96 hours "Live" Part Deux, Freedom of the Seas - August 28, 2016

[loeytalldog]

You have Liberty just down the road. We were docked next to her in Cozumel. I hope to sail her in 2018. That will be our third Freedom class. I tried to get pics of her slides, outside SL and put put course, but the humidity crapped out my DSLR. :(

 

Yes, I was thinking of trying her next summer since it's just a 3 hour drive for us, but I just read on kcjarvis' review that she doesn't really have voom. After having it on FOS this past summer we've decided that we got things done for work (unfortunately we own a business and can't unplug) much faster and were able to enjoy vacation more when not "fighting" with the internet to work. We did not like the Oasis class, so not sure what we will do for next cruise.

[island lady]

Welcome back John. I finally took the time to go through your whole review.

Great job!! As usual. ;)

 

Loved the picture of you in the shark's mouth! :p

 

Bet you will be sad to see her slide out of port in just a half hour!

 

Sure wish we could have joined our neighbors today when we dropped

them off at Freedom this morning. Felt weird dropping off luggage there

and not getting on board the ship!! :eek: :(

 

I am guessing Bella is very...very...happy to see you!

[John&LaLa]

Welcome back John. I finally took the time to go through your whole review.

Great job!! As usual. ;)

 

Loved the picture of you in the shark's mouth! [emoji14]

 

Bet you will be sad to see her slide out of port in just a half hour!

 

Sure wish we could have joined our neighbors today when we dropped

them off at Freedom this morning. Felt weird dropping off luggage there

and not getting on board the ship!! :eek: :(

 

I am guessing Bella is very...very...happy to see you!

Will look for her in a bit. I think I'm going through detox now. [emoji6] And yes, Bell was happy to see us

 

I still have a lot to share, plus info on getting off the boat. I'll end with any questions and share some lessons learned.

 

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Edited September 4, 2016 by John&LaLa

[easyboy]

Thanks for the recap.

[John&LaLa]

Thank you very much. And if you're now opening the floor to questions, would you please tell me if the addition of the new cabins means the gym no longer has a sea view? We'll be sailing the Freedom next spring with a pair of fitness freaks that won't miss their daily workout, even if it means less time to see the sights in Rome :p.

 

The new cabins are up on the spa level. They did shorten the jogging track on 12, but no impact on the front view from the gym down on 11

[John&LaLa]

More info on the cabin. We were Muster Station C6

 

 

However, Laura's knee was bothering her, so we checked in and then went to Schooner Bar. [emoji6]

 

 

And this is the door that goes to deck 12. It did tend to slam the last few days.

 

 

 

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[John&LaLa]

The CL (Concierge Lounge)

 

 

Rahul (Concierge) and Laura prior to our photo shoot

 

 

She wasn't happy with her up do. Nothing a Peach Martini couldn't fix.

 

 

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Edited September 5, 2016 by John&LaLa

[John&LaLa]

Here is one more thing fairly unique to the Freedom. Guest Services has a priority line.

 

 

I never saw very long lines anyway.

 

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Edited September 5, 2016 by John&LaLa

[John&LaLa]

Day 7

 

Since it was a sea day, the MDR was open again. It was a different menu than last sea day and they had Mongolian Grill and Bananas Foster stations.

 

 

A little chocolate and coconut was available as well.

 

 

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[John&LaLa]

Freedom Fest was a little different from previous trips. All they had was a fruit carving demo and Kummelwreck sandwiches.

 

 

No photo of sandwiches, the beef was not rare at all. Big let down.

 

They were finally selling the 10 drink punch cards. $70 and it included the gratuity.

 

 

 

They may have been available earlier, but I never thought to ask.

 

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[John&LaLa]

Departure morning. 😭

 

 

Breakfast in MDR, missing my latte in the CL

 

 

My last two Apple Danish for 2017.

 

 

Well that should be all from my phone.

 

Will continue via my laptop

 

 

 

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Edited September 5, 2016 by John&LaLa

[John&LaLa]

For those interested the C&A counts are as follows

 

Pinnacle - 36

Diamond Plus - 160+

Diamond - 280+

 

I don't recall the other tiers, but total C&A was around 1,900

 

That means that about half the ship were first time Royal cruisers

[John&LaLa]

We decided to not go off with Self Assist for the first time in forever. I think we will continue to do this.

 

We were assigned Tag 3. It was scheduled for 7:30. Not sure when it was called as we were still in the MDR. We left the MDR around 8:05 and were hailing a cab at 8:20.

