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All Things Freedom of the Seas!

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Cuizer2

Cuizer2

Posted
Posted
We have some friends who are going on this FOS in May and wanted to know what the cabins are like in the Promande?

 

Are they big? can you see anything differently there?

 

thanks Red:D

 

Here are some pictures of a promenade view cabin. This cabin is on the Voyager of the Seas. Nonetheless, it is the same as the Freedom of the Seas ...

 

This is an 8th floor cabin. The 8th floor cabins have windows that tilt out, thus providing a slightly better view of what is below ...

 

fromdoor.jpg

 

fromdoor2.jpg

 

fromwindow.jpg

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Cuizer2

Cuizer2

Posted
Posted
Can you advise when you can start departing in all Western ports and how much does the process take: Labadee, Ocho Rios, George Town and Cozumel? The arriving should be 8:00 AM in Labadee, 9:00 AM in Ocho Rios, 8:00 AM in George Town and 10:00 AM Cozumel.

 

We have booked private tours for Ocho Rios and George Town.

 

The pick-up is around 9:00 AM in Ocho Rios. I asked if we have enogh time to leave the boat. The tour organizer said: "You should not have any problems clearing the ship to make the 9 o'clock tour The pick up time for the tour is not hard and fast as we are only 2 minutes away from the Pier and do allow some felxibility for the ship passengers.... In Jamaica there is no need for tender boats as the ships dock along side the pier allowing you to disembark easily and quickly, therefore you should have no problems making it within the time frame allowed. We have not had any problems in the past and see no reason why we should now."

 

In Grand Cayman we have pick-up between 8:15 and 8:30. The tour organizer explained: "Freedom of the Seas has been arriving here in Grand Cayman between 6:50 and 7:00 am local (Cayman) time for the last month (since daylight savings March 08, 2009).We have been accommodating customers off the Freedom of the Seas and have not had anyone miss the meeting time."

 

I am first time cruiser. I am not living in US or Canada and we know quite little about cruising.

 

Wow, you are arranging private tours and this is your first cruise. I would recommend that you get at least one cruise under your belt before you start arranging private tours.

 

That aside, on to your question. If you arrive in Ocho Rios at 9:00am, you have to wait for customs to clear the ship. I would expect that you would be better off trying to make a 9:30 tour than a 9:00 tour. I don't recall how long it took to clear the ship (I last docked in Ocho Rios in June 2007). Here is a photo of the dock in Ocho Rios ...

 

WITW-III.jpg

 

Dock.jpg

 

For Grand Cayman, try and get on the first or second tender. The first tender may be limited to passengers on ship sponsored tours. For this one I believe you will be okay.

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MrsPete

MrsPete

Posted
Posted
Wow, you are arranging private tours and this is your first cruise. I would recommend that you get at least one cruise under your belt before you start arranging private tours.
I must disagree. Setting up a private tour isn't difficult at all -- the most important thing is to make sure (and it's easy using this board) to choose someone who's been in business for some time and has plenty of good references.

 

I strongly dislike ship tours; I dislike them so much, in fact, that if they were the only option, I would stay on the ship or just wander about the pier a bit.

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Cuizer2

Cuizer2

Posted
Posted
I must disagree. Setting up a private tour isn't difficult at all -- the most important thing is to make sure (and it's easy using this board) to choose someone who's been in business for some time and has plenty of good references.

 

I strongly dislike ship tours; I dislike them so much, in fact, that if they were the only option, I would stay on the ship or just wander about the pier a bit.

 

I've done both. The private tours are less pricey and usually include a smaller group. However, quality wise I have not noticed any difference.

 

There is more to booking privately than just picking the right business. For example, you have to know how the ship time compares to the local time. Also, on a ship sponsored tour, if the tour is late for some reason, the ship will wait. If a private tour is late for some reason, you are SOL.

 

On my ninth cruise I wanted to do a private tour in Grand Cayman. I did a private tour on Grand Cayman from my seventh cruise, so I knew how to set it up. Nonetheless, I could not find out how the ship's time would compare to the local time, and thus was unable to set up the tour. I ended up doing something else as part of a ship sponsored tour, and frankly, I'm glad I did it.

 

Nonetheless, my private tour on Grand Cayman was actually a repeat (with a different company) of the ship sponsored tour I took from my fourth cruise. The tour cost less, the group was smaller, we did more, but the quality was lacking (compared to the ship tour three years earlier), and we arrived back to the dock just in time (after a rather scary ride back to the dock because we were running late).

 

My next trip to Roatan I will likely do the ship's tour that is the same as the private tour I did two weeks ago, just so I can compare the two (and because I enjoyed the tour). Nonetheless, while the group was smaller, and it cost less, I don't see how the ship's tour could be any less quality.

 

Yes, I've had some ship tours that were stinkers. The worst was Pearl Island in Nassau. I've also had several that were a lot of fun (including the Stingray City tour in Grand Cayman).

 

I just think that one should have a good idea of how things work before attempting to set out on their own.

