Long Review: Fos 1/7 - 1/14/07

[flagger]

Freedom of the Seas

01-07-07

JS Cabin 7712

 

We just returned from our cruise on Royal Caribbean’s “Freedom of the Seas”. It was my family’s fourth cruise and the first cruise on a ship of this size. We have cruised on Rhapsody of the Seas once and Celebrity’s Infinity twice. This was our first cruise as Platinum members to which we had been upgraded for reasons unbeknownst to us.

 

We were in a JS category cabin, 7712, which faces the AFT. Our traveling band of merriment included myself and my wife, both late 30-somethings and our daughter who was 3.5 years old at the time of sailing.

 

Before I begin, I want to stress a couple of things. Overall we rated the cruise as Good. We are active members of a few boards where members post reviews of their cruise experience. Because of this, we know that we look at the entire experience with a more critical eye and maybe have higher expectations than the average cruiser. We also realize that everyone can have a totally different cruise experience on the same ship and same sailing. Please keep this in mind as you read any criticisms of our experience as another’s experience will be different. Some of our comments will be just observations, some suggestions and others downright criticisms. Several members of our roll call had vastly different experiences.

 

If after reading this, you think we hated it. Just know we have booked another cruise on Brilliance of the Seas for March 2008 and would take another cruise on Freedom or maybe one of its sisters in the future perhaps when our daughter is older. We might try the Voyager class at some point.

 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

 

Gosh this ship is big. The pictures do not do it justice. When you see it for the first time, it really is breathtaking.

 

We entered on Deck 4 forward, took the starboard elevators to deck 7 and thought, geez this is a looooooong walk to our aft cabin.

 

Why did they put those art pieces in the middle of the seating area in the Windjammer? It sure makes getting around quite difficult.

 

The H20 Zone is wonderful, but why is one water gun already missing after only six months of service and why doesn’t the other one work?

 

You mean there are only TWO hammocks in the Solarium?

 

Gym, what gym? Never saw the thing.

 

Why does it smell like mildew on Deck 7 aft and by the aft elevators?

 

Ooooh man these new beds and bedding sure are comfortable.

 

Did you know you can really get a workout if you swim against the current in the “lazy river” in the H20Zone? I hope one innovation on ships will be to put in constant current lap pools.

 

Thanks to our head waiter for arranging for white chocolate mousse for our anniversary on formal night, but I really wish Mohr im Hend would have been possible.

 

EMBARKATION

 

The embarkation process on this Sunday was a nightmare to say the least. Due to a confluence of events to which we were not privy, we did not board the ship until after 2:30pm when earlier voyage reports indicated they had been on the ship as early as 11:30am. One of the events involved the closing of the port due to a security breach that later turned out to be unfounded. Another event involved the late disembarkation of guests. We later were to learn that there were over 1300 non-us citizens that had to be processed by a small force of Customs and Border Protection agents. Several of those non-us citizens were from countries where time is merely a suggestion and not an actual measurement. I think several of those passengers leisurely walked off the ship long after their bag tag colour had been called.

 

While neither of these events is the fault of RCCL, the lack of communication between the shore staff and the bewildered guests was appalling. At one point, I noticed others carrying cups of what looked like juice or water from another area. We in the area we had been sent for priority boarding due to our status were never told that some type of refreshments had been available. It was almost as if the shoreside representatives were scared of us. Be they contract or RCCL employees, they are the faces guests first experience before boarding. RCCL needs to do a better job of training these folks as it leaves the shipside staff the unenviable task of trying to cheer up those passengers who started the voyage on the wrong foot.

 

Due to all of these events, we did not depart Miami until after 7:45 at night as we waited for the last of the luggage to make it from the shore to the ship. Muster was also pushed an hour to allow for the guests who had not even made it in the building until well after we had boarded to come on the ship. Again a lack of communication was demonstrated to those waiting outside from reports we overheard. To be fair, some passengers did receive word in their boarding documents on orange cards not to arrive until after 2pm. I am sure though for those who had read prior reports, we would have been so excited we would have arrived early anyway.

