Loved going to St. Kitts!

Item: Freedom of the Seas
Rating: 4
Author: dandelewis

Freedom of the Seas Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern

dandelewis

Contributor Level: Third Mate

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 2

Helpful Votes: 64

Overall rating:

4 out of 5

Verified Review

8 Night Eastern Caribbean (Ft. Lauderdale Roundtrip)

Sail date: December 10, 2016

Ship: Freedom of the Seas

Cabin number: 8604

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 7 years ago

Review summary

We loved seeing St. Kitts and the tour of the old part of the island including the Batik factory and Old Fort at the top of the hill. Roads were in good condition owing to a recent visit by Prince Harry. Narrow winding road goes around the island (don't try this yourself) tour buses have to blow the horn as they go around curves. Views are lovely. People are nice. It's not as commercial as St. Maarten. But, tourism is king. Sugar cane is gone, so it's only a matter of time before cruisers are expected to shop til they drop. Royal Caribbean emphasizes the shopping more than I ever remember on a cruise. Dining rooms are lovely, wait staff is pleasant. Room stewards are hard working. Ship was very full. They charge $3.00 for a water bottle now. We did get to bring wine on board. We felt like the dining room was crowded at breakfast and lunch time. Only one open at those times. It's best to eat on the early side. We thought the 5:30 dinner was too early. Would like to see it go back to 6pm.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

Food was good. Thought the dining room was understaffed. They seemed overwhelmed. Only one dining room open for breakfast and lunch was hard to get a table sometimes.

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Would have enjoyed an educational lecture and a better selection of movies. They used to have a movie theater that showed daily movies. Loved that.

Entertainment

3 out of 5

Saw some of these shows 2.5 years ago.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Our room steward was great! Lamech B.

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

I thought the carpet needed cleaning in our stateroom. It had an odor (slightly of old shoes). We have sailed on the Independence at least 3 times. It looks like it may need refurbishment. Elevators are very busy at dinner time.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Our steward worked hard everyday. He deserves commendation. We had a rattle on the porch from the dividers between the balconies. He said he had tried to have it fixed but it never gets done. I wedged some paper in it. The carpet had an odor. Everytime we came in I picked it up. Smelled like old sneakers. Otherwise all was clean. We did have a room that had been an adjoining room, so there was only one chair (allowing for the door next door to open into ours). Most cabins have a little love seat or two chairs. We had to sit on the desk chair and the other chair or lie in bed, if the balcony was too sunny.

Ship tip

Don't go to breakfast and lunch later, like 8:30 and 1pm. Go early like 7-7:30 and 12noon, because the dining room (leonardo's) is the only one open and it's very popular, especially because 4000 people have to eat. The salad bar at lunch is excellent! Breakfast buffet upstairs (early) is nice.

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