BobKat406

Thanks for the review - have been watching for a recent one - we are on the ship also in late March - can't wait especially with all the snow in NJ!!

Do you recall the order of the menu's? Just trying to figure out what nights to do the specialty restaurants. They usually keep the same flow from cruise to cruise.

Thank you for the pic of the dining voucher - the fine print pretty much says it all. We have not yet received anything from the TA (we are still about 4 months out). We were definitely interested in doing the 3 restaurant deal (Chops, Giovannis and Izumi) but also have this dining voucher and was hoping to combine rather than eat at chops twice. We were going to book onboard anyway so booking online ahead of time didn't really matter. However if we can't use this toward the package we may just purchase the other 2 separately.

Thanks for the quick responses.

Has anyone received a specialty dining credit (dinner for 2) from TA and used it towards the combined dining option (3 restaurant) and paid the difference?

Not sure how the dining credit is actually applied (does it state dinner for 2 only) or just dining or just plain on-board credit?

We have about 4-5 hours the day of the cruise since we are coming in the night before so I was thinking maybe doing Cafe du Monde and the street car/Garden City that morning then heading to the ship.

We will have all day Saturday when we return so I'm thinking the museum and maybe a graveyard tour. We will check out the tour company recommended. We can walk down Bourbon street and grab a drink on the way back to the hotel in the evening. Stops along the way to eat.

I'm thinking we may need a return trip to NOLA to just see the sites. We will hopefully get as much in as we can.

Thanks for all the information - the folks on this site are always very helpful!

thank you so much for the suggestions - I'm going to check into the tours you recommend after talking with the other parties of the group to see if they are up for it. I like the plan!

Nolatravelgirl - you are right - so much to see do depending on likes/dislikes etc.

We are two couples in 50/60's. We all like history so D-Day museum sounds like it should be one of our stops. Although we enjoy music would not want to do just a jazz tour but would definitely want to touch on it. We love food so will add that in along the way but will plan that at places that are in the area that we will sightsee so that will be a totally different research project! Like to see the different architecture but not wanting to do only do that. Definitely interested in wandering the french quarter/bourbon street and jumping on the street car to the Garden District. Definitely interested in one of the graveyard tours.

We plan on starting early and ending late since we only really have one day to take it all in.

With that all said - is this doable in one day? Can we see the museum, tour bourbon street, french quarter, graveyard, streetcar to garden district, stop for three meals and maybe enjoy some jazz and after dinner drinks before heading back to the hotel? Is there something on Bourbon street we shouldn't miss? Any recommended Graveyard/ghost tour?

So we will have one full day post cruise (a little time pre-cruise) in NOLA. If I had to pick the best things to do (in my limited amount of time) what would be the most important things not to miss?

I hope one day to get back for a longer visit but in the event I don't I would like to get in the must do's.

Would a guided tour be the way to go to get in the most sightseeing?

We plan to do 3 meals and have been researching the best places to eat but we can adjust that easily to the place we will visit so trying to get some kind of plan going and gather information. We will be there in the beginning of April.

Would love input.

We did Hilton Rose Hall when we were there last year and will do it when we go next year. The resort is wonderful, the lazy river and slides are great. There is a swim up bar in the lazy river. The buffet for lunch was very good. We spent the day on the lazy river but the beach looked wonderful also. The price is great and not overly crowded. Highly recommend it.

Royalcruz - do you have any info/opinions on Bistro 17 at the Renaissance hotel or Sportz Zone 84 Bar and Grill? We have some restaurant certs for lunch an dinner and looking at these for the day pre-cruise.

Also looking at 3030 Ocean, Michael's Italian restaurant, or Eduardo de San Angel.

Looking for clean, good food, nice atmosphere to relax and get ready for our cruise.

Thanks for taking the time to provide such a detailed analysis of your stay. We are staying there for 4 nights pre cruise in Feb and will be renting a car. We will take your advice and take a cab to the pier instead of the shuttle. The last thing we need is for our luggage to go missing.

We have used LMT in the past with success and nice to learn from others experiences at the same hotel. You sure can not beat the price.

We are staying at Fairfield in April and renting a car. Depending on what car rental agency you are utilizing, some offer a free shuttle from the airport to the port. We will drop off our luggage at the port and then return the car to the airport rental agency and take the "free" shuttle back to the port (and we won't have to lug our baggage around).;)

Anyone have a preference? If they are the same price which one would you choose?

Royal - What do you think about the Crowne Plaza Airport/Cruiseport? I can get a fairly good deal $118 for 4 people easter week. It looks nice just wondering if you or anyone else had an opinion.

