Late Stage Cruising in the Final Days of Freedom - A Winks Cruises Photo Review

[WinksCruises]

A photo review of the Halloween sailing - Freedom of the Seas - October 27 thru November 3, 2019

 

This nightmare begins like most of our cruises, with a start.

 

The phone rings. Just as I’m drifting to sleep. That’s so unfair.  I’m always extra-edgie the night before travel. Aren’t you?  Those nights, getting to sleep comes as a challenge, what with all those pre-cruise worry-bots racing through my head.

 

What worry-bots, you ask? Oh, just the usual:

 

Will we get to the ship on time? Is 50-cents a bag a bit too much to be giving the dockside luggage porter? Will shipboard security spot our cache of amateurly-concealed liquor and call me down to the naughty room for a pre-muster walk-of-shame? Is my phantom-stained, red-white-and-blue wife-beater, really the correct fashion play for Royal’s new “Wear Your Best” night? (‘cause let’s face it, it’s the only fashion play I got).  What tactful excuse will we use to pull back our shipboard gratuities this time - and will our stateroom attendant go postal and kill us in our sleep? Will that copy of my birth certificate, that doesn’t have a raised-seal, set-off one of the officious commandants manning the registration counter at the pier?

 

There’s always a lot to worry about.

 

What’s worse, Mrs. Winks has booked us on a 6:30 am flight to San Juan. That’s our embarkation port for this voyage. Puerto Rico, of all places. A foreign country!  We’re so screwed…

 

The landline continues ringing.  Who could it be?

 

Any number of cruise-crushing scenarios cross my mind. The good Lord has finally taken Aunt Barbara Jo; a deep-state sponsored coup in Puerto Rico has closed the airport there; or maybe it’s a Royal Caribbean rep, phoning from that call-center deep in the jungles of Guatemala, to regretfully to inform us the ship has been chartered, last minute, by the pinkest of the Mary Kay sales reps, and he hopes we purchased adequate trip insurance to cover us for this specific eventuality.

 

Thankfully, it turns out, it’s none of these things. It’s just my father.

 

“What’s up, dad?”

“You’re flying to Puerto Rico for you cruise tomorrow, right?” he reminds me.

“Yes, in only a few hours actually,” I mutter, noting it’s already past midnight.

“Good, then I’m glad I caught you.”

“You’ve run out Don Q rum, again?”

“Yes… but I’m really calling just to warn you.”

“About what?”

“There’s no water or electricity down there.  You shouldn’t go. Cancel your trip. Your lives are in danger.”

 

He’s been listening to talk-radio again. For him, Puerto Rico is no longer a sun-soaked play land for the rich and famous. Since Hurricane Maria struck, it’s become a primal wasteland, ravished by a looters and ruled by tribal gangs, sporting ripped Jennifer Lopez t-shirts and sugar-cane machetes, looking to avenge themselves by taking cheap American lives.

 

“I gotta go dad…”

“But how are you going to email me? They won’t have operating Wi-Fi there…”

“We’ll manage, dad”

“Well, if you do happen to run across an unbroken bottle Don Q, one the looters dropped, don’t forget your old man, okay son?”

 

 

 

 San Juan Postcard - Maybe my father was right?

 

Freedom of the Seas traveling from San Juan on a 7-night Southern Caribbean tour. Mrs. Winks tells me this will be our 29^th cruise.  What an accomplishment. We’re closing in on the big 30.  30 completed cruises. And unbeknownst to her, that’s when I wanna call it quits.

 

See, I have an exit strategy in all this - and 30’s my magic number. 30 cruises.  After that, I want us to be like Seinfeld and leave the oceanic stage on a high-note. Proudly descend the gang plank, using self-assist walk-off, clutching the last shreds of our dignity, and calling it quits to cruising. Forever.

 

30 voyages is enough for any single lifetime, don’t you think?  Enough perfect days in Coco Cay, yes?

I know you agree and wish us luck in our post-cruise lives. But shhhh; please don’t tell Mrs. Winks any of this. I’m waiting for that 30^th cruise, the final one, to break the good news to her. It’ll be a big surprise. So let’s just keep this between us. Okay?

 

Here's to Cruise #29 - Enjoying a celebratory Pina Colada at the Pool Bar waiting for the rooms to open up

 

 

Air travel is a big reason I’m quitting cruising. It’s just gotten too intolerable. The TCA manhandling, the forgetting to take off my belt, the backscatter radiation, repacking my over-the-limit baggage in front of harried travelers, the delays, the cancellations, the overhead bin cage-fights, the open-seating game of Bingo overweight passengers always seem to win, the retching guy next to you clearly flying ill, and the disgruntled, overworked, cranky flight crews who aren’t afraid to let you know they’re not even supposed to be working this flight and they’re only one push of the call-button from jumping onto the tarmac and rendering this flight a no-go. 

 

It’s all gotten too painful for me, and I’m too old to put myself through it anymore.  Flying is why I’m giving up cruising.  And I’ve got just two more voyages to complete and I can retire. 29 – 30.

