We are back!!! Freedom of the Seas 3 Night Perfect Day Review 7/30/2021-8/2/2021

[danp2482]

Day 3 Continued: 

 

We headed to Studio B for the Ice Show, FreedomIce.com. This show was the mixed vaccine status show. Most of the shows were vaccine only but this one show was for everyone. When we entered Studio B we were informed that since it was an everyone event, masks needed to be worn at all times unless taking a sip of a drink. Also, because it was an everyone show, every other row was blocked.

 

 

I know I sound like a broken record but I will say again, I am a big believer that one persons opinion or review is just that. Everyone has different tastes about what they enjoy or think is good. The skaters of this show were very talented and did a lot of complex routines but the show had no plot and was very disjointed. It was still entertaining but I had a hard time following the story if there actually was one. The show on the Navigator is much better. The talent was there for both shows but the story, show, music and production were much better on the Navigator. Just my opinion. Definitely check it out for yourself!

 

 

 

After the show, we headed up to Giovani's for dinner. Srdjan welcomed us in and joked with us how he won and stole us away from Izumi! We started again with love from the kitchen garlic knots and Srdjan suggested a wine, which I can't name. The wine was good though and we both enjoyed it. Srdjan worked hard to keep the wine glasses full throughout the meal but we kept him busy.

 

This meal, Srdjan suggested the meatball giante and because her caprese was so good the other night, Nichole got that again.

 

 

 

The meatball was so good! I had to keep myself from eating all of it! Nicholes caprese didn't disappoint either! The buratta was so soft and delicious and the basaltic glaze and pesto complimented it so well. For our entrees I ordered the oven baked lasagne and Nichole had linguine con vongole. Nichole substituted the clams for shrimp and said that it was delicious! All the pasta is made fresh at Giovani's and it appeared that you can't go wrong with any of them.

 

I got pictures of both but the Lasagne didn't photograph well. Here is Nichole's Linguine.

 

 

We finished up our main courses and then it was time for dessert! The meal 2 nights prior we didn't even look at the menu and just took suggestions, after looking at the menu, we saw so many things we wanted to try that we asked Srdjan if he could do a dessert plank! He told us it wasn't a problem at all and brought out a sampler of everything!

 

 

We paired dessert with a pair of limoncello martinis and Srdjan also brought the limoncello shots as well!

 

 

The meal was another wonderful experience! The food was amazing but the service from Srdjan was what really made the night. It was perfect mix of attentiveness but also joking and friendly. We talked with him about family and he told us about his as well. Such a genuine person! We said see ya soon as we hoped to see him again when we return in November and thanked him repeatedly for a great experience.

 

After dinner we headed down to...you guessed it...Schooner Bar. We stayed at dinner so long that we missed out on a lot of the evening entertainment. The best thing to do was go have a few drinks and listen to the very talent piano man Andy C. 

 

We got to the Schooner Bar and there were people enjoying the evening and singing along but as I had mentioned before, the energy was quite different than the usual last night on previous sailings. We chatted with Lambert the bar tender some, had a few drinks and bid him farewell. We headed to bed to get ready for the dreaded disembarkation day.

 

 

[spooky981]

I'm reading people that say masks are required between sips and bites. Is that the case?

[danp2482]

Day 4: Disembarkation Day ☹️

 

I will say we played this one better than previous sailings. We typically try and milk every ounce of fun out of a cruise, especially a short one and sometimes that results in a late night, even on the  last night. This cruise we made it till about 11:00 on our last night which made the morning much easier.

 

We woke up and got ready to depart. I had asked Nichole if she thought she could make it back to MIL without having breakfast and she reminded me of the hour ride so we headed to the windjammer for breakfast. Another good experience, same operation as the day before. One thing I noted, unlike other sailings, the plaza bar was operating as a full bar! People were still able to order drinks other than coffee, even on disembarkation day. I am guessing that is a new thing. We finished up breakfast, headed to the room to grab our bags (we always carry off ourselves) and off we went. We scanned off the ship and were welcomed back to Miami. We got into the customs area where we were randomly selected to participate in routine bag search. The customs officers were friendly and had us on our way pretty quick. We were able to grab an Uber pretty easily and headed back to MIL. Until we meet again Freedom!

 

Next Up: Final Thoughts

[danp2482]

6 minutes ago, spooky981 said:

I'm reading people that say masks are required between sips and bites. Is that the case?

That was not the case in any of the restaurants or bars we were in. More similar to on land when there were mask mandates. Wear masks to tables and then remove for your meal.

Edited August 23, 2021 by danp2482

[danp2482]

Final thoughts:

 

I had really missed cruising. It was literally the one vacation that we wanted to return to and couldn't wait to get back on a ship. We've been following all the protocol changes, new protocols, CDC rules etc...in real time. I was a bit nervous about protocols lessening the experience and cruising not being the same as it was but I am pleased to say that the worrying was for nothing. Royal Caribbean has done an amazing job developing protocols that work, were not overbearing and did not take away from the experience at all. Cruising felt almost exactly the same with the exception of a few entertainment offerings being missing and the energy of the ship being a little flat.  Everyone cruising seemed to be having a great time, we certainly did and you could tell how happy the crew was to be back sailing as well.  If the protocols have to stay in place for awhile but the experience doesn't change, I would have no problem sailing again. We have 2 future cruises booked and we hope we get to sail both of them! If you're thinking of going, you should!

[perfect match]

Thanks for a great review, Dan! 

[cruizzing]

Enjoyed your review- thanks for sharing.  

[brookmill18]

Random question, but on which deck do you enter the ship? 

