Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

Just off Freedom's new Itinerary

wranglerkb
 Share

Recommended Posts

wranglerkb

wranglerkb

Posted
Posted

Good evening, we, DH, 36 and I, 32 are just off the Freedom of the Seas Western Caribbean itinerary :

 

Embarkation day

Sea Day

Grand Cayman

Roatan, Honduras

Costa Maya, Mexico

Cozumel, Mexico

Sea Day

Disembark day :-(

 

I have cruise compasses, and I will post them later this week. Still catching up on work things.

 

This was the first time Freedom sailed on this itinerary, June 5- June 12

We are Platinum Royal Caribbean members, and this was our first time on Freedom.

 

Day 1 - boarding the ship from Port Canaveral - one word: WOW. We flew in early to Orlando that morning, took Cortans shuttle and would highly recommend this shuttle company. We arrived at the port by 10:15 am, jumped in the Platinum line for security and check in, and we were onboard before 11am. I couldn't believe how quickly we were getting though the lines. We never even sat down.

 

Once onboard, we were bombarded by RCI's staff with pushy salesmen to buy/upgrade/try something new.... ect. We already had the soft drink package, and weren't interested in buying or upgrading and purchased all our shore excursions from other vendors before we boarded.

 

We walked up to the windjammer, and it wasn't busy, as we were onboard so quickly. The windjammer food was good. I grabbed a potato soup, and it was better than I expected. My husband is a food snob, he wasn't overly impressed with food in the Windjammer, but found something to eat.

 

We explored the ship, checked out the bars, the royal promenade and waited for our rooms to be opened. We were impressed with the cleanliness, but for a 10 yr old ship, she is showing her age. We noted cracks in ceilings, faded rugs, frayed chairs and other small things here and there, but overall she was clean and in good shape.

 

Promptly at one, we went to our room, deck 6, rm 6688, port side aft balcony. We were 6 cabins from the back of the ship. It was a long walk to the elevators, but nothing too terrible. The room was great, the balcony was the best part. The room was clean, smelled fine and was in good repair. We met our cabin steward, Julio, and he was wonderful.

 

We asked for ice, wine glasses, and robes. He delivered all three by that evening, he was great. He kept the ice bucket full and brought us new wine glasses and gave us some towel animals.

 

Muster Drill at 3:45 went as normal. We lucked out, and our muster station was in the dining hall. We finished up by 4:05 and we set sail early, as Tropical Storm Collin was heading towards Port Canaveral.

We had 2 of the 3 bags delivered by 5pm, and the last one (the bag with the wine was delayed). It was delivered after dinner, however, one of the wine bottle was broken :-( thankfully, it was the white wine, and not the red....

 

We were sailing early, under cloudy skies (which we got used to this cruise, as the sun didn't come out until Day 5). We headed to dinner at 5:30 and were met by a long line to get into the dinning room (deck 3).

 

We sat at table 321 (right in the front of the dining room on the right side, first table) We were met by our table mates, and enjoyed their company all week long.

 

The wait staff in the dining room was exceptional, as normal. Servio, our waiter was excellent, very personable, and great service. The food the first night was great (IMO), DH was pleased by the food this evening.

 

After dinner we headed to the free liquor tasting, and that was fun. We bought 2 bottles of Johnny Walker Blue for an excellent price, and had them delivered the last night of the cruise. There was a movie scheduled for the evening, 3D: Kung Fu Panda in the Theater, as well as the Welcome Aboard Show at 9:45pm. This show was good, enjoyable. The theater was packed, as it was all cruise. We arrived 20-25 minutes early, and got 2 seats in the 4th row. The only time the ship felt crowded was when the shows were getting out, and everyone tried to take an elevator. The comedian this evening had us both in tears, he was excellent.

 

As a side note, I took the stairs everywhere except formal nights when I had heals on. I lost a 1/2 lb while on the cruise - that was a pleasant surprise when I got home.

