Freedom of the Seas Review - Feb 14th Eastern Carribean Sailing

[katiel53]

How much was hair braiding on Coco Cay? Was it negotiable? I have 2 girls who want their hair braided. Our St. Maarten day is totally booked. Trying to decided between doing in on Coco Cay and St. Thomas.

 

Great report. We do the same itinerary in May, my kids are 7 and 9.

 

I know this sounds silly, but where ever you are going to get the girls hair braided, you need to bring your own comb. Otherwise, you will be using a comb that has been used on who knows how many others. There was a post a couple of weeks ago about getting lice from a comb with hair braiding. I know when I was younger and had my hair braided on many of the island, I always used my own comb.

[BDMom]

Katie-Thanks for that, I don't think we have lice in Colorado so I hadn't thought of it. Will do. Still wondering if we should do it in Coco Cay, cost or wait until St. Thomas.

[inghilch]

The balcony did get sun. It just depends. We reallly werent in the room much.

[Happy Honeymooner]

BDMom, I'm in Colorado too. When is your cruise? We're going May 9. We do have lice in Colorado. As a kid I always had to get checked in school and there were always a few kids who had it. Maybe it's not as common as it used to be. Who knows!

[BDMom]

Happy Honey Mooner- We're in Centennial. We are on the May 23rd sailing. Hmm I grew up here in Colorado and never heard of any lice. Guess I'm living in a bubble. That's ok, I'll take a comb for my girls braiding. Good advice.

[bcarney]

Sorry for resurrecting an old thread, but I couldn't figure out a way to send a private message on this system.

 

We really loved our table location and the personalized attention our waiter Jose, Assistant Chen and Head Waiter Kamal gave. It made the experience really pleasant.

 

I was wondering if you happened to remember if this Kamal was from Turkey, and had previously served on Adventure of the Seas? He sort of looked like young pictures of the last Shah of Iran if you want to google them.

 

My first encounter with him was when he was a waiter on AOS in 2002 or 2003, and on later sailings he had been promoted to Head Waiter.

 

The particular cruise we were on was one were the ship was going in for refurbishment, so many of the staff went home after the cruise. We ran into Kamal at (of all places) the McDonalds at the San Juan airport, and he came over and hung out with us for a bit. Even off the clock he was a great representative of Royal Caribbean, and very proud of the company he worked for.

 

We were on Adventure in 2010 but he was no longer there, and I wondered what became of him. If he's still on Freedom, then my next cruise decision has been made!

 

Anyhow, thanks for any info you can provide.

 

Bill

[DKK47]

I found the board really helpful so I thought I would share my experience to hopefully help others.

Freedom of the Seas – Feb 14th – Eastern Caribbean

It’s been over 8 yrs since I last cruised. Usually we take a beach trip but decided to give cruising with kids a chance. Been recently to a la carte places in San Juan to All-inclusives in Mexico. Decided to book the cruise only 6 weeks ago to escape the bitter cold we’ve been getting in the Northeast. I originally looked at NCL out of NY to save the airfare but when doing the math the price was the same as RC - FOS with airfare plus I was a little worried about rocky seas down the Atlantic Coast (on a side note I happened to meet someone after that whom took RC out of Bayonne that same week and said there were 40 ft swells and it was extremely rocky).

SATURDAY -- We flew JetBlue into Port Canaveral, the day before. Easy flight but wait, are we in Florida or NY? It was 30 degrees when we arrived. I mean FREEZING. We booked Cocoa Beach Shuttle as per Cruise Critic and they were there in an assigned spot at what seemed like the end of the airport. Trip to the port was easy I guess about 45 mins. We decided to stay at the Marriott Residence Inn. All the hotels were pretty close to each other. Over the bridge you see the cruise ships to the left. The first hotel on the right is the Comfort Inn and next the Marriott. By the Marriott there is then a Burger King, a Gas station (we picked up drinks, snacks, and milk), Zachary’s restaurant and then the Radisson by the port. We arrived early around 10:30am and they were kind to allow us to check in shortly after. Nice staff. For our extended family we booked the 2 bedroom suite – around $200. It was very nice. CLEAN, new, plenty of space for the tremendous amout of stuff we seemed to have brought with us. Not sure what I was thinking but in retrospect - PACK LIGHT with children. What a cumbersome process trying to find anything! Now what to do? Can’t go swimming (the pool was real warm though). Kids are 5 and under so I’m thinking they are too young for Space center. Wait, I see a McDonalds in the distance with an indoor playground. Score! We walked though we were absolutely freezing. The playground keeps the kids busy for a while. Lots of other kids to play with. My husband and Dad went over to Zachary’s for breakfast and gave it rave reviews. We decided we would have an early dinner at the port and see the other Cruise ships off. Per other reviews it said to go at 4. We chose Fishlips for no rhyme or reason (I guess we liked the name). The restaurant is right on the water. Nice décor of ceramic painted fish. We’re told the boats will pass by but we are the only ones there? Some locals upstairs drinking at the bar so we decide to stay downstairs. Also had a live band starting around 4:30. The food was pretty good. I had chicken with rice and beans. Delicious spinach dip. The restaurant didn’t get busy until after 5 and the Carnival Dream ship didn’t pass until 5:30. So really no reason to go early. Lots of chatter about the Disney ship coming back a day late. YES, stuck in the Bahamas for 15 Ft seas. I heard they gave a percentage back to the delayed passengers and put them up at various hotels. Only problem is most Disney ones were booked so many were staying at the Comfort INN. Im thinking, oh no.. I hope we’re not going to be sea sick!!

