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

[banderboo]

Great review. Looking forward to the remaining days. I sail on her in May.

 

On question, did you have a drink package? If so, which one and was it worth the money?

[Mickeylee]

Really enjoying your review. We love the Freedom, so we get a kick out of seeing what others do/don't do during their time abroad.

[tdmullins]

Great review. Looking forward to the remaining days. I sail on her in May.

 

On question, did you have a drink package? If so, which one and was it worth the money?

 

I bought the soda only package. Which I did think was worth it. Between the soda and the water options in the freestyle machine, it makes it a good deal. We did not buy any that included alcohol. I did the math and didn't think we would drink enough to break even. We only ended up drinking a few drinks a day, and at the end of the cruise my bar bill was much lower than the package price. Even with the amount of coffee we drank, we still came out better paying for it as we went.

[S.A.M.J.R.]

I'm enjoying your review. We'll be on board in 84 days!

 

We're also from Kentucky BTW. Richmond.

[Laney219]

 

 

 

Loving your review.. especially how you caught the lady in the background sneaking a feel!!!

[tdmullins]

I'm enjoying your review. We'll be on board in 84 days!

 

We're also from Kentucky BTW. Richmond.

 

Cool! I'm in Pikeville!

[cruzeluver]

Loving your review, keep it coming! We love Freedom. Our trip on her last year was one of our best.

[Kimmy0303]

Looking forward to more of your review. We leave next Sunday

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[tdmullins]

Looking forward to more of your review. We leave next Sunday

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

 

I should have it done way before then! (I hope...lol)

[tdmullins]

I decided I was in the need for some more punishment and headed to the Casino. Not really a lot to say about this trip other than it was short. I lost my money very fast! I decided this was a good time to go write some on my review and rest a little before dinner.

 

The entrance to the Casino from the Promenade.

 

 

Can you guess what we did before dinner? Yep we napped. The Captain had announced a little while earlier that once we got of the islands of the Bahama we would be experiencing 4 to 6 foot swells and there would be a little motion on the ship that night. So I had expected to wake up to some rocking, but I honestly did not feel anything. So I jumped in the shower and got ready for dinner.

 

I had made reservations prior to sailing for Portofino's that night. I wanted to do Portofino's because 1) I had never ate there and 2) Someone had told me that they were all going to be replaced with Giovanni's table in the future and 3) The reviews I had read were all positive and the food looked really good. We chose this night after looking at the menus for each night in the MDR at home. So the first time on a cruise we were going to skip the first formal night in the MDR and do a specialty restaurant.

 

Portofino's is located on the Port side of the Windjammer, with Chops being on the Starboard side. We were seated right away at a table for two kinda by a window. This really is a down side to it just being the two of us. The tables for two just seem to be stuck places that are inconvenient for anything bigger. Our waiter brought us some bread and explained the sauces they serve with it.

 

 

I don’t usually have a problem understanding people with accents different than my own, but me and our waiter tonight had major communication problems. I don't know if it was because he was Filipino trying to discuss Italian dishes or because two different tables beside of us were loud talkers. But I do feel like my experience overall was affected because I was really unable to discuss dishes, wines or even the bottle water with him. I couldn't tell if he was trying to up sale me something or give me something included.

 

I ordered the shrimp risotto for my appetizer. It was Fantastic. It was my favorite thing about the whole meal. The rissoto was infused with saffron, then topped with shrimp and crispy onions. It was very creamy and all the things worked very well together.

 

 

Tony just ordered a ceaser salad for his appetizer. Nothing else was really grabbing his attention, plus he was really unable to ask our waiter anything about any of the dishes. Since he likes ceaser salads he just went with that.

 

I ordered the seafood skewer for my main course. The presentation was awesome.

 

 

The seafood was just average. My lobster tail was very little. Much smaller than the other tables that ordered the same thing. I should have complained but I didn't. I was getting pretty full and probably didn’t need more anyway.

 

Tony ordered the lamb. This dish was huge. The lamb was cooked perfectly and tasted very good. So it was a win for the lamb.

 

 

 

For our desserts I chose the tiramasu and Tony chose the sampler. He said he was ok. (I didn’t sneak any bites like I had originally planned.) I ended up not that crazy about my tiramasu, either. The flavor of the pudding was good, but it was ALL pudding in that little cup. I finally did get a small piece of lady finger and it was soaked in something that was not coffee flavored at all. I enjoyed desserts at Chops on a previous cruise than I did these by a long shot!

 

[tdmullins]

Another view of the tiramisu

 

 

 

 

These little chocolate treats were good, tho.

 

 

I apologize for the quality of the pics. I almost didn't post them at all. I had been messing around with my camera settings earlier in the day and I obviously didn't get them back where they needed to be for this dark setting.

