Freedom OTS trip review - 7/6-13/14

[descotes]

Just got back yesterday (7/13) from our first cruise on the Freedom of the Seas. This is my first review so no flames please. Most are just tips, observations and opinions. So many people’s reviews and information helped me and I wanted to try to give back.

DH and I went on the Oasis last July and this trip we took our kids (DS 14 and DS 11). This was our kids first cruise and DH and my 4th. I will model this after another review that I saw and enjoyed – credits to S.A.M.J.R.

I don’t have pictures because I don’t have my camera that I used on the ship – more on that later.

TIP: Bring your own lanyards for your SeaPass card. You can get them at Five Below or somewhere like that and have your card punched at either Guest Relations or at Adventure Ocean.

Embarkation

Dropped our rental car off at Avis. Was a bit of a wait there to get the shuttle. We hopped on one that was going back to the ship at about 10:15ish maybe. The last terminal we were at was Ft. Lauderdale so Port Canaveral was new for us. At Ft. Lauderdale it was very obvious where to drop your luggage with the porters. At this one where the shuttle dropped off we asked where we go and no one said drop your luggage here they just pointed us in the direction of the terminal so we walked there. We walked to the first guy with all of our luggage and showed our documents and then walked toward the security area. The nice woman there, seeing what we were carrying, told us that we were going to have to walk around with our luggage all day. We knew from the Oasis that we give the luggage first but they told us to go in there so we did. So after we walked through the security area they walked us around, back outside and back down the walk to where there were guys taking luggage. It was inconvenient but I’m glad she said something or we would have had to walk around with our bags until our rooms were ready.

We went on to the ship rather quickly as we were there pretty early and looked around a bit and still was in the WJ by about 11:30 and it was not crowded at all.

TIP: We took advice from the boards and went to the helipad right after muster to sail off. It would have been nicer if it wasn’t raining but I would recommend it if you have a nice night. Take deck 4 outside toward the front of the ship and walk up the stairs.

Food/Dining

We did no specialty restaurants. We had MDR dining at 5:30 which I thought I wanted to change as I was thinking that was a bit too early but by the time you sit down, order and get your food it’s like 6-6:30 anyway so it worked out fine. We were usually out of the dining room by about 7:15ish. The only time I wished it would have been a bit later was at Cozumel so we didn’t have to leave where we were. My kids were about done there anyway so it was fine. We did the WJ every morning for breakfast and lunch. We were always able to find a seat for breakfast. Lunch was harder sometimes and the one day that everyone was evacuated from the pool area because of rain/lightning it was at lunchtime so everyone went into the WJ. That was crazy!!

I didn’t think the food was wonderful until about Day 3. The first 2 days it was eh and even after that I wasn’t going on about it. There was one or two dishes I thought were great and some apps that were good but even though it seemed like the same menus as the Oasis, I thought their food was better. DS (11) eats almost nothing so the food was pretty wasted on him. DS (14) likes food but even he wasn’t a huge eater every night. DH didn’t love the food.

The first night we were very confused by the dining staff. It took them a really long time to come over to us so we weren’t sure who our waiter was or assistant waiter… it was very weird. Our waiter was very nice but nothing to write home about. Our assistant waiter was ok. He was very skittish (that’s the only word I could think of). He was always ready to jump and get you something but it was more like he was late for something all the time. Kind of like he was falling over himself to get it for you. It was weird but it got to a point where I didn’t want to ask him for anything.

Our bar server in the dining room wasn’t wonderful either. We had a joke running all week that he hated my DH who was the only one who would order a drink every night at dinner because he’d never come over and then once he did bring the drink – once he remembered or was reminded – he’d never come back. Many times we had to find him.

We had much better service on the Oasis during dinner. Our wait staff was great. Not sure if that had anything to do with the pre-pay tips vs. not on the Oasis. Thinking that wouldn’t make a difference. I’m either going to give you a little extra at the end or I’m not.

NOTE: There are many discussions about the dress code. On casual nights I saw adults and kids wear t-shirts and shorts, nice shirts and nice shorts, shirts and slacks. On formal nights most people dressed nice but others still dressed casual. Do whatever you feel comfortable with.

