Luckyprincess' Freedom of the Seas Review

[luckyprincess]

You guys are so cute, and your review is just charming. Thanks so much for sharing--I'd cruise with you any day!

 

I have a question about the Labadee nature walk. That looks like something my husband and I would really enjoy. Do you think I could make it with sturdy water shoes, or should I plan to wear my running shoes? Thanks in advance for your advice.

 

Andy wore sturdy water shoes and I wore....wait for it...flip flops - the cheap $2 Old Navy ones! :D I recommend the sturdy water shoes because when you cut off the path to take the little offshoot paths, they all lead to a little used portion of beach that can't be accessed really any other way but through water. So at one point, we were walking over some sharp rocks in the water and he went first, tossed me the water shoes, then I met him out there and we walked along this tiny piece of sand...so romantic!! It's this one:

[luckyprincess]

Thanks for the great review. I booked our Freedom EC cruise on 10/24 a few days ago and are really looking forward to it. Honest reviews are hard to come by on here most of the time.

 

BTW, being a "yankee" in the southerner's world and traveling to NYC for work and to see family often, I'd be interested in knowing what place you guys work as well and would definitely come visit as well. I'm a foodie and miss all of the great food up north (good italian is hard to come by down here) and would love to sample some of your man's cuisine.

 

notsocleveremail at gmail dot com

Thank you! I just sent you the email! We lived in Miami for a bit and it was near impossible to find good pizza! But in Brooklyn, it was everywhere!

Have fun on Freedom! She's beautiful!

[luckyprincess]

Thanks so much for taking the time to do this. We are leaving 1 month from today on Freedom and we can't wait! I know I am driving DH crazy always researching and talking about it. I am sorry the weather wasn't so good for you but at least you made the best of it. Do you happen to have the compasses?

 

Thanks again!

 

Oh, I love the room key things. I am going to print some for sure!

My bf would put 'no cruise talk' bans into effect because I would drive him nutz! You're not alone! :D

I do have all of the compasses, just need to scan them in tonight and then I'll link to it here in this thread!

Have an awesome time!

[luckyprincess]

Hi, Luckyprincess, we were also on this cruise and were at the Meet & Mingle and the cabin crawl. LOTS of fun...

I am loving your review and all the pictures. We were on the port side in cabin 9644, just aft of the hump in a JS and loved our view as well.

We had the most horrible experience on this cruise with our wine that we have ever had. It started with the two bottles we ordered for sailaway. I have posted my experience on the RCI threads about wine packages but I'll try to condense it here.

We ordered online from Gifts and Gear for a bottle of red and a bottle of white to be in our stateroom when we boarded. In 20 cruises, it has ALWAYS been there. Not this time. We immediately called guest services, they said it would be delivered that afternoon. Three o'clock, no wine. I went down to Guest Services, and they informed me that they didn't deliver wine until after dinner. I was astounded, and insisted that wouldn't do, we were having guests for sailaway in our cabin and had to have it. GS called the Bar Manager and he was told it would be delivered in an hour. Four pm, no wine. Called GS, they said they'd check on it and call back. Went to the drill, got back, no wine. My husband called this time and was not very nice. This time, they called us back and said the bar manager having it brought right away. Five pm, no wine. Called again to GS, asked could I call the Bar Manager myself, but they said no, it was already delivered, but I insisted it wasn't. Sailaway came and went, no wine. Our guests left. A little after 6 pm there was a knock on the door. THE WINE!! It was our next door neighbors, from Denmark, who were on their way to dinner and had just stopped by their cabin after being gone all afternoon. They asked if we had ordered wine--there were two bottles in their cabin and the card had our cabin # on it. Yeah! Called our friends to come back and we had wine, with no thanks to GS or the Bar Manager, but to our honest next door neighbors. I reported the outcome to GS.

