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adpiterp

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    LIVE from the Freedom of the Seas! - Nov 12, 2016/ 8 night Eastern Caribbean

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for joining me this week on the Freedom, I have truly enjoyed sharing my cruise with you! [emoji41]

     

    I have commented daily on many things, however now I will give my overall impression on various areas, starting with my cabin.

    I loved my hump balcony cabin 9342, it was in a superb location and I didn't hear a sound from the elevator area. Every single thing was in working order. The cabin was fresh and clean smelling, the shower was strong and HOT, and the bed was extremely comfortable with an egg crate mattress topper. No issues whatsoever, and my stateroom attendant Vincent was outstanding and I was happy to tip him extra.

     

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    The Internet: VOOM was not so voomy. I mentioned earlier that I was booted off all the time, and there were also times that I simply could not connect. I paid roughly $63 for the full 8 days after applying my D+ discount. Pretty reasonable, so I can't complain. Plus, I was able to keep my LIVE thread going, so overall it worked out ok.

     

    Overall condition of the Freedom: The ship is very well maintained. The last time I sailed Freedom was immediately following the refurb in early 2015. I noticed a bit of peeling paint, but I also noticed a painting crew the next day. The common areas are in excellent shape, and the ship is spotless.

     

    The Crew: Very friendly and engaged with guests. I have been in ships where the crew were actively disengaged and it was painfully obvious. Not the case on Freedom [emoji106]

     

    The Dining Room: I have already given you my take on the food, so I will skip over that and share some observations about my dining experience. We were seated at table 426, a 10 top next to the window

     

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    We had great table mates (hi Doug and Donna!), as well as another couple who were invited by Doug and Donna to join us. Our waiter Lloyd was on his first week as a full fledged waiter having just been promoted from assistant. Our waiter and assistant waiter were a good team and the service was good. They were genuinely concerned when anyone at the table did not enjoy their meal. The Head Waiter showed up a few times and was happy to listen to feedback and acknowledge that the menu has changed and that there have been a lot of complaints!!!

     

    The shops onboard: This is always an area of interest to me as I enjoy browsing the shops many times during my cruise. I found the logo shop to be very well stocked which was great compared to other ships. The cosmetic store was ok, but I was disappointed there really weren't any bargains. I sailed on the Indy last November and they had an exceptional cosmetic store.

    I was in and out of the jewelry stores and was pleased to see a great selection of John Hardy pieces [emoji3]

     

    Cafe Promenade: They serve Starbucks! I made good use of my Royal Refreshment package! Venti non-fat lattes all week!

     

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    The snack selection these days is a pet peeve of mine. I remember when the sandwich selection changed on a daily basis, but now it is the same 3 sandwich types every single day. The same can be said for the sweets. Oh well, if you're hungry you definitely won't starve!

     

    Sorrento's: I tried a bite of cheese pizza on night one and hated it. 'Nuf said.

     

    The Pool/Solarium: The new loungers are fantastic! I hope they are going fleet wide.

     

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    All pools are freshwater and sparkling clean. I did not encounter any chair hogs, although there were many towels placed early in the morning ......

     

    Entertainment: I don't go to everything, but I really enjoyed the adult comedy, and of course Drew Thomas' Now You See It Magic Show. The musical entertainment I've seen before, so I skipped it.

     

    Cruise Director: Casey Pelter is great, not just because he's Canadian [emoji6]. He's super funny and very visible around the ship. He hosted one of the best Quests I have ever been to - I'm pretty sure it was the most energized and loud Quests ever! His morning show on RCTV was very good too.

     

    The Captain: Apparently he was onboard but I never saw him [emoji15]. His noon reports were at 12:15PM and I understood about 20% of what he said. I was mostly interested in the weather reports because I already knew our coordinates thanks to my good friend Ocean Boy, my human compass [emoji4]

     

    It is 10:25PM as I type this, with a stylus pen on my trusty iPhone 6. It is just about time to say good night and settle in for my final night's sleep on this cruise before disembarking early tomorrow morning. I have color tag #4 and should be off the ship by 8:00AM. We have a 12:25PM flight back to Toronto.

     

    Once again, thanks for following along and for all the wonderful comments. I had a fantastic week onboard the Freedom and look forward to the next one in 90 sleeps! Yes I am counting sleeps!!!

     

     

     

     

    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

     

     

     

    AWESOME review, Robyn!!! Loved your pictures and review. Looks like you had an amazing time, thank you for sharing it with all of us!

    Verizon Wireless Royal Caribbean gift cards

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    I have been searching for the answer to this question! I am able to buy RC gift cards using Thank You points from Citi, however the listed terms and conditions are the same, stating new bookings only. I was hesitant to purchase one because of this, but now I may try it. Has anyone had any luck applying them as OBC to reservations that are paid? I realize the terms and conditions also prohibit that, but it sounds like they aren't adhered to anyway. I will be very interested to see how this works for people!

     

     

    I'm also curious. Have a ton of Verizon Points and Citi Thank You points to burn. I'm guessing no but it seems mileage varies when it comes to the T&C.

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