Freedom of the Seas Cruise March 9th-16th; A cruise of firsts

[tdmullins]

This story will be a review of a lot of cruise firsts for me. This was my fifth cruise overall and my third with Royal Caribbean. So yes, even after 5 cruises there can still be a lot of “firsts'.

 

Some of the firsts are pretty common and not that big of a surprise. One being that this was my first time sailing on the Freedom of the Seas, making it also my first time sailing on a Freedom class ship. Which brings me to my next first, a seven night cruise. The longest cruise I had ever been on in the past was a five nighter. So I was pretty excited for these two things all by themselves.

 

Being that we were going to be gone longer than any other previous cruises, I decided to do something different with this review. I decided to take my laptop with me and write as I went. (another first) This way all memories would be fresh (since they just happened) and most of it will be wrote when I get home! This was a big plus because I knew my time would be limited when I did get home because I would have to go straight to work pretty much as soon as I stepped off the ship.

 

My predictions rang true and I was covered up with work the whole next week after arriving home. Then a wonderful virus took me out this past week. But I am here now and ready to share with you my wonderful week aboard the Freedom of the Seas!

 

This trip it was only my husband Tony and I. Normally when it is just the two of us we like to take our time and road trip to the port usually stopping for the night somewhere along the way. We both had to work the Friday night before, so it was up early Saturday morning for a straight shot drive to Cocoa Beach. We did make a stop in Asheville at our favorite restaurant there, Tupelo Honey Cafe. You can read my review of that trip there and that restaurant here http://justcallmebosslady.blogspot.com

That's my blog. If you read it, you will also learn more about me and what kind of work we do.

 

We arrived after midnight to the Doubletree in Cocoa Beach. I had used some Hilton points and got it free. Woohoo free dance. I didnt get any pics of this hotel. I usually like to do a review of the hotels but when we got there it was late. And the parking lot was VERY dark. I also made it to the room and crashed.

 

The view of the ocean the next morning. AHHHH sunshine and the sea!

 

 

For the first time we decided to wait until after 1 to leave hotel. We decided we wanted to wait until close to or after the rooms were open instead of schlepping our stuff around waiting. One of the perks of our Silver level with Hilton we were able to ask for a late check out. We left the hotel a little after one, after putting on our luggage tags in the parking lot.

 

It was a 6 mile drive to the port.

 

First glimpse of ship:

 

 

I still get soooo excited when I first see the ship. I hope this never goes away!

 

Last cruise we parked right in front of where the porters were taking luggage. This time since it was a larger sailing and we were a lot later than normal getting there, we ended up parking on the third level of the garage. So we pulled around dropped off our luggage with the porters then parked.

 

Where you drop your luggage off.

 

 

The front of the cruise terminal.

 

 

The check in process was a breeze as usual and we were walking on board in about 15 minutes. A couple of things were a little different this time from when we were there in August. Now they take your seapass picture at the desk when you check in. Also instead of inserting the card into the little dinging box, they had handheld scanners. I would also like to note that since we had a Junior Suite we did have a special line to wait in. But there was no one in front of us, so the only waiting we did was for a spot to open up.

 

Here is a link to a video I made boarding the ship.

 

 

 

The rooms were ready and we headed straight to there to dump our stuff. The elevators were crazy as expected so we decided to hoof it up the 5 flights to our cabin on deck 9. We were quite winded after our trip. It might not have been as bad but we decided to do it at a slight sprint for some reason. We always try to use the stairs while on a cruise to help with all the calories we end up consuming while cruising.

 

Our room Junior Suite 9280

 

 

 

 

Embarkation Day to be cont.....

Edited March 29, 2014 by tdmullins

[tdmullins]

Our soda cups were waiting on us. I was hoping they would be different than the ones we got on the Enchantment in August, but they were the same.

 

 

After getting a good feel of our room we headed to the Windjammer for some lunch.

 

A cake at the entrance of the Windjammer.

 

 

 

It was busy as usual, but waiting until close to 2 to go it was very manageable. We got a table very easily and the buffet lines ran about 2 to 3 people deep.

 

 

My first plate of food in the Windjammer.

 

 

 

I could not find Honey Stung Chicken. I thought it was weird since this has always been available the first day and seems to be the start of a cruise item. I looked at all food bars , but it was a no go. If I missed it then it was hid pretty good. I decided I would just order it at least once later so that Honey Stung Chicken was ate at least once! But the food was pretty good. A little better than Windjammer fair than I had before. I was hoping this was a sign of good eats to come.

