Freedom of the Seas~May 4th~Third Week of Cruising: My Diary

[maxs mom]

We didn't have much time in the CL tonight because it took us a while to recover from the day. But we ended up sitting with the fun couples that wanted their pictures made earlier. We had a good time.

 

 

We had our same quiet table in MTD. Somehow we got through dinner, but it was hard not to fall asleep in my plate!! Too much fun during the day, I guess. After a stroll down the Promenade, we found our cabin.

 

 

 

We finished dinner so early (which is a good thing), but other activities didn't start up again until 10:30. We just couldn't make it! We're pitiful! But our bed is so comfy and I'm reading a good book. We'll need to get up early again in the morning.

 

[maxs mom]

Thursday ~ May 8th ~ St. Maarten

 

Back again to St. Maarten. We were here last week on the Indy. Glad to be back again!

 

Looks a little gloomy this morning. We docked at the outer pier with the Independence!! As we were going out this morning, I overheard some woman talking about the two ships and she was remarking about how much bigger the Freedom was than the Independence and how you could see that! Duhhhhh!!????

 

 

We were off the ship around 9:30 and hoofed it up to the taxi stand....on a mission. We grabbed a taxi and made our way, once again, out to Palm Beach on Orient Bay. Another couple that we met in the taxi line didn't know where to go, so they decided to go out there, too. Our taxi driver was very talkative and funny. When we got there, we arranged with him to come back and get us at 2:45.

 

 

We have been coming to this beach bar and restaurant for the past few times that we've been to St. Maarten and just love it. It is not as crowded as the other places on Orient and has been such an enjoyable day every single time we've been here.

 

 

Unfortunately this morning there was a little rain, but that didn't stop us!! We first sat in some chairs on the beach. (Free as long as you eat lunch in their restaurant.) It started raining just a little too hard to do that so we went over to the bar and asked about the cabanas that they have out there and how much they were. They said we could sit in one of those for free since it was raining. Well....that was all right with us. It was still awesome being out there on the beach, even in the rain. We were nice and dry in our cabana!

 

 

 

[smeck]

Lucky you three weeks of cruising. Some day I hope to accomplish that.

[maxs mom]

Lucky you three weeks of cruising. Some day I hope to accomplish that.

 

Yes.....we were pretty exhausted when we got home, but I'm ready to go again!!

[Ocean Boy]

Yes.....we were pretty exhausted when we got home' date=' but I'm ready to go again!![/size']

 

Exhausted from a vacation. Maybe you should relax and go back to work.....:eek:

[SherriZ366]

Great!! It WAS a good time' date=' wasn't it? Thanks for doing that......I don't have Shelton's contact info.[/size']

I will email it to you.

[kleo30]

He told me to go to Limetree Beach. A place called Blackbeard's Bar or something like that. I googled it and it looks pretty good. It's near Frenchman's Reef' date=' so it's not far from the Havensight area. I'll have to do some more research[/size'].

Thanks Jane. If you go before November, I'll be watching for your review ;)

 

And, did the Palm Beach people give you prices for the cabanas? I'm interested in that, and couldn't find an email link on their website. Nice of them to let you lounge there out of the rain. They are going to wonder what happened to you when you didn't show up on week 4 lol.

[maxs mom]

Exhausted from a vacation. Maybe you should relax and go back to work.....:eek:

 

Hmmmmm!! I think I'll pass!

[maxs mom]

Thanks Jane. If you go before November, I'll be watching for your review ;)

 

And, did the Palm Beach people give you prices for the cabanas? I'm interested in that, and couldn't find an email link on their website. Nice of them to let you lounge there out of the rain. They are going to wonder what happened to you when you didn't show up on week 4 lol.

 

No....I didn't get the prices. I should have. I am going to want one the next time we go. I got spoiled that day.

[kruzerci]

No....I didn't get the prices. I should have. I am going to want one the next time we go. I got spoiled that day.

 

Yeah... I'm going to have to check that place out. It looks great!