SUNDAY – Nice breakfast at the hotel. Plenty of selections. Also booked Cocoa Beach shuttle for private transfer to the port. Only$3 each. STILL COLD but a little warmer today. Arrive at the port about 11am. They take our luggage. We go in through the various checkpoints and then we sit and wait about an hour. I hear someone saying 40 people sick on the prior ship so they are doing a thorough cleaning. We go in about 12 and it does seem a bit like herded cattle. They allow us to go in the handicap line because we have strollers. It moved a little faster. Bypassed the embarkation photo off to the Seapass photo to YES, finally get on the ship!! Its been a long 24 hours. We get a quick bite in the Windjammer. Food was fine. Basic. Toured the ship. Checked out our cabins about 1pm. We had 3 on deck 7 AFT – 7712 Jr Ste, 7499 Interior, 7702 Superior ocean view. Rooms were nice. I mean the Jr Ste AFT with its humungous balcony took the cake for sure. We put a grandparent and the 3 kids in that room. Big walk in closet. Lots of shelfs. Bathtub! Took cruise critic advice and put one of those clear over the door things. Definitely helped. Also used the big clips for the stuff outside. Didn’t worry too much about the balcony. For some reason the kids always wanted to climb on it but I did nip that in the butt immediately. Directly below was the presidential suite. Looked like it was an extended family with a few kids. I only saw them that 1st day. The interior room was a bit claustrophobic for me. The Superior Ocean view was nice. Big porthole but I loved the fresh air the balcony in our other room provided. If cost was a factor I could live with the lower class rooms.. you are never in them! Walked around the ship a little more. Very nice décor. Not tacky like I anticipated. CLEAN as can be. This ship was immaculate! Took a spa tour actually and when I went to book a spa appt around 2:30ish. It was all booked up!! I did manage to squeeze in an 8am Seaweed detox massage on the 1st Sea day (it was fantastic). It warmed up in the afternoon and the kids made a B line for the H2O zone. The water was FREEZING but there are a couple of Jacuzzis only the kids used in this area. That suited them just fine. Shortly after we had to do the drill and my kids were still in their bathing suits. Given how cold it was in the shade on the 4th deck, they kindly allowed me to sit in the lounge with the kiddies until the drill was over. There were also another handful of handicap persons sitting there. We had early dinner seating at 5:30 and there was just no way we were making in. We left the port and I’m thinking.. oh no.. it’s a bit rocky. That with the fact I’ve been unpacking 5 giant suitcases with my head down leads me to need to lie down. I’m officially sea sick! I put on my sea band and start chewing Dramamine. I manage to barely make it out of my room to the Windjammer with my head on the table slowing sipping ginger ale. The rest of the family feasts on the JADE section of the Windjammer. Not sure what they were eating. I couldn’t look at anything. I hit the sack shortly after. Thankfully I started to feel better the next day. No seasickness at all after that. Not sure if it was the sea band that helped but I didn’t take it off!

The rest of the trip I’ll just highlight.

