Just back from FOS -eastern 4/6

[NewHere]

Not a true review-so I won't put it there. I am a pretty consistent RCCL cruiser and had some observations about FOS. We had a great cruise, enjoyed ourselves immensely, and met some very nice people. So no real complaints. But a few 'nits'.

 

The food in Windjammer was not up to the Windjammer on the Allure - much less variety each day, and much more repetition from one day to the day. Quality was 'just okay'. The main dining room was very good. We were struck by the difference in quality.

 

While most of the ship is well kept, cetain maintenance things grabbed my attention (and I am not a detail guy). The mini-golf course was a diaster-almost every hole had significant rips and uncovered parts of the 'green'. All of the balcony railing (Starboard) needed varnishing - SERIOUSLY. Noticable wear and tear in some of the hallways - others looked fine.

 

Embarkation and Debarkation (is that a word?) were much slower and much more disorganized than on the Allure. After they called our group - they ended up holding us for 15 minutes because the gangplank was too cdowded. Tehn waits for each escalation of 5-15 minutes. I didn't have a flight to catch, so it wasn't an issue - but it was weird.

 

Staff ranged from truly excellent (dining room staff) to really mediocre (I saw my stateroom attendant ONE time the entire trip! - I have never had that before).

 

The casino is mostly smoking - there are a handfull of machines which are non-smoking (as opposed to Allure where it is half the casino) and the smoke drifted into the photo gallery.

 

Also-this was my first time on Freedom-we rocked and vibrated quite a bit-when I asked at Guest services if it was because of the time of year, the route, the weather, etc (planning purposes-no complaint) I was told "you feel motion-I don't feel anything". Have taken smaller and larger vessels before and never felt it - so I was really just curious.

 

Overall - a great experience-again-these are truly small items. Casey the CD was very very good, the entertainment was top notch, and the activities great. Would absolutly go again on the Freedom (althouygh I did just book the Oasis!)

[BettyPC]

Glad you had fun!!

[papaflamingo]

We have been on Freedom 3 times and are going again in Nov. We had the same experience with staff.... great Dining, mediocre Stateroom. I chalk it up to the Hotel Director. We were on Legend in Feb. and had great experience at all levels. The Hotel Director was superb. As they say, it "rolls down hill."

[CharismaticWoman]

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Edited April 15, 2014 by CharismaticWoman

[Kimmy0303]

We were also on this cruise and felt the same way about the staff. Our dining room servers were awesome. Windjammer servers were very helpful and ready to assist you. Our stateroom attendant was fine, but could have been better. She missed a few of our requests and wasn't as attentive as our previous cruise.

 

We felt the ship move occasionally, but chalked it up to the 50+ mph winds we had throughout the week. All in all it was a great cruise. We will be sailing again on the FOS in 2016. Can't wait!

 

 

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