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Anyone currently on Freedom?


MrZoey
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Could the recent Noro outbreaks or cases of flu have affected the amount of staff that is onboard or able to do their job? I work in healthcare and there has been a lot of illness here. Just a thought. We have sailed on FOS twice before and had a lovely time. I’m not trying to make excuses, just thinking of what the issue could be with less staff.

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We are also just off Freedom, 14th-20th. Yes, on embarkation day the food situation was odd. Cafe Promenade only had desserts (no sandwiches). the line for the Windjammer was out the door....passed the elevators and out on too the pool deck. Which in turn made the line for Sorrento's extremely long also.

 

We had real early My time dining everyday (5:45), never an issue with service.

 

We have good friend (bartender) who was working this sailing. It was actually the last one of her contract, that is why we picked it. She told us that this was the last sailing of 140 crew members contracts, and in 2 months that 90% of the bar staff would be different from the last day of this sailing.

 

Over all we found the staff extremely pleasant and enthusiastic. We participated in the Search For Nations Scavenger Hunt. 5 days long and had to find crew members form as many countries on board as possible. Everyone encountered, greeted us with a smile, looked over or sheet, signed if the could, and gave possible leads to where we could find some of the more elusive countries. Point being, we spoke to/interacted with a "boat load" of staff.

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Hi Cruisers: We were on the Freedom back to back in Nov. & Dec. This was our 7th cruise on her and we stayed in the same Jr. suite 9548 we have used the last 7 times. We found the ship to be in great shape.Carpets,furniture, cleanliness were all high ratings. We always speak to room attendants ,etc when using passageways and we alway received a nice greeting in return. We did find that my time seem to be very disorganized around 730 pm. Had reservations but seatings by staff to tables not as good as normal. Lobster this two voyages were the smallest we had ever had. I got prime rib the last formal. Had lobster though in windjammer on last night. They were split in half and placed out on big trays. Served tray after tray of them. This was the second time I had ever seen this in my sixty some cruises but also was done on the Oasis in Sept. Ate at Chops 2 nights and manager treated us to lunch on last day. All three were great. Disappointed this time is Giovanie's, food and presentation and will not us them again on our next two. We will be on the Freedom again Feb.25th and will say goobye to the grand lady april 8th. Bob & Nancy

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I cruised Freedom on the Jan 14th sailing. I posted an in-depth comment under the thread Freedom Review. The issues I had on this cruise I believe are related to staffing problems. Our waiter for MTD had too many tables and his assistant was working in the back most of the week. The bar and wait staff in the casino was way understaffed. Also, they put bread baskets on the dining room tables. Not a good idea when you are trying to prevent norovirus.

 

My biggest issue with RCCL continues to be the lack of communication when there is a problem. The Windjammer had about a 1 hour delay opening with no communication. The rumor was their was some kind of inspection and they had to clean a soda machine. Just let people know what is going on when they are standing outside and in the stairwells.

 

Overall, I had a great cruise. It's possible some of the staff could have had norovirus.

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We are also just off Freedom, 14th-20th. Yes, on embarkation day the food situation was odd. Cafe Promenade only had desserts (no sandwiches). the line for the Windjammer was out the door....passed the elevators and out on too the pool deck. Which in turn made the line for Sorrento's extremely long also.

 

We had real early My time dining everyday (5:45), never an issue with service.

 

We have good friend (bartender) who was working this sailing. It was actually the last one of her contract, that is why we picked it. She told us that this was the last sailing of 140 crew members contracts, and in 2 months that 90% of the bar staff would be different from the last day of this sailing.

 

Over all we found the staff extremely pleasant and enthusiastic. We participated in the Search For Nations Scavenger Hunt. 5 days long and had to find crew members form as many countries on board as possible. Everyone encountered, greeted us with a smile, looked over or sheet, signed if the could, and gave possible leads to where we could find some of the more elusive countries. Point being, we spoke to/interacted with a "boat load" of staff.

 

What Bar did she work at?

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I'm on Freedom in 25 days so I will report back our experience. My husband has a co-worker that is Diamond and has been on Freedom before and was on her last month and had a good experience. We had a bad experience on Oasis,but others report the opposite. Makes you wonder how this is possible.

