Just off Freedom - Some observations

[salcruizer]

Did 7 day eastern. Some tips/observations for those considering Freedom from Canaveral:

 

1. Service is top notch. Ship is clean and in good shape. Plenty of space, deck chairs, theatre seats, etc. Great casino and best pool areas on any ship I have been on. Shows were very good.

 

2. As many others have said, the food is OK....not great, but decent. MDR better than Windjammer. Cafe Prom is very good.

 

3. Diamond perks are pretty much gone. Coupon book didn't have anything interesting to us and the Diamond lounge had soft and hard drinks under lock-and-key except during posted cocktail hours which were limited. No Diamond gift. One Plat+Diam private breakfast and one coctail party was all I think.

 

4. Pre-cruise: highly recommend Marriott Residence Inn. Close to Pier. Nice staff. Great free breakfast. Clean and looks newer.

 

5. Rental cars: Hertz is closest to Pier and is adjacent to Residence Inn. Makes is easy to stay at Residence Inn, return car and hop on shuttle to ship...took less than 10 mins in total. Avoid AVIS. We used them post-cruise and it was a 2 hour ordeal. AVIS is just plain awful in Canaveral.

[sas80]

Thanks!

[massfriends]

Thanks for posting....:)

 

The diamond lounge cocktail hour is only from 5 to 8:30 each evening....so YUP, the booze is locked up the rest of the time.

 

Please help me out with Avis....:eek: What was so awful? We leave in a couple of weeks and I have Avis booked both ways! We have used them at least 6 others times and never had a problem.

 

Thanks in advance....:)

[John Henry on CC]

3. Diamond perks are pretty much gone. Coupon book didn't have anything interesting to us and the Diamond lounge had soft and hard drinks under lock-and-key except during posted cocktail hours which were limited. No Diamond gift. One Plat+Diam private breakfast and one coctail party was all I think.

 

The drinks have ALWAYS been locked up except for the cocktail "hour", roughly 5 to 8:30 P.M. This is NOT a change of any sort.

 

There was never a "diamond gift." There was a Crown & Anchor gift, given to members at all levels. Yes, those have been eliminated.

 

I agree that the coupon book is a real disappointment.

 

But what you singled out as "Diamond perks are pretty much gone" is not that at all.

 

A Platinum + Diamond private breakfast plus a cocktail party sound pretty good to me.

[piercetc4]

we used avis going- took cbshuttle after cruise to airport-

avis had long lines to return car in am cruise departure day- some guy was promised a car like the one we had and the res agent there told him they had rented his car- my dh raised his hand and said we are returning one of those right now! so he got to go to head of the line to turn over that car- we lucked out - dh said the line was pretty long in there - some ppl who couldnt speak much english were returning a car and were mad that there was an additional gas fee ( they didnt refuel the car prior to returning) so that took a while to explain to them...............

 

we would use avis again- have used budget and thrifty in the past - all with no problems

 

the easiest was taking cbshuttles- walk off and over to their station and jump on for the ride to the airport- pretty hassle free- 58 for 2 ppl-

[yogimax]

I agree that the coupon book is a real disappointment.

 

There's less in there but there are still a few good coupons...

 

Free Internet

Free Coffee Drink

Casino Match Play

[marci22]

Avoid AVIS. We used them post-cruise and it was a 2 hour ordeal. AVIS is just plain awful in Canaveral.

 

We had the same problem, over two hours to get the shuttle and pick up our rental. They seem to keep very little inventory at that location, so once the first cars are gone, the rest of the people have to wait for new cars to be returned.

 

massfriends: I think the key is to get off the ship early and be one of the first ones shuttling to Avis for first crack at the cars. We got off the ship at 8:15am and by the time we got to the pickup station, there was already a crowd waiting.

[OV8]

Had read prior that AVIS was going to be bad post cruise because of long lines.

So we did express departure from the ship & were the 2nd couple out of 2 to leave with a car last Sunday.

A little rough to wake up that early to depart but was on the road by 745am to TPA.

 

I do think for the prices they were offering, they don't have enough staff or cars to rent.

& the little shack they run the operations from doesn't lend any addl confidence either.

 

I would look elsewhere next time.

[sgatling7]

how was the spa, and did you take any booze on ship

[sgatling7]

who was the headliner on ship, leaving on sunday. did they have any good sales.

[OV8]

how was the spa, and did you take any booze on ship

Lots of booze on the ship.

Headliner was Seinfeld.

[salcruizer]

All true about AVIS. First, the shuttle from Cruise10 at Canaveral is awful. There are no dedicated lanes and AVIS stops at a different spot each time so you constantly chase the bus only to find it already mobbed. Seems they are not prepared for Freedom + Disney Wonder + Carnival ships which all arrive on Sundays at Canaveral. They do not have enough cars and have long lines in the little "hut" they call the rental office. Try Hertz (although they are not on property at MCO so a little inconvenient) or budget.

