Review - Freedom of the Seas March 30 - April 6, 2014 - TONS OF PICS!

[Motleu]

 

 

 

[Motleu]

 

 

 

This is a nice service they provide. We would have used it but we missed the deadline to sign up. Our luggage was heavy so this would have made the debark a little smoother although it ultimately was a breeze.

 

[Motleu]

During the Freedom Fest on day 7 they had a table for napkin folding and towel folding. They passed out these guides on how to make some of the towel animals that we all love and had about a dozen animals on the table. It was cool to try to match the experts!

 

 

 

 

 

[Motleu]

At last the end....Some final thoughts tomorrow!

[debsters41]

Thank you so much for scanning all of the paperwork.... I live for this kind of thing! You totally rock!

[nonnie&dgd]

 

 

 

This is a nice service they provide. We would have used it but we missed the deadline to sign up. Our luggage was heavy so this would have made the debark a little smoother although it ultimately was a breeze.

 

 

Thank you for this information. I am flying AirTran but booked on Southwest. I was wondering how that would work with Luggage Valet. I see you can check it off on the form, since AirTran charges for luggage and Southwest doesn't.

[beshears]

We just got back from Labadee a couple weeks ago. In regard to the size, I would say it is a fair size, as we like someone had mentioned went to Columbus Cove also, but we took a tram so far, and then walked the rest of the way, which wasn't too far.

[Motleu]

Finally made it to the end of the review! Whew! Some thoughts:

 

1)Loved Freedom. I am a big fan of the larger ships and have only Oasis class left to try.

 

2)Plenty of activities to keep all ages busy. By far the most popular spot was the soft serve ice cream. There was always a line, sometimes 20 deep on both sides!

 

3)Adventure Ocean worked great for our 6 and 9 year olds. Not so much for our 12 and 13 year olds. There were mixed in with older kids and I think felt intimidated.

 

4)Casey Pelter as CD was mediocre. It never seemed as if he was really into what he was doing. Looked like he was just going through the motions.

 

5)The best deal on the ship in my mind is the $60 dinner for 2 in Portofinos. That deal includes 2 glasses of champagne and a bottle of wine! I think the normal price there is $50.

 

6)Many folks had drink packages. We had the soda package which was so much better with the Freestyle machines. There were 4 freestyles in the Windjammer, 2 in the Promenade next to Sorrentos and there was another somewhere else but I cant remember where.

 

7)Nightlife was good but this was a spring break cruise with 1400 kids! So the clubs weren't as crowded.

 

8)The pool deck was always crowded during sea days but we always found a chair or chairs.

 

9)There are plenty of quiet spots on this ship. You just have to explore the ship to find them.

 

10)TV choices were average but we don't go on a cruise to watch TV!

 

11)There are karaoke booths in Studio B/Online area. Passed them a bunch of times before I realized it.

 

12)No craps in the casino! I found that weird!

 

13)The connoisseur club was great. It is right outside of Pharoah's Theater. There was a private bartender in there with a nice selection of bourbon and scotch until 1 am and you could smoke (cigars in my case) to you hearts content!

 

14)The food was fine for us. We aren't picky so we can eat anything. As to be expected there were some hits and misses in the MDR. Windjammer was pretty good as well.

 

15)Service was fantastic all around (except for the bartender in Vintages - snooty)!

 

16)Lots of kids but little complaints. They were well behaved most of the time.

 

If there are any more questions fire away! I will be happy to answer if I can.

 

 

Here is one more pic.......

 

[mickev99]

Thanks so much for taking the time to write the review and scan and post all the paperwork! However, I don't see Day 6 for Adventure Ocean or Day 1 & 2 for ages 12-14, do you have those? 38 more days until my first time on Freedom!!!

[Cruising Bonnie]

Thank you so much for your great review. We are on FOS for Halloween and will use you review as a guide. Please tell me when the dinner for 2 in Portofino's is held and how do you sign up?

[IrishLassie]

Loved your review & your pictures were great. Can't wait to get back on FOS !