Adventure Ocean – The kids loved it. Well most of the time - I have two 5 year olds and a 3 year old. – My 3 year old wanted to stay with us sometimes. I thought about trying to “push” the 5 year olds to the next age group but the counselor brought out a good point. There are 8 year old boys and they are well – rough. You need to consider they will be playing sports, ect. Then we thought, ok well maybe it’s best to keep the 3 of them together anyway. The week was fine and yes there were a couple of other 5 yr olds and my kids were happy but I thought it really was a bit babyish for them. Majority were preschool kids. Storytime, Dora and Diego, Superheros. In the talent show they performed the chicken dance song. I mean all perfect for my 3 year old. They didn’t complain so I just let it be but I felt it limited their potential. Some highlights of the adventure ocean program. Cococay – they combined the age groups and played on the beach. Made shell frames, did some beach games. It was a nice day. Pirate parade - they LOVED this. They got to hang out with the big kids and parade around the ship singing a very funny song. I think this was the St Thomas day. Going to the club after dinner - they were always so excited to go hang with the other kids and stay out until 10pm (many kept their kids later for the extra fee). I thought 10pm was a pretty late bedtime as it was. The kids were wiped out by this time. I saw someone else wrote the teens were ruling this ship. They were for sure! I mean up and down in the elevators. On the stairways. They were the majority and they were EVERYWHERE. Also the majority of the people on this ship this week were from NY, Boston or Canada or European. I guess all off from school at the same time. The Adventure Ocean for the little ones never even seemed crowded to me. Maybe a dozen or so kids up to 20. For the Pirate parade I know they counted 60 but that was 3 or more age groups. Other things to note about AO. The day was broken up to morning 9-12, afternoon 2-5 and evening 6:45-10 activities. You could sign them up to stay for lunch and dinner or after for a nominal fee. The morning was definitely quieter. Usually we did either the am or pm on sea days. Otherwise we spent time with the kids on shore or in the pool.

FOOD – Decent. No complaints except for Cococay and one person getting sick. They constantly sanitized everything. I mean I’ve had better and I’ve had worst. I ate pretty basic though I’m a foodie and just came back this past weekend from the wine and food fest in Miami. . WINDJAMMER - The selections seemed plentiful. The presentation was nice. Major Bonus for the kids though. I mean I feel like I saved a fortune. I must have used 60 boxes of cereal. The kids would have ice cream from the Sprinkles poolside machine a couple of times a day. It had a bit of a line but it moved. MAIN DINING - We liked sitting in there - Galileo – Deck 5, table 201 by the window. What a view – endless ocean! Even able to see the sunset one night. A table for 7. Near us was another table for 4 and across two large tables of 12+. One with Adults and one with their teens. Nice crowd. Everyone always dressed real nice. You can wear jeans but with a nice button down. Service – FABULOUS. Knew our names, would bring the kids meals first. Always ordered extra and it wasn’t a problem. I liked their Caesar salad. CHOPS - Had a nice steak. Sides were yummy. I definitely recommend. Nice atmosphere as well. For the Main Dining room - we had the early dining at 5:30 and showed up at 6 and it wasn’t a problem. It was a struggle to get there in time. I noticed always a long Queue for the time dining around 7-7:30pm. I guess advantages and disadvantages to sitting at different tables every night. We really loved our table location and the personalized attention our waiter Jose, Assistant Chen and Head Waiter Kamal gave. It made the experience really pleasant. I would also run the kids up to adventure Ocean every night when it opened at 6:45pm. ROOM SERVICE – Great - ordered coffee and pastries or whatever you might need bright and early delivered to your stateroom. SORRENTOS – Pizza okay - I mean I’m from NY and there is no better but I liked it – ate it. PROMENADE – GREAT café lattes and snacks. BEN AND JERRYS – stopped there daily in the evening with the kids after Adventure Ocean. After 2 days, the server knew us and what we wanted to order. It was $2 I think. Drink prices I also thought were reasonable. There was a water main break so many of us affected received a 15% credit. That basically wiped out all my charges and gave me cash in my pocket because we had 3 rooms. It was a little disconcerting when the main restroom outside the dining area didn’t have water to clean your hands or my cabin didn’t have water to shower off the suntan goo but I really was having a fabulous time and didn’t care too much about roughing it a little. There is also plenty of hand sanitizing stations around!

SHOWS – ARCADIA THEATRE -- We really enjoyed them. Better than I expected. YOU HAVE TO ARRIVE EARLY. We always went around 8 when the show stared at 8:30 and most of the front rows were taken. We always sat in the Mezzanine instead. Still had a great view and can get the 1st row in that section. I saw the Las Vegas Tenors – very good singing show. Marquee – which was tribute of Broadway musicals. They said it was the last one with this cast. Once upon a time. A comedy of fairytale stories. (My 3 yr old liked that one too). Drew Thomas magic – Full house for that one and honestly I didn’t see what the big deal was. He was pretty full of himself. Lots of thumping music and lights to make it exciting. I struggled to keep my eyes open. The love and Marriage game show.. very funny. 3 couples – Newlyweds, a couple married for 20 yrs and one married for 50. They would repeat it on the RC TV. Late night comedy – I forget the guy’s name but he was funny!

