Freedom of the Seas - Review January 2018

We were on the January 20th sailing of theFreedom of the Seas. Stops included St. Kitts, Antigua, San Juan and Labadee. It has been 20+ year since we sailed on a 3day Bahamas cruise with Royal Caribbean. We have bean on over 10 cruises since but none with RoyalCaribbean. I enjoyed this cruise butthere were a few things I wished I had known prior to sailing.

Formal night is formal. I am used to other cruise lines where there is no formal night or it isnice dress but not formal. Many womenwere in gowns and, surprisingly, most were in high heels. Most men wore jackets and tie. Some men woretuxedos. Yes, there were some men withkaki’s/shirt and women with a casual dress or nice pants/top and that wasacceptable for the dining rooms. I wasjust surprised to see so many people dressed formal.

Although they offer “My Time Dining” it really should be renamedto “Either Time Dining.” My Time Diningmeans to show up at either the first or the second seating. It took me a fewdays to realize that I just can’t show up at the main dining room whenever Iwanted. As I am used to sailing other cruiselines where they have truly flexible dining to show up whenever you want. I was ok with this I just didn’t understandthe rules. The MDR food was ok but notfantastic. The buffet wasFANTASTIC. For any meal they offer anextensive selection of food.

Although they offer watching movies outside, the moviesshown repeated on an 8-day cruise. I wasdisappointed that they didn’t show a different movie each night.

There is no shampoo or conditioner provided. (We had an inside cabin.) Plan accordingly.

We did not have a drink package. We did carry on the 2 bottles of wine that RoyalCaribbean allowed. I noticed that mostof the drinks were $12-$15 plus gratuity. There was a drink of the day that was discounteda few dollars.

We liked the adult only solarium pool. There was a lot of shade.

The ship was in great condition and the service wasexcellent.

... There is no shampoo or conditioner provided. (We had an inside cabin.) Plan accordingly. ... .

Was there no dispenser in the shower with the combo shampoo/conditioner liquid?

There was 1 dispenser in the shower and it appeared to be soap. It had no label.

I had remembered reading on this forum that their was a lack of shampoo/conditioner so I had some of my own.

There was 1 dispenser in the shower and it appeared to be soap. It had no label.

 

I had remembered reading on this forum that their was a lack of shampoo/conditioner so I had some of my own.

Thanks for the report.

Thanks for posting.

We have "My time dining" Aka "either time dining" on our cruise in June. What dining room is this in and do we just show up or make reservations?

We have "My time dining" Aka "either time dining" on our cruise in June. What dining room is this in and do we just show up or make reservations?

You can make reservations pre-cruise or on board. The dining room deck will be listed on your SeaPass card.

Thanks for the update with the shampoo. While my bald old head can use a bar soap, my lovely bride will need shampoo. I will tell her to bring some with. T minus 13 days and counting! Looking forward to seeing Fort Lauderdale and cruising March 3

Very happy to hear that a lot of people dressed up for formal night!

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We cruised almost the same itinerary on Freedom of the Seas a couple weeks later and we had different Big Screen movies each night (two showings of the same movie each night 7pm and 10pm or so). Sometimes during the day another movie would show at noon or so .. and I agree the Solarium is a great place to hang out for sun or shade.

I do believe the dispenser in the shower is a multi-purpose shampoo/bodywash .. worked for me :)

As far as the drinks, we also had no drink package and yet we enjoyed a $6 fruity rum drink (minus the rum) from the bar that was great (drank my quota of rum in the US Navy).

Glad you liked the ship and crew ...

Thanks for posting! We are going on Freedom in June out of San Juan and are very excited! Glad to see a favorable review of Freedom since lately people have been complaining about certain things.

Thanks for posting! We are going on Freedom in June out of San Juan and are very excited! Glad to see a favorable review of Freedom since lately people have been complaining about certain things.

Yeah Freedom has been taking a hit here lately. We're still looking forward to her next winter. Just booked hotels in SJU before and after:p

Thanks for the review OP.

bouhunter, what hotel did you book? We're sailing in Oct and starting to look at hotels.

We were on the FOS in Dec 2017. We had MTD in the Galileo restaurant and went to dinner when every we pleased. The bathroom was supplied with shampoo, bodywash , bar soap along with hand cream. Our sailing was not that formal but thanks for your review.:)

On freedom right now. I concur with the mdr experience as the food is ok just not great. Mdr dinner was a tad better on serenade last week. Example chicken cordon bleu on serenade was hot, melting cheese and juicy tender chicken. Freedom it was ok but chicken was a little dry. Although the chicken cordon bleu on serenade was the best I have had on all our royal cruises. Though breakfast in freedom mdr is better. Bacon is crispy but not cremated like it was on serenade. Service was spot on on both ships.

It was not the doom and gloom I ha e read about freedom the past couple of weeks. Also service in windjammer has been very good. I experienced multiple servers with trays of drinks and prompt cleaning of tables. Wait staff came around with trays of cookies during lunch and dinner was a nice touch.

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Keep the Freedom warmed up for us, we'll be on board this Sunday! YEA!!!!

bouhunter, what hotel did you book? We're sailing in Oct and starting to look at hotels.

Condado Hilton. I don't think they've reopened yet but reservations were available for December. We've also liked Caribe Hilton and Embassy Suites. All are Hilton properties as we often use points for the stay.

 

 

 

 

Although they offer “My Time Dining” it really should be renamedto “Either Time Dining.” My Time Diningmeans to show up at either the first or the second seating. It took me a fewdays to realize that I just can’t show up at the main dining room whenever Iwanted. As I am used to sailing other cruiselines where they have truly flexible dining to show up whenever you want. I was ok with this I just didn’t understandthe rules.

I don't understand or perhaps no one ever really explained to you well enough. It was my understanding that My time dining on RCCL meant that you go to the My time dining room (not just any of the 3 you choose) and you can be seated anytime between 5:30 and 9:30pm with a possible wait if you have no reservation. Did no one ever really explain that to your satisfaction? Or did you perhaps just give in because the Windjammer was so great?

Keep the Freedom warmed up for us, we'll be on board this Sunday! YEA!!!!

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No shampoo/conditioner in your room? Even Motel 6 provides that!

I'm guessing it was just an oversight an if you asked they would have brought some. Plus runner15km their room was stocked.

Don't worry we are keeping her hopping. Wave to us when we are doing that sad walk off the ship. I think we should be at terminal 18.

 

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HAHA sounds good...I'll be the guy grinning from ear to ear getting ready to board :cool:

enjoy the rest of your trip....lemme know if there's anything I CANNOT miss

No shampoo/conditioner in your room? Even Motel 6 provides that!

 

I'm guessing it was just an oversight an if you asked they would have brought some. Plus runner15km their room was stocked.

There should be a combo dispenser of shampoo/conditioner in the shower.

I agree with a lot of the other comments. There should have been a liquid soap dispenser. It is like a body wash/shampoo type deal. But you can ask your stateroom attendant for something better.

There are 3 dining rooms on the ship. One of them is the MTD room. That is where you can just walk up and be seated or make reservations. I am sorry they didn't explain this to you.