All Things Freedom of the Seas!

[gvi]

Thank you all for all the information! I am on the July 6th sailing with a group of 12 to celebrate my in-laws 50th wedding anniversary. I can't wait to see this ship! I feel so much more prepared after spending the last 2 hours reading all these posts!

 

All I can say is, more please! I can never have enough information about a trip before hand! (Another obsessive planner here.):p

 

Only 52 days to go!

 

 

Completed Cruises:

Song of America - Bermuda - RCCL - 5/15/1994 (honeymoon)

Empress of the Seas - Bermuda - RCCL - 5/9/1999

Radiance of the Seas - Alaska - RCCL - 7/19/2001

Disney Wonder - Land & Sea Bahamas - DCL - 2/??/2003

Radiance of the Seas - Western Caribbean - RCCL - 2/23/2008

Upcoming Cruises:

** Freedom of the Seas - Western Caribbean - RCCL - 7/6/2008 **

** Disney Wonder - Bahamas - DCL - 11/20/2008 **

** Grandeur of the Seas - New England - RCCL - 8/13/2009 **

Need more cruises!

[Cuizer2]

All I can say is, more please! I can never have enough information about a trip before hand! (Another obsessive planner here.):p

 

Here you go ...

 

http://www.webshots.com/search?query=Freedom+of+the+Seas&new=1&source=chromeheader

[WishIwerethere]

I appreciated the sarcasm.

[nk926]

Anyone have information on cabin 1260? Do you think we should move cabins, since it's directly under the hot tub area? Will we get a lot of noise, or obstructed views?

[Cuizer2]

Anyone have information on cabin 1260? Do you think we should move cabins, since it's directly under the hot tub area? Will we get a lot of noise, or obstructed views?

 

How are you going to move the cabin? :confused: It is either bolted or welded in place.

[nk926]

How are you going to move the cabin? :confused: It is either bolted or welded in place.

 

 

Sorry, I meant SWITCH to a different GS cabin... :rolleyes:

[Kath-B]

I was told Monday and Thursday on Freedom's Easter Carib itinerary.

 

I know this is an old thread from March and April.....hope you Freedom folks are still looking at it...Need help with two things....

 

Need confirmation with formal night #2 on our upcoming Freedom cruise on 6/29/08. Thanks to "WhiteSoxfan" who posted the compasses from their 3/23/08 eastern cruise, I see that formal #2 was on Thursday (night 5). According to RCL (via phone today), it's night 2 and night 6 (which is Friday). If anyone's fresh off Freedom...let me know. I booked Chops online (how cool is that) for both night 4 & 5 and when I find out we'll cancel one of them. This time we want to do both formal nights. The kids really like it! Also, if anyone recently off can tell me on what night was the culinary gala buffet? Last time we were on, it was the same night as the 2nd formal night and we'd gone to Chops are were so heavily intoxicated by filet mignon, creamed spinach, mashed potatoes, crab cakes, tuna tartar, lobster bisque, ceasar salad, etc..etc..we couldn't have thought about even looking at that buffet and I really wanted to at least take some pictures.

 

Also, I need help with choosing stuff to do in the Eastern ports? What do you guys do in San Juan for a few hours (the fort Morro? walk around? it just doesn't look that exciting)...and do most people go back to have a windjammer late dinner? or eat in San Juan? St.Thomas? Magen's bay and shopping? ...and I have no idea what to do in St.Maarten. The excursion choices just don't thrill any of us compared with the western route. We were on Freedom last May/June western and we did it all from ziplining in Labadee to stingrays, Dunn's river falls, tubing, dolphins in Cozumel. Lots of fun and all privately booked not through the ship. This route seems more relaxing with not as many fun things to do, but we're looking forward to that extra sea day to have fun on ship....I'd love some suggestions. We're beachy family with 4 active adults, 4 kids 9-15.

 

By the way...if Preisman's see this....I so much enjoyed pulling up your menus again. Like Christie I totally studied your reviews and photos and of course menus before going on our first Freedom cruise last year. I too felt like I knew the entire ship and what to do and when to do it! You guys rock! By the way, we are once again going to have the men rent tuxes on board. So much easier than packing the suits...and so nice to dress up for the formal nights. They give you two shirts with the tux rental, so were going to go to both formal nights this time to get our "money's worth" ha,ha.

 

Counting down to Freedom again..can't believe it!

