Insider Tips for Freedom?

[jenduse]

Does anyone have any insider tips on FOS? Balcony cabins that are great....and ones that aren't? What not to miss while on board? Any advise is greatly appreciated!!

[sullyair]

I've been able to board Freedom and Liberty by 11am.

 

If you are planning on going on the FlowRider, go there right when it opens before the ship sets sail and the lines are usually short. I think is is because half the people aren't on the ship yet and the other half are exploring the ship. They also don't have the divider up so you get the full experience.

[vickykay]

any info regarding cabins on the Liberty would be appreciated. Thanks.

[sailingawaysoon]

We love the Freedom. One tip to get you started, is if you have the National Geographic Channel, there's an hour long show airing on July 23 @8:00 on the Freedom. It's a different show than on the travel channel w/Samantha Brown. Make sure you try the paninnis at Sorrento's. I've only noticed them being served on port days, because they are made to order, so be sure to grab one. Definitely eat in the dining room for breakfast. We like sitting by ourselves in the morning and if you ask for a table for ONLY 2, they will ask you to wait a min, but they will seat you alone. Once relaxing w/a cup of coffee and juice, try the eggs benedict! yumo! My husband always gets the egg white omlettes to order. It's just a nice change from the hustle and bustle during breakfast in the windjammer. Make sure you read your compass and get tickets for the Ice show...it's wonderful. We booked our room in May on the 6th floor (balcony) and loved it! We picked the same location for our trip back on the Freedom in August. With this location we had one flight down the stairs from our room for the Promenade and would pass thru to the dining room and pool area each day. It was a nice location and we could take the stairs all the time. Go to the pub later in the evening and grab a tamborine and join in the fun! Have a late night snack at the cafe Promenade and definitely order room service. You are going to have a wonderful time!

[OV8]

We love the Freedom. One tip to get you started, is if you have the National Geographic Channel, there's an hour long show airing on July 23 @8:00 on the Freedom

 

Neat show last week during their first airing.

The next & last airing is @ 4pm on the east coast via Comcast here.

[teajak]

We love the Freedom. One tip to get you started, is if you have the National Geographic Channel, there's an hour long show airing on July 23 @8:00 on the Freedom. It's a different show than on the travel channel w/Samantha Brown. Make sure you try the paninnis at Sorrento's. I've only noticed them being served on port days, because they are made to order, so be sure to grab one. Definitely eat in the dining room for breakfast. We like sitting by ourselves in the morning and if you ask for a table for ONLY 2, they will ask you to wait a min, but they will seat you alone. Once relaxing w/a cup of coffee and juice, try the eggs benedict! yumo! My husband always gets the egg white omlettes to order. It's just a nice change from the hustle and bustle during breakfast in the windjammer. Make sure you read your compass and get tickets for the Ice show...it's wonderful. We booked our room in May on the 6th floor (balcony) and loved it! We picked the same location for our trip back on the Freedom in August. With this location we had one flight down the stairs from our room for the Promenade and would pass thru to the dining room and pool area each day. It was a nice location and we could take the stairs all the time. Go to the pub later in the evening and grab a tamborine and join in the fun! Have a late night snack at the cafe Promenade and definitely order room service. You are going to have a wonderful time!

Great report. We are Diamond but this is our first time on The Freedom. I like your idea about a table for 2 in the DR for breakfast,we are tired of the confusion in the Windjammer.Would love to grab a tambourine, thanks for the good ideas.

[massfriends]

Great report. We are Diamond but this is our first time on The Freedom. I like your idea about a table for 2 in the DR for breakfast,we are tired of the confusion in the Windjammer.Would love to grab a tambourine, thanks for the good ideas.

If your Diamond....your keycard into the Diamond Lounge is also your ticket into the Ice Show....:) No need to stand in line to get tickets, just decide what show you want to go to and show up...:)

[mad-dog74]

On Freedem, If you enjoy the Solarium.... go on port mornings... you will have it to yourself. We always went early and stayed till 11 or 12 then spent the afternoon in port....

 

We enjoyed the solutide. We were literally there with 2-3 other couples, if that!

[sailingawaysoon]

Great report. We are Diamond but this is our first time on The Freedom. I like your idea about a table for 2 in the DR for breakfast,we are tired of the confusion in the Windjammer.Would love to grab a tambourine, thanks for the good ideas.

You will love the ship! I'm jealous, we are only platinum and on our last cruise in May we peeked into the Diamond Lounge areas and it looked very nice. Have a wonderful time!

[jenduse]

Thank you so much for the helpful tips. We generally do buffet for breakfast but will head to the MDR this time and try it out. Sounds much better than hustle and bustle of Windjammer. I already have Thursday's National Geographic set up for DVR since I missed it last week. Keep the tips coming. I'm so excited!

[sailingawaysoon]

Another tip for you is to make sure you watch the sailaway either from your balcony or on top of the ship. To me, it's one of the best sailaways because you have such a fan base in Port Canaveral (of the Freedom). Since the ship leaves on a Sunday you have people at the bars waving napkins at you as you pass and further down along the beach they are sitting in their chairs waiting to wave. It's very exciting.

