Off the Freedom Yesterday a few notes..

[Markmom18]

Hi,

This was our 1st RCCL cruise in a few years. We booked a JS, Deck 10, Starboard side, near the Aft. I did the booking in January

*. Great convenient spot to pool, WJ, & our cabin! The JS seemed quite big, which we loved. That walk in closet was the bomb! Our Balcony came with: 2 chairs, a lounger, and a lounger chair with connected foot stool, a small table, and a large enough table for dining. Quite impressed.

*. Our room steward, Alex, was fantastic! In fact every single person treated us with kindness and a can-do anything attitude.

*. We dined only in the MDR for dinner. We felt all our meals were delicious and had plenty to choose from..

*. We bought the Refreshe basic drink package. We don't drink alcoholic beverages, this drink option was perfect for us.

*. A lovely cruise, we enjoyed the Ports as well!! ( Western Caribbean). Plus we're Diamond. A Few extra things thrown on the sea pass card.

 

 

A few things we wish RCCL would change ...

*. Please. Make some of those late night activities earlier. We had MTD, 5:30pm. Would love to suggest that Karaoke have an early evening and keep the late night available too!

I'm still pooped because of the patch I wore the entire time...yawn...

If there is anything you can think of that I could help you with, just ask!

[casinostreer]

Glad to hear you had a great time. Sorry to hear about the seasickness.

 

 

We'll be on deck 10 in October (1231) and looking forward to the proximity to the pool, WJ - even though we're at the very front of the ship, arcade, gym, etc.

 

Anything else we should be aware of?

[sjudis]

We just got off of her on the 6th as well. Internet is awful!! Employees are amazing!pools are overcrowded on sea days which is no surprise. Mystery dinner was cute but don't order tiger shrimp! Little cocktail shrimps! We were served the same tiny shrimps on the second formal night in the MDR as well with baby lobster tails.we didn't expect any better then had actual tiger shrimp in the shell at Giovanni's on Friday night. RCCL redeemed themselves. Chops and Giovanni's had amazing beef. Loved it all!

[Philly Steve]

Thanks for posting. :)

[poodog]

Thank you, we love Freedom and her crew. We will be aboard her in 12 days

[royaloakie]

We also are just off this Freedom cruise. Had a great time. After all the Erika hysteria, calmest seas ever on a cruise. The ship looks great and a wonderful crew. RCCL should be embarrassed to sell that Internet. It didn't work most of the time. Hard to even pick up email. You could never work with it!

[mcd2745]

Also was on that cruise. Some thoughts...

 

Room 1864 on deck 12 is awesome.

 

Room steward, not so much. room wasn't cleaned very well. There was a lot of dust everywhere. Plus, he missed the prescription bottle of \/iagra left behind in the bathroom by a previous guest (thanks Mr. Green, whoever you are...but totally not needed! ;) )

 

Only ate dinner in MDR. Food was very good night in and night out, service was okay. Main server was fine, but assistant server could have been better. And can we do away with the silly processions, trotting out all the officers, the singing/dancing, napkin waving, etc. already?

 

As for the always hotly debated issue of the dress code? Clearly, the staff had no intention of enforcing much of anything. A lot of t-shirts and even tank tops, baseball caps, shorts, etc. in the MDR. Formal nights? A little better, but I would say for men...less than 5% in tuxedos, maybe 10-15% wearing ties. The trends are undeniable and irreversible at this point.

 

Adventure Ocean...they do a great job - when open. First, why is day 1 for registrations only? Secondly, I don't understand why they are not open continuously and have "sessions" during the day, particularly sea days. It's as if they want you taking your kids in and out so that you have to keep walking through the arcade in the hopes you'll spend money.

 

The constant hawking of merchandise in the Promenade is a little off-putting. It's relentless for 7 days. They don't let up for a single moment. It's almost as bad as the markets in the port towns.

 

Activities schedule could be a little better. Definitely could use some more family-friendly activities...especially since they're closing Adventure Ocean at various intervals during that day. Also, on sea days...instead of the big event of the day being belly flop and cannonball competitions, the focus should be activities that divert people away from the pool deck to alleviate the overcrowding, not have more people flock to it. Also, show times not very convenient. The second show should begin at 9:30 instead of 9:00 to allow second seating guests enough time.

 

Lastly, they need to do something about the smoke from the casino. When looking at your pictures in the photo gallery on deck 4, it's overwhelming. I know I have to accept it when in the casino. When outside of it, no one should have to deal with it.

Edited September 8, 2015 by mcd2745

[tlatrice]

We just got off of her on the 6th as well. Internet is awful!! Employees are amazing!pools are overcrowded on sea days which is no surprise. Mystery dinner was cute but don't order tiger shrimp! Little cocktail shrimps! We were served the same tiny shrimps on the second formal night in the MDR as well with baby lobster tails.we didn't expect any better then had actual tiger shrimp in the shell at Giovanni's on Friday night. RCCL redeemed themselves. Chops and Giovanni's had amazing beef. Loved it all!

