I just read a report that Royal Caribbean will reposition it's newest Freedom Class ship, Independence of the Seas, currently under construction in Turku, Finland, to Ft. Lauderdale once she is done with her maiden season in Europe. She will sail in Europe until November 6, 2008 when she will depart on a 13 night transatlantic repositioning cruise to Ft. Lauderdale and commence on a series of six night Western Caribbean and eight night Eastern Caribbean voyages throughout the winter of 2008 and spring 2009. Independence will be the largest ship to call Ft. Lauderdale home.
The report also indicates that Ft. Lauderdale is also vying to be the home port of the upcoming first ship in the Genesis Class. In addition there is mention of a new passenger ship terminal in Jamaica that will be able to handle not one, but two Genesis Class ships at once. The port in Falmouth, halfway between Ocho Rios and Montego Bay, will supposedly be ready by the time the first of the 220,000 ton, 5,400 passenger mega-ships is completed in 2009.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Final Voyage For The Norway
Built in 1960 as French Line's S.S. France, the Norway has begun it's journey into history. If you recall, the ship suffered a boiler explosion in 2003, killing 7 crew members which was the beginning of the end. Since then the ship's owner NCL first said that the ship would be repaired and returned to service. Then after realizing that they would have to refit the entire propulsion system, they decided to place the ship up for sale to the highest bidder. She was towed to Germany where she stayed for two years and then to Malaysia, all the while NCL was still trying to sell the ship. Rumors floated around saying that the ship would be used in Asia as a floating hotel like the Queen Mary, other rumors had the ship being scrapped.
Unfortunately, the latter was true. In 2006 the ship was sold to an Indian scrap company and she was towed to Alang, India, the largest shipbreaking site in the world. There she has sat for over a year as legal battles ensued over the toxic content of the ship which apparently contains over 900 tons of asbestos. Finally, recent news indicates that the work has commenced on the early stages of scrapping the ship. It has been reported that the workers have started removing the interior furnishings and fittings in preparation for chopping her up into chunks of scrap metal.
Truly a sad ending for a ship that was the pride of a nation when built and changed the face of pleasure cruising in her second life in the Caribbean. She was the longest ship ever built and held that title until the launch of the Queen Mary 2 in 2003. I always dreamed of taking a trip on her but, unfortunately, that was not to be. The Norway (the name I knew her best by) is really the ship that started my fascination with mega-ships. I'll miss that classic, elegant profile.
Side Note:
Many may know that NCL also owns another classic ship, the S.S. United States, which is still laid up in Philadelphia. She has not seen service since 1969 but NCL has promised they will return her to service as part of their NCL America brand. Considering the newbuilds that NCL has scheduled and the fact that they have lost money on their NCL America experiment, I don't believe they will be able to restore the ship to he former glory. It's just too much work and money. I fear that the United States will find the same fate as the Norway. People have been petitioning for years to have the U.S. government step in and acquire the ship as a national landmark. The Big U represents the pinnacle of the American shipbuilding industry and is one of the greatest ships ever built. I fear her time as well is quickly running out. Check out the S.S. United States Conservancy website for more info on her history and efforts to save this great ship.
Unfortunately, the latter was true. In 2006 the ship was sold to an Indian scrap company and she was towed to Alang, India, the largest shipbreaking site in the world. There she has sat for over a year as legal battles ensued over the toxic content of the ship which apparently contains over 900 tons of asbestos. Finally, recent news indicates that the work has commenced on the early stages of scrapping the ship. It has been reported that the workers have started removing the interior furnishings and fittings in preparation for chopping her up into chunks of scrap metal.
Truly a sad ending for a ship that was the pride of a nation when built and changed the face of pleasure cruising in her second life in the Caribbean. She was the longest ship ever built and held that title until the launch of the Queen Mary 2 in 2003. I always dreamed of taking a trip on her but, unfortunately, that was not to be. The Norway (the name I knew her best by) is really the ship that started my fascination with mega-ships. I'll miss that classic, elegant profile.