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On the Freedom now. Weather the first two sea days have not been great. No sun and lots of wind. We don’t have drink packages and have to search for a bar waiter at times. Our waiter in the dining room is doing a great job...he is serving 28 people at 4 tables!!! Windjammer is it’s typical crowded mess. Food is good, no complaints. We always do Royal Caribbean our first week of a b2b, then do the second week on Princess (Regal on the 28th) for a little more relaxing experience.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

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We always do Royal Caribbean our first week of a b2b, then do the second week on Princess (Regal on the 28th) for a little more relaxing experience.

I think the proper term for that would be S2S - B2B only if on the same ship.

 

Biker, who is in a post whoring mood today.

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We did B2B from 6 Jan - 20 Jan.

 

Very disappointed in Freedom’s management team.

 

 

On 14 Jan, Disembarkation was a fiasco for consecutive cruisers. We were escorted off by Concierge to a holding tank in Terminal. CBP came through and cleared us for immigration. We then sat for over an hour while the next sailing’s guests were filling up the terminal all around us. We finally flagged down a ship’s officer who let us back on. We were forgotten. No information was passed from ship to terminal staff. Lots of PO'ed people.

 

 

 

The consecutive cruisers “special lunch” fell way short. We sat for 45 minutes in the dining room while tables around us received lunch and we notified waiter supervisor (Monica Cabrera) twice that we had not yet been served. She did not know what to do and took NO ACTION – she should not be a supervisor. We finally left, disgusted, without being served and notified both Hotel Director Xavier Matthias (personally) and Guest Services (a hand written note for the Guest Services Manager). We tried to go to the Windjammer but the lines were out to the elevators and no one could get into the restaurant as all lines were long and only one side was opened. We went back to our rooms and made cup-of-soups. We received no feedback the entire cruise from management. Very sad.

 

 

In our cabin, (Junior Suite), we received no upgraded toiletries (we are Pinnacle).

We received no hors d’oeuvres plates, cheese plates, and only one bottle of wine.

There was no lunch with an officer as the request cards had that omitted with only two tours listed.

 

 

We have sailed on many other ships for 4-6 day cruises (this was 6 and the previous B2B was 8) and always received lunch with an officer, multiple bottles of wine, hors d’oeuvres, toiletries, etc. There are good management teams on the other ships and then there is Freedom's. Time for a change.

 

 

 

Even Empress with 5 night cruises has a fantastic lunch with the officers. Someone is dropping the ball. But, then again, the better Hotel Directors do better things for their guests.

 

 

All in all – this was a very disappointing cruise specifically due to lack of management.

 

 

We even received questionnaires in the room the last night to write down if anyone in the rooms had experienced gastrointestinal problems, with their cabin number. They state they wanted it for a count. How stupid do they think the passengers are? I'm sure anyone that answered they had problems will be red-flagged for future cruises.

 

 

We overlooked the Captain's table and none of the top end cruisers were invited. Interesting.

 

 

 

The only saving grace was the bartenders in the Concierge Lounge were fantastic(especially Monica) and we had breakfast in Chops daily. The continental breakfast in DL and CL was substandard. We just got off the Navigator on 5 Jan and they do things correctly. That was very nice - better management. Continental breakfast had fancy pastries, smoothies, parfaits, and many other above and beyond items.

 

 

Main dining room menus changed this cruise. Some better some worse.

 

 

 

I would not want to travel on Freedom of the Seas again because management is substandard and needs a refresher course in how to manage crew, passengers, and venues. Thankfully, she is going to Puerto Rico and out of southern Florida.

 

 

 

This was our first 2 cruises as Pinnacle and we were very, very disappointed.

 

 

Thankfully, we're back on Allure shortly where things are really under control. Dexter, Usha, and Anastasia run a good ship.

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I did both on the ship and in my cruise review survey. If there is another way I'm all ears.

I would take what you wrote above and send it right to the C.E.O.'s office. If the ship has issues the info needs to get to the people who can fix it.

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I did both on the ship and in my cruise review survey. If there is another way I'm all ears.

 

I'm a more-or-less rookie cruiser...does crew tend to change when a ship is re-positioned? I'm currently scheduled to be on that last cruise in early May where it gets re-positioned from FLL to SJU, and am curious how staffing works.