 

Day 2 - At sea

I'm an early riser, so I was up early all cruise. We had breakfast delivered to the room, and enjoyed dining on balcony (however, the order was completely wrong). My DH decided to go to breakfast in the dining room since the room service was not as he expected. He nibbled some toast and a banana that was sent up, and it's a good thing he did; we were seated in the dining room at a table for 10, met some fellow cruisers from all over the world, placed our orders, and it took well over an hour for breakfast to be served. The waiters and head waiter came to the table multiple times saying it would be a while, and the eggs were what we were waiting on. They suggested more than once to go the buffet in the middle of the dining room to get something to eat, as we waited.

 

After breakfast we headed to the pool, but the wind and rain drove us inside after 45 minutes. We hit the tropical storm that day, and spent the rest of the day inside, as they closed the upper levels of the outside of the ship. We enjoyed the Schooner bar during the afternoon and enjoyed window shopping in the promenade while it was raining. At one time, the apparent wind at the bow was 72mph, the ship was rocking a bit, but nothing too terrible. We went ice skating, DH's first time, and that was a blast, crowded, but not too bad.

 

Lunch and dinner in the dinning room were great - I continue to rave about the salad bar in the dining room on sea days - my favorite meal - check it out.

 

Our travel agent booked us a cupcake decorating class today, and that was fun, DH was only male, but made the best of it, and together we enjoyed it, we had a 'hamburger' out of 3 cupcakes.

 

Dinner on the Sea day was good, food was good, and service was faster than the night before. Our waiter remembered our names and drinks, good server all around. Formal night. DH wore his dress whites (navy sailor) and met the Captain for a photo, they chatted for a moment, and was asked for our cabin number for the captain to send us a print of the photo that was taken together. That was great, but there was so much more he had for us ;-)

 

Day 3, cloudy, hot, but no more rain or wind. Tendering at George Town, Grand Caymen. The Cruise Compass states tender tickets would be available at 11am. I wondered down to the Star Lounge to get ours at 10:30- there was a line of over 100 people already. They began giving tickets out around 10:45, we lucked out and got Tender #4. We were off the ship by 12:15. The tendering process was quick and efficient.

 

We booked a horseback riding tour through Sprit of the West and totally recommend that company and tour. Our private ride was with the owner of the company, Paul, and since my DH and I are experienced riders, we were allowed an enjoyable gallop on the beach. It was wonderful. We shopped a little bit in the town, bought some Rum, and found a free wifi shop and got to chat with our son (which was a huge surprise for him) on Facebook chat. It was great!

 

Welcome back reception for RCI Crown and Anchor members, that was good, the Mai Tai's were very strong, the champagne was better. Live music was enjoyable and chatting with some of the top cruises was nice (that's my life goal to have 50+ cruise experiences)

 

Since we were in port 12:00-5:30, dinner was fairly empty, and service was super fast that evening. We headed to the entertainment, Headliner show, "now you see it". It was enjoyable.

 

Day 4, still cloudy, hot, Roatan, Hondurus.

Docked in port 12:30-6:30.

We've been to Roatan before, but Freedom never has, so lots of people were asking us about it. We've done excursions here before, so we just got the boat, wondered around the little port town, and got back onboard. The vendors and shore excursions salesmen were the most pushy I've even seen. Once you cross the street from the port, think slums and ghettos. A child, probably 12ish came up alongside my husband and attempted several times to get us to go with him to come see this or I can take you here.... we headed back onboard and enjoyed the nearly empty ship. We both did the Flowrider while the ship was still in port, and there was nearly no line. I had no line, and got such great personal attention to learn how to do it. My DH came a few minutes later and only had 3 people to wait on, and also go great instruction on how to surf on the Flowrider. This was probably my favorite thing we did on the ship.

 

We enjoyed the solarium pool and the gym was nearly empty. We also ate at Johnny Rockets and enjoyed the atmosphere here.

 

All aboard was 6:30, but a RC shore excursion was late coming back, so the ship was held until nearly 7pm. We were dining in Chops that evening at 6:45, and watched the shore excursion come back, some looked as if they were relieved to see the ship still waiting for them.

 

Chops was wonderful - we both had the filet and both enjoyed the food. I had the warm goat cheese salad for an appetizer and wow! It was so good we came back the night after so I could have it again. The restaurant wasn't even 1/2 full and the service was great.

