Please join us as we have take several CruiseMates staffers and their guests on a virtual cruise on Freedom of the Seas - the biggest cruise ship in the world.
Paul Motter, CruiseMates' editor, and CM staffers Donna Nye and Mary Lou Scanlon will be here to post daily updates for you, and answer your questions to the best of our ability.
Anything you want to know, we will be here all week starting Sunday night.
Paul Motter
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I am the editor, but I also speculate, ask questions and play devil's advocate. I reserve the right to change my mind.
Steve, thanks for the good wishes.....Donna and I will keep an eye on Paul. We are off in just a few hours and I cannot wait!
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Mary Lou Scanlon
NCL Pride of America April 24, 2010
NCL Epic February 12, 2011
RCCL Allure of the Seas - September 18, 2011
Celebrity Eclipse - February 11, 2012:
RCCL Navigator OTS - February 9, 2013
Oh, I can be pretty stealthy. Nothing gets between me and a good chocolate brownie. Have to admit, I don't recall Royal Caribbean desserts. I hope they are scrumptious.
By the way , DW and I have one of those inside promenade cabins. Anything I need to know about those? Did they ever make them so the windows open?
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I am the editor, but I also speculate, ask questions and play devil's advocate. I reserve the right to change my mind.
Funny you should say that, I see people looking at me right now in my window as I type this! Ifeel likeI am on stage - actually though, I am a little down fro the main mall, so...
We already met up with Marylou & Donna - they wanted to be the first on the ship, and we got here at 11:00 and some 500 people were already in line! No rooms were ready, the buffet was not open... but we were on board by 12:00 noon.
Is it a new trend to try to be the first on the ship, now? It is news to me. I am used to coming late to avoid lines...
Anyway - the ship is so cool, and of course my somewhat cruise-naive wife (we are newishly-weds) is enthralled by the size of this thing. We are next t carnival Valor, and that looks like a private yacht next to the (excuse the somewhat overused word) - behemoth.
I keep telling DW, we haven't even been below deck 7 yet - there is a lot more to see. Soon, pics from our inside promenade window...
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I am the editor, but I also speculate, ask questions and play devil's advocate. I reserve the right to change my mind.
As Paul said, we arrived early to be among the first onboard. However, many others had the same idea. Check-in was a breeze! We've explored many areas on the ship including the Presidential Suite. Oh how I'd like to do that someday! We watched the Flowrider and that was so much fun. I may even try it this week. The ship is noticeably larger than the Voyager ships, but I don't think in a bad way. There is still so much to see and do. I have to get ready for the muster drill and unpack. More to come........
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Mary Lou Scanlon
NCL Pride of America April 24, 2010
NCL Epic February 12, 2011
RCCL Allure of the Seas - September 18, 2011
Celebrity Eclipse - February 11, 2012:
RCCL Navigator OTS - February 9, 2013
Mary Lou, if you re going to try the flowrider PLEASE tell me when so I can video it. My understanding is that Richard Fain is the only peron who can stay upright on it, and that is why he wanted it, so he could show up all the other cruise line execs ;-)
Just kidding RF!!!
We like the big mall, and I actually saw two guys getting shaves (something you never see in normal life), but I understnd the old-time ocean liners ll had barbershops with razor shaves available. That these were John Maxtone Grahams idea.
The disco here is a little, I dunno, Gothic? Skulls and tombstone-shaped chairs. a little bit Disney, still, thereis some beautiful Venetian glass. More pics soon!
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I am the editor, but I also speculate, ask questions and play devil's advocate. I reserve the right to change my mind.
Pictures?? I got some great video of the parade last night I will be posting soon (have to see if I can do it from the ship). I have plenty of pictures, too.
It is now 8:30 a.m., and this is the quietet ship in morning! I thought it was 5:00. Then I went outside, and though there are not many perople, the room stewards were chatting pretty loud, but the soundproofing is great. You can't hear outside sounds, even in these promenade rooms.
More later, its still early here -
I will have the Mojito for you, zotser, and if Adrienee is still on board I will get a picture.
more soon
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I am the editor, but I also speculate, ask questions and play devil's advocate. I reserve the right to change my mind.
Now that I have had time to wake up, I can start telling you a little more about what we see. First of all, this is a very stable ship, you hardly even know you are at sea. Being in an inside cabin we slept straight through to 8:30 am (which we never do). As I said, it was so quiet.
NOW the ship is alive with activity. There are hundreds of people up on the sundeck. This is a very diversified ship, I hear there are some 1500 non-UScitizens onboard. We hear lots of European languages, and there is a large group of Japanese people with a guide next to us in the dining room. The crowd is very young, lots of families (even though school is in session - the comic last night asked the crowd how many kids were "playing hookey" and a lot of them clapped. There also many, many young couples. This is an active ship, especially with the flowrider. The rock-climbing seems like a poor stepsister compared to the attention the flowrider is getting.
The activity on the promenande mall was very fun last night. The guitarist in the Bull &Bear Pub had the crowd going with singalongs. And then by parade time (11:15 p.m.) the mall was packed with people.