 

FOOD

 

This is one area where Celebrity excels. While we never went hungry, there were several meals which were just ok. They are cooking banquet style but doing it for so many more on the Freedom than the M-class ships of Celebrity really reflects in the quality. Don’t get me wrong, there were dishes that were very good but nothing that wowed us.

 

We ate with several from our Roll Call in Chops and frankly the meal was not that enjoyable. They managed to overcook one of our tablemates steak and mine was without flavour and covered with an even more flavourless red wine reduction. The company was fantastic, but the meal was not worth the upcharge. We did receive a nice note of apology from the manager along with a plate of desserts. The Mississippi Mud cake there was verygood.

 

Dinner in Portofino was like a breath of fresh air the next night. The pacing was better, the food was very good. I liked my filet so much better than the one the night before at Chops. It was cooked to the perfect medium. Sadly we were seated next to a bussing station which is a huge design flaw on this ship. They have it in the middle of the restaurant and can only seat tables of two behind it. It is not the same as in the main DR where they are dumping food, but it can lead to a distraction and they are handing water and silverware.

 

I dined at Johnny Rockets once and never again. I have never had a BLT served on soft white bread until getting on this ship. The chocolate shakes were small and nothing to write home about. While getting it, the woman behind the glass rudely demanded her pen back while my wife was trying to finish signing the receipt.

 

I guess I miss being able to get fresh burgers, hot dogs and fries by the pool instead of having to head all the way back to the back of the Windjammer. The pizza in Sorrento’s was edible, but I guess I am pretty spoiled when I make and bake my own. Thanks to postings on cruise critic, we did sample food from the side display which is easily missed. Several people saw my marinated feta and asked where I had obtained it. I just pointed to the side and it was like a lightbulb went off! The offerings in the cafe promenade were good.

 

We did have lunch twice in the DR and breakfast once. The breakfast was ok, but the lunches were terrible. I had a steak sandwich and to call what was between the two halves of bread shoe leather would be a compliment.

 

ENTERTAINMENT

 

Ice show was spectacular. I cannot believe they are able to achieve some of the things they do on such a small sheet of ice.

 

“Once Upon a Time” was by far my favourite show at sea. The set pieces and the music was great. I had seen other versions of “Marquee”, but judging from our cruise in review DVD we missed another great show.

 

The headliner was Yakov Smirnoff and though some of the jokes were long since recycled, he really gave a good performance.

 

We finally saw Quest and have not laughed so hard in a long long time.

 

The circus parade down the Promenade sure was fun and I was so into the moment I forgot I ended up wearing the clown nose until going up the elevator and I looked at myself in the mirror.

 

CASINO

 

A couple of $5 blacktables with an 8 deck shoe. The rest were anywhere from $10 minimums up to $50. There were two single deck tables with either $5 or $10 minimum bets with HORRIBLE RULES. First off a blackjack paid 6:5 versus 3:2. There was no offer of even money if the dealer had an ace showing. No doubling after splitting was allowed either. However there were still people playing those tables. They also use an automated shuffler machine.

 

I stayed at the $5 table and just increased my bets accordingly. You meet the same people just about every night playing blackjack which makes it a bit fun getting to know folks. There were quite a few slot machines, but I avoid those like the plague.

 

ADVENTURE OCEAN

 

What a great time my daughter had here. She always begged us to go back to “Kid’s Club”. My only concern happened the night of Quest when she was the only one in the late night party zone and they called the cabin instead of the phone they had given us upon check in to let us know she was the only one there. No harm done as she wasn’t quite ready to go even when we picked her up late that night.

[flagger]

PORTS OF CALL

 

Cozumel was turned into a sea day as we looked at the weather and saw the torrential rains and just decided to stay on board.

 

Grand Cayman was missed was the port authority closed the port because of the swells.

 

Jamaica was a fun port. We took a private tour from A-z Jamaica Planners. We went to Rockland’s bird sanctuary and had hummingbirds eating out sugar water bottles we held while they landed on our fingers. The lemongrass and allspice growing wild sure were fun to pick up. We also went shopping and picked up shirts for my daughter and her friends as well as spices and sauces for our friends. I would recommend this again in a heartbeat.

