Just back from Freedom...here's what was new to me

[PAGA]

We just returned from the Sep 19 western caribbean sailing on Freedom. As a little background: we sail 2-3 times a year, and on this trip we earned our 20th RCCL cruise credit. We were previously on Freedom for her inaugural year Thanksgiving sailing and most recently cruised on RCCL in Nov 2009 on Jewel. We've also sailed once on Disney and 5 times on Celebrity.

 

Overall, we had a fantastic trip, so the things below are ONLY the things that frustrated me. In addition to the things below, I will say that I continue to find Freedom to be very crowded (and we had several crew members comment on this as well when we discussed with them the other ships they've worked on). We will most likely avoid this class of ship in the future.

 

Some things that caught us off guard on this trip (and perhaps they've been noted previously on CruiseCritic, but I did not see them):

 

1. There is now a $10 upcharge to order 2 entrees per person in the specialty restaurants. Both Chops and Portofinos offered a 2 lobster tail "special" entree each night. My husband and I wanted to order 2 steaks and share the lobster tails to make it surf & turf...but we were told in both restaurants that we would have to pay he $10 upcharge to do so. The restriction only applied to entrees...still unlimited appetizers, desserts, etc.

The only exception to the 2 entree upcharge appeared to be with the pastas in Portofino...you could still order a demi/appetizer portion of pasta and have a meat entree without an additional charge.

 

2. You can no longer order a bottle of wine in one venue and carry it to a dining area without paying a corkage fee. For example, we've had previous experiences where we were encouraged to order wine for dinner from the menu at Vintages in the Promenade. We met a couple onboard who tried to arrange this and were told there would be a $12 corkage fee (and no, the wine was not on the dining room menu). Likewise, we tried to have a bottle of champagne sent from the champagne bar up to Chops for our dinner...this was an $150+ bottle of champagne, but we were still told that there would be a $12 corkage fee if we either carried it in open OR had it transferred to Chops.

 

3. Olive & Twist did not carry some of the alcohols listed in their featured drinks menu. They carried neither Hendrick's gin or Zodiac vodka, even though these alcohols were listed as the key ingredients in a number of the menu items. Each bar had a different drink menu, so I feel the bars should stock the alcohols listed in their menu (FYI - we had Zodiac in the champagne bar and saw Hendrick's in the Pub, so these products were on board the ship).

 

4. The public areas of the ship were dirty. I have never seen a Windjammer buffet in such bad shape, the public restrooms were downright nasty, and we never saw anyone wiping down elevator buttons, handrails, etc. Also,

 

5. There were hand sanitizer stations in all the right places, but none of the greeters/hostesses requested passengers to use them. The only time we were encouraged to use the hand sanitizers was when entering the Diamond C&A breakfast on the final sea day (and that request was made by a non-dining room crew member).

 

Like I said, overall we had a great week onboard Freedom but I wanted to share the information above with others, as these are items I would have liked to know prior to boarding.

[Kimmie36]

Thanks a million, going on the FOS in November for the first time, I just hope they never get around to up charging in the main dining room for extra entrees:eek:

[39august]

I was on Liberty that same week. We did not have a menu offering lobster specials in Chops. Just the regular menu. The ship was spotless as we expect of RCI ships. I looked at the Olive or Twist, C&A lounge, Schooner bar, Solarium bar menus and all were the same drink menu. So, once again, there is no guarantee that what is offered on one ship will be the same offering on another ship. Strange since these are "sister" ships.

[cb at sea]

"Corkage" fees...total rip off. As if they don't charge enough for the wine to begin with...folks should stop ordering wine of any kind...they would soon make prices more reasonable, and get rid of the corkage fee.

[AF-1]

PAGA, was Freedom sailing at full capacity? Where did u feel crowded? During the shows, dining room, shore excursions; parades? I am taking all my kids next year; just want to make sure I picked the right ship for their first cruise.

