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June14, 2006 - 7 Seas Cruise News >> |
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Greetings, Cruise Fanciers, Welcome to the June 4 edition of the 7 Seas Cruise News. This edition includes my review of the new Royal Caribbean Freedom of the Seas, but first a big happy birthday to my favorite Aunt, Betty M. in Camarillo, CA. We love you!! If you haven't planned your summer or fall vacation yet this year, now is the time. Pat has learned from several cruise lines that business is a little soft this year. This means some excellent prices are available now! Pick your trip and let Pat see how sweet a deal he can get for you! Some flexibility in dates and ships will ensure a great value! Give him a call (toll-free) at 1-866- 424-1090, email Pat at cruiseplanners7seascruises@ msn.com, or just browse around the website and see if anything catches your eye at www. 7seascruises.com. A reminder that we still have a few inside and outside cabins available on the Celebrity Century (just redone!) for Thanksgiving this fall. It's a 4-day sailing from Miami on November 23. Call Pat for details! Just a couple of items of cruise news tonight... The luxurious new Norwegian Pearl is the brand new sister ship to the extremely popular Norwegian Jewel. Built expressly for Freestyle Cruising, Norwegian Pearl features a host of amazing amenities, including the very first bowling alley to hit the high seas. Ten distinct, international restaurants assure you'll always find what you're hungry for. After dinner, 13 bars & lounges create a dazzling array of entertainment options. Sparkling pools, a state- of-the-art fitness center, full-service luxury spa and more are yours to enjoy. And when it's time to retire for the evening, Norwegian Pearl's wide array of accommodations are sure to impress with incredible Garden Villas, luxurious Courtyard Villas, Suites, Balcony Staterooms and value-conscious Inside Staterooms. The Pearl will debut in November with plans to sail Alaska next summer. The 93,502-ton, 2,384-passenger ship will introduce a climbing wall in its sports area on Deck 14. It will climb up the funnel like those found on Royal Caribbean's Voyager- and Freedom- class ships. Beginning in November, the Pearl will alternate five- and nine-night cruises from Miami. Pat can tell you more! Carnival Cruise Lines' 88,500-ton Carnival Legend will offer a new eight-day schedule from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., featuring three distinctly different tropical destinations - St. Kitts, St. Lucia and St. Maarten - beginning in January 2007. This marks the first time that St. Kitts and St. Lucia have been featured on a Carnival itinerary in more than 10 years. The new eight-day southern Caribbean itinerary includes St. Kitts, offering rugged mountainous interiors and dense rainforest and featuring centuries-old fortresses and plantations, the unique Scenic National Railroad tour, as well as excellent duty-free shopping and magnificent beaches ranging in color from black to golden. Often referred to as the "crown jewel" of the Windward Islands, St. Lucia is distinguished by the Pitons, twin volcanic mountains that overlook a lush landscape of flowers, fruit trees, cane fields, rain forests and white and black sand beaches. The half Dutch/ half French island of St. Maarten is a Caribbean favorite, boasting excellent shopping and dining and a diversity of watersports. The island's white-sand beaches and crystal-clear waters attract sun worshippers, scuba divers and snorkelers the world over. The Carnival Legend's new southern Caribbean cruises begin Jan. 27, 2007 and are part of the ship's seasonal eight- day schedule from Fort Lauderdale encompassing alternating southern and western Caribbean cruises. Eight-day western Caribbean cruises include Colon, Panama; Limon, Costa Rica; and Belize City, Belize. Carnival Legend's eight-day program will operate Oct. 23 - April 9, 2007 and Oct. 22 - April 7, 2008. (The ship will continue to offer its original eight-day southern Caribbean cruises to St. Maarten, Barbados and Martinique from Oct. - Dec. 2006). Immediately prior to and following the eight-day voyages from Fort Lauderdale, Carnival Legend will operate a program of eight-day Caribbean cruises round-trip from New York. Carnival Legend is part of the line's 2,124-passenger "Spirit-class" series and offers a host of innovative features, including indoor and outdoor promenades, a wedding chapel, and an upscale reservations-only supper club located at the top of a soaring nine-deck-high atrium. Eighty percent of the ship's 1,062 staterooms offer either an ocean view or balcony - perfect for scenic Caribbean cruising. Other amenities include a 14,500-square-foot health club, an Internet caf?, a cascading water slide, a duty-free shopping mall, full casino gambling, and 16 lounges and bars, including a sports bar, wine bar and elaborate multi-level show lounge showcasing lavish Vegas-style productions. And now (drum roll, please)...Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas! Pat and I arrived on Wednesday and joined the queue at Pier G to await our cabin assignment aboard the Freedom. Our first glimpse of her was shocking. Your first look makes your feet hurt. This ship is huge. Exploring looks impossible. However, as you step aboard, all that changes. The massive vessel is not nearly as intimidating inside. Things are designed on a large scale, but it's a very human proportion. It feels large and elegant, not nearly like the behemoth she is! After two days onboard, we finally hit on why the ship feels right. The clever designers moved the forward and aft elevator corridors in toward the ship's center. Unless your cabin is in the very front or very back, you really never wander to the extreme ends of the ship on any decks except perhaps 4, 5 and 11. And you are so busy on those decks, you don't realize how far you're walking. Therefore, you are mostly confining your time to the center third of the ship. Very clever! By now, you've heard all about some of the innovations this ship introduces to cruising, like the FlowRider. This is a surfer's delight or a highly embarrassing way to lose your swim trunks. We saw both the agony of defeat and the thrill of victory. The pros looked like they were really having fun. That poor guy in the gray baggies, well... he'll get over mooning us, I'm sure. This is not for everyone, but it sure is fun to watch! The climbing wall is higher than ever on the Freedom. We watched people scale it readily. Even the best of them didn't make it look easy, however. Another feature that's not for everyone. The mini-golf course, on the other hand, was just our speed. Really challenging, but fun-for everyone! And the best new feature of all, hands down, is H2O Zone. Colorful figures pour, squirt, gush, ooze, splash and dump water into a huge wading pool to the delight of everyone. For those who just want to relax poolside, a waterfall nearly the width of the ship runs continually, and that gorgeous sound creates a cool, relaxing place to sunbathe. H2O Zone has two pools-one is 5+ feet deep and located just below the waterfall. The other is a circular pool with a current, not unlike a lazy river, except this is a pretty good current. Walking or swimming with it is fun. Walking or swimming against it is a challenge! Sharing Deck 11 with H2O Zone is a conventional pool area, with tiered decks of lounge chairs, and a bar area. Going forward, there is a Solarium Pool, too. This one is adults only, quite attractive and flanked by the ship's cantilevered whirlpools that hang off the sides of the ship. I never could get in one. Much as I love a good hot tub, they just frightened me. Call me a wimp, but that's why there are also hot tubs in the other pool areas, as well. I much preferred soaking while soaking in the beauty of that H2O Zone waterfall. Deck 11 is also the site of the Windjammer Cafe. Very like the same- named area on Explorer class ships, there's plenty of seating and very few serious traffic jams. Decor is wonderful! Food was quite good, too. Speaking of food, the dining room is stunning! This three-story room manages to be huge and grand and charming and intimate all at once. Waiters were bustling, but relaxed enough to smile and make a few jokes. Service was excellent and the food was wonderful! Although we were eating off special event menus, everything was hot and tasty when it arrived at our table. A cheese tortellini in a breathtaking blue cheese sauce was one of the best entrees ever! Sugar- free desserts were exciting enough that I wasn't even tempted to try the regular ones. (Pat said everything was great!) If you see Mulligatawny Soup or Lobster Bisque on a Royal Caribbean menu, go for it! They were amazing! The lunch menu features a banana split for dessert. Pat gives his personal endorsement and urges you to try lunch in the dining room-at least once-on your next Royal Caribbean voyage. There's plenty of other food around, too. Deck 5' s Promenade which is both longer and wider