Side Note:
Many may know that NCL also owns another classic ship, the S.S. United States, which is still laid up in Philadelphia. She has not seen service since 1969 but NCL has promised they will return her to service as part of their NCL America brand. Considering the newbuilds that NCL has scheduled and the fact that they have lost money on their NCL America experiment, I don't believe they will be able to restore the ship to he former glory. It's just too much work and money. I fear that the United States will find the same fate as the Norway. People have been petitioning for years to have the U.S. government step in and acquire the ship as a national landmark. The Big U represents the pinnacle of the American shipbuilding industry and is one of the greatest ships ever built. I fear her time as well is quickly running out. Check out the S.S. United States Conservancy website for more info on her history and efforts to save this great ship.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Royal Caribbean Saying Goodbye to Sovereign of the Seas
Royal Caribbean recently announced that they will be transferring Sovereign of the Seas to their Pullmantur Cruise Line. Sovereign is one of the oldest ships in the RCI fleet and it is the ship that really started off the whole competition for the largest most technologically advanced ship in the world. Her maiden voyage was on January 16, 1988 and at 880 feet in length and displacing 73,192 tons she was one of the largest cruise ships ever built. Those stats by today's standards are average if not a bit small but back then she was huge. She also introduced many design innovations still in use on today's big ships. Sovereign of the Seas was the first of the mega-ships. Hopefully she has a long second life with Pullmantur.
Here is the RCI press release:
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. Transfers Royal Caribbean International Ship To Pullmantur; Replaces Ship Serving Port Canaveral
MIAMI - October 12, 2007 - Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. announced today that Royal Caribbean International's Sovereign of the Seas will be reassigned to the company's Pullmantur fleet, and the Los Angeles-based Monarch of the Seas will assume Sovereign of the Seas' sailings out of Port Canaveral. These changes will take place in October and November 2008.
"We are fortunate that our mix of brands allows us the flexibility and opportunity to expand in key strategic markets and to diversify in existing ones," said Royal Caribbean International President and CEO Adam Goldstein. "We thank our partners at the ports of Los Angeles, Ensenada, Catalina and San Diego for our outstanding and ongoing relationship. We look forward to providing our Monarch of the Seas guests with exceptional vacations as we visit those locations through next fall.
"Sovereign of the Seas' last scheduled sailing for Royal Caribbean International will be on October 31, 2008. Two subsequent cruises, scheduled for November 3 and 7, will be canceled, and guests booked on those cruises will receive a full refund and an onboard credit for rebooking an earlier Sovereign of the Seas sailing during 2008 (excluding holidays). All rebookings must be made by December 31, 2007. All guests currently booked on Sovereign of the Seas on or after November 10, 2008, will be re-accommodated onboard Monarch of the Seas.
Monarch of the Seas will make its last regularly scheduled sailing out of Los Angeles on October 13, 2008. All guests currently booked on a subsequent sailing will receive a full refund and an onboard credit for rebooking a three, four or five-night Caribbean sailing, or a seven-night Mexican Riviera sailing, onboard Royal Caribbean International in 2008 (excluding holidays). All rebookings must be made by December 31, 2007.
On October 17, 2008, Monarch of the Seas will reposition to the East Coast when it departs Los Angeles on a 16-night Panama Canal cruise to Miami. The ship will then undergo a scheduled, weeklong dry-dock before welcoming its first Port Canaveral guests for three and four-night Bahamas sailings starting November 10, 2008.
Royal Caribbean International has established a special help desk to assist its guests and travel agents impacted by these changes. The toll free phone number is 1-888-281-9344.
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. is a global cruise vacation company that operates Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, Pullmantur, Azamara Cruises and CDF Croisières de France. The company has a combined total of 35 ships in service and seven under construction. It also offers unique land-tour vacations in Alaska, Asia, Australia, Canada, Europe, Latin and South America and New Zealand.
Here is the RCI press release:
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. Transfers Royal Caribbean International Ship To Pullmantur; Replaces Ship Serving Port Canaveral
MIAMI - October 12, 2007 - Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. announced today that Royal Caribbean International's Sovereign of the Seas will be reassigned to the company's Pullmantur fleet, and the Los Angeles-based Monarch of the Seas will assume Sovereign of the Seas' sailings out of Port Canaveral. These changes will take place in October and November 2008.
