Freedom of the Seas - 9/5/2010 Review with Pictures

[MyNameIsGermy]

We are back home now and back to work from the September 5th sailing of the Freedom of the Seas out of Port Canaveral, Florida.

 

We headed out later in the afternoon on Saturday, September 4th and headed over to the other coast. We arrived at the Radisson early that evening, checked in and ate a not-so-great dinner at their restaurant. The hotel itself is nice and features mostly renovated rooms, which are much better than the older rooms. Not sure how far along on that project they are, but it looks like they are almost all done by now. We wondered around a bit and then went back to the room and fell asleep. We were woken up around 2 a.m. by a very loud Hispanic lady shouting at some local police officers to take her to jail because she “didn’t give a fudge”… that became very clear and it appeared the officers complied with her wishes and we went back to bed.

 

We woke up on Saturday around 8:00 a.m. and started to get ready to head to the port. We needed to run some errands first and had plenty of time to do so. We arrived at the port around 10:45 and they were already loading folks on the ship.

 

This is a picture we took of her anchored off of Grand Cayman – she is a beauty!

 

 

Parking is easy in Port Canaveral, you simply drop off your luggage and park in the garage. You now pay at the end of the cruise, rather than at the beginning.

 

We cleared security, checked in using the Suite’s line and were on the boat in less than 15 minutes. We headed straight to the Windjammer and in honor of Trainman-2, I ate a plate full of Honey Stung Chicken. It was hit-n-miss, but mostly very good. Suite guests are allowed to dine in Chops and Portofino’s after getting food from the Windjammer. Not sure why we were so thrilled with this, but let me tell you, it was fantastic.

 

After overdosing on honey-stung–chicken, we decided to sneak up to our suite and drop off our bags. We got in and out without being detected. We had Grand Suite 1252 and our attendant was Adriana. She was fantastic – put the beds together, emptied the fridge and grabbed me two lounge chairs for the balcony in no time flat.

 

 

If you haven’t done a suite in the past, it’s worth it. We’ve been pretty loyal to the grand suites, as they are just the right size at just the right price!

 

After our covert mission, we headed down to the Royal Promenade and explored its many wonders. We’ve seen a ton of TV shows, showing off the Promenades’ in the past, but it just doesn’t do it justice. It was amazing. We spent the next hour or two wondering aimlessly around the ship, just marveling at it.

 

Muster drill was quick and painless. We headed to the Concierge lounge to introduce ourselves to Amit, who is in charge there. Nice guy, bent over backwards to take care of us, though we didn’t find the lounge itself of much use.

 

We departed Port Canaveral a few minutes late, the Carnival ship beat us to the punch!

 

 

We did the My Time Dining for this trip. We had Alicia from Trinidad as our waitress and she was fantastic. The food the first night was good – I had the prime rib and my partner had something which is escaping my mind at the moment. I finally tried the onion tart thing… man, I can’t believe I’ve been missing that all this time. It was FANTASTIC!!

 

The dining room on this ship is beautiful, although the My Time Dining area is pretty crowded. I think they’re still working out some kinks there.

 

 

After dinner, we explored the Casino (and won!) and then made our way over to the Schooner bar.

 

We've never been fans of Piano bars but this place was a lot of fun. Kory Simon was on board and he is amazingly talented and funny. I never thought I’d find myself wanting to do down to Schooner’s each night, but every night he was performing, we stopped in for a while.

 

That night was the Party around the World parade, it was ok, but pretty cheesy. The crew members didn’t look too excited about being there either.

[MyNameIsGermy]

Day Two – At Sea

 

This was an utterly lazy day… we slept in until about 10a, hurried to get breakfast and then spent the rest of the day wondering around.

 

We discovered the FlowRider in the early afternoon and spent many hours there watching folks. It was a lot of fun!

 

 

We saw the Freedom-Ice.com show (another perk of suite guests, not waiting in line for tickets and having your own seating area in the theater). The show was good, more than what I expected from a cruise line ice show. A few trips and falls, but overall, a good show.