 

At Labadee, we slept until very 9AM. Tendering to the island took about an hour between waiting in line and the short ride over. The line moved fast, there were just a lot of people wanting to go ashore. The food at the BBQ was good. We were however disappointed that Dragon’s Breath Point was unavailable. I was also surprised at the number of activities on the island that you had to pay for. I understand things like waverunners, parasailing and the Thriller boat ride. But $5 for an hour at the splash park? Thankfully, the ticket taker did not turn away a 3.5 year old girl who just wanted to climb around and get splashed. I also learned the water slide was $20 per person for the day, but we never made it over to that part of the island.

 

FINAL THOUGHTS

 

We seem to get the short end of the stick when it comes to cabin stewards. There were several times when we would come back from breakfast and our stateroom still was not clean. He did his job, but honestly I think he had entirely too many cabins for which he was responsible.

 

On the last two days of the cruise, the Loyalty Ambassador who also serves as future cruise consultant had a note in her appointment book that was bolded and highlighted that indicated she would “NOT BE AVAILABLE FOR LOYALTY PROGRAM QUESTIONS”. What is the point of even having a loyalty ambassador at all if they are not available for questions? I like that the Captain’s Club Hostess has regular hours and is a separate position from the future cruise consultant over on the ships of Celebrity.

 

Our assistant waiter was far superior to our regular waiter. He was leaving the same time we were for vacation, and then he was off to the Liberty of the Seas. Unlike others we have met near the ends of their contracts, he certainly did not act like it.

 

My spouse, the sun lover, did not like how our cabin barely got any sun. I know any balcony can have only sun based on the position of the ship, but the superstructure seems to help block additional sun time. For some this is great, but for her it makes aft facing cabins on this size ship less appealing.

 

One thing that drove me crazy was the constant amount of announcements for things like the auction and bingo. I guess the time we spent on Celebrity really spoiled us for an uninterrupted vacation.

 

I talked to several staff and crew who said their cabin sizes had decreased when they moved from Voyager-sized ships to Freedom. It depended on the location of the ship when it came to the decrease in size.

 

I wrote a thank you note to the Master of the vessel who took time away from his family and posed with my daughter’s friend’s “Flat Stanley”. He had a 3.5 year old son and a 14-15 month old son as well and was very accommodating. I really appreciated his time. He also seemed to understand when my daughter got all shy and didn’t want to pose for pictures.

 

Walking those long corridors can be very scary for a 12-13 year old girl. I came off the elevator behind a girl who happened to be in the cabin next to ours facing aft. I told her that I was not following her just heading back to my cabins. There are several open staff passageways where someone of that age could easily be taken into. Sailing a couple of weeks after a passenger allegedly assaulted someone on a Disney ship and having a daughter myself, I could not help but wonder who on earth would let their daughter walk alone on such a big ship.

 

There were several areas where I saw form that clashed with function. The wood trim and wall colours of Portofino’s is entirely too light for an intimate dining experience. The pillars on each corner of the bridge block the archway which indicates the beginning of the Royal Promenade. I kept wondering either ditch the pillars or get rid of the sign.

 

I ran into an inventory manager and held a rather frank impromptu discussion with him when I asked what does missing a port like we had done that day at Grand Cayman do as far as inventory. He commented how Freedom is a pregnant Voyager class ship yet has the same size stores/inventory for the Voyager. It is quite the challenge when there are 1000 more guests but no extra space to service all of those guests. He told us and we noticed things like strawberries and other fresh fruit becoming scarce in the final day. It was not really a negative just a matter of fact.

 

I talked to others whose list of things that are not working on the ship is quite lengthy and hopefully will be implemented as much as possible on Liberty and Independence.

 

Finally, there were several times when we both felt “The staff and crew on the Freedom is said the best of the best in the fleet, but we just are not seeing it.”

 

I think the next time we book a ship of this size we wait until after Independence comes out and wait six months or so for those kinks to be worked out.

