I’m sure all of you who asked and enjoy Abe will be happy for him.

 

Jimmy Blakemore – every time I’ve gone past the pub he wasn’t playing but I promise to make an extra effort tonight to get in there while he is playing and ask him how long he’s going to be here.

 

Ken Rush – haven’t seen Ken to ask how long he’ll be here but we are staying onboard today so we’ll probably have a chance to run into him somewhere. I’ll post when I know (or I’ll try to post).

 

Can’t believe we’re down to two days. I have to admit that I have enjoyed Freedom much more than I thought (I much prefer smaller ships). There are many great things about this ship – if it just weren’t so big. For me you lose the feeling of being on a ship. But it has been terrific and we have enjoyed every moment so far.

 

I’ll do a complete review upon our return. To all those sailing soon, you’ll have a wonderful time!!!!

 

More to come……….

 

P.S. A special thanks to Jan (Whit3) from us as well for the wonderful tour in Grand Cayman with Nativeway. Rum Point was terrific and I'd go back there to spend the day anytime!

 

Can you give me contact information on the excursion you took to Mayfield falls? Were you reluctant to take a non-ship sponsored excursion in Jamaica? I have read that because of the roads and anti-american climate, that it is best to take ship-sponsored excursions.

Also, you mentioned the Montego Bay shuttle for $12 pp...is that roundtrip and/or where you can get on and off and on again for one price?

 

Thanks for your help...

[freedomshipmate]

Photo 1: pink boas at the Meet & Mingle

Photo 2: Whit53 our Freedom Lovers "fearless" Group Leader

Photo 3: Eliabeth and Richard, our 10th Anniversary Cruise Winners

Photo 4: Dan on Flowrider

 

Photos give you a glimpse into my day today

 

THIS SOUNDS LIKE A GREAT CRUISE...Is there anymore pictures posted?

[Dragonfly10/22/02]

Hello fellow cruisers! I am new to the boards but not to the website. We will be sailing on the Freedom 5/9/07 and are very excited. I have been trying to get any information I can. Here are a few questions, apologies if they have already been asked and answered on this board -

 

Any midnight chocolate buffet on this ship? Details? We so enjoyed what they had on the Mariner.

 

I have seen that you are not allowed in your cabin before 1pm on the day of embarkation, however what is the earliest you can board? And, is it better to get there early or later to try and avoid the crowds/lines during boarding?

 

I will be traveling with my husband and daughter (she will be 2 at the time of cruising), what is the best cabin option for us with space the priority? However, we will not be able to afford the junior suites or family staterooms (min. of 5 people required).

 

Also have any parents out there participated in the Playskol program RCCL has for 6mos to 36mos?

 

And one last questions, are toddlers who wear a swimmer diaper, allowed in the H2O Zone?

 

That is all I can think of for now. I appreciate any input.

 

Kind regards!:)

[seamour]

Hi Mic. First, welcome to Cruise Critic. This is a great web site and I have made many, many new and dear friends from this site.

 

The Pub Crawl / Poker Run was a complete success. About 40 plus people participated. We hit 5 different bars where our players would draw one of 5 cards to form a poker hand. The final bar was in Olive or Twist and the best hand was three Kings won by Dennis, (Carden).

 

The Pink Boa Society, (PBS), totally rocks. We are a group of friends who met on Cruise Critic roll calls and sailed to gether on Freedoms' Inaugural sailing. Many of us met up again on the Oct 15th sailing. The PBS is simply a group of friends who love cruising together. The pink boa represents our love of cruising, our escape from the mundame matters of everyday life, and is a symbol of our friendships with each other.

 

Anyone can join the PBS, and all are welcome. Pink is the official color, obviously, and the women frequently don their Pink Boas. The slot pull on the last sea day was the first ever official PBS activity, and it was a complete success. Thank you Jan for organizing this. What a great idea it was.

 

So, to sum it up, the PBS is about friends who love sailing and chatting on Cruise Critic. I'm sure you will be hearing more about us in the future. :D

 

thanks for answering all my questions ! I am so glad you all had such a great time.

[seamour]

baggage valet service lets you check your bags in directly at the pier (after immigration/customs). It is only available for certain airlines (American being one of them), and only to passengers flying out the same day as disembarkation.

