lauraodonnell86

Any advice for getting off the ship as soon as possible? Last year, we did self assist but somehow got to the area way too late and had to wait in line for 1.5-2 hours. The stairways were packed and they had closed some of them off as well. Normally we aren't in a hurry to get off but we will be driving 13 hours that day and want to get on the road asap. Thanks!

Is the roof closed all the time in the Solarium, or would it be open when doing caribbean sailings? Also, if it's closed do they heat the water?

No, it is not closed all of the time. It is closed while the ship is sailing but open when it is in port. Or at least this was our experience last January. The water in the Solarium was very warm and comfortable.

We have done numerous back to backs from San Juan and have never had to leave the ship on turnaround day! They just put us in a room all together and brought customs on. It was very nice! I hope you enjoy it!

Thank you for your review. I noticed on your cabin crawl one of your pictures looked like a promenade view. What deck was this on and what did you think of it?

 

 

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We stayed in Promenade stateroom 7611 in January of 2017 and we didn't mind it. While it was QUITE a bit smaller than a balcony, the cost savings that year was worth it. It was one of the first rooms off of the aft elevators which was a great location. The sound wasn't an issue because Guest Relations was the only thing down from our room. I would do another PR room if the cost savings was pretty large. Otherwise, it's a balcony for us!

I made the kool kids list!?!? Outstanding live blog review Mr. Jarvis! I feel like I was in that grand suite more than my own cabin!

Agreed! This was fun to read after experiencing most of it with you Jarvis! It was so fun hanging out with the kool kids group for 5 days! We need to do it again!! Great review!!

Apologies for this question as it will seem trivial and a bit silly to some.

 

The photos of the new waterslides on Adventure appear to show a clear section of the tunnel that goes out over the sea before coming back to finish on deck.

 

I struggle a bit with heights so that would rule it out for me :(

 

Can anyone confirm please.

Yes this is true. But you are going so fast that you won't realize that it is even clear.

I'm getting on Adventure this coming Saturday and can't wait to hear more about your trip! We've been on Adventure many times and she is my favorite ship!

Following this thread! Very interesting to hear about the passing through pirate territory! :D

Hey, I'm depending on your review of Freedom out of San Juan do decide if I'm going that way in 2020!

We are 100% cruising on Freedom for January 2019 so I will review that for ya Bill!!!

Hey there everyone! Just FYI, I was recently reading a review on CC and the poster was talking about how they were going to book Freedom out of San Juan for 2020. She put a picture of the next cruise paper and had written "Refurb Jan 2020" on it. I asked her about it and this is what she said.

"Yes! It is going in for refurb! I don’t know when it starts, but I’m imagining they wouldn’t take it off line for the holidays, so prob Jan is when it starts! The Next Cruise staff confirmed that. I was concerned that we would be the first post refurb cruise (which often get canceled or shortened at the last minute) but the NC staff member we talked to said the sailing before ours was being held as “might get sold” or “might be saved to extend refurb” so there was a buffer built in there already in mid Feb. But I’d be nervous about those Jan cruises...sit tight for now, you’ll get a better deal if you wait till they bail out, but I wouldn’t go spending any time or money in them yet! Sorry to be the bearer of bad news."

Day 6 Sea Day

Ahhh, a relaxing sea day! One that doesn't end with the terror of trying to get the dirty clothes to fit back into the same bag you brought them in (why is that??) A whole day stretching out with dozens of activities and shows listed on the Cruise Compass. I'll give you 3 guesses what WE did! ;)

 

 

Oh, wait! We also booked our NEXT CRUISE! :')

 

 

We loved this cabin and class of ship so much that we booked a cruise on Freedom, once she gets to Puerto Rico. We hadn't been to Aruba and Curacao and haven't been to Bonaire in 30 years! It also includes a stop in St Martin, one of our favorite islands that we have missed recently because of the storm damage. The Next Cruise office is heavily staffed, seemingly nearly 24/7. So even though we made an appointment, it feels like you could go anytime and walk right in.

 

I'm starting to wonder if it's really even worth the OBC to book on board any more. There in a NON refundable (reduced) deposit and a CHANGE fee would be assessed should you need to change dates/ship after a certain window of time when you get home. I won't detail all that here in the interest of being correct, and that I suppose it changes on a whim...so check carefully with the sales agent you work with to make sure all the stipulations of the reservation works for you BEFORE booking! (so maybe you can find us on Freedom, waiting all alone by the Flowrider like that poor guy on the brochure in the photo!:'))

 

After booking our cruise we went to the Windjammer to make nachos for lunch and stopped at the most popular place on board...

 

SPRINKLES!