 

Approaching the ticketing kiosk, I note the flight time from NYC to San Juan is close to 4 hours. Oh this is going to hurt.  Most of our air-time will be spent over the Atlantic, in a dead spot, where there’s no reception for the seat-back TVs, and no in-flight Wi-Fi, so I can’t whine to friends back home that I’m stuck going on another friggin’ cruise. I should be happy. I should be celebrating. It’s the 29^th, and I only have to get to 30. But I’m already dreading it.

That’s when they announce our flight’s been delayed.

 

 

 

 The joys of air travel - Visit WinksCruises on Instagram to see the picture that originally went here.

 

 

“Don’t touch that, you’ll get norovirus!” admonishes Mrs. Winks.

“But there’s no other way to order a drink,” I cry.

The bartender, cleaning glasses behind the bar, smirks at me. “Sorry mon, I can’t help you.”

 

We’re at Terminal 5 at JFK airport in NYC at a bistro called The Loft. Every seat, including ones at the bar, are fitted with a touch screen for ordering. There is no wait service. It’s supposed to speed up the process - for those busy travelers who don’t have time to make small talk with service personnel. But our flight to San Juan has been delayed, so I have plenty of time to kill.

 

“I just want a glass of wine… Something to calm my nerves,” I beseech, looking to him for empathy. “Look. Do me a solid. You don’t know what it’s like; I have to go on a cruise.”

 

 

 

 Touch Screen ordering at The Loft at Terminal 5 in JFK

 

 

It’s all become too much.

 

The trip planning, the over-packing; the buying new clothes, ones that fit now; the writing-out instructions for the cat-sitter, the leaving the house available for egging over Halloween, the race to the airport, the off-site parking, the surly shuttle-bus guy, the endless flight-delays, the security striptease, the bacteria infested touchpads. It’s why I’m quitting cruising. 

 

You can see how thrilled I am to be "on the road again".

 

 

 

 

It truly is "the only way to fly"

 

 

For me, voyage number 30 can’t come soon enough. But it’s all predicated on my surviving number 29.

 

I’m in the late stages of cruising in the final days of Freedom.

 

Do you really think you want to come along on this ride?

 

 

Our itinerary

 

Up Next: Surviving Puerto Rico

 

Edited November 23, 2019 by WinksCruises

[ptod]

Just what I needed to start reading this morning......a Calgon "Take me away" thread!  Sqweeeeeee!

 

56 minutes ago, WinksCruises said:

The TSA manhandling

 

They also woman-handle.  Will flying be the same if I am ever not "randomly" selected?  🤣

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, WinksCruises said:

Air travel is a big reason I’m quitting cruising.

Be glad you are within reasonable driving distance to a cruise port and have some options without having to fly, tough, maybe, lovely Bayonne (or the ship choices there) is not your cup of tea.

[Mrs. Winks]

Don't tell @winkscruises but I am already planning numbers 31 & 32!! Shhh.....

[oxymoron11]

Love your reviews! Why not move to Florida?

[mcgore83]

Can't wait to read more.  Love your reviews!

[Oceansaway17]

never say never,  you will grow to miss them.

 

I am betting you are secretly thinking about Odyssey of the Seas which will only be the 2nd Quantum class on East Coast.

 

You could always drive and yes Bayonne is nice to leave from.  

 

Don't give up on cruising.

[WinksCruises]

6 hours ago, ptod said:

They also woman-handle.  Will flying be the same if I am ever not "randomly" selected?  🤣

Thanks for correcting my TSA typo! Yes, you have to give them credit for being indiscriminate gropers. Age, Sex, Race or Political Affiliation don't matter. Everyone's fair game!

 

[WinksCruises]

6 hours ago, Biker19 said:

Be glad you are within reasonable driving distance to a cruise port and have some options without having to fly, tough, maybe, lovely Bayonne (or the ship choices there) is not your cup of tea.

It's true. But we rarely cruise from NY. I think we did Bermuda once.  Mrs. Winks doesn't want to do a Canadian fall foliage tour. And the extra days cruising down and back from NYC are typically cold and in rough seas, so not worth it for us - especially since the stops are usually in the Bahamas.

[WinksCruises]

14 minutes ago, Oceansaway17 said:

I am betting you are secretly thinking about Odyssey of the Seas which will only be the 2nd Quantum class on East Coast.

 

We cruised Allure a little while back and found that class too big and crowded, so not sure Odyssey will entice us.  And please, everyone, stop giving Mrs. Winks ideas! 🤐

[Oceansaway17]

Just now, WinksCruises said:

 

We cruised Allure a little while back and found that class too big and crowded, so not sure Odyssey will entice us.  And please, everyone, stop giving Mrs. Winks ideas! 🤐

 Hey now.

 

Mrs Winks need to ditch Mr Winks and take her own cruise.  ha ha ha.  Odyssey will be a great ship trust me.  just book it

[Mrs. Winks]

4 hours ago, Oceansaway17 said:

 Hey now.

