Just off Freedom 2/17-2/25 8 Night Sailing...Pros and Cons

[Heatherco]

Just returned home from the 8 night President's Week sailing on Freedom. Had a great week overall, but have to say we were slightly disappointed with Royal Caribbean this time around.

 

We were a group of 7...myself and my husband are 52. We sailed with our kids ages 21,19 and 16 and my mother in law and her friend who are in their late 70's.

 

 

Instead of a full review, I will mention the pros and cons of our experience. This was my 9th cruise overall and 6th with RCCL.

 

 

Pros

Ship is in great shape...very clean and very well maintained.

 

 

Embarkation...very easy. We arrived around 10am and were on this ship before 11.

 

 

Staff...most were incredible! We thought Topi the Cruise Director was fantastic. Very talented, engaging and upbeat. High energy and showed great enthusiasm for his job. He really was terrific and we would love to sail on another ship with him in the future.

The activities crew were also great...Alex, Erica from America and Charlie DiCarlo were great.

 

 

Special shout out to the staff member in the Cafe Promenade who made the specialty coffee drinks all day. He was wonderful! Such a hard worker who always had a smile on his face no matter how long he was working. He needs help! The line for drinks would get quite long and yet he never let that smile leave his face! I wish I could remember his name!

 

 

Entertainment....we thought it was the best of any sailing we have been on. The shows were engaging and fun and even our kids who'd don't like the shows went to all of them. The only one we weren't thrilled with was the ventriloquist. He was good, but ventriloquism just didn't cut it for us. 😃

 

 

Cons...unfortunately, we had quite a few and as a result we now aren't tied so much to being loyal RCCL customers. We feel their product has gone significantly downhill over the past couple years and will likely consider another cruise line again in the future. That is not to say we won't sail them again. We will and had an overall great time. But this time around we didn't leave with the feeling that we wanted to book with RCCL again. Another cruse? Definitely! But we will definitely consider the other lines more going forward.

 

 

Staffing....like I said, the staff was incredible! But they are very short staffed. It was hard to get a drink a lot of times because the bartenders were so busy.

 

 

Getting a coffee drink at the Cafe Promenade could take a long time and not because of the people working there. Many times, there was one person behind the counter getting people their snacks and only one person making all the coffee drinks while across the hall at the Cupcake Cupboard there would be two staff members standing in an empty store.

 

 

Food...mediocre at best. Dining room staff was great, but the dining room food was absolutely nothing special. It is no longer a dining experience. When you sit down, they make you order appetizer, dinner and dessert all at once. Within 10 minutes all your food has been served and not great food at that.

 

 

I don't know what I want for dessert until I have had my meal. No choice here. Have to order it when you sit down.

 

 

Portions in MDR are also much smaller now. That part is fine for us, but thought it deserved mention. The MDR used to be a big part of the cruise experience. Now we feel like if we skipped it entirely, it wouldn't have mattered.

 

 

Windjammer...food was a little better with lots of selections, but again, nothing we found was spectacular or impressive. Windjammer staff, however, was great.

 

 

Elevators....two of the elevators on the Port side were broken. One was broken the entire time...said it was on floor 13 the entire week. Not enough elevators to handle the crowds. If we went to Olive or Twist, you could wait up to 10 minutes for one to come bring you down. We timed it one night as a joke. We usually took the stairs, but on nights we were with my mother in law we did wait with them. And it was a long wait most times.

 

 

Pool...most crowded out of any sailing we have done. Chair hogs out in full force and even the solarium pool was not relaxing at all.....way too crowded to enjoy. Hard to get a drink because they need more staff.

 

 

Ports...we loved St Kitts. Kids went ziplining, we went to Carambola Beach and walked to Shipwreck bar. The scenery and views were spectacular on the island.

 

 

St Maarten...we got a little rain, traffic was unbelievable and we just wound up taking a $70 dollar taxi ride over to Simpson Bay. It poured when we were close to Simpson Bay, so we had the taxi take us back to Phillipsburg. Wound up having a drink, walked a few shops, and wound up just going back to the ship. Island was hard hit in the hurricane and damage was visible. Heartbreaking for the people there.