[househunter]

Couldn't you have just ordered one of the larger steaks? I know there are some really big cuts on the menu. 3 entrees for 2 people would be a ton of food and I don't see a problem with charging a bit more for that.

[Merion_Mom]

We just returned from the Sep 19 western caribbean sailing on Freedom. As a little background: we sail 2-3 times a year, and on this trip we earned our 20th RCCL cruise credit. We were previously on Freedom for her inaugural year Thanksgiving sailing and most recently cruised on RCCL in Nov 2009 on Jewel. We've also sailed once on Disney and 5 times on Celebrity.

 

Overall, we had a fantastic trip, so the things below are ONLY the things that frustrated me. In addition to the things below, I will say that I continue to find Freedom to be very crowded (and we had several crew members comment on this as well when we discussed with them the other ships they've worked on). We will most likely avoid this class of ship in the future.

 

Some things that caught us off guard on this trip (and perhaps they've been noted previously on CruiseCritic, but I did not see them):

 

1. There is now a $10 upcharge to order 2 entrees per person in the specialty restaurants. Both Chops and Portofinos offered a 2 lobster tail "special" entree each night. My husband and I wanted to order 2 steaks and share the lobster tails to make it surf & turf...but we were told in both restaurants that we would have to pay he $10 upcharge to do so. The restriction only applied to entrees...still unlimited appetizers, desserts, etc.

The only exception to the 2 entree upcharge appeared to be with the pastas in Portofino...you could still order a demi/appetizer portion of pasta and have a meat entree without an additional charge.

 

2. You can no longer order a bottle of wine in one venue and carry it to a dining area without paying a corkage fee. For example, we've had previous experiences where we were encouraged to order wine for dinner from the menu at Vintages in the Promenade. We met a couple onboard who tried to arrange this and were told there would be a $12 corkage fee (and no, the wine was not on the dining room menu). Likewise, we tried to have a bottle of champagne sent from the champagne bar up to Chops for our dinner...this was an $150+ bottle of champagne, but we were still told that there would be a $12 corkage fee if we either carried it in open OR had it transferred to Chops.

 

3. Olive & Twist did not carry some of the alcohols listed in their featured drinks menu. They carried neither Hendrick's gin or Zodiac vodka, even though these alcohols were listed as the key ingredients in a number of the menu items. Each bar had a different drink menu, so I feel the bars should stock the alcohols listed in their menu (FYI - we had Zodiac in the champagne bar and saw Hendrick's in the Pub, so these products were on board the ship).

 

4. The public areas of the ship were dirty. I have never seen a Windjammer buffet in such bad shape, the public restrooms were downright nasty, and we never saw anyone wiping down elevator buttons, handrails, etc. Also,

 

5. There were hand sanitizer stations in all the right places, but none of the greeters/hostesses requested passengers to use them. The only time we were encouraged to use the hand sanitizers was when entering the Diamond C&A breakfast on the final sea day (and that request was made by a non-dining room crew member).

 

Like I said, overall we had a great week onboard Freedom but I wanted to share the information above with others, as these are items I would have liked to know prior to boarding.

 

Maybe it's just another Freedom thing? Like the Shirley Temples? I have never had a problem taking (or having delivered) a bottle from one venue to another.

 

(I have certainly never experienced a dirty RC ship, nor one where crew were not constantly cleaning and polishing)

[Caleo]

We were on the same sailing, and our tablemates had the same issue with purchasing a bottle at Vintages and being confronted with the 12.00 corkage fee in the MDR.

 

He had a royal fit about it in the MDR since it was a pretty expensive bottle of wine...they eventually comped him the corkage fee. I didn't believe it, so I walked over to Vintages and asked - sure enough, they told me the same thing. They also said that if they uncork it there at Vintages, and then you carry it over to the MDR/Chops they won't charge you the corking fee.

 

As far as I know, the ship was very near capacity, if not at full capacity...