 

I still missed the refinement of Celebrity but frankly the unreliability of their M-Class ships is a bit of a turn off. There are so many things Celebrity does really well, but the idea of having a long planned for vacation possibly postponed or cancelled is quite daunting.

 

Like I said at the beginning, I still had a good time, despite the criticisms. I am booked on two more cruises within the next 15 months and one of those is back to RCCL, though on a smaller ship.

[BillOh]

Dragon's Breath point was unavailable? Not sure what you mean. This is an area posters have suggested we go next time, we missed it the first time.

[flagger]

Dragon's Breath point was unavailable? Not sure what you mean. This is an area posters have suggested we go next time, we missed it the first time.

There was a sign saying it was under construction, we apologise for the inconvenience.

[CruiseAwayWithMe]

Gym, what gym? Never saw the thing.

You never saw the fitness center and the boxing ring in the middle? It's hard to miss. It was two decks about us (deck 12). I didn't think it was that hard to get to.

 

I think the crew on all ships have different personalities. Some are friendly and some are not. We had a waiter who wasn't very nice. I mean he served us and all the food but he didn't act like he liked us. He was from Turkey. James Andrews was a great guy, saw him around the ship and chatted while he ran to close shows. This is my experience from July 2006, I'm sure a lot of the crew has changed.

[CruiseAwayWithMe]

Gym, what gym? Never saw the thing.

You never saw the fitness center and the boxing ring in the middle? It's hard to miss. It was two decks about us (deck 12). I didn't think it was that hard to get to.

 

I think the crew on all ships have different personalities. Some are friendly and some are not. We had a waiter who wasn't very nice. I mean he served us and all the food but he didn't act like he liked us. He was from Turkey. James Andrews was a great guy, saw him around the ship and chatted while he ran to close shows. This is my experience from July 2006, I'm sure a lot of the crew has changed.

[Smooth Sailing]

We found the gym - it was great - lots of machines - we worked out for an hour every morning - had to drain all that booze out of Katie's body.:eek::eek::D

[Smooth Sailing]

We had a great room stewart - she was always there - she was one of the best we have ever had - We also thought the service was very good - our waiter and assistant waiter were both great - the head waiter stopped by every evening - he was also very good. I was the one at Chops with the well done (asked for medium rare) steak - it was horrible - the worst I have ever had - say shoe leather - I could not eat it - we were not charged. The food overall was just average - nothing great - the lobster was OK - but not any better - We did have a great prime rib that same evening. The best meal of the entire trip was the shrimp fajitas at Margaritaville in Jamaica. Be careful in Cozumel - we had one margarita at Palmeras and one yard at Carlos & Charlies - they knoked us on our butts.:eek::D

[nlcentralchmps03]

Very nice review.

 

I really enjoyed reading it!

[i-m-ed]

You never saw the fitness center and the boxing ring in the middle? It's hard to miss. It was two decks about us (deck 12). I didn't think it was that hard to get to.

 

I think the crew on all ships have different personalities. Some are friendly and some are not. We had a waiter who wasn't very nice. I mean he served us and all the food but he didn't act like he liked us. He was from Turkey. James Andrews was a great guy, saw him around the ship and chatted while he ran to close shows. This is my experience from July 2006, I'm sure a lot of the crew has changed.

 

If I were a betting man I would wager that it was intentionally never seen. At least that will be the case for me when we cruise FOS.

[margord]

Flagger,

 

You stated:

 

"To be fair, some passengers did receive word in their boarding documents on orange cards not to arrive until after 2pm. I am sure though for those who had read prior reports, we would have been so excited we would have arrived early anyway."

 

The reality (IMHO) is if we all got there at 2 p.m. it would have been worse. We saw many people boarding the ship during the 5 p.m. muster. Even though we had a 4 hour wait we were in a/c and sitting down. Those that got there after us waited for hours in the sun, standing, without bathrooms. Not sure what RCCL would have done with throusands of cruisers arriving between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m.

[trucruz]

There was a sign saying it was under construction, we apologise for the inconvenience.

 

They are building a zip line in that area. It just sounds like something more they can charge you for on the island.