 

Mrs Winks need to ditch Mr Winks and take her own cruise.  ha ha ha.  Odyssey will be a great ship trust me.  just book it

From your lips to @WinksCruises ears! I totally see an Odyssey cruise in our future. Perhaps #33 or 34? BTW, we just booked #31 today so I guess retirement is just a pipe dream for my DH! 

[WinksCruises]

 La Concha Renaissance Resort in San Juan, Puerto Rico

 

As good Cruise Critic members are conditioned to do, we flew to our port city a couple of days before our sailing. From the airport we grabbed a cab and, for a city-regulated fare of $24, we soon arrived at the beautiful Renaissance La Concha Resort. The property is situated along the strip of hi-rise hotels that makes up Condado turística area of the island.  It’s very Miami Beach-esque and right on the water.

 

There are cheaper lodging options available in San Juan, but we didn’t have to pay for this one. We used Marriott Points for our two-night stay, which admittedly took a big chunk out of our balance, but I figured with cruise #30 so close on the horizon, we wouldn’t need pre-sail accommodations like this for too much longer, so why not go for broke?

 

In addition, we applied for, and received, a bump-up in room category (another Marriott Rewards perk), securing a two-room suite with a spacious balcony overlooking the beach.

 

The only hiccup during our stay came at check-in, when the computers were down and we needed to be registered manually. That took a while, as the young front-desk staff seemed unfamiliar with just how pen and paper worked. Using the lobby Wi-Fi, I took the opportunity to text my father and concede he was right, infrastructure in Puerto Rico had totally collapsed, we couldn’t check-in, and were now engaged in a primal battle for our lives. Wish us luck.

 

The view from our balcony

 

 A view from the beach

 

The next morning, we got up early. The beach was gorgeous and empty, but we decided to take a stroll outside the resort, to scope out the neighborhood instead. In the absence of rioting peasant mobs and security checkpoints to impede our progress, we soon stumbled upon a quaint breakfast spot with sidewalk seating.  It was a waffle shop, where they were more than happy to also whip-up Mrs. Winks a fresh protein shake. I opted for the waffles, of course. They brought our order out to us while we watched the city wake-up and people head down to the beach, as there was easy public access through a park adjacent to the waffle stand.

 

The plan for our day in San Juan was to spend some time enjoying the resort amenities and then procure some last-minute cruise sundries. That meant a stop at the Walgreens for the toiletries that we didn’t want to schlep from New York (there was one located a few blocks from the hotel), and a visit to the local liquor store to pick out our wine and champagne allotment… though it ends up we could have gotten these at Walgreens as well.

 

Breakfast stop at a waffle place - take a look at those blueberries!

 

After breakfast, lured by the sunny day, we walked further along the main drag that paralleled the beach, taking in the cultural sites and assessing the city for any signs of remaining hurricane damage.  While there were a couple of shops that looked like they never re-opened after the storm, and some construction repairs going on at several of the smaller, independent hotels, for the most part, the city of San Juan seemed to be doing quite well, post-Maria.

 

We were surprised by the number of public parks and green-spaces located every few blocks, the envy, no doubt, of developers who’d be salivating at a chance to raise yet another hi-rise. Overall, the area was walkable and safe… and densely packed with an unusual number of Chinese restaurants for some inexplicable reason. 

 

Sculpture by the Sea - Please visit our WinksCruises Instagram account to see the picture that should go here.

 

The various expressions of art in San Juan

 

After we completed the aforementioned chores, we spent the rest of the day lazing about the hotel. It was difficult to find a relaxing spot in which to vegetate, since La Concha hosted no less than three weddings that Saturday. The elevators, lobby and other public spaces were filled with bridal party members in various states of sobriety and nervous grooms asking passersby what the Spanish word for Exit was.

 

In fact, when we had lunch at the beach-front terrace, we were able to witness one of those ceremonies taking place out on the sand in front of crashing ocean waves.  It was here that I learned our room charge for the meal was declined, with our waitress reporting, “Sorry Winks, you have no credit at this hotel!”

 

The misunderstanding was quickly resolved with a stop at the front desk, where it was discovered that during the previous night’s manual check-in, the pen-and-pencil clerks had jotted down an incorrect credit card number for us. I reached for my phone to update my dad  - that we were now credit-less, as well as destitute and homeless - but ultimately decided against it, realizing he’d probably spend hours trying to locate a Western Union he could drive to in order to wire us a paltry 50-bucks.

 

That night, we had dinner at the adjacent Italian spot, Serafina’s, which was airing Game 4 of the World Series at their bar. (We tried to get the game in our room, but the local cable-provider was having a dispute with the sports channel, so the series was only available on satellite). Most everyone at the bar, including the staff, were, surprisingly, Washington Nationals fans. (And I’d have thought they’d have had enough with anything associated with DC!) The general consensus was that the Astros were a little too full of themselves and everyone on the island loved an underdog… especially at a cockfight, which this was being compare to.