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We did B2B from 6 Jan - 20 Jan.

 

Very disappointed in Freedom’s management team.

 

 

On 14 Jan, Disembarkation was a fiasco for consecutive cruisers. We were escorted off by Concierge to a holding tank in Terminal. CBP came through and cleared us for immigration. We then sat for over an hour while the next sailing’s guests were filling up the terminal all around us. We finally flagged down a ship’s officer who let us back on. We were forgotten. No information was passed from ship to terminal staff. Lots of PO'ed people.

 

 

 

The consecutive cruisers “special lunch” fell way short. We sat for 45 minutes in the dining room while tables around us received lunch and we notified waiter supervisor (Monica Cabrera) twice that we had not yet been served. She did not know what to do and took NO ACTION – she should not be a supervisor. We finally left, disgusted, without being served and notified both Hotel Director Xavier Matthias (personally) and Guest Services (a hand written note for the Guest Services Manager). We tried to go to the Windjammer but the lines were out to the elevators and no one could get into the restaurant as all lines were long and only one side was opened. We went back to our rooms and made cup-of-soups. We received no feedback the entire cruise from management. Very sad.

 

 

In our cabin, (Junior Suite), we received no upgraded toiletries (we are Pinnacle).

We received no hors d’oeuvres plates, cheese plates, and only one bottle of wine.

There was no lunch with an officer as the request cards had that omitted with only two tours listed.

 

 

We have sailed on many other ships for 4-6 day cruises (this was 6 and the previous B2B was 8) and always received lunch with an officer, multiple bottles of wine, hors d’oeuvres, toiletries, etc. There are good management teams on the other ships and then there is Freedom's. Time for a change.

 

 

 

Even Empress with 5 night cruises has a fantastic lunch with the officers. Someone is dropping the ball. But, then again, the better Hotel Directors do better things for their guests.

 

 

All in all – this was a very disappointing cruise specifically due to lack of management.

 

 

We even received questionnaires in the room the last night to write down if anyone in the rooms had experienced gastrointestinal problems, with their cabin number. They state they wanted it for a count. How stupid do they think the passengers are? I'm sure anyone that answered they had problems will be red-flagged for future cruises.

 

 

We overlooked the Captain's table and none of the top end cruisers were invited. Interesting.

 

 

 

The only saving grace was the bartenders in the Concierge Lounge were fantastic(especially Monica) and we had breakfast in Chops daily. The continental breakfast in DL and CL was substandard. We just got off the Navigator on 5 Jan and they do things correctly. That was very nice - better management. Continental breakfast had fancy pastries, smoothies, parfaits, and many other above and beyond items.

 

 

Main dining room menus changed this cruise. Some better some worse.

 

 

 

I would not want to travel on Freedom of the Seas again because management is substandard and needs a refresher course in how to manage crew, passengers, and venues. Thankfully, she is going to Puerto Rico and out of southern Florida.

 

 

 

This was our first 2 cruises as Pinnacle and we were very, very disappointed.

 

 

Thankfully, we're back on Allure shortly where things are really under control. Dexter, Usha, and Anastasia run a good ship.

 

 

The Jan.14th sailing was the worst I have experienced on Freedom. It is not the norm. I really like that ship.

 

I think the norovirus issues have thrown them off their game. Of course that's speculation on my part. They don't communicate when there is a problem. The delay with opening the Windjammer the first day set the tone for a lot of passengers, starting off with a negative impression. RCCL should immediately communicate to let people know what is going on. That is my biggest complaint.

 

I still had a great cruise, but have had better on this ship.

Sandy

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The Jan.14th sailing was the worst I have experienced on Freedom. It is not the norm. I really like that ship.

 

I think the norovirus issues have thrown them off their game. Of course that's speculation on my part. They don't communicate when there is a problem. The delay with opening the Windjammer the first day set the tone for a lot of passengers, starting off with a negative impression. RCCL should immediately communicate to let people know what is going on. That is my biggest complaint.

 

I still had a great cruise, but have had better on this ship.

Sandy

 

I was on that cruise. I agree with you. I’ve been on FOS 3 times. This was the worst.

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