 

The cost is $10. You fill out paperwork earlier in the week and your boarding passes and luggage tags are delivered to your stateroom the night before debarking.

 

I don't know if this is a common problem, but NOBODY on our flight that used this got their luggage in New York. In fact...we STILL haven't gotten our luggage. They claim there was not enough time to get our baggage to the airport, despite it being a 4pm flight.

 

Anybody with similar experience? Just wondering if I should avoid this in the future. It really was convenient.

 

yikes that's not good ! Hope your bags have showed up by now.

[Merion_Mom]

Hello fellow cruisers! I am new to the boards but not to the website. We will be sailing on the Freedom 5/9/07 and are very excited. I have been trying to get any information I can. Here are a few questions, apologies if they have already been asked and answered on this board -

 

Any midnight chocolate buffet on this ship? Details? We so enjoyed what they had on the Mariner.

 

I have seen that you are not allowed in your cabin before 1pm on the day of embarkation, however what is the earliest you can board? And, is it better to get there early or later to try and avoid the crowds/lines during boarding?

 

I will be traveling with my husband and daughter (she will be 2 at the time of cruising), what is the best cabin option for us with space the priority? However, we will not be able to afford the junior suites or family staterooms (min. of 5 people required).

 

Also have any parents out there participated in the Playskol program RCCL has for 6mos to 36mos?

 

And one last questions, are toddlers who wear a swimmer diaper, allowed in the H2O Zone?

 

That is all I can think of for now. I appreciate any input.

 

Kind regards!:)

Dragonfly, I can answer a few of your questions from a generic Royal Caribbean viewpoint.

 

First of all, the Freedom is really just a longer Mariner. So whatever you know or experienced about the Mariner will pretty much apply to the Freedom.

 

Best cabin if you can't go JS, is a D. That's the next largest size, if you want a balcony. There are large Oceanview cabins that are even larger (in square footage) however, if you don't care about or don't want a balcony.

 

USUALLY, getting to the pier around 11 is a good idea; this particular sailing of the Freedom had boarding issues because (reportedly) of problems with customs from the disembarking cruise.

 

NO DIAPERS in the H2O zone. It's the same rule as for the pools.

[Michelle!]

Hi Freedom Friends!

 

I just return home - after 24 ++ hours of travelling (extreme delays yesterday) I just got up - all sleepy eyed!

 

Melynne - the shuttle ride from the airport was an adventure, I didn't mind at all! 1-800-mimikins was the best way to start the day. The shuttle is also responsible for my new dress!:D

 

Sailing on the Freedom with you all was great - so many good memories. Now I have to go catch up on the rest of the boards...oh my!

 

I had the good fortune of sailing on a 4 nt Majesty cruise to the Bahamas after the Freedom. I thought it would be hard, and not as much fun. I was mistaken! The Majesty was great, full of activities, and the food was every bit as good as on the Freedom. Two weeks of fun a frolick on the high seas - we had so much fun! I was also fortunate to meet up with Carol and Bob again on the Majesty - such sweethearts!

 

TTFN - I am off to catch up on the boards!

[cruisingnewyorkers]

lizbeth,

 

The ice show was spectacular! Although they recommend you line up for tickets to get your choice of days, none of the performances were full, and tickets were sitting out and available at guest services for 3 of the shows later in the week. You don’t have to line up 30 minutes early for the ice show, either. Best seats: along the sides in the first two rows

 

I liked your list but I disagree about the ice show. Apparently you didn't go to the Wednesday 9 PM showing. It was very ugly in there. We went about 8:35 PM and there were no two seats left except for the seats that were being saved for friends and family. Many people walked in and then walked out. I heard many people complaining to the cruise staff.

We were sailing with friends and we went back in about 15 minutes later and they had 1 seat for us and they had to fight to keep that.

Did anyone else go to that show? If so, how was your experience?

The skating was incredible, but there wasn't enough seating for that time. I don't know if it was because there wasn't a regular show that night or the diamonds/diamond+ got tickets to go to any show they wanted and they didn't hold enough seats aside or what. We had asked Diana the LA about this when she gave out the tickets and she said there wouldn't be a problem with the seating. That there would be enough seats.

 

Our friends also found those hammocks on deck 13 and just fell in love with them.

 

Donna

[nlcentralchmps03]

Hi Freedom Friends!

