Freedom Western 4/12/2015 Mini-review

[Funky Chicken]

Generally a great week. Weather picture perfect.

Embarkation and Debarkation were stellar. Arrived at Terminal 1 garage around 10:30. Parked under cover on level three. We were aboard by 11.

Proceeded to table to buy soda package. Forced to insist that we did not want the pricier packages more than once-they don't list the soda package on the menu they use when reviewing options. Begrudgingly handed our cups. Glad we had them for the freestyle machines-not a great value but very convenient.

MDR food was pretty good. Handling of our allergies (wife is gluten intolerant, DD9 can't have eggs/shellfish/nuts) was not so good. It took a couple of days for the MDR staff to really understand, and the Windjammer was pitiful.

Windjammer had a small gluten-free section set up at lunch on embarkation day, so we felt like we were off to a good start. But NOOOOOOOOO-it wasn't even there on port days. Why bother at all if you don't plan to do it every day? Are we supposed to not eat lunch on port days? ??????????

Ship was clean and looked nice. Most staff we interacted with were really nice and helpful.

Ended up with great tablemates-not always the case when you are 3 seated at a 12 top. We looked forward to dinner (early, deck 4) every night.

Ice show was great.

Saw a few instances of really rude guest behavior-I guess it happens on every sailing, but it stuck out a bit because it was generally a nice group.

Played a couple of rounds of "Watch the drunken Pinnacle level guest stumble out of concierge happy hour at Olive Or Twist and drop appetizers all over the floor". Good times.

Freedom is a really nice riding ship, if that makes any sense. The weather was mostly great if a little windy at times, but the ship feels good to sail on.

For anyone still wondering about propulsion, we hit 24 knots rounding the Keys around 4PM on Saturday with a light headwind. We also had a spectacular sunset over the Miami skyline Saturday night-one of those times that reminds you why you like cruising so much.

We would sail on Freedom again. We are admitted DCL fans (with a cruise booked for next April) but still really enjoyed ourselves. I don't expect RCI to equal DCL for Kid's programs, because I am not paying for those things. My daughter enjoyed the offerings, made a lot of friends, and had a great time. She did miss not having a slide at the pool.

I guess the area where the trip fell short was in the food allergy department, because Disney has that DOWN. I realize that doesn't matter to a majority of people, but we ran into people every day saying the same thing. It is a factor that is not going away, and will likely only get more important as time passes. The funny thing is that we sailed on Navigator in 2012 and had a much better allergy experience. I don't know if it is a ship by ship thing, but RCI really needs to look at this issue and develop some consistent guidelines for how to accommodate those of us with allergies.

[Ourusualbeach]

Generally a great week. Weather picture perfect.

Embarkation and Debarkation were stellar. Arrived at Terminal 1 garage around 10:30. Parked under cover on level three. We were aboard by 11.

Proceeded to table to buy soda package. Forced to insist that we did not want the pricier packages more than once-they don't list the soda package on the menu they use when reviewing options. Begrudgingly handed our cups. Glad we had them for the freestyle machines-not a great value but very convenient.

MDR food was pretty good. Handling of our allergies (wife is gluten intolerant, DD9 can't have eggs/shellfish/nuts) was not so good. It took a couple of days for the MDR staff to really understand, and the Windjammer was pitiful.

Windjammer had a small gluten-free section set up at lunch on embarkation day, so we felt like we were off to a good start. But NOOOOOOOOO-it wasn't even there on port days. Why bother at all if you don't plan to do it every day? Are we supposed to not eat lunch on port days? ??????????

Ship was clean and looked nice. Most staff we interacted with were really nice and helpful.

Ended up with great tablemates-not always the case when you are 3 seated at a 12 top. We looked forward to dinner (early, deck 4) every night.

Ice show was great.

Saw a few instances of really rude guest behavior-I guess it happens on every sailing, but it stuck out a bit because it was generally a nice group.

Played a couple of rounds of "Watch the drunken Pinnacle level guest stumble out of concierge happy hour at Olive Or Twist and drop appetizers all over the floor". Good times.

Freedom is a really nice riding ship, if that makes any sense. The weather was mostly great if a little windy at times, but the ship feels good to sail on.

For anyone still wondering about propulsion, we hit 24 knots rounding the Keys around 4PM on Saturday with a light headwind. We also had a spectacular sunset over the Miami skyline Saturday night-one of those times that reminds you why you like cruising so much.

We would sail on Freedom again. We are admitted DCL fans (with a cruise booked for next April) but still really enjoyed ourselves. I don't expect RCI to equal DCL for Kid's programs, because I am not paying for those things. My daughter enjoyed the offerings, made a lot of friends, and had a great time. She did miss not having a slide at the pool.