[truffles2]

We were on the Sept. 12 cruise and everything was spotless:confused:

[Caleo]

We were on the Sept. 12 cruise and everything was spotless:confused:

 

I had to tell my DH about this post and the cleanliness...all of the restrooms we visited except for two were spotless. Those two were after Graham's adult comedy show and it was the men's room right off the theater, the other was the women's restroom on deck 4 aft the morning of debark. The carpet at Windjammer had crumbs throughout the week, the tables took a little while to be cleaned but that's all that we saw...we also saw officers going through the plates, etc. during the morning on the 26th spot checking for things...

 

We didn't see anyone cleaning the elevators, buttons, etc...one of the port side non-glass elevators has a bunch of graffiti on it's interior doors (don't know if it was from that cruise or prior)...

[truffles2]

I'm not doubting you....but will admit that I did not go in either of the restrooms you mentioned.

[Merion_Mom]

Morning of disembarkation is often VERY hard on the public restrooms. The entire passenger load is out of their cabins and waiting in those public spaces, and they have needs!!! Boleros is a waiting lounge for a lot of passengers. It's impossible for the crew to keep up with that situation - they just wait until the passengers leave, and then make the restroom spotless again for the next cruise.

 

Just my experience, which is a little too extensive with this situation. :rolleyes:

[tmann4]

We went last Oct. and the ship was full. We really only felt it on the pool decks and a little at Windjammers. Otherwise it wasn't that bad. I guess I do not remember seeing the bathrooms as being dirty. Of course I didn't use them that often either. I did see people cleaning the ship in random spots, but it is a big ship and really wasn't look to see if they were cleaning either. Everything seemed clean to me. I mostly drink beer so didn't really notice the corkage fees. I think it is reduculous to charge when you bought the bottle of wine on the ship. They are still making a mint.

[CRUISEMAMI]

PAGA, was Freedom sailing at full capacity? Where did u feel crowded? During the shows, dining room, shore excursions; parades? I am taking all my kids next year; just want to make sure I picked the right ship for their first cruise.

 

Hi, I'll be sailing the Freedom in Jan 9, and then I'll be on Allure on Jan 23, so I will tell you all about the Freedom, if you are interested........Let me know!:)

[funfamilyof6]

PAGA, was Freedom sailing at full capacity? Where did u feel crowded? During the shows, dining room, shore excursions; parades? I am taking all my kids next year; just want to make sure I picked the right ship for their first cruise.

 

Don't worry...the Freedom was an absolutely beautiful ship and your kids will love it. We went on a year ago and it wasn't crowded or dirty at all and we were probably at full capacity with a lot of kids onboard. We went during the summer. We don't have to or want someone telling us to use the sanitizer, we do it on our own. People will carry the same personal hygiene habits that they use at home on a ship. I realize this may not be ideal in certain situations, but I'm not going to worry myself about it. Yes, I realize I may pay for it in the future, but that is the risk I am willing to take when I go on a cruise.

 

As far as the other comments by the OP...we don't drink or go to the specialty restaurants so I really can't comment on those issues.:)

 

Our experience on the Freedom was so wonderful, that we wanted to do the same exact ship/itinerary again, all 6 of us.

[bajathree]

We were on the same sailing, and our tablemates had the same issue with purchasing a bottle at Vintages and being confronted with the 12.00 corkage fee in the MDR.

 

He had a royal fit about it in the MDR since it was a pretty expensive bottle of wine...they eventually comped him the corkage fee. I didn't believe it, so I walked over to Vintages and asked - sure enough, they told me the same thing. They also said that if they uncork it there at Vintages, and then you carry it over to the MDR/Chops they won't charge you the corking fee.

 

As far as I know, the ship was very near capacity, if not at full capacity...

 

This sounds like a miscommunication issue to me....a corkage fee should have nothing to do with whether they actually uncork the bottle or not.....many people who are very into wine will actually open a bottle and decant it at home only to pour back into the bottle for transport to the restaurant....sounds to me like an e-mail stating some new policy was sent out and they are confused on enforcing it.

