Live from the Freedom of the Seas - March 18, 2012

[Daghis]

What excursions will you be doing?

We have three excursions planned:

• High Tea at Good Hope Great House (Jamaica)
  
• Stingray City and Barrier Reef Snorkel (Grand Cayman)
  
• Dolphin Push, Pull and Swim, Manatee Interaction at Chankanaab (Cozumel)

[mikemike404]

Hey Marc, just wondering what do you mean by configuring your iPad? I'm sailing on Freedom April 22nd and would like to post a live review as well. With as many cruises as you have been on, mine will probably not be as good but I love reading reviews and would like to share mine. Have a kick a~# trip and travel safe.

 

Mike

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[Daghis]

The tricky part of my iPad configuration is that I wanted to be able to upload photos. In order to do that to my web gallery, I needed to "jailbreak" my iPad and install an add-on that allows me to use Safari to select photos to upload, just like if I were on a computer, except that instead of selecting a file from my hard drive, I'm selecting a picture from my photo library.

 

I get photos onto the iPad using the Apple Camera Connection Kit to copy the pictures from my camera's SD card.

 

Other than that, for regular web surfing and posting and such, that worked just fine without jailbreaking it. I've used (and probably will use again this time) Tapatalk to access the forum in a bandwidth-friendly fashion over the ship's wifi.

[vivavegas]

Have a great trip!!!

[Pichu21]

You can upload photos using Tapatalk even though I've never actually tried it..

[Daghis]

As I understand it, the photo uploading feature of Tapatalk uploads the pictures as attachments to the forum, and those get resized quite small. I like my pictures to be more easily visible.

[kuddles14]

Marc, if you get a chance when you are in Labadee, could you take a picture of the hillside cabanas on Nellies beach. Could you also let me know how many they have and how's the location?

Kathy

[E&B]

Can't wait to read the review of everything!!!!!! We're doing the same cruise, but not until August. Also staying at the Residence Inn and doing rental cars both ways, and also doing the Dolphin Push, Pull and Swim. :D:D:D

[DonnaK]

Hi Marc! I remember you from our Allure cruise last August!

 

Have a great time on Freedom!

 

Residence Inn is our favorite hotel in the area, so I know you'll enjoy your stay there! (My favorite restaurant in the area is A NY Pizza House which is diagonally across from Ron Jon's - reasonably priced, family-style, casual Italian, and non-touristy )

[Daghis]

Hello from Pittsburgh International Airport!

 

We are all checked in and waiting for our plane to arrive for departure in about an hour. Security here was pretty light and reasonably quick, so getting here as early as I did probably wasn't necessary, but far better to be safe than sorry.

[bikergal78]

What cabin did you end up getting? See you on the ship ;)

[Tricia1972]

Bon Voyage!

[Smokey Mountain Tim]

Marc, I would be very greatfull if you could post what the "theme or title" of every night's dinner is (or what your entree was). This way I would know when to reserve one of the speciality restaurants. Thanks in advance for posting the compass' as well when you return. Have a safe journey.

[melodie12]

We have not got My Time Dining and are now a bit concerned that we could be sitting down to our meal at 5.30 pm which is far too early. We thought it would be 6.30 pm. We wanted to eat earlier enough and still be able to go off and see any show that might be happening.

 

Also, can you let us know, do we just book the shows when we board the ship or can we do it in advance?

[will773]

Hope you are settled into your hotel. Have a great trip! I'll be "cruising along with you" all week!

[LookingForward2]

Also from the Pittsburgh area and have just booked Freedom for September. Will be awaiting your reports as this will be our first time on the Freedom class ship.

 

I have the pricing bookmarked with a special website that checks daily to let me know if the price has dropped. I'm in an OV now but would love to change over to the balcony room.

 

Enjoy each and every minute of your trip!

[Daghis]

Hello from Cape Canaveral, Florida!

 

The flight down from Pittsburgh was really quite pleasant. The weather during the flight was fantastic and the air was smooth. We landed at Orlando International Airport about fifteen minutes. I'm glad, too, because we ended up spending that time trying to get our stuff and get out.

 

Baggage claim took longer than I had expected. I think we were waiting about half an hour before our bags showed up. They did arrive intact, though, so that's fine.

