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Freedom of the Seas: October 18, 2009
Introduction:
This was my second cruise with Royal Caribbean (RCI), and my wife’s third. We had previously been on Monarch of the Seas together, and she had since cruised on Monarch again with some of her girl friends. I have also cruised twelve times with Carnival, and once with the now defunct Premier Cruises. After posting my review of the Monarch cruise last year on Cruise Critic, many folks said that I should try one of Royal Caribbean’s larger ships to truly get a feel for what they are about.
We had originally been booked on Navigator of the Seas, but had to switch to Freedom due to a schedule conflict with my wife’s job. Freedom ended up being a better fit for us since it’s a shorter drive from our house to Port Canaveral, and she is a newer, larger ship. This cruise left from Port Canaveral for seven days to Coco Cay, St. Thomas and St. Maarten.
Pre Cruise:
We drove to Port Canaveral on Saturday, the day before the cruise, and we stayed at the Country Inn and Suites, which is right near the port. We could actually see the Carnival Glory and the two Disney ships in port when we arrived. We chose this hotel because we got a free room with my wife’s credit card points. They also allow you to leave your vehicle parked there during the cruise (for a $20 fee), and provide a shuttle service to the pier. This saved us money versus driving down the day of the cruise and paying the pier’s parking rates.
After checking in we headed to Grills Seafood and Tiki Bar which sits right on the waterway that the cruise ships traverse. We had an unofficial pre cruise meet and greet with some of the folks from our Cruise Critic roll call. Despite the cool temperatures and winds, everybody seemed to have a nice time. I was able to get some pictures of the Carnival Glory and Disney Magic as they left port.
Embarkation:
After a decent breakfast at the hotel, we were shuttled over to the cruise terminal. I was impressed with Freedom of the Seas when I first saw her while I was on the Carnival Inspiration back in 2006. Standing next to her at the pier was even more impressive. The size of the Freedom Class ships is just unbelievable. We got to the pier at around 10:45, and went through security relatively quickly. There were no lines at the check in counters, and were all done with the process by 11:05. We thought we would be able to board the ship, but were redirected to a sitting area. The embarkation staff told us that a US Coast Guard inspection was holding up passenger loading. After about 15 minutes they started letting folks on, but stopped again shortly thereafter. We sat around for a long while, they then made an announcement that the check in machines had gone down. We eventually did make it on board at around 12:15, one of the longest embarkation processes I have been through. It seemed to be a fault of the Coast Guard inspection and RCI’s computer equipment.
Day 1: Exploring the largest cruise ship in the world
After we boarded the ship, we went up to the Royal Promenade; there was an immediate “wow” factor to seeing this for the first time. It is nothing short of amazing that such a large and elaborate area is built into a moving machine. I liked how all the shops, bars and dining areas are all right on the promenade. The barber shop, gift shops, general store, café, champagne bar, pizzeria, ice cream shop, clothing stores and wine bar are all right there along the “main street”. I especially enjoyed the Sorrento’s pizzeria, which had a wide variety of pizzas, Italian dishes, desserts and salads. It gets much less crowded than the Windjammer buffet, so we had lunch there instead. We did visit the Windjammer to make our Chops Grill reservations (more on that later), but we didn’t stay and eat since it was packed full of people.
Once the cabins opened up, we went to our room to drop off the carry on luggage. We were both surprised and happy to see that our checked bags were there waiting on us. We had room 9399, an interior cabin at the very back of the ship. While I was glad to see that the room was bigger than the one we had on Monarch; it was still smaller than the interior cabins that we have had on Carnival. Once I slid the bed against one wall, and put the coffee table in the closet the room was much easier to move around in.
There are two things that they really did right in the rooms: the little sofa to sit on while watching TV, and the sliding doors on the shower. It was very nice not getting molested by the dreaded “attack shower curtain”. The water pressure in the shower was very strong. I also liked that they made the switch to flat screen LCD televisions in the rooms. They take up less space, and are mounted on a nice swivel bracket for aiming in different directions.
