Freedom - May 19-26 - Southern Caribbean Maybe, Kinda Semi-Live?

[thetone]

In the early afternoon, my wife and I decided to hit the casino again. After two and half hours at one black jack table, we had won all our money back, and then some! Take that casino!

 

The second formal dinner was our favorite of the week. I am one who believes lobster is one of the most overrated meals on a ship, but the lobster tail was quite large, plump and delicate. I also ordered the prime rib, medium rare, and it was cooked to perfection. Our table enjoyed the molten lava cake and baked Alaska deserts. Overall, a very pleasurable meal.

 

St. Kitts today, then time pack and one last dinner. Cheers.

 

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[thetone]

Formal night menu.

 

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[LoLa_in_GA]

Hi there,

Sailing on FOS in 15 days...yay!

 

Since our last port day on another ship to SJ was soooo short, we didn't see much. We (husband of 31 yrs, adult son and his hopefully soon to be fiance) would like to drop our bags off in our rooms and then go back and explore SJ a bit before coming back for dinner/sailing.

 

I was told by RC that this is NOT allowed, but others have said they have done this...Anyone have any information?

Thanks!

[LoLa_in_GA]

We are also sailing on the 9th...15 days....!

 

We board on June 9th. Can’t wait to hear about your trip.

 

 

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[accio_7]

Enjoy your final sea day, thetone!

[ndabunka]

Hi there,

Sailing on FOS in 15 days...yay!

 

Since our last port day on another ship to SJ was soooo short, we didn't see much. We (husband of 31 yrs, adult son and his hopefully soon to be fiance) would like to drop our bags off in our rooms and then go back and explore SJ a bit before coming back for dinner/sailing.

 

I was told by RC that this is NOT allowed, but others have said they have done this...Anyone have any information?

Thanks!

 

I assume you are talking about upon departure. If so, we would like to do the same things as our flight arrives @ 11:30 and the ship doesn't depart until 8:30pm. I know that they need everyone on board by 7pm but that still leaves at least 4 or 5 hours that could be used to visit a fort or some other activity. To those who say "just spend more time when the ship returns"... we have RCI shuttle service from the airport to the ship and back. For the return we could always sign up for air-to-sea (or whatever they call that package) so that our luggage would be able to be accounted for directly from the ship to the airport and then we could probably simply skip the RIC "return" and take our own cab to a fort and then to the airport but. so it would be FAR easier to do it the way LoLa_in_GA is asking about here so ...

 

We board on the 23rd so will look forward to the reports from those on the 9th departure to understand if they were able to do this.

[CruisingChristine]

Enjoy your last day onboard. Thank you so much for your review!

[thedubs]

thetone -

 

I've been voraciously absorbing every morsel of information about your cruise experience, but I still have some questions I hope you can answer!

 

1. How have you kept your phone charged the whole time while posting non-stop?

b. Are you less tan now than when the ship disembarked?

f. How many words per minute are you up to?

6. How has Mrs. thetone not thrown your phone overboard?

q. Why do dogs walk around in circles before lying down?

 

- thedubs

[thetone]

Hi there,

Sailing on FOS in 15 days...yay!

 

Since our last port day on another ship to SJ was soooo short, we didn't see much. We (husband of 31 yrs, adult son and his hopefully soon to be fiance) would like to drop our bags off in our rooms and then go back and explore SJ a bit before coming back for dinner/sailing.

 

I was told by RC that this is NOT allowed, but others have said they have done this...Anyone have any information?

Thanks!

We did not try to go back into PR, but I was told this was possible.

 

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[thetone]

thetone -

 

I've been voraciously absorbing every morsel of information about your cruise experience, but I still have some questions I hope you can answer!

 

1. How have you kept your phone charged the whole time while posting non-stop?

b. Are you less tan now than when the ship disembarked?

f. How many words per minute are you up to?

6. How has Mrs. thetone not thrown your phone overboard?

q. Why do dogs walk around in circles before lying down?

 

- thedubs

Take that Dubs whilst sitting in your office!!!