STUDIO B – Ice Show.. GREAT. We saw the last one I forget what day around 4:30pm. I didn’t realize you had to get tickets on the 2nd day. The concierge managed to find me tickets somehow. We arrive just before show time and had a hard time finding seats. QUEST – that was a hysterical game show type show with men wearing bras and people doing silly things. I believe the cruise director – ALLEN BROOKS – made so many things great. This was his last week on FOS. They didn’t say where he was going. PROMENADE – 70s show.. that was fun.. lots of people dancing around. CIRCUS – only 10/15mins long. Kids liked it. Started around 5:15pm so get there at least 15 mins early. I did of course with my small kids and I couldn’t believe the rude people that tried to shove them out of the way. One lady to take photos. I had to say something.. FREEDOM FEST --- Kind of a waste of time. We just finished watching the kids talent show from 11 to 11:45. So we went right there because it started at 12 and basically was just a few setups.. Antipasti by Sorrentos, Dessert area. I mean nothing that you can’t already get. Adult Karaoke 1st night was fun. A bunch of guys from NY did a lot of the entertaining. The Bull and Bear – AMAZING singer. Lots of the sing along songs like Sweet Caroline, Mony, Mony. Good Espresso Martinis. This was the best hang out on the ship. Great fun crowd. Singles to couples. Everyone singing.. really fun.

PORTS

COCOCAY – arrival early around 7am. Quick hectic breakfast and head to take the tenders around 8 or 9. No big deal. Still a little cool out. I was happy to have sun. We went early. Maybe the 2nd boat. Basically relaxed. Kids were in the club so I had a chance to start my book!! Pretty water, nice view. My daughter had her hair braided. We didn’t do much of anything. Lunch – CRAZY.. I mean long lines. Animalistic! Unfortunately after this day, someone in our party became SICK. Like quarantined to their cabin sick. We don’t know if it was the food or the drink. He had one of those souvenir drinks. Saw the nurse and basically when you are quarantined all your movies and drinks in your minibar are free. He luckily was in the interior cabin and away from us but no one else even got remotely sick. Felt better by St Thomas.

ST THOMAS

We arrived late around 11am and boy is it hot here. I think it was 84 and sunny and the heat was a nice welcome but not to the small kids. They turned beat red instantly from the heat. APPLY SUNSCREEN IN THE ROOM!! The zinc oxide kind that you can see. They all had sunburn after this day. It was nuts when we got off the ship. Lots of those taxi buses. Not sure what they are called. We decided with small children we would just pick a beach and spend the day. We decided on Lindbergh Bay – Emerald Beach by the Best Western hotel. Someone in our party was also leaving that day to go back to work (no biggie, just had to clear customs on the boat) and Lindbergh bay is near the airport. Easy flight back to NY. Cheaper actually then flying back from Orlando. We thought we walk a bit to pass the chaos and BIG MISTAKE. We couldn’t get anyone to pick us up. They wanted a full bus. I guess 20 person fare. Finally we got someone to stop that was going to downtown Charlotte and squeeze us in. I don’t remember how much but maybe 4 or 6 dollars each and kids are included. So my 3 year old had to pay. LOVED the beach. It was real nice here. Yes, true we did hear a few planes but it wasn’t a deal breaker. The hotel was so low key, not crowded. Mostly Europeans vacationing. A few people from the ship but otherwise a calm, quiet beautiful beach. The kids and adults loved it. Spent the entire day in the water. The water was like a bathtub! No problem getting a taxi back. It was 15 -20 min ride. A lot of traffic. I think it was about $7 to rent a chair. Frozen drinks were about $6. They had food for order as well but we had a late breakfast and headed back around 3pm. You do have to clear ship security going back. No problem for us because with the kids there was no shopping for us.

ST MAARTEN

Also researched ahead and picked a beach to just hang out. We chose Little Bay at the Divi resort. Much easier this time to get a taxi. Seemed more organized. Arrival was also early so it was not as hot. Quick 15 min ride to the beach. It was $25 for chairs and umbrellas. We had 3 chairs and 2 umbrellas. The set up here was nicer but the beach was a little rougher. Still calm though, warm and clear as could be. We met a family who said Mullet bay was real rough and she though Galion and the end of Orient was real nice for kids. Oh well we were already here. It really was a beautiful place. I would also consider vacationing here. The beach bar played pretty good dance music. The drinks were fresh and delicious. Food was also quite good. I ended up walking down to the end of the beach to order chicken tenders for the kids, coconut shrimp, chicken Quesadillas. Beware of Gismo the pet parrot that hangs at the bar. My kids wanted to rinse off in the shower and the bird hangs out in there. Needless to say there was a lot of screaming from both the bird and the kids. I was a little afraid he was going to peck at them. Some of the guests came in to get the bird and help us. Whew.. I think they might be afraid for a while though.