 

The restaurant featured a wide array of Italian brick-oven baked pizzas and made-fresh-daily pastas. All were very good.  And the bar area was open-air to the beach’s main drag, giving the whole dining experience an electric, South Beach vibe.

 

Catching Pizza and the Series at Serafina’s Restaurant

 

After watching the Astros successfully climb back into series contention, Mrs. Winks and I headed up to our room to repack for the next day’s embarkation.

 

Ironically, during our 15-minute cab ride from the resort to the pier, we had a cab driver who hailed from NYC. He mentioned that the one thing he missed about living in the Big Apple was the ability to get different types of ethnic food here, especially Chinese food, because most of the food options in Puerto Rico were fish and citrus-based.  I asked him if he ever dined along Condado, which I had found teeming with Chinese places. He indignantly replied no; as a cabbie he didn’t like frequenting tourist areas.

 

If he only knew what awaited him there…

 

The many Chinese food places within a 5 block radius in Condado

 

Watch for our

Next Installment: A Loser’s Guide to Bids and Upsells

[njkruzer]

La Concha is our favorite San Juan hotel.  Know the Walgreens well!

[EDiamond22]

patiently waiting for more 😇

[RickinStl]

Following!  We'll be on Freedom in September

[WinksCruises]

Above is a picture of a rainbow that greeted us as we sailed into St. Maarten. The Philipsburg cruise pier served as the literal rainbow’s end.  And while we didn’t find a pot of gold there, we had something just as valuable: the jaw-dropping deal we got on this Freedom of the Seas cruise!

 

I have to doff my hat to Mrs. Winks on this one.  She sure knows how to sniff out a cruise bargain. And that’s no small feat considering the confusing array of Royal’s gimmicky promotions. None of which are actual sales!

 

What an odd menu it is: Kids Sail Free, BOGO60; Great Escape, WOW, Wander Now, Sail Away Sale, Going, Going, Gone, and my favorite, The If You’re Old and from NY State No-Bargain Days; we’ve all been enticed by these supposed specials before. Let’s just say you don’t have to be smarter than a 5^th grader to figure out there’s no real deals to be had with these come-ons. The bean counters back in the home-office have jacked-up the prices on these itineraries from the get-go. So these sales don’t represent any legit savings. We all got receipts!

 

Eventually, you discover it’s actually cheaper to book something during non-sales periods, and we look forward to the few times a year on Royal’s otherwise packed promotions calendar when those days occur.

 

So, in spite of this daunting shopping environment, Mrs. Winks managed to hit the ball out of the park on this one.  After conducting her usual exhaustive research, she secured us Grand Suite accommodations, no less, on a 7-night sailing, over Halloween (a holiday cruise!), aboard Freedom of the Seas… for dirt cheap.

 

One of the neat things about sailing out of San Juan is the 8pm departure. San Juan sunset from our balcony just before sail away.

 

Of course, a rock-bottom booking like this doesn’t come bundled with any of the customary Royal perks. There were no free deluxe drink packages, no free pre-paid gratuities, no specialty dining packages or complimentary Wi-Fi plans, and the onboard credit was token at best; but overall, the base cruise-cost represented something so much rarer to score these days on the high seas; it was a genuine steal.

 

Was it too good to be true? Okay, probably…

 

On closer inspection, the wheels started coming off the bus.  First of all, the sailing featured an incredibly port-heavy itinerary - five stops and only one day at sea.  That’s usually a non-starter for me. I love sea days and, as you can imagine, I hate dealing with the stressful logistics associated with port of calls. So that wasn’t great.

 

Secondly, this would be one of Freedom’s final itineraries. She’s scheduled for dry-dock “amplification” in January.  That means writing this review is kind of a waste of my time - and certainly yours. Everything you read about her here will be completely irrelevant in a month. So feel free to stop reading now. These are the last days of Freedom, as we know her.

 

That all said, it was still cheap as Royal Caribbean cruises go, and earning double loyalty-points for booking a suite would place us within striking-distance of the highly coveted Diamond-Plus Crown and Anchor status. So begrudgingly, I agreed to the deal and we booked it. Cruise number 29.

 

Promos not withstanding, it was standing room only at the ship’s Next Cruise travel store on our last day at sea

 

Then the Royal Up offer came by email.  We had been “specially selected”, it ceremoniously informed us, to bid on a “superior-quality” stateroom (I guess a Grand Suite is considered slumming it these days).  In our particular instance, this meant opportunities to bid on the Owner’s Suite or the Royal Suite (or a 2-bedroom family suite in the aft - that really made no sense for us to bid on, considering it was just the two of us).

 

Gamblers at heart, and ready to inexplicably kiss goodbye the savings Mrs. Winks had painstakingly secured, we haphazardly rolled the dice and placed what we considered modest upgrade bids.

 

Moments later, the AI-powered algorithm got back to us, and if machines can laugh, she was definitely in LMAO mode.