[cometgirl63]

thanks for the review!

[mercuryfan]

We where on the same cruise, and the only thing I found to complain about was the elevators on the ship. I think they could do a better job in managing them. probably a minor software fix is in order.. like when the tenders return back to the ship more than 1 elevator at a time should arrive at deck 1... I found two rather crabby people on board HELLO THIS IS YOUR VACATION!!! one lady who sat at the main dinning on deck 5 was bitterly complaining that people where bothering her while she ate. she seemed to be around 22 very snooty also the other was a guy I encountered on deck 12 screaming at his cell phone that this was the worst vacation he had ever had....

 

The waiting to get on the ship was annoying and really uncontrolable due to the incident in the port. my wife is diabetic and had taken her insulin at noon thinking we would be in the windjammer at 1pm. the royal caribbean staff at the waiting area where absolutly fantastic in helping her and moved us to the priorty boarding area and getting my wife something to drink. it was rather funny waiting in the small room there was a big screen tv and a bunch of new england fans wanted to see the game only problem was the tv had a tv antenna!!! no cable or satelite connection!!! the ship was blocking the tv signal every other channel came in but channel 4 the one that had the game on very amusing... after boarding we had our swim suits under our clothes we headed for the windjammer to eat and then went right to the flowrider my son nicolas was the first one to ride the flowrider on the cruise ship.

 

muster drill. yes delayed till 5:30 my wife got her hair stuck in the velcro of the lifejacket!!! one of the crew came over to assist and made a comment that made me laugh... this is a bad one... it took 5 minutes to free her.. she laughs about it now,,

 

cozemel... our excursion got canceled due to the weather Passion island. I tease my wife about this one.. we boarded a coach and headed north to passion island I can honestly say ive never been on a one way dirt road with two way traffic. we get to the parking lot and its raining hard.. to get to passion island involves a 10 minute ferry ride from cozemel across a small inlet. the manager of passion island canceled the excursion our tour guide alex was excellent!!! everyone else took it in stride cannot control the weather.. we headed back. getting back to the teasing part. thanks anne for booking the bus tour!!!!it was interesting the 3 of us where the only ones to request being let off in the downtown area everyone else seemed to want to return to the ship.. we found a cool resturaunt seinor frog... good food. great staff very entertaining... we got a taxi to get back to the ship and found the shop we had visited on our last cruise on voyager in 2004. we had bought back then a chess board with myan chess pieces.. we found and purchased myan checker pieces..

 

On the way to Cozemel we had 10-15ft swells and 60 mph head wind. I heard but cannot confirm that several deck chairs flew overboard... regardless the ship was rather stable considering its the largest in the world.

At the 9pm show in the arcadia theater everyone laughed when we hit several bumps as the ship moved through the waves. Cruise Director Ken Rush commented We must of run over a carnival ship... I was laughing very hard because I was also thinking we also ran over my co-worker on that carnival ship

 

Grand Caymen... I was rather disappionted in this missing this island for two reasons.. wanted to send postcards from hell. and a fellow co-worker from milwaukee was on a carnival ship that was to have tendered in also we where planning on meeting and having a beer ... I could see his ship and waved even though I knew he could not see me at all.. I called him today and compared notes...

 

Montego Bay.... I do not like Jamaica... maybe its just me.. I liked our excursion to Rose Hall. I just think its dirty and the poverty.. they where buildin a highway between Montego bay and ochos rios so the roads to rose hall where horrible. The tour guide and driver where very good. providing great service and great information 911 in Jamaica is 119.. finishe tour at aqua sol nice beach interesing door from the bar to the beach a really tiny door to sqeeze through..

 

Labedee what is there to say.. but absolutly WONDERFUL!! dragons rock was closed and the waves where smashing against the rocks got some great pictures...

 

Just want to say we had great service from our stateroom attendent DEROY we had stateroom 1700 corner aft balcony

 

Dinning room deck 5 table 596 waiter Monica assistant waiter Kenny where the best!!!!

