Just returned from Freedom Dec. 18th-24th

[happy cruiser1234]

We stayed at Springhill Suites in Dania Beach area. Hotel was very busy, it provided a free breakfast, free shuttle from the airport and free shuttle to the ship. Only problem with the shuttle to the ship was we booked a time of 10:30am but it didn't come until 11:25. By the time we were dropped off at the Terminal it was after 12:20. Next time I would rather spend the $20 on a Taxi and get there when I wanted to.

 

Check in was fast and painless. We are Platinum for Crown and Anchor and there was no line. We were on the ship in 20 minutes. However the line for Gold Crown and Anchor members was huge. Later we heard people complaining that it took a couple of hours for Gold members to check-in.

 

We were booked in balcony cabin 8278 and our daughters ages 13 and 16 were directly across from us in Promenade cabin 8279. They had a different muster station then us. I went to Guest Services to see if we could have the same muster station and they said the only way was if we changed cabins but the ship was sold out. Luckily my sister and brother in-law were travelling with us and they had the same muster station as my kids so I just left it. In the event of a true emergency our kids would have been on a different life boat from us.

 

We requested a foam topper for our bed before sailing and I'm glad we did because our mattress was rock hard, even with the topper it was still firm. My sister also requested a foam topper for her bed but she had an older mattress and her bed was much more comfortable then ours.

 

We were a bit concerned about the food quality in the dining room because of recent changes to the menus. But overall we were happy with the food in the dining room. The new cuts of meat although were a cheaper cut from the Prime Rib and Beef Tenderloin were still decent. We ate dinner in the dining room every night except one. The last night was December 24th and they had a special Christmas dinner with a better quality Turkey and stuffing then what is normally offered. They also had a really nice honey ham and lamb shank. Fried Brie, French Onion Soup and special desserts.

 

We have been on Allure 3 times and we found Freedom to be much more crowded. The day we were in Costa Maya from 12-7 most people took the opportunity to sleep in a bit and go for a later breakfast. The dining room closed at 10am so we went to the windjammer around 10:30 for breakfast, well so did 3,000 other people. It took us 20 minutes to find a table they finally sat us in Giovanni's. The lines for food were horrendous, people were cutting in line then Royal staff started to close the food stations. It took a good 15-20 minutes to get our food and sit down, and by then all our food was cold. It was so stressful you just felt like crying by the time you sat down with your food.

 

We loved all of our Ports: Grand Cayman, Costa Maya and Cozumel.

 

The entertainment was top notch and we all enjoyed the shows immensely! The ship was decorated beautifully for Christmas.

 

All the staff we encountered on Freedom were friendly and helpful. The ship was kept sparkling clean.

 

In the future I think we will stick to the Oasis class ships during busy travel dates. The Oasis class ships can handle the crowds much more efficiently.

 

Any questions please feel free to ask. :)

 

Serena

[Ourusualbeach]

Hi Serena, welcome back.

 

Glad to hear that overall it sounded like the cruise was enjoyable despite a couple of hiccups. I agree about the Oasis class feeling less crowded.

 

See you in March.:)

[happy cruiser1234]

Hi Serena, welcome back.

 

Glad to hear that overall it sounded like the cruise was enjoyable despite a couple of hiccups. I agree about the Oasis class feeling less crowded.

 

See you in March.:)

 

Hi Ken, you must be getting ready for your Allure trip on Sunday! Have a great time! See you on Harmony in March....BTW, in Cozumel we docked beside Harmony and she is breathtaking! :)

[Ourusualbeach]

Hi Ken, you must be getting ready for your Allure trip on Sunday! Have a great time! See you on Harmony in March....BTW, in Cozumel we docked beside Harmony and she is breathtaking! :)

 

Thanks, we are heading out Friday. Weather looks bad on the Buffalo route so we will go through Detroit and add a couple of hours to our trip.

 

Must have been a nice surprise seeing Harmony knowing you will be sailing on her in less than 3 months.

 

What did you do in Costa Maya? We've booked the water park and my mom and sister are going to the all inclusive beach.

[molly361]

Hi Serena, welcome back.

 

Glad to hear that overall it sounded like the cruise was enjoyable despite a couple of hiccups. I agree about the Oasis class feeling less crowded.

 

See you in March.:)

 

Shouldn't you be packing??

[Ourusualbeach]

Shouldn't you be packing??

