My first solo cruise, a review of Freedom of the Seas, Oct 31st sailing

[aubreyc1988]

This was my first cruise solo (left DH at home 😛), which I took because I am/was 8 points away from Diamond. I was comped via Casino Royale and was assigned stateroom 2344, which is a HC Oceanview. I did clarify with my room steward when I met him that I am not HC and did not want to be taking away a room from someone who needs HC accessibility and he said it was fine 🙂

 

I took the risky approach and flew in the day of. I figured if I missed the ship, worst case is that I would spend 4 days relaxing in Miami. I flew out of DFW at 7am on Spirit airlines (I know they get a lot of hate, but I never have a problem with them) in the big front seat (Spirit's "First class), which I paid 50.00 extra dollars for. It was a last minute decision to splurge and it was worth every cent. I landed at 10:45 am, was off the plane at 11am, and was in an Uber to the Port of Miami by 11:15.

 

 

Here is where the embarkation chaos started. I had selected a 12:30 check-in time, so I arrived early and was fine with waiting. They directed me to the 12:30 queue. However, it seemed like the 11am queue was never ending. At 12:20, a man from inside the port building came out and said "All these people in the 11am queue have really late time slots, what is going on out here". So finally, they let me in 10 minutes early lol. It was SO hot outside, I just don't understand why Royal doesn't go back to letting people wait inside the terminal. They build these beautiful air conditioned terminals and then force us to wait outside, doesn't make any sense to me. After I entered the building, it went pretty fast. Whenever I got to the security line, there were people there who were causing drama about open bottles. A lady in front of me literally argued with the security person for 10 minutes about her open bottle of water. Once my bag went through the scanner, they wanted to look inside of it, which was fine. I didn't carry on any wine, just had my toiletries in it. Once they were done snooping, they gave me my open backpack. I went to the left side of the security after passing through the metal detectors to zip up my bag before going up the escalator to board. A security guard came over and was just YELLING in my fast to MOVE and go on the escalator. I told her calmly that I would go on the escalator once I had zipped up on my bag. She just kept on SCREAMING at me to move, when I was literally in no one's way or blocking anything. I ended up just ignoring her frantic screaming and calmly zipped up my bag and then moved to the escalator. I won't lie though, I was pretty pissed at this whole embarkation thing and I am a pretty chill person. If I could rate this -10, I totally would. 

 

Once onboard, I left my irritation behind and met my friend (who was also traveling solo) at Schooner and I bought a Long Island Iced Tea. Because I am not diamond yet, I had to pay full price but it was a strong drink and I was feeling it for a bit after. Then after that drink, I went to Sorrentos instead of the buffet for a couple of quick slices and then to my room to drop off my backpack. I did end up moving the chair so that it faced the window and I had coffee with a view every morning, which was nice. I mean, I would have preferred a balcony but the room was SO big and FREE so I am not complaining.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[aubreyc1988]

So since I was solo, my other solo friend and I went to a few shows, drank in the casino bar mostly since we have free drinks, and just relaxed. Not too much to report. The halloween stuff was fun on embarkation day but I don't have any photos of that sadly.

 

But I do have pictures of slot brutality lol. First night I was betting max and got nada...so I switched to minimum and got a few hits

 

 

 

 

After such awful luck on slots, I decide on day two to switch primarily to tables, which was a great decision. 

 

 

 

The one above was on roulette, I just did a drive by with 5.00 

 

 

This one was 3 card poker with 100.00 buy in. 

 

 

100.00 buy in, also three card poker

 

Then went back to slots...big mistake, got down to half of what I came with. SO around midnight on the sea day, I decide to do another session of three card poker. I bought in with 100.00 and it was gone really fast...and because I didn't have any money on me, I had to do the dreaded room charge. I usually avoid this, even though I get the fee waived. I bought in for one more hundred because me and the guy next to me had been drinking and we were having fun with the dealer. The guy next to me was like "Hey, lets play the next hand blind". The dealer says "yes yes yes, what hand would you like". Guy next to me says "Royal of course" and I said "I'll settle for a straight flush"...and I kid you not, I got a straight flush. Sorry I didn't get the cards in the photo, she snatched them away before I got permission to take a photo. 

 

At this point, I was up 200.00 overall, and ended up playing three card on the last night with that 200 and got nothing 😞 But ended up even in the casino for the cruise, which I'll take. 

[aubreyc1988]

I ended up doing trivia every morning, since I am an early riser. A lot of nice people on this ship let me join their teams later on in the cruise, because solo I was doing bad lol

 

 

 

 

 

Casino bar staff was great on this cruise, much better than what I had on Allure. I had a great time with William and Fe! 