 

The entertainment that evening was the Ice show. That was enjoyable to watch. They host the ice show 4 times during this cruise, and this was the last showing - I was expecting Studio B to be packed, so we arrived 30 minutes early - we had the choice of the whole place on where to sit. The theater didn't fill up for this show. The show was great, very enjoyable.

 

That night, we had a towel animal waiting for us, as well as a personalized invitation for us to dine with the captain at the Captain's table on the next formal night. That was such a surprise. Couldn't believe it.

 

Day 5, cloudy, hot, sun starting to show up :-) Costa Maya

Costa Maya 7am - 4 pm

 

This was Freedom's first time at this port also, and lots of people and crew were asking us about it, there tons to do inside the port, as well as outside.

Bright and early I was up and off the ship at 7am. We've been to this port before and loved it. This port has a newly renovated pier, designed for cruise ship passengers. They have a free beach, free lounge chairs, free beach club (huge swimming pool with multiple swim up bars) and dolphin encounter right in the port. I chose 2 lounge chairs closest to the beach and next to the dolphin tanks. DH joined me a bit later and he was thrilled to find free Wi-Fi in the port as well. We went swimming, snorkeling, and swam in the pool, but really enjoyed watching the dolphins. Water was very clear, great for snorkeling, however, there are lots of rocks and coral you must get through to get in the water. Bring water shoes. Lots of people were asking me 'where I got in' and I pointed to my shoes. Not many people got in at all, so DH and I had the whole water to ourselves. One bad thing at this port, while I was snorkeling here, I lost my wedding band somewhere in the water :-(

But the sun came out for the first time, and that was so nice.

 

Back to Chops for dinner, food was great again, we recommend it, and the service was great, we ended up with the same waiter, Ryan, and he remembered our names and our drinks from the night before. Warm goat cheese salad - worth it. Loved it.

 

Day 6, hot, partly cloudy, Cozumel, Mexico. 7am-3:30

 

6:45 am there was a line forming in the stairs to get off the ship.

We booked Playa Mia, through their website (cheaper than RCI's same excursion to the same place)

DH is an avid sailor, so he jumped on the hobbi cat sail boat and sailed of 4+ hours while I enjoyed the open bar and the endless frozen drinks being delivered to me in my lounge chair. Playa Mia filled up fast, as there were 4 ships in port that day, but we had a great time. The snorkeling wasn't great, as the water was cloudy, but the sailing was good.

 

Coming back to the port, there's multiple bars right by the pier which you can go swimming next to the cruise ships. Clear water, I snorkeled here as DH enjoyed the WiFi.

 

All aboard for 3:30, it was after 4 by the time we left. The captain later explained he was instructed by Immigration he had to wait, as a few people where not wanted to remain in Cozumel....

 

We had dinner scheduled with the Captain for this evening, the 2nd formal night. We met at Boleros' bar for cocktails and met the other 3 couples dinning with him this evening. We had a great time, were ushered into the dining room to the Captains' Table and were greeted by Captain Toni when he came in. Our place cards were arranged on the table already, and I was lucky enough to sit on the Captain's right hand side. It was awesome. We had our own menu, light and enjoyable conversation and the captain was a hoot. He has sailed for 17 years with RCI and was part of the Oasis building team. We talked cruising for most of the evening. Our dinner began 1/2 way through the first seating, and continued into the second seating. We were treated as Royalty throughout the entire dinner. It was the most enjoyable dinner we've ever had on a cruise, and definitely the most memorable.

 

As dinner continued, the captain invited us to join him the next day for a VIP tour of the bridge. Dessert that evening was 'chef's surprise' which was a chocolate dipped, peanut brittle cup filled with berries and ice cream. This is the Captains' choice, and we were the only ones to be served it. It was yummy.

 

The entertainment this evening was okay, it was '2 funny guys'. They were alright, but not as good as the first comedian.

 

Day 7, At Sea, SUNNY!