Drinks

We got the soda package for the kids. Not sure if it was worth it as we weren’t with them most of the week on the ship but I’m sure it was for them. I am not a drinker. I drink mostly soda and an occasion a pina colada. On the Oasis I got the soda package and I didn’t use what it was worth so I was going to do a la carte this time but when I went to the Meet & Mingle one of the raffles was a soda package so the woman who won had a drink package so she asked if I wanted it so I said sure. So the rest of my maybe 5-10 sodas I had for the rest of the cruise, yes 1-2 for dinner each night, were free. And I had a couple Pina Coladas. DH had gotten the drink package on the Oasis (we were without kids) and he didn’t get it this time. I think he saved tons of money. He thinks if he drank what he wanted to without “worrying” about cost it would have come out to the same he would have paid for the package. I disagree.

 

Activities/Teen Club

I thought my kids would be on the flowrider, rock wall, and playing sports. Nope. We signed them up for the 12-14 group in the teen club and there they stayed. They had great activities and games in there for them at night specific to their age group and my kids did every one of them and enjoyed hanging out in the Living Room and meeting new people. They hung out in here most of the time instead of doing shows. There were a couple of shows I was sad they missed but I had them go to the ones I didn’t want them to miss. Kids had a 1am curfew every night and other than a couple of days were our 11yo came in at 12am because he was tired or his friends went back to their rooms, they were in by 1am.

NOTE #1: DS was 11 on the ship and going to be 12 on 8/3. We told the staff that we wanted him to be with his brother in the 12-14 group and they told us that as long as they are within 2 months of the age group – up or down – they can be moved.

NOTE #2: When we went to put a limit on the kids SeaPass cards the guy at guest relations said that applies to all purchases EXCEPT the arcade. So kids can put their SeaPass in the machine and put as much money as they want on it if it is linked to your credit card so establish that beforehand or it could get ugly.

Shows

DH and I did all of the shows. We saw the Welcome Show, Once Upon a Time, Illusionist, Freedom Ice, Marquee and the Farewell Show. Two nights there were late night “adult” comedians. I’m not sure they were very “adult”. My teens probably could have been in there. Much different than the Oasis when we went to the adult comedian, it was adult and we were peeing in our pants. The comedians on the Freedom were ok. The Freedom singers and dancers are great. Don’t miss the ice show. We had the kids come to that. It’s hard because the show we went to was a 9:00 because of the early seating but that’s also when the kids activities were going on in the Living Room so they wanted to be there. I don’t want to spoil the shows but if you have a specific question ask me. I wish they would have given a bit more detail about the shows as you didn’t know what they were by the name so I would have liked my kids to see them and would have made an effort to eat in time to go with the kids to the 7:00 show or have them miss one activity and go to the 9:00 show.

We also did Quest, Love & Marriage, Battle of the Sexes, etc. and those were funny and entertaining.

Cabin

The cabin seemed slightly smaller than our cabin on Oasis and the layout was a bit different. The bathroom on the Oasis seemed larger. I believe we had a D1 Ocean View Balcony on the Oasis and an E1 on the Freedom maybe? We were on Deck 6 on both ships close to the elevators. I love having the balcony and we were very conscious about keeping the room clean because it was so small so our cabin steward didn’t have to do much to clean up in our room.

We had a few issues with the cabin when we got there but they came and fixed it right away. The first was the safe wouldn’t work and the guy was there and fixed it quick. Second, the first night the slider on the balcony must have been loose so it made noise all night and it wasn’t pleasant to sit out there with the clanking noise. We called and by the time we got back it was fixed and it was fine the rest of the trip.

TIP #1: You MUST bring a power strip! That was a great tip from the boards. We didn’t on the Oasis and I remember there being a plug by the bed and in a few other places. Our cabin had 2 plugs that was it. The power strip was a great tip.

TIP #2: Another tip I got from the boards was to bring an over the door shoe holder that was handy for shoes and suntan lotion and other things.