 

I just return home - after 24 ++ hours of travelling (extreme delays yesterday) I just got up - all sleepy eyed!

 

Melynne - the shuttle ride from the airport was an adventure, I didn't mind at all! 1-800-mimikins was the best way to start the day. The shuttle is also responsible for my new dress!:D

 

Sailing on the Freedom with you all was great - so many good memories. Now I have to go catch up on the rest of the boards...oh my!

 

I had the good fortune of sailing on a 4 nt Majesty cruise to the Bahamas after the Freedom. I thought it would be hard, and not as much fun. I was mistaken! The Majesty was great, full of activities, and the food was every bit as good as on the Freedom. Two weeks of fun a frolick on the high seas - we had so much fun! I was also fortunate to meet up with Carol and Bob again on the Majesty - such sweethearts!

 

TTFN - I am off to catch up on the boards!

 

Lucky you. I am lucky to cruise once a year, let alone 2 times in 2 weeks!

 

Glad everything went smoothly.

[robntawn]

lizbeth,

 

 

 

I liked your list but I disagree about the ice show. Apparently you didn't go to the Wednesday 9 PM showing. It was very ugly in there. We went about 8:35 PM and there were no two seats left except for the seats that were being saved for friends and family. Many people walked in and then walked out. I heard many people complaining to the cruise staff.

We were sailing with friends and we went back in about 15 minutes later and they had 1 seat for us and they had to fight to keep that.

Did anyone else go to that show? If so, how was your experience?

The skating was incredible, but there wasn't enough seating for that time. I don't know if it was because there wasn't a regular show that night or the diamonds/diamond+ got tickets to go to any show they wanted and they didn't hold enough seats aside or what. We had asked Diana the LA about this when she gave out the tickets and she said there wouldn't be a problem with the seating. That there would be enough seats.

 

Our friends also found those hammocks on deck 13 and just fell in love with them.

 

Donna

 

Hi Donna,

 

Tanya and I went to the same show and didn't have any problems, but we were in line by 8:15pm. By the time we got in line, it was already back to the Centrum stairs! Luckily for us, Ryan and Heidi had been in line since 8 and were able to save 2 seats next to them about 3 rows back, mid ice...excellent seats! I did make the comment to Tanya that it seemed real crowded, and I wonder if we would have gotten seats if we had been just a few minutes later! I thought 8:30 would be early enough to get good seats, but I guess 8pm was better. Yikes!

 

On a slightly different note, I just wanted to say that we thoroughly enjoyed talking with you and Chuck, and we had a great time running into you all over the ship! Were you stalking us, or was it the other way around? Hope all is well with you and hope to sail with you again.

 

Rob

[cruisingnewyorkers]

Rob and Tanya,

 

Glad to hear you made it back safely. We did enjoy seeing you and playing trivia with you. I think you were stalking us. Thanks again for the bus arrangements from the Intercontinental to the ship!!

Are you going on the Explorer in 2008? If so, when is the exact date?

I'm thinking about going on that cruise, this one was so much fun.

We did end up with 4 seats at the ice show when Sue took a seat from the lady next to her trying to "save" four seats. We were way far up on the left side of the arena beyond the stadium seating area.

My point was that 9 PM Wednesday night show was full and you had to go early to get a seat. Your friends were in line at 8 PM, over an hour before the show.

 

Donna

[emmy]

Donna ~ a bunch of us went to the ice show on Wednesday but we went to the early show at 7pm..not a problem getting a seat that evening. We were there about 15 minutes early and NO lines...we were late dining so that worked out well for us.

 

Check us out on the Explorer thread for April 25/08...

[Tyron]

Hey Emmy! Welcome back! :D

 

Could u tell me what time is the muster drill? Is it still @ 4:45 or 4:30?

[emmy]

Hey Emmy! Welcome back! :D

 

Could u tell me what time is the muster drill? Is it still @ 4:45 or 4:30?

 

Hello Tyron... Freedom was just as awesome the second time around..you are all in for a big treat... Muster was at 4:30 on our second sailing of Freedom.

 

I can't believe your coutndown clock..you have waited sooooooo long and I am happy that your 'taste of Freedom' is at hand.... say hello to ken Rush for me....from all the Pink Boa Society...

 

I will email you my interview video...