Need info on Freedom

[Maryunit65]

My wife and I are avid Carnival cruisers, but I guess the Travel Channel is doing its part to help sell bookings on ships like RC Freedom of the Seas. We watched the travel channel special on the Freedom and we were very impressed with this ship. We also have watched the Discovery Channel special on the building of the Freedom. (sounds like we need to stop watching tv huh?) With that being said I was looking online for another one of our Carnival Cruises. It was then that my wife informed me that she did NOT want to go on a Carnival cruise but she instead wanted to go on the Freedom. We would prefer going somewhere we have not been before but mainly just wanting to go on that ship and try RC. Now I am some what reluctant since we have always gone on Carnival and had a blast. Yes I know some people post views on here of how SUB-standard Carnival is but I have been on approx 11 cruises with them and other than the usual glitch now and then we have been very pleased. I have been on the Triumph twice, the Sensation, Celebration, Fantasy, Imagination, Ect as far back as the early 80's on the Carnival & Festival(2 of their first ships). Well a long story longer I called my cruise planner @ Carnival (Charlotte) she is great and needless to say she was disappointed but said the only way I would know to compare was to go with RC,However she gave me some option cruises with her on the Liberty or the Valor. I have not been on either of them. They are going to different ports (which we have not been to) and are slightly cheaper but comparable rooms with an extended balcony. I guess all this leads to my question of HELP !!!!! What should I do? Stay with what I know and stay loyal to Charlotte & Carnival or try something new and go with the booking that I already have on the Freedom Sept 16th? Any and all advise would be appreciated.

[mom2girls]

I also have never been on a RC ship. But, I too saw the Freedom special and decided to give them a try. Since Liberty of the Seas is the sister ship to Freedom we have her booked for June.

 

I've been on several Carnival cruises and have never had any problems. We've always had a great time. But, I wanted to try something different. I also considered booking Carnival Liberty. I figured if I don't try RC now when will I? So, we're going on Liberty of the Seas.

[long pond cruiser]

Hi...We tried the Freedom of the Seas, after having been on several Carnival Cruises that we just loved. I have to say that the promanade deck with all the shops, icecream palor, coffee shop, pizza place, bars and such just blew us away. This really made a huge difference for us. It was like sitting on a main street in a city or a quaint town. This ship was just so huge, and had so much on it, that we felt we didnt see everything that they had to offer. But, it didnt seem so big that we couldn't walk around and the crowds were far from overwhelming to us.

 

All I can say is each cruise is different. We loved Carnival, but really loved Freedom of the Seas. We always said that the Freedom criuse was all about the ship and not so much the ports. Its just something you should try. I'm sure we will do Carnival again, but my vote, after you have been on other cruises, is to just TRY this one !! :D :D

 

Jen

[dawnala]

I was on the 3rd sailing of Freedom...highly encourage you to go! The food was incredible in the main dining room (we didn't even try the other restaurants because we couldn't wait to see the selection in the main dining room), the staff was super friendly, the promenade was overwhelming...I could go on and on! I enjoyed the ship so much I made the decision not to go ashore at every port...ok, so I was a little hung over at Cozumel. I have pics and itineraries from the Freedom if you would like to see them. I wasn't able to try the FlowRider due to a little fall at my ice skating lesson. There's always next time, right? I would say book the Freedom or book for it's sister ship Liberty for it's inaugural year. One other thing I think you should consider, separate pools...one end is the H2O zone for the kiddies, next pool up is more of a public pool, then the next pool up is more of an adults pool. Plenty of quiet time or plenty action going on all the time for you to choose from. HAVE FUN!!!

[Boo Boo]

This question might get more replies if posted on the "RCCL forum" and not the "Liberty" sub forum...?

 

Boo

[Silvery Seas Cruiser]

We enjoyed our cruise on Freedom of the Seas so much last year that we booked a cruise Liberty of the Seas. This class of ships has so much to offer that taking two cruises on similar ships doesn't seem repetitive at all. A week is hardly enough!

 

The only port I really wanted to try was Labadee, but Hubby wanted me to go along to the other excursions, so I did. For me it was fine to just stay on the ship.

 

The main thing that stood out for me is the incredible attention to detail in the art, the decor, the public areas, even such things as the theater stage curtain and life size chrome bulldog right outside the Prominade Cafe. The two night time parades down the Prominade were spectacular. The bridge that goes up and down over the Prominade for use in the parades. A near life-size elephant! There just aren't enough superlatives I can use. The only thing this ship lacked is a ferris wheel and roller coaster!

[suziehmkr]

Having sailed on both Carnival & RCCL, I can say that you won't be disappointed with RCCL. While we like the Carnival Pride because it is close to home, inexpensive and an excellent ship (we had so much fun we booked the same ship/itinerary again!) - Royal Caribbean remains our favorite line. You can't go wrong - you will have a GREAT time!

[Cavatelli430]

Hello all!

I've only been on one cruise with RCCL, it was incredible! You can read as many rave reviews as we can write, but you won't know till you experience RCCL yourself. I honestly don't think you will be disappointed. My husband and I were overly impressed with staff friendliness. A friend of mine had referred us to RCCL for our first cruise. She's been on a few cruises with them, one being her wedding. So I knew we had to give it a try! Good luck and hope you decide to stick with your first cruise on RCCL.