 

 

San Juan...wish they would drop this stop or do a full day here. No time to do much other than walk around. We had to be back onboard by 1:30 so no time to do anything really.

 

 

Labadee...cancelled due to ocean swells. Extremely disappointing since this was the stop we love. Think they knew what the Seas we were like since we had been rocking and rolling all week. But they waited until after we were due to disembark to let people know. First they said they might cut the day short, then they cancelled. I u derstand you can't control Mother Nature. But to build a dock they can't use when the ocean is rough is confusing to me. Seas were rough all week, but they managed to dock at three other stops. It is their ow. Private island. If you are going to develop it and market it as a highlight, build a sea wall or something to protect the dock area from the swells.

 

 

Cabin....we booked inside on deck 7. Cabins were decent size but tv in one room didn't work...all week and looked broken with wires hanging off the back. They just said that yes it was broken and they were sorry. Other cabin was very noisy with banging going on all night. We couldn't figure out what it was since there was no service area nearby and only other cabins next to, above and below us. Room steward said they heard that a lot with that cabin. Ok...but no one bothers to figure out what it is if it keeps happening repeatedly? Not a big deal overall, but just another con to mention.

 

 

We did have a medical emergency which forced the ship to head back to Ft Lauderdale early. Cannot be helped and we just hoped the person was ok in the end. They did ask for blood donations and many people stepped up to donate which was nice.

 

 

Upsells....enough already. They seemed to have plenty of staff to do upselling, but not enough staffing in other parts of the ship to carry out the upsells...like bartenders, etc.

 

 

The T shirt sale was absolutely the most ridiculous thing. They set up a couple racks right outside the door leading to the pool. it was unbelievable. You couldn't get out the door to get to or from the pool, and no one could actually reach the shirts because the racks were blocked in by railings.

 

 

They should set this up in one of the bigger lounges and they would sell more shirts and people wouldn't get killed trying to fight their way to see them. The poor people with canes or wheelchairs didn't stand a chance to see them. Seriously, it was that bad.

 

 

Then the line to pay stretched the entire length of the pool deck with one register set up to pay. Again...not enough staffing! And the poor kids working the register didn't have time to breathe. Very poorly done in our opinion.

It seemed to us like they could use an efficiency exper on this cruise. The crowds were busy, but that is in every ship. This one they didn't have a good logical sense of how to manage them.

 

 

As another example, they do trivia at the Schooner Bar every day. It is very popular but so crowded no one can find a seat and the hallway gets so jammed you can't even get through to walk to the casino. Why can't they have it in the .star lounge which would accommodate more people and keep the hallways free? Same with shows in On Air. Not nearly enough room or chairs when simply having things in a bigger lounge for the most popular events would solve the problem easily and leave people a lot less frustrated trying to fight their way through a hallway.

 

 

Disembarkation....was by far the longest one we have ever had. They basically announced all the numbers at once which just created long lines with only three customs agents.

 

 

In addition, some of the luggage was placed behind the customs line. So you had to cut right through the main line to get your luggage and then were blocked from getting out of that section by the customs line where people didn't want let you out to get in the line. Again, just inefficient and created frustrating crowds and lines which could be avoided very easily. The lines did move, but they could have been much smaller and managed much better.

 

 

Overall, we really did have a great week and still love cruising and we love the Royal ships. I guess I would just say that now we will be considering other lines as well.

[RCLcruiser2012]

Thank you for your review! As many, many have stated the food on RCCL is hit and miss. :( Really does stink about missing Labadee. We always look forward to their private island. Glad overall your trip was good. I know you don't go on a cruise to watch tv but we do like to watch on occ or see repeats of cruise events. Bummer.

[Midwestgal]

Thanks for the review. I just got off Carnival Glory and this cruise was it for me as far as carnival goes. I was looking at FOTS and wondered about her so I, glad to read your post.

I loved loved the Allure and I was curious if FOTS was anything like the Allure. I have some thinking to do.

[Heatherco]

Thank you for your review! As many, many have stated the food on RCCL is hit and miss. :( Really does stink about missing Labadee. We always look forward to their private island. Glad overall your trip was good. I know you don't go on a cruise to watch tv but we do like to watch on occ or see repeats of cruise events. Bummer.