 

Excursions

Labadee: the kids did the Aquapark which was for an hour. DS(11) got hurt in the first few minutes with some scratches so the staff (who were all amazing) got on his walkie talkie and gave both boys a complementary all-day pass for the rollercoaster so DS(11) could do something out of the water. I had my nice floating mat which was great and we allowed both boys to go on the zip line. Unfortunately DS(11) made friends with the nurse as right before we went to the zip line for their time he was horsing around with his brother and jammed his finger. I thought it was broken and he couldn’t make a fist so he couldn’t grip the zip line. Sucked for him but saved me some money J.

TIP: In Labadee walk to Columbus Cove. We didn’t get a cabana and Columbus Cove was great. I just wish when we had gotten off the boat (one of the first bunch) that the trams were running. It was a bit of a walk to get there from the boat. They were running for the rest of the day.

Jamaica: We did a 3rd party excursion (Liberty Tours/Ricardo) to Irie Blue Hole and lunch. One of the people in our party got injured and we spent a bit of time at a hospital in Jamaica which wasn’t fun but that’s another story. He’s fine and I would do Liberty Tours/Ricardo again to Irie Blue Hole and Scotchies. It was beautiful there.

Grand Cayman: We did another 3rd party excursion (Nativeway/Rays, Reef, Rum Point) to snorkel and go to stingray city. One of the greatest days all week.

Cozumel: We took a taxi to Paradise Beach – taxi ($14), chairs ($3), water toys all day ($15), lunch ($10 minimum). It was a beautiful place with a nice pool and water toys the kids had a blast on with the other kids. They also had mats for the water, kayaks, and wake boards. There were hammocks as well as chairs.

TIP #1: Sit toward the middle/back closer to the pool. You can still go into the ocean area but it is about 15 degrees cooler back there with the breezes than up front with the umbrellas. We moved after lunch.

TIP #2: Walk toward the right going into the water by the beach area. It is a lot less rocky walking into the water.

Staff

The staff was nice. Nothing that stood out much all week. The cruise directors staff was fun. Rich Edwards was our CD and he was ok. His “chao chao” got on my nerves a bit. Belle the activities manager was good. Our cabin steward said hi to us when we saw her but nothing more than that. Our cabin steward on the Oasis was great. We would see him all the time and he was fun and friendly. The one on the Freedom was blah. She did the 2 little things we asked of her which was good but that was it.

As you read DS(11) got hurt at Labadee. We made a trip to the infirmary and had an x-ray taken of his finger which the Dr. said was not broken. The Dr. and the staff down there were all fabulous, nice people and got you in and out as quickly as they could. They opened at 4:00 when we got back on the ship and we had everything done and made it to dinner at like 5:40 with showers and everything.

 

Ship Amenities

Having the flowrider and rock wall are great not that my kids used them. They never did the flowrider and they both said they did the rock wall with their teen group on the last day.

The big screen by the pool was great and so was the live music both which the Oasis did not have.

I didn’t find there was a lack of free food just a lack of variety other than dining times. It was either pizza or ham/cheese sandwiches at the promenade. I’m not much of a dessert person but they had desserts there. I like the cookies they had on the Oasis that they didn’t have on the Freedom.

 

Disembarkation

As S.A.M.J.R. said, “On Oasis, we were able to select what "off time" we wanted. On Freedom, it was just assigned to us”. We were assigned #26.

Difference in ports again: So when we were on the Oasis we waited until our number was called and when we got to this huge room with everyone’s luggage under their assigned number I was like, oh – we could have gotten off at any time really and just gone to get our luggage under our number. In Port Canaveral there is a conveyor belt like in an airport that brings out your luggage and it’s a much smaller space so they do it by number. So we thought it was the same as Oasis so we got off on #10 and then had to wait on chairs for about an hour because they wouldn’t let us downstairs because they weren’t near #26. Lesson learned. Each port is different. I would have rather waited at Café Promenade drinking coffee or in the WJ having a later leisurely breakfast.

Instead of taking a shuttle to the airport – our flight was at 3:20 – I thought we’d rent a car and do something for a couple of hours before we had to be at the airport. So we went back to Avis. It took a while to get a shuttle back to the Avis and then we had to stand in a realllly long line to get a car. We could have stopped somewhere for about an hour but my DH was nervous about stopping so we ended up just driving to the airport anyway and we were 4 hours early! So we had lunch and just hung out there for the day – thank god for iPads. Turns out we could have done a bunch of things because our flight was delayed and we never left until about 5:20.