Then, at dinner, we had pre ordered the Wine & Dine package. The asst waiter informed us that they were not offering it anymore and they had been instructed to refund our money but we could order from the wine list. I said no. The waiter came by, repeated the explanation and added that the wine package was not available on our sailing. I said no, I want the wine package. The head waiter came by, said the same thing, but if I insisted he'd go to the Bar Manager with our response. He said the wine stock was low and they might not be able to provide us with our selection. I told him I'd pick from whatever they had and I wanted the wine package. Finally, we got permission to keep our wine package and every bottle we ordered was available.

I don't know what is going on with customer service or the Bar Manager but getting our wine on this cruise was hard work!! We persevered and drank every bottle we had ordered!!

Other than this experience, we had a wonderful cruise, even with the weather, and met some great people. We manage to have fun no matter what!

Annette (& Wayne)

OMG I'm glad Im not alone! I remember you both and had such a great time on our crawl! I was really annoyed about the whole wine thing. Before sailing, I had also ordered a bottle of Champagne and strawberries to go to the room for as close to sailaway as possible and they were in there - so it was really the complete inconsistancy that was driving me bananas! Like I said, it worked so perfect in the past that it made it difficult to deal with - because it snowballed into being a problem every single night we wanted our wine!:rolleyes::p After all the hassles, it's a wonder I didn't down the whole dam# bottle!

I'm glad you also had a good time!

[QTMichele]

It just dawned me why you may have had wine issues... while at dinner one night, my mom wanted a bottle of wine; however, our waiter told us that they were in the process of changing out most of their wine and were very low stocked with what they've previously had on board. I'm not suggesting this as an excuse, just a possible explanation for all the chaos. :/

[Promisekeeper]

OMG I'm glad Im not alone! I remember you both and had such a great time on our crawl! I was really annoyed about the whole wine thing. Before sailing, I had also ordered a bottle of Champagne and strawberries to go to the room for as close to sailaway as possible and they were in there - so it was really the complete inconsistancy that was driving me bananas! Like I said, it worked so perfect in the past that it made it difficult to deal with - because it snowballed into being a problem every single night we wanted our wine!:rolleyes::p After all the hassles, it's a wonder I didn't down the whole dam# bottle!

I'm glad you also had a good time!

 

I was more frustrated that we could not get anyone to help us solve this problem than anything else. I wrote all over our cruise evaluation, asked the Loyalty Ambassador to also report it, as well as Guest Services. I asked that someone from managment contact us regarding our evaluation, so we will see if we get any response! Our wait staff seemed very happy that we insisted on getting our wine package, and thanked us for being clear about what we expected to happen. I think they sometimes get blamed for others' problems.

Thanks for sharing your cabin in the poker crawl. I am going to be sure to participate in those on other cruises because it was so much fun.

Now, we are off to Australia/ New Zealand on Jan. 26 for a cruise out of Sydney to New Zealand on the Rhapsody. Ah, what a life...

Annette

[luckyprincess]

I was more frustrated that we could not get anyone to help us solve this problem than anything else. I wrote all over our cruise evaluation, asked the Loyalty Ambassador to also report it, as well as Guest Services. I asked that someone from managment contact us regarding our evaluation, so we will see if we get any response! Our wait staff seemed very happy that we insisted on getting our wine package, and thanked us for being clear about what we expected to happen. I think they sometimes get blamed for others' problems.

Thanks for sharing your cabin in the poker crawl. I am going to be sure to participate in those on other cruises because it was so much fun.

Now, we are off to Australia/ New Zealand on Jan. 26 for a cruise out of Sydney to New Zealand on the Rhapsody. Ah, what a life...

Annette

Yeah, we were most frustrated by the lack of accountability and communication. No one knew what was going on, and when someone would promise us it would be taken care of the next day - the next day STILL no one knew the problem or the promise! Grrrr.

Have fun on your next cruise! Sounds great!! I'm just now researching a land/rail vacay to Sweden, Norway and Finland for me and Andy for August....maybe I should just book some stuff and then tell him...;)

[bluegirlum]

Yeah, we were most frustrated by the lack of accountability and communication. No one knew what was going on, and when someone would promise us it would be taken care of the next day - the next day STILL no one knew the problem or the promise! Grrrr.