"We are fortunate that our mix of brands allows us the flexibility and opportunity to expand in key strategic markets and to diversify in existing ones," said Royal Caribbean International President and CEO Adam Goldstein. "We thank our partners at the ports of Los Angeles, Ensenada, Catalina and San Diego for our outstanding and ongoing relationship. We look forward to providing our Monarch of the Seas guests with exceptional vacations as we visit those locations through next fall.
"Sovereign of the Seas' last scheduled sailing for Royal Caribbean International will be on October 31, 2008. Two subsequent cruises, scheduled for November 3 and 7, will be canceled, and guests booked on those cruises will receive a full refund and an onboard credit for rebooking an earlier Sovereign of the Seas sailing during 2008 (excluding holidays). All rebookings must be made by December 31, 2007. All guests currently booked on Sovereign of the Seas on or after November 10, 2008, will be re-accommodated onboard Monarch of the Seas.
Monarch of the Seas will make its last regularly scheduled sailing out of Los Angeles on October 13, 2008. All guests currently booked on a subsequent sailing will receive a full refund and an onboard credit for rebooking a three, four or five-night Caribbean sailing, or a seven-night Mexican Riviera sailing, onboard Royal Caribbean International in 2008 (excluding holidays). All rebookings must be made by December 31, 2007.
On October 17, 2008, Monarch of the Seas will reposition to the East Coast when it departs Los Angeles on a 16-night Panama Canal cruise to Miami. The ship will then undergo a scheduled, weeklong dry-dock before welcoming its first Port Canaveral guests for three and four-night Bahamas sailings starting November 10, 2008.
Royal Caribbean International has established a special help desk to assist its guests and travel agents impacted by these changes. The toll free phone number is 1-888-281-9344.
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. is a global cruise vacation company that operates Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, Pullmantur, Azamara Cruises and CDF Croisières de France. The company has a combined total of 35 ships in service and seven under construction. It also offers unique land-tour vacations in Alaska, Asia, Australia, Canada, Europe, Latin and South America and New Zealand.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
NCL Making Waves
Yes I am a huge Royal Caribbean fan but if there is one other cruise line out there that I would like to give a try, it would be Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL). I really like their whole concept of "Freestyle Cruising" where you are free from the traditional dining schedules still used on most other cruise lines. Sure the others have done this to some extent by adding alternative dining choices, but not to the extent of NCL. They also have some interesting ships in their fleet and under construction.
This week they made news on two fronts. First with the delivery of Norwegian Gem in the Netherlands. Secondly, they began building their next generation of ships codename "F3" at Aker Yards in France.
Here are the press releases:
NCL's Norwegian Gem Delivered in Handover Ceremony
Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) took delivery of its new "It" Girl, Norwegian Gem, from Meyer Werft in a handover ceremony last week in Eemshaven, Netherlands. Norwegian Gem is the fourth and final ship in the company's Jewel-class series and solidifies NCL's status as the youngest, most modern fleet in the industry.
"Outfitted with top-of-the-line amenities including opulent suites and villas, a four-lane ten-pin bowling alley and rock climbing wall, Norwegian Gem epitomizes Freestyle Cruising and what it means to be an 'It' Girl," said Colin Veitch, president and CEO of NCL Corporation. "We look forward to welcoming her to her new home in New York this December."
Upon delivery, Norwegian Gem will head to Rotterdam, Netherlands and then to Dover, UK where she will arrive on Oct. 5. After a series of seven-day Western Mediterranean itineraries, the ship will make her U.S. debut in Boston on Dec. 12 followed by a christening ceremony in New York City on Dec. 18.
Norwegian Gem will spend spring 2008 on seven-day Bahamas and Florida itineraries and on 10- and 11-day Exotic Southern Caribbean itineraries out of New York. She'll then summer in Europe on seven-day Western Mediterranean itineraries from Barcelona. The ship will also offer a 15-day transatlantic sailing in April 2008 and a 13-day transatlantic sailing in November 2008.
