pepsishot

Really enjoyed reading this.

 

 

 

We were on the Freedom for the Western Caribbean Oct 26 - Nov 2. Nice to relive through the onboard photos plus see some new ports.

 

 

 

Glad you were able to gracefully accept the change of plans for someone's medical needs.

Thanks for reading. The Western Caribbean is what I'd like my next cruise to be. Just not sure when that'll happen, lol.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Thanks for the review and great pictures. We are on the Freedom for the 3rd time Christmas week. We have never been to San Juan and glad to be going to a new port for us. Can't wait for December 21.

You're going to have an awesome trip. Enjoy!

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Amber,

 

Just out of curiosity, what camera did you use to take the pictures? They are gorgeous.

 

Ray.

I have a Canon SX510 HS. I haven't had it long but have been mostly happy with the results.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Loved the San Juan Pictures!

 

We are sailing out of there in January and my kids are going to adore those lush beautiful pictures of the Fort.

 

We did our first family cruise on Freedom in 2013.

 

Loved it too.

 

Many Many wonderful memories came rushing back with your pictures.

 

Thanks for taking the time to do the review!

 

 

 

Chass

Thank you for reading. In January the heat won't be so bad for you guys. I hope you have time to see both forts. We missed seeing the bigger one. You're going to love it!

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Great review. We are going on Freedom in September and I am considering room 9214. Were you happy with it and would you stay in it again. Also, was there a lot of motion since you were up front? Was it aquiet room.

Thanks for your help.

It was a quiet area. Not a lot of traffic. The first day or so I was concerned about how much motion I felt. Although that being our first cruise it might have been normal, not really sure. Was told up front and in the far back you do always feel more. However I became used to it and it didn't bother me. My only so-so feeling about the room was the (have no idea what it's called) thing that came off the ship above us. It was a bit of an eye sore and there's some sort of camera and light hanging off them. The light was never on at night so it wasn't bothersome. Just made it a bit tricky for me when I took photos from our room to not have it in them. Overall, I think anyone who doesn't have a sensitivity to motion would enjoy the room. And hopefully would have the same room steward we did. He was awesome!

Have a great vacation!!!

Sent from my iPad using Forums

U did great I enjoyed the photos. Glad u had a great time. Going on my second cruise with my family this time. (Last time was me & hubby) we lve out of NYC stop at Coco Beach and the Bahamas. We leave in 10 days...oct 19

You're going to have an awesome cruise. Don't forget the sunscreen!! It sneaks up on you.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

one word for your review AWSOME!!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

B

Thank you! I appreciate everyone who's taken time to read it. Writing gave me a way of being back there again.

Thank you all for letting me share my adventure with you.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Been to the Anchor Bar quite a few times, and the Falls of course. I grew up about 80 miles west of you in Erie.

Been to the Anchor Bar only once. My Hubby has been few more times than me. The Falls are something to see. The boat ride is crazy sometimes. We spend just as much time in Erie as we do going into the city as we're actually a little below Buffalo. Erie's not too far and has better beaches.

I enjoyed your review and pictures! Glad you had such a nice cruise!

Great review. Love Love Love your photo's. Thanks for sharing.

Thank you both.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Nice job! Glad you had fun. We love Freedom!

Thanks, I really enjoyed our time on the Freedom. Hoping for more cruises in my future :D

Hello and thank you for an awesome review. Your pictures are incredible.

 

I do have a quick question re the Yoda Guy Movie Exhibit; is there an admission charge to get in or is it more like a store to sell stuff? My boy and I are big fans and it would be a neat stop either way, just want to set his expectations...

 

:)

Thanks. I wish I could have added more photos but then again, maybe that would have been too many :rolleyes:

As for admission; It's $10 per person OR if you buy, I think it was $50, in the shop (shop part is free) you get into the museum for free. They allow you to take as many photos as you like and there's no time limit to spend in there. It is smaller than I thought it might be but it was well worth the $10 to me. Nick said he is also adding things whenever he can. We were very thankful when we were there we had the place to ourselves. Felt no pressure to look faster or not ask questions, etc.

Where in Western NY are you from?

Near Buffalo

amazing pics

Thank you :)

First of all thank you so much for your review. Is there a starbucks coffee shop on freedom I didn't know that. Great pics also.

Thank you for reading. I'm sure I've forgotten a thing or two I wanted to say but figure I can add them in later. There's just so much to cover on a cruise! Always something going on somewhere almost 24/7.

There's no special, just Starbucks shop on Freedom. You'll find it in the Cafe Promenade where they make the what you might call the "top sellers". Chai Tea, Mocha, Espresso, etc.

It does cost extra unless you have a drink package that includes Premium Coffee. Which is any of the prepaid daily drink packages except the Soda Only package.

Great pics and review.

Thanks!

Loving your review and your pictures! I think they are a perfect size, your camera takes beautiful pictures I can see all the details in them.

