waterlegs

Day 3

I was the only one of our party going ashore today. Was up bright and early, had breakfast in WJ and a km or two on jogging track and got the tender boat to Villefranche at 7.45am. Villefranche was spectacular from the sea and seeing the ship from the tender boat was equally beautiful. The tender boat took less than ten minutes to reach the little dock.

Once ashore, I followed the shoreline around the corner until I found the steps leading to the railway station. Had trouble operating the ticket machine. Someone did it for me and as a result I got a ticket to Cannes for something like 1.20. We had a bit of a wait for the train but it was fast and comfortable when it came. I took it to Cannes. It was the day before the film festival started so there was plenty of excitement with the preparations. Cannes is very easy to get around on foot. The golden palm imprints near the festival hall was enjoyable, as was a walk along the seafront. I also took the little train around the town. This covered the festival side and also the old town which is beautiful. Really enjoyed my few hours here and glad I went.

I then took a train to nice. Weather was very hot and I didnt stay here too long. There was construction work on the promenade, so I veered into McDonalds for free wifi instead. I think nice is a pretty city but I was feeling tired at this point and wanted to explore the little town of Villefranche as well before tendering back to the ship.

Loved Villefranche. Full of charm and very pretty, although a little too quiet. There was a small market here, which was worth a look.

Back on board, I found my family on the pool deck. They had enjoyed a day chilling out. We all enjoyed the usual lovely dinner. My sisters went to the show that evening, which was the group "Fourever". They thought it brilliant. My mother and I strolled through the evening offers on the royal promenade. Later, my sister and I took a lounger on the pool deck under the stars to watch LaLa Land on the big screen. Retired to bed very tired but happy.

IMG_20170516_080512 by grainnemy, on Flickr

IMG_20170516_081112 by grainnemy, on Flickr

The cruise compasses are taking up alot of photo space. I might just post photos and if anyone requests the compasses I can post them together. I have plenty of ship photos as well as port ones so if anyone wants any particular place let me know.

I was there this year the day before the festival started. If I wanted to stay there then I wouldnt go during the festival as alot of work going on and construction of tent cafes on beaches etc. The day before it was exciting to witness the preparations and I took the little train trip, which covered the festival side and also the old town which is lovely and I wouldnt have really found on my own. I loved my few hours in Cannes.

Day Two

We arrived in Marseille at 9am. After a great nights sleep I felt like new and after breakfast in the WJ, I took to the jogging track for a walk. Four of us disembarked about midday and walked to where the free shuttle bus was. we had to wait 40 minutes for it but once it came it was plenty big for a crowd and didnt take long to reach Joliette. We walked to the old port from there. It took about 10 minutes. I took the little train to Notre Dame de la Garde. It was about €8 return journey and the bumpiest journey in my life. The views were great from the basilica. I just did a quick visit and came back to the old port and then walked to Joliette and got a shuttle straight away.

Made it back on board a tad late for the meet and mingle but just in time to be given raffle tickets. Won a bottle of wine and my sisters won some RCCL merchandise. Very poor turnout but apparently many did not receive their meet and mingle invites and didn't know it was on. Such a pity.

It was the first formal night, so we dressed in all our finery and made it back to our window table in the MDR. Unfortunately I only got a photo of the menu the first night. Food in the MDR was very good but needs more variety. Service was very good and our waiter Nicholas and assistant Marion were lovely. My mother got her extra dessert with birthday candle and waiters and manager singing happy birthday to her. She was ecstatic with the little bit of fuss.

The headline show was Marquee. Being a big fan of musical theatre, I loved this show. Great singing, dancing and costumes and some of my favourite musicals were covered. Just wished it could have gone on for longer. We all headed to bed after that.

IMG_20170515_135114 by grainnemy, on Flickr

IMG_20170515_135133 by grainnemy, on Flickr

IMG_20170604_195216 by grainnemy, on Flickr

IMG_20170604_195338 by grainnemy, on Flickr

IMG_20170604_195343 by grainnemy, on Flickr

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IMG_20170604_195119 by grainnemy, on Flickr

IMG_20170604_195129 by grainnemy, on Flickr

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IMG_20170514_103056 by grainnemy, on Flickr

IMG_20170514_172828 by grainnemy, on Flickr

IMG_20170514_135104 by grainnemy, on Flickr

Background

This was our first ever cruise. We were a family party of four from Ireland; my two sisters, my mother and myself. My mother had always dreamed of a cruise holiday. She turned 80 a few months ago so we decided to buy her the cruise as her present and go along with her. We took a flight from Dublin to Barcelona on the morning of our cruise and similar on the final day of it.