 

What night is the Mystery Dinner Theater on? I haven't seen it in my cruise planner yet.

[loeytalldog]

Thanks for your review! FOS is our favorite ship!

 

I agree wish they would make some activities a little earlier start time than 10:00 p.m.

 

The internet is un-useable, it's so slow it times out. We couldn't even get our emails and did try in the middle of the night. Yep I got up at 3:00 a.m. and tried! Funny, one day when I was coming out of our cabin on deck 10 I literally ran into the Captain and Hotel Director and they asked how's everything, and I said I wish I could get my emails me/work would be a lot happier and they said do what we do in port go to and they told me where to go in each port to get internet!

[Deeliteful]

We did the Western Caribbean on Freedom last month and agree the MDR food was great. Also agree with the parading of the staff for two nights at dinner is just so over the top. It's not needed, please STOP it!

I had no problem at all with the Internet and I do a lot of work when I'm away, obviously I just got lucky.

[jillpra]

We did the Eastern in a GS. Curious as to what perks you got with the junior suite? Thinking of trying it next time.

 

Thanks.

[John&LaLa]

I was on in late June and had fine internet for emails and Cruise Critic. Balcony was spotty, but we had an Aft JS

[momof4_tn]

Also was on that cruise. Some thoughts...

 

Room 1864 on deck 12 is awesome.

 

Room steward, not so much. room wasn't cleaned very well. There was a lot of dust everywhere. Plus, he missed the prescription bottle of \/iagra left behind in the bathroom by a previous guest (thanks Mr. Green, whoever you are...but totally not needed! ;) )

 

Only ate dinner in MDR. Food was very good night in and night out, service was okay. Main server was fine, but assistant server could have been better. And can we do away with the silly processions, trotting out all the officers, the singing/dancing, napkin waving, etc. already?

 

As for the always hotly debated issue of the dress code? Clearly, the staff had no intention of enforcing much of anything. A lot of t-shirts and even tank tops, baseball caps, shorts, etc. in the MDR. Formal nights? A little better, but I would say for men...less than 5% in tuxedos, maybe 10-15% wearing ties. The trends are undeniable and irreversible at this point.

 

Adventure Ocean...they do a great job - when open. First, why is day 1 for registrations only? Secondly, I don't understand why they are not open continuously and have "sessions" during the day, particularly sea days. It's as if they want you taking your kids in and out so that you have to keep walking through the arcade in the hopes you'll spend money.

 

The constant hawking of merchandise in the Promenade is a little off-putting. It's relentless for 7 days. They don't let up for a single moment. It's almost as bad as the markets in the port towns.

 

Activities schedule could be a little better. Definitely could use some more family-friendly activities...especially since they're closing Adventure Ocean at various intervals during that day. Also, on sea days...instead of the big event of the day being belly flop and cannonball competitions, the focus should be activities that divert people away from the pool deck to alleviate the overcrowding, not have more people flock to it. Also, show times not very convenient. The second show should begin at 9:30 instead of 9:00 to allow second seating guests enough time.

 

Lastly, they need to do something about the smoke from the casino. When looking at your pictures in the photo gallery on deck 4, it's overwhelming. I know I have to accept it when in the casino. When outside of it, no one should have to deal with it.

 

Do you mind sharing the Adventure Ocean schedule? I have two kiddos that usually enjoy it. I knew the first night they are not open, but I didn't realize they closed sporadically throughout the days as well.

[VPIcruiser]

We too just got off the Freedom. It was a wonderful cruise. The food and service were great.

 

The internet worked well for us except on the last sea day (Saturday). The others days it was fine. I had to use blackboard and it worked great on Monday and Friday.

 

We love RCI and just made diamond! But, I agree with OP - please move activities earlier. We had the early dinner (we have three children 10 and under) and my husband and I wished there was better entertainment between 7:30 and 9:00 when the shows started. The other music we wanted to hear (piano guy and guy in the pub) started later.most nights. At8:00 or so, there was a DJ on the promenade which was fine, but we would have loved to hear live music. We went to the big band night, but would have loved to hear the orchestra more often.

 

The only other negative was no welcome back party except for diamond and above. We were told by several crew that it was a new policy company wide as of last week.

 

Despite, those two negatives for us, we had a wonderful time.

[mark22mac]

What night is the Mystery Dinner Theater on? I haven't seen it in my cruise planner yet.

 

Were going on the 27th booked it over a month ago.Its on the first night.

[mark22mac]

What night is the Mystery Dinner Theater on? I haven't seen it in my cruise planner yet.

 

you have to look under activities not dining.

[mcd2745]

Do you mind sharing the Adventure Ocean schedule? I have two kiddos that usually enjoy it. I knew the first night they are not open, but I didn't realize they closed sporadically throughout the days as well.

