The Hallo-wino Cruise! A Freedom of the Seas Pictorial Review!

[cruiseJMO]

I really like being able to lounge in a tad bit of water to keep cool. The ship looks exciting, but is it overrun with kids? I'm only 36. Hated the crowds at Carnival (maybe b/c it was a 4 day Cozumel?). Had to stand shoulder to shoulder in the pool. Then I really enjoyed the HAL pool experience as there were almost never crowds, very few people. But, I was bored with the lack of night life. Had the late dining, and all shows would be ending at the same time as dinner. So early, by 10:00pm

 

This ship seems like it may be a median of the 2 ships I have been on.

Edited November 7, 2014 by cruiseJMO

[DarthGrady]

I really like being able to lounge in a tad bit of water to keep cool. The ship looks exciting, but is it overrun with kids? I'm only 36. Hated the crowds at Carnival (maybe b/c it was a 4 day Cozumel?). Had to stand shoulder to shoulder in the pool. Then I really enjoyed the HAL pool experience as there were almost never crowds, very few people. But, I was bored with the lack of night life. Had the late dining, and all shows would be ending at the same time as dinner. So early, by 10:00pm

 

This ship seems like it may be a median of the 2 ships I have been on.

 

There were not a lot of kids on this cruise at all. In fact, it was one of the oldest crowds we've seen in awhile. Below is a pic I took in our hallway/Jazzy parking area.

 

The nightclub got a little busy later in the nights, but nothing like on Carnival. Carnival's dance clubs are packed all night. I think you'll find RCI to be a compromise between HAL and Carnival. Although one of my friends (who also cruises HAL) told me that he's seen better nightlife on some HAL cruises than we had on our cruise.

 

[tabbi_cakes]

I didn't notice a lot of kids, but that may be because we were cruising during school time

[cruisegirl1]

Thanks for the nice photos.

 

We were on the sailing and originally had the mis priced PR, but a few days prior to sailing we saw a dramatic drop for a Bal Guarantee so we changed. We lost our shareholder OBC , but were able to get the D+ Bal. discount.

 

Had a wonderful time on board. We expected bad weather but were pleasantly surprised. Enjoyed many of the shows but thought the actual Halloween party was a bit disorganized, and VERY crowded. We sailed NYE on the Freedom a few years ago and the NYE party did not seem as crowded as the Halloween party.

 

We took the Enchantment Monday ( the day following Freedom disembarkation) and also had a great time. It was interesting to so easily compare the two ships and experiences. I have to say that there were a few experiences on the Enchantment that we liked better than the Freedom. Neither were bad - just some were better on one ship.

 

 

We got a lucky complimentary upgrade to a balcony on the Enchantment sailing ( happen to check our reservation while in the Cayman Islands and saw the change. - no notification from RCCL - not even that email "Your cruise docs are ready"). I imagine the person originally in the balcony got upgraded and did not know it as their bags ( with the balcony number) ended up at our door.

 

Darth - Looking forward to more photos.

 

m

Edited November 7, 2014 by cruisegirl1

[molly361]

Where would a "nice CC person" post such mistakes? I want to read that thread? :)

 

I guess I missed it on this thread!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Here there are :D

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2061626&highlight=deal+alert

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1921403&highlight=deal+alert

Edited November 7, 2014 by molly361

[cruiseJMO]

Okay, only my third cruise coming up in one month. But, you already got me excited about my cruise on Oasis or Freedom next year, DarthGrady. So much info, can't quite remember....Was there a 3rd ship you told me to think about? I'll probably just compare itineraries for the 2 or 3 ships when I figure out my date range.

[DarthGrady]

Day 4, Falmouth:

 

I had never been to Falmouth before, and from what I have heard, that’s not really a bad thing. But, I figured I should at least look around to say that I did. We met with our friends in the Windjammer for breakfast before heading ashore.

