Anyone currently on Freedom?

Let me start this out with my background. I’m Diamond and really do enjoy the RCCL product. Is it perfect? No, but still a good value. That said, we are on Freedom right now, and the changes in one year are very disappointing. The food venues have been overcrowded and understaffed. The first day on the ship, they literally ran out of food in the Windjammer. Our dinner in the dining room was painfully slow, and we hardly saw the waiter and assistant waiter. We were never even offered coffee with dessert. Breakfast in the dining room today was again short staffed. No one bothered to check back to see if we needed anything. No coffee refills at all. Right no we are at the Solarium. The place has got tons of trash sitting around, and we had to chase down, the lone waiter to get a drink. The staff has been very nice, but the lack of them is glaring. We talked friends into joining us, and they keep comparing other cruiselines to the poor service. Anyone else noticing this?

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I am not on freedom now but will be in April. I am not happy hearing this. Was on freedom 3 years ago and loved it. We are bringing another couple who was on there first cruise with us on the harmony in September. They loved it. Talked them into the freedom because we loved our last trip on her. Now I am worried we made a mistake. I have been hearing a lot of negatives. We are past the stage to do anything now as we have made our final payment.

Since you are still on board, please go down to guest services with the issues you just reported. Someone onboard needs to to know so that it can be taken care of. Also please send a letter to corporate when you return. Nothing will change if you don't speak up.

I hope you enjoy the rest of your cruise and that things will get better. Please let us know if you do speak to someone. And maybe someone else who is onboard who is also having issues will do the same.

This sounds like a very different ship than the one I was on last spring. And I hope it isn't what I find when I am aboard again this coming spring.

Was on Freedom last month - didn't notice much of a change from a sailing two years before that.

Sorry to hear your disappointment. Hopefully the service improves over the week.

We are on Freedom in June with two of our best friends and are very excited for the southern Caribbean itinerary.. Service is always something that can be argued good and bad but we just try to make the best of it no matter what. Keep us posted and have a great trip!

Sailed Freedom November 2017 & did not have the same experience in main DR or Windjammer as the OP(we did not experience Solarium & only ate main DR for dinner.)

Service in main DR & Windjammer were excellent! (except we never saw our head waiter until 4th night-no big deal)

Café Promenade was also excellent service. Only time it was beyond crowded was at the end of 70's party.

Victor, the windjammer greeter, was very entertaining. We experienced almost all staff giving us a big greeting as we passed them throughout the ship.

I am sorry you are not experiencing similar to what we did.

We are in the middle of 8-10" snowfall...wish I was on board Freedom now, even with sub-par service.

We just got off Freedom...First, before people start flaming me! I have sailed Freedom before and loved it!!..I have to say we were disappointed in the food in the dining room. The service was great but the food was not. The best meal we had was at Govianni's Table. We had breakfast everyday in Chops the service was good one day not good the next. Sometimes the food served was cold, or just forgotten all together. Windjammer was fine. The entire time I was in Solarium never once did any staff come up and ask me if I would like a drink. The same was true during any and all shows. There were many happy people working on the ship a few not so happy... I am going to give a review soon.

I'm just off the 8 night Freedom cruise and, aside from a few less than attentive bar staff, encountered nothing OP has. This was my 5th cruise on Freedom and 40 something overall on Royal. Sure she's showing her age but still a great ship.

So sorry to hear this! We are cruising on Freedom 2-25...really hope this is not going to be the norm.

I did the TA on Freedom in April 2017. Service was great in MDR and Windjammer. I am sailing on her again on 2/25. I sure hope it is still as good as I remember.

I was on the cruise just prior to this one. I agree with everything said. Dining room service was poor. Asked for soda several times and never received it, staff was missing in action. The ship ran out of packaged butter for a few days before they started cutting up large blocks for use at the table and in Windjammer. The service at Chops was fine, but the food was not very well prepared (mushroom soup thin, ribeye tough and without much flavor). Giovanni's was a pleasant surprise. Much better than chops on this cruise, we ate there twice.

Currently on board Freedom. This cruise is no where near the standards we have from a over dozen previous cruises. Dining venues on the first day weren't open upon boarding, and didn't open until after noon (compass said they would open at 1100). Dining room service the first night, the dining room didn't open until nearly a half hour after scheduled time, and the service has been spotty. Didn't receive drinks or coffee that was ordered, didn't receive salads ordered, etc. Didn't receive turndown service our first night here. The shower in our cabin has broken twice. The pub entertainer was a half hour late last night.

The staff seems to be trying, but seems to be overwhelmed. Our waiters are really nice, I think they just have way too many tables to serve everyone efficiently and with proper levels of service. Our shower has been fixed promptly both times, but still... its happened twice now in three days. If this was our first cruise on Royal, I don't think we'd be back. A letter to corporate is being written for when we return.

Bosco, please let us know if you get a reply.

I, too, would like to hear their response. We will be on Freedom March 3rd.

This is worrying. We are on Freedom on 3-11, and I've convinced several family members and friends to try out the cruise experience. I hope things improve.

We're on Freedom 2/25.......these reviews are not making me feel too great at the moment. It'll be our first RCCL experience, so hopefully it's ironed out by then

we have Cruise quite a bit in the 12 yrs we started. It seems the past couple years service etc has been up and down on every Cruise. We aren't high demand people but have had food ordered missed, such long dinners skip dessert,long bar lines. I think a lot is work ethic all over. Good and bad employees and cruise line cutbacks.