 

A little tangent, this being my first solo cruise and all, I wanted to touch on sailing at a women under 40 by herself. To put it mildly, not something I want to do often or maybe even again. The amount of people who thought it was OK to touch me while I was sitting at the bar without my permission was astonishing. By Day 2, I decided that I would going to humiliate anyone who did this to me, so several times, random guys at the casino bar would touch me/rub my back and I would say VERY loudly "Do NOT touch me" and they would scurry away like the little rats they are. This would also happen to me when playing slots occasionally, some guy would think that it was ok to touch my arm or back or something. Eventually, this stopped, I guess word got around that I take no BS. Regardless, this did make me feel kind of unsafe and lonely, like I couldn't say hi to someone because apparently that is an invitation for getting assaulted or something. I was VERY careful in how I went back to my room and these incidents didn't get any worse after I was calling them out loudly in public, so I never had to ask for security. Just something to note if you are planning on traveling solo. 

 

I did end up meeting a couple of nice people who didn't try anything and they were great. One night we went to Vintages, ordered Veuve (which the bartenders kept us topped off) and went to the pub for the live music, which was great

 

 

 

[aubreyc1988]

It was my first time at Coco Cay, and it was fabulous. Only negative was the LONG blaring announcement and "Perfect day" music at 8am...lol.

 

I convinced my solo friend to come onto the island with me and we went to Chill Island/Snack Shack. All of the snack shack food was amazing (For some reason I only have a photo of the funnel cake) but I did order the crispy chicken sandwich, mozzarella sticks, and funnel cake. Everything was hot and fresh and VERY good. I don't know what the buffet was like, but next time I'll see if it is any different from the standard private island buffet fare.

 

 

 

I did go into the water for a bit, drank a bit, lounged a bit. Perfect day, as they say. I did look into the waterpark, might be something I do next time with my husband when we come back, but the pricing WAS pretty high for this...not sure if it is worth it? Thoughts?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[aubreyc1988]

Events on the ship were great, in fact I think they were better than the ones on the Allure. I didn't have a chance to even scratch the surface. I went to the ice show, Marquee, missed Once Upon a Time (I think I've seen it before though), missed the comedy (Was too busy drinking at Vintages), went to Sing It if You Know It, a lot of trivia, bean bag toss, some other pool games, and another game show I forgot the name of. I love the star lounge, the Allure had a lot of game shows in Dazzles and it just isn't a good space for it. Anchors parade was pretty cool, I had a great spot and watched it from the stairs of the casino 

 

Pool deck was amazing, definitely love the colorful design. There was chair hogging but you could find a seat. Only place I never found one was in the Solarium. Who needs it, anyhow 😛

 

 

[aubreyc1988]

MDR experience was OK. I think the menu could use a revamp. I find NCL's food to be way better than Royal's. I always do Royal's set time dining, my seating was a 6, which was nice, considering it was 5:15 on Allure. Sometimes service took a long time. Somethings were good, others were not. Had a good seat though! The servers were great. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Crazy planning mom]

I am very sorry to hear that you were harassed and the subject of unwanted touching.

That is very disappointing to hear that women especially younger ones have to be concerned for their safety while traveling alone on a ship.

[aubreyc1988]

 

 

In July, I did a land trip to Nassau to Baha Mar, and was planning to take the city bus to go there again, but my solo friend was pretty hungover (Although she SWEARS she wasn't :P) so I just ended up going to The New Duff, a little food place I went to in July

 

 

 

After eating lunch here, she wanted to go back to the ship, so off we went. Am I the only one who find these mannequins funny? 

 

 

[aubreyc1988]

I did do the buffet a few times on the Freedom, 2x for breakfast, one time for lunch. I found this buffet to be much better and better than the Allure actually. Definitely still lackluster for me. I didn't know about El Loco Fresh until it was too late 😞 

 

Sad breakfast picture. Only thing I ate was the hashbrowns. Idk how one can mess up bacon and a pancake so bad, but it definitely was baaaaad. 

 

I didn't eat or drink in Playmakers but it is a nice addition. It will be something I'll circle back to on my next cruise when I have diamond drinks. Just didn't make sense for me to pay for drinks in here when I could go a few feet to the casino and drink for free. 

 

 

 

 

 

[aubreyc1988]

5 minutes ago, Crazy planning mom said:

I am very sorry to hear that you were harassed and the subject of unwanted touching.

That is very disappointing to hear that women especially younger ones have to be concerned for their safety while traveling alone on a ship.

 

I was aware before booking this cruise that it was probably going to be a problem. I was just hoping it wasn't going to be.  While I may cruise solo again in the future (whenever I get closer to diamond plus), I will make sure some other people I know will be on the ship because I just never felt like I could have more than a drink or two at a time because of the whole harassment potential. Also, when staff asked for my room number for ship charges, I gave them this little card with it written down...and then they would repeat it back out loud to me. *facepalm* This was the four day cruise, I can't imagine what the three day would have been like for me. 