 

The shopping area at the pier is very nice, and everything is new. There are shops, restaurants and a Margaritaville. Unfortunately that’s about it. Unless you have an excursion planned, or love buying tchotchkes, there isn’t much to do. We were back on the ship within an hour. Maybe less. It’s disappointing that they allow a full day at Falmouth, but leave Grand Cayman at 3:30.

 

A trip to the gym preceded the usual nightly activities. Unfortunately the pool deck party supplanted the usual dance club in The Crypt. There were only a few dozen people at the painfully lame deck party, yet they wouldn’t open The Crypt until 1 am. There were many folks just waiting around outside of the club, lost revenue to be sure. This was the first of three instances of RCI totally misjudging what people want in a late-night party scene.

 

Falmouth

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 7, 2014 by DarthGrady

[DarthGrady]

All Disney ships have been equipped with a machine that shoots rainbows out of their funnels instead of diesel fumes. Very fancy.

 

 

This is the pitiful deck party. A far cry from the ones I've seen on Monarch and Enchantment. They actually delayed the opening of The Crypt for this.

 

 

Another towel animal

[DarthGrady]

Day 5, Grand Cayman:

 

We got an early start for our day in GC due to the aforementioned briefness of our visit. We quickly ate onboard and got a tender. We took Cruising Grandma’s advice and headed to the Royal Palms. It is a nice bar right on Seven Mile Beach. We had several buckets of beer and many drinks. We hung out at the beach and in their pool at the swim-up bar for a few hours before heading back on board.

 

As with the previous day, I was able to squeeze in a trip up to the gym before hitting the Diamond Lounge. After the Diamond Lounge we stopped at the On Air Lounge to watch karaoke. We then watched the Quest in Studio B. They held the Club Twenty dance club in the Solarium. It was better attended than the previous night’s pool deck party and a pretty good time.

 

After Club Twenty they held the late night dancing in the Viking Crown Lounge, due to The Crypt being used by the teen program. This really bothered me, as I thoroughly enjoy The Crypt. Adults aren’t allowed into the teen dance club, so why should they be in ours? The crowd in the VCL was noticeably smaller than what is usually seen in The Crypt, so another swing-and-miss for RCI’s nightlife planners.

 

At Grand Cayman

 

 

The Royal Palms on Seven Mile Beach

 

 

 

Special thanks to Lord Timothy for this funny sighting

[DarthGrady]

We heard a rumor that the balcony areas around Studio B will soon be converted into cabins. They will have inward facing windows like PR rooms that will look onto the ice rink.

 

Studio B

 

The only Quest I've ever seen with live dancers and music prior to the game

 

Club Twenty in the Solarium

 

[Buccaneergirl]

We love the crypt and the solarium dance party! I would have been out there. We are on explorer next month and hope there are some dancers out late!

[tabbi_cakes]

Did you go to the silent disco??

[MattInFLL]

I am ready for the Crypt right now. Where is everyone? :)

 

The GC KFC/live chicken photo is definitely a keeper.

 

Tabatha - I thought the silent disco thing would be stupid, but after I got into it, I thought it was pretty funny. My dinner companions were twist, twist, twisting away...

[Rockfordcruiser]

I agree on a lot of misses for late night entertainment. I've found this happens when you have a Cruise Director/staff that is awol most of the cruise. Majority of the events held they made brief appearance and then gone. They forget that they are the "Includers" for all. Other than Quest and 70's show (which should have not been at the same time as the Halloween party/parade) They sucked! Good thing we had Grady to keep the party going every day!:D

[DarthGrady]

Did you go to the silent disco??

 

I am ready for the Crypt right now. Where is everyone? :)

 

The GC KFC/live chicken photo is definitely a keeper.

 

Tabatha - I thought the silent disco thing would be stupid, but after I got into it, I thought it was pretty funny. My dinner companions were twist, twist, twisting away...

