Just got home yesterday...from Freedom's June 18th-25th sailing...any questions?

[Bec]

It's a haul between GC and Haiti. On the 6/4 cruise, this was the one evening when it felt like we were actually on a cruise ship. I liked it! :) It's kind of nice to actually feel like you are cruizin!

 

The only other movement I noticed was a vibration up in the Viking Crown lounge which was often present. It wasn't rocking and rolling, just vibration.

 

The captain said that he has hardly used the stablizers at all since leaving Europe. She's a smooth sailer. You have nothing to worry about.

 

T

 

Yes--I think that is the night we felt it too--but I think it was Jamaica to Haiti? Anyway, its true, since I wasn't seasick I have to say it was kiind of a nice feeling. It wasn't bumpy at all, which I think is what usually gets to me. It was kind of like a swelling. Anyway, it rocked me right to sleep! But most times you feel nothing--you will love it!

[MszKitty]

From April 2nd until October 29th the ship time will be one hour past island time.

 

BonVoyage

Dawna

 

Dawna....

 

I sent you an email. If its not there, you might want to check your spam folder.

[MszKitty]

I am curious what time people are able to board the ship now that is has been out a few times now.

 

I am sure they are still adjusting to the increased passengers, but are you still able to get on early?

 

Thanks,

Sue

 

On the 6/18 sailing, we were on at noon, with no waiting in line.

[snoopy_leogirl]

We will set sail on the Freedom on 10/29/06. The is only our 2nd cruise (1st was 12 years ago on our honeymoon). We had such a great time (and thus that is part of the reason why we now have an 11 year old son-lol) and this time we are taking the kids 11, 9 & 5. My in-laws mean well, but sent an article about this ship that wasn't too positive. Long lines everywhere, hard to get on and off, can be as many as 1,200 kids on board, some destinations can not support crowds of this size when the ship pulls into port, etc. Thus, I was glad to read your review. What should we not miss on this ship? Do you have kids and if so did they use the kids club activities?

 

Thanks for any information!

 

In my one week of absolute bliss on this ship, I experienced hardly any long lines anywhere...the only one place which would get me mad every now and then about the long wait was waiting on elevators. But other than that, no problems at all! Tendering was smooth, even getting back on the ship was easy. Even if there are 1200 kids aboard, you won't even see all of em' because the ship is so huge, the population simply spreads out. Our cruise, it was announced that there were 4001 guests on board but it sure didn't feel like it at all. The kids will love the H2O pool, you will enjoy the solarium a lot. The shows are great. We saw the freedom-ice.com show which was simply divine. We also saw Once Upon A Time which was wonderful with all the colors, singing and performances. Try to do Family Quest as I am sure the kids will love it. The kids will enjoy the Adventure Ocean program too. They have so many activities for the kids that they will be busy from morning till 10:00pm. After 10, there is a late night zone which you have to pay for per hour I think.

[snoopy_leogirl]

HI snoopy leogirl,

 

what did you do when you were in grand cayman. Is it true that the ship time and the actual time in grand cayman is different? If so, what is the difference?

 

How long did it take to tender and get to shore in grand cayman?

 

Cheers,

Flippa.

 

Hi flippa,

tezbear is right. Cayman is 1 hour behind the ship's time. Just be sure to ignore local Cayman time and watch your clock which is set to the ships time and follow along. Tezbear, I thought we were delayed in MoBay, not Cayman, but its okay...maybe I am wrong. Tender took 10 minutes overall ONE WAY. Not bad at all. IN GC, we shopped first off, then we took a tour to Stingray City Sandbar. LOVED IT! Weather was great. Stingrays were all over the place. People were all over the water, like about several hundreds of people. It was packed. If that's not your thing, just go shopping or window shopping, its nice and then go to seven mile beach which is nice.

[snoopy_leogirl]

Well, that night we were supposed to leave at 4pm but 78 people were missing because they didn't go by the ship's time...we ended up waiting and leaving at 5pm...the ship was rocking that night due to the captain speeding!!