 

 

Something a little neat did happen during. Just after we were seated the Captain and about 5 of his officers came in to eat. I jokingly said, “I hope they left someone to drive the ship.” Which my husband did not find funny at all and only looked at me like I was dumb..haha.

 

 

After dinner we ran to the cabin to change. I am proud to announce we did not pass out this time! I did have this little fella waiting on me tho.

 

 

We headed down to the Arcadia theater to watch Marquee. It is Royal Caribbean's production giving tribute to Broadway shows. Overall it was good and we were entertained. It was probably one of the best production shows we had seen on a ship so far.

 

Our cruise director introducing the show.

 

[tdmullins]

Some pics from the show.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the show we walked around the promenade some and decided to run up to the room and use the restroom while killing some time before the Adult Comedy show started at midnight. When we got back to the room our toilet would not flush. So I called Maintenance, in which they told me that they were working on them because of a clog. Come on people quit flushing things that don't belong down the toilet! While waiting for the toilets to “come back online”, we got interested in a movie on tv, and I eventually ran down and grabbed some pizza for a late night snack. Tonight I did manage to remember to fill out my room service breakfast menu for the next morning. The Cruise Critic meet and mingle was scheduled for 10:15 the next morning. I checked the 9:30 to 10:00 box, hoping that it would be closer to 9:30. Btw we did hear our toilet flush about 15 minutes after I called.

[S.A.M.J.R.]

Terri, what kind of camera/lens do you use? The pictures turned out well.

[tdmullins]

Terri, what kind of camera/lens do you use? The pictures turned out well.

 

The pictures are a combination of my GoPro Hero 3+, A Panasonic Lumix (waterproof), and my husbands phone (Samsung Galaxy 4).

[tdmullins]

The phone rang about 9:30 am and it was room service saying that they would be delivering my breakfast soon. I then started getting ready to go to the meet and mingle. Breakfast arrived around 9:45.

 

 

I hate for about 15 minutes then headed out the door for the Olive or Twist lounge where the event was being held. That was when I discovered that the elevators on my side of the ship only went to deck 12 and not all the way to 14 where the lounge was. No big deal I just walked the last two flights but I did look funny trying to find 14 on a elevator panel that only went to 12.

 

 

The view from the Olive & Twist lounge that morning.

 

 

Royal Caribbean had juice, water and some pastries set out for us Ccer's

 

 

As we came in they collected our raffle tickets and gave us each a gift. It was this neat little notebook, card holder thing.

 

 

They started by having us talk to someone we had not talked to before then went into giving away the raffle ticket prizes.

 

 

I am sorry to say that I walked away a loser. I stuck around for just a few minutes and talked to a couple of people. That was about it for the meet and mingle.

[tdmullins]

I left the meet & mingle and collected Tony so that we could leave give Supri time to clean the room. Tony complained a little about this saying he was super comfortable on our balcony. I understood where he was coming from and told him on the last two sea days that I would just tell Supri that we didnt need anything if we decide not to leave the room early.

 

From our room we headed to the windjammer. It was right at 11 so they had breakfast still available on one side as they were preparing the other side for lunch. I really only nibbled since I did have a little bit of breakfast before I went to the meet and mingle. I did try a English banger for the first time. I don't know how true to taste Royal Caribbean's version is but it was just a larger piece of sausage to me. Although it was good, it didn't seem to be anything all that different to me. At the same time, I really like it.

 

 

 

From there we headed out to explore the ship some. One of Tony's most favorite spots on a ship is all the forward. He loves all the wind. When we headed out of the windjammer we just walked out into the pool area, then up one deck. We stopped to take a photo with one of the Royal Caribbean's staff photographers, then proceeded as far forward as we good go on that deck. We took this time to take our first windy, front of the ship selfie.

 

 

We then headed up one deck to the Tropez deck area. They had some bright blue carpet in that area I tell ya. But it is a good place to grab a lounger to enjoy the sun and the wind.

 

From there we decided we wanted to hang out on the helipad. To get to the helipad you must go to deck 4, head towards the forward part of the ship. You will come across a set of steps that will take you up to the helipad. And man was it windy up there! Tony was in heaven.

 

 

More selfies at the front of the ship.

 

 

 

Looking back at the bridge.

 

[tdmullins]

After we decided we were windlblown enough we headed inside to the Promenade cafe for some coffee. And since it had been over an hour I decided I needed a sandwich also. I grabbed one of the prosciutto parma's with red peppers on an olive bun.

 

 

A picture of the sandwich case at the Promenade Cafe

 

 

My favorite Starbucks barista.

 

BTW, he is standing behind the "cookie case". In my opinion this is the best place to get cookies on the whole ship.