For more about Norwegian Gem including her blog, visit the ship's "HerSpace" page at www.gemitgirl.com. NCL Corporation Ltd. is an innovative cruise company headquartered in Miami, Florida, with a fleet of 15 ships in service and under construction. The corporation oversees the operations of Norwegian Cruise Line, NCL America and Orient Lines. NCL is the Official Cruise Line of the PGA TOUR and Champions Tour.
NCL plans to build up to three new third generation Freestyle Cruising ships for delivery between 2010 and 2011. NCL is on target to have the youngest fleet in the industry by the end of 2007 with the introduction of Norwegian Gem, providing guests the opportunity to enjoy the flexibility of Freestyle Cruising on the newest, most contemporary ships at sea.
For high resolution, downloadable images, please log onto NCL's Web site at www.ncl.com/pressroom. For further information on NCL Corporation, contact a travel agent or NCL in the U.S. and Canada at (866) 234-0292.
NCL Begins Building its Next Generation of Freestyle Cruising Ships
The steel cutting for the first of NCL's third generation of new Freestyle Cruising ships, project name "F3," took place yesterday at Aker Yards S.A. in Saint Nazaire, France. Andy Stuart, NCL's executive vice president of marketing, sales and passenger services, was assisted by representatives from America's Vacation Center and Direct Line Cruises in pushing the button that began the historic steel cutting. In addition, nearly 50 of NCL's President's Club members, representatives from the company's top travel partners, witnessed the event.
"Today's steel cutting marks a major milestone in NCL's history as we begin the construction of our first F3 ship in conjunction with Aker Yards," said Colin Veitch, president and CEO of NCL Corporation. "Travel partners have been instrumental to our success over the past 40 years, so we invited our President's Club members to join us in this historic event. We are pleased that they could be in attendance to witness the beginnings of the first ship which will further signify NCL's progressive dismantling of the structure, regimentation and constraints of the traditional cruise experience."
The F3 ships are the next phase in NCL's unique Freestyle Cruising, which offers vacationers a less structured, more relaxed, more resort-style experience than traditional cruising and is characterized by no fixed dining times, no formal dress codes and up to 10 different restaurants.
The 150,000-ton ships will each total 4,200 passenger berths, representing the largest ships in NCL's fleet. The first ship is scheduled for delivery in January 2010.
The new ship design will offer 60 percent more guest space than NCL's largest ships to date, which will be used to provide guests an even wider range of on-board activities, amenities and stateroom options. The ships' cabin mix will be the richest of any NCL ship with 100 percent of outside staterooms featuring private balconies. In total, each ship will have 1,415 balcony staterooms. Details of the ships' design will be released closer to delivery.
"Aker Yards is honored to join NCL in the evolution of the cruise ship experience with the building of the first F3 Freestyle Cruising ship, and we look forward to a continued partnership in the years ahead," said Jacques Hardelay, general manager of Aker Yards, France.
NCL Corporation Ltd. is an innovative cruise company headquartered in Miami, Florida, with a fleet of 15 ships in service and under construction. The corporation oversees the operations of Norwegian Cruise Line, NCL America and Orient Lines. NCL is the Official Cruise Line of the PGA TOUR and Champions Tour.
NCL plans to build up to three new third generation Freestyle Cruising ships for delivery between 2010 and 2011. NCL is on target to have the youngest fleet in the industry by the end of 2007 with the introduction of Norwegian Gem, providing guests the opportunity to enjoy the flexibility of Freestyle Cruising on the newest, most contemporary ships at sea.
For high resolution, downloadable images, please log onto NCL's Web site at www.ncl.com/pressroom. For further information on NCL Corporation, contact a travel agent or NCL in the U.S. and Canada at (866) 234-0292.
This week they made news on two fronts. First with the delivery of Norwegian Gem in the Netherlands. Secondly, they began building their next generation of ships codename "F3" at Aker Yards in France.
Here are the press releases:
NCL's Norwegian Gem Delivered in Handover Ceremony
Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) took delivery of its new "It" Girl, Norwegian Gem, from Meyer Werft in a handover ceremony last week in Eemshaven, Netherlands. Norwegian Gem is the fourth and final ship in the company's Jewel-class series and solidifies NCL's status as the youngest, most modern fleet in the industry.
