Has anyone been on FOS lately?

[goldgirl2]

 

  We will be sailing on Freedom soon and I decided to look at the reviews on CC. The majority of reviews complain about the ship being overrun by “loud, rude Puerto Rican’s who are pushy, cut in line in the Windjammer with there 20 friends, big groups take over everywhere, blaring  music everywhere, take kids to bars late at night, ship is over run by kids and RCI employees stand by and let it happen”. Has anyone else experienced this on the Freedom?  Many people say they will never cruise on RCI because of this experience. If it was one or two saying it I would think it’s an exaggeration, but it was quite a few. I would expect a large Puerto Rican population on a ship sailing from Puerto Rico. My husband is Hispanic and comes from a family of 17. We will probably fit right in. However, I’m rather shocked the the crew would allow some of the behavior. 

[The Fun Researcher]

There was quite a bit of discussion about this in this forum too.  It does seem like most really bad experiences were from one particular sailing when a local radio station was tied to a lot of the guests on board (don't remember if it was a prize thing, or what)  That seemed to cause a lot of the mob behavior, and yes it really sounded like something that would have had me really frustrated had I been onboard.

 

I would be really interested to know if there are more instances than just that one bad cruise, and if this is something to expect in general (to a lesser degree) from sailings out of San Juan.

 

We are considering one of the ABC itineraries summer 2020 on the Freedom.

 

Dan

Edited February 5, 2019 by The Fun Researcher

[msstatemom]

Based on going out of Puerto Rico in November of  2016, ( on Norwegian ) and having a great time , we booked Freedom for next Spring.  After booking, I also started reading all the negative reviews with concern.  I guess if it becomes too overwhelming we will spend lots of time on our balcony.  😉 We will be fine.  

[EeyoreRN]

I've been following this topic for a while as I am sailing on Freedom out of San Juan for the first time in May.  It was not just one sailing, though the one with the radio station seemed to be the worst.  There have been tons of reports of this happening on many sailings since Freedom moved to San Juan.  

 

Please let us know how you find it!

[davekathy]

Doing a B2B cruise on the Freedom starting 3 March. Looking forward to it.

[cruiseguy1016]

We have cruised out of San Juan many times on Adventure and the various Radiance class ships that have home-ported there. We have seen some of the things that you are concerned about and we have also met some very enjoyable Puerto Ricans. You will find good and bad wherever you go if you look for it. Enjoy the good, ignore the bad and have a great cruise.

[msstatemom]

57 minutes ago, davekathy said:

Doing a B2B cruise on the Freedom starting 3 March. Looking forward to it.

Please let us know how it goes.

[davekathy]

12 minutes ago, msstatemom said:

Please let us know how it goes.

I will.

[Ashland]

I was one of several that posted of our bad experience on our B2B Freedom in September 2018 (and it wasn't the radio station cruise). I just think (hope) it was the time of year we chose.

 

Nevertheless I've booked another B2B on Freedom but this time for April 2021...hoping it goes better this time or will at least be more prepared.

[Mullwi]

Just got back Sunday and had a great time and so will you😊.  it seemed to be an actually quieter group of passengers than usual. My only complaint would be very firm mattresses. Other than that everything great including dining room food.

[Amylynner]

We were on the FOS Dec 16-23 and had absolutely no problems. It was a "normal" cruise. Yes, there was a lot of Spanish talking people but had no problems. Very friendly, family atmosphere. No loud groups or disruptions at any time. This is our second cruise out of San Juan. We were on the Adventure of the Seas Jan 2016 and had no problems at that time either. Loved both cruises. 

[davekathy]

We've cruise out of SJ a quite a few different times on B2B cruises on Celebrity and RC during March/April time frame and have never had any issues with other cruisers. The cruises from SJ didn't seem any different than any of our other cruises leaving from different embarkation ports. We like cruises leaving from SJ as they are port intensive. 

[goldgirl2]

12 hours ago, davekathy said:

Doing a B2B cruise on the Freedom starting 3 March. Looking forward to it.

 

I will be getting off the ship on March 3!

[goldgirl2]

7 hours ago, Amylynner said:

We were on the FOS Dec 16-23 and had absolutely no problems. It was a "normal" cruise. Yes, there was a lot of Spanish talking people but had no problems. Very friendly, family atmosphere. No loud groups or disruptions at any time. This is our second cruise out of San Juan. We were on the Adventure of the Seas Jan 2016 and had no problems at that time either. Loved both cruises. 