 

I do have one question. In Labadee at the beach, do you pay extra for one of the mats to lay on in the water? We didn't really use the beach the last time we were there, & I would like to swim this time.

 

Again, thanks for a great review. :)

[Motleu]

Thanks so much for taking the time to write the review and scan and post all the paperwork! However, I don't see Day 6 for Adventure Ocean or Day 1 & 2 for ages 12-14, do you have those? 38 more days until my first time on Freedom!!!

 

I'll go back and double check but when I was putting the paperwork in order I noticed I had duplicates of some and was missing others. I will double check to see if I missed the ones your are looking for. Thanks for reading!

[Motleu]

Thank you so much for your great review. We are on FOS for Halloween and will use you review as a guide. Please tell me when the dinner for 2 in Portofino's is held and how do you sign up?

 

If I recall correctly I saw the $60 deal listed in the compass at least twice. I am not sure which days but if you go back through the compasses you should find them. I will check over the weekend and post what I find as well! Thanks for following along!

[Motleu]

Loved your review & your pictures were great. Can't wait to get back on FOS !

 

I do have one question. In Labadee at the beach, do you pay extra for one of the mats to lay on in the water? We didn't really use the beach the last time we were there, & I would like to swim this time.

 

Again, thanks for a great review. :)

 

Yes there is a charge for mats and I think it is $10.

[jules815]

Finally made it to the end of the review! Whew! Some thoughts:

 

1)Loved Freedom. I am a big fan of the larger ships and have only Oasis class left to try.

 

2)Plenty of activities to keep all ages busy. By far the most popular spot was the soft serve ice cream. There was always a line, sometimes 20 deep on both sides!

 

3)Adventure Ocean worked great for our 6 and 9 year olds. Not so much for our 12 and 13 year olds. There were mixed in with older kids and I think felt intimidated.

 

4)Casey Pelter as CD was mediocre. It never seemed as if he was really into what he was doing. Looked like he was just going through the motions.

 

5)The best deal on the ship in my mind is the $60 dinner for 2 in Portofinos. That deal includes 2 glasses of champagne and a bottle of wine! I think the normal price there is $50.

 

6)Many folks had drink packages. We had the soda package which was so much better with the Freestyle machines. There were 4 freestyles in the Windjammer, 2 in the Promenade next to Sorrentos and there was another somewhere else but I cant remember where.

 

7)Nightlife was good but this was a spring break cruise with 1400 kids! So the clubs weren't as crowded.

 

8)The pool deck was always crowded during sea days but we always found a chair or chairs.

 

9)There are plenty of quiet spots on this ship. You just have to explore the ship to find them.

 

10)TV choices were average but we don't go on a cruise to watch TV!

 

11)There are karaoke booths in Studio B/Online area. Passed them a bunch of times before I realized it.

 

12)No craps in the casino! I found that weird!

 

13)The connoisseur club was great. It is right outside of Pharoah's Theater. There was a private bartender in there with a nice selection of bourbon and scotch until 1 am and you could smoke (cigars in my case) to you hearts content!

 

14)The food was fine for us. We aren't picky so we can eat anything. As to be expected there were some hits and misses in the MDR. Windjammer was pretty good as well.

 

15)Service was fantastic all around (except for the bartender in Vintages - snooty)!

 

16)Lots of kids but little complaints. They were well behaved most of the time.

 

If there are any more questions fire away! I will be happy to answer if I can.

 

 

Here is one more pic.......

 

 

Love that picture in the WJ...such great views there.

 

Thank you for the recap. I've been studying anything FOS as we'll be sailing on her for the first time in September.

[klaner64]

Thanks so much for your review. We have never sailed RCI and are considering this exact cruise and ship so it was very helpful.

 

Just had a few questions about the ship if you know the answers.

 

Is the flowrider something you can just go do whenever it has open hours? And how busy does it get?

 

With the anytime dining do you think it is better to go as early as possible to get in and out in time for shows or are they pretty consistent getting your order in a timely manner?