Located on the pool deck, this little soft serve ice cream machine is the hardest working thing on the ship! There is a line of at least 4-6 people waiting to fill the little cone with a swirl of ice cream (by the way there are no sprinkles at SPRINKLES- probably because they would just cause a huge mess all over the deck!) As it is there is almost always a full time attendant to refill the mix and cones and to pick up the inevitable "plops" caused by someones 4 yo!

 

Back to the balcony for naps and yoga (yes, it's big enough to do yoga!)

Hello there! Loving your review. We are doing this same cruise May 27th so it's been great to see all of this considering we haven't cruised on this class of ship or from Galveston.

I see your note about Freedom Jan 2020 refurb. We are booked on Freedom January 12 and 19, 2020. We were starting to wonder if something was going on with it because the 12th cruise is completely missing from the website and the 19th is showing almost full. But our TA says nothing is showing on her end yet. Can you tell me what they told you about it? I appreciate it!

Thanks for the new pics of Adventure! Can't wait to be on May 5th!

Really didn't like the overhang on your JS balcony. I'll keep that in mind for chosing cabins.

Just to clarify, I didn't post any pictures of our JS balcony. The balcony picture I posted was from our regular balcony cabin the 2nd week. Room 1056.

Currently on Freedom and the CL concierge has said that the ship is going into dry dock in 2020 and at that time the CL will be gone and a suite lounge added as well as other updating/refurbishment.

Wow, thank you for the information. Did they happen to say when the dry dock would happen? I'm not sure how they will handle all of the San Juan cruisers if they remove Freedom, especially in a busy month like January.

Perhaps time for a dry dock.

The other 3 weeks in January 2020 are there, just not the 12th. Seems odd.

I am booked on this cruise and suddenly it has gone missing from the RCI website. I asked a travel agent about this and she said it is showing "closed" for her but she hasn't heard anything about it being chartered. I know it is a long way out but has anyone heard anything?

Thanks!

You may have misread something. NYC Airporter doesn't offer service from Cape Liberty to LGA, and if they did it would be more expensive than $18.

 

Their closest service to Cape Liberty is from from EWR to LGA, which requires a change of buses at Port Authority. That costs $29 per person, plus you would have to pay for transportation from Cape Liberty to EWR.

Ok, thank you!. Yeah I'm sure I misread something.

Along with my question, I just saw a page on the NYC Airporter which says it would be $18 from Cape Liberty to LGA. Is this known to be safe and reliable?

I'm back again with another question. The flight out of EWR is about $110 more than the flight from LGA. With that being said, do you think it's worth it to use LGA? Also, (sorry if this has already been answered) how much would a taxi/transfer/Uber be from Cape Liberty to LGA? I've seen quite expensive prices and I wasn't sure if those were correct. Thank you for any help!

You can take a shared shuttle from Cape Liberty to EWR for $20/pp and Uber for even a bit less. LGA should run $100-120 when you add in tolls ($15-23 depending on the route) and tip. Bottom line - it's very close financially in which case I would opt for the much easier and more reliable trip to EWR.

Thanks so much for the information!!!

Nice review as usual, and I agree with everyone beautiful couple both inside and out! I actually picked up a few new tips and I thought I knew it all about the Southern Caribbean. Looking forward to cruising with you soon (fingers crossed)!

Thank you for the kind words! I can't wait to see you guys again soon!!!! :p

Hello there experts! I'm looking at booking the Adventure cruise from San Juan to Cape Liberty May 5th. So I would only be leaving from NJ, not flying in. I'm looking at leaving from EWR or LGA. LGA flight @ 2:45pm is about $50 cheaper than EWR flight at 2:00pm.

I read somewhere that the transportation from Cape Liberty to LGA is a lot more expensive than the transportation to EWR. Can anyone enlighten me and help me out with this? Also, do you have an approximate idea of how much the transfer (taxi or Uber) would be from Cape Liberty to both EWR and LGA? I really appreciate the help!

Following along. We will be doing the same sailing in May! We've never been to the Western Caribbean (always do Southern from San Juan) and we've never been on a Freedom class ship! So this will be a new cruise all around for us even though we are Diamond members. Thanks for the info and the pictures!

Hi Laura, thanks again for the review. Were the 10 drink cards offered either week of your b2b? If so, what day and how much were they?

 

 

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Finally have your answer! :DSo I found that on Day 4, they offered a draft beer special. Here are the details on that.

On day 5, they did offer the drink card and here are the details on that!

I hope this helps you!

Hi Laura, thanks again for the review. Were the 10 drink cards offered either week of your b2b? If so, what day and how much were they?

 

 

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I keep meaning to check my Cruise Compass while I'm home and keep forgetting! Yes they did offer them and I believe they were $75 or $85 and were offered mid week. I will check tomorrow though and confirm that for you!