Fresh off the Freedom 8 day Western

[deriam2000]

Will try to start the review with pictures tomorrow. Also feel free to ask any questions.

[jsd4224]

We sail the same trip in May. Looking forward to your review.

[Mary49]

Will try to start the review with pictures tomorrow. Also feel free to ask any questions.

 

Can't wait to see the pictures. Did you happen to see the group "Music Boardwalk"? They are my favorite, favorite band..... They do the Beatles Tribute and usually play nightly great classic rock and roll songs. Thanks Mary49

[mustanglisa06]

I'm going in June. Looking forward to your review!:)

[spencercoop]

I was on the Freedom 2 years ago and had a great time. The Freedom is a great ship.

[lmtrn2001]

We sail the same trip in May. Looking forward to your review.

 

We're on the same sailing!! Come on over to our roll call & join us.

 

Have you booked any excursions yet?? We're still trying to decide on excursions in Panama & Costa Rica.

[mek]

I was on the Freedom 2 years ago and had a great time. The Freedom is a great ship.

 

I did the Med a year ago last October on the Freedom - had a great time!

[docboy88]

need help with what to do?

[jsd4224]

We're on the same sailing!! Come on over to our roll call & join us.

 

Have you booked any excursions yet?? We're still trying to decide on excursions in Panama & Costa Rica.

 

We are traveling with 10 others ages 24 to 52.

 

We have booked the Catamaran Snorkeling Party for Cozumel, but nothing for the others yet.

[princesskristen]

I can't wait! I'll be on the Freedom in August and am especially looking forward to Costa Rica for my birthday.

[lmtrn2001]

need help with what to do?

 

We're looking at the 6-1 limon tour through Greenway

[deriam2000]

Sorry just got home from a long day at work.

 

Some information about us. We are in our mid thirties and have two kids. Although we did not bring them with us. My husband does Home Dialysis which we did while we were down there in our room.

 

We flew out Friday from ALB to FLL and were down there in three hours. The flight was smooth except for what felt like a midair stop.

 

We stayed at the Hyatt Place North which we got on Priceline for $70. You can also get it at valuetrips.com for $89 which you pay for when you get there. Also tip for those of you with Costcos. You can get a $100 gift card to Hyatt for $80.

 

We called Hyatt when we got our luggage and within 25 minutes the shuttle was there. They did say 10-15 but it wasn't too bad.

 

We got right into our room with no waiting. We were in the room by 1pm. The room was nice. They do have the air conditioner running at full blast which I immediately turned off. Which ended up being a mistake. We put our stuff down and walked over to the Harbor Shops as we were starving. Rick got some echiladas from Moes and I got a mini bacon cheeseburger at 5 guys (which is big enough). A regular is a double burger and is huge.

 

We then went back to the hotel to relax and get Rick on dialysis. When I opened our bag I noticed that one of my rum runners didn't make it and leaked through the double ziplock bags I had put them in. Luckily it was clear rum. So off to wash the clothes I went. We met up with a group from our roll call that were also staying at the hotel. It was nice talking to people from all over the country and a part of Canada. A really great group.

 

We got a 12 pk of pepsi, 3 12 pks of ultra and a bottle of absolut.

 

Oh and about the mistake with turning off the AC... When we got back to the room every thing felt wet. The humidity was so high that the AC must have been keeping it dry in there. So I would suggest to turn it down but not off. Also the rooms are really good size and for some reason I did not take a picture of the room. It has a fridge, sink chair and table along with a good size couch.

 

Saturday morning we called for a cab to be there at 10. At 10:15 when the cab still wasn't there we just used a guy that was taking people to the ship for $5 pp to go to the port.

 

BTW, if you are going to take the shuttle from the hotel to the port make sure you sign up. Sign up starts at 3pm and the spots go very fast. Each person in your party takes up a spot. I would also be down there at least 20 minutes prior.

 

Our driver had us and another couple that were on the Princess ship. So we went and dropped them off first. The Oasis was in port and as soon as we saw her we were in awe. She is really that big.

 

We were in the Freedom area within 15 minutes of leaving the hotel.

 

Ran in a little problem at the gate to the boat as the dialysis machine would not fit through the xray machine and they wanted us to check it. After about another 15 minutes of going back and forth they took it out back scanned it and brought it back so we were good to go. Had no problem with bringing the soda and juices right on with the carry on stuff.

 

Went up got our S&S cards within 10 minutes and were in the waiting room with zone 7 for about 20 minutes. They have water and bathrooms in the waiting area. Plus we had a great view of the Oasis.

 

More to come.....

[deriam2000]

need help with what to do?

 

This was by far my favorite stop. We did the Oscar Brown tour #1 and #2 combined with the Zip Line. It was amazing. If this is something that intrests you in the slightest you should do it.

[deriam2000]

I can't wait! I'll be on the Freedom in August and am especially looking forward to Costa Rica for my birthday.

 

 

Make sure that you let them know its your birthday. The cruise director has a morning show for three of the sea days. If you do a shout out on the show (you do it at guest relations) to say Happy Birthday you will get the infamous ship on a stick.

 

Any other messages you will also get something. I believe a bottle of champagne. So why not. Gotta love the free stuff.

[deriam2000]

Once we were on we were directed to Guest Services which they just wanted to let us know that they were there for us if we need anything they were there for us. It was a nice touch.

 

We went right up to the food, of course, and had some lunch. Drinks in the afternoon are lemonade, iced tea, water, coffee, tea, choc milk, skim milk and 2%.

 

Wanted to try the grill because I read on here that it was usually packed later in the week. I didn't think it was ever more than 8 people in the line. After lunch we made our way to the 7th floor where our room was. Our cabin 7335 was a handicap cabin and was midship right off the elevator. This location was perfect. The doors to the regular cabins are very small. Like turning sidewards to get in the door small.

