Off FOS 9/29-10/5 NO TOWEL ANIMALS!!!!

[dogchopper]

I am not going to write a review because I’ve read so many and I could never do as good of a job. What I will do is comment on a few things that my husband and I were talking about on our way home, differences good and bad between this cruise and the many Carnival cruises we’ve been on.

 

Royal Caribbean does some things much better than Carnival.

The cruise director was the best!! Now I have seen many threads on here about Richard Spacey and I have to say they were all true. He was the best cruise director I’ve ever seen!! Not only was he just a funny funny guy, but you saw him EVERYWHERE!! As my husband says, he was like a headline act in himself!! No other cruise I’ve ever been on had a cruise director to even come close to him!!

 

The food in the MDR was much better. I thought the servings were bigger and the food tasted much better. I personally didn’t care for many of the menu selections but I have been told (by my husband) that I am a finicky eater??

The beauty of the ship; none of the Carnival ships even come close on this. I mean everything about the FOS was just beautiful!! I have so many pictures of this ship because everywhere you turned it was just another perfect photo op.

 

The service was better. Now I have never complained about service on a Carnival ship. They have always done a good job. The MDR and the room stewards have always been great. But on FOS it was even better. They were always asking what they could do to help, and they did a great job!!

The shows were great. Now again I’ve always enjoyed the Carnival shows but I have to admit the ones I saw this cruise were quite a bit better than anything I’ve seen on a carnival cruise. I mean the ice show was so awesome that we went to see it twice!!

 

The ports were good too. I know that RC has built up the port in Cozumel and it was much nicer than the one we went to when we sailed with carnival. And Falmouth Jamaica was much nicer than Ochos Rios by far!!

 

Now the things I liked better on Carnival may be small things, but they were actually important to me (and oddly enough to everyone we sat at the dinner table with at night too)

 

Soft serve ice cream; I am a huge fan of 24 hour ice cream. I like to get out of a show at night go up on the lido deck and get some ice cream. My kids (who didn’t come this time ) loved getting it at all hours of the night. On this ship they only had one machine (with 2 sides so I guess technically it was 2 machines) and it was only open from 11-7. So, you have one place to get ice cream only open for a few hours, as you can imagine there is always a huge line. THEN if that wasn’t bad enough, they decided to do some deck resurfacing on our cruse so after the 2nd day it was blocked off for the entire cruise. Now, I think that they could have thought ahead and found a way to move the ONE machine they had. Very disappointed. And as I said, the other folks at my dinner table were very upset about it also. BUT.. kudos on the good service. Someone at our table complained about it, and the dining room manager ran down to the staff ice cream machine and brought everyone at our table ice cream!!

 

No towel animals.. Ok, yet another SMALL thing I like. Not a single towel animal the entire cruise. Because they said they were installing new washers and wanted to keep the load down while working on it. AGAIN, a little forethought on this would have been wise. People look forward to this. The people at our table actually told us that they would have booked the cruise for another week had they known there were no towel animals and ice cream because they had a granddaughter who looks forward to those two things the most on a cruise!

 

The food in the Windjammer wasn’t as good. I thought they carnival did a much better job of having a variety of food. It seemed like every day you got the exact same food for breakfast and lunch. It got kind of boring after a while. And being the piggy I am I was kind of disappointed at the lack of deserts. On every carnival ship I’ve ever been on the desert spreads were to die for. I mean I have so many photos of just the desert spread on the ships. On the FOS there was a small table with about 6 or 8 different items.

The lack of ability to get something to drink (for free). I didn’t buy a soda package this cruise because I am trying to stay away from soda (kidney stones are a real drag) so, we just figured no biggie, we can have tea, or lemonade or even some fruit punch. WRONG.. well, you can have those things during the times the windjammer was open but if you were on the ship at 3 pm and wanted a drink, you were out of luck. You could get water, and that was all you could get. And again, after 9pm same problem, only water. I have always liked that on a carnival ship you could go up to the lido deck and get a drink anytime of the day or night.

 

Along the same lines of the drinks, the lack of food after windjammer hours was sparse. Yes you could get pizza or a cold cut sandwich but that wasn’t 24 hrs either (and again that wasn’t something that was a huge problem for me but I know my kids would of hated that). And fresh sandwiches like my husband’s favorite Ruben sandwich was not possible (as far as we could see)

 

So, all in all I enjoyed my cruise on the Freedom of the Seas. It was a great ship and a great experience all the way around. I am still torn on my next cruise. I didn’t get the WOW factor I was hoping to get, so I may end up back on Carnival.

[micmacmissy]

Interesting. I'm sure if the towel animals were THAT important, you could have given your cabin steward a heads up, and a little tip. I personally don't care about towel animals, but on our first cruise with the kids, I wanted to be sure they got one (I knew they'd love it). So I pulled the cabin steward aside and asked him. Sure enough, that night, he constructed a massive towel animal. i think we got 3 that cruise- every other night.

 

Glad you found the service and MDR food to be good. I guess it all depends on what you're used to: we found the windjammer food to be great in variety, and had no problems finding different things to eat each day.

