Freedom of the Seas set the bar HIGH as far as what to expect on a cruise (did many, many, MANY cruises in the US Navy, but this was my first PLEASURE cruise!). Ship was very clean, and hand sanitizer stations were abundant. Room was comfortable, food was good (seriously, I think we ate about 19 times a day!!) and we were never at a loss for things to do. I would definitely cruise on this ship again! We had a large family group (15 people, ranging in age from 15-84)... we all could find stuff to do on our own, but would always meet together at dinner time to recap what we all did during the day, and we always saw a show or did things together after dinner. Nobody came away disappointed. Wish I had gone diving... my brother went in Grand Cayman and Cozumel and thought is was some of the best diving he's ever done.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Considering that the ship was sold out and it was a holiday week (Thanksgiving), embarkation wasn't bad at all. We had pre-requested wheelchairs for embarkation for two family members with mobility issues, and that seemed to have not been communicated to whomever handled this. However... we were able to get chairs for them fairly quickly and got them onboard.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
Main dining room (Leonardo's) and the Windjammer were good. I looked forward to trying things I normally never experienced eating while at home. Our waiters Jonathan and Slim were fabulous... made us feel right at home each and every night.
The only restaurant that truly disappointed was Johnny Rockets. The quality of service was abysmal (totally ignored by waitstaff for 10-15 minutes... how do you NOT notice that a party of 15 just walked into the place???), food was really sub-par (with the exception of the onion rings, I could have gotten all of this at the Windjammer, and it would have tasted better and been free). The price for the (lack of) service and poor quality of food was atrocious.
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
Enjoyed miniature golf with my nephew, saw the ice skating show (what fun!), lost a little money in the casino.... we went to karaoke and saw a few shows... all was fun!
Dunes Mini Golf
5 out of 5
Was very crowded due to holiday week sailing (LOADS of children onboard). Was fun, wish we had been able to play again.... it was so very crowded.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
Really good... I believe one show we saw was called Once Upon a Time.... kind of like fractured fairy tales.
Children's Programs
no children young enough for the programs with us.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
We had Jonathan from the Philippines and Slim as our waiters in the MDR (Leonardo's). They were amazing... Jonathan always had great secondary recommendations as opposed to the Chef's recommendations... and they were all spot-on! Breakfast in the MDR was always fairly slow, so more often than not, I just opted for the Windjammer. Can't remember the name of the young woman who was our room steward, but it seemed like she never slept!
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Only thing I didn't like was that it you wanted to go forward on (I think it was Deck 3), you had to go through the casino, and it was so smoky. Otherwise... everything else was laid out well and easy to get to.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Room was nice, a little tight for 3 adults, but only because one had a rolling walker (in retrospect, I should have asked to have had the coffee table removed from the room... my bad!). Was lovely to sit out on the balcony and enjoy the sun and ocean breezes... so relaxing!!
Didn't do an excursion... been here before. Embarkation and debarkation went smoothly, especially in light of the fact that the ship was sold out and it was a holiday week (Thanksgiving) with loads and loads of children running about.
Excursions I wanted to do were sold out, so I went about on my own. Wandered around on my own... the people were lovely and quite friendly. Did some souvenir shopping, and made sure I picked up rum cakes to bring home!
Did an excursion to the Mayan ruins at Chacchoben. We went with a private tour company (I believe it was Toucan... my SIL booked for us). Tour was informative, some of the family got off the bus at the beach afterwards to hang out for a bit and eat. It was a very enjoyable day!
No excursion, just did some last minute shopping for souvenirs to take home. Vendors can be a little pushy... all you have to do is give them a polite "no, thank you" or "no, gracias" and all will be fine. I speak Spanish, and it seemed like they really appreciated people who took the time to learn their language... I conducted the majority of my transactions in Spanish. Ate at a little shack of a restaurant that had good food... other family members saw me sitting outside eating, and joined in as well.
Was off the ship by 10-ish, picked up our shuttle back to our hotel where we left our car during the cruise (Comfort Inn and Suites, 191 SW 19th Ct., Dania Beach... very reasonably priced shuttle and parking) and we were on the road home by around 11.
We just were on the Freedom for the third time and weren't disappointed. Love this class of ships. The size isn't overwhelming. Perfect for us. Love the multi floor dining room. Less like a restaurant. Never ran out of things to do either!
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