Freedom of the Seas Cruise Reviews - Reviews

We were treated as if we were king and queen they were there for every need.  The shows were great and funny. the food was very good we ate at the windjammers we tried specially rest but could not read the menu over all it was a great adventure.

My husband and I thought it  needed  to  be started earlier than 11. 

Also the deck was so crowed and no place to go..........I think people  would  just  save  lounge and move  on  somewhere  else.....the  chairs  to close for pleasure

the  food  was  good  and  service

My husband and I just went on this cruise and had a BLAST! There was so much to do on the ship. They have just remodeled some parts apparently and it felt new! The food was great, service was great and fellow cruisers were great too! The ship was big enough and there was enough going on that it never felt crowded. Will DEFINITELY be traveling on Royal Caribbean! 

I thoroughly enjoyed this trip.  I've been on several cruises, but so far this one is the one I've enjoyed the most.  Royal Carribean's Freedom of the Seas was an excellent ship.  It was larger than any other ship I had been on and had so much more to do on the Sea days.  They had wonderful shows, not only with perfomers, but also the interactive ones that guests from the audience participated in were out-of-this-world!  I haven't laughed so much in years!  If you get a chance to cruise on Freedom of the Seas, make sure you attend as many shows as you can.  You won't regret it.  The only downfall I saw was that you cannot bring water on the ship for you stay, but to their credit they did have several drink packages you could choose from.  And if you add it up you could pretty much cover the cost with your daily consumption.  My husband chose a drink package that included certain beers and soft drinks and could get water by the glass from any place.  I chose the Royal Replenish package where I could get all the bottled water I wanted and they gave me a cup that I could get all the sodas, and fresh squeezed juice I wanted.  If you don't have the package you end up paying much more for them individually.  We personally did not choose any of the ships excursions/tours, but did our own thing.  We still enjoyed St. Thomas and St. Maarten even on our on.  In St. Thomas we took a taxi to Blackbeard's castle and toured the castle overlooking the ocean and two historic houses.  This was a walking tour, but it's at your own pace.  There are tour guides waiting at each point to guide you on your way and once you're done, your really close to all the shops and tent shops.  It worked out perfectly for us to be able to shop after our Blackbeard tour on foot.  Then we caught a taxi for 4 dollars back to the ship because it was quite a ways away.  You can walk, but it is a pretty long walk.  For St. Maarten we rented a car for $75 for the day.  We were able to go all the way around the island in 2 hrs.  We stopped at Orient Beach to get in the ocean because the lady at the car rental told me this one wasn't a nude beach.  But little did we know it was topless.  But to the people there it was normal to them, so we just ignored the fact that there were so many topless people walking around and enjoyed the ocean and view.  It gave us a story to tell anyway.  We then turned our car back in and shopped near the port until time to get back on the ship.  The staff on the ship were the friendliest and most helpful I've ever encountered.  It was sad to leave our favorites knowing that we may never see them again.  You sort of get attached to them.  Great cruise is the only way I can end this!

3 senior ladies and 1 almost as old went on this cruise. The other ladies had been before but this was my first time. Our stateroom consisted of 2 bunk beds and the rest of the room wasn't big enough for our luggage except by stacking them up. Gladys and I was chosen to be the top bunkers. We each had a ladder with rungs about 30" apart and maybe 12" wide. This probably would have been fun at 8 years old but not 69 and 75. After the first night I opted to sleep on the very short sofa  that my feet and legs hung off and after 3 nights Gladys slept with Diane on her bottom bunk. Remember these are bunk beds, not singles. They were uncomfortable and woke the other up every time they tried to turn over or stretch out. Most of the common areas were too crowded and no seating to rest. The food was good but cold by the time we found a table. The dining room was nice but took too long. The entertainment was good especially Rocky and the Rollers and the other stars. The Islands we stopped at were super crowded as 5 or 6 others ships were there also. I have been asked if I will take a cruise again and my answer is maybe one day when I forget most of this cruise and I want to go to a flea market in another country.

