Freedom 6/7 Review w/ pics

[Kim4]

Hi all,

 

I love reading reviews with pictures, so I thought I'd share. We went on the Western Caribbean route on the Freedom on June 7th. We had a *great* time. We were a group of 11, and I have 4 kids, so my review may be a bit kid-centric.

 

Sunday:

We stayed at the Quality Suites in Port Canaveral, and we had a few hiccups with them. I'd recommend that people call the hotel front desk directly and specifically say that you'd like the park and cruise package. We ended up staying there, but not paying for the shuttle and just parking at the pier.

 

It was chilly, windy, and cloudy when we started out, but we were still very excited! Muster drill went great. I was carrying our 1 year old, and DH was carrying our 2 year old. When we left our cabins, our steward told us NOT to bring the life jackets for the kids, and for us not to wear our own life jackets. Every floor we went to, we heard, "put on your life jackets, please". The first time I heard that, I stepped aside, put down the baby and started to put on my life jacket when a crew member came over to me and told me not to put it on, since I was carrying the baby. We proceeded down all the stairs (we were on deck 10 and our muster station was on deck 4), and made it to our muster station. It was a very quick, no frills drill with the basic announcements made. They let us go a little early since we were carrying children.

 

We went up on deck to catch the sailaway from Port Canaveral:

 

 

Dinner on the first night was casual, and we stayed in the clothes that we wore on to the ship. I noticed that many people had changed into nicer clothes, however. We sat at a long table by the windows. After the first night, we had 5 fruit cups and a high chair waiting for us every night. The service was excellent -- our waiter let us know what was on tap for tomorrow's menu each night, and also what he recommended in each port for the next day. Our assistant waiter was very prompt with bread and rolls and drinks and our Head Waiter was very friendly and came by to chat and check on us often through the week.

[Kim4]

Monday

Monday was a sea day and it was still a little windy and chilly. We headed to the H20 zone with the kids, and the Baby Splash Area with the little diapered ones. There was deck patrol everywhere, and they were very quick to make sure that the diapered kids stayed where they needed to, and the non-diapered kids stayed where they needed to. I can't report on how they did with the chair hogs, though -- I'm a mother of 4, so I didn't get to sit down :)

Sprinkles, the little soft serve ice cream place near the pool, was broken quite a bit.

H20 Zone (some of these pictures were from our second sea day):

The shot above shows alot of the area of the H20 zone. The front right circular pool is a lazy river type pool. There's a current in it, and the kids just bounce around in the circle. Honestly, I don't see what the big deal is with lazy rivers, but my kids loved it. My 6 year old could touch the bottom of the pool, and the water came up to about his shoulders. On the bottom left is a triangular shaped pool -- that is the Baby Splash Zone. It is about 2 inches deep, and the water was very warm. Not sure if it was purposely heated, or just heated by the sun since it is so shallow. In the middle left of the picture you can see some ladders going into a pool. That is a pool that came up to my shoulders (and I'm 5'8"). There's a waterfall that goes into one end of that pool. Lots of kids enjoyed jumping into that pool. There were a couple of hot tubs also. The rest of the H20 zone was just a couple of inches deep with all the sprinklers and splashes and fountain type things that you see here.

 

[Florida_cruisers]

Keep it coming as I am enjoying your review. I am also going on the Freedom in October with my 3 year and I cannot wait to be on that ship. I know he is going to love it, especially the H20 zone.

[Kim4]

Tuesday: Labadee

 

What a fun day! When you get there, the beaches that face the ship are sandy and the beaches on the other side of the peninsula (the side that faces the zipline) are rocky, but not bad. We ended up on the rocky side because the sandy side was so crowded. We were able to find good places for the kids to play and swim. The lunch was very good (Hamburgers, hot dogs, BBQ chicken, salads, fruit, etc.). When we first got there, there were quite a few people asking to help us, move chairs, etc, but a polite no thank you was sufficient. Once we got settled, we really weren't approached again. I didn't go to the market, but my SIL did and felt like she was being guilted into making a purchase. The day went by very quick -- we didn't want to head back to the ship! My kids used the Adventure Ocean program on Labadee for the morning, but they said they'd rather stay with us and go swimming after lunch. The AO program on Labadee is in a confined area, and our kids were kept there until one of us picked them up. There were tables where they did crafts under a little shaded hut, and they also played games out in the sun. My kids had brought some stuff with them (coverup, hat, sandals) and it was all kept in a cubby for them until they needed it.

 

Arriving in Labadee. The tender arrives in the bay area on the right. We stayed at the beach there on the left side.

 

This is a better shot of where the tender arrives. You can see the pier construction on the left side of the picture.

 

 

Arriving in Labadee

 

Rocky side beach in Labadee

 

[Kim4]

Gotta throw in the obligatory view of the ship from Labadee! It really is quite a sight.