 

 

What was a bummer with the tv was it was in my kids cabin and I couldn't check their seapass purchases. Luckily, they didn't really charge anything anyway, but I do like to be able to check it from time to time without waiting in another line at guest services.

[CanadaRob]

There is no rhyme or reason to where the T-shirt sale happens but I agree it was in an area not highly congested to start with would be better for clients but not necessarily for Royal.

Trivia in Schooner is certainly a thing. and it keeps it intimate in a smaller setting so not sure if it would have the same effect in a larger venue AND you would get more people fighting over keychains and zipper pulls :)

[pinkrosesdeb]

We love the Freedom but know cruising is very hit or miss. We are diamond plus so obviously we are pretty loyal. However, we have had several cruises that were definitely not a “WOW”. Food is definitely declining across the board and I feel it’s the way they “herd” us to alternatives. Having said all that, we are booked on Harmony in April because I have heard almost exacting reports from most other comparable lines. We still love the ships and are comfortable on them so we pick and choose how to enhance our own trips. Sad but true, cruising is NOT what it used to be but dollar for dollar we still find it to be a good value for time away to relax. Start reading other cruise line boards and see if you can find a better fit. People are always willing to help, happy sailing and I hope you find your “home”

[Heatherco]

We love the Freedom but know cruising is very hit or miss. We are diamond plus so obviously we are pretty loyal. However, we have had several cruises that were definitely not a “WOW”. Food is definitely declining across the board and I feel it’s the way they “herd” us to alternatives. Having said all that, we are booked on Harmony in April because I have heard almost exacting reports from most other comparable lines. We still love the ships and are comfortable on them so we pick and choose how to enhance our own trips. Sad but true, cruising is NOT what it used to be but dollar for dollar we still find it to be a good value for time away to relax. Start reading other cruise line boards and see if you can find a better fit. People are always willing to help, happy sailing and I hope you find your “home”����

 

 

Like I said, we did have a fun trip overall. I do agree that cruising isn't what it used to be, but is still a great value for a nice vacation. But I also think it is important for people to hear the truth whether it is good or bad. There will always be pros and cons, but cheering for RCCL over another cruise line is not something I am inclined to do any longer. Yes, they are a great cruise line. But so are some of the others. I just don't feel like RCCL is heads or tails above any other one at this point. At one point I would have absolutely felt like that was the case.

 

And I will definitely sail them again. Just didnt want to do a review painting RCCL through rose colored glasses.

[frank808]

We were on the same cruise as you.

 

That elevator on 13 was out of service for about a month. They are waiting for a part from Europe. The other elevator was working on evening of day 4. The elevator cable was at the end of its life and was required to be replaced. Took those poor guys almost 2 days to change it.

 

That was the first time in 10 stops that we have not been able to dock at labadee. Captain was trying but I thought it was odd that it took him so long to dock as he was definitely having difficulty.

 

As we pulled away the water was rising and dropping 2 to 3 feet against the pier. He explained that he had to use bow thrusters and even azipods to keep from being pushed against rocks. I am sure the person with the medical emergency was glad we were already on our way back to port everglades though.

 

I have to agree that the food was meh in mdr. Our staff was excellent but the food was not as good as our previous week on serenade. I did not think the portions were small as they were the same size as our week before. And you can order more if you are hungry. We love the new way of getting desserts when ordering as it speeds up service.

 

Cafe promenade had some of the best king Arthur sandwiches I have ever had on royal.

 

Sorrento was a surprise as it was not bad. The pizza was definitely better than when we last sailed fos 2 years ago. Pizza was on par with oasis and allure make your own in my book.

 

The last two days the pool deck, running track, solarium and st Tropez were packed. I think it was due to the fact of not getting off at labadee.

 

Also concur with your experience with the sale of t-shirts and the two people trying to work the cash register. That was a mess for everyone.

 

Also why no movies on the last day of the cruise?

 

But we had a great time and will be cruising with royal again. We have a cruise on MSC Seaside in July and will see the difference between the lines.