 

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[GBM]

Thanks for all the info. We on the June 9 cruise, so I'm devouring all the info I can get.

The menus are helpful, as I am having some dietary adjustments, so it's helpful to see what the options are.

Plus I just like hearing about all the cruise info.

[thetone]

Final night menu! Try the lamb. Full review in a few days. Great cruise, met wonderful people. Remember, it's your vacation. Make it what you will. A negative attitude will bring negative results. Be open, be positive, be responsive, and enjoy.

 

Cheers.

 

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[SDQTraveler]

Hi there,

Sailing on FOS in 15 days...yay!

 

Since our last port day on another ship to SJ was soooo short, we didn't see much. We (husband of 31 yrs, adult son and his hopefully soon to be fiance) would like to drop our bags off in our rooms and then go back and explore SJ a bit before coming back for dinner/sailing.

 

I was told by RC that this is NOT allowed, but others have said they have done this...Anyone have any information?

Thanks!

 

 

I did this 2 years ago. Had lunch at the Windjammer and went to the city, boarded again just before the muster drill.

 

 

 

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[viper88]

Did you go to the Meet and Mingle? If so, what day and time was it?

 

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[thetone]

Totally forgot about the meet and mingle. Was day two or three.

 

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[thetone]

Sitting in the Miami airport waiting to get back to San Diego. Disembarking was rough today. Our baggage number was supposed to be called by 9:15, but the announcement didn't come until after 9:30 am. The baggage pick up in San Juan is a mess, with little direction. Took 40 minutes once we had our bags. Easy $23 cab ride to the airport.

 

Thanks for following along. Hope I provided some insight and enjoyment. Trip summary in a few days. Cheers.

 

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[Pghcrews]

Thanks much.

 

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[reallyhooked]

Great review. Thanks for sharing your experience. I agree with you about having a positive attitude .

[starrcards]

Sitting in the Miami airport waiting to get back to San Diego. Disembarking was rough today. Our baggage number was supposed to be called by 9:15, but the announcement didn't come until after 9:30 am. The baggage pick up in San Juan is a mess, with little direction. Took 40 minutes once we had our bags. Easy $23 cab ride to the airport.

 

Thanks for following along. Hope I provided some insight and enjoyment. Trip summary in a few days. Cheers.

 

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Did you use a porter for disembarkation? That seems to be the trick in San Juan.

[SDQTraveler]

Thanks a lot for the nice report! Looking forward to our sailing in a month!

 

 

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[thetone]

Trip Summary:

 

After decompressing for a day and half, I thought I would write a short review - so here goes:

 

Embarkation: 5 out of 5 - As I said during the report, we arrived at 11:30 or so, and were on board within 20 minutes. Easy getting on the ship.

 

Ship: 4.5/5 - This is the largest ship we have been on, and we really enjoyed the Freedom. We did not utilize all the ship had to offer (ice skating, flowrider, etc.), but found the ship beautiful and in great shape. Not sure we will go for a larger ship, but I said that after the Navigator....

 

Drinks: We sampled a LOT of drinks on board, and are self-proclaimed cocktail snobs. I can't tell you about a mudslide or lava flow (though we saw many of those made during the week), but the bartenders at the R Bar (Christian and Oscar) know how to make a proper martini, old fashioned, negroni, etc. The cucumber/basil martini Christian made was a stand-out. We never had a problem getting drinks on the ship. I read all the doom and gloom over lack of service, but we tipped well, and were rewarded. Even when we grabbed a drink from a bar we didn't frequent, we had no problems. I saw plenty of servers on sea days, and we never even got up from the pool deck to go the bar because of the plentiful servers aboard.

 

Drink service during dinner was slower than in the past, but we read about that coming in. Easy problem to solve - we brought a cocktail or wine to the MDR as we walked in. The first night, I tipped the assistant waiter $10 and we ordered wine. Every night thereafter, we had wine at our table, and second glass thereafter. You can get cocktails while in the MDR, but it is kind of slow. Take my advice, bring your first drink, tip your assistant waiter, and your problem will be solved!