 

Somehow we ended up on a shared shuttle. It was $5 cheaper in the end, but took 20 minutes longer. :mad: There seems to be a shortage of cabs. They need to get their act together before Oasis arrives is all I have to add.

 

We were at our condo around 8:50 :D Gotta love that.

 

Got the A/C lowered, water turned on and the shutters open before 9AM. I was also happy to find out that my weather cam's battery held up for the whole time we were gone. I had to disconnect the solar panel when I closed the shutters last week. If you ever want to know what the current weather in Cocoa Beach is, just click on the link in my signature.

Edited September 5, 2016 by John&LaLa

[John&LaLa]

Last post for the night.

 

I mentioned earlier we had a private photo shoot for B&W pictures.

 

It was held up in the Library on 7. Good use of the space in my opinion.

 

Anyway, it was on formal night, they took about 100 pictures over 30 minutes. It was a lot of fun. We then made an appointment for our viewing the next morning. So we show up at 9:30 Saturday morning for the presentation. She sat us on a couch and we watched a slide show with about 60 photos. They also had some romantic music playing.

 

When it finished she showed us the available packages. :eek::eek::eek:

 

I don't want to spoil it for you, but one package was 100 pics for $2,500

 

The pics were lovely, but I couldn't justify even the cheapest pkg.

 

We parted friends and she said she would be available later if we changed our mind.

 

We did. :o

 

After lamenting the situation for an hour or so, we sheepishly returned to negotiate some better terms. We decided on 10 pics for $550. So now we have to cull out the best photos and many look alike. But it was fun. and we looked good.

 

Here is an example or two. I couldn't not buy them.

 

 

 

I have three more things to discuss, but that will have to wait until tomorrow

[Clarea]

Really like that photo with both of you John.:)

[Ocean Boy]

Nice pictures!

[John&LaLa]

Really like that photo with both of you John.:)

Thanks, I'm going to send one off to EFFY in NY. I think the solo makes a better ad than the one we saw in Cozumel.

 

 

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[John&LaLa]

Nice pictures!

Thanks, in addition to the 8x10's they gave me the digital files. I'm thinking about having some printed on metal

 

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[island lady]

Wow...great photo shoot pics John!!

 

I loved the one of you two looking at each other with big smiles!! NICE!!

 

And of course Laura always looks good, even with her hair flying in

the wind on deck. Beautiful lady! :)

[A&L_Ont]

John, those photos are spectacular.

[torpeedo]

For those interested the C&A counts are as follows

 

Pinnacle - 36

Diamond Plus - 160+

Diamond - 280+

 

I don't recall the other tiers, but total C&A was around 1,900

 

That means that about half the ship were first time Royal cruisers

 

We were on the Freedom last week of July and it was a ghost town as far as C&A members were concerned. I know there were four pinnacles and very few D+. We attended the breakfast with an officer and there were, drum roll, EIGHT people in total. All the officers got a pass that day except for Tyrone, the HR officer. The top tier event was crazy. More servers than attendee's. The CL was totally empty most evenings. Just us two chickens and Rahul!

 

Loved your review and pictures! I will miss the Freedom in PC.

[sadie8]

I was checking in with Julia about my crystal block and should have offered to take this picture for you, even though yours looks great. Didn't know you were John and Laura. We had a great cruise and I won the casino gift at the meet and mingle.

[John&LaLa]

I was checking in with Julia about my crystal block and should have offered to take this picture for you, even though yours looks great. Didn't know you were John and Laura. We had a great cruise and I won the casino gift at the meet and mingle.

 

No worries, I am slowly getting better at Selfies. We took that same photo a couple of days later on the second formal night. I hope Julia was able to take care of you. She is a Gem. I think we were there to say hi to her as well. Laura will really miss her. I hope you won something with your casino gift.:D

Edited September 5, 2016 by John&LaLa

[John&LaLa]

I ended up spending the afternoons in the Solarium pool. Specifically under the bridge to stay out of the sun. Chatted with lots of fun people.

 

 

So I have come to the realization that I may really be a troll after all. :eek:

 

 

BTW, there are 4 seats on either side of the bar top. Very valuable real estate since the pool is over 6' deep. Almost 7' if you believe the sign. i think it was closer to 6'

Edited September 5, 2016 by John&LaLa

[jules815]

I ended up spending the afternoons in the Solarium pool. Specifically under the bridge to stay out of the sun.

 

 

So I have come to the realization that I may really be a troll after all. :eek:

 

 

That's our favorite spot as well. Your pictures are great, thanks for sharing. Missing FOS as this has been our week for the past two years.