Back from Mar 4 Freedom: review/random thoughts and observations

[trajan]

We were myself, DW, DS 6 yrs old, DD 15 months in an Inside Family Promenade traveling with my parents who were in a Superior Balcony.

 

The Inside Family Promenade is a fantastic setup for those traveling with kids. For those not familiar with it it has a separate curtained off little room with bunk beds and a big closet. There's also big walk in closet that we used as a bedroom for our toddler; crib fit in there with lots of extra room and there's a vent in the ceiling and large gap below the door for ventilation. And if that's not enough closets there's another normal sized closet in the big main room. Add in the full tub and you have a room that is nearly perfect for families. I just wish it was more common in the fleet.

Our room, 8307, did have one big drawback and that was noise from the promenade. If you are out late and don't nap in the room during the day then no worries but otherwise the sound could be an issue. We were right above and behind the bridge where the band played and it could be quite loud. They had music in the afternoon and one night there was a dancing in the street party that started music at 9:45 pm. Our baby did ok with the noise usually but I could see this being a big problem for some.

 

Our room steward Camille was excellent. We did my time dining but had a reservation each night for 5:30 so each night we had the same table in Galileo and were served by Neville and Deepak. They too were excellent. These were probably the best steward and waiters we have ever had on a cruise.

 

Food in mdr was usually good. Nothing really amazing and there were a few rare duds (lobster tails were a bit tough, some sides were very poor quality) but overall everyone was happy. Buffet was ok. Usually fresh and well tended.

 

Pool area was fun with a great play area for the kids but on a sunny day it is just too crowded. And the chair hogs were out in force. By noon there was usually nothing to be had.

 

I was never asked if I wanted a drink by a waiter on deck anywhere. Rarely ever saw a waiter on deck. Bartenders were generally kind of sullen.

 

The resident singers and dancers were dynamite. Delivered two fantastic shows. Ice show we saw was performed during some really rough seas and let me just summarize the experience by saying I'm just glad nobody got seriously hurt.

 

Kids club started off poorly. First day staff seemed tired and burnt out. Son did not want to go back. Tried it again later and he had a very good day and did not want to leave when I came to check on him.

 

We checked out the club for our toddler and did not get a good impression; they had one kid in a high chair watching tv while the staff chatted. Next time we checked it was two kids in high chairs watching tv. We try to follow guidelines from our paediatrician which suggest no tv for kids under 2 so that was not a service we used.

 

The poorly advertised baby and toddler play area up on deck 14 beside the game room was sublime. We frequently had it all to ourselves. Fantastic view and nice selection of baby toys every day.

 

Next ports.

 

 

 

 

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[trajan]

This cruise was 8 days with 4 ports. We started off with very rough seas, high winds and heavy clouds. Unfortunately we were following this weather pattern for half the cruise. The outside promenade on deck 4 was closed for most of this time. My parents balcony was typically drenched. The ship was really rocking which regularly woke our toddler the first few nights. She eventually got used to it but those were some tough days and nights.

Guest services gave out free motion sickness medicine and that fixed me right up. Just half of one pill and I went from being a nauseous wreck to being perfectly fine.

 

Really bad news for everyone was winds prevented us from docking in Labadee. Excursions (including our cabana) were automatically refunded. Captain did a good job keeping folks updated on the weather including video reports on the tv.

 

After missing Labadee we docked in San Juan 5 hours earlier and so were there I think 8 am to 9 pm. Great but weather was still awful with high winds and rain. Did the fort close by (San Cristobal) with the whole family. Our toddler actually thought being blown over by the wind (on the grass) was the funniest thing. But after lunch we figured that was enough for her and just my son and I pressed on to Del Morro. Had a fun time but back on board by 3 pm with no wish to go out again. My parents did a bus tour and came back by our room looking like drowned rats but still managing to smile.

 

Better weather in St Martin but omg that port was busy. Including us there were 7 ships in port that day. Cool getting a look at some other ships I had not seen before; had never even heard of the German line aida. We walked down the Great Bay boardwalk, had terrible food, rented chairs and squeezed onto the beach. Still had some fun and the sun came out but I wish we had planned better and gotten away from the port area.

 

Last stop was St Kitts. My parents, wife and daughter stayed near the ship. I went with our son and hired a cab. Worked out a deal for $75 to go to Brimstone Hill Fortress, 45 mins for exploring and then a drive to Shipwreck Beach Bar and Restaurant, 2 hours there then back to the ship. This was the best day of the cruise for me by far. Good weather finally, our driver Terry was a fine host, Brimstone Hill is spectacular for the view and historical setting and Shipwreck was the perfect Caribbean beach experience I'd been looking for with gentle waves, friendly staff, very laid back and good food.

Some drama coming back as just as I indicated I'd like to return to St Kitts and Terry gave me his card, crrrrunch, sounded like a bearing blew and we were stopped. We had loitered a bit long at the beach and all aboard was coming up quick. I suddenly could not be sure if all aboard was 3 or 3:30. It was 2:50 by the time Terry got us another driver and we hit the dock. We ran on the ship only to be slightly relieved on board was 3:30.