[maxs mom]

So here are some more pictures of Palm Beach.

 

 

 

At noon, we went up to the restaurant to eat. And it was about that time that it stopped raining and things began to clear up. We both ordered hamburgers today, but they have a wonderful menu of French cuisine. All the prices are in euros, but when they bring you the bill.....it is in US Dollars, too.

 

 

The view from our lunch table and the clearing skies!!

 

 

Our after lunch liqueur:

 

 

[maxs mom]

Here's another one of the cabanas that are available:

 

 

The view from our cabana:

 

 

After lunch I went over to the bar and ordered a bushwhacker. Nice dessert!!

 

 

 

 

 

Yum!!

[maxs mom]

A few more:

 

 

 

 

I ran into this little guy on the way to the restroom one time:

 

 

We eventually met back up with the couple that we shared the taxi with. Our taxi driver was there waiting for us early. We eventually got our things together and headed back to the port with our hilarious taxi driver. The day turned out to be very nice after all and we had a great day out at Orient Bay!!

 

 

[Yorkvillain]

I'm sold on Palm Beach. I was just checking out their website.

 

palmbeachsxm.net

[luv4cruises]

Hi,

 

Thank you for your detailed review. I have been a little worried about FOS since the recent reviews on CC have not been favorable.

 

I have cruised often on six different cruise lines and have enjoyed them all. This will be my 4th RCCL cruise and the first for my daughter and her young family( 1 and 3 yr old). She has cruised on Rgents, Princess, HAL, and Disney. I encouraged her to join us during the kids sail free promo.

Now I am worried about the very loud noise poolside, the chaos in the Windjammer, and the age signs of the ship.

 

I always feel more responsible when I encourage others to join us.

 

We have booked a cabana on Labadee to be sure we had shade and some privacy for the children.

 

Is the dining room open for breakfast on port days? We will try our best to avoid the Windjammer. Is the room service breakfast menu complete?

 

Any other comments would be greatly appreciated . We are sailing on 8/31/14.

 

Grandma X 2. :)

[maxs mom]

Hi,

 

Thank you for your detailed review. I have been a little worried about FOS since the recent reviews on CC have not been favorable.

 

I have cruised often on six different cruise lines and have enjoyed them all. This will be my 4th RCCL cruise and the first for my daughter and her young family( 1 and 3 yr old). She has cruised on Rgents, Princess, HAL, and Disney. I encouraged her to join us during the kids sail free promo.

Now I am worried about the very loud noise poolside, the chaos in the Windjammer, and the age signs of the ship.

 

I always feel more responsible when I encourage others to join us.

 

We have booked a cabana on Labadee to be sure we had shade and some privacy for the children.

 

Is the dining room open for breakfast on port days? We will try our best to avoid the Windjammer. Is the room service breakfast menu complete?

 

Any other comments would be greatly appreciated . We are sailing on 8/31/14.

 

Grandma X 2. :)

 

Please don't worry. I've seen no age signs of the ship. Freedom hasn't been to dry dock yet, but they are constantly updating as they go. They got new beds back in August ( I was there to see that myself) and they are so comfortable.

 

Yes.....the MDR is open for breakfast every day. On sea days the hours are 8-10. On port days the hours are 7-9. It has been my experience that you should get there early. You will have a better experience and will not have to wait in line. And yes....avoid the Windjammer at all costs!

 

Sometimes I read a negative review of the same cruise that I was on and wonder how in the world we could have been on the same sailing. A cruise is what YOU make it. I never let the little things bother me. Hope you will have a great time!

[maxs mom]

Back to the ship after yet another wonderful day at the beach. Once again, we were wiped out! We showered and napped before dinner.

 

 

Sisters!

 

 

I guess RCI was embarrassed yesterday by the attention given to the Getaway guests. They were out with cold lemonade to welcome us back today.

 

 

Hit the CL around 7 or so and sat with Sherri, Chuck, Jack and Shelton.