We are sailing on Freedom of the Seas this Sunday and can't wait. What room number were you in, hoping our room steward is as good as yours. Thanks again

Thanks for reading.

We were in room 9214. Darrel was heading off the ship the same day we were. He was going home for 9 weeks to be with his family.

I hope you have wonderful time and a great room steward too!! Even though you don't see them much, they really do make a big difference in your trip I think.

Day 7: Saturday --

Last day. This made me really sad. I was enjoying the routine and quite life. No work. No phone calls. No texts. Just sun, sun, sun.

Packing was quick and easy. Took about 10 minutes out of our day, if that. I had taken advice from someone on this forum to pack my stuff in plastic zip-lock bags. So unpacking was just as quick. Each outfit in its own bag. Once worn, back in it went. Or into one of the extra bags for dirty clothes. Re-bagged the items I had hung up and we were done. So easy!

Because of the missed excursion we had a credit on-board. We put that into good use for my DH. He went on the All Access Tour...

So he spent half the day going into all the places we don't get to see. Learned so much about the ship and crew. How everything runs and gets taken care of. I'm pretty sure he enjoyed this far more than he would have our plans in St Thomas. I'm really glad he had this chance. It's probably the only thing he truly enjoyed about the cruise. He's really not big on crowds or standing in line.

Don't get me wrong. He had fun at the shows, during them. Getting out after wherever they were, not so much.

So finalllllly.... On our last night.... I was able to get sunset pictures. I had tried a few other times but those nights the skies were just too cloudy to get anything I liked.

This is us failing at a selfie with the evening sun in the picture...

This is was NOT the right sky for it. But we laughed and kept trying.

We also made our way to mini golf...

See, while everyone else was packing, we found we had most of the ship to "ourselves". Very few people were out in the early evening. It was a wonderful night to walk the upper deck. The moon was shinning on the water. We weren't flying as fast to get where we were going so the wind wasn't bad.

That was something I'm not sure is considered "normal" or not. I found it hard to enjoy being out most of the days/nights. Felt like I was going to be blown right off the ship if I wasn't careful. There were areas that sure, they weren't as windy but there weren't that many. I could't hang around the smoking areas which were pretty perfect in the breeze department as the smoke causes me to have migraines. So I found this trip to be limiting on outdoor time that I thought was comfortable. Maybe it was the time of year... Maybe it was that we seemed to be always at top speed... or maybe that's just the way they all are.

Anyway, onto the good-bye show. It wasn't what I expected. Not really even a show. These guys were awesome to watch though...

If not for them... There was no "show". But since we didn't really have anything else pressing to do... I'm glad I went? I don't know. I'm still deciding on that.

Now, the late night comedy guy... He was well worth seeing...

We laughed and laughed. Even after the show was over. We'd think about something he said and start laughing again.

We did have some things along the way we didn't like. Our waiters, all but the first night we had the same ones regardless of when we showed up, were very here and there with their service. They'd take our sea passes to order our wine with dinner and some nights we'd get them right back with our drinks. Some nights we had to remind them more than once to return them. When DH would get a second glass, some nights they'd take the card again, other nights they wouldn't.

This also happened in a couple of lounge/bar areas. If you can bring my drink, why can't you bring back my card??? Having them attached to a credit card that is very easily charged to makes me nervous. Yes we did check our account every night through the tv. But still. I would like to have not stressed about it for one second.

Our MTD waiters seemed to put forth more effort the last evening. Shouldn't have waited until then in my opinion. Oh well. It was what it was. Might have been the waiters, might have been the MTD which seemed very hectic compared to looking over at the other levels of the MDR. Maybe I just expected too much.

Overall, I'm very happy to have convinced my DH to take me. I had a wonderful time. I would go again even if everything was the same way. I would just know better for next time.

The shows were great. The performers were wonderful.

Quick final thoughts on Sunday morning. We choose to carry our own luggage off even though that hadn't been our plan. Each of us only had one bag. Not having the "pressure" to be packed by a certain time on Saturday or to be ready to leave the ship when they called your tag number, was worth it. We woke when we wanted to. Ate breakfast without trying to listen to announcements over the noise of everyone talking. No keeping track of time and being in a certain place by a certain time. When we were ready, we got our bags from our room, rode the elevator for the second time in a week. Walked off without waiting. The line in customs was about 5 minutes or so long. Not too bad.

And for eating and drinking anything we wanted... we both lost weight! We are letting the stairs take all the credit. It had nothing to do with being careful. I completely lost track of the MILES we walked each day. And that's just on the ship, forget adding in all the walking in the ports. Or counting the amount of stairs we climbed.

Nice side bonus to the week. I'll take it.

Day 6: Friday --

Sea day...

I had started a routine somewhere along the way. Didn't notice it until looking back on pictures. Each morning after breakfast was Starbucks and reading time. I moved around from one lounge area to another. This morning I hung out in the back corner of the cafe...