 

Done.:)

[happy cruiser1234]

Thanks, we are heading out Friday. Weather looks bad on the Buffalo route so we will go through Detroit and add a couple of hours to our trip.

 

Must have been a nice surprise seeing Harmony knowing you will be sailing on her in less than 3 months.

 

What did you do in Costa Maya? We've booked the water park and my mom and sister are going to the all inclusive beach.

 

In Costa Maya we took a cab to the Malecon and went to Tropicante on the beach. We had a great lunch and drinks. They provided a shaded table to eat lunch and lounge chairs. They whole day with food and drinks cost $47 plus tip. Well worth it! The people on the island are so friendly and happy.

[DISFANS3]

Great trip report, we will be on the Freedom in one year...

[Ourusualbeach]

In Costa Maya we took a cab to the Malecon and went to Tropicante on the beach. We had a great lunch and drinks. They provided a shaded table to eat lunch and lounge chairs. They whole day with food and drinks cost $47 plus tip. Well worth it! The people on the island are so friendly and happy.

 

Great deal. Definitely keeping that in mind for next time.

[scottygirl]

How was debarkation? What time did you get off?

[Kovster]

However the line for Gold Crown and Anchor members was huge. Later we heard people complaining that it took a couple of hours for Gold members to check-in.

 

 

That's not encouraging at all :( Only second cruise on on RC, so i'll be stuck in that Gold line. I wonder if I should just get there really early next month. For my 29th sailing.

 

Also, were any of the Sollarium hot tubs open at night?

Edited December 27, 2016 by Kovster

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Thank you for the good trip report. God willing, we will be on the Freedom in October for her TA back from Barcelona. We love the Oasis Class and did the Harmony last October on the TA. We are always surprised at how uncrowded the Oasis Class feels for the number of passengers. We have been on all three Oasis Class ships.

 

The only time we felt crowds on the Harmony was during large centralized events, like the Halloween party on the Promenade. I am hoping the Freedom will not feel so crowded during the TA. There are fewer kids onboard during a TA, making for fewer people onboard in general, even when sold out (lower density cabin occupancy). We have never sailed on the Freedom Class and we are really looking forward to it!

[njmomof2]

I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed Freedom. We love her and have sailed her numerous times.

 

It's interesting when people who have sailed both Freedom class and Oasis class say they felt Freedom was crowded and Oasis was not.

 

We have sailed both and our experience was the opposite. We found Oasis crowded, too large, just not as much to our taste as Freedom. However, in April, after booking on X Silhouette with just mom and me, we now changed over to Allure because my 14 yo is joining us. It was the only other ship sailing from FLL on the same day, since we already had our air booked and couldn't change it.

 

Other than a couple of different restaurants, I can't say that we're that excited about Allure. The things that she has that are different from the Freedom class just weren't enough to make us say that she's so much better. Yes, 2 flowriders, but boys only do stand up now so the extra doesn't do much for them. Don't care about the zip line, all the extra eateries, just not enough of a dealbreaker for us.

 

We love Freedom; unfortunately, she's not around when we sail in April.

[happy cruiser1234]

How was debarkation? What time did you get off?

 

We did self disembarkation and carried our own luggage off. We left at 7:45, we were off the ship and though customs by 8:15.

[happy cruiser1234]

That's not encouraging at all :( Only second cruise on on RC, so i'll be stuck in that Gold line. I wonder if I should just get there really early next month. For my 29th sailing.

 

Also, were any of the Sollarium hot tubs open at night?

 

Might be a good idea to get there early if you want to avoid long lines. And I'm pretty sure the Solarium hot tub was closed the couple of times we walked by at night. But the hot tub in the main pool area was open.

[LDR]

Thanks for your review! Boarding her Friday for NYE:-)

[easyboy]

Thanks for your review.

[Clarea]

Appreciate the report.

[harryfat1]

Hi, Serena,

 

Glad you made it back home safely.

 

We arrived at the pier around 10:15 and had very little wait and was on the ship by 11:40 - even as the lowly gold level people. Perhaps many people actually followed the RCI email that asks every to show up after 12:30 and that in of itself created a long line that RCI was trying to avoid in staggering people for checking in.

 

Our sailing was packed to the rafters as it's holiday season at 4,416 people or approx. 117% of double capacity. That had an impact of how crowded the ship felt.

 

I'll be uploading a few pictures from the cruise so please feel free to drop by and say hi.