 

Oh the Royal Up algorithm. What can I say? Suspected by many of getting the legendary RCI Upgrade Fairy inebriated one night and tossing her into the drink (it’s always difficult to prove these things when there’s no body), the program immediately emasculated our offers, rating them “Pathetic” – red on the color-coded odds-of-success chart they provide – and taunted us to bid more. Mrs. Winks and I felt like a pair of scrawny 90-lb weaklings sitting on our beach towel and Royal Up had just walked over and kicked sand in our face.

 

By the time they shut down the bullying process a few weeks later, they’d goaded us into upping our ante a few more times, even reaching the orange “You’re kidding, right?” ranking for the Owner’s Suite, but in the end, there was no stateroom category upgrade in the cards for us, and that was probably for the best.  Now we could wallow in our totally cheap cruise.

 

Visit WinksCruises on Instagram to see the picture that was meant to go here...

 

The upsells start before we even enter the terminal. It begins with the baggage porter, who told me that for an extra 5 bucks, he would douse his hands in Purell disinfectant before manhandling our luggage. For a 10 spot, he’d give us his special white glove service, whatever that meant.

 

At the check-in counter, our rep pulled up our account and failed, miserably, in stifling a giggle.  When she finally composed herself, she said, “Nice try on that Royal Up bid.” I could see she was biting her lip. “You know, it’s not too late to present us with a more reasonable offer, that is, unless you don’t mind being stuck in your Grand.”

 

Honoring our original reservation, we checked in, got our cards, and took our security picture. We by- passed the waiting areas and headed directly up to the gangway (it was 1pm and they were already boarding all loyalty categories).

 

At the top of the escalator, we were accosted by a guy who’d obviously spied our gold cards coming up and figured we were easy marks. “Listen, most passengers need to walk down this narrow hall and try to slip past the Welcome Aboard photographers, but if you let me swipe your cards, I’ll give you access to  a reserved passageway that gets you directly on the ship, harassment free.  It’s our new “FastTrack the Photogs” offer and it’s only $17 plus an 18% gratuity.”

 

Not to say we weren’t tempted… but no.

 

So we ran the entire Upsell Gauntlet without swiping our card once… and all we got was this stupid picture!

 

Next Installment: Can we get to the dang cruise already?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Biker19]

12 minutes ago, WinksCruises said:

Eventually, you discover it’s actually cheaper to book something during non-sales periods,

Not sure there has been any in the past 5 years.

[CelticMCO]

Ah a little friendly civil unrest in Puerto Rico is what anyone who has spent anytime there would call "Tuesday"; usually a small bunch of riff raff monitored by a bored group of local cops in mismatched uniforms.  Not to worry.   They are far to friendly a bunch down there for the serious stuff.  Power outages are as common as sunsets, just hope your not in an elevator; enjoy....

[WinksCruises]

 

 

 A dreary beach day in St. Maarten

 

I came s-o-o-o-o-o close to staying onboard the ship in St. Maarten. So close, I could taste it. But cruising good fortune is rarely fair and always short-lived.  So it didn’t take long for my dream of "enjoying Freedom" to die a quick and untimely death.  Here’s what happened:

 

The beautiful rainbow that appeared when we docked in Philipsburg Harbor that morning, gave way to vast chain of rain clouds that continued to form all around us. The minute the ship’s gangplank touched cement, one by one, those clouds ceremoniously dive bombed the town, deluging everything and everybody with torrential showers.

 

It was messy. Passengers early to disembark scurried in a mad dash back to Freedom. Next, just as they finished setting up their stations, the ship photographers and their costumed play actors got caught in a nasty squall on the pier. They hastily packed-up their gear and abandoned their stations, seeking refuge just inside the gangway. Can you imagine the awful stench that comes off those furry costumes once they get exposed to moisture? Mr. Dolphin was clearly drenched, and I noticed several passengers gagging as they made their way past him.

 

We witnessed this mayhem from our balcony, enjoyed a good chuckle, and then, wisely choosing to wait out the inclement weather, opted to take breakfast in the sanctuary of Chops. This is still one of the best remaining suite-guest perks, the ability to skip the chaos of the Windjammer Buffet and enjoy sit-down service in the peaceful oasis of the mostly empty specialty restaurant. The staff is friendly and reliable, the meals made to order.

 

Over pastries and coffee we watched the rain continue to come down unabated and decided to weigh the day’s options.

 

Since we’d “done” St. Maarten before, more than a handful of times – Orient Bay, those other beaches, the Dutch side, the French side, the monument in the middle, the water taxi, the Pirate Ship, the Yoda Guy, and the airport with the low-flying jumbo-jets – I found Mrs. Winks uncharacteristically warming up to my suggestion that we spend the day, warm and dry, onboard, and enjoy the run of the ship.

 

Thanks to the continued dreary weather, my plan seemed to be unfolding perfectly. That is, until we returned to our cabin and, on a whim, Mrs. Winks decided to go digging in her big luggage. Wouldn’t you know it; she found her rain parka, tucked away in the Samsonite’s outside pocket, a lightweight poncho that had been sitting there, unused, since our cruise to Alaska.

