My 1st cruise: Eastern Caribbean repositioning cruise.

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

Freedom of the Seas Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern

RobNCher

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 1 cruise (first)

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 47

Overall rating:

4 out of 5

6 Night Eastern Caribbean (Ft. Lauderdale To San Juan)

Sail date: May 06, 2018

Ship: Freedom of the Seas

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 8662

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 6 years ago

Review summary

We enjoyed our cruise immensely! Food & service was great, and it was awesome to be at sea for two days straight at 17 knots! Into a headwind!!! The wind on the helicopter deck above the bow was awesome! Great relaxation, but lots of walking & elevator rides to get to where we wanted to be. Deck 8 was great because we were only 3 decks below the Windjammer buffeteria, and the pools, and 3 decks above the Promenade.

Embarkation

4 out of 5

This wasn't on Royal Caribbean, but on the Alamo shuttle driver: there was a downpour and we got dropped off by where the porters we're at Terminal 29. We had to then walk around the side of the building to the entrance, instead of getting dropped off underneath the portico instead!

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

Sometimes the Coke Freestyle machines were empty of some things or out of order, and there weren't enough of them; there were only two outside of Sorrento's forward in the Royal Promenade. There should be two more near the aft end of the Promenade (we wanted caffeine-free Cokes, so bar/cafe fill-ups wouldn't do). Do order continental breakfast from room service the night before - it's totally free (room service breakfast has a service charge).

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5

Entertainment

3 out of 5

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

4 out of 5

A lot of the carpeting needs to be replaced; waiting four years between refits to do it is too long

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Ship tip

The ship always moored port-side during our cruise, so that's the side to be in when docking/undocking.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Nassau, Bahamas

3 out of 5

Not the port's fault, but we did not have shopping maps available to us, and nobody knew why!

Thumbs Up 4

Philipsburg, St. Maarten

4 out of 5

Cabs were a bit expensive, but we made our own excursion to Maho beach which included lunch, for less than the Royal's excursion, which did not include lunch.

Thumbs Up 7

Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas

3 out of 5

We docked much farther away from the town center than what we we're told was typical. We ran out of cash in order to take a taxi to the town center.

Thumbs Up 1

San Juan, Puerto Rico

4 out of 5

We spent three days there then flew home. We rented a car from Enterprise nearest the pier. We got out of the terminal taxi-cue mess very quickly when Enterprise driver showed up!

Thumbs Up 6