Hope to get some info. Thanks so much, Kathleen:)

[awatt]

Kath-B,

 

Re St Thomas, Magens and shopping is a good choice. I love Magens. We have a home on St Thomas, and a day at Magens is a must for me when we are there on vacation. Also it would be very easy to have your cab driver take you to Mountaintop on your way back from Magens, it has geat views of Magens and the BVI and awesome banana daquiris. Or, stop at Udder Delight on the way back for icecream and milkshakes- they will spike teh shakes if you want.

 

St Thomas and St Maarten have very similar shopping, so I would pick one or teh other to shop, not both.

 

Magens is not good for snorkelling. Coki beach is. Sapphire beach is also very pretty and has sorkelling.

 

A final thought is to take a daysail or catamaran for a half day. These can be alot of fun for families and they usually ake you to some quiet spots to enjoy a beach and snorkel.

 

Enjoy!

[Cuizer2]

I know this is an old thread from March and April.....hope you Freedom folks are still looking at it.

 

Oh, bad luck. Nobody is allowed to look at this thread after May 15.

 

Also, I need help with choosing stuff to do in the Eastern ports? What do you guys do in San Juan for a few hours (the fort Morro? walk around? it just doesn't look that exciting)...and do most people go back to have a windjammer late dinner? or eat in San Juan? St.Thomas? Magen's bay and shopping? ...and I have no idea what to do in St.Maarten. The excursion choices just don't thrill any of us compared with the western route. We were on Freedom last May/June western and we did it all from ziplining in Labadee to stingrays, Dunn's river falls, tubing, dolphins in Cozumel. Lots of fun and all privately booked not through the ship. This route seems more relaxing with not as many fun things to do, but we're looking forward to that extra sea day to have fun on ship....I'd love some suggestions. We're beachy family with 4 active adults, 4 kids 9-15.

 

Well, I don't really have any great ideas for San Juan. In St. Thomas I would suggest the Skyride to Paradise Point. See link below ...

 

http://www.paradisepointtramway.com/

 

That is where pictures like this are taken ...

 

 

 

The base of the ride is within walking distance of where the ship docks. $18 per person two years ago.

 

In St. Maarten Orient Beach is very popular. However, since you have kids I should warn you that this is known as a clothing optional beach.

 

On my last visit to St. Maarten (April 2008) I went to Maho Beach. The pictures below show the big attraction for this beach ...

 

 

 

 

 

[WhiteSoxFan]

I know this is an old thread from March and April.....hope you Freedom folks are still looking at it...Need help with two things....

 

Need confirmation with formal night #2 on our upcoming Freedom cruise on 6/29/08. Thanks to "WhiteSoxfan" who posted the compasses from their 3/23/08 eastern cruise, I see that formal #2 was on Thursday (night 5). According to RCL (via phone today), it's night 2 and night 6 (which is Friday). If anyone's fresh off Freedom...let me know. I booked Chops online (how cool is that) for both night 4 & 5 and when I find out we'll cancel one of them. This time we want to do both formal nights. The kids really like it! Also, if anyone recently off can tell me on what night was the culinary gala buffet? Last time we were on, it was the same night as the 2nd formal night and we'd gone to Chops are were so heavily intoxicated by filet mignon, creamed spinach, mashed potatoes, crab cakes, tuna tartar, lobster bisque, ceasar salad, etc..etc..we couldn't have thought about even looking at that buffet and I really wanted to at least take some pictures.

 

Also, I need help with choosing stuff to do in the Eastern ports? What do you guys do in San Juan for a few hours (the fort Morro? walk around? it just doesn't look that exciting)...and do most people go back to have a windjammer late dinner? or eat in San Juan? St.Thomas? Magen's bay and shopping? ...and I have no idea what to do in St.Maarten. The excursion choices just don't thrill any of us compared with the western route. We were on Freedom last May/June western and we did it all from ziplining in Labadee to stingrays, Dunn's river falls, tubing, dolphins in Cozumel. Lots of fun and all privately booked not through the ship. This route seems more relaxing with not as many fun things to do, but we're looking forward to that extra sea day to have fun on ship....I'd love some suggestions. We're beachy family with 4 active adults, 4 kids 9-15.