 

Good weather for our final 2 days at sea. Our cruise director Michele did a superb job dealing with some really rough days. And he ran The Quest better than our first go round which had been so fun I didn't think it could be topped. But he topped it so kudos.

 

And then we were back and disembarkation at Port Everglades was just as terrible as others have described. I won't rehash it but yeah, what a mess.

 

Overall strictly because of the weather and crowds at times I'd say the cruise was a bit of a disappointment. Weather I think they dealt with as best they could. The crowds, like around the pool, in port, even mdr felt crowded, those could be mitigated a bit with better planning by us.

 

We liked the activities like skating and climbing. Some incredible staff. I'm tempted to try this ship and this itinerary again and hope for better results tho we might instead go for a week on St Martin or St Kitts.

 

 

 

 

 

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Edited March 13, 2017 by trajan

[famof4togo]

Thank you for your review. I am sorry to hear about your experience with the kids club...I am also taking a 6 year old boy on the Freedom at the end of this month...any additional details about the kids club? Aspects he enjoyed? Did you participate in the Pirate parade? Kids talent show? sorry for the ton of questions I can't seem to get as much feedback on the kids club as I'd like.....

[DisneyDatknee]

We loved the Family Promenade room on the Indy! It was just the two of us however ;). They are renaming the room to "Spacious Promenade View Interior". The problems we had with the room was the shower curtain was too long-- bunched up at the bottom, and the "living room" lights and the "parent's room" lights were on the same switch.. Otherwise, we didn't have any noise issues and we were on Deck 7, but there was only one event on the promenade on our 5 day. We were however watching the show, so I can see how that would be disruptive to young children. Definitely a design flaw to have them right next to the music.

 

Thanks for the review.

[iriemon]

I was on this cruise also and agree about the waiters including in the casino. Before the drink pkgs you couldn't walk 2 feet without a waiter asking you if you wanted a drink but now that it is prepaid they don't want you to have a lot.

Regarding debarcation I had no problems at all. I did the walk off and was at the rental car center by 7.45

[Ocean Boy]

The weather in San Juan was a bit of a pain. Every time it looked like it might clear we would start to walk somewhere and the rain would blow back in. Finally, we started to stay on streets with shops so we would have a place to duck into when the rain would start up again. This would have been a really disappointing day if it had been our first time to San Juan. But since we had been there many times before we didn't have anything that we really needed to accomplish. Fortunately, the weather was better for the two ports that we like the most on this itinerary, St. Maarten and St. Kitts.

 

And it it true about the bartenders, some but not all seemed a bit nonchalant . However, once I got to know one of them in the Schooner bar his demeanor completely changed. He was great and I started to use that bar almost exclusively.

 

Except for the weather at disembarkation (a torrential downpour) I thought that terminal 29 really had its act together for this cruise. We arrived at the terminal at about 10:20. Boarding started at 10:50 and we were on the ship at 11:00. On returning home we did self assist. We left the cabin for the last time at 8:05 walked off the ship into the terminal and right to a ICE officer with zero lines from start to finish. We were at the gate for our flight at FLL at 8:50. Again, maybe it was the luck of our timing but everything just seemed to go right as far as crowds. Unfortunately, our flight wasn't until 12:45. OK, so my timing was a little off and we had to wait for the plane

Edited March 13, 2017 by Ocean Boy

[trajan]

Thank you for your review. I am sorry to hear about your experience with the kids club...I am also taking a 6 year old boy on the Freedom at the end of this month...any additional details about the kids club? Aspects he enjoyed? Did you participate in the Pirate parade? Kids talent show? sorry for the ton of questions I can't seem to get as much feedback on the kids club as I'd like.....

 

 

He did not do the pirate parade or the talent show. Came really close to doing the talent show on our last day but right beforehand he decided he wanted to do climbing with us instead.

 

The session he really liked was the spy themed one. He had a blast with that one.

 

My suggestion would be to make sure your kid attends the first session where they do the getting to know you activities. Can make for a more comfortable start. Then just play it by ear. We would read the kids club activity schedule for the next day each night and talk about what he might be interested in.

 

Note they do some competitive activities like dodgeball and some kids obviously did not enjoy that.

 

In general tho I think the one for that age group is a good program and I liked the fact that it was more activity focused than say Disney where they had activities but also tv's and video games going all the time.

 

 

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[trajan]

We loved the Family Promenade room on the Indy! It was just the two of us however ;). They are renaming the room to "Spacious Promenade View Interior". The problems we had with the room was the shower curtain was too long-- bunched up at the bottom, and the "living room" lights and the "parent's room" lights were on the same switch.. Otherwise, we didn't have any noise issues and we were on Deck 7, but there was only one event on the promenade on our 5 day. We were however watching the show, so I can see how that would be disruptive to young children. Definitely a design flaw to have them right next to the music.

 

Thanks for the review.

 

 

You are welcome!