 

We explored the ship a bit --

This is my daughter trying out the punching bag at the boxing ring

 

This is a shot of the playgroup that they have for kids under 3. There were never more than 4 or 5 kids in there at once. They had one playgroup at 9am for babies 6mos. to 18mos. and one playgroup at 10am for those 18mos. to 36mos. Since i have one in each category, the AO counselor said I could come to either or both if I wanted to. She had out new toys each time I was there, and the kids really enjoyed it. The playgroup was held up in one part of the Viking Crown Lounge.

 

he he he

[Kim4]

Wednesday: Ocho Rios, Jamaica

 

I'll be honest -- I was worried about Jamaica. Just go on over to the port of call boards and read for a bit, and you'll know what I mean. We were originally planning on staying on the ship for this day, but when RCI cancelled Cozumel and made that a sea day, we decided to give Jamaica a shot. (We ended up going to Cozumel also). After much research on here and on trip advisor, and a couple of private e-mails to Cruise Critic members, we decided to give Marva Shaw a try. It was WONDERFUL, I am glad we went. We didn't want to do Dunns River Falls since we have little ones, so Javia (Marva's son) drove us around Ocho Rios a bit to give us a tour of the island. We drove through Fern Gully (which is an area of the island to drive through, not an attraction to actually stop at), we stopped to see Carl the Spice Man (not the herbs you think, :)) and we stopped at Coyaba Gardens. We had originally planned to stop for lunch, but the kids were getting antsy, so we decided to make a quick stop to buy some coffee and go back to the ship. We were charged $25pp for the adults. Coyaba Gardens is $10pp total. We tipped Javia, Carl, and our guide at Coyaba Gardens. Javia was so knowledgeable and so funny -- he made the trip well worth it. He took us to a great place to shop for the coffee at the end. I recommend using Marva Shaw if you are going to Jamaica. We had one of those van/small bus things with captains chairs. The tour was just our family, so Javia took us where we asked. The bus was air conditioned and it did have seat belts (lap only). We brought our car seats for the little ones. A quick note about Carl the Spice Man -- he lives in a shack on the side of the road, and it seemed as if Marva's tour groups are the only ones that stop there. There were many tour busses that whizzed right by -- one that even stopped to take pictures of us with Carl, but then they kept going. I'm really glad we stopped there -- he had allspice, nutmeg, lemon grass, oranges, cinammon, and sugar cane all for us there to sample and smell. It was a really nice stop away from all the hustle and bustle.

 

Fern Gully

 

Our guide at Coyaba Gardens

 

Waterfall at Coyaba Gardens

 

View of Ocho Rios and the ship from Coyaba Gardens

[Kim4]

Thursday: Grand Cayman

 

I'm sorry, but due to camera issues I don't have many pictures of Grand Cayman. But, what a BEAUTIFUL stop. Two of us went on the Catamaran Sail and Snorkel excursion through the ship. My only complaint about Grand Cayman is that we had to be back on the ship too soon! This stop is a tender stop, and the process took about 20 minutes total. There were quite a few tenders running, and we didn't have to wait at all. This night was our second formal night.

 

Arriving in Grand Cayman

 

Sunset from the bow of the ship (near the helipad) after Grand Cayman.

[Kim4]

Friday: Cozumel

This may have been my favorite stop, but I'm having a hard time deciding between Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Jamaica, and Labadee. :)

 

We went on the RCI Passion Island excursion. This is a 5 hour excursion to a private island only for cruise ship passengers. I highly recommend this -- with one caveat. The ferry ride there and back is one hour each way. We didn't know that, and probably wouldn't have taken the trip with the little ones if we had...but it was a wonderful day nonetheless. The crew was FANTASTIC. There were 2 men that were on the ferry with us and stayed on the island with us, and by the time we got there, one of them had all 120 of our names memorized and called us by our names the whole day. There was no other cruise ship in port, so we were the only ones on the island. After the long ferry ride, it was a bit of a walk to where the beach was, but that's probably just because I was toting all the stuff for the kids. We brought a stroller, but it was tough to roll in the sand (hint: drag the stroller backwards). There wasn't a paved area, just sandy beaches. The food was soooo good -- blackened mahi mahi, BBQ chicken, chips, salsa, the best pineapple I've had since I went to Hawaii, and drinks. All of this is included in the price. There were volleyball games going on, there's a swingset, a trampoline, and a water trampoline. There were Segways and snorkel equipment available to rent for a fee. There was also a massage area. There's a little market there as well. I have read in other reviews that there is an ATV track there, but when I asked about it, one of the staff members said that there had been an accident and so they weren't running it then. i don't know if it'll be back. But, a beautiful day in paradise.

 

Just looking at the picture makes me want to go back!!

 

I hear this is where they shoot the Corona commercials, but I have absolutely no hard evidence to back this up. Just a fun rumor to repeat.

 

On a beautiful secluded beach, thousands of miles from home, and my kids want to play on the swingset just like the one that's in our backyard.

 

 

Pure paradise.

 

I'm a shade person, so this is where I was for most of the day.

