Just ok

Freedom of the Seas Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 34

Overall rating:

3 out of 5
Verified Review
Freedom of the Seas

7 Night Western Caribbean (Port Canaveral Roundtrip)

Sail date: August 07, 2016

Ship: Freedom of the Seas

Cabin type: Inside

Cabin number: 6293

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 8 years ago

Review summary

I booked this cruise last minute as our original vacation plans with the kids changed.  We have only booked with Disney in the past for numerous cruises but we thought we would give it a try as Disney dates would not match with our late need and kids school beginning, Here are the highlights:

1. I thought they nickel and dime you. Example if you want anything other than lemonade, punch, or tap water to drink even with your meals you need to by a soda package which is by person by day.  Disney doesn't charge you for coffee or soda and they are free 24/7.

2. the dinner service was not that great now mind you this may have just been our server because nightly we would be at our table first and other tables would walk in 20 minutes later and their server had them eating deserts before we even had our main course... that was 1:30 minutes in. VERY bad serve.  poor assistant server did a great job keeping us with drinks and bread but her server he disappeared for long periods of time.  Service was so bad we ended up buying up to a premium restaurant fro 2 nights and eating in buffet the rest of the time,,,,,,

3.The gym was very crowded but a good size but what upset me was on day one at sea i paid for spin class no big deal but they had like 20 spin bikes taking up a ton of room in the gym and you could not use them unless it was during a paid class (they only offered the class the first and last day).  I would have gladly paid for a class each day but i am training for an upcoming Ironman and wanted to use bikes but the kicked me off them everyday.  They said "not Safe" to use the bikes that were bolted to the ground i spin and work out all over the world never heard you can't use a spin bike unless for a paid class because it is unsafe.  I watched person after person get kicked off the bikes it was kind of embarrassing.

4. the port of Roatan man is a hot mess of people badgering you every foot step you take... if you can take a tour here to avoid walking around town i would highly recommend it.

5. Rio Secreto in Cozumel was a great tour i highly recommend it was one of the positives of the trip.

6. Ship wreck Snuba in Grand Cayman was a great tour again recommend it and was a positive.

7. Casino staff very friendly but casino hours i thought were very short... craps table didn't open until 7 pm nightly even on sea days.

 

all in all i would say it was an ok cruise we found it to be relaxing and kids had fun but we will probably look to book Disney in the future again just to have all in pricing with much nicer ships and better overall service levels.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

1 out of 5

Onboard Activities

1 out of 5

Entertainment

3 out of 5

Children's Programs

3 out of 5

Service and Staff

3 out of 5

Ship Quality

1 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5
cabin is dated and king bed was two single beds pushed together with a piece of foam over both beds so if you rolled to middle of bed you fell in a hole between two beds:(. No shampoo or amenities offered so bring your own there is one small bar of soap in the bathroom. TV is very small and mounted very low in room so not great for watching from bed and has 3 cruise commercial channels for every watchable channel which is limited.

Ship tip

Food at windjammer was as good or better than dinning room. Mexican and Italian premium dining well worth the extra $20 a person and look for servers walking around ship offering 20% off those places they are easy to get at the $20 pp rate.

Ports of call

Port Canaveral, Florida

5 out of 5

George Town, Grand Cayman

5 out of 5

Coxen Hole, Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras

1 out of 5

Costa Maya (Mahahual), Mexico

1 out of 5

Cozumel, Mexico

5 out of 5
Was this review helpful? 34

21 Comments

1banker    8 years ago

I've never had bad service on RCCL. It's been an awesome vacation every time!!

dreams008    8 years ago

You think they're not nickel and diming you on Disney, but that extra price, which is a huge amount over Royal, is paying for your drinks.

kmrolyat    8 years ago

Good to know. Thanks!

Patrick4    8 years ago

My sister and cousin say ships are comparable and service is too.

sesharps    8 years ago

I have done 3 Disney cruises and 2 RCI. Back to RCI this October. Love Disney and the cruises were wonderful but so is RC and for the price premium of Disney I will continue to book RC in the future. I have never felt a difference in service levels between the 2.

Patrick4    8 years ago

You won't be disappointed at all. It's what you make of it most of the time. We just got off one of the oldest ships in the fleet and had a blast. Do buy a drink package though, of some sort.... Any other upcharge is on you. Have a great time :-)

kmrolyat    8 years ago

The price point is why we opted for RC this time. We can take a 7 day cruise for the same price as a 4 day cruise and get a balcony. We will see how we like it in 29 days!

carlosribeiro3760430    8 years ago

There is a significant trend of people booking with Royal and not with Disney anymore, because of the price point.

Patrick4    8 years ago

The price point on Disney is just ridiculous though...thank God I started w RC and my kids are older lol

banhbeo73    8 years ago

I've cruised with Disney and absolutely amazing! All the staff members were friendly and professionally. Dinner was top notch from day one, with multiple options throughout the ship. Shows were spectacular and engaging for both children and adults. I'm now on RCCL, which is ok. Too crowded, food is mediocre and servers are hit and miss. Although, our dining servers Kadek and Vincent were the BEST!

barbnyy    8 years ago

Yeah especially if you go on a Disney ship when school is back in session the kid element isn't that bad. They do have an adults only pool. Know that the night life isn't as hopping and there is no casino. It just depends what you want in a cruise. They do have amazing shows, fireworks at sea, a beautiful private island and delicious, more gourmet food

ritarn    8 years ago

I too went on a Disney Cruise with my husband. We had a fabulous time. It was so much fun. We have booked RC since and they have been awesome. I have been on many Rc cruises and recommend them highly.

rlp82770    8 years ago

My husband & I did a Disney cruise....just the 2 of us!! It was the best cruise we've been on!! It was romantic, fun & Disney treats you truly like royalty!! Point being, Disney cruise is one of the best....even for a couple without young kids!!

carlosribeiro3760430    8 years ago

I love Royal and have been on quite a few ships from Royal to Carnival and some in between. I was on FOS last September and loved it. We lived it so much we booked 3 future cruises with Royal on the bigger ships.

kmrolyat    8 years ago

Wow this is the third complaint I have seen regarding the Aug 7th cruise to the Western Carribean. Seems like the FOS needs to do some retraining. We too have cruised only with Disney in the past. This will be our first cruise without kids so we opted to go with RC to save money & go somewhere besides Nassau. I hope we have better service when we sail in September.

carlosribeiro3760430    8 years ago

All those little "extras" you are referring too on Royal Caribbean are already built into the price of your Disney cruise .

Bushwaker2013    8 years ago

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience. We had a great time , our kids just loved the activities on the ship.

Nypd11483    8 years ago

I have to agree.

Katievp    8 years ago

We did the whole Disney thing and it was great. It was a one shot deal as a celebration event. That being said, I can't justify their prices to continue going back just because they have 24/7 cokes. Yes, they have excellent service but so do the other lines. You can get slow service at your neighborhood restaurant.

dargriff60    8 years ago

Disney was our first cruise. They are great BUT you pay huge price for cruise. RCCL does not charge for coffee or tea. Don't know where you got that idea. If you want Starbuck or upgraded types, you do pay. Overall Royal is still a better value.

Nypd11483    8 years ago

I hear this allot about Disney having superior service but I am not sure me and my wife could deal with a giant mouse chasing us around the ship. We do not currently have kids. But then again, my perception may be way off.

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