[aubreyc1988]

Before I knew it, it was time to leave 😞 My flight to DFW wasn't until 6pm, so I did ResortPass day pass at Kimpton Surfcomber in Miami Beach. I paid 18.00, which was worth it as I spent the day lounging and sleeping on a pool chair. It had a nice vibe, music was sort of alternative/chill music and wasn't too loud

 

My flight ended up being delayed for 2 hours because of weather in Dallas, but thankfully my plane did take off at 8pm. Because of the storms, what is normally a 2 hr flight took 4.5 hrs because they were flying around it. I also wasn't able to get the front seat, but did get row 7 and the middle seat was empty so it was another nice flight. 

 

I DID have a good time on my trip, but four day cruises are...interesting! I am now just waiting for my cruise points to show up so I can see my status update to DIAMOND 🔷 

 

I hope you all enjoyed reading, next cruise will be in Jan/Feb sometime, not sure what yet. I also have the Harmony booked in April on a casino comp (RCI casino is pretty generous to me as of late) Hoping to see a few more offers before making a decision on my winter cruise 

 

 

 

 

[Luckynana]

Thank you for taking us along with you.  Awesome room, great idea putting the chair in front of the window!😉

[blueslily]

Great review. Sorry to hear about the uninvited and unwanted touching. I've sailed solo as a woman many times without any issues like this.  But, mostly 7 day sailings. I've heard that shorter cruises do have a different vibe. It's great that you had a good time other than that.

 

Congrats on making Diamond! 

 

(Oh, that breakfast looked interesting, lol)

[aubreyc1988]

17 minutes ago, blueslily said:

Great review. Sorry to hear about the uninvited and unwanted touching. I've sailed solo as a woman many times without any issues like this.  But, mostly 7 day sailings. I've heard that shorter cruises do have a different vibe. It's great that you had a good time other than that.

 

Congrats on making Diamond! 

 

(Oh, that breakfast looked interesting, lol)

 

That is what a lot of people tell me. I hope it is not the norm for everyone, but I did gather my courage and tell them off. I am a pretty reserved person about stuff like that so it took A LOT for me to be mean to these idiots. 

 

I only went to breakfast at buffet twice, one early on and then before disembarkation.  Other times I just went to Cafe Promenade and got a croissant lol. 

[Max and Ruby]

On 11/8/2022 at 12:45 PM, aubreyc1988 said:

 

I was aware before booking this cruise that it was probably going to be a problem. I was just hoping it wasn't going to be.  While I may cruise solo again in the future (whenever I get closer to diamond plus), I will make sure some other people I know will be on the ship because I just never felt like I could have more than a drink or two at a time because of the whole harassment potential. Also, when staff asked for my room number for ship charges, I gave them this little card with it written down...and then they would repeat it back out loud to me. *facepalm* This was the four day cruise, I can't imagine what the three day would have been like for me. 

 

Hi!  I have done 3 solo cruises so far and I was around 40 when I went on the 5 night cruise.  My next 2 were week long cruises and I was older.  I never had a problem with people, especially on my week long cruises.  Of course I rarely sat in 1 place long enough for anyone to bother me I guess.  I'm always up and moving.  It is actually 1 of the reasons I do cruise myself.  I drive my husband and teens crazy that I can't just sit.  Just wanted to say do what makes you feel comfortable, but don't be discouraged from cruising solo!

[brillohead]

I've been cruising solo in my 40s and 50s and never encountered any kind of harassment issues, but then I don't hang out in the casino.  

But I've never felt unsafe about walking back to my room alone or anyone knowing what my room number was -- there are cameras EVERYWHERE, and everyone knows it.  

[RJ257]

On 11/8/2022 at 12:45 PM, aubreyc1988 said:

 

I was aware before booking this cruise that it was probably going to be a problem. I was just hoping it wasn't going to be.  While I may cruise solo again in the future (whenever I get closer to diamond plus), I will make sure some other people I know will be on the ship because I just never felt like I could have more than a drink or two at a time because of the whole harassment potential. Also, when staff asked for my room number for ship charges, I gave them this little card with it written down...and then they would repeat it back out loud to me. *facepalm* This was the four day cruise, I can't imagine what the three day would have been like for me. 

Sorry to hear about your issues. Saw your post and remembered your Allure review.  Think you did well on the slots. Clicked on to read your latest gambling adventures. I'm off on 8 day Harmony this Saturday and then Freedom in April for 4 days. Both balcony comped cruises and hope to have some good luck in the casino. Thanks for the Freedom review!

[aubreyc1988]

1 hour ago, RJ257 said:

Sorry to hear about your issues. Saw your post and remembered your Allure review.  Think you did well on the slots. Clicked on to read your latest gambling adventures. I'm off on 8 day Harmony this Saturday and then Freedom in April for 4 days. Both balcony comped cruises and hope to have some good luck in the casino. Thanks for the Freedom review!