We briefly met for an unofficial meet and mingle with our Cruise Critic roll call members in the Olive or Twist area in the Viking Crown Lounge. This was one of my favorite areas on the Monarch of the Seas, and on Freedom they really enhanced it. There is a stage for live music and a full bar. The views are just a nice as on the Monarch, but thankfully no more crowded.
After the Meet and Mingle we continued exploring the ship. It seemed that everything was on a much larger scale than every other ship I had been on. The ship’s lido area has two large overflow type pools, as well as a large water park area for the kids. They have two bars in that area, one next to the pool, and one up higher called the Sky Bar. The ship also has a wonderful adults-only pool area called the Solarium. It is the home of the two cantilevered whirlpools, a feature only found on the Freedom Class ships. Getting to soak in a hot tub that hangs off the side of a ship over a hundred feet above the water is pretty awesome. The pool in the Solarium is no less impressive with a bridge crossing over it in the middle, and the only “deep end” (7 feet) that I have seen on a ship.
Later we visited the aft sports area where the ship’s Flow Rider is located. The winds and cold temperatures of this day apparently were not enough to keep several kids from enjoying it. It did look like a lot of fun, and I planned on trying it myself at some point during the week. The mini golf course was nearby, and there were a lot of folks playing. I liked that they leave the clubs, score cards and pencils right near the first hole. This is more convenient than having to check them out from the staff, as I have had to do on other cruises. Located near the golf course is the rock climbing wall, golf simulator and the full sized basketball court.
Back inside the ship we headed down to decks 3 and 4 to see what we had missed earlier while we were exploring the Royal Promenade. The Latin themed Boleros Lounge and the nautical themed Schooner Bar, both RCI institutions, are found on deck 4. In Boleros, they really went out of there way to decorate the lounge nicely. Beautiful multi colored blown-glass sculptures line the walls. Although neither of us gamble, we did check out the Casino Royale. It is very large and seemed to have a wide variety of gaming. The ships main dance club, The Crypt, was closed for a private party.
On deck 2 we first found the art gallery, which is near the ship’s photography studio. Apparently Royal Caribbean read the comment cards that I have been writing to Carnival for years, because Freedom has an electronic photo review system. This is such a better process than having to rummage through hundreds of pre-printed pictures. The process works by the photographer swiping your SeaPass card after they take your picture. You can then go to the kiosks at the photo gallery, swipe your card and see all the pictures you have had taken right on the screen. You can then edit, print and purchase the ones that you want. Disney theme parks have been doing this for a while now with great success. I hope this spreads to all the pictures, and to all the cruise lines.
We visited the On Air lounge, which features several TV and projection screens showing many different sporting events. There are also two self production Karaoke booths there. I didn’t see anyone using them, but it’s a neat idea and goes along with the lounges radio theme. The Studio B ice rink, which is right next door, was closed for rehearsal.
We attended the Welcome Aboard show which was very good. It was a variety show featuring songs from the ships orchestra, and an acrobatic performance by Jimmy and Anna. This was the first time I had ever seen an acrobatics show on a ship, they did a very impressive show. The show was finished up with a short stand up routine by Jim Colliton. He was funny, and we planned to attend his “adults only” show later in the cruise.
We requested and were granted a table for two by the Maitre’ D in the Galileo Dining room, which is the top floor of the ship’s gargantuan three level main restaurant. Our table was right next to the rail, so we had a great view of the entire dining room below us. The food on the first night was good, but not great. The prime rib that I ordered came out very, very dry. The rest of the meal was alright, but nothing spectacular. On the other hand, or wait staff was excellent. After dinner we headed to the Promenade and watched the “Party around the World” parade with some of our Cruise Critic folks. It was pretty neat to see all the costumed performers, dancers and acrobats putting on a huge show right on the Promenade. All in all it was a tremendously exciting first day. The ship is so huge with so much to do that it’s hard to take in during just one day.
Day 2: Coco Cay, Bahamas (almost; missed it by THAT much)
The second day of our cruise got off to a rocky start, both literally and figuratively. Richard the cruise director came over the intercom early in the morning to break the bad news that we would be missing Coco Cay due to high winds and seas. Those same high winds and seas had made for a fairly rough first evening and second day. We were not overly upset about this, since we had considered staying on board anyway during this stop. This is mostly because we wanted to enjoy the ship’s facilities without the throngs of people at every turn. So missing Coco Cay was bad in a way for us too, since all the people that we were hoping would be on the island during the day were still on the ship.