The bed covers smell bad, they replaced the covers, conyinued to smell bad, no shampoo in the bathroom for three days, we have to ask twice to get it filled, when we asked the cruise director Stacey Pelter about the news channel he said\" I cannot make someone swim to the ship to fix the news channels\"

We just recently returned from a Western Caribbean cruise on the Freedom of the Sea. This was the fifth cruise we have taken on a Royal Caribbean voyager ship. These ships are huge with over 4,200 passengers & 1,500 crew members. My wife & I love the Promenade Mall located on deck five, that runs through the center of the ship. We love to sit, enjoy a coffee or tea and people watch everyone passing by all day & night.

We have pro’s & con’s on cruising this Royal Caribbean ship.

On the brighter side, we thought our dining experience on [deck four] was outstanding. Our waiter along with the assistant waiter gave us the best service we ever had on any of our 10 total cruises. They were very friendly & informing us of dining venues for the next day also. I mean as far as drink refills, before our drinks were half completed, we had another one in front of us. In addition, the menu choices were good along with the fine deserts.

I must admit, this time around, we had issues also. First of all, since the first day we got on board we had trouble with the TV in our stateroom. It took two days to get a new remote and that didn’t solve the issue, but at least were able to change TV channels. We had messages on our TV which we could not view. We complained to our stateroom attendant almost every day, but no fix. I called maintenance almost every day to rectify issues with viewing the interactive TV. I felt like we were getting the run around. To be honest, we never did get to view any our messages and I got tired of asking how to retrieve them.

We were shocked also on this cruise those two nights our towels were left on the bathroom floor when we got back in our cabin after dinner or replaced with new ones. One night I called housekeeping at 10:30 PM and they told me to look under the bed for clean towels. I almost thought he was joking, but he was serious.

Another issue was with our cruise reservation. Clearly stated on our reservation with AAA North Penn travel center was we were to receive a bottle of champagne upon arrival. After a couple days passed, I went to the guest relations desk and they told me that our room number was not listed for that promotion and all it showed was $50 on board credit. How could this be??

As far as the guest relations desk, I stood in line for 30 minutes to get one of my questions answered. There were five people at the desk when I first arrived, but then after waiting, it dwindled down to just one person. I have no idea where everyone went. Many people in line were getting very impatient. Management really needs to look over the amount of people left to help and oversee how many people go on break at the same time. I wasted 30 minutes of my time standing in line that I could have been enjoying on the ship.

Dining in the Windjammer [buffet] on this ship was horrible. The food selections were far below par from everyone one of our past Royal Caribbean Cruises. The chicken selections for lunch & dinner [mostly dark meat] were terrible. We did enjoy the carved turkey station, which we saw only one day. The carved beef was dry & very tough, not a good cut of meat. My wife & I tried to avoid this buffet area whenever we could. The dining room for lunch is only open for lunch when at sea. We feel management needs to reconsider and allow the lunch dining room stay opened every day, even if it’s just the great salad choices that are offered by chefs upon entering dining room.

As far as the entertainment, we were very disappointed. There were only two production shows with the Royal Caribbean singers & dancers which were outstanding.  Then three nights they had two comedians & an illusionist. But, one night they had a rock bank in which did not fit in with the age group of the ship, [if I were to guess 50 years of age]. I mean as the Rock band started to perform, rows of people were leaving during the performance every couple minutes. It was quite obvious that show did not fit in with the age group on board. We were very disappointed in Royal Caribbean for scheduling them to perform on this ship; it was a wasted night of entertainment. We never saw that many people leaving any show ever. I’m sure the band felt insulted by the number of people walking out during their performance.

My wife & I always thought Royal Caribbean Cruise lines were a step above other cruise lines till this cruise.