Have fun on your next cruise! Sounds great!! I'm just now researching a land/rail vacay to Sweden, Norway and Finland for me and Andy for August....maybe I should just book some stuff and then tell him...;)

 

We had wine issues on Majesty a few weeks ago! We still have a half-bottle of pinot grigio somewhere in the MDR--and it wasn't even the one we wanted.

 

Sorry, I had to come back to a fun post. I can't handle debating the best way to save the world anymore.

 

Amybeth, I greatly dislike NYC (sorry!), but depending on this restaurant, I might even take you to lunch! :eek:

[mehitabel]

One more question about the Labadee trail--is it easy to find? I know you mentioned walking a little ways to get to the entrance, but I've only been there once, so I'm not terribly familiar with the property. There's a big map posted, right? Can I assume that the trail is posted on map somewhere?

 

I swear I'm not bad with directions, especially when someone takes me by the hand and shows me exactly where to go! :D

[bluegirlum]

One more question about the Labadee trail--is it easy to find? I know you mentioned walking a little ways to get to the entrance, but I've only been there once, so I'm not terribly familiar with the property. There's a big map posted, right? Can I assume that the trail is posted on map somewhere?

 

I swear I'm not bad with directions, especially when someone takes me by the hand and shows me exactly where to go! :D

 

I'm a little confused. I thought LuckyP stopped at COCO CAY, not Labadee. I only thought that b/c before she left she asked about lockers and I looked for them when I was there. Also, her reviews talks of tenders and Labadee has a dock. Have I lost my mind? :eek:

[mehitabel]

I'm a little confused. I thought LuckyP stopped at COCO CAY, not Labadee. I only thought that b/c before she left she asked about lockers and I looked for them when I was there. Also, her reviews talks of tenders and Labadee has a dock. Have I lost my mind? :eek:

 

D'oh! You're right and your mind is fine right where it is! Mine's the one wandering off stupidly.

 

See? Me and my sense of direction. I'd be swimming for a long time, trying to find that trail map of Coco Cay on Labadee, huh?

[bluegirlum]

D'oh! You're right and your mind is fine right where it is! Mine's the one wandering off stupidly.

 

See? Me and my sense of direction. I'd be swimming for a long time, trying to find that trail map of Coco Cay on Labadee, huh?

 

I'd hardly say my mind is right. :D But I'd hate for you to get all excited, then be like "I swear she told me to turn left!!"

[mehitabel]

I'd hardly say my mind is right. :D But I'd hate for you to get all excited, then be like "I swear she told me to turn left!!"

 

Right? "Oh no! Now I'm in CUBA!" :eek:

[luckyprincess]

Lol! You two are too funny!

So, the nature trail is easy to find. When you tender in, there is an area in the middle with signs everywhere and it will point you towards the nature trail. And there is a big yellow archway with 'Nature Trail' over the entrance. I found a few more pics for you!

[shellyclark]

My bf would put 'no cruise talk' bans into effect because I would drive him nutz! You're not alone! :D

I do have all of the compasses, just need to scan them in tonight and then I'll link to it here in this thread!

Have an awesome time!

 

Great thanks so much! Of course DH doesn't like that I want to see the compasses so I can "plan". He said "well nothing is going to be a surprise!" Oh well, I am the type that likes to have all of my ducks in a row. Oh also I wanted to say WAY TO GO on all of your casino winnings! Hopefully we can be as lucky!

 

Thanks again!

[LBumb]

thanks for posting.l enjoyed your photos

[kay995]

Hey...

 

Glad you didn't let the "wine deal" ruin your vacation!

I think that the wine and the drink service has been quite

awful during dinner during our last few cruises! You would

think since the weather was so bad and they didn't sell as

much foofoo drinks by the pool as usual, they would make it

up at dinner???? Years ago, they were always so attentive and

asked if you needed bar service several times during a meal.

Now you have to "flag them down"...we did MYD and they asked

in the begining once....and only twice came around with after dinner

drinks!