Lunch this day was at Johnny Rockets, which we wanted to try at least once during the cruise. It was good fast food, but I don’t think that I would make a habit of eating there since the Windjammer has similar foods with no cover charge.
In the afternoon, my wife went ice skating at Studio B. It is really something that they have an ice skating rink on a cruise ship. She had a great time on the rink, and everyone else seemed to be enjoying it too.
We made a couple of trips by the Solarium whirlpools, but they were consistently occupied by several people, so we passed them up. We also went by the Schooner Bar for trivia, but it too was crammed full of our fellow cruisers. We found the Screening Room just as packed when we went there to see Quantum of Solace, there weren’t two open seats next to each other in the entire room. Apparently the combination of the surprise sea day coupled with the foul weather upstairs was a one-two punch for our hopes of a relaxing day around the ship. As always, the Viking Crown Lounge provided a welcome shelter from the crowds and noise.
During the first seating of dinner, we were finally able to catch the Solarium’s whirlpools without a huge crowd in them. I was impressed with the views that they offer, we spent quite a bit of time there before heading to the room to get ready for the first formal night. I was glad to see that the vast majority of folks were dressed properly for the formal night. I don’t recall seeing anyone walk into the main dining room wearing casual clothes. Speaking of dinner, they served the escargots this night, one of my RCI favorites.
We returned to our cabin after dinner and found that it had not been made up for the evening. This is the first time that I can recall that our room steward forgot to do the evening service. We were able to get a hold of someone in housekeeping and they dropped off some clean towels and the next day’s cruise Compass for us.
We then attended both the “Now you see it” magic show, and the “adults only” comedy show. The magician put on a good show. It was an entertaining mixture of magic, and song and dance numbers. The comic Jim Colliton was funny, although I felt his “adults only” show was tame enough to easily be for a general audience.
Day 3: At Sea (again)
Our third day onboard started very early, at least by my standards. We both woke at 8:30 AM so that we could pick up our ice show tickets on the promenade. The line was long, but moved quickly. We picked tickets for the Friday matinee show. I had heard from many different people that the ice show was definitely something to see, so I was looking forward to it.
We decided to have breakfast at the main dining room since we were up at such an early hour. The food was very good; I had my usual Eggs Benedict. The wait staff did a great job, and we had some really nice table mates.
After breakfast we went to the Olive or Twist bar in the Viking Crown Lounge for our Cruise Critic Meet and Mingle. It was well attended and we had a great time. Our group did a gift exchange which was a lot of fun. Afterwards, we did a brief cabin crawl. We got to visit the Ben and Jerry’s “Sweet”, and two balcony rooms.
Lunch was spent again on the Promenade in the Sorrento’s restaurant. Sorrento’s is one of my favorite places to eat on the Freedom. Having a dedicated restaurant area for the pizzeria is such a better setup than we have seen on Carnival ships or Monarch of the Seas. We also stopped in the Promenade Café for cookies. This restaurant is very handy, since it is open 24 hours and has deli sandwiches available all the time.
While my wife hit the gym and had a nap, I spent the majority of the afternoon relaxing in the Viking Crown Lounge and sitting at the front of the ship on the helipad. It is so nice to be able to the bow; it is very peaceful and has the best view of any area, on any ship, anywhere. I wish that every ship had an observation deck on the bow itself.
Unfortunately, while I was sitting in the Viking Crown Lounge a code “Alpha” was called. After the location was called, I could see a crown forming on the deck above the Solarium on the Port side of the ship. A crew person could be seen giving CPR to someone who apparently had fallen on the jogging track. One of the waitresses walked down there, and came back after a few minutes. She said that one of the joggers had suffered a cardiac arrest, but fortunately he was breathing again. I don’t know what happened to the man, the last time I saw him they were taking him down to the medical center.