Food is subjective. I don't expect fine dining in MDR. And hate all Windjammer type venues.

Will be on Freedom in a couple weeks. Still a good deal and less hassle vacation for us. Learned to keep expectations moderate.

Can say from experience that they do pay attention to your feedback. We did a Navigator with rude lackadaisical staff. Went back next year and it was a complete turn around. Talked with staterooms attendant he said RC got lots of complaint they came on board firing and turned it around. So keep filling out those surveys and let them know

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We've been on several RC cruises and also will be on the 3/3-11 cruise. These comments are very worrying and disappointing. I too want to hear what corporates response is on your letter. We have not cruised on any other lines besides Royal and Disney and will make a decision on future cruises with Royal if our March cruise turns out below standard. You don't pay the amount of money it costs to go on a cruise at any level and receive sub standard food, service and attention to details.

Make sure you fill out the survey card at the end of the cruise. They have to report survey results back to the home office.

I have a large group on Freedom in April. I just hope and pray that you all send in your comments and concerns so that this might be turned around by then. Fingers crossed.

The Freedom is moving ports soon, so it’s possible that they are going through staff (or other) changes as they prepare to swap out locations. Not that it should really make it a worse experience, but if they are going through personnel changes they could be going through a period of disorganization that has things falling through the cracks or causing temporary chaos.

It’s also possible that the people doing the complaining have different standards for what a good cruise vs a bad cruise is. I personally wouldn’t care if they served me butter cut from a large stick, or individually wrapped butter. And I’ve never had my room service order show up without missing items, and it’s honestly never bothered me, though I haven’t ordered the room service for a fee, and if I did and they got it wrong I would probably be annoyed.

Some of the stuff bosco mentioned about the continually breaking shower seems like a reasonable thing to feel inconvenienced by, but the rest is all stuff that is easily fixed by a reminder to wait staff that they forgot an item.

To me, most of the stuff people are complaining about isn’t a big deal and wouldn’t bother me. So don’t start worrying that your future trips are all going to be disasters and decide before you’ve even boarded the ship that you’re going to hate it. It’s entirely possible you won’t be nearly as upset about those things as other people are. Or maybe you will. But at least wait til you actually take your cruise to render it a disaster.

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I remember last year before our cruise on Freedom reading a lot of negative reviews. I was a bit worried. They could not have been more wrong! We had a wonderful cruise! Folks, this is just a few people out of thousands. Form your own opinion.

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I remember last year before our cruise on Freedom reading a lot of negative reviews. I was a bit worried. They could not have been more wrong! We had a wonderful cruise! Folks, this is just a few people out of thousands. Form your own opinion.

 

 

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Reviews are generally done by people who are really dissatisfied, or really happy, with a few in between. That’s why it can seem like a place is really going down the tubes, while others seem to like a product or business so much that they flat out refuse to believe the negatives.

It can get confusing for everyone in the middle reading those 2 extremes to figure out who is right. That’s why I prefer reviews that give context and explanations for their viewpoints because it allows me to figure out if I would agree with them or not.

I appreciate when people say “I hated this cruise because...” because then I can see what it was that made them so unhappy and decide for myself if it would bother me. I’ve been on enough vacations to know that a forgotten salad or a late lounge singer wouldn’t even make my radar as a memorable experience and I wouldn’t come home disappointed enough to write a review or a post warning everyone to beware how horrible things have gotten.

It is really nice to have the information though, good and bad, so people can set their expectations and have less likelihood of being let down. That in itself probably helps people enjoy their vacations a lot more because they know what to expect.

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I wanted to jump back in. Overall I had a good time on the cruise. Also, generally I am not too picky. Grandeur is my favorite ship albeit much older with lack on amenities. I find the crew outstanding. I was on her for the winter storm cruise that caused Anthem so much trouble. I was also on the Majesty when we were held in port for a day and a half due to faulty life jackets. I rolled with those issues just like I did this cruise. A poster above seemed to mock my comment about the butter. I also could care less about butter in a stick vs packets. However, they had no butter available for at least a day until they came up with this solution. This was around day 4 of an 8 day cruise. Not being prepared with such a basic supply is a much bigger deal than just not having butter on my muffin for breakfast. It is indicative of the general lack of care or overwork of the crew on this particular cruise.

I have been thinking long and hard about the post cruise survey. I gave it a few days to think it over and I believe I will be giving my first ever negative feedback on a stateroom attendant and wait staff. I really am not that hard to please. I am on vacation and generally pretty well into my rum and cokes for anything to bother me too much.

Although there were service issues, a great deal went right also. CD Abe did a great job for instance; now my 2nd favorite CD behind only Marc "Bing Bong" Walker. Giovanni's table was the best specialty dining I have had in the entire fleet. The quality of the food in the MDR was of better quality and preparation than my last several cruises. This is not a bad ship, but there does seem to be a gradual decline in service across the fleet. I still think RCI is a great value vacation. However, I booked my next cruise on Celebrity and the following on Azamara. For me, the service has dipped to the extent I feel I should try another (RCI owned) line that may suit me better. That said, I have no doubt that I will sail with RCI again. If the itinerary and home port suited me, I would also sail on Freedom. This just wasn't the best service I have had on a cruise.

I am currently on FOS. There is a noticeable lack of service, especially in the MDR. Very slow and a lack of staff. Food has also gone downhill. Windjammer is fine, but unremarkable with the choices offered. This is my third cruise on FOS. It is a great ship, but a lot of things have changed