[castle701]

Hi flaggler -

noticed you were in the Junior Suite next to the one we are deciding on. I have the choice of the aft js 7414 or 9280 which is a location I had previously on the Navigator. I do have a 13 year old son who does walk up from the Kids Club when he is finished - do you think 7414 is too far? I am not a huge fan on 9280 as I have trouble sitting out on the balcony and felt that the other one might be better in regards to relaxing outside. Also, can you tell me if the aft js's width and walk-in closets are the same size of the others? We are booked on the Jan. 5th, 2008 sailing of the Liberty. Thanks for your help

[willysgrandma]

I was the one at Chops with the well done (asked for medium rare) steak - it was horrible - the worst I have ever had - say shoe leather -

 

Couldn't you send it back and get another properly cooked?

[allisons]

Flagger,

 

We are the couple that was waiting with you at A-Z Jamaica Planners, whose driver Marc did not show up, had to wait an hour for our replacement driver, and then met up with you at lunch at the Pork Pit.

 

Thank you for your excellent review! I agree with you wholeheartedly!

 

We were in cabin 9704, corner aft balcony. We had the opposite problem. Almost always full direct sunlight with no shade. My husband is pale and burns very easily, so he stayed in the cabin when I was on the balcony.

 

It was lovely meeting you, your wife, and your precious daughter!

 

Fondly,

Allison & Ryan

[Smooth Sailing]

Couldn't you send it back and get another properly cooked?

Yes, I could have - it took more than an hour to get the first one - I really did not feel like starting my meal when everyone else at the table had finished and were ready to go.

[VernaF7449]

I was on the FOS and trying to get OFF the ship on January 7 while you were waiting to get on. There was a lack of communication on the ship, they made a couple of announcements to be patient, discussed the large number of non-US passagers, and that immigration was a slow process. It was hard to find any crew members who knew what was going on.

 

I know Imigration is out of their control but theremust have been some notion that there were somany non-US passagers.

 

They pretty much stopped calling colors and people just kept on strolling off anyway. They had some entertainment in the lounges, and they were offereing food at the Promenade cafe, plus giving out bottled water as well.

 

The luggage area was a mess too. Some of my friends had to wait a couple of hours for the bags.

 

I had a "late" color since I was picking up a rental car so I was in no rush (actually it was probably a good thing by the time I got to Hertz by the pier they had plenty of cars - people who got there earlier had to wait a while).

 

Around noon they opened up immigation lines for the ship next to FOS so when I actually did get off the ship the line only took 5 minutes. It took me a few minutes to find my luggage in the piles.

 

No more holiday cruises for me for a while!

[flagger]

The only reason I would have gone up to the gym would be to try and film my own "OK GO" video by moving the treadmills around, but I think they might not have liked that.

[bickee]

Thank you for the detailed review. I appreciate that you took the time to write it!

[madelinerose]

Well, sadly, on the much older, much smaller Grandeur, we encountered the same thing. The waiters literally threw, not placed the silverware in the bins on the bussing station and there was this loud, obnoxious clang, bang, bam throughout the entire dining time. The waiters and bus boys would then drop food on the floor since they were also throwing, not placing dishes onto the bussing station. Hence, food is on the floor, the waitstaff is stepping in the food and dragging it back on their shoes to the tables. You could see the trails of stepped on smashed food on the carpet. It was really, really, really nasty, to say the least.

 

Unfortunately, there are no specialty restaurants on the Grandeur or we would have dined there for 9 nights.

 

Sadly we were seated next to a bussing station which is a huge design flaw on this ship. They have it in the middle of the restaurant... in the main DR where they are dumping food, but it can lead to a distraction and they are handing water and silverware.

[RN7997]

What time did you disembark Freedom????

[flagger]

We elected to do self-disembarkation. We were up at 5:15, left the room around 6:10 and there were 100 folks ahead of us. WE were in a cab by 6:49 and at the gate by 7:30.

[RN7997]

Did you have to go to Freedom customer service desk and request this??? How did you get off so early? Don't you have to go through customs in a certain called order?? I'd be happy to be off b 8 or 830. What exactly do I need to do????

Thank you