SEA DAYS

Are there really this many people on this ship? Chairs had to be saved nice and early. Hard to really get a good spot by the pool. Either your getting splashed, its shady, the music is too loud or there a too many kids running around. Chairs are tight! Watched some of the pool game stuff. Sexy legs is funny. Belly flop. Ice carving. Live music. Enjoyed hanging out watching the surf rider, rock climbing. Definitely have to come and hang out here a few times. The kids loved it. The track in the morning was also nice to walk/jog around. Beware.. can get VERY WINDY on the ship. I also noticed for us the water was calmer and air warmer when near the St Thomas and St Marten and then traveling back it got very windy and rough again on the 1st sea day. Watched the Staff vs. Guest Dodge ball… hysterical but I would say has a lot again to do with Alan Brooks. What a funny guy!

DISEMBARKING

I decided to do the luggage valet. Boy is that a great service. Its $20 per person so depending on the airline (JetBlue only charges for the 2nd bag and Its $30) It was cheaper to just do it by person. The bags arrived safely in NY. The only problem was 2 of us were flagged to check in at the airport so we had to go through the whole process of claiming luggage. It was really not that big of a deal. We found a porter to help us. I think my color said to get off at 7:20 but I waited at least to 8:30. Ate breakfast in the dining area. Also used Cocoa Beach Shuttle back to the airport (prepaid in advance). Had a 3pm flight so I booked a day pass at the Hyatt at Orlando airport. It was $89. What a great idea. Room is good from 10am to 6pm. Basically you get a luxurious room and use of the facilities. Those facilities include a gym and a rooftop heated pool with a waterfall. The added bonus was the beautiful day in Orlando on Sunday. Half my party, relaxed, showered in a normal shower and the other half swam. I highly recommend this. We were right outside security and it made the process so easy. We ran into another family with a flight around the same time and they had just been hanging around the airport all that time. Lots of shopping to be had but relaxing by a heated pool.. Hmmm… I surely would have spent more shopping.

MISC

Towels – You really do have to return them. We constantly checked that we had given there were so many in our party and then the day before disembarking there was a notice I didn’t return a towel. Hmm, I just didn’t understand. Thankfully someone in my party argued about that among a few other charges and it was no problem to get them knocked off. It seems the more you complain, the more you get if you know what I mean. Im not that type but I did overhear a few things. I also brought with me a couple from home and terry robes for the kids. Dried on the balcony daily without problem.

Laundry – did the $25 all you can fit in the bag but not sure how much it helped when I didn’t get it back until Fri night.. The day before I was leaving.

Seapass card – boy is that thing annoying. I was constantly fumbling for it and so many times had to have it replaced because it stopped opening the door. Definitely need a hole punch like the kids (they wouldn’t give it though) or some sort of holder to keep it handy.

Pictures – Definitely check em out. Some nice candid ones. Cost $10. $20 for the formal ones.

Ship shopping – Not too exciting. Basic stuff. Lots of costume jewelry also set up on the promenade.

Activities – Definitely can’t do everything and it’s too overwhelming. I mean I thought for sure we would find time for ice skating. The last sea day was open skate all day. It’s all very hectic. You really have to go with the flow. Especially with kids. I remember thinking I had to get copies of those cruise compasses and then could barely keep up even with the highlighter pen I brought.

4th floor deck outside – really nice on that level on the warm days. Also around the time the sun setting. I saw a few people sitting on chairs. Kind of like having a huge balcony.

Vintages – I never made it there. Seemed nice. Lots of wine/martini tastings on the schedule for $20.

Tipping – I guess I didn’t do my research but I didn’t expect I would have to tip the same amount for each child. I did plus some because that’s what people I met said to do. I mean as it was I paid an adult fare and they mostly ate cereal and bread and pasta with butter. I also gave extra to the AO staff.

CLOSING THOUGHTS - We’re hooked! Service to quality to cleanliness. Comfy beds. Nice crowd. Would definitely recommend and book a cruise again.

 

 

Thanks for the great review. We are booking on FOS and have a question ?

Could you please explain what is "luggage valet" ? I get the idea, but who you talk to set this up ?

 

Thank you again, Pete