 

Can you please let me know about 'the rocking' did it just happen the once when he was trying to make up time or was there rocking throughout the cruise - how bad was it - did you hear of anyone complaining about feeling unwell - i was hoping that with this being a larger ship it might have rocked less than others I have been on:eek:

 

The rocking was only for 1 night, and it wasn't all that bad. I remember I asked one of the stateroom attendants who came as a witness to my cabin with a guy from maintenance to open my safe up because it was locked and won't open and the lady said that whenever the ship sails to Labadee, it usually rocks a bit more than anywhere else becase the waters are a bit more rough. But it wasn't too bad, it was bearable for me. ;)

[Green Eyed Mom99]

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Can you please let me know about 'the rocking' did it just happen the once when he was trying to make up time or was there rocking throughout the cruise - how bad was it - did you hear of anyone complaining about feeling unwell - i was hoping that with this being a larger ship it might have rocked less than others I have been on:eek:

 

I was on 6/11 cruise and it was wonderful!! We did feel movement at times (I am very sensitive). Mostly it would be like for a couple of seconds and then go away. Most times felt like the ship wasn't moving at all. One night tho the ship was rocking quite a bit and one of the bartenders told my dh that the captain was not using the stabilizers. I did not hear of anyone being sick (though there were 3800 people on board so who knows) and I did not get sick which was amazing since as I said I am so sensitive. It just made me tired. I took one Bonine every morning and 3 large ginger capsules twice a day starting before the trip. I also wore a "relief band" on my wrist. I believe this helped me. I also think I am finally starting to get my "sea legs".

[snoopy_leogirl]

I am curious what time people are able to board the ship now that is has been out a few times now.

 

I am sure they are still adjusting to the increased passengers, but are you still able to get on early?

 

Thanks,

Sue

 

We boarded late, around 1:30 and it took a while. About a 30 - 40 minutes I think. But, by the time we were on, there were already lots of people on board so you can probably get on earlier and be on the ship quicker than it took us to get on.

[Green Eyed Mom99]

I was on 6/11 cruise and it was wonderful!! We did feel movement at times (I am very sensitive). Mostly it would be like for a couple of seconds and then go away. Most times felt like the ship wasn't moving at all. One night tho the ship was rocking quite a bit and one of the bartenders told my dh that the captain was not using the stabilizers. I did not hear of anyone being sick (though there were 3800 people on board so who knows) and I did not get sick which was amazing since as I said I am so sensitive. It just made me tired. I took one Bonine every morning and 3 large ginger capsules twice a day starting before the trip. I also wore a "relief band" on my wrist. I believe this helped me. I also think I am finally starting to get my "sea legs".

 

Bec,

We were on the Freedom 6/11 sailing and we felt quite a bit of movement at times at night. I was like you, took my Bonine, ginger tablets and had my Relief Band. I did get sick the first night, but then by the time we had docked in Cozumel I was fine. Next time I will take the patch as well, I saw several people wearing those. Other than that we had a blast, dh and ds and his friend never felt a thing!!!

[tezbear]

MszKitty: thanks for clarifying what happened RE: the 78 people being late to return to ship. You know how the stories get distorted...that was the story we heard (I just couldn't remember which night, cayman or jamaica). Glad to hear your dtrs got back on the ship okay though. I know when it's the cruise lines excursion, they have to wait!

 

Kelynj...The ship was noticeably rocking that night because the captain was trying to make up for leaving an hour late. It wasn't enough to make us seasick nor did I hear or see anyone else sick. It was just that our cruise had been so smooth that whole week, that we noticed it that night...guess we were spoiled. We had beautiful weather and calm seas the whole cruise...In fact, our last sea at day on Saturday, it felt like we were in a lake...perfect sailing day..didn't want it to end! Enjoy your cruise....Freedom is a beautiful and fun ship!

[MszKitty]

MszKitty: thanks for clarifying what happened RE: the 78 people being late to return to ship. You know how the stories get distorted...that was the story we heard (I just couldn't remember which night, cayman or jamaica). Glad to hear your dtrs got back on the ship okay though. I know when it's the cruise lines excursion, they have to wait!

 

Kelynj...The ship was noticeably rocking that night because the captain was trying to make up for leaving an hour late. It wasn't enough to make us seasick nor did I hear or see anyone else sick. It was just that our cruise had been so smooth that whole week, that we noticed it that night...guess we were spoiled. We had beautiful weather and calm seas the whole cruise...In fact, our last sea at day on Saturday, it felt like we were in a lake...perfect sailing day..didn't want it to end! Enjoy your cruise....Freedom is a beautiful and fun ship!

 

I was in such a "vacation mode" that I wasn't even concerned when I realized that I hadn't heard from my daughters when they made the announcement that 78 people were delayed. I was ok knowing that they were on a ship's excursion and it wouldn't leave without them. Really, if you knew me, you would know that under normal circumstances I would be panicked that they weren't onboard yet!

 

As far as the waters on Saturday,....did you notice how smooth the waters were? Too bad they didn't offer water skiing off the back of the ship because the water was like glass!...perfect for water skiing.

[kpgclark]

Did you have trouble finding an available lounge chair at the pool at all?