 

Never thought about the drink issue...we drink a lot of water so that isn't a problem for us at all. Couldn't you find drinks in Cafe Promenade 24/7?

[dogchopper]

No even in the cafe promenade all they had was water. I'm not a huge water fan but... I got used to it real quick :)

[sharonlacey]

I have only cruised RC but I do know what you mean about getting something to eat after hours. I would like a little dessert shop for coffee and sweets for late nights, the choices for sweets on rooms service menu is not that great.

[dogchopper]

I have only cruised RC but I do know what you mean about getting something to eat after hours. I would like a little dessert shop for coffee and sweets for late nights, the choices for sweets on rooms service menu is not that great.

Yeah, I mean you could go to that cafe and get something but it was also very limited and crowded too.

I do also like to be sitting at the pool and be able to just go get a drink or snack without having to go all the way downstairs to get it.

[tserface]

Yes, that is true and that way you're not immediately lumped into the "chair hog" category as well. My guess is RCI just like selling more drinks and sodas so they make other stuff more sparse.

 

Tom

 

Yeah, I mean you could go to that cafe and get something but it was also very limited and crowded too.

I do also like to be sitting at the pool and be able to just go get a drink or snack without having to go all the way downstairs to get it.

[peg3632]

February is my first cruise with RCI. I do enjoy all the things you mention on Carnival cruises. Something to think about. Are those things really important or things I had just taken for granted on a cruise. I guess I'll find out in February.

[dogchopper]

Yes, that is true and that way you're not immediately lumped into the "chair hog" category as well. My guess is RCI just like selling more drinks and sodas so they make other stuff more sparse.

 

Tom

I think you are right there !!

 

February is my first cruise with RCI. I do enjoy all the things you mention on Carnival cruises. Something to think about. Are those things really important or things I had just taken for granted on a cruise. I guess I'll find out in February.

 

Well, I did enjoy my cruise very much so maybe now that you know what to expect you will not be shocked by it and enjoy yours even more.

 

I think royal is good for the big stuff and carnival is just better on the little things.

[lrn2cruise]

My son was 11 when we were on FOS and he would RUN back to the cabin and distroy the towel animal befre DH and I could see it. It was quite entertaining to him.

[dogchopper]

My son was 11 when we were on FOS and he would RUN back to the cabin and distroy the towel animal befre DH and I could see it. It was quite entertaining to him.

That is cute!! I guess I'm just a kid at heart because the towel animals and ice cream make me happy??

[moesyk4]

DH and I did a B2B on Carnival Triumph than FOS in 2007 and although some of our likes were different (at the time, we preferred Carnival shows to RCCLs but I think that has changed with their "upgrades") I agree with you on most of your list. We happened to hear about the drink issue before we left and so we took our water bottles up to the buffet before it shut down and filled up. Yeah, we could've survived without it, but it was nice to have a yummy drink that didn't cost anything. We too also got sick of pizza late night.

That being said, FOS is a beautiful ship and we loved her!

[Coralc]

My son was 11 when we were on FOS and he would RUN back to the cabin and distroy the towel animal befre DH and I could see it. It was quite entertaining to him.

 

I think that sounds sort of disturbing.

[dogchopper]

DH and I did a B2B on Carnival Triumph than FOS in 2007 and although some of our likes were different (at the time, we preferred Carnival shows to RCCLs but I think that has changed with their "upgrades") I agree with you on most of your list. We happened to hear about the drink issue before we left and so we took our water bottles up to the buffet before it shut down and filled up. Yeah, we could've survived without it, but it was nice to have a yummy drink that didn't cost anything. We too also got sick of pizza late night.

That being said, FOS is a beautiful ship and we loved her!

I did so much reading up o the freedom before I left and never caught the drink issue. I hope someone reads this and does like you, brings drinks with them.. I wish I had known.

 

But, nothing could be done about the ice cream :).

 

And you are right, she's a beautiful ship and I did have a great time!!!

[Toddcan]

I agree - Carnival wins hands down when it comes to the soft ice cream. But, we look forward to the odd cone on deck on a hot day. It would probably bother me as well, if the ice cream station was blocked off for the entire cruise (After day 2).

 

Towel animals - sounds like a departure from normal procedures since they were working on the waching machines. I would miss them as well - actually enjoy them.

 

Sounds like you had a great cruise, despite those (very) minor setbacks.

[krewzin]

Agree with you wholeheartedly. The one thing that bothers me on RCI is the lack of certain foods after 10pm; although I love pizza, I get kinda sick of it after a couple of nights. And if you're sharing a cabin with someone who goes to bed a little earlier, it makes late night room-service a PITA.

 

I used to love being able to get something decent to eat later in the evening along with a couple of desserts. Their offerings are sparse at best ...and the evening desserts offered at Cafe Promenade kinda suck.

[Merion_Mom]

The Café Promenade, which is open 23 hours a day, always has at least six dessert offerings.

 

I'm not sure what more you could want in the way of sweets.