 

Cooking demonstration:

 

 

For dinner, we ate at Chops. That was an interesting experience. Our food was good, service was lacking. The poor folks next to us had an even worse time. They brought this lady 3 different filets and none of them were cooked correctly. She ordered medium rare, the first one came out well done and I mean WELL DONE. It was like leather. The next one they brought out was almost raw, barely even browned on the outside. I laughed out loud when she cut in to it and you could see it wasn’t even luke-warm inside. After that, she gave up… seriously, if you can’t get a steak cooked correctly in a steakhouse, where can you get one?! Like I said, our food was good, service wasn’t so great. Folks in Chops seemed a bit overworked and really not able to manage the amount of tables they had. We had our drink order taken 3 times and our meal order taken twice. Now, nothing to gripe about, but I wanted both orders of steak! Haha.

 

Back to the casino (won some more!) and off to Schooner Bar with Kory.

[MyNameIsGermy]

Day Three – Labadee, Haiti

 

We woke up around 9:30a and headed over to the Concierge’s lounge in order to meet Amit for an escort on to the Island. This was another pretty cool perk for suite guests. We had rented a cabana on Labadee, W1.

 

The island itself is amazing, though it is incredibly hot this time of year. Our cabana was fantastic and well worth the money. The upgraded buffet lunch was pretty darn good too… can’t complain about NY Strips, marinated chicken and seafood skewers. Everything was damn good.

 

 

 

 

We headed back to the ship around 4p and got back on quickly. We headed over to the Solarium to jump in the pool and cool off. It felt fantastic – very cool water, which was exactly what I needed. I may have snuck over to the ice cream machine, then headed back to the room to get showered and cleaned up.

 

We went to the early showing of Drew Thomas, the magician. He was pretty good – we had seen him previously on America’s Got Talent and really liked him there as well. The show was well done.

 

We then went to dinner at Portofino’s. The food was the best I’ve had in quite a long time – it was wonderful. The service was about the same as it was in Chops. The deserts there are just amazing!

[MyNameIsGermy]

Day Four – Ochos Rios, Jamaica

 

Not much to say about this port, the place is a dump. We got off the boat and walked around for a while. Had someone hang from the pier and offer me some mary jane. It’s time for RCI to put a fork in this port and find someplace nicer to go.

 

 

We wandered around the ship quite a bit and spend some more time at the Flow Rider, watching folks shorten their lifespan.

 

As it was time to depart, we spent some time laughing at the folks who were making desperate runs for the ship.

 

After departing, we got cleaned up and ready for dinner. Back to Alicia in My Time Dining. I love this woman, she is darn good at her job. Food was good and service was excellent.

 

We went to see Kory at the Schooner bar for a bit and then ended up at the Love and Marriage show – I laughed so hard I literally cried.

[MyNameIsGermy]

Day Five – Grand Cayman

 

Now this is a beautiful port – wondered around and shopped quite a bit at the port. No hassles, no drug dealers, very relaxed. Tender was empty going out to the Island and empty getting back. I don’t think there were more than 20 people on the tenders in either direction.

 

 

 

I had to head down to Guest Relations to check on sea pass question I had. When I got down to their area, there was a younger couple who was just berating the poor lady at the desk. It appears they missed the ship in Ochos Rios and were pissed that the ship didn’t wait for them. They were both belligerent jerks. They pissed me off, so I not-so-politely told them that when the Captain said to be back on the boat, he's not screwing around, he means be back on the boat and there is nothing this poor lady could do about it, since she lacks the ability to wrestle the controls from the Captain. They finally left – what dopes.

 

Before dinner we saw the comedian, Bobby Collins. He sucked – needs to find a new line of work.

 

We did MTD dinning again with Alicia, food and service was again spectacular.

 

Schooner bar with Kory and then to the Late Night Adult Comedy Club with Graham Seymor. I didn’t have high hopes for this, but have to tell you, he was pretty funny. Good show, albeit a bit short.

[MyNameIsGermy]

Day Six – Cozumel, Mexico

 

Nothing bad to say about Cozumel, just been there way too many times. We were going to head over to our favorite spot, Playa Uvas, but just decided to wonder the town a bit. Did some shopping and then headed back to the ship.