 

We enjoyed the one and only clear sunrise on the whole cruise, so I snapped a few shots of it. We were the first ones in the solarium pool and enjoyed that to ourselves for at least an hour. We were hopping between the whirl pool and the pool with no company and that was awesome. As it got later into the day, the pool deck filled up completely, with no open chairs. Lots of chair hogs staked their deck chairs early, and left there stuff on them, we didn't see anyone move it for hours.

 

The bridge tour was fantastic. Hard to believe the space they have up there, as well as technology. It was fun and memorable. If you ever get a chance to do a tour, check it out.

 

The rest of the day was spent sitting quietly on our balcony reading and watching dolphins and the water. A lovely end to a great cruise.

 

Day 8: Cruise is over :'(

We had to meet our shuttle at 9am, so we got an early departure group. We could have done self debarkation, as we've done in the past, but this way we were waiting on the air conditioned ship, not the humid port for hours.

 

They called our number, we exited the Freedom for the last time (seriously shed a tear) then found 2 of the 3 bags in the right location.... one wasn't there at all, and was later found in the misfit group, where they place the luggage with no tags (the tag was there, just on the bottom) Then off to customs.... that took longer than expected. This is only the 2nd time the sheer number for 4456 passengers was felt. Once through customs, our shuttle picked us up, and we had the Freedom in the rear view mirror and in our memories forever.

 

 

Overall thoughts: This itinerary (western Caribbean) was odd for port call times. The 2 ports in Mexico we were leaving by 4, that's when stuff really starts to get going in Mexico, and we were heading out. Getting up for a 7am departure wasn't the best for a lot of people who like to sleep in (DH)

 

The ship handled the 4,456 passengers well, and there were tons of kids on this cruise. Most times, they were in the kids area or kids pool. Seldom they would be running around on the pool deck or in the solarium, but not routinely.

 

The crew was friendly, always loved to chat about home, family and things they were planning on doing the next port they could get off the boat.

 

Johnny Rockets, Ben and Jerry's, Chops and Cupcake Cupboard were all extras our travel agent included for us - they were all good, I wouldn't pay extra for any of these, except possibly Chops, as the steaks were tender and tasty.

 

The ship itself looks good for being 10 yrs old. They are installing a "scrubber" on one side of the engine exhaust and was an eye sore that will be there for 13 more months. We saw the crew working hard, pleasant and mostly smiling.

 

We would sail on Freedom again if the price and itinerary were right. Our vacation was great, we met some really great people and had awesome memories.

 

DH's impression of the food - he mentioned it's gone downhill over the past 6 years, no ice carvings, no fruit carvings, not so much extravagance as previously experienced, but still enjoyable.

 

Bar service was MUCH slower than we're used to. It was more self service than anything else. If you're a drinker, get the unlimited package, as one drink ranges from $10-18 before 18% gratuity.

 

Do your research on ports and excursions before hand.

 

Enjoy your vacation.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Pencruise

Pencruise

Posted
Posted
Good evening, we, DH, 36 and I, 32 are just off the Freedom of the Seas Western Caribbean itinerary :

 

Embarkation day

Sea Day

Grand Cayman

Roatan, Honduras

Costa Maya, Mexico

Cozumel, Mexico

Sea Day

Disembark day :-(

 

I have cruise compasses, and I will post them later this week. Still catching up on work things.

 

This was the first time Freedom sailed on this itinerary, June 5- June 12

We are Platinum Royal Caribbean members, and this was our first time on Freedom.

 

Day 1 - boarding the ship from Port Canaveral - one word: WOW. We flew in early to Orlando that morning, took Cortans shuttle and would highly recommend this shuttle company. We arrived at the port by 10:15 am, jumped in the Platinum line for security and check in, and we were onboard before 11am. I couldn't believe how quickly we were getting though the lines. We never even sat down.

 

Once onboard, we were bombarded by RCI's staff with pushy salesmen to buy/upgrade/try something new.... ect. We already had the soft drink package, and weren't interested in buying or upgrading and purchased all our shore excursions from other vendors before we boarded.

 

We walked up to the windjammer, and it wasn't busy, as we were onboard so quickly. The windjammer food was good. I grabbed a potato soup, and it was better than I expected. My husband is a food snob, he wasn't overly impressed with food in the Windjammer, but found something to eat.

