Freedom of the Seas Cruise Reviews - Reviews

We stayed in a Junior Suite on this cruise and it was wonderful! We also had an excellent Cabin Attendant, Naz, and super wait staff for our My Time Dining.

I was disappointed with the merchandise "sales " for Royal Caribbean items as a sale was listed in the daily Compass but the merchandise never arrived onboard the ship. Another issue was the disembarkation process in Port Everglades. We were assigned the last group and were to leave the ship by 9:45.  After Group #22 was called, we were informed that all remaining groups were clear to leave. But that meant another 1000 people were trying to get off the ship and the process took over 45 minutes to complete and another 30 minutes once we had our bags.

I’m a platinum member of RCCL, and have cruised approximately 20 times with RCCL and other lines.  However, I have to say, that I was a little disappointed in this cruise.  Not entirely, but with a few items. 

First of all, the service and the staff on this ship were great.  They were all extremely helpful and friendly.  The cruise director seemed part comedian, and always a hoot to listen to.  The ship itself was in good shape, and as with all RCCL ships, was beautiful.  My main complaint was the food.  RCCL, in my opinion has always had good food.  However, we had just gotten off a Carnival (Conquest) for another trip with our children before going on this one with my sister and brother-in-law.  I have to say that in comparison, Carnival’s food was much better.  I had a sirloin steak one evening on Freedom, and have to say it was the worst steak I’ve EVER had.  It was almost as if it had been boiled.  It was pale, tough, flavorless, and I ate only a few bites.  They’ve evidentially never tasted “cake” as all of their desserts were some type of “mousse.”  All desserts I would rate about a 3 out of 10.   The dining room menu was mediocre, and the buffet on the Lido deck about the same. 

The ports were nice.  St. Kitts is a very small island, but seemed to be fairly well maintained and very pretty.  We took a tour there, and it was very interesting.  In San Juan, we also went on a tour, but it was raining, and the tour started in the afternoon.  So about 1 hour into it, it was already getting darker, and you couldn’t see as much.  We got back to the ship in the dark.  Labadee is great.  What a beautiful island, and with all the amenities, it made it a terrific day.  Be sure to ride the Dragons Tail coaster - a short but very fun ride.  We got the “day pass” for only $10 more.  We’ve been to St. Maarten many times, and unless you go on an excursion, most of the area is shopping.  We did have a tour scheduled, but it was cancelled because of some protest going on with the island people.

The entertainment in the theater was above average, but not on par with the Carnival production that we had just seen.  It appeared to be more like a high school or college production, not a “Vegas” review.  The other entertainment (i.e. – ice skaters, comedians, etc. again, were not bad, but just mediocre.

I will probably continue to sail with RCCL because I love their ships.  However, on this particular cruise, it was just a little below my expectations.

It was fun. It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun. It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun. It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun. It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun. It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun. It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun. It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun. It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun. It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun. It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun. It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun. It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun. It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun. It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun. It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun. It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun. It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun. It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun. It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun. It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun. It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun. It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun. It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun. It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun. It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun. It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun. It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun. It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun. It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun. It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun. It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun. It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun. It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun. It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun. It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun. It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun. It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun. It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun. It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun. It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun. It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun. It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun. It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun. It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun. It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun. It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun. It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun. It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.It was fun.

very relaxing, great food and service, friendly and passionate staff! Excellent shore activities on our own (flexible and inexpensive), unforgettable memories! 

except Costa maya (you have no other choices (such as renting a car or taking a taxi -- taxis are not allowed to pick up passengers at the port and you can only get taxi from a block away outside the port which you have no way to know when you just get off the ship), or other tours, but to join the tour from the cruise at the port), really disgusting. 

stateroom is aged (can especially tell from the bathroom), drawers are not clean and the circuit board of the safe is exposed.

Everything about the ship was great! The late night shows were very entertaining, the dining room service was exceptional! The cleaning and room service was also exceptional and very clean ship!  I was hoping they had better food selection in the WindJammer.  My suggestion would to change the food selection every such as Asian day, Mediterranean day, Jamaican food day etc....

the personnel on rccl where outstanding but management sucks, they now charge 5% for me to use my own money in the casino, they used to play bingo with multiple games, I paid $142 to play 3 games, how cheap can you get, and all I got for my money was a stupid t-shirt with the word bingo, in large letters on the back, the couldn"t even use rccl logo on the back, my grandkids wouldn"t even wear them, I threw them in the garbage. also on one occasion we did not dress up and supper in the buffet. what a disappointment. I found hot dogs, french fries, and hamburgers. what kind of supper buffet is that. If rccl continues to get cheap then i might as well get cheap also and start looking for bargains on other cruise lines. I have been on 4 rccl cruises. what a big disappointment that they have gotten that cheap. I traveled with my son and his wife and paid for us all at chops, the lobster for $21 dollars was a 1 pd. lobster cut in half. not more than 6 or 7 ounces of tail. and my braised beef was unchewable. when I brought it to their attention they just took it away with no remorse or comment of any kind, what a wasted $161

I thought the cruise was very nice however, I think there are a few changes that could be made. 