This was a very relaxing day. We went to a seminar and some other things. Nothing major. My turn to nap and try to catch up on some missing sleep since we became night owls and I'm not used to that. We climbed the rock wall. DH did surfing on the Flowrider.

After dinner was the Quest. This was, along with the Love and Marriage show, something I had read about and couldn't wait to see in person. Now the other day when we saw the L&M show I was laughing too hard to take any photos but trust me, it's too funny to miss. We even watched it again when they aired it on their tv channel.

Now Quest, I do have pictures and video, but I will only share this one of our 2 captains for our team...

The other pictures, I feel I would need permission to put out here in the public world. I will however share them in my home with my really, really close friends. :D

Day 5: Still in St Maarten...

Once back on the ship we of course had to drop off all our goodies. We passed our room steward on the way. He was just always on top of everything. We never had to ask for a thing. He just knew what and when we needed anything. Can't imagine how the trip might have gone without him.

He mentioned getting my note and that he carefully listened for any ruckus "George" might make while we were out. He said all had been quite. "George" was on his best behavior...

Love that he played along with my sense of humor. Not everyone gets it or maybe just doesn't want to.

The heat took its toll on my DH so while he napped, I enjoyed the view from my spot in our room and read for a while...

Later on our way to dinner we passed Darrel once again. He asked if "George" was still being a good guest for us. I told him he was even though "George" had looked a little guilty when we entered earlier. ;)

He said he'd have a "talk" with him while we were eating and I think it helped as "George" was fast asleep when we came back later...

These are about perfectly sized. If you can't run 1024x768 its time to get a new monitor.

That's just about what my hubby said. :D:D:D

Beautiful pictures.

 

Thank you

Thank you for saying so. I enjoy viewing the world through my lens.

Great photos and I am loving your review. I'm glad you rolled with the punches when the itinerary changed.

 

For the battle of the sexes, that one guy has some great gams! :eek: I love his heels! :D:D

I was really surprised by how many people were upset with the change. They tried to get a helicopter out so we could stay on course but none could get to us before we could get to Nassau. The doctor was very concerned and very specific about how soon the crew member had to make it in to get treatment.

I wondered if anyone would notice her. They told us clearly before it started that whichever side you sit on, that's the side you're helping and cheering for.

Hi Amber,

 

Glad to hear that you had a good time on your first cruise. We were also on FOS and the roll call; sorry that we didn't get to meet you. Some M&M's are quiet and some are very animated; just depends on the mix and what people have scheduled. Hope you got home ok and are already planning your next one!

 

Bill

I kind of figured that might be the case. If I get to go again, I plan to sign up then too.

Day 5: Thursday --

I was sad to have missed the only excursion we booked when we skipped St Thomas but I think I was more excited about this port honestly. Maybe because it was mostly planned around taking photos. I don't know. Although I didn't get to most of the places we had planned to go due to the previously mentioned sunburn DH had. Oh well. He has lived and learned from it.

It was a beautiful day!! We choose to walk to downtown Philipsburg. Walking was a big theme of our vacation. We also only used the elevators on-board twice.

Anyway... The walk wasn't bad really. Maybe about 10 minutes depending on how fast one walks. Although I admit the scenery left a lot to be desired. Much of the area beside you as you walk is all under construction. Kind of unappealing to see. But it was free and worked off those wonderful dinners we had each night.

I had 2 main purposes for the day. First and foremost...

I found out about this place through an internet search of what to do in Philipsburg. I am a huge fan of Star Wars. Kinda drives DH crazy sometimes. However, he was interested in going through the museum part just as much as me. The 2 highlights of this stop. Being up close to my favorite man of all time...

And also getting to meet Nick Maley, one of the creators of my wise and awesome favorite green guy...

Nick spent some time walking through the museum with us talking about some of the different movies he worked on. Sure he has dvds playing with info of things about stuff as you walk through. However, getting the chance to ask questions thrilled my DH. He's really a behind the scenes kind of mind. It was a joy. He even signed and dated the items I had bought earlier.

Our only other stop we managed was...

Also found out about this place during my searches. I knew I just had to stop here. One, I needed an anniversary present to bring back to my parents since we set sail on their anniversary day. Plus we left our kids behind with them to watch!!

Walking back to the ship with the presents in hand we were stopped by a security guy in the little port shopping area. Wish I had gotten a picture of him. He quickly became a highlight of our trip. One, he was really funny. Two, he shared some island background with us that we found interesting. Three, he told me he couldn't allow me to carry our rum purchase around due to my being underage. LOL!!! Oh that was so long ago!! I asked him if that meant he was offering us a ride back to the ship on his cart thingy. What can I say, it was covered and it was crazy hot out in the boiling sun.

St Maarten was such a short stop for us. We are planning to go back for a week and take the kids too.

It'll be on Freedom in November on this itinerary as well!! I'm so excited!!!

I loved our cruise. We plan to go back to some of the places as a whole family (we left the kids home) and spend a whole week taking it all in.

Hope yours is as wonderful as ours was.