"Outfitted with top-of-the-line amenities including opulent suites and villas, a four-lane ten-pin bowling alley and rock climbing wall, Norwegian Gem epitomizes Freestyle Cruising and what it means to be an 'It' Girl," said Colin Veitch, president and CEO of NCL Corporation. "We look forward to welcoming her to her new home in New York this December."
Upon delivery, Norwegian Gem will head to Rotterdam, Netherlands and then to Dover, UK where she will arrive on Oct. 5. After a series of seven-day Western Mediterranean itineraries, the ship will make her U.S. debut in Boston on Dec. 12 followed by a christening ceremony in New York City on Dec. 18.
Norwegian Gem will spend spring 2008 on seven-day Bahamas and Florida itineraries and on 10- and 11-day Exotic Southern Caribbean itineraries out of New York. She'll then summer in Europe on seven-day Western Mediterranean itineraries from Barcelona. The ship will also offer a 15-day transatlantic sailing in April 2008 and a 13-day transatlantic sailing in November 2008.
For more about Norwegian Gem including her blog, visit the ship's "HerSpace" page at www.gemitgirl.com. NCL Corporation Ltd. is an innovative cruise company headquartered in Miami, Florida, with a fleet of 15 ships in service and under construction. The corporation oversees the operations of Norwegian Cruise Line, NCL America and Orient Lines. NCL is the Official Cruise Line of the PGA TOUR and Champions Tour.
NCL plans to build up to three new third generation Freestyle Cruising ships for delivery between 2010 and 2011. NCL is on target to have the youngest fleet in the industry by the end of 2007 with the introduction of Norwegian Gem, providing guests the opportunity to enjoy the flexibility of Freestyle Cruising on the newest, most contemporary ships at sea.
For high resolution, downloadable images, please log onto NCL's Web site at www.ncl.com/pressroom. For further information on NCL Corporation, contact a travel agent or NCL in the U.S. and Canada at (866) 234-0292.
NCL Begins Building its Next Generation of Freestyle Cruising Ships
The steel cutting for the first of NCL's third generation of new Freestyle Cruising ships, project name "F3," took place yesterday at Aker Yards S.A. in Saint Nazaire, France. Andy Stuart, NCL's executive vice president of marketing, sales and passenger services, was assisted by representatives from America's Vacation Center and Direct Line Cruises in pushing the button that began the historic steel cutting. In addition, nearly 50 of NCL's President's Club members, representatives from the company's top travel partners, witnessed the event.
"Today's steel cutting marks a major milestone in NCL's history as we begin the construction of our first F3 ship in conjunction with Aker Yards," said Colin Veitch, president and CEO of NCL Corporation. "Travel partners have been instrumental to our success over the past 40 years, so we invited our President's Club members to join us in this historic event. We are pleased that they could be in attendance to witness the beginnings of the first ship which will further signify NCL's progressive dismantling of the structure, regimentation and constraints of the traditional cruise experience."
The F3 ships are the next phase in NCL's unique Freestyle Cruising, which offers vacationers a less structured, more relaxed, more resort-style experience than traditional cruising and is characterized by no fixed dining times, no formal dress codes and up to 10 different restaurants.
The 150,000-ton ships will each total 4,200 passenger berths, representing the largest ships in NCL's fleet. The first ship is scheduled for delivery in January 2010.
The new ship design will offer 60 percent more guest space than NCL's largest ships to date, which will be used to provide guests an even wider range of on-board activities, amenities and stateroom options. The ships' cabin mix will be the richest of any NCL ship with 100 percent of outside staterooms featuring private balconies. In total, each ship will have 1,415 balcony staterooms. Details of the ships' design will be released closer to delivery.
"Aker Yards is honored to join NCL in the evolution of the cruise ship experience with the building of the first F3 Freestyle Cruising ship, and we look forward to a continued partnership in the years ahead," said Jacques Hardelay, general manager of Aker Yards, France.
NCL Corporation Ltd. is an innovative cruise company headquartered in Miami, Florida, with a fleet of 15 ships in service and under construction. The corporation oversees the operations of Norwegian Cruise Line, NCL America and Orient Lines. NCL is the Official Cruise Line of the PGA TOUR and Champions Tour.