When I got home to NJ I realized that I somehow left my camera bag with my video camera in it and my regular camera at Orlando Int’l Airport. There was no identification on or in the bag and by the time I got home the airport lost and found was closed. I felt sick. I did remember that I had put my SeaPass card in the camera bag which had my name on it and the ship I had left but that was it. When I called Orlando Airport this morning at 8am and got the lost and found on the phone the nice lady told me that my bag was there. Someone turned it in. I was so grateful. About 1pm this afternoon my cell phone rang. A nice lady from Royal Caribbean was calling me. At first I thought wow, they’re quick to call about a survey.. I just got off the boat yesterday. That’s not why she was calling. The man who found my camera bag, not only turned it into the Orlando International Airport lost and found – he must have written down the information on my SeaPass, called Royal Caribbean from the Bahamas and asked them to get in touch with me to send me an email to let me know that he found the bag (in case I didn't know it was missing) and let me know where he brought it. The lady at Royal Caribbean called me instead of emailing to give me his message and let me know that he was on the other line. I was able to get his email address to express my sincere thanks to him. Hopefully I will have no problems getting my bag returned from the airport thanks to him.

Overall

I liked the smaller ship of the Freedom. I liked not having to book reservations for shows and not having to get there early for each of them to get a “good seat”. I liked the Arcadia Theater. We sat on the 4th deck most times and had a great seat without the crowds or having to get their early. I liked the friendly staff and food better on the Oasis. I thought the Central Park area was pretty but don’t think I really spent any time there. My kids I think would like the zip line but then again I thought they’d love the flowrider and they never went on it the entire time we were on the ship. I think DH would say he liked Oasis better. I would do the Freedom or Freedom class again. Which ship should we go on next?

Sorry this is so long. If you have any questions, please let me know.

[Rick-n-Lisa]

Nice thorough review. Your details will be very helpful for others. Glad you had a good time. We just did the Oasis and did Freedom last year. We did the Allure 2 years ago and i enjoyed the ship class better the 2nd time around. I would def go on Oasis or Allure again, but I think Freedom is my favorite.

 

I would take the boys on Oasis or Allure though just for a different experience. They will probably do more since they are more familiar now than the first time around. happy sailing!

[Tropicalgal2]

Thank yo so much for your review! It was refreshing to read and very helpful. :)

 

PC sounds like it might be a little confusing for dropping off luggage. Did you see any signs when you went back to drop the luggage? :o

 

¡WOW! Hope you have your camera and video camera in a few days! It was nice to read about someone caring for other people in today´s world! ! :D

 

I do have a few questions about your car rental. Do you remember how much you paid in tolls to and from the ship? About what did your rental run? . . . same both ways? Would you do a rental car again from MCO to PC? :rolleyes:

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for your review, glad you had a good cruise.

[descotes]

Thank yo so much for your review! It was refreshing to read and very helpful. :)

 

PC sounds like it might be a little confusing for dropping off luggage. Did you see any signs when you went back to drop the luggage? :o

 

¡WOW! Hope you have your camera and video camera in a few days! It was nice to read about someone caring for other people in today´s world! ! :D

 

I do have a few questions about your car rental. Do you remember how much you paid in tolls to and from the ship? About what did your rental run? . . . same both ways? Would you do a rental car again from MCO to PC? :rolleyes:

No we didn't see any signs about the luggage when we went back to drop it off.

 

We didn't pay anything in tolls. The rental car place is right up the road and they shuttle you there and back. We only did the rental car from PC to MCO, not both ways and no, I wouldn't do it again unless I knew I had tons of time to kill.

[Tropicalgal2]

We didn't pay anything in tolls. The rental car place is right up the road and they shuttle you there and back. We only did the rental car from PC to MCO, not both ways and no, I wouldn't do it again unless I knew I had tons of time to kill.

 

Were there tolls from PC to MCO? Did you use the toll road or some other road? :o

[Clarea]

Were there tolls from PC to MCO? Did you use the toll road or some other road? :o

Yes, there are tolls, and I know of no other road that can be taken besides 528. Tolls total around $5, and can be paid in cash. There is at least one toll booth at each toll plaza that takes cash and will give change.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report!