 

We explored the ship, checked out the bars, the royal promenade and waited for our rooms to be opened. We were impressed with the cleanliness, but for a 10 yr old ship, she is showing her age. We noted cracks in ceilings, faded rugs, frayed chairs and other small things here and there, but overall she was clean and in good shape.

 

Promptly at one, we went to our room, deck 6, rm 6688, port side aft balcony. We were 6 cabins from the back of the ship. It was a long walk to the elevators, but nothing too terrible. The room was great, the balcony was the best part. The room was clean, smelled fine and was in good repair. We met our cabin steward, Julio, and he was wonderful.

 

We asked for ice, wine glasses, and robes. He delivered all three by that evening, he was great. He kept the ice bucket full and brought us new wine glasses and gave us some towel animals.

 

Muster Drill at 3:45 went as normal. We lucked out, and our muster station was in the dining hall. We finished up by 4:05 and we set sail early, as Tropical Storm Collin was heading towards Port Canaveral.

We had 2 of the 3 bags delivered by 5pm, and the last one (the bag with the wine was delayed). It was delivered after dinner, however, one of the wine bottle was broken :-( thankfully, it was the white wine, and not the red....

 

We were sailing early, under cloudy skies (which we got used to this cruise, as the sun didn't come out until Day 5). We headed to dinner at 5:30 and were met by a long line to get into the dinning room (deck 3).

 

We sat at table 321 (right in the front of the dining room on the right side, first table) We were met by our table mates, and enjoyed their company all week long.

 

The wait staff in the dining room was exceptional, as normal. Servio, our waiter was excellent, very personable, and great service. The food the first night was great (IMO), DH was pleased by the food this evening.

 

After dinner we headed to the free liquor tasting, and that was fun. We bought 2 bottles of Johnny Walker Blue for an excellent price, and had them delivered the last night of the cruise. There was a movie scheduled for the evening, 3D: Kung Fu Panda in the Theater, as well as the Welcome Aboard Show at 9:45pm. This show was good, enjoyable. The theater was packed, as it was all cruise. We arrived 20-25 minutes early, and got 2 seats in the 4th row. The only time the ship felt crowded was when the shows were getting out, and everyone tried to take an elevator. The comedian this evening had us both in tears, he was excellent.

 

As a side note, I took the stairs everywhere except formal nights when I had heals on. I lost a 1/2 lb while on the cruise - that was a pleasant surprise when I got home.

 

Day 2 - At sea

I'm an early riser, so I was up early all cruise. We had breakfast delivered to the room, and enjoyed dining on balcony (however, the order was completely wrong). My DH decided to go to breakfast in the dining room since the room service was not as he expected. He nibbled some toast and a banana that was sent up, and it's a good thing he did; we were seated in the dining room at a table for 10, met some fellow cruisers from all over the world, placed our orders, and it took well over an hour for breakfast to be served. The waiters and head waiter came to the table multiple times saying it would be a while, and the eggs were what we were waiting on. They suggested more than once to go the buffet in the middle of the dining room to get something to eat, as we waited.

 

After breakfast we headed to the pool, but the wind and rain drove us inside after 45 minutes. We hit the tropical storm that day, and spent the rest of the day inside, as they closed the upper levels of the outside of the ship. We enjoyed the Schooner bar during the afternoon and enjoyed window shopping in the promenade while it was raining. At one time, the apparent wind at the bow was 72mph, the ship was rocking a bit, but nothing too terrible. We went ice skating, DH's first time, and that was a blast, crowded, but not too bad.

 

Lunch and dinner in the dinning room were great - I continue to rave about the salad bar in the dining room on sea days - my favorite meal - check it out.

 

Our travel agent booked us a cupcake decorating class today, and that was fun, DH was only male, but made the best of it, and together we enjoyed it, we had a 'hamburger' out of 3 cupcakes.