Bringing this up to the front again - no replies. Would really like to hear someone's experience with one of these tours and any recommendations!

Can anyone give a little more info on these? During a 3-4 hour period what would a tour consist of? Is there specific sites that most of the guides take you to? Do you exit the taxi and get to wander around the site or do you remain in the taxi for the better part of the tour?

How many people can go in one vehicle? I understand there are cars and there are vans!

Any comments, help is appreciated!

Finally got them all loaded. Western Compasses for 4/12-4/19/09 cruise on Freedom. All 7 days plus the spa pricelist.

Enjoy!

http://s590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/bobkat406/

Forgot to mention that we did a private excursion with shortrips run by Wild Tours. It was an ATV Ride/Beach snorkel. The ATV ride was great. True 4-wheeling. The beach was small and the undertow was too strong to snorkel. It was a good tour and would recommend.

We did an RCI excursion in Jamaica (Green Grotto Caves/Dunn's river falls). We enjoyed the excursion and felt it was worth the cost. I highly recommend Dunn's River Falls - it's beautiful.

There is some sort of beef in the dining room every night. I saw prime rib, filet mignon, ny strip etc. You can order a filet from Chops while in the dining room any night for a fee of $14.95.

I didn't get the menu's as they can be found on many other threads on this board. The Preisman's have a great site which has a bunch of information on the western caribbean. thepreismans.com

They have electronic bingo machines now that have 3 times more cards than the paper packages. The paper packages were $48 and the machines were $55. On the last night for the jackpot, the paper was $52 and the machine $67.

I did not forget to pack anything. I also packed right this time, had enough clothes, didn't overpack and used all but one shirt. There is no washers/dryers that you can use. They do have wash and fold service for a fee by item. One day they offer a bag for $20 total that can be filled with socks, underwear, shorts, t-shirts, bathing suits.

We ordered room service for breakfast the last sea day morning. The food was actually hotter than what we got in the windjammer.

We traveled with children over 12. Their programs really were not too structured. They had a lot of free time unlike the goups under 12. The kids compasses did show that the kids were with their parents most nights but they did do a kids dinner at least one night that I knew of.

Yes - I plan to do a full review as soon as I get it completed. I started and its quite long.

The venetian feast was on Day 3 (the day we were in Labadee). There is a risotto appetizer one night and a risotto dinner another. I ordered the appetizer risotto and it was delicious. The night they had the risotto dinner I believe we ate at Portofino's.

I did not take pictures of the menus as they were the standard 7 day menu's you can find on other threads on the boads.

I will try to get the scanned compasses online either tonight or tomorrow.

I was on the western. The food was good but not as good as when we were on the Serenade. Chops was fantastic. Portofino a close second. We ate breakfast in the Windjammer every morning and they had a good selection for breakfast. Sorrento's and Promenade cafe were great for snacks/pizza. The service in the dining room was better than the food. I would rate the service 5 stars (out of 5) and the food 3 1/2 to 4 stars in the dining room. The Venetian feast (italian) was the best food in the dining room. The ice show was fantastic. The welcome aboard show and farewell show were very good. Richard Spacey is a great cruise director.

The comedy was also good. We didn't go to two of the production shows.

Bingo has gotten very expensive to play.

Just off the FOS which returned 4/19. Boat is amazing. I was asked to get 2 pieces of information...

1) DECT Phones - FOS stopped the DECT phones about 3-4 months ago. I got this information from guest relations. Many were using walkie talkies which worked well.

2) JOGGING TRACK - The jogging track on deck 12 is 4.5 laps to 1 mile.

I have all the compasses and will scan and post (trying to do it this evening). If anyone has specific questions, I will try to answer.

Trish - I will find out next week as I will be using the track in the morning

I am traveling with another couple with children and we will check on the DECT phones. I will try to post as soon as we get back!

Catlady - will find out for you.

Thanks for the info on photobucket - I will post them there when I get home. I will also try to get all the menu's for each day so you can all plan your future cruise on Freedom as I have.

With all the price reductions we were able to upgrade to JS on the hump for less than the balcony we had originally reserved. This will be my first JS so I'm very excited.

Looking forward to cruising on the Freedom. Our first was on the Serenade and I can't imagine anything better than that! However, I hear this may just be it!:)

I'm going on the western cruise next week and promise to bring home all the current compasses and scan them. Not sure where I'll be able to put them (website) but be sure I will find a way. I have had no luck finding anyone to post current ones. The only ones I have found are a year old.