 

A Phoenix from the ashes, Mrs. Winks emerged from under the bed with a new-found raison d’etre.  She could go ashore and proudly sashay around town in her rain gear, taunting groups of the foolish, unprepared travelers, stuck wearing lightweight t-shirts and shorts, who were forced to huddle under leaky shop-awnings in a desperate bid to stay dry and share body heat. She lives for this stuff. And who was I to deny her what might be the biggest highlight of her entire voyage? She was literally the only person who’d packed rain gear for St. Maarten.

 

 

 

For Mrs. Winks, it was all about the rain gear...

 

 

If you’re looking for an adequate weather forecast in St. Maarten, look no further than the hills. From our vantage point of the pier shopping area, we could see little goats making their way down the steep incline.  Where were they going?  A cave apparently, to seek shelter from the steady rain.

 

When the rain let up a little, the assembled crowd hanging out in a souvenir shop emerged onto the sidewalk, convinced the storms had finally passed. The same couldn’t be said of the goats, who continued to steadfastly stand their ground in the cave.  It was pretty obvious they knew the shower activity wasn’t over. And within minutes, another round of squalls commenced, sending everyone back into various shops and some, back to the ship. Except Mrs. Winks of course, who continued to make a show of it, dancing about the shopping area in her blue rain-slicker.

 

 

 

Wild goats seeking refuge from the rain under an outcropping on the hill overlooking the pier shopping village

 

Having worked the Diamonds International village for all it was worth, Mrs. Winks then suggested we head into Philipsburg proper so she could continue her spectacle. She bribed me with an offer of lunch in town, and at the prospect of dealing a Windjammer buffet, I agreed to purchase the water taxi tickets (7$ roundtrip each) and soon we were motor-crafting across the dreary harbor.

 

Once in town, we made a go at wandering down the “boardwalk”. It was here we saw evidence of Hurricane Irma’s damage, the kind we expected to see in Puerto Rico.  Boarded up venues and shops in various stages of recovery. The irony being, this island’s horrific storm had occurred in 2017. They’ve had two years to bounce back. But even here in the tourist areas, there was still a lot of work to do.

 

 

 

Some shops remained unopened and boarded up...

 

 

Construction going on as the island still rebuilds from Hurricane Irma

 

 

Which is not to say the port city was devastated. There was still a lot going on...

 

 

Since the beach was pretty much a wash out, I led Mrs. Winks to Front Street, the commercial avenue a block in from the boardwalk. In all the times we have been to this island, this is the first time Mrs. Winks walked into the actual city. Every other time, she’d parked herself on the sand under an umbrella. It was a real eye-opener for her, having never known about the bustling town and shopping opportunities that had always lain just an ally away.

 

I did a little shopping myself, securing some nudie postcards for my postcard collection.  Postcards in general, but nude postcards in particular, are increasingly difficult to come across.  But there are a few places in the Caribbean where they can still be had, and Philipsburg is one of them.

 

After touring Front Street, we ended up at the Hard Rock Café, pathetic, I know, for a lunch and rain day cocktails. From the vantage point we could watch other passengers, in various states of wetness, heading to or away from the water taxi pier.

 

After a real boozy lunch, we hopped aboard our return vessel, and when Bob Marley’s Every Little Thing was played over the boat’s PA system, Mrs. Winks, in her parka led the passengers in a rousing rendition. Those of you who followed us on Instagram Stories got to see that back when it happened.

 

 

 

 After lunch antics on the boardwalk and water taxi...

 

After returning from Philipsburg, we got dressed for dinner and went for drinks in the Concierge Lounge.

 

Let's introduce you to Freedom's funny and interesting concierge, Fabio the Fabulous. Fabio has all the features we look for in a concierge. He’s professional, competent and, best of all, in the habit of telling tales out of school! 

 

He was working the year before, for instance, when the grandfather tragically dropped his little girl over the side of the ship. That horrific incident was fresh on everyone’s mind because the grandfather had only just been formally charged with negligent homicide the week we sailed and the update was all over the news. Fabio relayed some of the passenger and crew stories from that voyage. It was heartbreaking and disturbing.  The show must go on, but apparently, it was a very somber cruise.

 

He also told us horror author Stephen King had been a recent suite guest. “I couldn’t get a read on him,” Fabio explained (the pun being totally unintended). “He just sat on the corner couch over there with his family. He never asked me for anything and just kept to himself.” King, a non-drinker these days, was probably bored out of his mind in this interior, windowless lounge where the only action was the open bar.  Let’s just hope he was doing research for a new horror novel set on a cruise ship. 
 

As authority went, Fabio was more than willing to turn a blind eye to the occasional drink parading out of the concierge lounge, clearly in violation of company policy; but then he would rule with an iron-fist when one suite guest kept inviting non-suite friends and family members in to enjoy the services. Words went down, and that guest stopped showing up in the lounge entirely, (much to everyone’s relief) but Fabio wouldn’t tell us if he’d banned the guy formerly or not.