[KellyJean]

We just returned from the Sep 19 western caribbean sailing on Freedom. As a little background: we sail 2-3 times a year, and on this trip we earned our 20th RCCL cruise credit. We were previously on Freedom for her inaugural year Thanksgiving sailing and most recently cruised on RCCL in Nov 2009 on Jewel. We've also sailed once on Disney and 5 times on Celebrity.

 

Overall, we had a fantastic trip, so the things below are ONLY the things that frustrated me. In addition to the things below, I will say that I continue to find Freedom to be very crowded (and we had several crew members comment on this as well when we discussed with them the other ships they've worked on). We will most likely avoid this class of ship in the future.

 

Some things that caught us off guard on this trip (and perhaps they've been noted previously on CruiseCritic, but I did not see them):

 

1. There is now a $10 upcharge to order 2 entrees per person in the specialty restaurants. Both Chops and Portofinos offered a 2 lobster tail "special" entree each night. My husband and I wanted to order 2 steaks and share the lobster tails to make it surf & turf...but we were told in both restaurants that we would have to pay he $10 upcharge to do so. The restriction only applied to entrees...still unlimited appetizers, desserts, etc.

The only exception to the 2 entree upcharge appeared to be with the pastas in Portofino...you could still order a demi/appetizer portion of pasta and have a meat entree without an additional charge.

 

2. You can no longer order a bottle of wine in one venue and carry it to a dining area without paying a corkage fee. For example, we've had previous experiences where we were encouraged to order wine for dinner from the menu at Vintages in the Promenade. We met a couple onboard who tried to arrange this and were told there would be a $12 corkage fee (and no, the wine was not on the dining room menu). Likewise, we tried to have a bottle of champagne sent from the champagne bar up to Chops for our dinner...this was an $150+ bottle of champagne, but we were still told that there would be a $12 corkage fee if we either carried it in open OR had it transferred to Chops.

 

3. Olive & Twist did not carry some of the alcohols listed in their featured drinks menu. They carried neither Hendrick's gin or Zodiac vodka, even though these alcohols were listed as the key ingredients in a number of the menu items. Each bar had a different drink menu, so I feel the bars should stock the alcohols listed in their menu (FYI - we had Zodiac in the champagne bar and saw Hendrick's in the Pub, so these products were on board the ship).

 

4. The public areas of the ship were dirty. I have never seen a Windjammer buffet in such bad shape, the public restrooms were downright nasty, and we never saw anyone wiping down elevator buttons, handrails, etc. Also,

 

5. There were hand sanitizer stations in all the right places, but none of the greeters/hostesses requested passengers to use them. The only time we were encouraged to use the hand sanitizers was when entering the Diamond C&A breakfast on the final sea day (and that request was made by a non-dining room crew member).

 

Like I said, overall we had a great week onboard Freedom but I wanted to share the information above with others, as these are items I would have liked to know prior to boarding.

 

This could be because of Fall break for some schools. WARNING! It's going to happen in the Summer months too!:(

[orville99]

We've done two FOS this year - one in May and a second in August. Both were full, neither ever felt crowded - even the shows were half empty. As for crew and sanitizing stations, the greeter at WJ actually sang clean your hands constantly and did a little hand dance pointing at the stations as passengers entered. We rarely went up or down a flight of stairs without encountering at least one crew member wiping down the hand rails. In fact, cleaning/sanitizing was very visible everywhere.

 

We have two more FOS booked for next year - In more than 20 years of cruising, it is our all time favorite ship (We also have two Radiance and a Jewel booked as well - they're a close second).

[closecruiser]

We sailed Sept. 5th and never felt crowded or saw dirty bathrooms. I saw many crew members cleaning the handrails and going about their daily cleaning on a regular basis. People can be told to use the sanitizers and still walk right by them. We will sail this ship again soon and without any hesitations...Beautiful ship.....