[zotzer]

Did you have trouble finding an available lounge chair at the pool at all?

 

KPG,

The H20Zone is such a huge draw for families and kids, that loungers by the pool were very easy to find (although I was on the 6/4 sailing, not 6/18).

 

On the last sea day (normally a mob scene), I made a mental note that the clock said 10:45 and there were still loads of primo loungers available in the main pool area.

T

[rollie]

How bad were the lines for the Flow Rider. It sounds like great fun and I would love to try it.

 

Rollie

[jmsway]

How was getting OFF the ship? I have heard horror stories abouit waiting and wainting and....

[tezbear]

To answer some questions asked...

 

the Flowrider lines were long at times but it moves quickly. The best time to do it is on Port Days. My 14 yr old tried the stand up board and there were only 5 other kids so he got many chances in an hour..he even ended up staying up for a while..which we got on video. We didn't get off at every Port, so this worked best for us.

 

Getting off the ship was easy. They called us early and we just left when we were ready. Actually, they called us earlier than expected so we still ate our breakfast and then left...very easy..no complaints w/ that.

 

It was a little harder to find certain chairs on Sea Days but still found chairs...there are also many on top deck which overlooks the lower one. Again, our best days were when everyone else got off the ship..we had been to the ports before so only got off a few times.

 

You really could not tell or feel that 4000 people were on board..amazing!

 

MszKitty...Yes, Saturday was a great day at sea....felt like we were in a lake and couldn't tell we were even moving! I miss the ship/cruise so much!

[negc]

How was getting OFF the ship? I have heard horror stories abouit waiting and wainting and....

I haven't read any horror stories about disembarking the Freedom, only reports such as the one by GMoney who was off the ship at at the airport by about 8am. As far as the tendering process, most reports say that it has been smooth as well. The only horror stories I have read have been from people like the Cruise Critic spokeswoman who speculated that there would be long lines throughout the ship and difficulties in tendering or disembarking. The facts seem to contradict her predictions.:)

[Green Eyed Mom99]

How was getting OFF the ship? I have heard horror stories abouit waiting and wainting and....

 

We were on the 6/11 sailing FOS, I couldn't believe how quickly we got off the ship, stood in line to go through customs, but not bad at all, luggage was there, picked it up and took it to American Airlines baggage check at the pier and had luggage checked and taken to airport, $5.00 a person and boy was it worth it not having to drag all of that to the airport. Overall, I never noticed a huge crowd, RCCL did a great job dealing with tendering, checking in and out of the ship. Hope you all have the same great experience we did. We're now booked on the 11/04/07 Eastern FOS sailing!!!

[zotzer]

took it to American Airlines baggage check at the pier and had luggage checked and taken to airport, $5.00 a person and boy was it worth it not having to drag all of that to the airport.

 

Mom,

Did you have to have your boarding passes printed out to do that, or simply give them your flight info? I plan to give that a whirl on my FR repeat in Dec!

Thanks!!

T

[Kteacher]

I'm also wondering about the AA check-in at the pier. we have a late flight out of Miami, so we were hoping to take advantage of this.

[snoopy_leogirl]

How bad were the lines for the Flow Rider. It sounds like great fun and I would love to try it.

 

Rollie

 

I was there several times, and it didn't seem as if there were long lines, once you are waiting on one side to ride, you will be there for just a few minutes until its your turn again. They basically alternate between both sides.

[snoopy_leogirl]

How was getting OFF the ship? I have heard horror stories abouit waiting and wainting and....

 

Glad to report that we had no horrific experiences with tendering at all. I think that people assume that it would be bad because of so many people being on board but really it balances out and wasn't bad at all.

[snoopy_leogirl]

I'm also wondering about the AA check-in at the pier. we have a late flight out of Miami, so we were hoping to take advantage of this.

 

I saw signs for this but never followed or asked as we were still in Miami for a few days after the cruise ended.

[phrankbama]

Just got home from the 6/25 sailing of the Freedom, and it was wonderful. In terms of crowds, the days at sea brought a lot of other passengers to the pool, so most chairs were taken and the pools were full of people. The only other time I noticed a crowd was in the photo gallery between dinner seatings on the second to last night. Everyone was in there checking on their pictures. Getting on and off the ship was a breeze, we actually end up with a lot more time at the airport then we had planned. Tendering to the the islands also went very smooth.

[collegekid]

So glad to hear you had a great time! FOS looks so awesome, I can't wait to sail on her someday!

 

How was the weather in the caribbean? Would you say it was too hot and/or humid?

 

Thanks!