[krewzin]

The Café Promenade, which is open 23 hours a day, always has at least six dessert offerings.

 

I'm not sure what more you could want in the way of sweets.

 

 

 

Sorry, but their late night desserts at cafe Promenade are often unimaginative and dry in comparison to their other venues. -Very unappealing.

 

 

My opinion.

[Toddcan]

The Café Promenade, which is open 23 hours a day, always has at least six dessert offerings.

 

I'm not sure what more you could want in the way of sweets.

 

Sorry, but their late night desserts at cafe Promenade are often unimaginative and dry in comparison to their other venues. -Very unappealing.

 

 

My opinion.

 

Our Liberty cruise 4 years ago - always had tasty treats from the promenade cafe. A nightly treat for all of us was to grab a few cookies after the evening show on the back to the cabin. They were moist and very delicious.

 

Our last cruise in March(Indy) - tried the same thing, but the cookies were stale. I think we tried another offering, but it was lack lustre too - cannot remember what it was.

 

Was most certainlly not a spoiler of any kind - but I am a sucker for fresh baked, moist baked goods. The crunchy, crumbly ones appeal to me much less - which is , of course a personal preference.

[Royals Carol]

I will be cruising on FOS for the first time on the 20th. We have cruised on Disney and Carnival in the past. A conversation came up last night about what FOS offer vs the other ships. You are right about the deserts in the buffet. Carnival has awesome deserts. They also have a server standing there to serve them to you. The tea, lemonade, and coffee was always readily available as well as the ice cream. On the Disney ship, soda's, tea, coffee, and ice cream was always available.

 

I plan on going on this cruise open minded and try to remember that this is a different cruise line that we have never gone on before. I will try to find everything positive about it. i have read so many reviews that I will have to see for myself. As of right now, I can't wait to experience this beautiful ship. Put me on a ship in the ocean and you will see a smile!!

[dogchopper]

I will be cruising on FOS for the first time on the 20th. We have cruised on Disney and Carnival in the past. A conversation came up last night about what FOS offer vs the other ships. You are right about the deserts in the buffet. Carnival has awesome deserts. They also have a server standing there to serve them to you. The tea, lemonade, and coffee was always readily available as well as the ice cream. On the Disney ship, soda's, tea, coffee, and ice cream was always available.

 

I plan on going on this cruise open minded and try to remember that this is a different cruise line that we have never gone on before. I will try to find everything positive about it. i have read so many reviews that I will have to see for myself. As of right now, I can't wait to experience this beautiful ship. Put me on a ship in the ocean and you will see a smile!!

Well. I don't think you will be disappointed. I really enjoyed the ship. The few things I didn't like we're not enough to make me dislike my cruise at all. And I gotta say that cruise director made up for all the things I didn't like. I have never seen any other cruise director like him. I heard rumors that he is going to go to the new ship and if so the freedom is gonna have a hard time replacing him for sure.

 

Enjoy your cruise!! Just be prepared, maybe bring some drinks with you and snag a few cookies to save for late nite snacks..

[dogchopper]

Our Liberty cruise 4 years ago - always had tasty treats from the promenade cafe. A nightly treat for all of us was to grab a few cookies after the evening show on the back to the cabin. They were moist and very delicious.

 

Our last cruise in March(Indy) - tried the same thing, but the cookies were stale. I think we tried another offering, but it was lack lustre too - cannot remember what it was.

 

Was most certainlly not a spoiler of any kind - but I am a sucker for fresh baked, moist baked goods. The crunchy, crumbly ones appeal to me much less - which is , of course a personal preference.

I thought the stuff you could get at cafe promenade to be ok, but not nearly as good as I was hoping for. And again a very limited selection.

 

Another thing I was shocked about was no ice in your room. So, had I brought my own drinks on board I would have no way to get ice to cool them. Yeah they had a mini fridge but I love ice in my drinks..

[Royals Carol]

Thanks for your review!! I'm glad that all in all you had a good time..

[ryano]

I thought the stuff you could get at cafe promenade to be ok, but not nearly as good as I was hoping for. And again a very limited selection.

 

Another thing I was shocked about was no ice in your room. So, had I brought my own drinks on board I would have no way to get ice to cool them. Yeah they had a mini fridge but I love ice in my drinks..

 

Your cabin attendant will bring you all the ice you want but you now have to ask for it. There should have been a sign telling you that by the ice bucket.

 

Once you ask one time, you wont have to ask again. They will refill your ice bucket twice a day.

[dogchopper]

Your cabin attendant will bring you all the ice you want but you now have to ask for it. There should have been a sign telling you that by the ice bucket.

 

Once you ask one time, you wont have to ask again. They will refill your ice bucket twice a day.

We didnt even have an ice bucket. I thought that was strange?? I suppose if I asked for one they'd give me one then..

[ryano]

I suppose if I asked for one they'd give me one then..

 

Never be afraid to ask. :) Ice is available only on request now.

 

A polite request to your cabin attendant might have even gotten you a towel animal at least a couple of the nights too!