 

Have you ever stayed in a family promenade, inside or ocean view? We will have 5 people because son would be bringing girlfriend? Which of these choices would you suggest?

 

Thanks in advance.

[Cruising Bonnie]

If I recall correctly I saw the $60 deal listed in the compass at least twice. I am not sure which days but if you go back through the compasses you should find them. I will check over the weekend and post what I find as well! Thanks for following along!

 

 

I found it on the Falmouth night, you are correct.....great deal. Thanks for the tip!

[tonyt]

Thanks so much for your review. We have never sailed RCI and are considering this exact cruise and ship so it was very helpful.

 

Just had a few questions about the ship if you know the answers.

 

Is the flowrider something you can just go do whenever it has open hours? And how busy does it get?

 

With the anytime dining do you think it is better to go as early as possible to get in and out in time for shows or are they pretty consistent getting your order in a timely manner?

 

Have you ever stayed in a family promenade, inside or ocean view? We will have 5 people because son would be bringing girlfriend? Which of these choices would you suggest?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

I wou;d get 2 cabins so as to have 2 bath rooms.

[Motleu]

Thanks so much for your review. We have never sailed RCI and are considering this exact cruise and ship so it was very helpful.

 

Just had a few questions about the ship if you know the answers.

 

Is the flowrider something you can just go do whenever it has open hours? And how busy does it get?

 

With the anytime dining do you think it is better to go as early as possible to get in and out in time for shows or are they pretty consistent getting your order in a timely manner?

 

Have you ever stayed in a family promenade, inside or ocean view? We will have 5 people because son would be bringing girlfriend? Which of these choices would you suggest?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Thanks for reading along!

 

Flowrider hours are posted in the cruise compass. It does get busy but when it does they put a divider in the middle to create 2 lanes to get double the folks through. You can also rent the flowrider for private lessons - I think those are usually early in the morning.

 

We didn't do anytime dining this cruise so I cant speak as to the speed but when we needed to get out quickly we just told our wait staff and they sped things up with no problem.

 

Havent stayed in the family promenade but you may want to consider 2 staterooms. We considered a second connecting room for the kids but I think it was $1000 extra or so.

[Motleu]

I found it on the Falmouth night, you are correct.....great deal. Thanks for the tip!

 

You are welcome and I hope you have a great cruise on the Pearl!

[klaner64]

Thanks for reading along!

 

Flowrider hours are posted in the cruise compass. It does get busy but when it does they put a divider in the middle to create 2 lanes to get double the folks through. You can also rent the flowrider for private lessons - I think those are usually early in the morning.

 

We didn't do anytime dining this cruise so I cant speak as to the speed but when we needed to get out quickly we just told our wait staff and they sped things up with no problem.

 

Havent stayed in the family promenade but you may want to consider 2 staterooms. We considered a second connecting room for the kids but I think it was $1000 extra or so.

 

Thanks for the suggestion, but we are trying to keep the costs reasonable since we are paying for the Girlfriend and they are only 18 so want to keep tabs on them.

[Jax129]

I just booked this for next year so thank you for the Cruise Compass. I did Freedom-Eastern last year & we loved it, wish Richard Spacey was still CD

[tonyt]

Thanks for the suggestion, but we are trying to keep the costs reasonable since we are paying for the Girlfriend and they are only 18 so want to keep tabs on them.

 

Ypu could get connecting rooms and leave thr connecting door open.

[Motleu]

Thanks for the suggestion, but we are trying to keep the costs reasonable since we are paying for the Girlfriend and they are only 18 so want to keep tabs on them.

 

Don't blame you one bit! That is the reason we didn't spring for the extra cabin. Wanted to keep costs down.

[Motleu]

I just booked this for next year so thank you for the Cruise Compass. I did Freedom-Eastern last year & we loved it, wish Richard Spacey was still CD

 

You're welcome! Casey Pelter, as I mentioned, was rather dull. Richard Spacey would have been nice. In fact Casey was prob the worst of the CD's I have encountered.