 

Tony was still in jeans and wanted to change into shorts before we did any exploring. So we headed back to the cabin in hopes our luggage might be there. Yeah! It was. So I took the time to unpack. There was a ton of room for everything and the suitcases fit nicely under the bed.

 

Our closet after the suitcases were unpacked.

 

 

I just called it my dressing room all week. It was large enough for ALL of our clothes and then some. Plus had plenty of room to enter, close the door behind you and get dressed. Loved, Loved, Loved this closet!!!

 

Everybody was supposed to be onboard by 3:30 with muster being at 4. So I took this time to run up to the pool deck to take some pics of the port and the ships there with us. These were pictures I knew I would not be able to get later.

 

The Disney ship in port with us.

 

 

It really is a pretty ship. I would like to ride that tube thingy they have some day.

[mrpayroll]

Looking forward to reading your review. Will be on Freedom on our next cruise.:)

[tdmullins]

The Carnival ship.

 

 

I have mixed feelings about this ship. My first cruise was on this class of ship with Carnival. But they have cut and chopped and added pieces to this ship til now it just looks kinda weird. This is probably my least favorite Carnival ship in the fleet and I haven't even sailed on her.

 

I finished my picture taking jaunt at about 3:30 and I came back to the cabin to check on Tony. Right after I got there our cabin steward Supri, came by to introduce himself. He then told me that the Muster was at 3:45. I thought, hmm they changed the time. But we ended up not leaving the room til 3:55 because I “kinda” dozed off on the couch and Supri had to knock and remind us..lol.

 

This is where I was at when Supri came calling.

 

 

Me with Supri.

 

 

There were several people already at our station, but we were not the last ones by no means. This might have been the most crowded muster I have participated in. We were all snug against each other. I felt like I should have asked the guy in front of me to take a picture together because we were pretty personal with each other for a while. And of course there was that ONE COUPLE. They were last. They took pictures of each other. They laughed. They joked. They did not hear one word of what was said. I am only hoping that they did not speak English and it wouldn't have mattered if they had listened to every word being spoke.

 

 

During muster the captain announced that our sailing would be delayed. They were performing some diving operation on the front of the ship that was very important and wouldn't be done until 5:30. So the plan was to sail at 6. So at 5:39 when I started writing this review, we were still in port.

 

Of course after the Captain announced that I had to look over the side to see what was going on. I only saw this.

 

 

Please excuse the thumb.

 

 

 

After muster we stopped in the Schooner for a drink of the day. Andre the bartender was awesome. We chatted with him and some other people at the bar for a bit.

 

Our first drink of the cruise.

 

 

[clochette]

great start I look forward to your review

[Wildcatfish]

Great cruise review! Freedom is a wonderful ship. Looking forward to more of the review.

[tdmullins]

And this is Andre.

 

 

After leaving the Schooner bar we walked up the steps located there to the Promenade to grab some pizza from Sorrentos. It was so good! By far the best pizza we have ever had on a cruise.

 

Sorrento's Pizza

 

 

The slice on the right is chicken potato. So my first time having potato on a pizza.

 

The Front of Sorrentos with the Freestyle machines.

 

 

You know how on a cruise there is always that one person you always keep running into? I was pretty sure I had met “that” guy at Sorrentos. As we were standing waiting on a table to be cleaned he jumped into one of the seats, and then starting cracking up. He said ,” Just kidding, I had to see the look on our faces.” I cracked up! I then ran into him again about 15 minutes later waiting on an elevator to head back to the cabin for some more chilling.

 

An elevator by the way that didn't come after a pretty long wait, so we hoofed it up the stairs again. Which is a good thing. It really does force us to walk more.

 

The Mullinses hanging out on the balcony waiting to sail.

 

 

The cruise terminal from our balcony.

 

 

The truck we were all waiting on to finish so that we could leave.

 

Edited March 29, 2014 by tdmullins

[tdmullins]

Thanks everyone for the kind words already! It really does make a girl feel good!

 

BTW I loved this trip and I am loving reliving this vacation as I write this review.

[piratesrus]

Enjoying your review! Our first FOS cruise is this August!

[tdmullins]

We finally sailed at 6:30.

 

As we pulled away from the dock, I noticed this piece of wood floating in the area they were working. I was really hoping it wasn't something crucial that should have been still attached somewhere..lol

 

 

Can anybody tell me what this building is that we sailed by?

 

 

Whatever it is, they are building another.

 

 

 

Passing a campground. One of the campers had a cruise ship horn...it was awesome! I gotta get one of those!