 

 

My partner finally decided to try out the Flow Rider and he got hooked fast – I think we spent 3-4 hours there. He had a blast and I had a lot of fun watching folks.

 

We ate dinner at Johnny Rocket’s, not a big fan there, won’t do that again. The cheese on the hamburgers was just awful. Tried some chicken strips, they were pretty good.

 

We didn’t do any shows this night, played in the casino (and won, again!) and then went to the Schooner bar before calling it a night.

[MyNameIsGermy]

Day Seven – At Sea

This is the depression day – the day I dread. Packing and coming to the realization that it’s over – time to head back to the real world.

 

We woke up a bit early, as we had been invited to do the bridge tour. This was pretty amazing – glad we got invited and will look forward to doing this again.

 

 

After the bridge tour, we grabbed breakfast and spent the day just lounging around the ship. Watching the FlowRider for a few more hours

 

We did some shopping on board and MTD with Alicia, another good meal and fantastic service!

 

After dinner we spent some time at Schooner’s lounge with Kory before finally agreeing we needed to finish packing and getting ready for disembarkation.

 

Off to bed.

[MyNameIsGermy]

Day Eight – Port Canaveral

 

Had a bit of a rocky morning, got up around 2:30 and the boat was rocking pretty good coming up the coast. I went back to sleep pretty quickly and woke up around 5 to finish packing and getting ready to get off the ship.

 

We left the room around 7:15 and were in the car and on our way home by 7:30. Customs is always hit-n-miss, but this was a great experience. We blasted through, grabbed our mountains of luggage and were on our way home!

[MyNameIsGermy]

Some quick ship notes:

 

The ValidFill dispensers are now on board and working, though it appeared the only cups that worked were the ones delivered to the staterooms. Folks who bought them once on board, didn’t have any luck with the machines, at least from what we saw. This is a most excellent addition to the ship; we made heavy use of it. Someone had previously said there was a 20 minute “waiting” period between fill ups, this was not the case on Freedom.

 

 

 

The ship was 99.5% full according to the officer on the bridge tour. We wondered where the heck everyone was – the ship always seems so empty, except when the theaters let out. I have heard people say this in the past, but it was true, at times it was like we were on board with only a handful of people!

 

 

Chair Hogs – don’t get me started on this. The last day at sea, we went to sit down and watch the FlowRider folks… stood around for exactly 25 minutes before I finally wandered over to a bunch of abandoned towels and a hat, covering half of one of the benches. I consolidated it to one area and this rather large woman came over and just pitched a fit. It was a pretty cute temper tantrum; I know the folks sitting around me got a good laugh out of her and how ridiculous she was.

 

 

Dining room dress – I was amazed at some of the things we saw. With that said, aside from formal night, I wore a nice pair of jeans, dress shoes and a dress shirt each night. We saw quite a few shorts, wife beaters and cowboy hats all over the dining room. On formal night, a couple sitting next to us came in with the man wearing camo shorts, a wife beater, flip flops and a baseball cap. I got a chuckle out of it.

 

 

Summary

 

The trip was fantastic. We were a bit worried about the weather, but we never saw a drop of rain the entire time. The suite was great, as were the perks that came with it. The service, overall, was very good. This was our first time on this long of a cruise and this big of a ship. The largest ship prior to this was Grandeur of the Seas and it was a 4 night cruise. I love the bigger ships and I think the 7 night itinerary is just the right amount of time for us. I know there were some folks from our M&M that were doing a B2B, I think that would have been too long for me, but hope they had a blast.

 

Looking forward to trying Oasis and Allure, but would love to do Freedom of the Seas again!

 

.