 

One of his colorful stories actually took place during our cruise.  Halloween after hours, there was a giant crew rager going on that got totally out of control. Several smaller crew parties merged and formed a mega blow out. But then, at 2 am, security showed up and threw on all the lights and barred the doors. The guards had received word that there were several cruise guests attending the party, and the room went on lock-down while everyone in the room was positively identified. 

 

Turns out, the supposed guests were actually members of a “guest” musical act that was on the ship for only a few stops. The whole thing had been a false alarm and case of mistaken identity, probably called-in by an unhappy crew member who needed to get to sleep that night. 

 

Fabio explained if passenger guests had actually been in attendance, those crewmembers with them would have been taken to the ship’s brig before being tossed off the ship at the next port. Had he ever seen the brig, we asked.  He had, and gave us a special new detail about it we’d previously not known: apparently, it’s an authentic padded cell. (I’m surprised they don’t offer a night’s stay in it as an upsell!)

 

 

 

Freedom's Concierge: The Fabulous Fabio!

 

 

In The Next Installment: Shipwrecked in St. Kitts and our (yawn) Cruise Critic Meet & Mingle

 

 

 

Edited November 26, 2019 by WinksCruises

[WinksCruises]

 

 

A view of the St. Kitts southeast peninsula from Timothy Hill

 

 

Weeks before boarding Freedom, Mrs. Winks and I purchased a specialty dining 3-pack, during some online promotion or another, which gave us an alleged savings of 30%. The number of specialty dining options on Freedom isn’t huge, so three meals seemed about right.

 

We spent the first of the three at Giovanni’s Table, where we found the service and food refined and excellent, and ultimately it was the best dinner of the entire package. Mrs. Winks went with the gamberetti alla ligure prawn dish, while I played it more traditional with bucatini alla Bolognese. Pasta was fresh and cooked correctly. Spices were all subtle and on point. The especially dry cabernet was savory.

 

 

 

 

Giovanni Food Porn

 

 

 

For dinner service, we had a charming waitress named Marissa, who, as we got to know her more, told us she planned to write a book about her time working on cruise ships. Her only concern was she didn’t think any publisher would ever believe her stories, which she swore, as insane as they seemed, were all true.

 

 

We would run into her a number of times over the course of the 7-days as she also worked Chops during the breakfast shift.

 

 

After a satisfying meal, complete with decadent desserts, we stepped out into the entry hall of the Windjammer, where kitchen staff were lining up elaborately carved pumpkins - the opening sally of the ship’s Halloween decorating campaign.

 

 

 

 

The Halloween Decor starts rolling out at the Windjammer

 

 

 

The next morning, we ended up waking much later than anticipated. No, we weren’t hungover!

 

 

 For some reason, both our “smart” phones had fallen back an hour. This was inexplicable, as St. Kitts is not in a different time zone than St. Maarten; it’s hardly 60 miles away. Nonetheless, both our phones, with data set off and in airplane mode, shifted back into US Central time! So while we were feeling well rested, rising at 8am, it was actually 9am (ship time) and Freedom was already docked in Basseterre, St. Kitts.

 

 

We didn’t figure this all out ‘til we checked our watches, the Cruise Compass for docking time, and still in disbelief, the physical ship clocks located at poolside. We had lost an hour! The day was quickly slipping away.

 

 

While the kitchen team had already stopped serving at Chops by the time we go there, Marissa (our Giovanni server from the night before) was kind enough to let us park our day-packs at a table there and bring our food in from the Buffet.

 

 

Thankfully, we had no formal shore excursion scheduled for St. Kitts; we would have missed it! Instead, we were simply taking Fabio’s advice and hiring a cab to take us out to the beaches for the day. 

 

 

After our late breakfast, we headed to the pier where we were accosted by a throng of aggressive island tour purveyors and shore excursion barkers.  Seeing our shocked expressions after emerging from the harried gauntlet, one guy approached us calmly and asked us what we had in mind to do while in St. Kitts. 

 

 

That’s how we met Stephen, who was soliciting for other taxi vans, but said for 20$ he would personally drive us to the beaches in his own car and we wouldn’t have to wait for a van to fill up.

 

 

We jumped at the offer, foolishly, I suppose. (He could have a machete in that car for all we knew!) But having sat in a number of hot mini-vans in the past, waiting for the driver to fill every seat before departing, we knew that Stephen’s offer to take us to the beach, even if he killed us, was well worth the risk. Moments later we were walking back to the employee parking lot with him, chatting about the weather and New York, and getting in his car.

 

 

Once out of the town, he took us over Timothy Hill, where we could see the narrow strip of land that separates the Caribbean Sea from the Atlantic Ocean. He stopped so we could take a few pictures, and pointed out a landmarks visible from the high vantage point, and then we headed down to the string of public beaches.