 

 

Unfortunately, I didn't save all the Compasses and Adventure Ocean schedules. But basically, on the sea days when they really need to open all day, they are open from 9am to Noon, then close for two hours (why?). Open again from 2pm-5pm, then close again (why?). Then they were open from 6:45pm to 10pm for the regular program, and then from 10pm-2am it's the "late night party zone" when it costs $7 per hour, per child. IIRC, they may have been open more continuously while in the ports (other than Labadee - since they have a program onshore there), presumably for people who want to leave the kids on the ship while they visit the port - roughly eliminating that noon closure, but I believe they still had that evening closure. The hours may have been tweaked slightly to accommodate the hours in port.

Edited September 8, 2015 by mcd2745

[JakeFromStateFarm]

Thanks for your review! FOS is our favorite ship!

 

I agree wish they would make some activities a little earlier start time than 10:00 p.m.

 

The internet is un-useable, it's so slow it times out. We couldn't even get our emails and did try in the middle of the night. Yep I got up at 3:00 a.m. and tried! Funny, one day when I was coming out of our cabin on deck 10 I literally ran into the Captain and Hotel Director and they asked how's everything, and I said I wish I could get my emails me/work would be a lot happier and they said do what we do in port go to and they told me where to go in each port to get internet!

 

 

Would you mind sharing any of the places to get internet? If you remember, thanks!

[dipndotter421]

The only other negative was no welcome back party except for diamond and above. We were told by several crew that it was a new policy company wide as of last week.

 

We had a welcome back party for all C & A members on our 8/28 6-night Cruise to Bermuda :confused:

[SoALcruiser]

We don't really enjoy the waiters singing and marching around the MDR, but I am sure there are lots of first timers who really get a kick out of it. So, we just wave our napkins along with everyone else!:o

Freedom is our favorite ship, maybe because Port Canaveral is only a 6 hour drive. I am not sure we'll like the Oasis---too big, maybe? We'll really miss Freedom.

And, as always, happy cruising to all!

[monorail81]

The only other negative was no welcome back party except for diamond and above. We were told by several crew that it was a new policy company wide as of last week.

 

Odd...the Loyalty Ambassador told us it was ONLY the Freedom cutting out the Welcome Back party when we asked why we hadn't gotten our invitations...I'll let you know what Corporate says when they respond to my "Why?" email...

[Addictedtocruising]

We too just got off the Freedom. It was a wonderful cruise. The food and service were great.

 

The internet worked well for us except on the last sea day (Saturday). The others days it was fine. I had to use blackboard and it worked great on Monday and Friday.

 

We love RCI and just made diamond! But, I agree with OP - please move activities earlier. We had the early dinner (we have three children 10 and under) and my husband and I wished there was better entertainment between 7:30 and 9:00 when the shows started. The other music we wanted to hear (piano guy and guy in the pub) started later.most nights. At8:00 or so, there was a DJ on the promenade which was fine, but we would have loved to hear live music. We went to the big band night, but would have loved to hear the orchestra more often.

 

The only other negative was no welcome back party except for diamond and above. We were told by several crew that it was a new policy company wide as of last week.

 

Despite, those two negatives for us, we had a wonderful time.

 

We also had a wonderful cruise on the August 30th sailing. I went to guest services about the wifi on Saturday, was told the server was down most of the day. I asked if I would get credited for my unlimited plan and was told it was reported to the marketing department. I did not see a credit on my account, is there someone I can e-mail about that?

[Markmom18]

We did the Eastern in a GS. Curious as to what perks you got with the junior suite? Thinking of trying it next time.

 

Thanks.

 

Hi,

I'm sure we got what all JS guests have ... A nice sized comfy room. We don't take baths, but liked being 'enclosed'. That walk in closet was fantastic! All our luggage, clothing, souvenirs in one spot. We had empty drawers and cabinet space ...amazing.

OH, YES the INTERNET was a joke...an expensive one! As Diamond , we received $40 off the full price, so we paid $100. More accurately we just gave RCCL a $100 bucks. I called that 1st night. It is what it is kind of response. Never again, lesson learned.

I was surprised at our balcony furniture. From posts her on CC, I thought we wouldn't be able to dine out there. Except for the last morning we had our breakfast on the balcony. Loved it! Wee ordered off the room service menu the night before.

:). Bobbi

[Addictedtocruising]

Hi,

I'm sure we got what all JS guests have ... A nice sized comfy room. We don't take baths, but liked being 'enclosed'. That walk in closet was fantastic! All our luggage, clothing, souvenirs in one spot. We had empty drawers and cabinet space ...amazing.

 

:). Bobbi

 

The JS was awesome! Our 12 year old GD was with us and the walk in closet also served as a dressing room :D

[loeytalldog]

Would you mind sharing any of the places to get internet? If you remember, thanks!

 

Sorry, I don't remember, they were rattling them off so quickly my head was spinning!