than similar Explorer class Promenades features a 24- hour Cafe Promenade with sandwiches and cookies, small desserts and delicious coffee. Among the Promenade's bars and shops, you'll find a Ben & Jerry's ice cream parlor (extra charge) and a Sorrento's Pizza. Up on Deck 12, there's a Johnny Rockets (small extra charge). And there will be room service, of course, offered without charge ( but a tip is always a good idea). You won't go hungry on the Freedom of the Seas. You won't get thirsty, either. There are 21 bars. The Schooner Bar is great. The Champagne Bar is swanky and elegant. Connoisseur Club Cigar Lounge is subdued and modern. Pharoah's Palace is large and Egyptian. Olive or Twist is high up on Deck 14. Bull & Bear Pub is charming. The two-story disco, the Crypt, is cool and spooky. And there's a whole bunch of others that we never did see! But remember, we only had two days to explore! Cabins are a departure for Royal Caribbean. Much has been made of their new bedding-and for good reason. Thick, cushy mattresses are great. Sheets are high thread-count and handsomely embroidered. Beds are topped with those infernal fat comforters, of course. Happily, there is a top sheet, so you can eliminate that huge thing. Now, if your cabin is about 40 degrees, I'm sure that beast would feel great, but it wasn't that cold in our deck 9 balcony cabin. Comfortable, yes, but not frigid. Our cabin, 9224 was pretty far forward and pretty high up, but there was virtually no motion. Granted, we were not steaming along heading for somewhere, but still, we were sailing and it was smooooooth! The cabin included a nice 6-foot sofa, the customary desk/ vanity, a desk chair and coffee table and a tiny refrigerator. The flat screen TV was either a plasma or LCD. The location against the wall saved a lot of space, but the excellent picture was pretty well wasted with shipboard TV reception. Our balcony was great. Quite deep and wide enough to accommodate two chairs and a small table and still have plenty of room to move about. The balcony was covered, so it might not be the best for sunbathing, but it was quite private. The bathroom is pretty standard for Royal Caribbean-excellent storage space. There are excellent new towels, thick and soft, and nicer than those we experienced at the Ritz Carlton recently. This is a nice change from Carnival's stiff towels, which are great for making towel animals, but not exactly kind to human hides. The Freedom has Royal Caribbean's noteworthy round showers (which Pat and I call 'sanitation tubes'). There is something odd about them, like you should be steam-cleaned and pressed when you get out. They are sufficient, but funny. We had a chance to see inside cabins and they look pretty standard. Suites are lavish, of course. Mini- suites are quite nice. For a special splurge, that might be the way to go! The Day Spa looked quite nice. I took a peek at prices, however, and ouch! A 75-minute Hot Stones Therapy Massage was $ 193. An Elemis Pro-Collagen Facial lasts 50 minutes and costs $120. The Exotic Lime and Ginger Salt Glow is $196 for 75 minutes or $155 for 50 minutes. A Spa Manicure goes for $44 and a Spa Pedicure is $61. Even by Boca Raton standards, prices are high. Worth it? Yeah, probably. Down a deck from the Day Spa is the Fitness Center- which is huge. A boxing ring debuts on this ship. All the equipment is sparkling and new. Almost made me want to exercise! So, in conclusion: I really, really liked The Freedom of the Seas. And I was prepared not to be too impressed. My favorite Royal Caribbean ships have always been of the Radiance Class. This one challenges that belief. For me, a ship must never be too far from the sea. I worry that as they get bigger, ships may feel more like resorts and less like sailing vessels. Admittedly, when strolling down the Promenade, there is a definite sense of ' shopping mall' rather than cruise ship, but step out onto the balcony, enter the dining room with its lovely round windows on the sea, or be anywhere on Deck 11 or 12, and you are on the ocean, and it's wonderful! That waterfall music at the H2O Zone helps, too. So Congratulations, Royal Caribbean. The Freedom of the Seas is just fine in my book! Sail on, Freedom. You're going to make thousands of people very happy! When you' re ready to sail the Freedom, call Pat. He'll help find your perfect cabin and ideal sailing! Call him if you have any questions. And until next week, here's wishing all of you, smooth sailing! Teri |
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