FOS Review 3/14 - 3/21

[beardsbh]

Departed from Port Canaveral after a one way rental from the airport (Thrifty - easy rental and easy trip down to Port Canaveral -- straight shot to the strip w/the hotels) DON'T get the Easy Pass/Toll saver program from the rental agency - there are only a couple of tolls and less than the $6 rental fee.

 

We arrived early (1030) and knew the room at the Radisson wouldnt be available until later, so we drove to Cocoa Beach, Ron Jon, Harley Davidson, etc. Had lunch at the SHARK HUT, inside one of the surf shops near Ron Jon - good lunch, sandwiches, salads, etc. Checked into Radisson around 2, sat by the pool, no complaints - 2 adults 2 teenagers had the 1 BR suite, PLENTY of room, whirlpool, fridge....

 

Dinner at the pier at FISHLIPS - highly recommended - great food and fun atmosphere - warning - if you have small children and eat in the bar, it is LOUD.

 

Embarkation day was a breeze, Radisson is a couple miles from Thrifty, dropped the car off and they brought me back -- WHEN BOOKING YOUR HOTEL MAKE SURE YOU RESERVE A SPOT ON THE HOTEL'S SHUTTLE TO THE SHIP - a couple of people were looking around waiting to get on, and weren't reserved.

 

Boarding the boat was very easy, quicker than I thought it would take - went right to our room (GS - 1560) and 3 out of 5 pieces of luggage were already there, and we met our attendant, Lystra....

 

Did some recon to find where everything was and unpacked.

 

Day 1 Cocoa Cay was cancelled due to rough seas (watched the tender get tossed around like a cork...) so we spent it crusing to nowhere, there was too much cruise traffic in St Thomas to get in early.

 

We ate each morning at the Windjammer, typical buffet food, just add the fresh fruit - lots of options, not impressed.

 

Mornings and afternoons at the pool -- If you're on the Concierge level, there are approximately 100 chairs roped off near the stairs.

 

Lunch was usually WJ, or we'd go down to the Promenade for a piece of pizza or sandwich from the deli/coffee shop - IMO - better than the buffet.

 

3 days at sea....pool, casino, gym - Fitness center is great.

 

We at the MDR only 3 times for dinner - small portions, great service, ok food - if it was an "at home" place, I don't think we'd go back, unless the entrees were $9.95....

 

2 nights @ Chops - If we couldhave eaten there every night, we would have, fine dining, great service.

 

2 nights @ Johnny Rockets - service charge of $5 per person, and you pay for shakes/malts, but worth it - not a lot of customers each time we went but good food.

 

 

St Thomas - We mistakenly walked all the way AROUND the exit to the shops (Louis Vuitton, Coach, etc - if you want a nice coffee - BAD ASS COFFEE - that's the name and it is BAD ASS - although the coffee on board was good as well) - Don't exit the terminal, just walk to the front - We then took a shuttle downtown - you're not missing much, lots of jewelry shops, no real deals, name brand items Rolex, David Yurman etc aren't discounted, but you do save the sales tax - Lots of coupons for free gemstones and necklaces etc. great for teenagers...) $8 shuttle to Magens Bay - nice beach, but shouldn't be in the top 10 in the area - short beach area, dirty, lots of trees and more shuttles than people - one nice thing, our driver did wait a couple of hours for us to goo back to the boat. Water was warm, not rocky bottom.

 

St Maarteen -Spent the monring at the LOTRIE Treetop zip line - 25 minute shuttle from the boat -what a great time, other than being 90 degrees.... if you have any sense of adventure, do it - it's less than 50 feet off the ground.....afternoon after a quick change Water taxi $6 round trip all day -- beach is 5 minutes from taxi and taxi was a 5 minute walk from the boat. Take the water taxi rather than a cab - Beach was PERFECT, clean, warm, no rocks. Beach hawkers will offer you chairs and umbrellas, they get cheaper the farther you walk from the pier - They started at $25 for 4 chairs, to $12 for 4 chairs and an umbrella. They have jet skis and banana boat rides (we didn't..) watched a family of 8 get an aloe vera massage for $10, looked worth it.. My two girls regretted not doing it... Fire House bar/grill right there, the runners will get them for you or just walk 25 feet to get them yourselves - WEAR SHOES or FLIP FLOPS - the boardwalk concrete is rough and hot (burned my feet) -

 

Last couple of days at sea, casino, pool, medical evacuation (Alpha, Alpha, Alpha - I have a video of part of it, email if you want to see it)

 

Departing the ship was so easy, went to our designated area for breakfast, ate and it was time to leave, 15 minutes to get our luggage, and on our way back to Thrifty for a o/w rental to Orlando - We used F/F miles and stayed at the Hilton Grand Vacation resort off I-Drive - 2 br/ bath w/whirlpoool, full kitchen, 2 tv's - great place, especially if you were spending time in Orlando - 20 minutes to Airport, easy drop off and flight back to PVD left 15 minutes late, but arrived 40 minutes early.... Always nice to come home, but wish we could have brought our attendant home with us -

[fubarsbabe]

Sounds like a great cruise, good to hear chops is so great looking forward to trying it.

[amyphil]

Nice report. We' going on the FOS in July..interesting to hear about the shops in St.Thomas. We're thinking of going to Emerald Beach in ST. What was the name of the beach you went to in St. Martin...

Thanks for the info.

Amy:)

[beardsbh]

Great Bay Beach...I tried to upload pics but file sizes are too big...

[yogimax]

Thanks for the review. Our favorite ship is Liberty which is just about identical with Freedom.

[mgoble]

I am leaving this Sunday and staying in 1560. Did you have any noise from above at night?

[beardsbh]

very quiet. I had read reports that there could be noise from the Tub above, but I didn't notice anything. Lystra Drake should be your suite attendant, she's GREAT! If you remember, tell her Lindsey and Anna miss her!!!!

[scooter90]

Thanks for your review -- we are going on the Freedom on Sunday and looking forward to it. I've heard they sometimes have to bypass Coco Cay -- I'm hoping we don't miss it on our cruise. One of my office mates was on the FOS in February and she said the beach there is wonderful!

 

Did you spend any time in the Solarium area?

 

We're also staying at the Radisson and wondered how the hotel is holding up -- we were there 3 years ago, but I've read some postings that it needs to be refurbished.

[beardsbh]

Radisson was in decent shape, only thing worth mentioning is that in the am, it is CHAOS...people, luggage, etc.

 

Don't think I mentioned the medical evac on the 2nd to last day - I've got a video if anyone's interested...