I’m back from the Inauguration of the Freedom Of The Seas, went aboard Thursday the 11th and got off in the afternoon of the 12th. What a 24 hours it was, Royal Caribbean did it right, had something going almost every minute for us.

First about the ship, she is beautiful, her increased size actually seems to work better than
the Voyager Class. I’ve always felt that on Voyager the Royal Promenade was tight and at busy times had some choke points that made it hard to navigate. The new Promenade is ten feet wider and eliminates that problem, in fact when you see it you’ll say yea this is just right what it should have been in the first place.

There are a few points that make this class of ship different form the Voyager some easy to see some not. Of course her size is the first, she is bigger but better, you feel more open in the public spaces on this ship.
Of course the most obvious difference is the Flowerider, a great innovative idea, it’s going to be a great hit with the cursing public, anyone from teens to older surfer types will love it. It’s not easy, don’t know if you saw the segment on NBC Today show where they had one of their show host try it, she tried her best but went down hard lots of time. I gave her a lot of credit for her effort. They have two boards you can use one is a larger boogie board that you hold onto and lay down, pretty easy, then they have a mini surfboard that you stand on, much harder. The sides and bottom are made of a soft rubber so when you do fall it’s not a hard hit, it’s just the water that pushes you up the hill to the back wall, comes at you really fast. Great ride I’m sure it’s going to be a huge success.

Next is the H20 Zone for the kids, a very nice place for the kids to go to keep them out of the big pools. It’s got water levels from just wet to about five feet, several different pools to choose from based on the child’s size.

Next are the cantilevered hot tubs, what a great idea, they are big and warm inside because they’re closed on three sides, nice for cold days like we had.

And of course who could forget the boxing ring, what’s that all about? It’s about half size of the real deal and something that will probably be dropped by the time the second ship comes out but who knows.

There are a few other things but those are the big ones, I think the ice rink might be just a little bigger but not sure, looked like it was.

For those who wondered about the jet planes, they are small models about six feet by three feet and if you didn’t go looking for them you might never see them.

Overall the ship gets high marks but she really is just a bigger version of the Voyager.

I think the passengers will enjoy the extra space this ship provides as well as the new innovations. For those of you who will be going aboard soon for a longer stay please give us your opinion and how you compare her to Voyager class ships.

The inaugural ceremonies were excellent; the Godmother was a very wonderful woman who is most deserving of this honor. God bless her for all of her wonderful work.

I do have one question. Is the round thero-pool in the gym/spa gone? I have not seen a single picture of it and all the other Voyager class ships have one. I'm thinking maybe the boxing ring has taken it's place center stage?

Ernie

[ 05-14-2006: Message edited by: eroller ]

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Originally posted by recab:
Ernie, Unfortunately the thero-pool is gone. Instead the boxing ring is situated there. Too bad.

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Too bad?

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Originally posted by Malcolm @ cruisepage:

Too bad?

I hear that Ernie likes a good fight!

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Very true Malcolm .... and have you seen the boxing instructor!!???

Seriously though, I would much rather have the thero-pool.

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Originally posted by eroller:
Seriously though, I would much rather have the thero-pool.

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quote:

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Originally posted by eroller:
Seriously though, I would much rather have the thero-pool.
Ernie

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Originally posted by harborman:
.. however I do like Malcom's idea of the mud-wrestling.

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