PHOTO Review ~ 11/4/2012 ~ Freedom of the Seas Eastern Caribbean

[M&JfromSDL]

Soon the ship came alive and we were able to get some pool time in.

DSCN0219 by directenterenter, on Flickr

 

DSCN0220 by directenterenter, on Flickr

 

And a bucket of Corona. I’m not much of a Corona guy but it’s decent for a pool day.

 

DSCN0222 by directenterenter, on Flickr

 

Time for the World’s Sexiest Man Competition:

 

DSCN0227 by directenterenter, on Flickr

 

Since we were up for breakfast with the early birds and chair-hoggers, our tummies were starting to growl. Johnny Rockets is a place we never eat at home but decided to give it a whirl on the ship. It was pretty darn good.

 

They start you out with a big tray of French fries and onion rings. They were decent:

 

DSCN0230 by directenterenter, on Flickr

 

DF had the Route 66 ? mushroom burger

 

DSCN0236 by directenterenter, on Flickr

[M&JfromSDL]

I had the bacon burger. Both burgers were phenomenal! They beat Windjammer burgers any day of the week and the experience was well worth the $5 cover charge.

DSCN0237 by directenterenter, on Flickr

 

DSCN0240 by directenterenter, on Flickr

 

Lunch was so good we skipped desert. Our plan was to return to JR later in the week but our plans never materialized.

 

After lunch we headed to the cabin for a carb nap.

 

DSCN0244 by directenterenter, on Flickr

 

Nap time…

 

We joined our table mates at 80s Music Trivia. The program was hosted by an Australian member of the cruise director’s staff. She was awesome! Not just here but at other events later on in the week. She had a great way of energyzing the group.

 

DSCN0260 by directenterenter, on Flickr

 

Somewhere in the midst of playing trivia I was volunteered to play The Artist Formally Known as Prince at the 80s party that night. Not sure how that happened.

[M&JfromSDL]

After trivia we went to dinner. Food porn addicts can relax, tonight I had my camera and I used it.

 

Hot Harira Soup – VERY GOOD!

DSCN0262 by directenterenter, on Flickr

 

Roasted Rack of Lamp – Again, very good. I’ve been burned by rack of lamb dishes recently. This one was awesome. The meat was cooked perfectly.

DSCN0263 by directenterenter, on Flickr

 

Warm Chocolate Cake – It was warm. And good. It made me smile. So good!

DSCN0265 by directenterenter, on Flickr

 

After dinner we rushed over to Studio B to dress for our 80s show. For those of you who sailed with us and attended this party, I apologize for looking so uncomfortable on stage. I looked uncomfortable because…well…I was. LOL

 

DSCN0282 by directenterenter, on Flickr

 

Oh the election results were starting to come in too!

 

DSCN0266 by directenterenter, on Flickr

 

The 80s show ended and we kept our seats to participate in this thing called The Quest. For those of you adults who have never cruise with Royal Caribbean cruise, I will just say what happens in The Quest, stays there. I have numerous photos and video. But will not share. It was a hilarious experience! A MUST ATTEND on any Royal Caribbean cruise.

[M&JfromSDL]

Post-Quest we took a walk around to see if anything else was going on.

 

Pharoah’s Lounge

DSCN0298 by directenterenter, on Flickr

 

DSCN0297 by directenterenter, on Flickr

 

I think we even played a little Kitty Glitter in the casino. Then we went back to the cabin to meet our newest towel friend.

 

DSCN0301 by directenterenter, on Flickr

 

That's it for tonight. Tomorrow, St. Thomas and our Half-Day Champagne Catamaran Sail to St. John. Stay tuned...

[bossymama]

I was at that 80'2 show, and remember seeing you on stage! You did look uncomfortable. We were on team 7 for the Quest, with my daughter and her boyfriend as the team captains. What a blast! I have been to 5 Quest games, and never laugh so hard!

[jakenashleysmom]

oooh, half day champagne sail.....thinking about booking that! can't wait to see your photos!

[Mapleleafforever]

Congrats on your engagement, and great review!! We'll be on this same cruise in January for our honeymoon.