Imust say, everybody want to havefun here, nd they are. Idon't thinkI haveheard a single complaint about anything onboard yet,andfor ship with 4000+ passengers that iquite an accomplishment.
My buffet breakies this morning was hot, and someoneshowed up immediately to offer me hot coffee. Tables are a litte hard to find, but not impossible. The food is very good,with a large selections of options al at separate stations instead of one long line. there is very little waiting.
Last night's dinner was very well done - traditional seating with assigned tables & waiters. There was a mixup on tables, but we will see if they get it corrected tonight. The prime rib was succulent, salad dressings just right.
The only odd thing to me was my dessert called a "chocolate fondue" I expected some warmed liquid chocolate with he fruit it said it came with ready for dipping. Instead, what came was a cold cup of somthing that tasted more like a vanilla mouse with some fruit bits thrown in. I asked the waiter, "this is chocolate fondue?" and he said "white chocolate." - OK, well, I suppose it had cocoa butter & fruit, but calling chocolate fondue is bit of stretch.
No matter though, the meal was delicious.
The show was also funny. Standard dance team opening. ButI liked to comic, Max Dolcelli. Having worked on cruise ships in the entertanment deprtment as I have, I alwayy laugh when I her a fresh cruise ship joke since it seems like I have heard them all.
He said, "have you heard about the new Royal Caribbean ship? You get on board and you just walk to Cozumel." All right, I am going to work on pictures now. Please stay tuned.
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I am the editor, but I also speculate, ask questions and play devil's advocate. I reserve the right to change my mind.
All these great picures take me back to May when I was lucky enough to be onboard.....
I think if you book the atrium view cabins, and don't have your drapes pulled all day long, you need your head examined! We have proof now..
OY
Did they put the divider down the Flow Rider yet? They mentioned they were going to. Are the lines long? It looked like, with those surf board arm rests they were anticipaing long lines with this design..
Never having sailed the Voyager Class, this ship was my first look at Gargantua, and I must admit it made me happy!
Sail on kids! Enjoy!
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Trip, with her book & tea!
Chat Hostess & Board Moderator
No - the web isn't slow for pictures, not too bad,and I even have wireless in my cabin. What is killing me is that I have some fantastic video, but I cannot uplod it from here because I can't convert to a web format like wmv or realmedia.
But when I do - it will be cool. This is such a fun ship, I have never seen a more active or more diverse group of passengers. Nice, attentive service folks, too.
I have tons of great outdoor pics to upload later.
Shanving heads in th barbership? About $350? I am KIDDING! I don't know, but I heard a shave is about $75.
Have to go meet the hotel mnager - more pics soon (check the photo gallery).
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I am the editor, but I also speculate, ask questions and play devil's advocate. I reserve the right to change my mind.
I am more interested to hear about the areas that are without kids. How is the spa area? Does it have a special pool? Are there any areas that <besides the dining room> are not full of poisenous smoke? Do you have to go through the casino to get to a certain place or can one miss it all together? Does the ship have an adult only pool? How are the matresses?
As to the view across the cabin a simple solution would have been tinted windows.But I guess they did not wanted to spend the money on it? One thing is for sure, I would never book one of these cabins!
Thanks for the reports but please get some rest!
__________________ Disney Dream for our 30th wedding anniversary
I read on another site of a person complaining about a bad smell on the rear of the ship in the cabins. It was the first I had heard of that, have you heard anything about it?
Hey Guys, I got off of the Freedom yesterday! I miss it already. I left a few diamond coupons in my old cabin 7133 folded small between the safe and the wall in the closet. If any of you are in there find them! I hope the cabin steward did not get to them first! Hope you are all having fun. Tell Ashley on the Sports deck that Ryanandsara'smom said hello!
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Kids don't slow you down, they only increase your baggage allowance
Thanks so much for your continuing postings. We leave on Sunday 9/17 for our cruise on FOS. This will be our 17th wedding anniversary. What a way to celebrate. Your pictures are making us anxious and impatient. We are so looking forward to seeing this stuff in person! I reviewed your pixs in the Gallery. They're fabulous. Keep up the good work!
When posting could you update us on if it is a formal, semi-formal, or casual night? That would be helpful as we're trying to figure out what to pack. I reviewed the June daily compasses that were posted and it seems they only offer 2 formal nights with the rest beging casual. Did they do away with the semi-formal nights?
On Sunday, Mort and I and Nancy (Grannynanny) and her daughter were lucky enough to tour and have lunch in the dining room of the Freedom of the Seas. The ship is beautiful, but so huge that it was exhausting trying to get around to see everything. After lunch, we started at the very top deck and worked our way down. There were hordes of people everywhere, but somehow we even managed to bump into Mary Lou and Gary. Maybe because it was embarkation day, it was a very hectic scene especially in the Promenade area. One thing though, I don't think anyone could ever be bored on this ship. I'm sure you all are having a terrific time. Wish we could have sailed with you.
Cindy
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FREEDOM of the SEAS - VIRTUAL CRUISE: SEPT 10-16
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