 

Thank you for this great reply. I’m good with the Spanish being spoken! I’m currently learning to speak Spanish. My daughter is moving to Spain. I think we will have fun!  Do they tend to play Latin music in the club?

[Ajrobey]

I was on the freedom for the June 30 2018 cruise and yes the line cutting at windjammer , rude people and big groups blocking stairs and just about everywhere else . Actually had a lady get mad at me when about five or so kids cut in front of me at the burger and hotdog station ,when told them to go to back of the line. She had the nerve to tell me they’re just kids and I told her manners must start somewhere . But the best is they acted like they didn’t understand English , hello if your from Puerto Rico you are taught English in school , or the one got into the hot tub I was in with fiends and family and proceeded to bum up or move us ,to try to get us mad and leave so this family and friends could take over the hot tub . Needless to say a will never ever sail from Puerto Rico again. 

[JamesEM]

17 hours ago, goldgirl2 said:

 

  We will be sailing on Freedom soon and I decided to look at the reviews on CC. The majority of reviews complain about the ship being overrun by “loud, rude Puerto Rican’s who are pushy, cut in line in the Windjammer with there 20 friends, big groups take over everywhere, blaring  music everywhere, take kids to bars late at night, ship is over run by kids and RCI employees stand by and let it happen”. Has anyone else experienced this on the Freedom?  Many people say they will never cruise on RCI because of this experience. If it was one or two saying it I would think it’s an exaggeration, but it was quite a few. I would expect a large Puerto Rican population on a ship sailing from Puerto Rico. My husband is Hispanic and comes from a family of 17. We will probably fit right in. However, I’m rather shocked the the crew would allow some of the behavior. 

In a word yes, we had had problems with some of our fellow cruise mates.

[davekathy]

8 hours ago, goldgirl2 said:

 

I will be getting off the ship on March 3!

That's a bummer. 😉

[DISFANS3]

Looking at same info, Going on same cruise in March. We will be going with a open mind and just have fun..

[goldgirl2]

28 minutes ago, DISFANS3 said:

Looking at same info, Going on same cruise in March. We will be going with a open mind and just have fun..

 

Same here.... it’s all we can do

[alfaeric]

9 hours ago, goldgirl2 said:

 

Thank you for this great reply. I’m good with the Spanish being spoken! I’m currently learning to speak Spanish. My daughter is moving to Spain. I think we will have fun!  Do they tend to play Latin music in the club?

Yes, they do- but mostly in Boleros, which has a pretty small dance floor.  Always a LOT of fun.   San Juan is the leader of where we cruise from by a pretty wide margin, and we always have fun sailing from there.  While there may be cruises where there are the rude passenger, we have not been on one of those from San Juan.  Besides, we've seen reviews were there are rude passengers from New York and all of the Florida ports- so it happens everywhere.  

 

Hope you also have time to stay in Puerto Rico- it's a great place to visit, and they can really use tourists spending money and time there.  

[BillOh]

On 2/5/2019 at 10:44 AM, goldgirl2 said:

 

  We will be sailing on Freedom soon and I decided to look at the reviews on CC. The majority of reviews complain about the ship being overrun by “loud, rude Puerto Rican’s who are pushy, cut in line in the Windjammer .........

 

I've heard that about every ship based out of San Juan, but have yet to experience it.  I've sailed Jewel twice and Adventure once, 21 days total. No problems. 

[BillOh]

On 2/5/2019 at 11:03 AM, The Fun Researcher said:

 

We are considering one of the ABC itineraries summer 2020 on the Freedom.

 

Dan

Great cruise, great ship.   I would do it again in a heart beat - Still trying to figure out my 2020 plans for sure.

[nomoreknothead]

We will be doing a B2B on the Freedom in September .... and looking forward to it!  We sailed the Serenade from SJ,PR a few years ago and read the same reviews before sailing on her. We thankfully did not encounter any "more than usual" rude passengers.

[PhoenixCruiser]

Just like with every other sailing - there have been some good weeks and some bad weeks.  The passengers and weather are not consistent every week and no one can say "we had a good time and so will you" same as "we had a horrible time and so will you"!

[LBumb]

A bit at times but just don’t let it bother you