 

On the Serenade in Nov, one of our friends knew one of the bar

servers from a prior cruise....and he made it his business to find us

EVERY night on that boat!!! He got great tips from all of us (we were

a party of 11)....that's the kind of service you need next cruise!!!

We think that the smaller ships like the Radiance and the Serenade

have better service and are more intimate!!!!

 

The weather really was awful, but my girls managed to find friends and

had a wonderful time. I got seasick on a pirate ship in St. Maarten, but

not on the Freedom....can't figure out why!!! I wore my seabands the

entire time....had to take Bonine when I came back on board after

the pirate ship deal. Missed dinner that night but was OK later in the

evening!!!

 

Kay

[time4me2fly]

Hey Melody,

 

Nice cruise review. Glad we didn't do the wine service or Chops. The weather wasn't the best, but we had a great time.

 

Thanks for opening up your cabin for the poker cabin crawl. That was lots of fun. Quest was a blast! I was with team #8. My guys, Kay's girls and Kim's daughter supplied just about everything, except for the false teeth. Thank goodness, a guy in our section offered up his teeth. We took 1st place and won 2 bottles of champagne! Great fun!

 

Hi Kay...tell Tom and the girls that I said "Hello". Wish we were hanging out at Pharaohs, right now.

 

Janet

[kay995]

Janet,

 

Megan and I were at work today wishing we were back on the cruise!

She was checking out your June cruise to Mexico....she says she needs

an Aunt Janet to take her on another cruise!!! This was her first cruise

and I think she is now hooked!!!

 

I plan to print up some pictures this week and put together a photo book.

Then.....to the scrapbooking....

 

Kay

[amyphil]

Hi LuckyPrincess,

Just finished reading your review of FOS. We are taking our first cruise this July on the FOS eastern. I finally convinced my husband that cruising is a fantastic vacation.

You said that you and your boy friend live/work? in northern New Jersey. We live near Wayne, NJ and visit Manhattan quite often. Would love to know about your club/restaurant.

Being a foodie I agree with you 100% about the pizza in Miami. We went to South Beach, last summer, and the pizza was horrible!!!! Nothing beats pizza from Brooklyn....even NJ has good pies.

One other question...I noticed that you had MTD and enjoyed it, however, did you make reservations before the day, on the day, or just gave your name to the dining hostess and waited in line? We'll be celebrating our wedding anniversary on this cruise and I am, like so many fellow posters, a planning freak. My husband thinks I'm crazy. But.....since we pre-booked (beginning of March) I've spend many enjoyable hours on CC finding out so much info. I'm going to have withdrawals when the cruise is over, nothing to research. Oh well, I guess that's the time to start planning for another cruise lol....

I'd love to ask you more questions and if you want to e-mail me instead of doing posts, please do. My e-mail is amyphilcoop@optonlne.net.

Talk soon,

Amy

[amyphil]

Made a mistake on the e-mail...it's amyphilcoop@optonline.net

Amy

[MrsPete]

I've actually never used Marriot and I will be sure to from now on. For the same price for a regular room at the other local places we got a two room King Suite with kitchen (bigger than our first apartment in Brooklyn!) and a great, varied buffet breakfast.

I assume those pictures are from a Marriott Residence Inn?

 

Here's why I love them: You can call or fax ahead a GROCERY LIST, and when you arrive your stuff'll be waiting in your room. The cost of this service? ZERO. Well, obviously, you have to pay for the groceries, but the shopping is FREE. Great way to get a case of water and 12-packs of sodas to carry onboard. Also a great way to have a cheap dinner in-room dinner after a long drive (seems we always choose Stoffer's French bread pizzas).

[katiel53]

Thanks so much for your review. We are going on Freedom in 3 1/2 weeks and we are excited. I hope the weather is better for us than it was for you.

 

My question to you is what did you or BF play in the casino. My husband and I usually do the slots, but so far haven't won! We have the same luck in other casinos, but thought you might be able to give us a hint.

 

Thanks again.

[proudpatriot07]

We're going on the Freedom in 3 weeks... I loved reading your review, too :).