[BillOh]

Drinks

I went to the Meet & Mingle one of the raffles was a soda package.

 

That's a first for me, I've never heard of a Soda package being offered as a raffle prize at the M&M. That is a nice prize. I assume on this itinerary the M&M was on day 2 the first Sea day? Was it also up in the Viking Crown area?

[S.A.M.J.R.]

That's a first for me, I've never heard of a Soda package being offered as a raffle prize at the M&M. That is a nice prize. I assume on this itinerary the M&M was on day 2 the first Sea day? Was it also up in the Viking Crown area?

We had one offered at our M&M also.

 

BTW, I believe there are two $1 tolls between MCO & PC.

[descotes]

Were there tolls from PC to MCO? Did you use the toll road or some other road? :o

 

I do apologize. I remember there being a toll. I just don't know what the toll was. The rental car had the sunpass in the car so my husband used that.

[descotes]

That's a first for me, I've never heard of a Soda package being offered as a raffle prize at the M&M. That is a nice prize. I assume on this itinerary the M&M was on day 2 the first Sea day? Was it also up in the Viking Crown area?

Yes this was on the first sea day. 10am. Ours was in Olive or Twist

[BillOh]

We had one offered at our M&M also.

 

BTW, I believe there are two $1 tolls between MCO & PC.

 

Yes this was on the first sea day. 10am. Ours was in Olive or Twist

 

 

 

Thanks to both of you, I'm really looking forward to sailing on Freedom again after 7 years.

[S.A.M.J.R.]

Yes this was on the first sea day. 10am. Ours was in Olive or Twist

As was ours.

[njmomof2]

We'll be back on Freedom in just over 5 weeks, after having sailed on Oasis in April. I felt the staff on Oasis was not as friendly as the staff we've had several times on Freedom, so the exact opposite from your view.

 

As for the menus, they are basically the same fleetwide so I saw the same menus on Oasis that I've had the last couple of times on Freedom, and expect again in August. I agree that there are some additional offerings of complimentary food on Oasis (like in Sorrento's) that are not on Freedom, but then again, I don't need any additional food beyond what I get at meals.

 

My younger son turns 12 next week but unlike yours, has absolutely no interest in the kids club. And my older son is a bit older than yours...16.5 so he never bothers any more. They both spend most of the trip on the flowrider and/or rock wall. My younger one also loves to ice skate so we spend our trip doing those things. In fact, we don't bother cruising unless we're on a Freedom class or above because of the flowrider.

[JudiinMt]

thanks for the great review - do you remember what movies they showed on the big screen?

[descotes]

thanks for the great review - do you remember what movies they showed on the big screen?

I know they showed Divergent 2-3 times. I want to say they were showing Funny Girl one night too? Another night may have been a kids movie but I don't remember.

[Keith1010]

Very nice review.

 

Thanks for taking the time to write and share it.

 

Keith

[proudpatriot07]

Thanks for the review :). We went on the Freedom in April and also a few years ago for our honeymoon. We love the ship because it's big with lots to do, but I'm not sure I'd want to try a bigger ship that required making reservations for shows, dinner, etc.

 

I'm so glad someone turned your camera in and I hope you get it back soon. I would be freaking out if that happened to me.

[JudiinMt]

Thanks for the movie info - it would be great to see an old movie like Funny Girl again. I love sitting on the deck and watching a movie - for me it's a relaxing way to end the evening.

[Magnetchief]

Thanks for taking the time to write the review.

We are on FoS Aug 10th :)

Looking forwards to the trip :)

[JohnGaltny]

Really nicely done review. Also appreciated the balance of it all.

[DorothyMantooth]

Thanks for the review! We are on the Oasis next week (but a different itinerary).

[acrn]

Thanks for writing your review! I'm struggling between choosing Freedom or Allure (just went on Allure in May and LOVED IT!), this time with whole family! Oh, what to do!!

 

 

Angie :)

[molsonschooner]

Nice review. We had kinda the opposite experience. We had horrible service in the mdr on the Oasis and food wasn't overly impressive. On the Freedom we had a great waiter(assistant waiter was not a factor), food was better than on the Oasis and some bar servers, especially in the pub were awesome