[HB Cruiser]

We had the same experience with Avis, TWICE, never again. Originally we thought it was just on one time occurrance with the slow line, both returning and renting, but nooooooooooooooooo, both times.

 

Budget seems to be the most friendly and efficient to us. We used Hertz once since our friends were renting from them as well and while they were ok, they were not near as good as Budget as far as we were concerned.

 

Tim

[Sky616]

We are using Avis just one way from MCO to Port Canaveral. Renting Saturday and dropping off Sunday. What time do you think we should show up returning the car? I would like to be on the ship by noon. Are there shuttles running constantly from the dropoff to the ship?

[piercetc4]

we turned our car in about 10 am- caught next shuttle to the ship and were eating lunch on the ship by 11:30

[marci22]

Yes, I would return the car to Avis around 10am. DH took it back at about 10:30am, just missed a shuttle, and since one of the shuttles was not working, he was not able to get back to the port until 11:50am.

[KKMurphy2]

Lots of booze on the ship.

Headliner was Seinfeld.

 

What is Seinfeld doing on cruiseships?

[vacation_junkie]

Did 7 day eastern. Some tips/observations for those considering Freedom from Canaveral:

 

1. Service is top notch. Ship is clean and in good shape. Plenty of space, deck chairs, theatre seats, etc. Great casino and best pool areas on any ship I have been on. Shows were very good.

 

2. As many others have said, the food is OK....not great, but decent. MDR better than Windjammer. Cafe Prom is very good.

 

3. Diamond perks are pretty much gone. Coupon book didn't have anything interesting to us and the Diamond lounge had soft and hard drinks under lock-and-key except during posted cocktail hours which were limited. No Diamond gift. One Plat+Diam private breakfast and one coctail party was all I think.

 

4. Pre-cruise: highly recommend Marriott Residence Inn. Close to Pier. Nice staff. Great free breakfast. Clean and looks newer.

 

5. Rental cars: Hertz is closest to Pier and is adjacent to Residence Inn. Makes is easy to stay at Residence Inn, return car and hop on shuttle to ship...took less than 10 mins in total. Avoid AVIS. We used them post-cruise and it was a 2 hour ordeal. AVIS is just plain awful in Canaveral.

 

In your opinion how was the Freedom for things to do for Kids? we are thinking of switching from our January Carnival Cruise to the freedom, but am a bit nervous of switching cruise lines!!!

[salcruizer]

IMHO, Adventure Ocean on Freedom was the best of all RCCL ships we have been on. It was run very well and my kids had a blast. They had all the same activities as other RCCL ships, but the set up on Freedom class is much better...rooms are larger and sign in/out was an electronic swipe, no more waiting in lines at drop off / pick up. Apparantly, there was a set up where a staff member was outside the MDR at 6:45 pm each night to take kids from dinner right to AO, but we never saw that...it was a quick elevator ride from MDR up to AO as its on deck 12 aft and MDR is on decks 3-5aft. There was a new "upcharge" of $7.95 per child to stay at AO through lunch on sea days...from 12 noon to 2. Otherwise, its still free except after 10pm. As far as other kid activities, the H2O zone is great for kids up to about age 10 or so. There's pools, spash zones, etc and its big considering its on a ship. The rock climbing wall is for ages 6 and up so that was fun for them too. The only thing missing from the outdoor space was a slide....the Freedom class does not have pool slides like Carnival does.

[vacation_junkie]

IMHO, Adventure Ocean on Freedom was the best of all RCCL ships we have been on. It was run very well and my kids had a blast. They had all the same activities as other RCCL ships, but the set up on Freedom class is much better...rooms are larger and sign in/out was an electronic swipe, no more waiting in lines at drop off / pick up. Apparantly, there was a set up where a staff member was outside the MDR at 6:45 pm each night to take kids from dinner right to AO, but we never saw that...it was a quick elevator ride from MDR up to AO as its on deck 12 aft and MDR is on decks 3-5aft. There was a new "upcharge" of $7.95 per child to stay at AO through lunch on sea days...from 12 noon to 2. Otherwise, its still free except after 10pm. As far as other kid activities, the H2O zone is great for kids up to about age 10 or so. There's pools, spash zones, etc and its big considering its on a ship. The rock climbing wall is for ages 6 and up so that was fun for them too. The only thing missing from the outdoor space was a slide....the Freedom class does not have pool slides like Carnival does.

 

Thanks so much for the reply.

that was my concern...no water slide.

But I am sure there would be plenty for him to do besides the water slide!

Can the kids stay at the kids club when we are in Port? My son loved staying on the ship instead of dragging all over in port.

 

My son will be 9.

[salcruizer]

I beleive AO was open on all port days for a full and the $7.95 upcharge was only on sea days if I recall. The AO on Freedom had the longest and most consecutive hours I think I've seen before.