This was our first cruise we did have fun but the first day we waited on line for 4 hours at least to get on the ship. So when we finally got on nothing was open to get food cause we had to do the emergency thing. So we were tired hungry and cranky. We forced ourselves to stay awake the first night. Next day super late to the port got off around 11am had to be back by 230pm not good. Just not enough time had to rush around the island. Food was fantastic our room was nice staff was outstanding. Pool party 21and up was fun . Comedy show was raw and funny. Getting off ship took awhile. All in all had a good time but I don't recommend a 2 day cruise not long enough by the time you figure out where everything is it's time to go home.

My wife works as a cruise specialist and we had a opportunity to go on the Freedom. We went had a blast, everything was free (just one of the perks) and thought the ship was very nice. A bit small from what we are used to but what can I say, it was free! This ship is highly recommended by me of course and my wife, which sells cruises everyday.

We have been on many cruises before, including RC's Oasis of the Seas. Freedom is a somewhat smaller ship and lacked the feeling of spaciousness the Oasis had. Still, it was a fun experience with plenty to do for all ages. There were some unique features such as the gothic style nightclub, and mini golf on deck, along with old favorites like the rock climbing wall, flow rider and ice skating rink. As with any large ship, there were issues finding a deck chair in the sun and waiting in long lines, particularly when embarking and debarking the ship.....that could have been done more efficiently but it certainly did not spoil the fun of the entire trip! The western Caribbean itinerary was great for relaxation, and especially valuable for scuba divers and snorkelers because of the beautiful reefs at those locations. Food was good.....we did "my time dining" which was fine after the initial glitches were worked out (we did not know that daily reservations are highly recommended)  One improvement i would suggest would be for some activities for the 18 to 20 age group, as they are too young for the alcohol-oriented activities but too old for the teen clubs. Overall we were very happy and returned home well rested and suntanned.

Great cruise. Loved the food, entertainment, ports and the people.

I had to rate my cruise has a good experience because I would not let me tell you how I feel about my cruise, it was BAD not at all what the say that it is, they lied to us about the ship not running the way that it is supposed to, they changed our port times because of the way that the ship was running, they knew it the week before our cruise and they did NOT contact us and give us a choice to rebook our cruise to a better time when the ship was running the way that it should have been! they  told me TWO different times that I ask if there was any problems with the ship and BOTH  times I was told oh no there is nothing wrong with the ship, did not know that they had changed things until we where on the ship! that is not the way that they should treat people! but you know what I have been told SORRY  but we are NOT going to give to anything for your cruise not going the way that it was suppose to, so I will do anything and everything to tell people to NEVER book with them,  I do hope that they lose a lot of business the way that they are treating the people that where on the cruise.  Thank you for listening 

We had a great time the food was good and the entertainment was great. There were so many different activities onboard that the time just flew by to fast. Will have to do it again.

I enjoyed this cruise.  It was very relaxing.  The ship was very clean and continued cleanliness was emphasized by the staff at all times.   The staff was very accommodating.

Time in ports of call was shortened because 1 of 3 propeller pods was not functioning.  In addition to that there was a medical emergency that required us to return to our 3rd port, which resulted in missing the 4th port, due to our inability to run at full speed.   Despite these set backs, the cruise was still enjoyable, if you were content with just relaxing onboard.  Our cabin unfortunately was next to an elevator shaft for staff members and it needed servicing.  It was difficult to sleep the first 3 nights of the cruise because of the banging and dragging sounds of the cables, but it improved by the end of the cruise.  The ship is going into dry dock in January for repair, so I'm sure it will be in much better condition in early 2015.

The Broadway type shows were very good.  However, I did not appreciate the negative demeanor and at times vulgarity of the comedian acts, especially when one particular comedian continued to insult children while aware of their being in the audience.  

Freedom of the Seas is a beautiful ship and has many activities to keep all ages satisfied.  

Favorites from this trip were:  Ice show, Boogie boarding/surfing, great dinners in the diningroom, big screen movie by the pool, evening shows, Dreamworks parade.

