Freedom of the Seas Reviews

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We just got back from a great time on the Freedom of the Seas. We arrived in Orlando on Sunday and was met by a representative from the Cruise Line at the baggage claim, right where they said they would be. Our Flight was early so we we were on the first bus to the port which departed at 10:30 am we were at Port Canaveral at 11:30 Embarkation was a breeze from getting to the pier to getting on the ship 15 minutes. The ship is huge you enter on deck four and make sure you use the hand cleaner before entering the ship. They have it set up at every venue on board which was great. We went up to the Promenade and checked out the shops on board before heading up to the pool deck to relax and enjoy a the first of many cold beverages. There only 300 children on board and they were all well behaved. Using the elevators was the longest wait we had on board. Our Luggage was at our stateroom when we went down to see if it was ready around 2:30. If go on this cruise make sure you prebook the shows before hand the venues fill up fast. make sure you check out the ice show it was fantastic. The food and service in the main dinning room was excellent. We did the my time dinning and had different times each night but always got the same waiter and assistant water Yelmaha and Alberto every night they were great. Never had a bad meal. They even cooked to steak to my liking the first time. Food in the windjammer was very good we had breakfast and lunch there everyday. The service is great there as well The cruise director Graham and his staff are great and keep you entertained day and night. Even when Graham was off one day after having his wisdom tooth pulled he was back in action the next day and never missed a beat. you must check out his comedy show. it was great adults only. We cant wait for our next cruise with RCCL in 2013.We did book on board using the decide later feature to get the book on board discount.

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This was our first time on Freedom and I would not rush back. Family had sailed in January and told us the food was great. It was not up to par with what I expected of Royal Caribbean. Food was warm at best and Vegetables were undercooked every night, and I stopped eating the sides that came with dinner the fourth night. When we got on and found early seating was 5:30pm, we changed to my time dinning,otherwise, our friends would miss at least two dinners due to long excursions. Talking with others they also thought food was just warm and not as good as expected. There were not enough activities because so much was those stupid characters activities and our kids are 18 and 19. There is not enough things for that age group to meet and get to know each other. Escargot is no longer on the menu they said they can't get it. Ice skating, really? There is not enough room for a show and the best part was a guest skater and partner that skated with hula hoops. Graham Seymore comedy show was the best show and we enjoyed the magic show. We enjoyed game shows and trivia but where's the country music? is a poor excuse for a stop. Beach was horrible, very rocky. Jamaica we stopped in Falmouth but did not go out side the gates. The newly created shopping area was nice but do an excursion or stay on the ship. You're safe inside the gates. Beds were great our room was 9307 inside I don't suggest four in a room if kids are over 14. Our friends and kids did Dunns River Falls trip rushed as was Tulum. We had booked Navigator for Mar 2013, Royal Family Suite, we are thinking maybe we should cancel that trip.Get your act together Royal Caribbean or your going to lose long time cruisers!

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We have just returned from a weeks cruising with RC on Freedom of the Seas Overall a pleasant holiday, we booked what we thought was an all inclusive cruise but how wrong we were! First positive points, ship embarking and disembarking was quick and efficient, at all ports passengers were transferred off the ship speedily which was great. Ship was enormous and impressive especially the royal promenade, rooms were spacious and clean - housekeeping seemed to be permanently hanging around so rooms were always kept clean! Ate mainly at the Winjammer buffet which we both enjoyed very much, great selection of food and not too busy. Ate once at the main a la carte dining room but not that impressive I'm afraid As a childless couple it was lovely to have an adults only section - you need to be quick with getting the sun loungers though! Some of the entertainment was great, Grahame the cruise director was especially amusing There did seem to be a lot of facilities which could fill your time well if so inclined! OK now for the negatives..... Mainly just money money money. We had been forced into pre paying tips before we left as apparently that's just what you 'do' on a cruise. $10 a day for the housekeeper certainly seemed like a massive amount to us and as we only used the restaurant once we did begrudge tipping people we had never met!! Also they add 15% onto every drink you have so regardless of whether you want to you end up tipping again there!! We disembarked at CocoCay which is a private island owned by RC, here you have to pay for everything - even sunloungers! Considering we are paying so much for a cruise you would have thought they could throw in a sunlounger for free??!!! Now the main bugbear which is a serious one that needs to be looked at. The lies told by the 'shopping consultant' in regards to the recommended shops that are linked to the cruise company when you disembark at a port - mainly Diamonds International The ship will treat you to a massive lecture about how these are recommended shopping outlets that are guaranteed by the ship, they are duty and tax free, and massive massive bargains This is all lies. They lie to you on the ship, they lie to you in the shop when they sell you their inferior diamonds then when you get them independently appraised back on land you realise you were royally conned and there is sweet fa you can do about it. RC should be ashamed of themselves for associating themselves with these charlatans but of course they are making too much money out of them to care. Just google Diamonds International and you will be treated to the masses and masses of internet space dedicated to these people. Too late for us now but please be careful!!!!