Before dinner we watched the Marquee stage show in the Arcadia Theater which was a variety of musical pieces from various Broadway productions. Regular sang and dance shows aren’t my thing, but it was a very well done show. We then went to the Pharaoh’s Palace for the “Crown and Anchor” past guest reception. They served complimentary drinks (rum punch and Yellow Birds) and snacks with live music and dancing. There was also a performance from the Freedom’s drink service stunt team. They juggled bottles as they mixed the drinks; the whole thing was really amazing. Even more impressive was that they served the drinks after they were done.
Dinner in the main dining room was very good this night. They had delicious crab cakes and clam chowder as starters, and I had the Black Angus sirloin as the main course. The only disappointment was the dessert. I had the apple pie, while she ordered the caramel cheesecake. Both were very poorly done and bland. Other than the lackluster dessert course, it was a very good meal.
Later in the evening we headed to the Solarium for a late night hot tub visit. We figured that it would be a great time to go since a ton of people were on the Promenade for the “70s Dancing in the Street” party. When we got there, the Starboard tub was not working and was cold. The Port side tub was filling up and closed. One of the pool attendants told us to wait about 15 minutes, and the Port tub would be opening, which it did, but the temperature was so hot that we could only stay in for a few minutes. After a little while in the lobster pot, we went back to the room for the night.
Day 4: St. Thomas, USVI
Since we were just at St. Thomas on the Carnival Liberty last month, we were not in any hurry to get ashore. After waking at around 11 AM we went to the Windjammer for lunch. This was the first time eating there for us since it is usually so crowded. The food was very good compared to what we had in the Monarch’s buffet. Cruise ship buffet food can range from good to very bad on an almost daily basis, so I would need a few more visits to make an accurate judgment.
After going ashore we went up to Paradise Point. As with the last time we were there, the view is almost worth the steep $19 per person, round trip price. The frozen drinks they serve at Paradise Point are, however, worth every penny.
We returned to the ship and headed to Sorrento’s for a pre-swim snack. The Solarium was our next stop for a soak in the hot tubs. The views from those cantilevered tubs are great at sea, but truly exceptional in a picturesque port of call like St. Thomas. We also spent some time in the pool before returning to the room to get ready for dinner.
I went to the bow to watch sail away and get some evening photos of St. Thomas. Shortly after we left port, security came and closed the deck. The view was nice while it lasted, that area should really be open at night. The stars are very bright since there is no lighting out there. The security officer said this was due to the ship’s staff fearing someone acting foolishly and falling overboard. Another prime example of how a few morons can ruin a good thing for everyone.
The dining room staff was very accommodating for us this night. Although we had the 8:30 dining, we requested to sit with two folks from our Cruise Critic group who had Anytime Dining. The staff allowed us to sit together without any problem at all. The wait staff was excellent as usual. I had the surf and turf, which included grilled shrimp and sliced steak. I also had the Coconut Crème Brule. All the food was very good.
The Love and Marriage show was the main production of the night. The selection process took about 20 minutes to get 3 couples to participate, the longest I have ever seen. From this long start, the show shaped up to be a very funny one. Probably the best I have seen on any ship that I have been on. Richard the Cruise Director did a wonderfully funny job with the show, especially considering that one of the couples were a tad inebriated. As such, their answers and actions were either atypical or non existent. One of the funniest jabs I heard from Richard was during the “If your love life were a movie title, what would it be?” question. Richard prodded “Arthur?” to the sloshed couple. Apparently there were not many Dudley Moore fans in the crowd, because it seemed that no one else got it.
In regards to Richard, he is now on my favorite Cruise Directors list. His energy and dry British wit are a perfect combination for someone dealing with crowds and emceeing shows. He says enough to get the message out there, but does not spend all day jabbering on the intercom like some Cruise Directors that we have had.
One minor annoyance that we dealt with this day was problems with our SeaPass cards. Early in the day my wife’s card quit working in the door lock. She got it replaced and had no more problems. Mine stopped opening the door after our return to the ship from St. Thomas. I got it replaced and the new one also did not open the door. Prior to the show, we went back to the Pursers Desk and she replaced both of the cards, hoping that having them both reset at the same time would cure it. Upon returning to the cabin after the show, neither card worked. My wife smartly kept her other new card (#2) and we were able to get in the room. So apparently I would get to see the Guest Services ladies for a third time.