 

 

Cocoa Beach

 

 

 

[Debitoo]

Enjoying your review. I'm sailing on her in September in a JS too. Great pictures!

[bethco]

Enjoying your review. I am especially pleased to learn about the Tupelo Honey Cafe. I will have to hit the one in Charlotte the next time I go see my mom and maybe even the one in Asheville later in the summer.:)

[mrpayroll]

The round bldg you passed by was used as a terminal for a gambling ship that went out from Port Canaveral.

[beachclubgirl]

Great review so far! I am sailing on this ship in August. Can't wait!

[ang73]

Loving the review! Thanks for sharing! We will be doing our first RC cruise in October and we will be on Freedom. Excited to hear more about it! That pizza looks delicious!!

 

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Forums mobile app

[acetray]

Great review looking forward to more. We are sailing on her in Aug.

[cruiseapril]

Enjoyable review. Great photos.

[tdmullins]

Enjoying your review. I am especially pleased to learn about the Tupelo Honey Cafe. I will have to hit the one in Charlotte the next time I go see my mom and maybe even the one in Asheville later in the summer.:)

 

You will love it!

[tdmullins]

Great review so far! I am sailing on this ship in August. Can't wait!

 

Loving the review! Thanks for sharing! We will be doing our first RC cruise in October and we will be on Freedom. Excited to hear more about it! That pizza looks delicious!!

 

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Forums mobile app

 

Thanks guys, You are going to love the Freedom. She is my favorite ship now.

[tdmullins]

We started getting ready for dinner at this point. I had made our reservations for MTD at 8m every night just so that we would have a routine. But I also new I had the freedom to change it if something came up we wanted to do that would interfere.

 

We were seated on Deck 5 in the Galileo Dining Room. Our table for two ended up kinda being in an aisle way so we did feel in the way at times. We discussed asking about a different table next time if we were seated there again.

 

Tonight's menu.

 

 

And I am happy to announce that escargot was available and our waiter said it would be every night. So for the first time (See where I am going with my title?) I had escargot. It was good. Very buttery and very garlicky.

 

 

 

 

 

I also ordered the fish rilletes because I LOVED them on the Enchantment. They were just as delicious tonight. I could have ate a second order but didn’t knowing I had more food coming.

 

 

 

For the entrees, Tony ordered the horseradish encrusted salmon. He has loved the dish on both the Jewel and the Enchantment. (with the Enchantment being his favorite.) Tonight he said it wasn't as “crusted” as the Enchantment but still good. So the Enchantment is still winning in the horseradish encrusted Salmon area.

 

I didn't even bother taking a picture of it this time.

 

I decided to go for something new. A first you might say.... I ordered the steak salad. It was very good. The steak was good, not over cooked. It paired nicely with the spinach, mushrooms and ranch dressing. Of course I have no other ships to compare to since this was a first time ordering it. Also this is in a smaller dish than they normally serve it in. The waiter told me that they ran out of the larger size so he brought me two this size.

 

 

For dessert we both went with the carrot cake. It was yummy. The cake was moist and the cream cheese icing was very good. I like the little piece of peanut brittle that added to the top. It gave that bite a very different taste.

 

 

During dinner we discussed what we wanted to do afterward. Our first option was to grab a Starbucks and chill somewhere. The next option, was to go check out some live music in one of the bars. Our third option was to hang out on our balcony for a bit, then go check out some of the upper decks around the pool. What option did we go with you ask. Well. Neither. We made it as far as our stateroom to change clothes and we crashed hard. I mean we didn't even make it out to our balcony. All of our long hours of work and the trip to the port had just finally taken its toll and we both fell into sleep comas. Tony pretty well went comatose as soon as his dress clothes came off. I came out of the closet from changing and he was out. I did manage to sneak a peak at the Cruise Compass for the next day and say that a spa special was advertised. So I took about 5 minutes, called the spa, and made an appointment for the next morning.

 

During the beginning stages of my slumber I kept thinking I should fill out the breakfast card to have some breakfast delivered about 10. That way I could eat a little breakfast then head to my massage at 10:30. But I just could not physically make my self do it. We then slept the rest of the night. The sleep of the sea. You all know that sleep. That gentle rocking that's like a sweet lullaby to a baby. I did wake up and realized we were no longer moving and must already be at Coco Cay.