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Royal Caribbean Freedom of the Seas -- Eastern Caribbean ( Coco Cay, St Thomas, St. Maarten) May 6th -13th 2012. This is coming from a first time cruiser! I had a wonderful experience aboard the Freedom of the Seas. The food was fantastic and the variety was terrific. We had the second sitting for dinner. I had one beef dish that was presented rare when I asked for medium well. I brought this to the attention of the Head Waiter and very quickly I had it whisked away and replaced by a medium well plate. It was very good, not overly done, but moist and juicy. The entire wait staff was friendly and attentive. I never had a bad meal all week. On the first night aboard ship we ate at the Windjammer cafe buffet. Again it was well presented and had quite the variety. On the second formal night I had a dinner reservation at the Chops Grille. We both had the Prime Rib and I will tell you that it melted in our mouths. The entertainment aboard the ship was great. There was the Broadway show Marquee and the magic show Now You See It. Both were well done productions. I did not get to see the ice show (you just can't get to do everything they have to offer). Note: If you want to get into a show or other entertainment (Adult Comedy, Quest, Love and Marriage Game) get their early of you might get shutout. The cruise director was Graham Seymour and he is certifiably nuts, off his rocker! If he was on dry land they would lock him up. His daily TV show highlighting the days activities is a can't miss! The ports were OK. Coco Cay we never made it to! Not because of any weather issue, but because we were just too exhausted and decided to do nothing on day 2. We slept in, had a leisurely breakfast, explored the ship, played music trivia and made it to the Solarium for a whirlpool and some sunbathing. Because everyone was on Coco Cay, the pool deck was nearly deserted. If you are at all inclined to take another trip on Royal Caribbean, sign up for your next cruise and get up to $200 (dependent on how long a trip you take) in on board credit. We did and the date we wanted may have to change but we have until Sept 1st to make the change at no charge. I would be remiss if I didn't talk about the Cruise Critic get together on board ship. Each person attending received a gift from Royal Caribbean as well as a raffle for other prizes. It was great to meet some of the posters on the message board. As a first time cruiser, I found the tips and advice on Cruise Critic invaluable. It was good to hear what the more experienced cruisers had to say. Also later on we saw some of them at the schooner bar and were invited to join them. All in all this was a great 1st cruise and perhaps the bar has been set high. We have already scheduled our next cruise and look forward to taking another trip on Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas.

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We arrived in Port Canaveral Sunday around 1pm and although the lines at check in were long, we made it through the line fairly smoothly and made it to our cabin around 2pm. This was my husbands second cruise and first carribean cruise and we felt we needed a balcony room to best enjoy the experience. Our room was clean and comfortable and our room steward, Carmen was always greeting us by name in the hallways with a smile on her face. We had the 8pm dining time which we really enjoyed. We were put at a table with two other couples and we all got along great and had lots of good conversation throughout the week. Our waiter, Chetan and his assistant, Deepak were wonderful as well. I've experienced some of the best service I've seen on this ship. The food was very good most nights, not exceptional but good. The lobster night was the highlight and everybody at our table ate two lobster tails each! Every night, Chetan would serve us our starters, entrees and desserts and also include a couple of extras in the middle of the table for us all to share which was a real treat! The ship itself is really beautiful. My husband and I spent a lot of time in the promenade, browsing through the shops and checking out the bars. We especially loved Vintages wine bar. It was a cozy, cellar like wine bar that was very romantic. One of the staff there, Shane, really went out of his way to make us feel welcome. He spent a lot of time educating us on wine and he really made our experience there top notch. The other bars on the ship were really nice as well especially Olive or Twist up on deck 14. It had a super view of the ocean and played great jazz music. We really enjoyed the buy one get one free margaritas from 4:30-7:30 at the On Air Bar on deck 3. The entertainment was pretty good as well. The cruise director, Graham Seymour was a character and we thoroughly enjoyed his humor! I've never seen a cruise director so involved! He was not only the cruise director but also sang in the band on at least two occasion, did his own comedy show,sang in the farewell show and also hosted his own morning show every morning on TV. We both thought he was really great! We saw all the shows except for the magician (which I'm sorry we missed!) and thought they were pretty good overall. Not spectacular, but entertaining. The Poolside Dance under the Stars was a lot of fun, as was the Brittania show on the promenade. The Dreamworks parade was cute and enjoyable. One of our most favorite places on the ship was Sorrento's Pizza. We were there at least twice a day enjoying pepperoni pizza or the pizza or panini of the day. They also alternated between coconut macaroons and amaretto cookies which were to die for! They were open until 3am so we usually had our midnight pizza and then headed back to the room for bed. The food in the Windjammer was just ok. Breakfast was pretty extensive which we enjoyed. Really, everything you could want for breakfast. I even enjoyed a bagel with cream cheese and lox a couple of mornings. Lunch and dinner were ok. Some of the dishes were quite good and some were almost inedible. My biggest complaint was that it closed at 9pm. I also didn't get why the ice cream up on deck 11, Sprinkles, was closed at 7pm every night. Perhaps to get more people to buy ben and jerrys? I also missed the Midnight Chocolate Buffet that I've experienced on other cruise lines. Debarkation went smoothly except for the fact that one of our bags went missing and unfortunately it was our bag with all our photos that we had purchased on the ship and on our dolphin excusion! We filed a missing bag report and are still waiting to hear.

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