 

 

 

 

Overlooking the Marriott Resort at Frigate Bay

 

 

 

 

With our driver Stephen

 

 

 

The Shipwreck beach bar is tucked away on the end of the island’s southeast peninsula.  It’s not classy, it’s not visually appealing, and I can’t even say that it’s that clean.  It’s basically a shack, held together by spit and glue. But it was exactly what we needed, a quiet oasis, with a lazy attitude, situated away from the cruise ship masses.

 

Few of the taxis-vans make the left turn down the cul-de-sac to visit this hole-in-the-wall, choosing instead to bear right at the fork and dropping passengers off at established beach clubs along South Friars Bay. But if you want things quiet and a bit more rustic, The Shipwreck is the way to go.

 

The beach there itself is narrow, with only room for a line of weathered cabanas and loungers. But it offers nice views of the ocean and a bar-grille and basic amenities are only steps away.  While Mrs. Winks sat in the sun, taking occasional dips in the water, I was able to hangout under the palm-leaf shelter and read.  For a bucket of beers, we could claim a picnic table for the day.

 

 

Beach front and the directional mileage sign at The Shipwreck

 

 

 

 

 

A view of The Shipwreck from the water

 

 

 

There’s piped in music, a full bar, dining tables and the place takes credit-cards. You can rent snorkeling equipment and there’s even a bin of communal paperback books lent on a take one / leave one basis.

 

Our server, Tanika, pushed the fresh snapper, saying that it was caught that morning.  I was a little skeptical, given the overall sketchiness of the place, but ultimately was happy with the snapper sandwich she brought me.  Mrs. Winks went with grilled chicken breast which was also good.

 

Across from the restaurant, up on a steep rocky incline, are populations of indigenous monkeys and mongooses. They would come down, feeding off scraps visitors lure them down with, though signs clearly indicate feeding them is prohibited.  There’s not a lot of enforcement going on.

 

 

After a few hours at the beach, true to his word, Stephen arrived in the parking lot promptly at 2pm, ready to take us back to the ship.

 

 

 

The Bar and Fresh Snapper Sandwich

 

 

 

 

 

St. Kitts Monkey

 

 

 

Once on the ship, we stopped at our cabin to pick up our Meet & Mingle invite.

 

It’s tough to schedule a meet and mingle when 5 of your 7 days are in port, but nonetheless, Royal arranged for ours to be held in the late afternoon of the St. Kitts day.

 

Of the 40+ people who signed up beforehand, perhaps 15 to 20 showed up. It was held in the On Air Studios down by the Skating Rink and was emceed by the Activities Manager with help from the Crown & Anchor Loyalty Ambassador.

 

Most M&Ms we’ve attended have been held in the morning, where coffee and pastry were available. For this afternoon event, the staff had set up glasses of red punch - which initially got my hopes up - but no, it was all alcohol-free - and what it lacked in booze it more than made up for in sugar content!

 

We were given raffle tickets by the Loyalty Host who collected our invite at the door, and then found seats in the mostly empty venue.  There was little “mingling” going on and after introducing himself, the assistant cruise director unabashedly got down to the business of handing out his allotment of cheap RCI swag. There were the infamous Royal Pens and Yellow Highlighters, a couple of notebooks and then, finally, baseball caps and tote bags. Absent was a bottle of champagne or voucher for a specialty restaurant meal which we’ve seen given out at other, better-attended, gatherings. Despite pretty favorable odds, Mrs. Winks and I couldn’t pull out a win on this one.

 

The whole affair went on for less than 20-minutes and we were soon off to go see Fabio in the concierge lounge and have an uneventful dinner in the Main Dining Room  

 

 

 

 

Our weakly attended Meet & Mingle featuring the sugary red punch

 

 

 

 

 

Mrs. Winks with the Loyalty Ambassador and Activities Manager, Bern

 

 

 

Next Installment:  A Royal Up (of Sorts) and High Seas Heliport Hijinks

 

 

Edited November 30, 2019 by WinksCruises

[Canadian Tyler]

Looking forward to more!

[WinksCruises]

Cruise Compasses and Deals of the Day

 

I never find these print-outs much use after the cruise, but since some members of the CC community seem to enjoy reading through them, here are the first three days of Cruise Compasses from the October 27th Freedom of the Seas voyage.

Also, scroll down for the onboard Deal of the Days...

 

* Note: Freedom is going into dry dock in January 2020.  Hence, most of the info here will quickly be waaaaaay out-of-date.

For now, it's just standard out-of-date.

 

 

DAY ONE - SAN JUAN WELCOME ABOARD

 

 

 

 

 

 

DAY TWO - ST. MAARTEN

 

 

 

 

 

DAY THREE - ST KITTS

 

 

 

 

 

 

DEALS OF THE DAY - Days 1-3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Coming Up:  What were Mr. and Mrs. Winks for Halloween?

 

 

 

[RickinStl]

2 hours ago, WinksCruises said:

Coming Up:  What were Mr. and Mrs. Winks for Halloween?

 

Anxiously awaiting!

[WinksCruises]

Working on it!

 

 

 

Edited December 1, 2019 by WinksCruises