 

 

The sandwich was very good, and I decided that more of these little treasures needed to be in my current cruise future. We sat at the Promenade Cafe and people watched for a while. It was a nice way to spend some time on a sea day.

 

After our little sandwich snack, we decided we wanted to hang out in the cabin for awhile before Tony's massage. I had pre-booked his massage before we left because I wanted it to be on our first sea day a little later in the afternoon. Something else I had bought pre-cruise was the classic romance package. It was to include a bottle of champagne, cupcakes, a special menu breakfast in your room, a photo of your choice from the cruise and picture frame. It was to be delivered to our stateroom on the first day. All that I had got so far was the card saying that I had purchased it with a message to Tony that I had wrote when I ordered it.

 

 

On our way back to our cabin I ran into Supri, our room steward, and asked him about it. He did not know anything about it and recommended that I call guest services. So I did. The first thing they told me was that I needed to turn in the vouchers at the photo gallery for my frame and picture. I then had to explain that I did not have any vouchers. And that not only did I not have any vouchers, but I didnt have the champagne or the cupcakes. She said she would call housekeeping and fix it right away. About 5 minutes later Room Service called and asked if I had ask for a room service menu. I then explained to them that I had bought a package and that it included breakfast. He then told me that there was a book in my room.....blah blah blah..room service menu. I then tried to explain in the least confusing way that it was a special breakfast that had scrambled eggs with caviar and a cinnamon french toast. I knew all of this because I had ordered the grand romance package on the Jewel. So I know how they usually handled things and what came in the breakfast. His statement was “OHHHHH a special breakfast, I know nothing about that.” So I told him never mind that I would call guest services back. When I called back her reply was, “Oh he did, did he. I will take care of that right now mam and call his supervisor.

 

About 15 minutes later I received the champagne and cupcakes. I figured the rest of the stuff would eventually find its way to my cabin. I left the cabin for a little bit to get some water from the windjammer and when I came back Tony said that the room service supervisor had called and said that he was very sorry and hoped we would except his apologies. It was all good on my end I just wanted to end up with the stuff I bought, and everyone (well most everyone) seemed to be trying really hard to fix it.

 

As Tony was leaving for his massage he handed me an envelope that was laying on the ground in front of our door. This was the note.

 

 

It was just laying in the hallway, with nothing else. So I was like is the note the gift? Is the gift coming later? Did someone take my gift? Now mind you, I really didn't care if he gave me a gift or not. I wasn't calling in hopes of getting something free. But if he was nice of enough to leave me something then I didn't want it to have been taken by some silly teenager walking down the hall thinking he was funny. Because we all know how teens think everything they do is funny.

 

I ended up just laying the note down because I had decided to go to the casino while Tony was getting his massage. I figured I would just deal with it later. I ended up not being gone long because once again the Casino was very brutal on me. After lingering in a couple of stores I headed back to my cabin because I was in the mood to grab my book and take advantage of the sun on my balcony. I decided once I got back to my room to go ahead and call room service and ask about the card. The room service supervisor actually answered the phone. I explained to him about the note outside my door. And he was like, “what?” “really?” “ Mam, I will hand deliver your gift myself when I get off at 4pm.

 

In the meantime I spent some more time on our wonderful balcony enjoying that wonderful sea!

 

 

He showed up at 4:20 with chocolate covered strawberries and a very scared looking room service guy. He said he that he was very sorry and that the young fellow with him had not followed orders. He was very upset that the guy had just brought the note and laid it on the ground. He also said he had half a mind to station him outside my door for anything that I needed. I laughed and told me that wasn’t necessary and that I was just very appreciate that they were trying to fix my package deal. I really think the breakdown today occurred because the young man just didn’t understand. He tried to speak to me and his English was horrible.

 

The chocolate covered strawberries were definitely not needed, but I sure did enjoy them.

 

 

I took them along with some water and my book and headed back out to my balcony for some more reading and relaxation. Ahh life at sea is good.

[S.A.M.J.R.]

“ Mam, I will hand deliver your gift myself when I get off at 4pm.

<snip>

He showed up at 4:20 with chocolate covered strawberries and a very scared looking room service guy. He said he that he was very sorry and that the young fellow with him had not followed orders. He was very upset that the guy had just brought the note and laid it on the ground. He also said he had half a mind to station him outside my door for anything that I needed.

The strawberries weren't the gift... it was your very own "cabin boy" and you turned him down!:D

[b-sizzle]

I'm enjoying your review and pictures. Looking forward to the rest!! Thanks for taking the time to share :-)

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[shelbylook]

Thanks for doing the review Terri! I'm just sorry we never met up. I didn't attend the M/M but I was at the slot pull hoping to meet you there.