 

Then there was a delay in getting the rental car. I'm a "FastBreak" member with Budget (apparently -- I wasn't sure), but even that took about ten to fifteen minutes to get the car. I guess the people ahead of us had more complex situations to handle. My own reservation only took a few minutes before we were sent on our way to the car. We ended up with a very nice Nissan Altima. I was thrilled that it has keyless ignition like my cars at home do. I really like that feature.

 

So, then we were on our way! The drive was uneventful. I'll note that there was one toll booth for $1.50 shortly after the airport. There's another tollbooth a bit further down that's almost open; it opens on Monday (March 19). The signs said that the toll will be unchanged, but I don't know what the toll had been there before.

 

We arrived in the Port Canaveral area shortly before 4:00, so instead of heading to the hotel, we went to Rusty's Seafood and Oyster Bar for a late lunch/early dinner. We got there at a great time as there was still some outdoor seating and we were then able to watch three ships set sail while we had our dinners.

 

Norwegian Sun

 

Carnival Dream

 

and Disney Magic

 

and behind the Disney Magic is Goofy painting away

 

I had the Seafood Gumbo (a bit spicy and very yummy) and the "Surf and Turf" (steak with fried, breaded shrimp). It was all very good. Bryan had Rusty's Scampi (shrimp scampi with mushrooms, spinach, and something else I don't recall) over capellini. We followed up these delicious dinners with the Strawberry Shortcake (his) and Baked Brownie à la Mode (mine).

 

All in all, it was a fantastic meal and it was great to watch these beautiful ships heading out to open water.

[Daghis]

Having had a wonderful dining experience, it was time to head to the hotel. I was surprised it was as close and as easy to get to as it was. The Residence Inn was just a mile away. We basically hopped onto the main road and there it was ahead of us.

 

We got checked in very quickly by a very friendly gentleman at the front desk and then headed up to our room.

 

It's a very nice room, and I'm very pleased with the choice to stay here. It's a two room setup, with a living room/kitchen combination and a separate bedroom with attached bathroom.

 

Here's the view from the door to the room:

 

The bedroom:

 

The kitchen area:

 

We don't have a view of the port area, but that's okay. I think we'll be able to see the ships tomorrow perhaps from a better vantage point. ;)

 

One downside... the hotel's internet connection isn't working, either the wired or wireless. We mentioned it to the guy at the front desk and he said that they knew about it and were waiting to hear back from their IT guy. Fortunately, my iPad has 3G service, so I'm continuing on just fine.

 

We also took a bit of a walk to the Racetrac gas station which has a mini-mart inside to pick up some soda to enjoy in the hotel room. One could theoretically pick up some from here quite easily to bring onboard. The 2-liter bottles were $2 apiece. I didn't check to see what the cans were.

 

So, you are now caught up with my adventure thus far.

 

We haven't yet made specific plans for tomorrow morning. I'm thinking that we'll return the rental car around 10:00 and get their shuttle over to the pier. That should get us there by 11:00, depending on how much of a wait there is for the shuttle.

 

More to come, of course!

[bikergal78]

NCL Sun was the first ship I sailed on... What a good picture you got of her :D

 

Not sure you saw me ask prior in this thread. What luck did you have on your guarantee? I hope you got a good location :p

 

PS. I will see you on the ship...

[Daghis]

Marc, if you get a chance when you are in Labadee, could you take a picture of the hillside cabanas on Nellies beach. Could you also let me know how many they have and how's the location?

Although the cabanas weren't available when I looked online as we had waited too long, but we're going to inquire at the Explorations desk to see whether there are any available to get on the ship. If so, I'll be taking lots of photos and sharing them.

 

We have not got My Time Dining and are now a bit concerned that we could be sitting down to our meal at 5.30 pm which is far too early. We thought it would be 6.30 pm. We wanted to eat earlier enough and still be able to go off and see any show that might be happening.

 

Also, can you let us know, do we just book the shows when we board the ship or can we do it in advance?

 

Well, it does seem as though Royal Caribbean is shifting the dining schedule earlier by half an hour these days from what I've read here. We have My Time Dining, so it's not an issue for us, although I tend to prefer to eat earlier anyway, so that wouldn't be an impediment for me.

 

Yes, you can reserve your entertainment in advance on the web site. This is available for the Freedom of the Seas as well as the Oasis-class ships and I think the Liberty of the Seas also. If you don't do that, then I've read that they don't have reservations available after you board, but I'm not sure about that.