[setsail]

Nice pics

[jobsite]

Nice pictures! BTW in your flow rider picture you captured my son waiting in line. He's 9 and got a big kick out it. I couldn't agree with you more on the suite amenities. We loved getting the extra service and I too think the suites are worth the extra expense. Don't know if you knew, but suite guests had a special breakfast hosted by Amit in the Cielo dining room on day 8 and that too was fantastic. Can't wait to go again!:)

[MyNameIsGermy]

Nice pictures! BTW in your flow rider picture you captured my son waiting in line. He's 9 and got a big kick out it. I couldn't agree with you more on the suite amenities. We loved getting the extra service and I too think the suites are worth the extra expense. Don't know if you knew, but suite guests had a special breakfast hosted by Amit in the Cielo dining room on day 8 and that too was fantastic. Can't wait to go again!:)

 

Funny on the FlowRider - I know who you're talking about, he was really good on it! He looks like a younger version of my nephew, so he really stuck out of the crowd for us.

 

Amit called us about the breakfast, but we skipped it due to the drive home.

[yogimax]

Love your photos!!!! Thank you for posting!

[jobsite]

If you don't mind me asking, how long was the bridge tour? was it interesting? Do you get to ask questions? It's hard for me to fathom how those engines can move 160 tons so gracefully.

[jennbngl]

We did MTD dinning again with Alicia, food and service was again spectacular.

 

You didn't happen to get a picture with Alicia, did you? We were on Freedom last year and we had a great DR attendant, her name was Alicia and we were hoping she would be on Oasis when we sail (September 25).

 

If it is the same one, she is awesome!! We loved her!

[Tony1865]

We, too, had a great time ... I can see my bald head on the far left of the photo of the cooking demo. Can't believe we missed the meet & mingle. Duh.

[ddsdoc]

sorry if i missed this, but what is the valid fill dispenser???? how does it work???:confused:

[mbjonsn]

Great reveiw and pictures. Thanks so much for taking the time!

[MyNameIsGermy]

If you don't mind me asking, how long was the bridge tour? was it interesting? Do you get to ask questions? It's hard for me to fathom how those engines can move 160 tons so gracefully.

 

It was about 1/2 hour - it was great, they took the time to answer all of the questions we had and were very friendly folks, even though I continually insisted on finding the button that would point the ship back to Labadee. :D

[MyNameIsGermy]

You didn't happen to get a picture with Alicia, did you? We were on Freedom last year and we had a great DR attendant, her name was Alicia and we were hoping she would be on Oasis when we sail (September 25).

 

If it is the same one, she is awesome!! We loved her!

 

Sorry, no pictures, I try to avoid taking pictures with the crew, to be honest.

 

Not sure how to describe her, she was a shorter woman with her hair pulled back and wore gold rimmed glasses.

 

She is staying on the Freedom for as far as I know, she didn't mention moving to another ship.

[MyNameIsGermy]

sorry if i missed this, but what is the valid fill dispenser???? how does it work???:confused:

 

Just like the picture shows, it's a soda machine up on the pool deck. If you purchase the soda package, you get a cup that will automatically activate the machine and dispense soda. It wont work with any other cup, we saw many try.

 

This was the first sailing on the Freedom where it worked and it seemed to be limited to folks who had pre-paid for the soda cards, as they had slightly different cups than the folks who paid on board. I think that was just for that sailing, though I could be wrong about that.

[ED MARY ANN]

Wonderful review and great pictures

[Tyler80]

Great photos and review. Thanks for posting. Man that Carnival ship is UGLY! Glad I'll be sailing on Freedom of the Seas!! :D

[jennbngl]

Sorry, no pictures, I try to avoid taking pictures with the crew, to be honest.

 

Not sure how to describe her, she was a shorter woman with her hair pulled back and wore gold rimmed glasses.

 

She is staying on the Freedom for as far as I know, she didn't mention moving to another ship.

 

That sounds like our attendant. Kinda short, hair pulled back. Bummer, but lucky you. A friend was going to try to request her or Oasis, but I didn't think it would work.

 

Thanks for responding!

[MyNameIsGermy]

Great photos and review. Thanks for posting. Man that Carnival ship is UGLY! Glad I'll be sailing on Freedom of the Seas!! :D

 

LOL - we were on the Helipad watching it leave and we kept saying the same thing. It really is an ugly ship.