Day 5, St. Maarten:
Our day in St. Maarten began in the Windjammer again, this time for breakfast. Everything was good, except for the pancakes. I’m not sure how one could make pancakes tough, but whoever made them succeeded. We got a table near the big windows on the starboard side of the dining area, from which we had a great view of both the harbor and the two cruise ships next to us. One was the Pacific Dream and the other was the Carnival Miracle.
After breakfast we got off the ship and went to the little shopping area at the pier. Since we didn’t want to go to the beach, we returned to the ship. The lido deck was near vacant, and we enjoyed a few great hours in the pools and whirlpools before the ship filled up again. Later in the day I played the trivia game at the Schooner Bar and lost as usual.
We watched sail away on deck, which was fairly depressing since our next stop would be Port Canaveral and I would be forced to leave the ship. The three ships had a dueling horns concert as we pulled away from the pier which was a bit of free entertainment.
Before supper we went by the casino and used our free sot machine pull coupons from our Crown and Anchor coupon book. Not surprisingly, I didn’t win. My wife, however, did win a free genuine plastic RCI key chain! We also stopped by Studio B for some ice skating. Actually, my wife ice skated; I put on skates and pulled myself around the rink once by the rail then quit. We had a great dinner, the theme was Italian and the minestrone soup was tasty. The waiters all assembled on the grand staircase and sang to us.
After dinner we attended the main show which was a one time show by Troy Thirdgill. I had seen him on Monarch of the Seas and really liked his show. The show he put on this night was one of the best comedy routines I have ever seen, on a cruise ship or otherwise. What’s even better is that his bit is totally clean, and it is still hilarious.
Day 6, At Sea:
We began our sea day with lunch at Sorrento’s for some pizza. Afterwards we went to the back deck and visited the Flow Rider. This was the first time riding one for both of us, but it was a lot of fun. Some folks should have paid closer attention to the instructions on wardrobe, because I saw several unintended nude scenes from people getting washed over the top of the wave. Basically, when they say wear a shirt and snug pants, they mean it. Some of the ladies had good intentions and wore a white t-shirt, but we all know how well those conceal things when they get wet.
After body boarding on the Flow Rider, we decided to give the mini golf course a try. The course was actually pretty challenging, with lots of abrupt corners that require banking off of a rock or obstacle.
In the afternoon we attended the Freedom Ice.com show in Studio B. I can’t remember the last time I saw an ice show, so this one was very impressive. Even more so, since they were doing the skating and stunts on a ship pitching and rolling in fairly rough seas. I highly recommend that anyone cruising on Royal Caribbean ship watch the ice show at least once.
Prior to dinner we went to the main theater for the “Once Upon a Time” stage show. It was themed around fairly tales, but scored with semi-modern music. It was very well produced and executed, although most of the songs were “Golden Oldies” with a few modern songs mixed in. Had there been a greater ratio of newer songs, it may have better held my interest.
Our last night in the Main Dining Room was an excellent one. This was the second formal night, so lobster and prime rib were the menu highlights. The lobster was ok, but the real treat was the prime rib. Whatever was wrong with my prime rib on Sunday night was fully rectified. My prime rib this night was one of the best I have had, including land based restaurants. We said goodbye to our servers, which was sort of sad since they had done such an excellent job during the week.
After dinner we were off to Studio B to watch The Quest. I had never been to one before, so I didn’t know that we needed to get there early. Since we went to the room and changed clothes after dinner, we got to the theater about ten minutes late. By that point, every seat in the room was full and the late comers like us were standing in the aisles and stairs. From what I could see, it looked like a great time. The “Quests” that Richard was giving out were pretty crazy, and the contestants were only too happy to do them. We saw men wearing ladies clothing, women showing off tattoos, and a few stupid human tricks.
We stayed after the Quest for the “I Love the 80s Dance Party” in Studio B. Everyone was invited down onto the floor for 80s dance songs and special guest performers (crew dressed as 80s musicians). They played some great songs and had the corresponding music videos playing on the monitors. As a fan of all things 80s, this was a really fun time for me. We saw some of our Cruise Critic group in the Viking Crown Lounge, so we finished out our night there.