NCL plans to build up to three new third generation Freestyle Cruising ships for delivery between 2010 and 2011. NCL is on target to have the youngest fleet in the industry by the end of 2007 with the introduction of Norwegian Gem, providing guests the opportunity to enjoy the flexibility of Freestyle Cruising on the newest, most contemporary ships at sea.
For high resolution, downloadable images, please log onto NCL's Web site at www.ncl.com/pressroom. For further information on NCL Corporation, contact a travel agent or NCL in the U.S. and Canada at (866) 234-0292.
Monday, October 8, 2007
Royal Caribbean Cruises "Freedom of the Seas" - 2006 Caribbean
We had been waiting for this one for a long time. We booked very early, over a year in advance, before the ship was completed. I couldn't pass up the chance to be on the newest biggest cruise ship ever built. We decided, once again, to drive to Miami to catch the ship. This time my parents as well as my grandmother and uncle were joining us. We had not all been on a cruise together since our wedding on Explorer of the Seas in 2001. They flew down ahead and spent the night before in a hotel in the area. We arrived by car at around noon and proceeded to check in. This year the check in went very smoothly and quickly and we were in our cabin by 1PM. From there we embarked on out tour of the ship which took a while.
Freedom of the Seas will feel very familiar to anyone who has been on a Voyager Class ship before since the Freedom Class is just a stretched version of the same basic design and layout. The length allowed them to add to the Promenade and to the pool area which now includes the H2O Zone for kids. Another notable addition is the Flowrider surfing simulator. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to try that out but it was always very busy and seemed a popular addition. Freedom also adds the cantilevered hot tubs that hang out over the side of the ship more than 100 feet above the water. I did check them out and the view was amazing. In the Promenade, they added a barber shop as well as a pizzeria. The barber shop didn't seem too popular but the pizzeria was packed all the time. The pizza here was much different and much better than what we had tasted on the other RCCL ships we had been on. I think this change was due mainly to the fact that many people on cruise message boards indicated that the pizza on Carnival ships was much better than what was available on Royal Caribbean. Obviously that couldn't be allowed since these two have been slugging it out for dominance of the waves for quite a few years now. In the gym, the addition of a boxing ring was the big news even though I didn't see it being used very often. Granted, my visits to the gym were few and far between.
The food, service, and entertainment all were very good, as expected. My only complaint was that it was the same entertainment staff and entertainers from my last cruise on Mariner of the Seas. The cruise director James Andrews, who I didn't like very much the year before, was much better but the guest entertainment was the same and did the same acts as the year before.
Our first stop was in Cozumel, Mexico. We didn't do much this time around. This was our second visit and the first time we booked a Jeep safari excursion which was a lot of fun. I wanted to book the same one again this time but I never did get around to it. Maybe next time. That night was the Welcome Back party for prior Royal Caribbean cruisers. Free cocktails and snacks are the highlight along with updates from the staff about future itineraries and upcoming new ships. The captain spoke of "Project Genesis" which is a new ship design that Royal Caribbean has already entered into a contract with Aker Shipyards to build. The ship supposedly will be over 220,000 tons and about 1/4 of a mile long with room for over 5000 passengers.
Next stop was Georgetown, Grand Cayman. Again, this was our second visit here and we just strolled around checking out the shops nearby. It was really hot that day so we didn't last long before getting a tender back to the ship to cool off. Georgetown is really nice and there are some great beaches nearby. We would have liked to check it out some more this time but the heat was crazy. We did make a quick stop at Senor Frogs for a huge margarita before heading back. We also wanted to get back because everyone with us wanted to eat at Portofino that evening for dinner and all we could get was a pretty early reservation since there were 7 of us. Portofino was fantastic, by the way.
The next morning we awoke in Montego Bay, Jamaica. We had also been here before and neither time have we gotten off the ship. There really isn't much near where the ship docks so we didn't bother. There are some great excursions available though for that stop.
