Right after our New Year's stay in Miami/South Beach, we took Uber to PortMiami to board our first of three cruises, a 4-nighter on Freedom of the Seas, visiting Nassau and Royal Caribbean's private island, CocoCay.
Originally, we were booked on MSC Armonia in order to retain the MSC Diamond status that I got from status-matching using my Hilton Diamond credentials back in 2019 when we had tentative plans to sail MSC Bellissima from Dubai to Hong Kong in spring 2020. However, due to the continuing pandemic, MSC Armonia remained in Italy and the cruise was canceled. Fortunately, Freedom of the Seas was sailing the exact same days, and Royal Caribbean was offering double points towards status. Doing research on the ship, I learned of room 6305, known as the Ben and Jerry's "Sweet Suite", that exists on all Freedom-class vessels, and to my surprise, it was available on our sailing, so I snagged it.
The "Sweet Suite" isn't really a suite but a promenade stateroom with a bay window overlooking the Royal Promenade in the heart of the ship. These types of staterooms are great for people-watching and getting a front-row seat to the parades that happen in the Royal Promenade. However, the view from this particular cabin is blocked by the behinds of two cow statues decorating the roof of the Ben and Jerry's ice cream counter. Due to the obstruction, Royal Caribbean granted some suite benefits to occupants of the "Sweet Suite", plus a free scoop of Ben and Jerry's ice cream every day of the cruise.
Let us continue on with the trip...
Kaleb and I arrived at Royal Caribbean's Terminal A at the Port of Miami around 11am and there were hardly any lines. There were staff stationed outside the door checking for negative Covid test results. Once inside, we blazed through check-in. The ship wasn't ready for passengers to board, so we waited in a comfortable, airy room. Only 20 minutes went by before we were allowed to embark.
There wasn't any crowding (outside of elevators) on the entire ship. I found out from reading Cruise Critic that Freedom was only at 50% occupancy due to cancellations and guests turned away due to positive Covid tests.
Cabins were still being prepared, so we explored a bit and grabbed some Mexican food from El Loco Fresh as the options at the Windjammer buffet were limited compared to the spread I enjoyed on the girls' cruise a few weeks ago.
Royal Promenade:
Pool deck:
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| cantilevered hot tub |
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| can't resist the soft serve machine |
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| quesadilla and soft taco |
An announcement was made that cabins were ready, so Kaleb and I headed to our "Sweet Suite".
A quick tour of Ben and Jerry's Sweet Suite (cabin 6305), decorated in a cow theme:
The view out the window:
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We immediately headed over to the Suite Lounge. Snacks and cocktails would be served during its hours of operation, which we took advantage of. The coffee machine was available 24 hours a day.
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In the evening, Kaleb and I checked out Cafe Promenade (serving snacks and pizza), then went to the main dining room for dinner. The menu was the same as during the girls' cruise. I could see myself being bored of the food after sailing on Royal Caribbean too frequently in a short period of time.
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Tuesday was a day at sea, followed by a stop in Nassau, Bahamas on Wednesday. Kaleb and I weren't interested in getting off the ship, so we treated it like another day at sea...quite relaxing!
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| Suite Lounge buffet |
Our last day was spent at Royal Caribbean's private island, CocoCay. We were the only ship there with paying passengers. (Vision of the Seas was alongside, but that was supposedly the "hospital" ship where sick crew members went to recuperate) Thus, we had the entire island to ourselves, just like the last time we were here in November 2019. I enjoyed snorkeling off the shores of Chill Island and the buffet at Chill Grill was scrumptious.
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The Coco Beach Club was under construction on our last visit; now complete, we got a glimpse of the overwater cabanas for rent. No one was using them, but if two Oasis-class ships (with 6,000 passenger capacity) docked at the same time, I could see the club and cabanas in high demand.
And that was the end of our first of three back-to-back cruises! We enjoyed the suite benefits provided for staying in the Ben and Jerry's Sweet Suite (cabin 6305 on Freedom-class ships). A free scoop of ice cream every day was certainly welcome! My only complaint: the cabin was adjacent to a crew door which slammed shut often during the day and into the wee night, so earplugs are a must for light sleepers. Note that the Sweet Suite is categorized under the "Connecting Promenade Stateroom" category.
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| redeemed 4 scoops of ice cream |
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| suite disembarkation tags |
I found the buffet selection on Freedom of the Seas worse than on Navigator of the Seas, but it may have been because Navigator was on its inaugural season on the West Coast and needed to make a great first impression, just like the Norwegian Bliss inaugural. The main dining room menus were the same on both ships (probably all of Royal Caribbean's fleet), so if I were to sail on Royal Caribbean too soon in the near future (hmm, perhaps our 3rd cruise on this back-to-back-to-back...), I would seriously consider making reservations at the specialty restaurants to break up the monotony.
Which ship are we boarding tomorrow? Virgin Voyages' Scarlet Lady, for a 5-night Dominican Daze itinerary! I had heard so much about how good the dining was on board, so I can't wait...stay tuned!
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Getting excited reading about these trips and want to go? Contact me at kat (at) yellowdogtravel (d0t) com with your ideas and I can help you plan it! Or if you've already put a deposit on a cruise through the cruise line, contact me to get more information on transferring the reservation to me to get bonuses like extra onboard credit or gifts. I have lots of happy repeat clients - references always available.
Another disclaimer: The intention of this blog was to remind Future Me in full detail about where I went and what I did. I could have made it private, but I frequently get questions from family, friends and internet folks about how I planned things, got deals, etc., so instead of repeating the story over and over, I direct them here. If you are offended by anything I say or do, save yourself the discomfort and kindly click away from my blog. Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day!
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