4/28-5/6 first cruise experience

Freedom of the Seas Cruise Review to Caribbean

SeaMeNow321

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 1 cruise (first)

Reviews: 2

Helpful Votes: 41

Overall rating:

4.5 out of 5

Southern Caribbean

Sail date: April 28, 2018

Ship: Freedom of the Seas

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 7686

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 6 years ago

Review summary

Our room attendant Marta was very attentive and flexible. She was always friendly and took time out of her busy schedule to see how we were enjoying our trip. She’s quite great. The R Bar staff; Nitre, Keisha, and Sha(?spelling) were very inviting and personable. They got to know our names, knew our “go-to” drinks, sometimes even ready to make them as they just see us. We often returned to that bar because of the staff, even for waters at times. Just an excellent environment to be in. Our main dining room staff; Arnel and June were amazing as well. Providing excellent service, June even provided some entertainment. They were very nice. These staff members certainly deserve recognition from Royal Caribbean, if they have not received any. They work long hours each day! Seeing our staff working on Labadee and again back on the ship—that takes a lot of hard work. And they still smiled and conversed. Not every patron is polite to staff either. They all seem very honest and work together so well. They deserve recognition! Some negatives include SMOKING AREAS—the smoking areas are not well contained, or placed. Having an entire side of the pool deck being smoking is not ideal—especially at the kiddie pools! The smoke does not stay in the casino or in the smoking areas outdoors. It wafts around the ship into eating venues and areas congested with children... you cannot walk a full loop around the decks without getting caught in smoke clouds. Smokers are not careful about where the exhale. WINDJAMMER— not well managed in regards to cruisers. People are often not hygienic, told multiple times to wear proper attire, rude, etc. The food quality is often sub par or has been ruined by other people doing gross things. Having the buffet is such a great help but it needs some work. Better lines, better eyes on patrons. Activity schedules were a little strange and monitors often didn’t match cruise compass. Timing of activities is kind of odd as well. I understand limited staff and resources but the odd hours of activities can really make it difficult to participate. I believe letting your cruisers know what attire to bring for special dining nights would be very beneficial to all. Karaoke was often not late enough (we had many conversations about karaoke with other cruisers who also enjoy it)—and you should always offer it on the last night. We were expecting more “shows” and often the times didn’t coincide with our schedule in the evenings. This was our first cruise but we did our research prior to booking any cruise. Both of us have experience in the service industry and understand many of the ins and outs. Was a good trip overall. Very grateful to have taken it.