This cruise was with a friend, we felt this itinerary was one of the best offered by Royal Caribbean for a Caribbean cruise and we were not disappointed. The ship is a little older and a bit smaller than the mega ships of Royal Caribbean, but there are SO MANY activities on board you will never get bored and the ship is run perfectly. They've done great at preventing bottlenecks at food buffets, when exiting/entering the ship at port...this is one of my most favorite boats to sail on. The staff is also exceptional on Freedom of the Seas.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
We arrived late and it was super speedy, friendly, and no problems encountered at all.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
We did not visit the specialty restaurants, but the main dining room was excellent-we were thoughtfully seated with 3 other couples and our service was impeccable. The buffet was always open when we were hungry (unlike some other cruise lines) and it was well stocked.
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
This ship has a free sauna which was very well used! Pools and hot tubs always had room, the Flow Rider was a blast and my cruise buddy said the rock climbing wall was more challenging than he expected. We also did the ice skating, that was just ok-the ice was in really poor condition and of course the rink was small. Fitness center was very well equipped.
Entertainment
3 out of 5
I wasn't impressed with the quality of the shows, but I attended mostly the smaller events and not the headliners.
Children's Programs
We don't have kids?
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Everyone was top notch on this cruise from the photography staff, the housekeeping staff, to the food staff.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Everything was exceptionally easy to find on the ship, the only bulkhead that caused issues was on floor 3 which isn't even an important floor anyway. We were looking for the safety demonstration and couldn't get to it without staff leading us through their personal quarters.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
This room was amazing!!! It was a handicapped room so we had additional space. There were some maintenance issues (leaky faucet, slow drain, clothing dryer line was stuck) but items were addressed promptly. The beds had foam toppers-totally unexpected-but soooo comfortable!
Ship tip
Use the free saunas! You have to pay like $79/day on other ships for this same feature.
The locals exploiting monkeys and throwing them on people who didn't even want the monkeys on them was a huge turnoff. The island was nice, I took a tour from a provider on land and he was great-got to meet his family, he provided us with lots of extras on the tour. But those monkey photo vendors totally turned me off of the island. I explored the area on foot and talked to many residents who were all very nice and accommodating-this is the biggest saving grace to offset the monkey photo vendors.
Beautiful island! We did a water speed boat, mud bath, waterfall tour. It was short and the tour was very disorganized (shuttling us to the land transportation was an hour wait finding a driver that wasn't our water taxi guy, felt sketchy).
We went scuba diving here which was amazing-best reefs we've seen in the Caribbean. The only thing is that I wish there was more to see close to the port, we walked for a couple miles but there was very little going on near the port.
This island has a very special energy, it draws you in. I will say that the experiences between the tour guides is exceptionally variable. My last visit to the island I had the best guide ever, this time I had the worst (cab 59-he was TERRIBLE). My cruise buddy almost wanted to write off this island until I made him spend some time in town-after that he saw why I love it here so much. We are planning to return.
Very easy for the most part, long lines to check out. Taxi line of course was long, uber parking lot was not marked so difficult to find other transportation availability.
*Cruiseline.com is not a booking agent or travel agency,
and does not charge any service fees to users of our site. Our partners
(travel agencies and cruise lines) provide prices, which we list for our
users' convenience. Cruiseline.com does not guarantee any specific rates or
prices. While prices are updated daily, please check with the booking site
for the exact amount. Cruiseline.com is not responsible for content on
external web sites.
Contact us
Submitting...
Need help from a personal vacation planner?
Loading...
Find the perfect cruise with weekly tips and cruise deals for as little as $30/night!
Sign up for weekly cruise deals
Join other subscribers and get the best
cruise deals of the week in your inbox every Thursday.