[Sugar*Magnolia]

Love, love, love your review! I was riveted and then.....realized I was at the last post, for now. :insert pout: Best review of Freedom yet and I cant wait for more! Great information on your cabin as well. Good to know the details on the aft's that you provided!

 

Congratulations to you both on your engagement, my eyes welled up by post #4.

 

Looking forward to the rest!!

 

:D

[Ascrim13]

Really enjoying your review as we will be sailing on FOS in January! Keep it coming!

[BillOh]

That burger pic from Johnny Rocket's was encouraging! When I was there in 2006 on Voyager I swear it was the exact same burger they had in the Windjammer so we didn't think it was worth the cover charge. (We used to use our Crown and Anchor coupon to waive the cover charge, but they cost cut that one out of existence. We may have to go back. Also loved the Solarium pics, Freedom has my favorite Solarium of the fleet.

[Coolcruise02]

Congratulations on your engagement! Great review. :)

[Sinppu]

Keep up the good work! I SO want to try the Freedom Class next :)

Kitty Glitter is one of my favourites too!

You make a good-looking couple :cool:

[wolfganghowell]

Don't stop now - glad you enjoyed your week just as we did. Judging by some of your camera angles at World Sexiest Man, we were in the same area. :)

[jobell]

Great review so far....congratulations on your engagement.

 

Look forward to more of your review.

[M&JfromSDL]

Sorry for the long wait. It’s been a busy few days at work.

November 7, 2012 – St. Thomas

 

Our 11am arrival in St. Thomas afforded us the chance to sleep until 730am. We hemmed and hawed on booking the Half-Day Champagne Catamaran sail to St. John. At $79 per person it just seemed expensive. I really wanted to visit St. John while in the USVI but was hoping to do it independently. We were pretty good about our spending during the first few days of the cruise so at the last minute we decided to book.

 

We stood outside the excursion desk waiting for their 9am opening. There were a few passengers ahead of us (and subsequently many behind us) who were turned away because their desired excursions were sold out. Luckily, there were 4 open spots left on ours. Once we pulled the trigger we felt better spending the money and looked forward to the excursion.

 

But first we were due for a trip to the Windjammer for breakfast:

 

DSCN0307 by directenterenter, on Flickr

 

Some great views as we approached:

 

DSCN0327 by directenterenter, on Flickr

 

DSCN0336 by directenterenter, on Flickr

 

DSCN0349 by directenterenter, on Flickr

 

DSCN0359 by directenterenter, on Flickr

 

DSCN0369 by directenterenter, on Flickr

[M&JfromSDL]

DSCN0374 by directenterenter, on Flickr

 

DSCN0381 by directenterenter, on Flickr

 

Of course there’s a Senor Frogs:

 

DSCN0391 by directenterenter, on Flickr

 

Our tour was scheduled to leave at 1130am so we were prompt with exiting the ship. We found our van driver and waited…and waited… and waitied a little more. Luckily at one point they moved us into the shade. Soon after we boarded our open-air vehicle and headed towards the marina.

 

Refill your rum runners:

 

DSCN0403 by directenterenter, on Flickr

This being my first visit to the USVI I was surprised they drove on opposite sides of the road.

DSCN0409 by directenterenter, on Flickr

Upon our arrival we immediately walked through the marina and boarded the catamaran.

 

I didn’t take as many pictures as I had hoped because I was leery of getting my camera wet.

 

The bar:

DSCN0430 by directenterenter, on Flickr

[M&JfromSDL]

Basically it’s roughly a 30 minute drive over to the marina. Then an hour sail to St. John. While on the way to St. John there’s no drinking and an introduction to snorkeling. The crew on this excursion was excellent. They were super friendly and very accommodating. Once we parked (?) at St. John we threw on our snorkel gear and jumped off the side of the catamaran. We had an hour in the water and were able to see incredible schools of fish. We had hoped to view sea turtles but they must have been hiding.

 

We swam to the beach and had about 10 minutes or so to relax before having to swim back to the boat. They had a dinghy in the water that could have transported us back and forth but snorkeling back to the boat was much more fun.

 

On the way back the rum punch and champagne flowed freely. Everyone was in a good mood and having a great time. The crew laid out cheese sandwiches and fruit to eat. Roughly an hour or so later we were back at the marina where our open-air vehicles were waiting for the trip back to Freedom. On the way out we caught this family of what I believe to be iguanas?