 

Dinner on the Sea day was good, food was good, and service was faster than the night before. Our waiter remembered our names and drinks, good server all around. Formal night. DH wore his dress whites (navy sailor) and met the Captain for a photo, they chatted for a moment, and was asked for our cabin number for the captain to send us a print of the photo that was taken together. That was great, but there was so much more he had for us ;-)

 

Day 3, cloudy, hot, but no more rain or wind. Tendering at George Town, Grand Caymen. The Cruise Compass states tender tickets would be available at 11am. I wondered down to the Star Lounge to get ours at 10:30- there was a line of over 100 people already. They began giving tickets out around 10:45, we lucked out and got Tender #4. We were off the ship by 12:15. The tendering process was quick and efficient.

 

We booked a horseback riding tour through Sprit of the West and totally recommend that company and tour. Our private ride was with the owner of the company, Paul, and since my DH and I are experienced riders, we were allowed an enjoyable gallop on the beach. It was wonderful. We shopped a little bit in the town, bought some Rum, and found a free wifi shop and got to chat with our son (which was a huge surprise for him) on Facebook chat. It was great!

 

Welcome back reception for RCI Crown and Anchor members, that was good, the Mai Tai's were very strong, the champagne was better. Live music was enjoyable and chatting with some of the top cruises was nice (that's my life goal to have 50+ cruise experiences)

 

Since we were in port 12:00-5:30, dinner was fairly empty, and service was super fast that evening. We headed to the entertainment, Headliner show, "now you see it". It was enjoyable.

 

Day 4, still cloudy, hot, Roatan, Hondurus.

Docked in port 12:30-6:30.

We've been to Roatan before, but Freedom never has, so lots of people were asking us about it. We've done excursions here before, so we just got the boat, wondered around the little port town, and got back onboard. The vendors and shore excursions salesmen were the most pushy I've even seen. Once you cross the street from the port, think slums and ghettos. A child, probably 12ish came up alongside my husband and attempted several times to get us to go with him to come see this or I can take you here.... we headed back onboard and enjoyed the nearly empty ship. We both did the Flowrider while the ship was still in port, and there was nearly no line. I had no line, and got such great personal attention to learn how to do it. My DH came a few minutes later and only had 3 people to wait on, and also go great instruction on how to surf on the Flowrider. This was probably my favorite thing we did on the ship.

 

We enjoyed the solarium pool and the gym was nearly empty. We also ate at Johnny Rockets and enjoyed the atmosphere here.

 

All aboard was 6:30, but a RC shore excursion was late coming back, so the ship was held until nearly 7pm. We were dining in Chops that evening at 6:45, and watched the shore excursion come back, some looked as if they were relieved to see the ship still waiting for them.

 

Chops was wonderful - we both had the filet and both enjoyed the food. I had the warm goat cheese salad for an appetizer and wow! It was so good we came back the night after so I could have it again. The restaurant wasn't even 1/2 full and the service was great.

 

The entertainment that evening was the Ice show. That was enjoyable to watch. They host the ice show 4 times during this cruise, and this was the last showing - I was expecting Studio B to be packed, so we arrived 30 minutes early - we had the choice of the whole place on where to sit. The theater didn't fill up for this show. The show was great, very enjoyable.

 

That night, we had a towel animal waiting for us, as well as a personalized invitation for us to dine with the captain at the Captain's table on the next formal night. That was such a surprise. Couldn't believe it.

 

Day 5, cloudy, hot, sun starting to show up :-) Costa Maya

Costa Maya 7am - 4 pm

 

This was Freedom's first time at this port also, and lots of people and crew were asking us about it, there tons to do inside the port, as well as outside.

Bright and early I was up and off the ship at 7am. We've been to this port before and loved it. This port has a newly renovated pier, designed for cruise ship passengers. They have a free beach, free lounge chairs, free beach club (huge swimming pool with multiple swim up bars) and dolphin encounter right in the port. I chose 2 lounge chairs closest to the beach and next to the dolphin tanks. DH joined me a bit later and he was thrilled to find free Wi-Fi in the port as well. We went swimming, snorkeling, and swam in the pool, but really enjoyed watching the dolphins. Water was very clear, great for snorkeling, however, there are lots of rocks and coral you must get through to get in the water. Bring water shoes. Lots of people were asking me 'where I got in' and I pointed to my shoes. Not many people got in at all, so DH and I had the whole water to ourselves. One bad thing at this port, while I was snorkeling here, I lost my wedding band somewhere in the water :-(

But the sun came out for the first time, and that was so nice.