 

Here are some pictures of our room. Loved the big shower too.

[LHP]

Glad they were able to process your machine without having to check it....

[spencercoop]

Once we were on we were directed to Guest Services which they just wanted to let us know that they were there for us if we need anything they were there for us. It was a nice touch.

 

We went right up to the food, of course, and had some lunch. Drinks in the afternoon are lemonade, iced tea, water, coffee, tea, choc milk, skim milk and 2%.

 

Wanted to try the grill because I read on here that it was usually packed later in the week. I didn't think it was ever more than 8 people in the line. After lunch we made our way to the 7th floor where our room was. Our cabin 7335 was a handicap cabin and was midship right off the elevator. This location was perfect. The doors to the regular cabins are very small. Like turning sidewards to get in the door small.

 

Here are some pictures of our room. Loved the big shower too.

 

Did you bring the boxes on the ship that are under the sink, or were they there when you got there?

[deriam2000]

Our luggage was still not at our room and it was time to go to the Muster Drill. Which you do not have to have your life jacket for. The muster drill is on deck 4 and the letter that you are to go to is on your S&S card or on the back of your door in your room. There was not much communication on what or where you were supposed to go until after the drill was started. And then I think it would have been very confusing for first time cruisers.

 

The drill lasted about 20 minutes and then it was off to meet the rest of the roll call from CC were we met some more great people. Some brought some trinkets from home for the rest of the group which was nice. This should have been sailaway time but we did not leave on time.

 

At 5 they have a drawing in the spa for some free spa treatments so I excused myself and went up there which when I told another couple where we were going they also came. And Hmmm they won. Go figure. Haha. She won the hot stone massage and said it was wonderful. Glad it was someone I knew at least. There were a lot more people in there than I thought there would be.

 

We still hadn't set sail yet and everyone was starting to thin out so we decided to go back to the room to see if our bags were there and they finally were. WooHoo. Unpacked and this is what our room looked like after. As soon as we started unpacking we started moving so I did go up on the deck and waved to all those ashore for a little bit and then back to finish unpacking.

 

After unpacking our stuff we were ready to go to dinner. Which we did the Any Time Dining. This was our first experience with the ATD.

 

We received a pager and was told it would be about 10 minutes. As soon as we walked up the stairs the pager went off and we had to go back. The pager works all over the ship except for the casino and your room.

 

For appatizer I had the Chicken Fingers and Rick had the shrimp cocktail. I also had the Ceaser Salad. We both got the Flat Iron Steak for our Main Course. For dessert Rick had the creme brule while I had the much awaited Choc warming cake. Which I may have hyped myself up too much for. The food was medicore at best. Attached are pictures from dinner.

 

Ricks pictures from his camera are too big to fit so once I have them on snapfish or another site I will post the link so you can see the rest. I will still continue to upload my pics though.

 

The remainder of the night we had a couple of drinks and went to bed.

 

Will continue tomorrow night with Day#2 At Sea.

[deriam2000]

Did you bring the boxes on the ship that are under the sink, or were they there when you got there?

 

They are for my husbands dialysis and were sitting outside our cabin when we got to go in the room at 1pm. We had to put them inside the cabin. This is the best place we could put them that they would be out of the way. Worked out very well.

[lmtrn2001]

They are for my husbands dialysis and were sitting outside our cabin when we got to go in the room at 1pm. We had to put them inside the cabin. This is the best place we could put them that they would be out of the way. Worked out very well.

 

Hey,

Thanks for the review!! We're leaving on Freedom May 8th!! Can't wait for the next installment!!:D

 

Also, I'm a Dialysis Nurse & I'm so glad to see that ya'll are not letting it keep you from traveling!!! My patients have this mentality of "I guess I'm stuck & can't go & do anything now that I'm on Dialysis!!" It's hard to convince them otherwise!!

 

Take Care!!

[Tiffany1203]

Did you just pack the beer and mixers in your suitcase?

 

Looking forward to the rest of your review!

[LINANRIC]

My brother in law is on diaylsis and I am trying to talk him into going on a cruise.. This is a great review. My dh and myself will be sailling on her in Sept. What is the senerity area like?

[deriam2000]

Did you just pack the beer and mixers in your suitcase?

 

Looking forward to the rest of your review!

 

 

Tiffany, we did pack them in the check suit case. The beer was packed in our clothes each one seperately with the sides, bottom and top just clothes to brace them for any impact. The rum runners we put inside several ziploc bags and then within our clothes. We brought the leftovers back home as well with no problem.

[deriam2000]

My brother in law is on diaylsis and I am trying to talk him into going on a cruise.. This is a great review. My dh and myself will be sailling on her in Sept. What is the senerity area like?

 

Serenity is nice. Although I don't think that I would put my head on a pillow that other people have been sleeping on. And I saw people all the time on them. The seats are padded but I would still use a towel. It was quiet and as long as there is someone at the counter they will keep the kids out. They were a couple of times that I saw some in there but as soon as they noticed they kicked them out.

 

I had read that the hot tubs were not hot. Well when I was in there they were so hot I couldn't even sit in it. I was wondering why I always saw people with just their legs in it and then when I got in I knew why.

[tweety33]

Can't wait to see the pictures. Did you happen to see the group "Music Boardwalk"? They are my favorite, favorite band..... They do the Beatles Tribute and usually play nightly great classic rock and roll songs. Thanks Mary49

 

We were on this same cruise, and loved that group, we went to the Club called swing, several nights to watch them. They are fabulous, the keyboard player was very entertaining, he kept acting up like a monkey, silly moves, dancing, very funny. They also played up on deck during the deck party night. I mentioned how good they were on the comment card.