DSCN0438 by directenterenter, on Flickr

 

DSCN0439 by directenterenter, on Flickr

 

Here’s my take on this excursion. This was the first one I have ever purchased through a cruise ship out of the 5 cruises I have been on. I remember a few years back watching people on a $35pp excursion to Stone Island (Mazatlan) that included lunch and a few drinks. I got there for $4 and after filling ourselves on Shrimp Diablo, chips and guac and virtually endless Pacifico, were out the door for around $40 total. So I have a bad impression on the relative value of these cruise line-organized excursions.

 

But I must say, this was $79x2 well spent. We had a fantastic day all-around. From the sailing, to the snorkeling and the attitiude of the crew it’s hard to imagine a more successful day. Plus when you take away the anxiety of traveling over to St. John and trying to get back to the ship before it leaves it makes this one a no brainer.

 

If you are considering this excursion for your next visit to St. Thomas, I highly recommend. Frankly I will probably book it again if we ever find ourselves on the USVI.

 

The refreshments on the catamaran were light to say the least so we ran through Sorrento’s for some pizza on the way to the cabin:

 

Pimiento Pizza

DSCN0454 by directenterenter, on Flickr

 

California Pizza:

DSCN0455 by directenterenter, on Flickr

 

Next up nap time (no photos of this)! Then dinner at Portofino’s.

[M&JfromSDL]

We awoke while sailing away from St. Thomas and with just enough time to get ready and head to dinner. We arrived and were promptly seated at a nice table for 2. They presented a bread plated and various tapenade:

 

DSCN0465 by directenterenter, on Flickr

 

I started with the Prosuitto and Pear Salad:

 

DSCN0464 by directenterenter, on Flickr

 

We both ordered the seafood skewers. Everything on the skewer was fantastic. My fiancé also has an affection for risotto so we ordered a shrimp and adobo risotto for the table.

 

DSCN0472 by directenterenter, on Flickr

 

DSCN0473 by directenterenter, on Flickr

 

Then onto my favorite course, dessert. Jenn had the dessert sampler plate and I had a chocolate cake. They were all very good.

 

DSCN0480 by directenterenter, on Flickr

Our experience at Portofino was pretty good. I have no complaints when it comes to the food. However, the service was a bit spotty. I don’t mind a lengthend dining experience. It gives us time to talk and to digest one course before moving on to another. But it was somewhat inconsistent here. I eventually had to ask for our wine bottle to be left on the table because at one point we were sitting with empty wine glasses while eating our entrees.

[M&JfromSDL]

After dinner we went up to a party on deck. I believe it was a 70’s & 80’s party. They had food stations setup with cool fruit carvings:

 

DSCN0488 by directenterenter, on Flickr

 

DSCN0487 by directenterenter, on Flickr

 

The party was entertaining but we ended up back in the casino playing you guessed it…Kitty Glitter.

 

DSCN0498 by directenterenter, on Flickr

We didn’t have much success in the casino BUT we were finally successful in staying up past midnight. Here we are grabbing a night cap at the Bull & Bear on the Promenade.

DSCN0505 by directenterenter, on Flickr

 

And our latest towel friend:

 

DSCN0511 by directenterenter, on Flickr

 

Next up, St. Maarten and our trip to Maho Beach.

[Sunshine-lady]

Looking forward to Maho beach!!!!!!!!!

[nyonefivetwo]

I love your review, but you've left me hanging! We're planning the same cruise this May, and I'd love to see the rest you have to post! :-D

[gambee's_mom]

Love your review and pictures.:)

[Cupcrazy]

Thanks for taking the time to post this review with your great pictures

[AlisonoftheSeas]

Great review, but I need MORE!

Love the pics, though. Congrats on your engagement! You make a beautiful couple.

[Sharon Sails]

What a fun review! Congrats on the engagement - you're a nice looking couple :)

 

I hope you get to post more in the coming weeks. We sail at the end of January. I've been on the Freedom, but hubby hasn't. We're going Eastern, so following your review is also helpful!

 

Thanks...

Sharon