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nzdisneymom

nzdisneymom

Posted
Posted

Does anyone have some pictures of a D1 cabin from Freedom? We're trying to get an idea of how it really looks rather than just what is posted on the RCCL site. Also if there is a picture of the balcony for a D1, that would be awesome. We're actually staying on Deck 9 (I can't remember our cabin number, but I know it's Deck 9 fwd on the port side).

 

Thanks.

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SEAGAL28

SEAGAL28

Posted
Posted

We are thinking about booking a fall cruise on FOS from Port Canaveral in Sept. I was a little surprised to get on the review boards and see some of the reviews about the staff as of lately. Does anyone know if they will change out the staff before they go to their new home port of Canaveral?

 

Also-if we where to book a promanade room-is it better to be on the 6 or 7th floor????

 

Thanks for your replies!!!

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Guggie

Guggie

Posted
Posted

Also-if we where to book a promanade room-is it better to be on the 6 or 7th floor????

 

Nahhh. 6th floor in a handicapped room is better ;)

 

Also, the staff was extra stressed on some recent cruises due to extra cleaning and duties, extra shifts, etc. That is no longer the case and I expect that morale has returned to the norm.

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BAreEhD

BAreEhD

Posted
Posted
Yes.

 

Sorry, I couldn't resist. Royal Caribbean docks at the International Pier. In this picture the Freedom OTS was a little camera shy, and was hiding behind its little sister, the Grandeur OTS ...

 

css-FreeRhapinCoz.jpg

 

 

This time, I can't resist: if Freedom is hiding behind Grandeur in that picture, where is Grandeur hiding? :p

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CHAMPDDS

CHAMPDDS

Posted
Posted

I know it often is the particular bartender/s that are working the bar, but is there a particular pool bar that is better ? My reference for me was the SkyBar on the Mariner was my "Cheers" location for the week, and I kinda like that atmosphere if the Freedom has a similar setup ?

 

 

Thanks

 

David:D

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tchrmom

tchrmom

Posted
Posted
Someone on this thread mentioned the balconies being so hot in summer that they're barely usable. I'd like to hear some other opinions on this. We've really used our balcony in the past, but I'd be disappointed to pay for it and not use it. Are we talking about the balcony being hot-hot-hot all day, or just part of the day? How about evening hours? If the balcony's going to be un-usable for much of the day, we might change to two promenade cabins.

 

 

We have never had a balcony on The Freedom...........However, my husband and I took a Disney cruise WITHOUT the kids for our 20th anniversary in 2007. Because it was a "special" occasion and because we didn't have 2 kids to pay for.....we splurged for a balcony. We both decided that it was NOT worth the extra money because it was too dang hot to sit out there at anytime of the day OR night. We went the last week of July and almost melted every time we walked out there. Now......to be fair, it was only a 4 day cruise, and they were never more than 250 miles from Port Canaveral.....and the ship moved VERY slowly......so there was NO breeze at all. If we went further, and the ship had further to travel, maybe they would go faster, and there would be a breeze. Who know??????

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Cuizer2

Cuizer2

Posted
Posted
do any of the promenade rooms (besides a family room) fit more than 2 people? was hoping to get my parents and niece in one.
No, all the PR cabins except the family PR cabins are for no more than two. The cabins are a little smaller than standard, so putting three or four in would be a bit of a squeeze.
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NYCRUISR

NYCRUISR

Posted
Posted (edited)
Okay... just to add some "flavor", color.... here are three pictures... one of the ship, one of the Promenade and one of the dining rooms.

 

 

Adding some Flavor as well. We were on the 4th sailing of Freedom.About the time they got the early kinks out with all the extra passengers. The bottom group is from Freedom.:cool:

Edited by NYCRUISR
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JCafaro

JCafaro

Posted
Posted
We have never had a balcony on The Freedom...........However, my husband and I took a Disney cruise WITHOUT the kids for our 20th anniversary in 2007. Because it was a "special" occasion and because we didn't have 2 kids to pay for.....we splurged for a balcony. We both decided that it was NOT worth the extra money because it was too dang hot to sit out there at anytime of the day OR night. We went the last week of July and almost melted every time we walked out there. Now......to be fair, it was only a 4 day cruise, and they were never more than 250 miles from Port Canaveral.....and the ship moved VERY slowly......so there was NO breeze at all. If we went further, and the ship had further to travel, maybe they would go faster, and there would be a breeze. Who know??????

 

We had a balcony for our honeymoon last July. Worth every penny. Gave me something to do while the wife was getting ready. Sitting out on the balcony watching the late guests run back from port was always fun. Eating breakfast out there at sea... a nice glass of wine out on the balcony before a show. It was a blast, I'm ready to book my next one. I'm never going back to an oceanview.

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teajak

teajak

Posted
Posted
I don't think so - just the family staterooms. If this has changed, then I'd love to know! :)
Just my DH and myself in a promenade room and it was tight. Couldn't pass each other.Hated the room,very small.
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tchrmom

tchrmom

Posted
Posted
We are cruising with our best friends and would love to be able to open the partition in between our balconies. Do you know if they allow that on the Freedom?

 

I don't know this for a FACT............but I THINK I saw this when we were on the Liberty last summer. And I THOUGHT I read somewhere that your room steward can open it for you.......but as we have had inside rooms, I can't swear to it.

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