 

If you have a chance, try the specialty restaurants. We did not book a reservation for Chops beforehand, and figured we had no trouble if we waited until we got on the ship...it was completely booked. We had no trouble getting into Portifino's, but we had eaten there before and really wanted to try Chops. Just a thought.

 

If you like wine, get the wine package. It's not the best of choices, but we find something we like. We usually take what's left each night after dinner to our room to have the next evening before dinner.

 

Even if you don't want to participate in the Flowrider, go and watch. Ladies, make sure you wear something over your bathing suit. The staff warns people, but you won't believe how many people decline covering up and, well, let's just say my husband enjoyed sitting by the Flowrider quite a lot.

 

Play the putt putt at night. It's lit up and really a lot of fun, even if you don't like golf.

 

On formal night, have your pics taken at several locations. I say this because there are so many different backdrops. More than I've seen on any ship. You'd be surprised what you think you wouldn't like, you end up liking. We don't invest a lot in pictures from the ship, but we had our pics taken at several locations and ended up purchasing two diff ones.

 

Don't forget to have lunch in the main dining room. Again, if you want to sit alone, just ask and they will tell you it's a little wait, but it's only a few mins. Lunch is served on sea days in the dining room and well worth it.

 

Check out the cold case at Sorrento's several times a day. They have proscuitto (sp?), cold salami, field greens, fresh mozarella and amazing breadsticks. This area is changed frequently thru the day so check it out and if you are in the mood for something extra to go w/your pizza, get a little something from here. We loved this also!

 

At the cafe promenade they have specialty coffees you will see on the menu w/prices added, skip those unless it's a must have and get one of their little meat crouissants (this changes throughout the day also) and move to the side of the counter and you'll see Seattle's Best coffee at no additional charge (and cold water).

[stretch44]

We love the Freedom. One tip to get you started, is if you have the National Geographic Channel, there's an hour long show airing on July 23 @8:00 on the Freedom. It's a different show than on the travel channel w/Samantha Brown. Make sure you try the paninnis at Sorrento's. I've only noticed them being served on port days, because they are made to order, so be sure to grab one. Definitely eat in the dining room for breakfast. We like sitting by ourselves in the morning and if you ask for a table for ONLY 2, they will ask you to wait a min, but they will seat you alone. Once relaxing w/a cup of coffee and juice, try the eggs benedict! yumo! My husband always gets the egg white omlettes to order. It's just a nice change from the hustle and bustle during breakfast in the windjammer. Make sure you read your compass and get tickets for the Ice show...it's wonderful. We booked our room in May on the 6th floor (balcony) and loved it! We picked the same location for our trip back on the Freedom in August. With this location we had one flight down the stairs from our room for the Promenade and would pass thru to the dining room and pool area each day. It was a nice location and we could take the stairs all the time. Go to the pub later in the evening and grab a tamborine and join in the fun! Have a late night snack at the cafe Promenade and definitely order room service. You are going to have a wonderful time!

 

You also can watch the Nat Geo show on You Tube. Just search "National Geographic Largest Ship"

[jenduse]

Thank you for all that info, sailingawaysoon. I just can't wait to go. AND it's our 1st time having a balcony.

[sailingawaysoon]

Thank you for all that info, sailingawaysoon. I just can't wait to go. AND it's our 1st time having a balcony.

 

You will love having a balcony. I remembered something else that you guys might enjoy, click on this link for the Port Canaveral webcam and watch the Freedom come into port Sunday morning, and she leaves around 4:30 Sunday afternoons. My husband and I click on the link every Sunday and get further excitement because we are headed back at the end of August

http://www.portcanaveral.org/webcam.htm

 

Also, I forgot to mention that if you go to Vintages wine bar (on the Promenade) in the evenings around 5:00 for a drink, they bring you complimentary cheese, nuts, and crackers. Not your average cheese and cracker plate, some quality assortments. I never see that mentioned on the ship either (about the appetizer), but it's a nice touch to go along w/a good glass of wine.

[Judi2112]

Reading this thread has made me so excited. Doing a B2B on Freedom in September. Just off Navigator and we thought that was big! At least this time we will have 2 weeks to get to know the ship.

 

Judi

[sailingawaysoon]

Reading this thread has made me so excited. Doing a B2B on Freedom in September. Just off Navigator and we thought that was big! At least this time we will have 2 weeks to get to know the ship.

 

Judi

I was on the Navigator prior to going on the Freedom and since you know your way around the Navigator, you won't have any trouble finding your way around the Freedom, it's pretty similar but bigger. That's awesome that you are doing a B2B. I would love to do that, but doubt our budget would hold it. Have fun!

[jxd315]

We are looking at a 6th floor room on the freedom and are wondering what the view was like? Are you overlooking the emergency boats or do you have an unobstructive view?