Freedom of the Seas

Recently I went on a Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas, and I thought I would write a small report on the great experience. Departing from the port of Miami, on 5th August it would visit every country recently in the news because it is right in the path of Hurricane Dean (Haiti, Jamaica, Cayman Islands and Cozumel, Mexico) - thank God we weren't going 2 weeks later!! The ship is simply mind-blowing. We had never cruised before, and we started with the biggest and best - all food is included in the price, and there are many restaurants, 4 pools, about 10 jacuzzis, speciality adult and kids areas, including separate adult and teen nightclubs! World class entertainment in a broadway size theatre, and an Ice Show on the on-board ice rink, and then there's that funny feeling you get when you look over the side and realise that all this is on a ship! Consider cruising if you've never tried it, it was really great. However I did get ripped off by the very persuasive salesmen at Dunn's River Falls in Ocho Rios! Cozumel has such clear waters - great for diving, Cayman is also beautiful and Haiti was too. If you choose to sit in the main restaurant for dinner, you are often seated with another group of people on large tables. We were seated with two American couples from Long Island, and we often met up with them on the cruise. We had a lot to talk about, including an apparent American proposal to rename 'french fries' as 'freedom fries'. They also told us of how there is a tall hill in Long Island near to where they live, from which you can see the city, and they could see smoke billowing on 9/11. One of the guys also played blackjack with us on the huge onboard casino, and as a frequent visitor to Vegas, helped win us quite a bit of money.

The staterooms were very well sized, we had a balcony cabin - about £150 pp more expensive, but well worth it. They also had flat screen HD tvs, and every evening your stateroom attendant would turn down the bed and place a 'towel animal' on it (I can post a photo if anyone wants to see!)

Thanks for reading.

[Neil]

Thanks for the report!

Originally posted by chrisV
However I did get ripped off by the very persuasive salesmen at Dunn's River Falls in Ocho Rios!

They are ultra persuasive, too OTT in my opinion. They tried to buy my t-shirt from me and would not take no for an answer, it was only thanks to our taxi driver saving us we managed to get away from them.

Dunn's River Falls are amazing though!

Neil

I am a Diamond RCCL cruiser, but have yet to sail on their biggest ship(s). I used to see it as a challenge to try and sail on one of their new ones but gave up as they started releasing so many!

Anyway, RCCL have always given me a pretty good service; not too open; not too 'tight'.

Paul

Thanks for that Chris

We are off on the September 22nd sailing of Liberty of the Seas (Freedom's slightly younger twin sister) and are very much looing forward to it . Our itinerary is also Western (which we have done before, everal times - love the beaches on that route...).

We sailed on the Mariner of the Seas last year and it was our favourite cruise so far - so have my fingers crossed that Liberty will measure up...

Did you eat at Chops or Portifino too? How did you find the crowds (that is the biggest negative I have seen about the Freedom Class ships - some say that it has virtually the same facilities as the Voyager Class, but a lot more people using them...)?

Boo

Hi Boo
No I didn't eat at Chops or Portofino, though they looked good, as did the menus. The price is $25 pp, not $20 as stated on the RC website. I wanted to try out Chops Grille, but the food was good enough in the free places, so settled for that and a visit to Outback on 5th St in South Beach.

On sea days, the main pools did get quite crowded, no room for swimming, but plenty of room to relax in. The pools in the child only H2O zone and adult only solarium were much less busy however. Other than that though, no trouble - always tables available in all venues, theatre always had plenty of seats available. Even the quarter size ice rink was plenty big enough. I can understand why people would say it has virtually the same facilities as the Voyager class, but one major difference is the Flowrider - a virtual 5 ft high wave on the back of the ship. That was a LOT of fun!

Hhhmmm, sounds like they have raised the prices at Chops [ii]

We tend to go to the pools early (9am until anout 10.30am or so) or later and so I generally get a few laps in.

Glad to hear that you didn't experience any crowd problems .

Hhhmmm, am looking forward to the flowrider - I tried one in Dubai (Wild Wadi Waterpark) a few weeks ago and it was fab! Did you get to surf properly (i.e. stand-up) or was it mainly boogie boarding (lying/kneeling on the board etc)? Just need to buy a rash vest (like a light-weight t-shirt) to put over my bikini top...

Thanks for posting the photos too - looks gorgeous [8D]

Boo

[Scrooge]

Glad you had a good cruise.

We are heading out, along with 4 good friends and 60 new friends on the Caribbean Princess in two weeks time.

We are also looking at doing a Hawaii cruise next year...mmmm...has me thinking...

Definitely raised the price at Chops as it always was $20 a person. Mind you it is easily comparable to Ruth's Chris in terms taste and quality and that would cost you 3 or 4 times the price

Paul

Boo - Tried to surf once, but fell off after about 5 seconds [:P]. For boogie boarding though, they divide the 'wave' in two, reducing queueing time.

Scrooge - The Caribbean Princess was in several of our ports and looked excellent. The two captains had a 'who can make the loudest and longest horn noise' competition on leaving Cozumel!

[ChuckC]

Chris,
Thanks for the great report. I was opposed to cruising, thinking that it really is an older person's thing. Was I wrong! Had a terrific time on the Crystal Serenity last Fall, visiting Italian and French Riviera. Have now booked another voyage on Serenity; we're heading out on a Panama Canal trip in January.

What really made me appreciate cruising was the stress free environment and the great food/service. Crystal is known for 5-star experience and it certainly provides it.

There is a poll in Off Topic forum about organizing a V-Flyer cruise. If you haven't seen it, you may wish to cast your vote.

Regards,
Chuck-

[HighFlyer]

Have now booked another voyage on Serenity; we're heading out on a Panama Canal trip in January.

Ooh, do report back on that one Chuck. As i have said to Scrooge many a time, that is the one cruise i really want to do. There has got to be something pretty amazing about cruising through the Panama Canal.

Thanks,
Sarah

[ChuckC]

Better still, Sarah ... why not join us? It would be an absolute pleasure to have LRoM and you as members of our party.

If that's not possible I shall endeavo(u)r to do a TR on the voyage.

But seriously ... maybe come along?

Chuck-

I think that cruising is whatever you want it to be - there are many different cruises, to many different places to suit many different budgets...

The Royal Caribbean Mega Ships definitely wont be for everyone - they remind me of the BIG luxury hotels at Las Vegas: still luxurious 9depending on what cabin you have etc), but lots of people and lots going on and busy pools etc. The food varies (like Las Vegas). The entertainment isn't exactly Las Vegas standard though. Ok it isn't Las Vegas at it's MOST luxurious (i.e. it wouldn't compare with you staying at the FS and each at a top restaurant every night)... but it could compare with staying at a good LV hotel and eating at a range of different restaurants...

I would love to try Crystal (like ChuckC suggests) - or a similar line - some day... I think that would be lovely . Just need to convince the husband that he wants to try it too (he is a big Royal Caribbean and BIG ship fan...).

Boo