 

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[rolloman]

May I ask what pier you sailed out of in Fort Lauderdale?

[Heatherco]

May I ask what pier you sailed out of in Fort Lauderdale?

 

 

I honestly don't remember. It was towards the end of the Pier however. I do remember driving past all the other cruise ships that were in the port.

[Paulette3028]

 

 

Food...mediocre at best. Dining room staff was great, but the dining room food was absolutely nothing special. It is no longer a dining experience. When you sit down, they make you order appetizer, dinner and dessert all at once. Within 10 minutes all your food has been served and not great food at that.

 

 

 

Overall, we really did have a great week and still love cruising and we love the Royal ships. I guess I would just say that now we will be considering other lines as well.

 

In our 24 cruises (all on Royal), no one has ever asked me to decide what I want for dessert when I am ordering my dinner. If they did, I would just say "Sorry, I haven't thought much about that as yet. Ask me a little later". I haven't even been given the dessert menu, when I am ordering my main course.

[rolloman]

I honestly don't remember. It was towards the end of the Pier however. I do remember driving past all the other cruise ships that were in the port.

 

I just researched and it was pier 29 which by the way happens to be the worst.....no nearby port parking, antiquated (by RCCL standards) embarkation/debarkation. Now it makes more sense why you had disembarkation issues.

[pinkrosesdeb]

And my point was...I totally agree with you! I appreciated the honest review

[CanadaRob]

I can't say I've seen a decrease in quality or staffing in the last 2 or 3 years in the MDR,

I did notice on our recent Liberty B2B that on the 2nd week they busted out the new menu with the desserts listed on the right hand side. Some of the regular classics not on the menu every night (like escargot) and also passed on dessert on more than one night just because I wasn't sure if I wanted it and when I felt like I did I thought I'd just slip up to the WJ and get what I want.

[MalteseMama2]

Thank you for your review. I also like to hear good & bad. We will be on Freedom in about 3 weeks. In the past we LOVED every aspect of her but it has been 5 years since we cruised on her. We did 4 cruises in a row on Freedom, but not back to back.

DH & I don’t enjoy the MDR so we tend to go to specialty restaurants or the WJ.

I am looking forward to our upcoming experience on Freedom to see if she is as wonderful as we remember. We especially liked the Solarium. We have a GS. If we find the Solarium is too crowded or noisy for us we just relax on our balcony. [emoji42]

 

 

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[pasto5]

We were on the same cruise and agree with much of what was said. We are experienced cruisers but this was our first on Royal Caribbean since 2002. We were disappointed enough that we booked no future cruises which is unusual for us. On top of what has already been said I was expecting some kind of Olympic themed events even if FOTS didn’t have any coverage. What a great opportunity to highlight the diversity of staff and passengers during the week. One of my complaints is that there are no healthy snack options at night. I was told that the ship wants the focus to be on the Promenade so that’s why the Windjammer closes early compared to Celebrity. Pizza and sweet desserts are just not for everyone at night!

I has in a lounge chair right in front of the T-shirt Sale watching the event unfold. It was madness at its best and poorly planned.

In general it felt like too many activities were focused on selling something and so few were just for fun. We did enjoy most of the evening entertainment especially the comedian, ice show and the dance troupe. We were victims of the chair hogging patrol. In the 15 minutes I went down to wake my husband up my chairs were stripped and given away. I missed seeing the sticky note with a time on it when I went in to the Windjammer to get coffee and to the bathroom. The chair patrol insisted I hadn’t been there for 1 1/2 hours despite my sitting there reading, eating breakfast and watching hundreds of other chairs empty and not tagged. But the good news is that the supervisor found me new chairs in front of the T-shirt Sale so I had extra entertainment for the day.

Honestly how the chair situation was handled or mishandled is a part of why I didn’t book another cruise. This was the first time in 16 cruises I tried to spend two days up by the pool. It cured me!

And I agree about the Puerto Rico stop. It was one of the draws for us on this cruise and it was too short. Felt rushed and lacking sufficient time to do more than explore the two forts. All in all we are heading back to Celebrity [emoji924]

 

 

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[frank808]

May I ask what pier you sailed out of in Fort Lauderdale?