Our last stop was at Labadee, RCCL's private beach. There is a lot to do here including jet ski rentals, a water park, canoe rentals, boat rides, beach buffets, etc. Or you could just sit on the beach and do nothing. That's usually our choice. While the food on shore is good, we usually take this opportunity to go back to the ship for lunch as it is pretty much deserted. We went to Johnny Rockets for lunch and used our free dining coupon included in our Crown & Anchor return cruiser booklet. The food is always free but you do have to pay a service fee since the staff there don't get the tips that the dining room staff get. You do have to pay for drinks other than water though.
Once again it was time to head home. This year we elected to do the self debarkation where we keep our bags and move them off ourselves. This was a great option for us since we didn't have too many bags. This group is one of the first called to leave the ship and we needed to get on the road early anyway. We were off the ship in a matter of minutes and on our way home. Can't wait for the next cruise.
Freedom of the Seas will feel very familiar to anyone who has been on a Voyager Class ship before since the Freedom Class is just a stretched version of the same basic design and layout. The length allowed them to add to the Promenade and to the pool area which now includes the H2O Zone for kids. Another notable addition is the Flowrider surfing simulator. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to try that out but it was always very busy and seemed a popular addition. Freedom also adds the cantilevered hot tubs that hang out over the side of the ship more than 100 feet above the water. I did check them out and the view was amazing. In the Promenade, they added a barber shop as well as a pizzeria. The barber shop didn't seem too popular but the pizzeria was packed all the time. The pizza here was much different and much better than what we had tasted on the other RCCL ships we had been on. I think this change was due mainly to the fact that many people on cruise message boards indicated that the pizza on Carnival ships was much better than what was available on Royal Caribbean. Obviously that couldn't be allowed since these two have been slugging it out for dominance of the waves for quite a few years now. In the gym, the addition of a boxing ring was the big news even though I didn't see it being used very often. Granted, my visits to the gym were few and far between.
The food, service, and entertainment all were very good, as expected. My only complaint was that it was the same entertainment staff and entertainers from my last cruise on Mariner of the Seas. The cruise director James Andrews, who I didn't like very much the year before, was much better but the guest entertainment was the same and did the same acts as the year before.
Our first stop was in Cozumel, Mexico. We didn't do much this time around. This was our second visit and the first time we booked a Jeep safari excursion which was a lot of fun. I wanted to book the same one again this time but I never did get around to it. Maybe next time. That night was the Welcome Back party for prior Royal Caribbean cruisers. Free cocktails and snacks are the highlight along with updates from the staff about future itineraries and upcoming new ships. The captain spoke of "Project Genesis" which is a new ship design that Royal Caribbean has already entered into a contract with Aker Shipyards to build. The ship supposedly will be over 220,000 tons and about 1/4 of a mile long with room for over 5000 passengers.
Next stop was Georgetown, Grand Cayman. Again, this was our second visit here and we just strolled around checking out the shops nearby. It was really hot that day so we didn't last long before getting a tender back to the ship to cool off. Georgetown is really nice and there are some great beaches nearby. We would have liked to check it out some more this time but the heat was crazy. We did make a quick stop at Senor Frogs for a huge margarita before heading back. We also wanted to get back because everyone with us wanted to eat at Portofino that evening for dinner and all we could get was a pretty early reservation since there were 7 of us. Portofino was fantastic, by the way.
The next morning we awoke in Montego Bay, Jamaica. We had also been here before and neither time have we gotten off the ship. There really isn't much near where the ship docks so we didn't bother. There are some great excursions available though for that stop.
Our last stop was at Labadee, RCCL's private beach. There is a lot to do here including jet ski rentals, a water park, canoe rentals, boat rides, beach buffets, etc. Or you could just sit on the beach and do nothing. That's usually our choice. While the food on shore is good, we usually take this opportunity to go back to the ship for lunch as it is pretty much deserted. We went to Johnny Rockets for lunch and used our free dining coupon included in our Crown & Anchor return cruiser booklet. The food is always free but you do have to pay a service fee since the staff there don't get the tips that the dining room staff get. You do have to pay for drinks other than water though.
Once again it was time to head home. This year we elected to do the self debarkation where we keep our bags and move them off ourselves. This was a great option for us since we didn't have too many bags. This group is one of the first called to leave the ship and we needed to get on the road early anyway. We were off the ship in a matter of minutes and on our way home. Can't wait for the next cruise.
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