Another Great Cruise on Freedom

[HesterMofet]

Please feel free to ask any questions!

 

Western 8/16 to 08/23

 

I'm just going to hit some highlights here! We are a couple in our 50s who love both going to ports and relaxing on the ship.

 

Pre-Cruise Hotel: We stayed at Four Points by Sheraton in Cocoa Beach and it was awesome. A little "boutique" type of chain hotel with a restaurant that had a large fish tank with a shark in it. There is also the Cocoa Beach Surf Company (selling beach stuff, surfboards, etc.) and a Starbucks. Across the driveway is another part of the CBSC that rents surfboards, chairs and umbrellas for the beach and gives surfing lessons. The pool is a little weird because it is at the edge of the parking garage, but it worked for us. We went to Fishlips on Saturday to watch the Carnival and Disney ships depart. Carnival was having a sail away party that included the host yelling, "I wanna see everyone twerking!" Further proof why we choose RCCL.

 

Embarcation: Terminal One makes this a breeze. We got to the Avis around 9:45 and expected to wait until at least 11 for a ride to the port, but they had a shuttle ready to go at 10. We got to the port about 10:15 and got all checked in. They started boarding at 11 and by 11:15 we were sitting by the pool having a drink. Rooms were ready right at one.

 

Dining: The first night we had a great server, but the second night they traded him out for someone else (due to number of tables each had) and he was a low talker who seemed very unenthused with his job. We ate in the main dining room Sunday through Wednesday. On Thursday for our anniversary, we went to Chops. Many reviews have stated they thought the food quality had gone down, but we did not find that to be true. Friday and Saturday we ate in the Windjammer and found it to be more than adequate. Very good.

 

Service: Overall, very good except for the above mentioned dining room waiter. Our cabin attendant, Rodney from India, was the best yet! I called him "stealth" because he always knew when we were out of our room and was finished before we returned. The bartenders and bar waiters were excellent.

 

Entertainment: We had been on Freedom before so we had seen many of the shows. The ice show is definitely a not-miss event. The skaters were wonderful. Also, we hung out at the Bull and Bear and listened to Ian Millar three nights. He is an excellent folk singer/guitarist.

 

Ports: At Labadee we rented a beach bed, which was very much worth the money. We wanted to have one relaxing beach day and that did it! The swimming was a lot of fun as well. We stayed on the ship at Jamaica because our excursion stunk last time. I did not pan it as I should have done because it seemed like they were trying, but we decided since we had no desire to see Dunn's River Falls, we'd take a "sea day" and read in the Solarium. In Grand Cayman, we did the tour of the turtle farm and the rays. Both were lots of fun and really educational. I was a little scared of the rays at first (Steve Irwin!) but the explained to us that the rays here are much more docile. Some were very friendly, almost like dogs. They would gently take the food from your hand. We also went to Hell and got our passports stamped. Goofy fun. In Cozumel, we did the Jose Cuervo Tequila Experience and it was also a lot of fun. You also get to see a small art museum and store. This is at Discover Mexico, which has miniatures of a lot of Mexican historical sites and buildings. However, do not drink a yard of ice blue margarita before attending this excursion. Woo! :) You taste three different kinds of tequila, learn which is good for sipping and which is good for mixing, plus a margarita. We also saw a show where guys in native costume climbed up a 50 ft. tower and sort of "flew" down on ropes.

 

Disembarkation: Very smooth, once we figured out where to go. Our tag number was supposed to be for the Arcadia Theatre, but it also said that C&A members could wait in the Star Lounge, so that's where we went. However, the sign on the Star Lounge said it was not for the lowly gold members we are. I mentioned this to the loyalty ambassador who was standing there because we had to then schlep our stuff elsewhere. They called our number and we were out the door within minutes. The new way to pick up your luggage is much better than the carousels. It is sitting behind a sign with your number on it and you just pick it up and head for the immigration line.

 

Post-cruise: We got a limo to the Hyatt Regency at MCO. Definitely worth not having to take a shuttle to get a rental and drive a rental to a hotel and then the rental to the airport in the morning since we were leaving on Monday. Very nice hotel, relaxing. Has both views of the runways and the inside of the airport. Very nice pool outside on floor 6.

[RCI Cruisers 004]

Thanks for the review ! 6 weeks for our cruise on her, western Caribbean also !

[Colorado Babe]

Thank you for the review, we'll be sailing on her next week.

[george35]

Liked your review but you said nothing about the ship. We have been on her 4 times & think she is a GREAT ship.

 

george35

[knots4crewzing]

6 weeks from today we'll be on board!!:D Cannot wait!!

 

Can you tell me if they have the free style soda machines please.

 

Thank You

[Clarea]

6 weeks from today we'll be on board!!:D Cannot wait!!

 

Can you tell me if they have the free style soda machines please.

 

Thank You

Freedom has Freestyle machines.

[poodog]

Good review, we will be sailing on freedom Sep 20 2015

[HesterMofet]

Liked your review but you said nothing about the ship. We have been on her 4 times & think she is a GREAT ship.

 

george35

 

George, as you can see by my signature, the only three cruises I have been on were on Freedom, so of course, I think she's wonderful!

 

Beautiful, big, clean, lots of amenities and then only time she ever felt crowded was when I was trying to get an elevator after muster, a show or coming back on a tender.

 

The difference between her class and Oasis is that there are lots of places to walk out and see the water from the decks. I love that. Being able to go to the bow of the ship at night to watch the stars is glorious!