 

 

In the MDR we had the same quiet table and chatted with a nice couple from Ormond Beach. I couldn't find anything on the menu that called to me tonight, so I ordered the pasta option. It was OK. My dessert tonight was the Orange Jaffe Cake.....very light and always good.

 

 

 

It was back to our cabin after dinner to relax and read.

[maxs mom]

Friday ~ May 9th ~ At Sea

 

Absolutely beautiful day outside today. A little choppy, but so pretty!

 

 

Got to sleep in a little today. We were eating breakfast with officers today and that was not happening until 9 o'clock.

 

There were 15 of us that gathered on Deck 5 for this breakfast. They do a really nice job with this on Freedom with a special menu and mimosas. We were seated at a table with Sherri and Chuck, Rodney Darwin....the current Hotel Director and Jeff....the head of Human Resources. They were very nice and personable and we had great conversations. Most of the main officers come to this event, including the Captain.

 

 

We had met these guys before and it was good to see them again.

 

 

The menu was nice. I got the poached eggs with salmon and I think John got the steak and eggs. It looked good.

 

 

 

We were done around 10 o'clock, so we strolled around the Promenade. The officers were roaming around talking to people. Officer visibility and mingling is very high on this ship. They are all very approachable....even the Captain.

 

[maxs mom]

More shots in the promenade on the way back to our cabin this morning.

 

 

 

 

Next, I tried reading on our balcony. Although it was very beautiful outside...it was mighty hot, so we gathered our things and trekked up to the Diamond Lounge.

 

 

 

Great.....the D Lounge was empty today. (Did I say I love quiet places....that's why you'll never see me on the pool deck on a sea day!) A nice time for more coffee, reading, a little internet time. I logged on for my free time to check e-mail and Facebook. Will use the rest tomorrow.

 

We decided to beat the crowds in the WJ for lunch once again. We went down for lunch around 12:20. Good thing because they closed our special area in Chops at 1:00. It had been 1:30 the rest of the week. People who came a little later were going to be out of luck. Anyway, I had my usual yummy salad.

 

[Ocean Boy]

Hmmmmm!! I think I'll pass!

 

Somehow, I knew that my suggestion would not be looked upon favorably.

[maxs mom]

I got my "cookie du jour" to go. Today's cookie was oatmeal raisin.

 

 

John got his frozen yogurt and we went back to the cabin. After devouring my cookie.....I take little bitty bites to make it last longer!.....I took a stroll outside on Promenade Deck 4. Now this is a great part of the ship.....you must go and check it out. Since I like quiet places......this is perfect. A very relaxing place to sit....watch the beautiful views, play shuffleboard, stroll. it is fabulous.

 

 

 

 

 

[maxs mom]

I think this is the best part of the ship!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

While I was strolling around on Deck 4, I ran into a couple (Howard and Carol) that we had cruised with a couple of times before. They were tickled to death that I said hello AND remembered their names! We had a nice visit.

 

 

I much prefer sea days on Deck 4 to the crowded pool areas. The only time I use the pool (Solarium) any more is on a port day when everyone is off the ship. I love the Solarium, but I don't even bother when the chair hogs are out and you can't even move in there.

 

Give Deck 4 a try. It is amazing!

[clott]

Looking at your picture from the concierge lounge I noticed that lady in the black shirt and the gentleman in the pink shirt. Do you know their name. They look very familiar to me. Think we cruised with them before

[maxs mom]

Looking at your picture from the concierge lounge I noticed that lady in the black shirt and the gentleman in the pink shirt. Do you know their name. They look very familiar to me. Think we cruised with them before

 

I know who you are talking about, and I'm sorry. I don't recall their names. I

am pretty sure they were also D+ cruisers, so quite possibly you have cruised with them before. That was the only night we sat with them. Usually I am pretty good with names, but I need to sit with someone more than once to remember!!

[Merry Cerena]

Hi Jane,

Thanks for the lovely reviews. You sound like an expert on Royal Caribbean! Do you prefer the Allure/Oasis class or the Freedom class?

Thanks, Merry