I guess the area where the trip fell short was in the food allergy department, because Disney has that DOWN. I realize that doesn't matter to a majority of people, but we ran into people every day saying the same thing. It is a factor that is not going away, and will likely only get more important as time passes. The funny thing is that we sailed on Navigator in 2012 and had a much better allergy experience. I don't know if it is a ship by ship thing, but RCI really needs to look at this issue and develop some consistent guidelines for how to accommodate those of us with allergies.

 

In our experience it's definitely been a ship to ship thing.

 

My wife has a dairy allergy and we are continually amazed at the different levels of options that we get. Unfortunately the experiences in the MDR lately have not been great and we have been dining at specialty restaurants more and more.

[mjmagee]

Thanks for the review!

[debsters41]

Thanks for your thoughts ☺ I also am a fan of DCL but couldn't pass up a deal trying out the Freedom. You have helped to make me excited 😊and so any other thoughts you have are greatly appreciated.

[HesterMofet]

Thanks for the review. In the Windjammer you are kind of on your own for allergies. (DH is allergic to shellfish and a warning on some noodles had everything BUT shellfish mentioned and he took a bite and had to spit it out --shrimp. It was NOT advertised as having shrimp in it nor did it usually have it on the mainland when we have had that dish before!)

 

In the MDR, we have found it helpful to speak with the Head Waiter the first night. We also make sure to mention the allergies (shellfish and cocoa/chocolate) in our reservation. The Head Waiter was very good about coming around and making sure my husband reviewed the next night's menu and put in his order.

 

If you have any questions, they will always check ingredients for you and if they cannot find out, they will be honest about it so you can choose something else.

 

I understand your frustration because you really have to be proactive about food sensitivity and allergies on the ship.

[chukli]

Generally a great week. Weather picture perfect.

Embarkation and Debarkation were stellar. Arrived at Terminal 1 garage around 10:30. Parked under cover on level three. We were aboard by 11.

Proceeded to table to buy soda package. Forced to insist that we did not want the pricier packages more than once-they don't list the soda package on the menu they use when reviewing options. Begrudgingly handed our cups. Glad we had them for the freestyle machines-not a great value but very convenient.

MDR food was pretty good. Handling of our allergies (wife is gluten intolerant, DD9 can't have eggs/shellfish/nuts) was not so good. It took a couple of days for the MDR staff to really understand, and the Windjammer was pitiful.

Windjammer had a small gluten-free section set up at lunch on embarkation day, so we felt like we were off to a good start. But NOOOOOOOOO-it wasn't even there on port days. Why bother at all if you don't plan to do it every day? Are we supposed to not eat lunch on port days? ??????????

Ship was clean and looked nice. Most staff we interacted with were really nice and helpful.

Ended up with great tablemates-not always the case when you are 3 seated at a 12 top. We looked forward to dinner (early, deck 4) every night.

Ice show was great.

Saw a few instances of really rude guest behavior-I guess it happens on every sailing, but it stuck out a bit because it was generally a nice group.

Played a couple of rounds of "Watch the drunken Pinnacle level guest stumble out of concierge happy hour at Olive Or Twist and drop appetizers all over the floor". Good times.

Freedom is a really nice riding ship, if that makes any sense. The weather was mostly great if a little windy at times, but the ship feels good to sail on.

For anyone still wondering about propulsion, we hit 24 knots rounding the Keys around 4PM on Saturday with a light headwind. We also had a spectacular sunset over the Miami skyline Saturday night-one of those times that reminds you why you like cruising so much.

We would sail on Freedom again. We are admitted DCL fans (with a cruise booked for next April) but still really enjoyed ourselves. I don't expect RCI to equal DCL for Kid's programs, because I am not paying for those things. My daughter enjoyed the offerings, made a lot of friends, and had a great time. She did miss not having a slide at the pool.

I guess the area where the trip fell short was in the food allergy department, because Disney has that DOWN. I realize that doesn't matter to a majority of people, but we ran into people every day saying the same thing. It is a factor that is not going away, and will likely only get more important as time passes. The funny thing is that we sailed on Navigator in 2012 and had a much better allergy experience. I don't know if it is a ship by ship thing, but RCI really needs to look at this issue and develop some consistent guidelines for how to accommodate those of us with allergies.

 

 

I just realized that the ice show reservations i had made have been cancelled. How do you get the tickets for the Ice Show now? do you have to line up for them on the day of?

 

Thanks.