1.  The staff did not seem as friendly as my first trip with Royal Caribbean.

2.  We purchased a non-alcoholic beverage package and many times there was no bottled water when we asked for it.

I sustained a knee injury in Colorado before coming on board which limited my participation in all activities. That said, I still rated it as "good" Perhaps next time will be better.

Great crew on-board. Food in Winjammer was not the best this time. Was not sure if housekeeper was cleaning our bathroom. Very ruff sailing this time,

I had a fabulous time on board Freedom of the Seas!  The staff was wonderful.  The food was excellent!  Our waiter in the dinning area was "Slammer"!  He was the BEST!  Very experienced and always offered us suggestions on what to eat and what excursions to take.... The entertainment was really great too!  The Freedom offered a very live environment of fun! The cabin was clean.  Although, I really wish I had gotten a Junior Suite.  For some reaso, I was under the impression that I had requested that  but my coordinator was looking more at the positioning of my cabin verses size.  Slight oversite on his part but we were pleased with the cabin we ended up with.  And I was glad my coordinator (Hank) reccommended Freedom for us.  I would definitely cruise the Freedom of the Seas again!  Lastly, my experience with going through Cheap Tickets has always been good!  I will continue to book my vacations thru them. 

Royal Caribbean's FREEDOM class ships are basically VOYAGER class ships with an extra 80 feet of length added in the center.  Prior to the introduction of the FREEDOM of the SEAS the VOYAGER class was my favorite category of ship on any cruise line.  Obviously, the ship itself is one of my favorite parts of Caribbean cruising, but the addition of new ports of call has really enhanced the experience.  On the 8 night Eastern Caribbean cruise St. Kitts stands out as one of the more recent ports of call that has been added to several itineraries.  Royal Caribbean still has the best entertainment and shows in the industry, but recently some other cruise lines have started to give them a run for their money.

our favorite part of the cruise was the deck plans and the décor, good food, extremely pleasant staff personnel.

our disapointments : Very small our cabin, could not get of the bed properly, could not get to the phone from the desk, very small bathroom and specially very small shower stall.

my wife and I have cruised about 18 times. Mostly Caribbean, Europe and China.

we would cruise with RCL more if the cruise was available from New Orleans.

the cruise on freedom of the seas was very enjoyable. this was our first cruise on a ship of this size. every thing went smoothly. Entertainment and the food was very good. Had a great time .

The ship was well attended to, and we enjoyed having a balcony room this trip, it added to our overall room space and supplemented not having to go on deck to sit in the sun.  We had breakfast on the deck and as one of us is an early riser and the other loves to sleep in it afforded us the opportunity to each do our own thing. 

The staff and the meals were good. The smoke from the casino was unbearable. You could smell it to rooms away in on the next floor. My wife and I had to walk thousands of extra steps just to try to avoid the casino smoke, As is the common design of ships you have to pass through the casino to get to restaurants and shows.

Royal Caribbean has seen fit to reduce staff in several areas. One is the wait staff in the Promenade Cafe. One person behind bar to make Starbucks coffee and to serve the food and pastries and keep coffee made in the urns. 

The wait staff in the dining room was reduced and the waiters had more tables to take care of. Service was good but slow. The lines for Starbucks was 10 to 15 in the morning to order and the same amount waiting for their orders. While the line for pastries was also long. 

Favorite...  the food, the entertainment, the hot tub, the room.  All was great

Problem..  Handicapped leaving the ship.  Once we were taken to the landing in a wheelchair, to be picked up by the ground service, everything went wrong.  The ground attendants did not know how to transport us to the baggage and most of them said it was their first day.  people were crying.  Passengers and the workers in frustration.

Once there were 20 handicapped and their families back up, my husband and I got out of the wheelchair and painfully got in line with the regular passengers going to the baggage pickup.  Bad ending to a great vacation.

Visiting the different islands was great.  We toured  on our own so got to see places where the excursions do not typically go.  We really enjoyed the ship and listening to the band on the pool deck.    Disembarking was quick and very organized.

Nice clean ship, loved the big hot tubs, food was great, service was great. 70's dance party was a lot of fun. the singer in the Scooner bar was outstanding. The bartenders were very good and made very good lava flows.

the beds were so hard that we came home with bruised ribs the stench of nicotine coming from the casino was revolting we did not pick up our  cruise picture cause the display was by the casino on the 4th floor and it was disgusting we liked the shows very well done the food was ok the stateroom smelled of mold and affected my wife sinus she is now on penicillin the ship is beautiful but the independence of the seas interior is better . ciao.