 

We are planning on the same cruise next year on March 8th.

 

Cathy

[jaydc2]

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

 

My friends and I will be on your sailing, we are from the DC area.

[tdmullins]

Thanks for doing the review Terri! I'm just sorry we never met up. I didn't attend the M/M but I was at the slot pull hoping to meet you there.

 

We are planning on the same cruise next year on March 8th.

 

Cathy

 

I had total plans on being there, but I slept right through it! I napped a huge amount that day. I blame it on the rain...lol

 

I asked around at the meet and mingle for you. I really wanted to meet you!

Edited March 31, 2014 by tdmullins

[tdmullins]

The strawberries weren't the gift... it was your very own "cabin boy" and you turned him down!:D

 

LOL..You are right! I missed out!

[tdmullins]

Tony came in while I was reading from his massage. But let me back up a little bit to the day before when I went for my massage. When I came back the first thing Tony asked me was if they had tried to up sale me. I said yes but I politey declined. His reply was, “ Good, I hate when they try to up sale you on stuff. I am glad you stood strong.” Well guess who didn't stand strong and let those little women in the spa up sale him! Yes, Tony bought the up sale. I couldn't believe it. You can bet your bottom dollar I will use this from now on. And not a word had better be said about any purchases I make! I am pretty sure a trip to the Micheal Kors store during their sale will also be part of my cruise future.

 

Once I recovered from this shock, we started discussing dinner. We both decided we just weren’t in the mood for the MDR. We decided we wanted to do the windjammer and see what it was like for dinner. So it was another cruise first for us tonight! I actually at that point jumped in the shower with total plans being at the windjammer at 6 when they started serving dinner and then be at the Drew Thomas magic show at 7.

 

We got to the windjammer at about 6:05. Walking in you see this signage first.

 

 

 

In my mind I was asking, “Where is Jade?” I saw the signs but not the restaurant. Because you see all this time I was thinking that Jade was its own specialty restaurant. And what is actually Jade I thought this whole time was part of windjammer that offered Asian dishes. Tonight with it being less crowded I actually noticed the Jade signs beside of the Asian buffet offerings.

 

 

 

We chose to eat here. It was so nice. Once we got our food and sat down, someone came around and offered us hot green tee. Someone was always coming around asking if we needed anything. Service was very good. They also had the lights dimmed and the atmosphere was so much different for dinner than the craziness that usually goes on during breakfast and lunch.

 

Tony's sushi

 

 

My plate. I loved those prawn chips!

 

 

During dinner an officer of the dining room came up to us and asked if we were the couple that left the MDR tonight. I told him no, but I was having problems getting my Classic Romance Package fulfilled and still wasn't able to get a menu for our “special breakfast in bed”. He got on the phone right away and told me he would fix it. I thanked him and continued to chat with for a while. While we were talking he asked where I was from, so I told him, “Kentucky”. He replied, “Oh that’s where our Captain is from.” So of course I had to ask, “ Really? I thought he was from Norway.'” He went on to tell me that he was originally from Norway but his wife is from Louisville and they live there with their two sons. So a nice little fun fact for ya there.

 

It was 5 til 7 when we finished eating, so we decided to b-line it to the magic show to see if we could make it time. Considering the Arcadia was on the opposite end of the ship and 7 floors down, we did pretty good. It had started so obviously we didn't get the best seats in the house. They were actually pretty bad and this is the only picture I took of the whole show.

 

 

It's kinda hard to tell in the picture but he and his assistant are levitating in the air.

 

Looking back we should have just waited. The show was just OK in our books. I think Tony actually like the magic show on the Enchantment back in August better than this one. Mr Thomas had incorporated a lot of dancing and singing into this show, which was good but it only really left time for just a couple of tricks.

[tdmullins]

After the magic show we hit the Starbucks again. I am so happy they have this on the ship to take care of coffee needs..lol. I also loved sitting at the tables out in the promenade people watching and enjoying my surroundings.

 

 

But what goes good with coffee? Why, cupcakes of course. I figured I had stared at the cupcake cupboard long enough and it was time to indulge.

 

 

It was kinda of late, so a lot of the offerings were sold out.

 

 

But I found one that satisfied my sugar hungers just fine.

 

 

Yep, that's bacon on top. They called it the manly breakfast.

 

As we walked through the door to our cabin that night, the phone was ringing. It was room service. Her exact words were, “ We have been trying to call you so that you can place your special breakfast order.” So I informed her that I might spend a lot of time in my cabin but I don't spend the whole time. She took my order, repeated it back to me and confirmed the day and time for Friday at 9:30. At this point I was pretty satisfied with how they were handling this situation. But I still hadn't received the vouchers for the picture and frame at this point.

 

I also had this little guy waiting for me.