Relaxing holiday
Freedom of the Seas Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern
8 Night Eastern Caribbean (Ft. Lauderdale Roundtrip)
Sail date: December 10, 2016
Ship: Freedom of the Seas
Cabin type: Balcony
Cabin number: 9276
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 7 years ago
Review summary
Everything about the cruise was excellent. The food. The ship was exceptionally clean. The staff friendly. Great entertainment even though we did not go and see any shows. The pools were immaculate. Deck chairs were clean. What a beautiful ship! The stop-overs were well organized (but $100 pp to zipline in Labadee??).
Negatives: Everything is extra. It feels like all they want to do is charge you. We did not get any free bottled water in the cabin - purified water would've been great. The refreshment package should be included so a person does not have to walk around with that huge drink holder.
The galley tour was not good at all. Too many people per group - we did not hear one word that was said. The brunch thereafter was not good at all.
Big negative is the 18% gratuity that is added to absolutely everything. Then they have an additional line on the bill for a tip? Then they give you two envelopes at the end for extra gratuity and just before you leave they hit you with a huge bill - mostly gratuities for making up the room etc and at $13.50 pp each time...not good. Bad ending to a nice holiday. We were relieved we had breakfast at the WindJammer every day.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Onboard Activities
Entertainment
Children's Programs
Service and Staff
Ship Quality
Cabin / Stateroom
Ports of call
Ft. Lauderdale (Port Everglades), Florida
Labadee (Cruise Line Private Island)
1 Comment
StressPlanner 7 years ago
One thing that can be done is go to the service desk and have them remove the automatic gratuity so that you can tip the staff as you see fit. We don't eat in the main dining room so paying them the majority of the $13+ per person per day for a group of 7 is simply not feasible to us. There are ways around the tipping situation.
As far as the water, do any ships provide free bottled water in the room? I know the other lines seemed to have much worse drink package situations so I am curious to hear if there is a line that is truly all inclusive without a major increase in price.
And the zip line excursion was amazing and we thought it was worth the price when we did it on a prior cruise. I guess I looked at the price from a safety viewpoint and was willing to pay extra to know it was well managed compared to some cheaper zip lines in other places. Sometimes I am willing to pay more for an experience I know I will only do once in my life. Labadee does offer other options though without the high cost. One simply has to remember that it is a private port location so all excursion prices are dictated strictly from the cruise line and nothing else. Even when not in a private port location I am careful to check CheapCruises' excursions because they often offer the same excursions at a discounted price! We were able to save almost HALF for my family to do the same exact excursion in St Kitts (Dolphin Discovery) with the only difference being we needed to hire a cab to take us to and from rather than a bus. I don't know that I will book excursions through the cruise line anymore after having such a positive experience with CheapCruise excursion booking. They even offer insurance on the excursions in case the ship modifies itinerary.