[happy cruiser1234]

Hi, Serena,

 

Glad you made it back home safely.

 

We arrived at the pier around 10:15 and had very little wait and was on the ship by 11:40 - even as the lowly gold level people. Perhaps many people actually followed the RCI email that asks every to show up after 12:30 and that in of itself created a long line that RCI was trying to avoid in staggering people for checking in.

 

Our sailing was packed to the rafters as it's holiday season at 4,416 people or approx. 117% of double capacity. That had an impact of how crowded the ship felt.

 

I'll be uploading a few pictures from the cruise so please feel free to drop by and say hi.

 

Hi Harry,

 

I can't wait to read your report and see pictures from your perspective. We certainly lucked out with the perfect weather on this sailing. I was thinking about you when we were in Mexico, what a perfect day to go see the ruins!

[BillOh]

Thank you for the good trip report. God willing, we will be on the Freedom in October for her TA back from Barcelona. We love the Oasis Class and did the Harmony last October on the TA. We are always surprised at how uncrowded the Oasis Class feels for the number of passengers. We have been on all three Oasis Class ships.

 

The only time we felt crowds on the Harmony was during large centralized events, like the Halloween party on the Promenade. I am hoping the Freedom will not feel so crowded during the TA. There are fewer kids onboard during a TA, making for fewer people onboard in general, even when sold out (lower density cabin occupancy). We have never sailed on the Freedom Class and we are really looking forward to it!

 

The promenade on Freedom is,(totally guessing) about 15ft narrower on Freedom than Oasis, so this is magnified a bit. An experienced cruiser like yourself will no to avoid going through there on the way to the Casino or dining room when a big sale is going on, assuming they still do that on TAs.

 

Get that Bolo out and make Steve book a dinner at Chops. I like the Chops on Freedom much better than Allure of Oasis. I've had better food there, but that can vary, but the view is so much nicer. Booking a sunset dinner as your leaving port is nice.

 

The Freedom is my favorite solarium, but you may not get much use out of in Oct on a TA, this is one case it might be better on the Oasis class.

Edited December 28, 2016 by BillOh

[BillOh]

Thanks for your review! Boarding her Friday for NYE:-)

 

Noting your avatar pic, I see another Ohioan with a cruise related plate!

[Sunny AZ Girl]

The promenade on Freedom is,(totally guessing) about 15ft narrower on Freedom than Oasis, so this is magnified a bit. An experienced cruiser like yourself will no to avoid going through there on the way to the Casino or dining room when a big sale is going on, assuming they still do that on TAs.

 

Get that Bolo out and make Steve book a dinner at Chops. I like the Chops on Freedom much better than Allure of Oasis. I've had better food there, but that can vary, but the view is so much nicer. Booking a sunset dinner as your leaving port is nice.

 

The Freedom is my favorite solarium, but you may not get much use out of in Oct on a TA, this is one case it might be better on the Oasis class.

Yes, I am pretty good at navigating around the crowds. I was claustrophobic during the Halloween party, but stuck it out as we had several good friends showing off their costumes onstage!

 

Just so you know the Solarium on the Harmony does not have a pool. Just a couple of hot tubs and some silly water feature. It was nice to sit there on the cooler crossing days but no pool was a disappointment. We will have to check it out on the Freedom. The weather was pretty nice on the crossing and the last few days especially were pool worthy, even for us wimpy Arizona types. We will also have to book Chops on the Freedom!

 

The lack of kids on a TA makes a dramatic difference in crowd density. We were sailing under double occupancy on the TA since there were only about 150 kids on the whole ship and there were many singles on the sailing. On our Panama Canal cruise on the Jewel in 2015 there were only 5 kids total! So these longer cruises during regular school time makes a huge impact on how crowded the ship feels. I love kids but it is nice sometimes to have an adult orientated vacation. If I had kids sailing with me who loved to socialize like my daughter did while she was young these would not be the cruises I would choose.

[comptroubky]

 

We requested a foam topper for our bed before sailing and I'm glad we did because our mattress was rock hard, even with the topper it was still firm. My sister also requested a foam topper for her bed but she had an older mattress and her bed was much more comfortable then ours.

 

 

How did you go about requesting this ahead of time? Thanks for the info in advance!

 

John

[Clarea]

How did you go about requesting this ahead of time? Thanks for the info in advance!

 

John

[noparse]special_needs@rccl.com[/noparse].