 

Yeah, the lights on one switch was also a bit of a drawback. Interesting about the renaming. I hope this isn't a 'repackaging' where they also increase the price but I wouldn't be surprised. Despite the few drawbacks it is a great room and at current prices a fantastic value IMHO.

 

 

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[trajan]

The weather in San Juan was a bit of a pain. Every time it looked like it might clear we would start to walk somewhere and the rain would blow back in. Finally, we started to stay on streets with shops so we would have a place to duck into when the rain would start up again. This would have been a really disappointing day if it had been our first time to San Juan. But since we had been there many times before we didn't have anything that we really needed to accomplish. Fortunately, the weather was better for the two ports that we like the most on this itinerary, St. Maarten and St. Kitts.

 

And it it true about the bartenders, some but not all seemed a bit nonchalant . However, once I got to know one of them in the Schooner bar his demeanor completely changed. He was great and I started to use that bar almost exclusively.

 

Except for the weather at disembarkation (a torrential downpour) I thought that terminal 29 really had its act together for this cruise. We arrived at the terminal at about 10:20. Boarding started at 10:50 and we were on the ship at 11:00. On returning home we did self assist. We left the cabin for the last time at 8:05 walked off the ship into the terminal and right to a ICE officer with zero lines from start to finish. We were at the gate for our flight at FLL at 8:50. Again, maybe it was the luck of our timing but everything just seemed to go right as far as crowds. Unfortunately, our flight wasn't until 12:45. OK, so my timing was a little off and we had to wait for the plane

 

 

Sounds like you and iriemon did it right. We were thinking we should have opted for self assist but just would not have been feasible. We were in group 28 and when we were called the terminal was just a mob scene. Massive crowd moving very slowly.

We all have Nexus and were first told we could use Global Express line then pulled out and later a sheriff found us in line and told us yes we could use the express and put us back in it. Without it I can't guess how long we would have been waiting.

Once outside had 3 of the people directing traffic tell us there was a rental car centre shuttle which we waited in vain for until another shuttle driver told us that shuttle stopped operating weeks ago. So we got in a huge slow moving line for a taxi until my dad spotted a shuttle van running people to the airport for $11 a head. People were arguing over seats, I got a seat and went and got our rental and came back for everyone else.

For embarkation we had a good experience but disembarkation self assist sounds like the way to go.

 

 

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[trajan]

The weather in San Juan was a bit of a pain. Every time it looked like it might clear we would start to walk somewhere and the rain would blow back in. Finally, we started to stay on streets with shops so we would have a place to duck into when the rain would start up again. This would have been a really disappointing day if it had been our first time to San Juan. But since we had been there many times before we didn't have anything that we really needed to accomplish. Fortunately, the weather was better for the two ports that we like the most on this itinerary, St. Maarten and St. Kitts.

 

And it it true about the bartenders, some but not all seemed a bit nonchalant . However, once I got to know one of them in the Schooner bar his demeanor completely changed. He was great and I started to use that bar almost exclusively.

 

Except for the weather at disembarkation (a torrential downpour) I thought that terminal 29 really had its act together for this cruise. We arrived at the terminal at about 10:20. Boarding started at 10:50 and we were on the ship at 11:00. On returning home we did self assist. We left the cabin for the last time at 8:05 walked off the ship into the terminal and right to a ICE officer with zero lines from start to finish. We were at the gate for our flight at FLL at 8:50. Again, maybe it was the luck of our timing but everything just seemed to go right as far as crowds. Unfortunately, our flight wasn't until 12:45. OK, so my timing was a little off and we had to wait for the plane

 

 

Oh and I meant to ask if you don't mind sharing what did you do in port at St. Maarten? Taking notes for next time. :)

 

 

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[easyboy]

Thanks for the feedback.

[Ocean Boy]

Oh and I meant to ask if you don't mind sharing what did you do in port at St. Maarten? Taking notes for next time. :)

 

 

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Since we have been to the island many times we stayed in town and walked around as well as visited some jewelers who have taken way too much of our money over the years.:D

 

However, on our first visit to the island we rented a car and sort of did a loop of the island going to the Butterfly Farm then on to Orient Beach then to Marigot and then to Maho to experience being blasted by the exhaust of a 747 spooling up for takeoff then back into Philipsburg.

 

On another visit we just did Philipsburg and and went over to Marigot by using the public bus service ($2.00 per person each way).

[comptroubky]

Our disembarkation was about as quick and smooth as we've had on our five cruises. About the only thing that went right all week.

[Ocean Boy]

Our disembarkation was about as quick and smooth as we've had on our five cruises. About the only thing that went right all week.

Sorry to hear that.:eek:

[Scillycruisers]

Oh and I meant to ask if you don't mind sharing what did you do in port at St. Maarten? Taking notes for next time. :)

 

 

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We haven't cruised with RCI yet, seriously considering this itinerary for 2018, but we have been to St Maarten with Disney. We did a tour with Bernard's Tours, it was excellent- booked very last minute online and paid at the start of the tour.