 

Back to Chops for dinner, food was great again, we recommend it, and the service was great, we ended up with the same waiter, Ryan, and he remembered our names and our drinks from the night before. Warm goat cheese salad - worth it. Loved it.

 

Day 6, hot, partly cloudy, Cozumel, Mexico. 7am-3:30

 

6:45 am there was a line forming in the stairs to get off the ship.

We booked Playa Mia, through their website (cheaper than RCI's same excursion to the same place)

DH is an avid sailor, so he jumped on the hobbi cat sail boat and sailed of 4+ hours while I enjoyed the open bar and the endless frozen drinks being delivered to me in my lounge chair. Playa Mia filled up fast, as there were 4 ships in port that day, but we had a great time. The snorkeling wasn't great, as the water was cloudy, but the sailing was good.

 

Coming back to the port, there's multiple bars right by the pier which you can go swimming next to the cruise ships. Clear water, I snorkeled here as DH enjoyed the WiFi.

 

All aboard for 3:30, it was after 4 by the time we left. The captain later explained he was instructed by Immigration he had to wait, as a few people where not wanted to remain in Cozumel....

 

We had dinner scheduled with the Captain for this evening, the 2nd formal night. We met at Boleros' bar for cocktails and met the other 3 couples dinning with him this evening. We had a great time, were ushered into the dining room to the Captains' Table and were greeted by Captain Toni when he came in. Our place cards were arranged on the table already, and I was lucky enough to sit on the Captain's right hand side. It was awesome. We had our own menu, light and enjoyable conversation and the captain was a hoot. He has sailed for 17 years with RCI and was part of the Oasis building team. We talked cruising for most of the evening. Our dinner began 1/2 way through the first seating, and continued into the second seating. We were treated as Royalty throughout the entire dinner. It was the most enjoyable dinner we've ever had on a cruise, and definitely the most memorable.

 

As dinner continued, the captain invited us to join him the next day for a VIP tour of the bridge. Dessert that evening was 'chef's surprise' which was a chocolate dipped, peanut brittle cup filled with berries and ice cream. This is the Captains' choice, and we were the only ones to be served it. It was yummy.

 

The entertainment this evening was okay, it was '2 funny guys'. They were alright, but not as good as the first comedian.

 

Day 7, At Sea, SUNNY!

 

We enjoyed the one and only clear sunrise on the whole cruise, so I snapped a few shots of it. We were the first ones in the solarium pool and enjoyed that to ourselves for at least an hour. We were hopping between the whirl pool and the pool with no company and that was awesome. As it got later into the day, the pool deck filled up completely, with no open chairs. Lots of chair hogs staked their deck chairs early, and left there stuff on them, we didn't see anyone move it for hours.

 

The bridge tour was fantastic. Hard to believe the space they have up there, as well as technology. It was fun and memorable. If you ever get a chance to do a tour, check it out.

 

The rest of the day was spent sitting quietly on our balcony reading and watching dolphins and the water. A lovely end to a great cruise.

 

Day 8: Cruise is over :'(

We had to meet our shuttle at 9am, so we got an early departure group. We could have done self debarkation, as we've done in the past, but this way we were waiting on the air conditioned ship, not the humid port for hours.

 

They called our number, we exited the Freedom for the last time (seriously shed a tear) then found 2 of the 3 bags in the right location.... one wasn't there at all, and was later found in the misfit group, where they place the luggage with no tags (the tag was there, just on the bottom) Then off to customs.... that took longer than expected. This is only the 2nd time the sheer number for 4456 passengers was felt. Once through customs, our shuttle picked us up, and we had the Freedom in the rear view mirror and in our memories forever.

