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Just back from re-routed Freedom! Highs and Lows

Peardrop

By Peardrop,
in Royal Caribbean International

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Peardrop

Peardrop

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Posted

We got back this morning from the rerouted Freedom cruise. Our itinerary changed from Eastern to Western and we visited Cococay, Montego Bay, Grand Cayman and Cozumel. I thought I would share our highs and lows:

 

Highs...so many, and we had a wonderful time. The ship is in beautiful shape and we encountered lots of lovely people, both crew and passengers. Our teens hit it off with other teens and had a wonderful time socialising. The entertainment was excellent and the cruise director Casey Pelter has become my firm favourite. The headliner shows were great with the exception of the comedian on the last night who was a little dull, but of course that is just personal opinion.

 

Our statement attendant Ronney was great and deserved his extra gratuity for looking after the room of our two messy teens who were in an adjoining promenade cabin to ours. The cabins were very quiet (we had 7321 and 7323) and there were no noise issues at all.

 

Our dining room team were just wonderful, the best we've ever had, and they were Micheline from South Africa and Orlena from Ukraine. Our extra helpings of lobster and scallops were much appreciated! The food in MDR was delicious each night, no complaints at all.

 

The revised itinerary was fine with us, and in fact we had 7 days of glorious blazing sunshine so I'm very grateful the decision was made to reroute. Cococay was very enjoyable, as was Grand Cayman and Cozumel.

 

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My husband and I had the Premium Package and loved it...every drink we wanted was fully included and I made sure to try lots of different cocktails from the menu! My personal favourite was the 'Red Velvet Cake' from the R Bar.

 

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We are in the MDR every evening. I saw a wide variety of dress in the dining room, including shorts and ripped jeans at dinner. No judgement, just passing on the info. We like to dress nicely, but my meal is all about the food, wine and company, I don't personally feel strongly about what others wear. I do enjoy formal night and we pushed the boat out, but my husband felt somewhat overdressed in his tux. I don't have a picture of us on formal night, but here are my teens.

 

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Lows...not many, as we had a wonderful time. I was mildly irritated that several drinks were billed to our account even though we had the premium package. They were immediately removed but it necessitated an annoying visit to guest services which always involved a queue. As an aside, for every drink we ordered we were always presented a receipt to sign for $0 (I noticed that receipts with tips were kept, ones with signature only went straight in the bin!). The times we were incorrectly billed were the occasions in the dining room where the bar service waiter didn't take our seapasses, saying he would return but didn't, so drinks were automatically billed to our account.

 

Another minor low was the indifferent service we received at breakfast in the MDR. We had told friends what a great experience it is at breakfast time (our friends are first time cruisers) however when we went for breakfast, we were told we could have table service if we didn't mind it being a long wait, or we could just use the buffet that had been set up (Leonardos on Deck 3). We reluctantly decided to use the buffet (the wait staff made it feel that table service would be a massive inconvenience!) and unfortunately everything was running out and there were lots of unhappy people.

I happened to turn to an officer next to me (Rodrigo) who was senior in the MDR and casually remarked 'everything has run out, what a shame!' and he personally collected me a breakfast and then came to the table to apologise and ask that we try the MDR again the next day and not let it put us off. We said we would be back the next day at 8am and we got the red carpet treatment! He greeted our party of 8 at the door and escorted us to a table he had set aside, we then received the most amazing service ever!! So although this started as a low, Rodrigo made it a high.

 

Overall we had a fantastic time and didn't experience any of the things I had feared...we always managed a lounger around the pool, there were plenty of cocktail menus (I'd been led to believe they no longer existed!) and although the ship was full it did not feel crowded. I now eagerly await my next cruise, which is Anthem in October 2015.

 

Ps...we had towel friends every night!

 

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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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DarthGrady

DarthGrady

Posted
Posted

Thanks for sharing the review. Sounds like it was a great time in spite of the storms interference. It's nice to hear that the crew corrected the MDR service issue. I've seen many such instances of that over the years. It makes me wonder how many folks who turn up on CC with negative reviews could have easily bettered their cruise by simply pointing out their problems to the staff.

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cb at sea

cb at sea

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NEVER, EVER be afraid to use the dining room menu service for breakfast! It's the best way to start your day! They may TRY to get you to use the buffet.....just refuse...get seated and order....they will take care of you!

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casinostreer

casinostreer

Posted
Posted (edited)

I love reading a review where someone encounters a bad situation, sticks with it and finds that things turn out better than originally expected!! No yelling, no letting it ruin your cruise. You seemed to stay positive and everything went swimmingly!

 

There has been a lot of negativity lately on CC and it's just refreshing to hear about your wonderful holiday!

 

Thanks for sharing and we'll be on the FOS in October (with the drink packages, not chair hogging, or smoking on balconies.)

 

(If you've been away from CC for a while - you'll have a lot of entertaining reading to catch up on and you'll get the drink package, towel, smoking jokes.)

 

Hope you had a safe trip home!

Edited by casinostreer
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cruisegirl1

cruisegirl1

Posted
Posted (edited)
Did they offer you any OBC for changing over to the Western Caribbean?

 

No. We were informed about 10PM the evening prior to sailing. We actually added a port. We kept Coco Cay, then went western to Montego Bay, Grand Cayman and Cozumel. In my opinion, it was the best of both worlds. We had 7 days of calm seas and sunshine!

 

I don't know of they allowed anyone to cancel and get their money back. Or, if one wanted to cancel, I don't know how cruise insurance handles the situation of an altered itinerary.

 

M

Edited by cruisegirl1
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mpoole3

mpoole3

Posted
Posted
No. We were informed about 10PM the evening prior to sailing. We actually added a port. We kept Coco Cay, then went western to Montego Bay, Grand Cayman and Cozumel. In my opinion, it was the best of both worlds. We had 7 days of sunshine!

 

 

 

M

 

No OBC would make up for 7 days of sunshine! Glad everything worked out for you.

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homeschoolmama

homeschoolmama

Posted
Posted

Mpoole why would there be an obc? The ship has the right and WILL change an itinerary for weather. Clearly stated and I am sure most are thankful to sail in sunny weather rather than 15 foot waves and storms. If there is a mechanical problem, ie fault of the ship, it may be a different story. One of my most discouraging things about rccl are the passengers who have made every hiccup about getting obc or refunds. The cruiseline owes you a safe trip.....that is what we pay for. Changing an itinerary to avoid potentially bad weather does that. Everything else we experience is icing on the cake, not an entitlement. Thank you original poster for showing how to handle change and being able to enjoy your trip.

 

Sent from my SCH-I915 using Forums mobile app

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