 

I did. Like Matt I was skeptical to begin with, but it was a lot of fun. Everyone singing and dancing to different music was interesting. The wallflowers up in the balcony looked perplexed.

[DarthGrady]

I agree on a lot of misses for late night entertainment. I've found this happens when you have a Cruise Director/staff that is awol most of the cruise. Majority of the events held they made brief appearance and then gone. They forget that they are the "Includers" for all. Other than Quest and 70's show (which should have not been at the same time as the Halloween party/parade) They sucked! Good thing we had Grady to keep the party going every day!:D

 

It was a team effort, I couldn't have done it without "that guy"! :D

[cruisegirl1]

I agree on a lot of misses for late night entertainment. I've found this happens when you have a Cruise Director/staff that is awol most of the cruise. Majority of the events held they made brief appearance and then gone. They forget that they are the "Includers" for all. Other than Quest and 70's show (which should have not been at the same time as the Halloween party/parade) They sucked! Good thing we had Grady to keep the party going every day!:D

 

I usually don't make many comments about the cruise director as I normally don't believe that he or she makes or breaks a cruise. However, I agree that this was one of the weakest cruise director/staff we have seen in a long time. During the Halloween party I saw the cruise director take the air gun and shoot it at one of the female performer's thighs, causing the outfit to fly up.

 

We actually made a comment on the satisfaction survey regarding the weak cruise director.

 

Regardless we had a good cruise.

M

[breezy_carol]

I have a question for you. What was the age group/type of music in the Crypt? We never made it there. DH and I (60 year olds) were looking for somewhere to dance but we were looking more for ballroom style and never found it.

[Peacemkr59]

Here there are :D

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2061626&highlight=deal+alert

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1921403&highlight=deal+alert

 

Wow, thank you Molly, guess I'll have to pay more attention!!! Thanks again!

[msjaxson]

I didn't notice a lot of kids, but that may be because we were cruising during school time

 

There were a ton of kids on the week before ....

[DarthGrady]

I have a question for you. What was the age group/type of music in the Crypt? We never made it there. DH and I (60 year olds) were looking for somewhere to dance but we were looking more for ballroom style and never found it.

Late nights in The Crypt was mostly "top 40" modern dance club music. Geared for the younger crowd, but there were older folks in there having a good time as well.

 

I'm not sure where you'd find ballroom style music every night. They do have live bands play in events like the past guest party that people dance to. Boleros does Latin music every evening, lots of folks dancing in there.

Edited November 8, 2014 by DarthGrady

[SilkySal]

Enjoying your review! I agree that this year's Halloween party wasn't nearly as fun as last year. Way too crowded and no place to sit, so left the Promenade and watched the parade from our PR window and the next day on TV. That said, we still had a great time on this cruise!:cool: Looking forward to more pics! No pics of the crawl? Hope you enjoyed bar hopping on the bus with all of us Hallowinos!!;)

[tabbi_cakes]

I have a question for you. What was the age group/type of music in the Crypt? We never made it there. DH and I (60 year olds) were looking for somewhere to dance but we were looking more for ballroom style and never found it.

There was "recorded ballroom music" almost every night under the music section of the cruise conpass. I don't remember where or what time tho..

[DarthGrady]

Enjoying your review! I agree that this year's Halloween party wasn't nearly as fun as last year. Way too crowded and no place to sit, so left the Promenade and watched the parade from our PR window and the next day on TV. That said, we still had a great time on this cruise!:cool: Looking forward to more pics! No pics of the crawl? Hope you enjoyed bar hopping on the bus with all of us Hallowinos!!;)

Didn't get pics of the crawl, thought it might get weird if I started snapping away whenever someone walked in the door. :D But I got plenty in Cozumel, those will be coming soon.

[breezy_carol]

There was "recorded ballroom music" almost every night under the music section of the cruise conpass. I don't remember where or what time tho..

I did see that in the Cruise Compass. we enjoyed the piano player in Schooners.