 

 

Overall thoughts: This itinerary (western Caribbean) was odd for port call times. The 2 ports in Mexico we were leaving by 4, that's when stuff really starts to get going in Mexico, and we were heading out. Getting up for a 7am departure wasn't the best for a lot of people who like to sleep in (DH)

 

The ship handled the 4,456 passengers well, and there were tons of kids on this cruise. Most times, they were in the kids area or kids pool. Seldom they would be running around on the pool deck or in the solarium, but not routinely.

 

The crew was friendly, always loved to chat about home, family and things they were planning on doing the next port they could get off the boat.

 

Johnny Rockets, Ben and Jerry's, Chops and Cupcake Cupboard were all extras our travel agent included for us - they were all good, I wouldn't pay extra for any of these, except possibly Chops, as the steaks were tender and tasty.

 

The ship itself looks good for being 10 yrs old. They are installing a "scrubber" on one side of the engine exhaust and was an eye sore that will be there for 13 more months. We saw the crew working hard, pleasant and mostly smiling.

 

We would sail on Freedom again if the price and itinerary were right. Our vacation was great, we met some really great people and had awesome memories.

 

DH's impression of the food - he mentioned it's gone downhill over the past 6 years, no ice carvings, no fruit carvings, not so much extravagance as previously experienced, but still enjoyable.

 

Bar service was MUCH slower than we're used to. It was more self service than anything else. If you're a drinker, get the unlimited package, as one drink ranges from $10-18 before 18% gratuity.

 

Do your research on ports and excursions before hand.

 

Enjoy your vacation.

 

Thanks for the great review. We are also doing this itinerary in July.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Biker19

Biker19

Posted
Posted
G

It was delivered after dinner, however, one of the wine bottle was broken :-( thankfully, it was the white wine, and not the red....

 

This is why most experienced cruisers tell you to bring the wine in your carry on.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
maudde

maudde

Posted
Posted

Thanks for your review! For your departure, you mentioned customs taking some time to get through. What time did you get off the ship in order to meet your shuttle for 9:00?

 

Did you notice any significant changes with the menus or did the nights you ate in the dining room seem to be the same as in years past?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
njmomof2

njmomof2

Posted
Posted

Freedom is our favorite ship; glad you enjoyed her.

 

Sounds like an interesting western itinerary. We've done both east and west on Freedom and would love some new ports to try out. Wish I could fit something in on her, but with older son heading to college end of August and younger son starting HS soccer, no end of summer vacation for me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
wranglerkb

wranglerkb

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Thanks for your review! For your departure, you mentioned customs taking some time to get through. What time did you get off the ship in order to meet your shuttle for 9:00?

 

Did you notice any significant changes with the menus or did the nights you ate in the dining room seem to be the same as in years past?

 

We were in group 7, and were called at 7:45, and made it out to meet the shuttle, literally walked out at 8:55am

Link to comment
Share on other sites
DonnaK

DonnaK

Posted
Posted

I didn't know that Freedom was doing this itinerary! I will definitely look into it, as I am excited about "new to us" ports.

 

Thanks so much for writing such an informative review.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
mac_tlc "Live from...." Rare

mac_tlc

Posted
Posted

Thanks for the review! We are doing this itinerary on 8/7, so I'd be interested in the Compass's. We like this itinerary a lot -- Costa Maya is one of our favs.

 

mac_tlc

Link to comment
Share on other sites
cruisegirl1

cruisegirl1

Posted
Posted
You mentioned that they gave out tender tickets. Could you confirm if this was the day before (Monday) or on the day of Grand Cayman (Tuesday)?

 

Also doing that same itinerary in 1 week.

 

Thanks.

 

We were on this same sailing. Tender tickets were given out the morning we arrived in grand cayman.

 

M

Link to comment
Share on other sites
villager70

villager70

Posted
Posted

Just to advise the Freedom will not be doing that route but a few more times while on the west side.She will be back to reg. route in sept and oct. then does a couple 5 day runs, moving down to Ft. Lauderdale in early Nov. and starting the 8 & 6 day routes on Nov. 12th.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • ANNOUNCEMENT: Set Sail on Sun Princess®
      • Hurricane Zone 2024
      • Cruise Insurance Q&A w/ Steve Dasseos of Tripinsurancestore.com June 2024
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...