 

Food: Drum Roll Please..... 4/5 - The food was perfectly fine! I don't believe the food was better or worse than our Royal cruise to the Mediterranean 5 years ago. We had some very good meals in the MDR, including mushroom risotto, salmon, lamb, prime rib, and the lobster. None of it was 5 star, but the food is MUCH better than at other all inclusives I have stayed at, and our meal at Giovanni's was very nice. The Windjammer was subpar. Part of it was that we always seemed to end up there during the busy times. Lunch there was almost inedible - so we ate the semi-artisan sandwiches at Cafe Promenade - which were just fine. Late night pizza was at is should be at Sorrento's. Overall - food was more than adequate.

 

Staff: 6/5! Amazing staff. No complaints. I gave multiple great reviews on our post-cruise survey.

 

Others: 4/5 - The passengers were made up of at least 50% Puerto Ricans. Most of the on-board activities (dance parties, white party, Karaoke, etc.) were Latin music, and were catered to the heavy Latin contingent on-board. This did not bother us, but just an observation. We went to the Marquee show, and left half-way though. We did not see the ice show or other headliners, and missed Once Upon a Time because of a dinning conflict. The shows were mostly at 7:00 or 9:00, meaning we had to make the early show (we had the 8:30 pm dinner) or we would miss out. Seeing a show at 7 was not realistic, as we would generally get back on board at 3 or 4, take showers and a nap, and then have a pre-dinner cocktail. I think the late shows should be moved back to 10:00 pm.

 

The piano player was amazing (forget his name), and the pub singer, James, was fun. The casino dealers were great (when they were dealing me the right cards.....), and we very much enjoyed the Quest game show. Voom internet also worked like a charm. We use Duo (Google app) to essentially face-time the mainland, and only had a few moments of buffering. Used wi-fi text without a problem and, obviously, uploaded photos to CC!

 

Disembarking: 2/5 - See prior post. We did not get a porter, but do yourself a favor and use $20 to get out of there quick.

 

Ports: 6/5 - I LOVED these ports. I have been to the normal East/Wet ports, and these were much more engaging. I would not consider another St. Martin/St.Thomas/San Juan/Jamaica cruise - but i would do the Southern Caribbean again in a heart beat.

 

Overall - The cruise was a 4 to 4.5 for us. The value and service we received for the price was simply perfect. As I mentioned previously, we are no "cruisers" per se, but will certainly cruise Royal again. There are many more trips we intend to take that will not be on a cruise ship - but we certainly will be back in a 3 or 4 years.

 

Thanks for following - and enjoy your next trip on the high seas!

 

Cheers.

[43mpd902]

thetone,

 

Really appreciate the report. I have found it very useful in planning our upcoming cruise. I have a questions however on the entertainment. What nights were the main shows for the cruise? Also what was the entertainment on the nights you were in Curacao and Aruba. I am trying to figure out what to do in those port with the extended stay, but do not want to miss any major shows.

 

Thanks for your help

[accio_7]

thetone,

 

Thank you for a terrific live report and summary, sounds like you and your family had an amazing cruise! Loved your photos :)

[Biker19]

For the return we could always sign up for air-to-sea (or whatever they call that package) so that our luggage would be able to be accounted for directly from the ship to the airport and then we could probably simply skip the RIC "return" and take our own cab to a fort and then to the airport but. so it would be FAR easier to do it the way LoLa_in_GA is asking about here so ....

I don't believe there is Luggage Valet service out of San Juan.

[thetone]

thetone,

 

Really appreciate the report. I have found it very useful in planning our upcoming cruise. I have a questions however on the entertainment. What nights were the main shows for the cruise? Also what was the entertainment on the nights you were in Curacao and Aruba. I am trying to figure out what to do in those port with the extended stay, but do not want to miss any major shows.

 

Thanks for your help

 

OK - here were the shows: Day 1: Adult Comedian; Day 2: Marquee; Day 3: Headliner - husband and wife magic show (I heard it was good); Day 4: Ice Show; Day 5: Headline - Rockabilly Show; Day 6: Ice Show again; Day 7: Once Upon a Time.