[Kim4]

Cozumel con't:

 

Our little area. The man bending over is one of the staff members who came by to see if we needed anything.

 

[pinkmonkey14]

Hello! Great review.

 

Just wondering the tender in Hati looks small. I havn't been on a cruise before but it looks really dangerous and small. Is it safe?

 

Thanks!

[Kim4]

Saturday: At sea

 

We definitely wanted to try out the ice skating rink today. The two sea days were the only days that the ice rink was open to the passengers -- the other days were for the shows and practice time for the show cast. The ice show was wonderful. My DH went to go get tickets, and it was a bit crowded, so try to get there to get tickets as soon as you can. It is worth it.

 

There are skates available for you (as well as helmets, knee pads, elbow pads, and wrist guards). You can bring your own skates too, if you'd like. You need to wear long pants, and I'd suggest a light sweater or fleece too -- it is a bit chilly. It is a small rink to skate around, it doesn't take long to get from one end to the other. That just makes the ice show that much more incredible - that they were able to do all the tricks and stunts in such a small space. The rink has different sessions, but we were able to stay from one session to the next without clearing the ice. The only exception to this was when they resurfaced the ice, which they made fun with lights and sounds from the ice show.

 

Richard Spacey was the CD, and boy is he great! All of the shows in the evening were wonderful, and made it a fun way to end the night.

 

Debarkation was a breeze, no problem at all. We'll definitely be back cruising -- but probably once all my kids are able to be in the kids club. it was a fun fun week with lots of memories, but it wasn't relaxing (I wasn't expecting it to be). My 2 and 1 year old did great as long as I kept them to their usual schedule. They were doted on by the staff, and we all were really made to feel special.

 

 

[Kim4]

Hello! Great review.

 

Just wondering the tender in Hati looks small. I havn't been on a cruise before but it looks really dangerous and small. Is it safe?

 

Thanks!

 

It is absolutely safe. Are you referring to the tenders in the 2nd picture of post #4? They look small because they were so far away, and I think any vessel would look small compared to the Freedom! But, they were very safe and not dangerous at all. I was able to wheel a stroller on to it.

[pinkmonkey14]

Okay thanks! So like how many fit on it?

[Mlkkc]

beautiful photos

[<cleavername4acruiser&g]

Great review! Looks like you had a great time. I will be going on that ship next year and it just makes me that more excited. :D

[Kim4]

Okay thanks! So like how many fit on it?

 

I'm not sure -- 200? 300? Surely someone else here knows! :)

[rushedmom]

Kim4 are there jetski's for rent on passion island. Also were all drinks included in the price?

 

Looks lovely there!

[OV8]

thanks for the review! Short & to the point.

[Kim4]

Kim4 are there jetski's for rent on passion island. Also were all drinks included in the price?

 

Looks lovely there!

 

I do not remember seeing any jetskis for rent there. So, I'm saying no. And, drinks were included in the price -- including sodas, rum punches and magaritas, but some upgrade drinks were extra.

 

 

Edited to add: The reason that I said that upgrade drinks were extra is because someone in front of me ordered a specialty drink -- a foo foo drink -- and paid for it. But, now that I think about it, he may have just been tipping the bartender a little extra because of the specialty drink. I can't quite remember what the drink was

[retiring soon]

Hi all!

Kim 4 ~ thanks for the great review and pictures. I'm going on that cruise in November so really look forward to it now! Cozumel did look really nice, but then so did the other places.

~Jo~ :)

[gr8cruisn]

Very nice review and pictures. Thanks! I wish they had a lazy river all the way around the ship - wouldn't that be nice! Lucky kids!:D

[burdicd]

We were on this cruise also--- I agree 100% with your review! Here is an added bonus I had. We did the beach snorkeling trip in Cozumel, and LOVED it. We had just exited the water, and were walking back to the beach area to dry off. BIG WARNING: If you do this snorkeling trip, watch where you are walking. I was walking on the sidewalk, and didn't notice that there was about a 10 inch drop from the sidewalk to the sand. Needless to say, I fell, and badly twisted my ankle-- wasn't able to get up. An ambulance was called, and they took us back to the ship (right on the pier). Freedom had a medical person meet us on the pier, and explained that I couldn't come back on the ship until we had clearance from a doctor (because my injury occurred off ship). So off to the clinic we went. We were taken to a clinic with wonderful staff and returned with our clearance about 2 hours later.

 

Debbie

[pinkmonkey14]

Thanks for the tip, debbie! Should have been like a big yellow paint because I never pay attention to little dips in the sidewalk!

[CruisingCatherine]

Is it just me or are there others who cannot see photos. My computer states to upgrade to photbucket pro-bandwidth exceeded. Any idea how to fix this so I can see these pics?

[Kim4]

urgh...sorry about the pictures, everyone. I don't have Photobucket Pro, and I'm too cheap to pay for it. If anyone has any other suggestions for getting my pictures viewable, that'd be great. I've already exceeded the 25GB of bandwidth for the month. I guess this is why we don't see that many reviews with pictures!