Poor start to Med cruise

Item: Freedom of the Seas
Rating: 3.4
Author: Erictheviking

Freedom of the Seas Cruise Review to Europe - Mediterranean

Erictheviking

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 4-6 cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 41

Overall rating:

3.4 out of 5

7 Night Western Mediterranean (Barcelona Roundtrip)

Sail date: September 10, 2017

Ship: Freedom of the Seas

Cabin type: Inside

Cabin number: 8229

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 7 years ago

Review summary

Although the Freedom is the sister ship to the Independence we found it to be inferior in general atmosphere and entertainment and would definitely not cruise on this ship again and I think we will stick to Southampton port. Less stressful.

Embarkation

2 out of 5

We have been on 5 cruises in the past and all leaving from Southampton port, all being great embarkation experience. Parking the car 50 metres from the ship and walking on board 20 minutes later. This cruise we thought we would try a fly cruise, flight and transfer all booked through Royal Caribbean. All fine until we arrived at Barcelona airport where there should have been a private taxi waiting for us. After waiting a stressful 2 hours asking various people on the concourse with Royal Caribbean badges to hear they could not help as they were working for a separate cruise tour company. To my surprise there was no direct representation from Royal Caribbean. Time was now approaching 3.30 pm and the ship leaves at 4.30 pm. In desperation we hired another taxi to the ship. On boarding went straight to customer services to complain and retrieve a refund of transfer monies. Staff not really interested and although being told someone would contact us about this issue no body did. What a shambles and a poos and stressful start to the cruise.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5

Entertainment

3 out of 5

Average

Service and Staff

3 out of 5

Cabin steward excellent Customer service staff awful Bar staff very good Restaurant staff average

Ship Quality

4 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5

Very comfortable and clean but slightly dated

Ports of call

Barcelona, Spain Did not visit port

Marseille (Provence), France

3 out of 5

Villefranche-Sur-Mer, France

2 out of 5

French public transport on strike at the time typical

Thumbs Up 0

La Spezia, Italy

4 out of 5

Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy

3 out of 5

Naples, Italy

2 out of 5

Went on tour bus around Naples but traffic situation is appalling, spent 1 1/2 hours sitting in traffic jams. Next time will take a boat excursion.

Thumbs Up 0

Disembarkation

4 out of 5

Cancelled the return taxi and used a shuttle coach. What a difference much better.

4 Comments

Patrick4 7 years ago

great experience last March on Freedom, beautiful ship, great food and entertainment!

Thumbs Up 1

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dunahoot217 7 years ago

I ❤️ the Freedom and thought the entertainment was outstanding! However, if it’s inferior, I might I have to check out Independence!

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jrgatton86 7 years ago

freedom just felt understaffed. nice ship just needs more help even on the pool deck

Thumbs Up 1

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colum 7 years ago

Although we have not been on independence we have been on freedom 3 times and liberty once. I would say freedom was inferior to liberty aswell however she is still a wonderful ship.

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Other reviews of this sailing

Absolutely incredible trip, but no longer a fan of RCI.

Great Cruise, Great Ports

Unfortunately will never sail Royal Caribbean again