On arrival in Barcelona airport, we quickly claimed our luggage and were met by RCCL reps. These helped us with the infamous luggage tags and directed us to our coach. We were at terminal B in the port within 30 minutes.

Embarkation: We cleared security swiftly and then joined a large but moving line for the check in desks. We had checked in online a few days previously so expected things to go smoothly here. Well we must have had the most inefficient or most in experienced member of staff on the planet. She issued my sister and I with seapass cards, refusing to include the stamp for our prepaid drinks package and refused to give us card stating our onboard credit. She was very abrupt about fixing this and told us to sort it out onboard. We werent too happy about this especially as the rest of the party had no bother getting theirs done at the next counter. Our photos were taken and we later discovered that the wrong photos were matched to both our cards. Other than that, we could board immediately and without a further queue.

There were three cruise ships in port that afternoon. Freedom, NCL Epic and Celebrity Princess. We were first to leave. Each of us were wowed by Freedom within five minutes of boarding her. Everything exceeded our expectations, even our interior cabin on deck nine. The atmosphere was great, staff so friendly and the sun was shining. We enjoyed a not too crowded WJ for lunch before checking out our cabins and then we settled on deck 12 for the sailaway. I went and found the helipad, which was very quiet but the view was better from deck 12. Helipad great though if you want a quiet sailaway with no music.

We had been given MTD when we booked and were given a window table for four in Galileos on deck five. A mild headache had been brewing most of the afternoon and became suddenly severe at the dinner table, erupting like Vesuvius with three spectacular vomits. Result I had to be carted off to bed and our table and that next to us had to be reseated. I can't tell you how mortified I was to start our cruise like that. I can only assume it was a rare migraine.

I have lots of photos to post here, including the day one menu and cruise compass. I have tried to upload them and am being told something about a missing security tag on them. Can anyone help? Years since I have attached photos to a forum.

hi , wll be on freedom in september . can you let us know how the tendering goes in villefranche . Doing it on our own and just want to have an idea how it is with that ship .

Went very smoothly for me. I think those who had excursions booked through the ship went first, at about 7.25am. Think I was on one of the first tenders out at 7.45am. We got the tender from deck one I think. There is a gangway onto it. Only about ten minutes or less to the little port. Very easy. I did that stop completely on my own and took train to Cannes first and then back to nice and then villefranche before tendering back to ship.

Waterlegs,

 

I am sailing Freedom on June 18 and have also scheduled tours with Romeinlimo at all three Italian ports. What was your impression of them? Were they easy to find at each port? How was your guide? I am doing the same Florence/Pisa, as well as the same Naples tour so I would love to hear your opinions!

At La Spezia, you have to take a free shuttle bus from the ship to the port gate and we easily found the guide there. He had the van parked a 5 minute walk from there but it was fine. Both guides, the one here and the one at Naples had fluent english and were very friendly. Microphone was out of action for the Florence/Pisa tour but he did his best to be heard. If anything he talked a little too much. He made an extra stop on way to Pisa for some people who wanted to buy wine at a vineyard. Both guides were very knowledgeable and made decent recommendations on places to eat. Both gave clear instructions on when and where to meet when it was time to leave. Free bottles of water were provided on the Florence/Pisa tour. None on the Naples based tour ut I still preferred the second tour all round. I would go with them again. We also had arranged a guide for taking us around Pompeii and this was worthwhile.

Hello,

 

What kind of show is "Fourever"? Is it a music show?

I didnt go to it but my two sisters went and thought they were brilliant. There are four tenors {I think}. My sisters said they were abit like Il Divo, if you know their music. Both of them bought the cd and got them signed by them anyway, they liked them so much.

Following along with interest. Just back off my very first cruise, which was in the Med. Might have the cruise bug now so going to compose a bucket list in case I am ever fortunate enough to go on another one at some stage. Ideally I would love to do a northern lights itinerary but RCI dont seem to do this from what I can see, so that may be part of a different trip. I know I want to do an eastern med itinerary and a caribbean one but would also love to do northern europe and baltic areas. Great to read this review as so few are done in this area. Can you include what weather is like there this time of year. Great photos so far. what class ship is Serenade? Looks quite big.