Yeah, after a week of reflection, I think that I could do it again solo, but I would be more vocal in the beginning with people who violate normal boundaries and get the staff involved right away. Sometimes it is hard for me to remember to advocate for myself but it is something I am working on.

 

I ended up 800.00 ahead on Allure and even on Freedom due to that hit on Three Card Poker! I look forward to hearing your thoughts on Harmony, I am sailing Harmony in April comped boardwalk balcony (I mean, I guess better than an OV lol) Are you doing a review??

 

Also debating either NCL Prima or Symphony in Jan/Feb, not sure on that one yet...I flip back and forth daily lol

 

[DandDM]

Thanks for posting, enjoyed your report!  Sorry about the space issues…glad it won’t keep you from doing it again. 
 

An observation I just realized from my one solo trip- it was much easier to strike up and continue a conversation with a couple then another solo. Was not looking for anything more than a casual conversation and the uncertainty of motivations quickly made some talks awkward. 

[RJ257]

15 hours ago, aubreyc1988 said:

Yeah, after a week of reflection, I think that I could do it again solo, but I would be more vocal in the beginning with people who violate normal boundaries and get the staff involved right away. Sometimes it is hard for me to remember to advocate for myself but it is something I am working on.

 

I ended up 800.00 ahead on Allure and even on Freedom due to that hit on Three Card Poker! I look forward to hearing your thoughts on Harmony, I am sailing Harmony in April comped boardwalk balcony (I mean, I guess better than an OV lol) Are you doing a review??

 

Also debating either NCL Prima or Symphony in Jan/Feb, not sure on that one yet...I flip back and forth daily lol

 

I will most likely post my thoughts after the cruise. I was on Allure in April so Ill see how this compares.

 

Ive observed many who cross boundaries. I agree with you being more vocal and alerting staff to problems.

[PhillyFan33579]

Enjoyed reading your review. I can definitely relate to your experience at the terminal at Port Miami. I cruise RCI frequently out of Miami. It seems every cruise there are a few employees who enjoy yelling at passengers. Most of the employees are very pleasant, but there always seems to be a few employees who get off by bossing passengers around. I have never been the target of these employees, but I literally witness it every cruise during both embarkation and debarkation. 

[topanga49er]

Hi Thank you for the review.  Do you know by any chance the per day price of Ultimate beverage package?  We may be doing a 3 night in Jan, and just trying to figure out ahead of time.  Thank you.

[tinkr2]

Good review, especially for those who wonder what to spend to get a casino offer. It seems that question comes up a lot.

I cruise solo sometimes and haven't had the problems you did. I'm sorry that happened to you.Do you think maybe the casino bar has more walk up traffic bc of free drinks and they stood by you too much in your personal space? I am glad you were vocal. As a former bartender, it is tricky to sit at a bar alone sometimes . It shouldn't be.😞

[crazycatlady82]

Thanks for your review--I'm going to be taking the 3 day Freedom cruise in 2023 as a solo. I headed on my first solo cruise May 2022 on Carnival, and will be heading solo on another one here in December. Fortunately, I didn't have the issue of people touching me (I think I have RBF, haha) but it was an interesting experience. I was placed with a couple at breakfast who declined to be sat with me, stating that they were waiting for a friend...which they were sitting by themselves later. Just be honest, I'm an adult. Cruising solo is interesting...I think some people assume that cruising solo means you're single. It absolutely does not. I'm married, but I have a lot more vacation time than my spouse, and we need our alone time. I'm excited to go again here next month.

[Lauren-esq]

On 11/8/2022 at 12:45 PM, aubreyc1988 said:

 

I was aware before booking this cruise that it was probably going to be a problem. I was just hoping it wasn't going to be.  While I may cruise solo again in the future (whenever I get closer to diamond plus), I will make sure some other people I know will be on the ship because I just never felt like I could have more than a drink or two at a time because of the whole harassment potential. Also, when staff asked for my room number for ship charges, I gave them this little card with it written down...and then they would repeat it back out loud to me. *facepalm* This was the four day cruise, I can't imagine what the three day would have been like for me. 

I am so sorry this happened on your trip. I am 35 and was on the Oasis solo for a 7 day I’m September and didn’t have any of this. If anything on the longer sailings, the only  thing was people noticing that you’re solo as the days go by and constant questions about why I was solo from the waterslide operator asking me why I didn’t want a husband or kids to people who wanted to toast me for being brave for going it alone which was well intentioned but was either soul crushing or humorous depending on my mood. It was constant and a lot lol. Anyway maybe a 7 day might be nice for you since I had no issues with anything inappropriate and almost can’t imagine that happening it’s the 7 day crowd on either RCL or Celeb.I also found the Schooner bar to be a great crowd I was comfortable in as a solo female. I hope your next cruise is great!