Royal Vacation
Freedom of the Seas Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern
Eastern Caribbean
Sail date: June 16, 2013
Ship: Freedom of the Seas
Cabin type: Balcony
Cabin number: 8520
Traveled as: Large Group
Reviewed: 11 years ago
Review summary
We cruised last month on the Royal Caribbean Freedom of the Seas... Our cruise experience was excellent!!! From our excellent cabin steward to our outstanding dinner staff... Head waiter, waiter and assistant waiter Stupendous!!! Food was excellent and the shows were all Broadway equivalent... Our cruise director and his staff were outstanding and there were always fun activities to participate in and places to relax! We also loved the idea of there being early shows for the late night diners and late show for the early... That was perfect! We didn't miss a show and loved it!!! Great variety of bars, clubs and dining!!! We did have a few challenges... 1)The morning head waitresses in the main dining room were rude and unaccommodating... Terrible guest service! 2)Also we were an extended family traveling with numerous rooms and people of all ages... We had 2 older handicapped travelers that could never get a seat by the pool due to people holding spots and towels sitting on lounge chairs for hours!!! With handicapped and older people they have a harder time getting around but still want to be part of the fun so having a designated area for handicapped and/or a reservation system in place for the handicapped is desperately needed!!! 3) Royal Caribbeans private island was not worth getting off the ship for... especially with people who are handicapped & use canes...It was completely disorganized and when we tried to leave the island 2 hours before we needed to you had to stand in line in the sun & heat & wait 30mins just to get to the tender... My Mother almost passed out and we had her sit under a tree until we were close enough for her to get on the tender. Poor organization & guest service... should have handed out "free" bottle water to all the guests waiting on line in the hot sun! We would love to cruise again with Royal Caribbean and Freedom of the Seas! We plan a family cruise every year and depending on time of year we could have anywhere from 9 - 30+ppl cruising. As a matter of fact we are already starting to look into a large family cruise (looking at about 12 - 15 cabins) next summer and if we are able to receive a good and/or discounted price on Royal Caribbean we will cruise again!!! I am an Human Resources professional that has worked for the Marriott International for many years... Now I own my own company that trains corporations and companies staff on excellent guest service and Leadership so I know exceptional guest service... I do want to express that our vacation was excellent on the whole but also I am well aware that you need to know the need or improvement areas too.Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Onboard Activities
Entertainment
Children's Programs
Service and Staff
Ship Quality
Cabin / Stateroom
Ship tip
See all the shows! Get to the pool early if you want a lounge chair Mango Tango's were great!
Ports of call
Cococay (Cruise Line's Private Island)