 

By the way...if Preisman's see this....I so much enjoyed pulling up your menus again. Like Christie I totally studied your reviews and photos and of course menus before going on our first Freedom cruise last year. I too felt like I knew the entire ship and what to do and when to do it! You guys rock! By the way, we are once again going to have the men rent tuxes on board. So much easier than packing the suits...and so nice to dress up for the formal nights. They give you two shirts with the tux rental, so were going to go to both formal nights this time to get our "money's worth" ha,ha.

 

Counting down to Freedom again..can't believe it!

Hope to get some info. Thanks so much, Kathleen:)

 

If your up for doing a little work on an excursion the Americas Cup Yacht racing on St Maartin was great. It was one of the most fun excursions I've ever done.

 

In San Juan we took a taxi to El Morro and then walked back thru old SJ. We did Chops on this night since we knew we weren't going to be back in time for our 6:00 seating.

[Kath-B]

Thanks Awatt, Cuizer2, and WhiteSoxFan!

 

St.Thomas ideas are good. Magens or Coki and seeing the views from up top. My kids are into Pirates everything...so I might have to show them Blackbeards Castle too. I was in St Thomas back in 1991 when visting relatives who lived on Water Island. The tramway looks great. We could do that right off the bat! It's so close and easy (even though I'm claustrophobic, yikes!) St. Maarten is still up in the air. The Americas Cup race sounds amazing, though I'd have to be one of the lazy ones and couldn't "man" a winch due to my still recovering broken wrist from February (snowboarding accident). Had surgery, so I'm still having rehab and I can't imagine having the strength to crank a winch, but how fun. We'll look into it. If not, we'll have to go to a nice beach and a little walking around the town. My sister in law is a major shopper, so we have to accommodate everyone's favorite things. As for the San Juan night..good idea doing Chops that night. That could solve the problem of which night in the dining room issues? We already know we're going to miss that night since we have main seating. I'm going to go online and see if I can grab a late time. The kids could go to Windjammer by 8:30 or 9:00? WhiteSox..based on the El Morro and walking around, etc...when did you get back onboard? Do people go shopping in Old San Juan or just cruise around? Thanks again, Kathleen

[rcprncss]

Cuizer2, GREAT pictures!!! Do you remember how much a taxi is to Maho Beach? How long is the taxi ride? Thanks.

[awatt]

As for San uan, we got a daypass to the San Juan Marriott, it was $15 at the time 2 years ago and a $10 cab ride. There were 2 pools one with a waterslide, and the beach and we had lunch at the beachside cafe.

 

Last tiem in St Maarten we shopped for an hour or two then hung out at the beach riht there by the shopping (Great Bay I think?) at a place called the Black Pearl. We were hot from shoping so it was nice to just go riht there rather than cab it to Orient. We all had a good ime there, very relaxing.

[MVPinBoynton]

By the way...if Preisman's see this....I so much enjoyed pulling up your menus again. Like Christie I totally studied your reviews and photos and of course menus before going on our first Freedom cruise last year. I too felt like I knew the entire ship and what to do and when to do it! You guys rock! By the way, we are once again going to have the men rent tuxes on board. So much easier than packing the suits...and so nice to dress up for the formal nights. They give you two shirts with the tux rental, so were going to go to both formal nights this time to get our "money's worth" ha,ha.

 

Kathleen,

We are so glad you enjoyed the review and that it helped in your planning. We want to go back on the Freedom, but have too many other vacations planned already. I guess we will just have to wait for Genesis. :)

[ChristieNJ]

As for San uan, we got a daypass to the San Juan Marriott, it was $15 at the time 2 years ago and a $10 cab ride. There were 2 pools one with a waterslide, and the beach and we had lunch at the beachside cafe.

 

Awatt - How did you get this daypass, right through the Marriott? How far was the cab ride? And what did the $15 include...chairs and umbrella, I would assume?

Sorry for the 20 questions! :o :p

[awatt]

We got the daypass at the Marriott. We had to go to the spa area,pay and get wristbands. We had total use of the place for the $15. Lunch obviously was extra, but was pleasant.There were plenty of chairs, included, at the beach and pools. Don't recall if there were umbrellas. Cab ride was about 10 minutes. This was 2 year ago. One thing I would do is cal lthem and check that they stil do this. It was alot of fun for the kids, and very pleasant for us adults.

[Cuizer2]

Cuizer2, GREAT pictures!!! Do you remember how much a taxi is to Maho Beach? How long is the taxi ride? Thanks.