[goouchjac]

We sailed Sept. 5th and never felt crowded or saw dirty bathrooms. I saw many crew members cleaning the handrails and going about their daily cleaning on a regular basis. People can be told to use the sanitizers and still walk right by them. We will sail this ship again soon and without any hesitations...Beautiful ship.....

 

Some people just can't help finding negative things to say about their cruise:mad:,,we have been on many RC ships and even the big ones and never found them to be "dirty",,,as for the hand sanitizers,,we always use them and find most of the passengers also do.

The crew work hard keeping the ship up to speed and we appreciate their efforts,,not easy with all those passengers walking around and believe me some people are just out and out slobs:mad:....

[hardinggrad]

We've done two FOS this year - one in May and a second in August. Both were full, neither ever felt crowded - even the shows were half empty. As for crew and sanitizing stations, the greeter at WJ actually sang clean your hands constantly and did a little hand dance pointing at the stations as passengers entered. We rarely went up or down a flight of stairs without encountering at least one crew member wiping down the hand rails. In fact, cleaning/sanitizing was very visible everywhere.

 

We have two more FOS booked for next year - In more than 20 years of cruising, it is our all time favorite ship (We also have two Radiance and a Jewel booked as well - they're a close second).

 

My DH and I were on the 9/12/10 FOS and had the same experience as mentioned above. I also saw the singing greeter at Windjammer. He was hilarious. I constantly saw crew members cleaning, wiping down hand rails, cleaning windows, etc. We missed a port due to the weather and had 3 sea days in a row, and I never felt like the ship was crowded. We booked this cruise for July 2011 with our 3 kids. I wouldn't hesitate to sail the Freedom with kids. They will love all the different activites.

[Poorplaya]

1. There is now a $10 upcharge to order 2 entrees per person in the specialty restaurants. Both Chops and Portofinos offered a 2 lobster tail "special" entree each night. My husband and I wanted to order 2 steaks and share the lobster tails to make it surf & turf...but we were told in both restaurants that we would have to pay he $10 upcharge to do so. The restriction only applied to entrees...still unlimited appetizers, desserts, etc.

The only exception to the 2 entree upcharge appeared to be with the pastas in Portofino...you could still order a demi/appetizer portion of pasta and have a meat entree without an additional charge.

 

Thank you for the information about the specialty restaurants, I had some questions about these places the other which were mostly all answered, but this still adds to the information i like to know about them. Thanks again.

[ramby]

Some people just can't help finding negative things to say about their cruise:mad:,,we have been on many RC ships and even the big ones and never found them to be "dirty",,,as for the hand sanitizers,,we always use them and find most of the passengers also do.

The crew work hard keeping the ship up to speed and we appreciate their efforts,,not easy with all those passengers walking around and believe me some people are just out and out slobs:mad:....

 

You post implies that there is something wrong with the OP (and others) who identify negatives aspects of their cruise. I don't think there is anything wrong with noting the areas that could have used improvement and letting other's know about both the + and -'s.

[DaMom]

We were on the Freedom this year, departing 8/22, and want to comment about the Hand Sanitizing issue. We don't eat in the specialty restaurants so I don't know about those, but we saw the same two fellows every single day and most nights at the Windjammer (when we weren't eating in the MDR) reminding EVERYONE to use the sanitizer, with big smiles on their faces. We don't care about getting dressed up so on formal nights, we'd go to the Windjammer. They were vigilant in the MDR as well, but I especially remember the Windjammer guys because they were so cute and friendly about it (but persistent)

 

The ship seemed quite clean overall - I never noticed any issues in the public restrooms, dining rooms, etc.

 

This was only our third cruise total (not much to compare to), but we thought the Freedom was an excellent ship!

[rancan]

I appreciate the OP's comments. We will be sailing in less than 2 weeks on the Freedom, and my expectations have been lowered a little bit, which is a good thing. Sometimes when we hear nothing but great things about ships, our expectations are so high, they are almost unrealistic, and then we end up being disappointed.

 

So thank you for your report. :)