Terminal 29 for embarkation and disembarkation.

 

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[frank808]

We were on the same cruise and agree with much of what was said. We are experienced cruisers but this was our first on Royal Caribbean since 2002. We were disappointed enough that we booked no future cruises which is unusual for us. On top of what has already been said I was expecting some kind of Olympic themed events even if FOTS didn’t have any coverage. What a great opportunity to highlight the diversity of staff and passengers during the week. One of my complaints is that there are no healthy snack options at night. I was told that the ship wants the focus to be on the Promenade so that’s why the Windjammer closes early compared to Celebrity. Pizza and sweet desserts are just not for everyone at night!

I has in a lounge chair right in front of the T-shirt Sale watching the event unfold. It was madness at its best and poorly planned.

In general it felt like too many activities were focused on selling something and so few were just for fun. We did enjoy most of the evening entertainment especially the comedian, ice show and the dance troupe. We were victims of the chair hogging patrol. In the 15 minutes I went down to wake my husband up my chairs were stripped and given away. I missed seeing the sticky note with a time on it when I went in to the Windjammer to get coffee and to the bathroom. The chair patrol insisted I hadn’t been there for 1 1/2 hours despite my sitting there reading, eating breakfast and watching hundreds of other chairs empty and not tagged. But the good news is that the supervisor found me new chairs in front of the T-shirt Sale so I had extra entertainment for the day.

Honestly how the chair situation was handled or mishandled is a part of why I didn’t book another cruise. This was the first time in 16 cruises I tried to spend two days up by the pool. It cured me!

And I agree about the Puerto Rico stop. It was one of the draws for us on this cruise and it was too short. Felt rushed and lacking sufficient time to do more than explore the two forts. All in all we are heading back to Celebrity [emoji924]

 

 

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When i booked, it was stated we would be in san juan from 7am to 2pm. Was it different when you booked?

 

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[davekathy]

Heatherco...thanks for sharing your cruise and opinion.

[pasto5]

When i booked, it was stated we would be in san juan from 7am to 2pm. Was it different when you booked?

 

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By the time we were cleared to go off it was after 8 am and all aboard was 1:30 pm. The forts didn’t open up until 9 am and many stores between 9-10 am. So very compact day. I saw the times but when I booked I wasn’t aware of how limited those times really were.

 

 

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[frank808]

By the time we were cleared to go off it was after 8 am and all aboard was 1:30 pm. The forts didn’t open up until 9 am and many stores between 9-10 am. So very compact day. I saw the times but when I booked I wasn’t aware of how limited those times really were.

 

 

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Wow did not know they did not get all clear till 8am. We had this short port time last time to san juan. Last time walked off the ship at 715am and found everywhere closed but CVS. Most businesses did not open until 10am unless they were cafes serving breakfast. Even the forts like you mentioned were not open till 9am.

 

So this time, we woke up late and walked off about 850am as we knew most of san juan was still closed.

 

The port time was not enough as we saw a couple pier runners being told to hurry up by ship officers. But i think some people missed the boat as the officers did not pull the gangway for another 15 minutes amd looked like they were still waiting for other passengers.

 

I do agree that san juan is to short of a port stop but we have to get to labadee on time :)

 

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[Merion_Mom]

In our 24 cruises (all on Royal), no one has ever asked me to decide what I want for dessert when I am ordering my dinner. If they did, I would just say "Sorry, I haven't thought much about that as yet. Ask me a little later". I haven't even been given the dessert menu, when I am ordering my main course.

It's new. Everything is on one menu now. The desserts are right there on the menu when you are ordering.

[Paulette3028]

It's new. Everything is on one menu now. The desserts are right there on the menu when you are ordering.

 

They can bring back the same menu when I am finished eating my main course, since I won't know until then IF I even want dessert.

[Keith1010]

I very much enjoyed reading your cruise review/report.

 

Keith

[depplep]

Of the two nights we were in the MDR I told the waiter that I did not want dessert. He asked if I would like to order it later. Not a problem for them. I explained that I do not eat dessert and he didn't have a problem with that.