Hi Waterlegs,

Was the wine package available in the MDR i.e. 5, 7 or 9 bottles for a fixed price?

Thanks

Ernie

Nothing about it in any of the compasses

Hi Waterlegs,

Was the wine package available in the MDR i.e. 5, 7 or 9 bottles for a fixed price?

Thanks

Ernie

We had the deluxe drinks package so I didnt hear about that package but will go through the compasses and see if it is mentioned. I did win a bottle at the meet and mingle party and there was no corkage fee for using it in the MDR.

Thanks Waterlegs. Do you know if the show times where the same each night and if so what times they were? Thanks

Day 1: One show 8pm. Welcome Aboard Showtime

Day 2: Two shows. 8.45pm for main seating dinner guests and 10.45pm for second seating. Marquee.

Day 3: Two shows. 7.30pm for second seating dinner and 9.30pm for main seating dinner. Comedy magic show.

Day 4: One show (repeated the following night) 8.45pm. "Fourever". Also two shows of Freedom Ice 7.45pm and 9.45pm

Day 5: Fourever at 10.45pm and Ice Show at 8.15pm

Day 6: Two shows. 7.30pm and 9.30pm Once Upon A Time.

Day 7: Two shows. 7.45pm and 9.45pm. Farewell Variety Showtime featuring Jaz Danion

Thanks' date=' Waterlegs. Do you remember if the MDR was open for lunch on embarkation day? I know the buffet is a madhouse and was hoping to avoid.[/quote']

 

No it wasn't open for lunch. Windjammer and Chops were open and Sorrentos and Cafe Promenade. We went quite smartly to the WJ and found a table near the entrance which is a more spacious area. Must have been shortly after 1pm.

I have the compasses but only a pic of the first evening menu I think. Just a problem getting photos onto pc at the moment but hoping to do a full review asap. If you have specific questions I can check the compasses for you before then.

Are free shuttles regular or there could be time shifts?

The timetable just says every 20 minutes but doesnt list times. We were waiting 40 minutes for one at the port. Was luckier getting it at Joliette to go back.

Yes the cups were in our cabin too and then when we asked we were told they were only for those with the soda package and not deluxe. Didn't bother us as we could just get sodas from any bar anyway.

we had the deluxe package and were told we couldnt use the soda cup with it. We would have had to purchase the soda package as well to use them.

you dont need to reserve seats for any of the shows, not even the ice show. However turn up at least ten minutes before the start. We were late for one show and couldn't get seats together. The shows always start bang on time as well.

Those menus are very similar to what we had on Freedom mid May. Only thing was they didn't vary much night to night but the food tasted lovely.

four of us have just completed our first cruise and we all opted for cash account when we checked in online. We were not asked for credit card at the dock. We each had $50 OBC and anything we owed after that, which wasn't much, was paid in cash the night before we left. Got the final statement emailed within 24 hours of cruise finishing and it was all correct.

I was asked for my passport when I reboarded at Marseille. Had alot of trouble with my seapass and discovered that day they had put someone elses photo against my seapass. Was glad I had my passport on me. Had to get my seapass redone and then other days just needed it

Just off the western Med itinerary on Freedom. Formal nights were day two and day six. So the evening we left Marseilles and the evening we left Naples. Yes the cruise compass states the times and days very clearly. I have kept all of mine and hope to get them posted up here next week. You dont need tickets for any of the night shows either.

Just back off my first cruise and I lost 1lb during it. It was a Med cruise and weather was lovely. The ship had a great gym and I used it only one day, preferring the jogging track, which I walked on. It was also port intensive so I did plenty of walking at ports too and I did dance classes aboard. I really enjoyed all this exercise as the holiday atmosphere helped, as did the sun. It didnt feel like hard work. I ate melon every morning and sometimes cereal or brown bread. Sometimes had salad at port or in buffet on ship in afternoon but didnt need much and then had three course meal with a glass or two of wine in the MDR in the evening. Usually had a cocktail or two after that. Didnt feel abit deprived and kept moving. Yes I used the stairs a much as I could. If your cruise ship offers a gym or walking track take advantage of it. Then you can still enjoy the food guilt free. Make wise choices and then you can spoil yourself too.