 

NCL Sun was the first ship I sailed on... What a good picture you got of her :D

 

Not sure you saw me ask prior in this thread. What luck did you have on your guarantee? I hope you got a good location :p

Thanks! My camera does seem to get good shots once in a while. I really like it. (It's a Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS7. I'd love to upgrade to the new DMC-ZS20, but it's not out yet.)

 

You may have missed in my first post where I mentioned that we did get a balcony room, category D2. It's on deck 9, port-aft section. It looks to be fairly convenient to the elevator area.

[luv2cruiserccl]

If u want a great place for dinner or lunch try fishlips near the port omg its awesome

 

Sent from my BlackBerry 9630 using Tapatalk

[clott]

Rusty's is much better than fish lips. Or u can try grills. They are great and live bands

[luv2cruiserccl]

Although the cabanas weren't available when I looked online as we had waited too long, but we're going to inquire at the Explorations desk to see whether there are any available to get on the ship. If so, I'll be taking lots of photos and sharing them.

 

 

 

Well, it does seem as though Royal Caribbean is shifting the dining schedule earlier by half an hour these days from what I've read here. We have My Time Dining, so it's not an issue for us, although I tend to prefer to eat earlier anyway, so that wouldn't be an impediment for me.

 

Yes, you can reserve your entertainment in advance on the web site. This is available for the Freedom of the Seas as well as the Oasis-class ships and I think the Liberty of the Seas also. If you don't do that, then I've read that they don't have reservations available after you board, but I'm not sure about that.

 

 

Thanks! My camera does seem to get good shots once in a while. I really like it. (It's a Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS7. I'd love to upgrade to the new DMC-ZS20, but it's not out yet.)

 

You may have missed in my first post where I mentioned that we did get a balcony room, category D2. It's on deck 9, port-aft section. It looks to be fairly convenient to the elevator area.

 

 

 

On our fos sailing I had missed the part about booking shows and there where a lot of problems I never had to before so be on the look out. U can also use the tv,s near the elevators and check what's for dinner shows its very nice. Also wj pretty much everything the mdr has if you are in a hurry or want to eat later. Have a great time. What room u get? Our sra on deck 6 was awesome.

 

Sent from my BlackBerry 9630 using Tapatalk

[bikergal78]

 

Thanks! My camera does seem to get good shots once in a while. I really like it. (It's a Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS7. I'd love to upgrade to the new DMC-ZS20, but it's not out yet.)

 

You may have missed in my first post where I mentioned that we did get a balcony room, category D2. It's on deck 9, port-aft section. It looks to be fairly convenient to the elevator area.

 

Hmmm... I think I missed that. oops... Sounds like you got a decent location. And for the price you can't beat it.

 

Enjoy your night in Coco Beach :p

[SherriZ366]

Having had a wonderful dining experience, it was time to head to the hotel. I was surprised it was as close and as easy to get to as it was. The Residence Inn was just a mile away. We basically hopped onto the main road and there it was ahead of us.

 

We got checked in very quickly by a very friendly gentleman at the front desk and then headed up to our room.

 

It's a very nice room, and I'm very pleased with the choice to stay here. It's a two room setup, with a living room/kitchen combination and a separate bedroom with attached bathroom.

 

Here's the view from the door to the room:

 

The bedroom:

 

The kitchen area:

 

We don't have a view of the port area, but that's okay. I think we'll be able to see the ships tomorrow perhaps from a better vantage point. ;)

 

One downside... the hotel's internet connection isn't working, either the wired or wireless. We mentioned it to the guy at the front desk and he said that they knew about it and were waiting to hear back from their IT guy. Fortunately, my iPad has 3G service, so I'm continuing on just fine.

 

We also took a bit of a walk to the Racetrac gas station which has a mini-mart inside to pick up some soda to enjoy in the hotel room. One could theoretically pick up some from here quite easily to bring onboard. The 2-liter bottles were $2 apiece. I didn't check to see what the cans were.

 

So, you are now caught up with my adventure thus far.

 

We haven't yet made specific plans for tomorrow morning. I'm thinking that we'll return the rental car around 10:00 and get their shuttle over to the pier. That should get us there by 11:00, depending on how much of a wait there is for the shuttle.

 

More to come, of course!

We love the Residence Inn - will be staying here in 7 weeks for the May 6 FOS Eastern Itinerary cruise. Have stayed here at least a half dozen times before. vicariously enjoying your cruise.

 

We have never stayed in a room that overlooked the ships but we always can see Freedom (or before that Mariner) when we walk to breakfast in the AM.