Edited March 30, 2014 by tdmullins

[swim13]

Loving this review! I also agree with you, even after trying some of the other lines, my family and I are loyal to Royal! :D

[tdmullins]

So no breakfast for me. I woke up pretty well in time to get dressed and head to the spa. The special I was taking advantage of was the Top to Toe. It was 75 minutes and included full body massage, back exfoliation, rejuvenating facial, foot and ankle massage, and scalp massage. Out of that I actually got the full body massage, rejuvenating facial, and foot and ankle massage. It was incredible. I was very relaxed when I left there. She did try to upsale me about $350 worth of products tho. I politely declined.

 

The room I received my massage.

 

 

After leaving the spa I went and grabbed Tony for another day of “Firsts” for us. For the first time in our cruising history we decided to stay on the ship on a port day. We had just been to Coco Cay in August on the Enchantment so we didn’t feel the need to go. This also gave us a chance to enjoy the ship with everyone gone to shore. Our first stop was the windjammer for lunch. They only had one side open. It was a little busy but very noticeably slower than the day before. Finding a table was very easy. As a matter of fact, there were empty tables everywhere.

 

My lunch

 

 

Our view for lunch was NCL's private island. Which apparently they were not using this day.

 

 

After lunch we headed to the Promenade and grabbed a Starbuck's. The Promenade was definitely not busy at all. So we sat in the Promenade Cafe and discussed what to do next.

 

 

 

I love my Starbuck's at sea.

 

 

So Does Tony.

 

[tdmullins]

Tony opted to chill on our balcony, I headed to the pool after a quick change back at the cabin.

 

This brings me to another first, swimming in the ships pool. In my past cruises I had never stepped one foot in a ship's pool. I found me a lounger on one of those levels that remind you of theater seating and made myself a little home for the next little while. I had picked up some towels on my way to the lounger, which by the way I had to show my seapass to get. Maybe someone can fill me in if the policy change was just certain ships or if they have already changed their minds and going back to the old way.

 

The pool area that day.

 

 

My spot I chose.

 

 

After picking my lounger and setting my stuff down, I headed the pool. It was cold. I stepped down onto the level that only thing that really gets wet is your foot and was like, “WHOA” . But I kept going. It was March, the sun was out and I had been in freezing weather for months now! I was swimming by golly! As a walk to the ladder a couple of the ladys told me to just go for it. That they tried step by step and it didnt work..lol. So I stepped on the frist rung of the ladder than just jumped in. I admit it took my breath and I wasn't able to speak at first. But as I started swimming, I did get use to it.

 

 

I watched the big screen for a moment while in the pool.

 

 

I swam for a bit then decided it was sunbathing time. Once I got back to my lounger I put on some SPF/tanning oil then chilled. I laid there with the sun on my face, the ocean around me, and party music playing. I truly felt on vacation. I could also feeling the vitamin D just soaking into my body. My body has just been deprived of sun/vitamin D for too long. I just layed there for a while with my eyes closed thinking, “Life is Good”.

 

 

I layed there until I could tell I was getting a little red. I did not want to burn on my first day. I knew I would have 3 sea days to enjoy and I was not going to spend them in the shade nursing a sunburn. I grabbed my stuff and headed to the room to see what Tony was up to.

 

I walked past the Adult's pool/Solarium on the way.

 

 

 

He was pretty well in the same spot I left him; snoozing on the balcony.

[tdmullins]

Back on our balcony I sat with Tony and enjoyed the sea. It was the calmest I had ever seen it!

 

Here is a video I took . I have to warn you though...it's quite mesmerizing!!!!

 

 

Wasn't that nice. I could stare at that all day!

 

I also grabbed a pic of the tender. They were obviously tendering from both sides of the ship since we were on the opposite side of the islands.

 

 

I also had a welcome back invitation waiting on me.

 

 

We eventually left the room and headed down to the Schooner bar to see what was going on there. They were starting country music trivia when we go there. So we sat at the bar talking to Andre the bartender and playing but not really playing. But we should have because between the two of us we knew all the songs. And the winners all got pens! Yes they gave the winning team ink pens.

 

 

We decided to head up one level to Sorrento's because we were on a cruise and you can't go that long without eating!

 

My slice for that trip.

 

 

I also tried the tiramisu. I didn't care or it. It had zero coffee taste and the cookie part was very watery.

 

 

From there Tony heads back to the cabin to play with our GoPro.

 

 

And I head to the shops to pick up some hairspray. Yep first thing noticed that I forgot..hairspray. So I paid $4.99 for a $1 bottle of whiterain. I considered it punishment for forgetting.

[TryingCruising]

I'm loving your review! We've never been on freedom class ship so I'm eager to see more!