We are already looking for our next cruise. Freedom of the Seas was great! I'm not to comfortable with flying so we have been looking at leaving out of NJ. Again, we can't say enough good about the staff on the ship, really at Royal Caribbean at all. Definitely hooked me, wish I could go once a month.
Embarkation
4 out of 5
Since this was my first cruise I wasn't sure of what to expect. We stayed at the Homewood Suites by Hilton Ft. Lauderdale Airport-Cruise Port and they had a shuttle for transport to and from. That was our main setback, while we waited for a shuttle one either didn't come or they didn't have enough room so they sent a tour bus to pick all of us up. This was a quick ride, dropped us right off at the port with no issues. Some lady who she said people called her the "Crazy Clown" was the driver, very funny.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
We had a 5:30PM dining time which was OK. We did say that we might try for one of the later times on our next cruise because getting back onto the ship, showering, changing, going to dinner, and then still having time to do stuff was a lot with us and 2 kids. We were in Issac's on deck 4 with an AMAZING wait staff in Abegail and Ryan. We wanted to try a specialty restaurant but never did because they were so nice, helpful, and fun we didn't want to miss them. They stayed by and played with our children, our son isn't big on photos but on our last night we wanted photos with them and he joined in as well. The food was good in my opinion. Our daughter was trying a lot of different items which was exciting for her and the quality of it was good. Some of the foods that I didn't like was more of my personal feeling and not really on how it was made.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
On board the ship for activities we mainly went to the pool. Our children had fun, we have a 4 year old and a 7 year old. For a "Splash Zone" I guess I wish there was more for them to do. Our daughter hung out in this little pool mostly swimming around. Our son ran through the splash zone but he would stop a lot I think because he gets bored easily. He is also small so he wasn't able to do certain things. We went to one of the Dreamworks breakfasts for them where they met 2 characters, had a meal, and danced which we all enjoyed.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
The ice show was great, my wife and daughter checked out a theater show during the Super Bowl that they both really enjoyed. As for watching the super bowl on the ship, that was a lot of fun. There was drink stations and food out, and a lot of people all watching it was a good time. We also tried the family feud night, that was fun. The main downside to it was that they only did 3 rounds, period. There was a lot of people there, I think they would have been able to use up more time to allow more people to take part in it. In total it was only about 25-30 minutes long, it was hosted by the Cruise Director so I don't know if time wasn't available maybe for other places he needed to be. He was very funny though.
Children's Programs
We spent a lot of time with our kids around the boat together. My parents also went so one night my wife and I explored the ship on our own for a few hours.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
All of the staff was great. We said this the while trip, I don't think we had any issues with anything. I said earlier our main dining wait staff was amazing. Dulce, our room steward was great as well, we saw her almost every time we were going somewhere and she always took time to stop and talk with both of our children.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
Like I said, this was my first cruise, and I was happy with all of it. Our room was always taken care of quickly, I felt like we always saw employees around the ship working and taking care of whatever was needed. We thought our AC in the room wasn't working properly and called maintenance to come check it out. They arrived quickly and were very polite. We were on deck 6 with a short walk to the elevators and stairs.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
We got a room with a pull out couch. Plenty of space for the 4 of us. We also were in a room next to our friends so we had the balcony divider opened for us to have more contact with each other. The bathroom was a fine size, the shower was a little tight but AMAZING water pressure, I still miss it haha. We didn't spend too much time in our room due to trying to get the most out of the ship and the trip.
Ship tip
Take it all in. There is a lot to do, take your time and enjoy it. The ship has A LOT going on each day, at night we would check the next day and see if something was going on that we wanted to be apart of. The walls are metal, we brought magnetic hooks to hang some clothes on. Also we bought a shoe organizer and hung it on the bathroom door, this was a HUGE space saver for us, it held all of our misc items.
I really enjoyed Ft. Lauderdale. Again, we were not in Upstate NY for the week so the weather played a big part in that haha. The hotel we stayed in, Homewood Suites by Hilton Ft. Lauderdale Airport-Cruise Port was perfect. It was right off of I-95 and they were amazing staff there. Our AC was not working the first night there, they came right up and fixed it immediately.
St. Kitts was my personal favorite I think. We took a cab from the port to Cockleshell Beach. Our driver, Adonis, was very professional and knowledgeable about the island. He took us to a spot on the way to the beach that had a great view and photo op spot. On the beach they had people going around giving aloe vera massages that my wife and I took part in. Her and our daughter also got their hair braided. On the beach was a restaurant called the Spice Mill. Food was very good, but there were a lot of flies. If we ate closer to the outside where there was more wind it wouldn't have been as bad. It didn't ruin my time there though at all.
St. Maarten was great, a good beach day for us. We walked from the port to the main road where all the shops were and just got some beach chairs there. At one point we walked around, a lot of the shops there and buildings still had a lot of damage, palm trees were bent over, some had glass still stuck in them. We really enjoyed our time there though.
I liked San Juan, reminded me of the city. The tour we took was cool too, it walked us all the way from the port to the fort. However it was dirty and smelled. At one point we noticed a hypodermic needle in the street. Once we got to the fort though, it was gorgeous, and we had great weather which made it even better. We tried a restaurant after the tour that was pretty good but service took a really long time. And one of the meals we got was crushed lobster meat but they left the shell in it. I didn't notice a lot of damage in San Juan, at least where we went.
This was a great last island. We just spent the day on the beach with our family and friends. I wish I tried the zip line while we were there but next time maybe haha.
This was a longer process than I expected. I didn't care for it, it also might be because we had to get off the ship and I didn't want the trip to end. We had to look forward to driving back to Upstate NY where snow hit twice during our time on the ship.
@twhite, Grandeur sails out of Baltimore, MD, not NJ. Cape Liberty in NJ has Anthem, as you said, and in a few months will also have Adventure of the Seas for New England / Canada and Bermuda / Bahamas sailings.
The Grandeur and Anthem leave from NJ. Grandeur is quite a bit smaller and the Anthem is a completely kind of ship (very modern ) compared to Freedom. I’m sure you will have fun but nothing compares to Freedom as far as I’m concerned. Our trip in May will be my 9th with RCCL.
For debarkation we always choose to carry our luggage off and leave early you beat most of the crowd and using the mobile passport app makes going through customs a breeze!
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