This was our 4th cruise on Freedom of the Seas and it continues to be a wonderful cruise. The shows were great, especially the ice show and the dining room service (Liz Lopes assistant server and Allen Mabatten server) was outstanding. This cruise only gets a 4 star rating because some things seemed to be a half step off from the norm. The cabin attendant was less than great. There seemed to be a lack of enthusiasm in  the cleaning process and in being available for any issues. There seemed to be a considerable delay in the disembarkation process and we were not able to get the requested disembarkation time requested. Overall we still recommend the Freedom of the Sea cruises and plan on doing it again soon.

Activities were good, drinks were strong, dinning room food and staff were great. The shows were ok. Overall the ship was the nicest I have been on. The big problem is the freedom of the seas is running with only one propeller working! Causing the ship to have a slower top speed. We found this out once we were already on the ship when they put an updated itinerary in our rooms saying they are cutting the time at each port short! We were annoyed by that, but could deal with it. It got worse though, the ship was late to arrive at the first three ports and left earlier than the already shortened itinerary! At Grand Cayman we were able to get off the ship at 9am and had to be back on the ship by 1:30! We only had time to do our excursion then get back on the ship. 2 hours after leaving grand cayman we had to turn back for a medical emergency and were told we wouldn't make it to cozumel! They did nothing to make up for this, they said sorry and asked to stop taking it out on the crew. We ended up with 2 and a half straight days at sea and we got back early. we could see Miami from the ship by 2pm on saturday! We ended up sailing around in front of port canaveral until sunday morning. So we ended up paying for 4 ports only getting 3 shortened ones because royal caribbean thinks it's ok to sail with a broken ship. We were told by some of the crew that they knew about the issue a week or two before and we aren't the first or the last to have the itinerary changed. We were told they won't fix the ship until jan 2nd!

At least Carnival and NCL can make it to all their ports and on time too! I would not recommend Royal Caribbean to anyone. We are still trying to get something for their mistakes, but so far we and the other people we met on the ship have got no response to our complaints.

I have been on 6 cruises and this one was by far the worst! 

The ship had mechanical issue that reduced the it's top speed.  These problems caused us to have shorten port of calls and this contributed to our Cozumel poet of call to be canceled.  Overall we were satisfied with the cruise but would not rate it as one of our best. 

The ship had mechanical issues with one of its engines. What made matters worse is they didn't even tell us until the day of when we got to the port. Each port of call was shortened as a result. Also, because of a medical emergency we missed Cozumel entirely. I understand that medical emergencies are beyond the cruise line's control and getting that person medical care is of the utmost importance, but I felt the cruise line hid behind that. Yes, that was an unexpected thing that happened, but had your engine been working properly you would have still been in Grand Cayman or would have just left. The family could have gotten medical care a lot sooner and we would have still made it to Cozumel. Also, the customer service on board left a lot to be desired. I ordered a special romance package where certain items were supposed to be delivered to the stateroom and I had to ask two separate time for them to deliver the right stuff. The soda machines on the boat were cool, but the ones of Deck 5 consistently had problems and were either out of order or the cups wouldn't register in the machine. The little "thank yous" you get for being a Crown and Anchor " member seem to not be as good. They no longer give you the booklet, just a piece of paper. When we tried to use one of the coupons they said we couldn't because that item was already on sale. I could go on and on, but bottom line, very disappointed. My husband and I will cruise Disney next time. Disney is a better experience over all and they have pretty good customer service.

Defective Ship. Excursions cancelled. Shower backed up. Luke warm water. Food less than average.indifference by guest services. State room smelled. Not the perfect Christmas gift for my family. Missed one port because of medical emergency which if we had full power won't have happened. WILL NEVER USE ECO AGAIN

I will say the only negative thing we experienced was not being able to go to Mexico; we understand when a child is sick rules need to be followed- but it's still upsetting that we had to turn around instead of them getting a helicopter. I will say this was the best cruise we've been on (we've been on 2 others before this one). The shows were great and the food was amazing (let's say my husband and I both gained weight). They had tons of excursions to choose from and the ship itself had a lot to do too!