[Ocean Boy]

8 hours ago, brookmill18 said:

Random question, but on which deck do you enter the ship? 

In Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, and Port Canveral Voyager and Freedom class ships use deck 4.

[island284]

I notice you said you were pulled for a “random bag search”. What did this entail?  Did they have you open your suitcases?  The way we pack for disembarkation is crazy. I hate to think I have to rearrange everything so it fits again. 

[Royal_Echo]

On 8/22/2021 at 3:31 PM, danp2482 said:

Day 3. Nassau:

 

 

 

 

 

When we awoke, we were already docked in Nassau. We've been to Nassau on many cruises and done a few excursions but we usually use Nassau as a ship day, especially for these short 3 day sailings.

 

When we headed out on to the balcony, I was surprised to see another ship there with us! It was a great feeling to see another ship! It was Celebrity Edge. Nichole and I laughed because we had just talked about trying Celebrity and that ship in particular. I kept telling her that it was a sign and now the next sailing we book needs to be the Edge. Apparently it wasn't too big of a sign though because the Edge is heading back to the Med. Not positive exactly when but I know its before next spring which is when we were thinking of trying her out.

 

 

The plan for the morning was to catch a quick workout, have breakfast and head to the pool. I headed to the fitness center and Nichole decided to run the outdoor track. I really liked the fitness center on Freedom. Many of the newer ships have buried the fitness center on lower floors but it is still on 11 on Freedom with panoramic floor to ceiling windows to catch a great view when working out. After about an hour workout, we headed to the windjammer for breakfast.

 

We didn't know exactly what to expect with the Windjammer and the new protocols but we couldn't not check it out, especially if I planned on reviewing the cruise. I can say that we were pleased with the set up of the Windjammer for both of our day 3 breakfast and lunches. In fact, I wouldn't mind if this was the protocol going forward! 

 

When you enter the Windjammer, they scan your sea pass (contact tracing is my guess) and then everyone is to wash and sanitize hands. It's no longer a request or suggestion. On our sailing, they would not let you into that are unless you washed and sanitized. We then entered the Windjammer where a crew member hands you a plate and a napkin/silverware roll. You then proceed to all the stations and are served by a crew member behind the station. (like a carving station but for everything) There were a few things you could grab on your own but for the most part you were served. Then you found a table and sat/ate as normal.

 

Tables were blocked to promote distancing but finding a table wasn't an issue at all. As I said, we didn't mind the new concept at all. There wasn't nearly the amount of chaos as usual and you knew for sure, other guests were not touching utensils with dirty hands or worse, touching food and putting it back. The crew was great, the served with a smile and even asked if you had enough or would like more. We finished lunch and then we headed back to the room to change and head to the pool.

 

 

 

 

 

I am sooooo siked to have read your extensive review of the Pandemic Freedom Experience... I am sailing the Freedom November 19th as a newly WED on my honeymoon, and your review has put me at ease!! I am really happy to read your review of Andy at the Schooner as my first cruise had be addicted to the sing alongs on Navigator of the Seas at the end of 2019. I am thinking the Compass will be similar for my cruise, and am writing to see if you can add the Day 3 Compass Itinerary. I am a freaky, type A, plan nut, and all of the secrets surrounding cruise planning is DRIVING ME NUTS, Lol!!! AGAIN, Thank you sooooo much for this review!!!

[WAHMto5]

Thank you for the review!

[retire2cruise55]

@danp2482 Thank you for sharing!  What time did the ship let passengers off to disembark?  Also, what speciality restaurants were open for lunch (saw Playmakers & Giovanni - embarkation).

[danp2482]

On 8/25/2021 at 8:33 AM, Ocean Boy said:

In Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, and Port Canveral Voyager and Freedom class ships use deck 4.

Correct. Deck 4 where all the muster stations are located.

[danp2482]

On 8/25/2021 at 9:32 AM, island284 said:

I notice you said you were pulled for a “random bag search”. What did this entail?  Did they have you open your suitcases?  The way we pack for disembarkation is crazy. I hate to think I have to rearrange everything so it fits again. 

Actually I was surprised it didn't entail opening our luggage at all. Everything was x-rayed. I assume if there was something in question that they would've opened up our bags.

[danp2482]

On 8/26/2021 at 3:40 PM, Royal_Echo said:

I am sooooo siked to have read your extensive review of the Pandemic Freedom Experience... I am sailing the Freedom November 19th as a newly WED on my honeymoon, and your review has put me at ease!! I am really happy to read your review of Andy at the Schooner as my first cruise had be addicted to the sing alongs on Navigator of the Seas at the end of 2019. I am thinking the Compass will be similar for my cruise, and am writing to see if you can add the Day 3 Compass Itinerary. I am a freaky, type A, plan nut, and all of the secrets surrounding cruise planning is DRIVING ME NUTS, Lol!!! AGAIN, Thank you sooooo much for this review!!!

Congratulations on your upcoming wedding! I am a planner too, thats why I always try to include things like compasses in my reviews. I scour the boards looking for info prior to a sailing. Forgive me for asking but what exactly do you need? The compass for Day 3 was posted at the beginning of Day 3. Our sailing itinerary was Day 1 Miami, Day 2 Coco Cay, Day 3 Nassau, Day 4 Disembark.

[danp2482]

2 hours ago, retire2cruise55 said:

@danp2482 Thank you for sharing!  What time did the ship let passengers off to disembark?  Also, what speciality restaurants were open for lunch (saw Playmakers & Giovanni - embarkation).

Playmakers and Giovannis were the specialty restaurants open for lunch on embarkation day. Playmakers was the only one open for lunch on day 2 and 3. As far as disembarkation, I believe express walk off started at 07:30.