Day 7, Last Day at Sea:
Our last day at seas was a decidedly uneventful one. We began in the Arcadia Theater for a back stage tour. This is not something that I have seen offered on any other ship. It began with a Q and A session with the stage crew, singers and dancers. They then escorted through the backstage area which was very interesting. It’s hard to believe they put on such great shows, change costumes, and move props in such a small area.
We then went to the Solarium for a couple of hours; afterwards I visited the Viking Crown for a last time. We relaxed for awhile in the room and started packing up our luggage. Prior to dinner we had a last few rounds of drinks with some of our new friends from Cruise Critic at the Bull and Bear pub.
For our last dinner on board we decided to go to Chops Grill. Our servers were top notch, as was the food quality. We both had the crab cake and French Onion Soup as starters, and both had the 10 oz. Filet Mignon as the main course. My steak was cooked to absolute perfection, and the taste was excellent. My wife’s steak was still raw in the middle and had to be sent back twice. They were every apologetic. Once they got it cooked all the way through, it was fine. Even though everyone had told us to the get Mud Pie dessert, we did not choose this since we both are not huge chocolate people. I got the Apple Pie and my wife got the Cheesecake, which were both delicious.
We have eaten in the Supper Clubs on the Carnival Liberty, Spirit and Glory. The Chops experience measures up almost equally to those we have had on other ships. What is much better though, is that prices at Chops are cheaper than Carnival’s, $25 versus $30 per person. We took one last walk around the top deck before returning to our cabin to put our luggage out.
Debarkation:
Debarkation could not have gone easier. We woke up around 8 am, and had breakfast in the main dining room. They started letting people off at around 6, so by the time we finished eating they had already called all the colored zones for debarking. We simply walked right off the ship, right through customs and into the luggage pick up area. It took a few minutes to find our bags, and then we were right outside. The entire process took all of ten minutes, from being on the Promenade to standing at the shuttle area. Our shuttle pulled up just as we were walking up and we got right on. There were a lot of people waiting for the Radisson’s shuttle, many more than the small parking bus could handle. I assume more people went to them since they don’t charge a $20 fee like Country Inn does.
Final Thoughts:
My wife and I were tremendously happy with this cruise overall. There were a few glitches here and there, but it was a wonderful experience on the whole. We received excellent service from almost all of the staff. The food was very good on average, as were the drinks. As with my trip on Monarch, the overall experience was very comparable to what we have received on Carnival. Although I think the friendliness of the crew is a little more apparent on RCI, while the food quality is slightly better on Carnival. I do wish they would have installed more elevators, as crowding and long waits were a problem throughout the cruise. This is not solely a problem with Freedom; I have had the same issues on Carnival’s Conquest Class ships. Large crowds were a problem at certain times in the Windjammer, Royal Promenade and the lido areas as well, but I suppose you have to expect this on a ship with 4000 passengers.
To compare Freedom to any other ship I have been on would simply not be fair. She is absolutely beautiful, modern and unbelievably gigantic. The entire time I was on board I was awe struck by how much they have included. The crew does a wonderful job keeping her clean and in good repair.
Some have criticized RCI for building floating shopping malls with no visible ties to the ocean. I can see where one could get this idea, if the ship is judged only by the Royal Promenade. Yes that area is fairly mall like, and does not offer any good views of the ocean. But I now realize that this is actually a pretty clever design. Since the life boats are outside, the view is extremely limited and large windows would be pointless.
One only needs to venture to Boleros, the Schooner Bar or to the upper decks to know that ocean views are still readily available, and can be had from fantastic vantage points. The Viking Crown Lounge has some of the best views I have ever seen on a cruise ship, and all three levels of the main dining room are walled on each side by enormous bay windows that extend up the sides of the ship. The Freedom Class ships also feature the cantilevered whirlpools in the Solarium; I have not yet been in a hot tub that offers such a view.
This was another great cruise that we will both remember forever. We met some great people and made new friends. My only regret is that it came to an end long before I was ready for it to. I would definitely cruise on Freedom again, or any other RCI ship for that matter if the price were right.
If anyone would care to see my cruise pictures, they are posted on my cruise review thread at the Royal Caribbean forums:
http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1082085
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