 

Not my pictures (though I did get one that is just a good! :) ). The taxi is a flat $18 plus tip (I just gave him a $20). The Sunset Bar will call you a taxi when you want to get back to the ship (another $18 plus tip). I don't recall how long - I'm going to say 20 minutes.

 

Leave early for the return. There is a draw bridge that becomes active in the afternoon. You don't want to get stuck on the wrong side of that bridge. I think I was told to leave by 3:00pm. I left at 2:30pm.

 

The following is from my review ...

 

I head to the stores on the dock for the souvenirs and I find out it is possible not to be lazy enough. I had to wait five minutes for the stores to open. So I go over to the taxi stand to find out how much my trip will be. A maximum of $18 each way and I need to head back at 3:00pm to avoid the traffic.

 

Back at the store it takes only a few minutes to pick out the souvenirs and then I head back to the ship. However, I decide to take a few side trips to get some good photos of the ship. Then back to the cabin to drop off the souvenirs, shower, shave and change into clothing more suited to an afternoon at the beach. A water wallet to hold my money and SeaPass card (I don’t need photo ID) a water proof camera, sun screen, hat and sunglasses, and I am good to go.

 

The taxi ride to Maho Beach is $18. It was not quite as exciting as the taxi ride I took in Grand Cayman returning to the ship from Stingray City. For those of you who remember the lettered tickets at Disneyland, that was an “E” ticket ride. This was more of a “D” ticket ride. Nonetheless I am glad I took a taxi. Driving around St. Maarten requires a little more aggression than I am use to when I am the one holding the steering wheel.

[Canuck455]

We have booked room 7298 for March 15th Western Caribbean cruise...we have 3 in our stateroom. My question is: is there a pull down bed or does my son have to sleep on the couch? We booked this room because it has the 3rd bed available. Anyway, if anyone knows, please reply. Thank you

[pamssanity]

We were on Freedom on May 4-11 0 it wqas fabulous. We had the best time. The promenade food is okay-- the pizza at Sorrentos is nice. We didn;'t eat on rthe promenade much. As far as p[ictures on formal nigh-t there must be 10 locations. And they have this black background and a white background and you can take unusual pictures-- both laying on the floor or one on top of the other- it was fun and the photographers were great- I spent a fortune on pics. They also have a pre pay package- if you don't buy the required amt they credit you with the difference , so if you're like me and want pics -- do the prepay when you fget on board. We ate in the MYTIME dining room and loved eating when we wanted to. We had the same wiat staf-f- -Pamela andMarlene-- they were terrific and couldn't do enough for us-- even with us being pre-paid gratutities-- wee asked for them each night and had no problem. Loved the idea we could eat when we wanted to.

[pamssanity]

We were in 95623- right under hot tub- no noise at all- great location- its at the bump out- the balcony was so large we had the stewart bring us a lounge chair-- giving him $10 at the beginning on the cruise is well worth it-- you get everything you want-- right away-- also remember to have him empty the mini bar so you can put your stuff in it. I brought my own water--wasn't giving them $3.50 a bottle.. bought a whole case in Miami and put it in my luggage without a problem.

[iswimlikearock]

Unfortunately this cruise we are unable to fly in the day before due to a work schedule conflict. Does anyone know if there is a place to stop on the way from the airport to pickup a case of water? I dont want to have to worry about weight restrictions in my checked luggage.

 

Thanks.

[rcprncss]

Cuiser2, thanks for the info and review on Maho.

[lori450]

I don't know the exact route from the airport to the cruise terminal, but just tell your cab driver that you'd like to stop at a Publix, Albertsons, or Winn Dixie. There has to be a bunch of them only a block or two from your route (or even on your route)

[Cuizer2]

Cuiser2, thanks for the info and review on Maho.

 

You are welcome. Since I am at home, I have the link to all some of the best Maho Beach photos. Here are some of my favorites ...

 

From the other side ...

 

 

See the building with the yellow roof? That is where you go if you need a cab ride back to the ship. Also, FYI, there is a sign that says topless women get free drinks. However, they don't make that same offer to the men.

 

Here is a good one because it shows the sign ...

 

 

This one was taken from the Sunset Beach Bar ...

 

 

Oh the fun one can have when one does not hold the camera level ...

 

 

Here is an older four engine plane ...

 

[rosebud1g]

Great Photo's at Maho beach!!!

Cant wait to go!

Keith, can you send me the eastern compasses from FOS?

rosebud1g@msn.com

 

TXS