Newbie Review - Freedom 3/26-4/1/2017 W. Caribbean

[Tara619]

I thought I'd try to write a quick review since you all were so helpful when I was planning this trip. I lurked a lot and learned a lot. I have all the Compasses if anyone wants me to post them. Please ask any questions you have!

 

We are a family of 3. DH and I are in our mid 30s and DS is 11 (almost 12). We live in NE Ohio. This was our Spring Break. DH works at a school, so school breaks and July are our only options for vacations, but they're also the most expensive times of year.

 

We've done 4 Disney Cruises, most recently 2013 and 2015 on the Fantasy. We switched to RCI due to Disney's ridiculous price hikes. I was able to book this RCI cruise for $2400, where Disney's similar itinerary was over $7k! :o We had a Deluxe Oceanview with Balcony on deck 8, which I booked February 2016.

 

I have to say, I was really nervous trying a new cruise line, but I'm a planner and worrier, so it comes with the territory. All in all, most everything was very similar to Disney, but Disney is still our favorite, just not worth 2.5x-3x the price!

 

Day 0: We flew into FLL Saturday 3/25 and stayed at the Crowne Plaza. I got a discount through my employer and it was only $140, which was about $100 cheaper than any other hotel I could find. We used the hotel shuttle from the airport, then used Lyft to go out to dinner.

 

We ate at Catfish Deweys since it seemed to be recommended on some posts I read. DH enjoyed the all you can eat crawfish, but I wasn't really impressed with my scallops. The portions were large and the people were really nice. I don't think this is a tourist-type restaurant, more for locals. We didn't do much else this day since we were tired from traveling.

 

Day 1: We used Lyft to take us to the Port-Terminal 29 around 10:15 am, which worked out really well. We handed our bags off to a porter with a $8 tip and went into the terminal. It was probably a little before 11am and not super busy. We waited in line for about 5 minutes to go through security, then waited about 10-15 minutes to check-in and get our Sea Pass cards. We only had to wait about 10 more minutes before we were on the ship. We purchased lanyards at the little kiosk place right before getting on the ship.

 

We went straight to Windjammer for lunch and were disappointed in the selection. Disney always has peel & eat shrimp and crab legs on the lunch buffet. We thought throughout the whole trip that the food both in Windjammer and the MDR was where they cut costs/corners. I was also annoyed by the three servers who interrupted our lunch in rapid succession trying to sell the specialty dining. If it was just 1, I'd be okay, but it was literally one right after the other.

 

After lunch, we headed for the pool deck and DH and DS did the Flowrider within 2 hours of us getting on the ship. It was an awesome start to the vacation and there were short lines. I hope the picture works. If not, tell me so I can upload them differently.

 

We were able to go to our room and unpacked around 2-3:00 after we were done with the Flowrider.

 

We had 5:30pm dinner every night in Lenardo's. The first night was very rocky. The assistant server/drink person was super slow and we had to ask for drinks. Then we had to ask for refills after we sat there waiting to see if she'd notice on her own. This was the same for all 6 nights, although she did improve a bit by the end. Still no where near our excellent Disney dining experiences. We ordered Crème Brulee for dessert and it was very watery and the pudding was sloshing around under the sugar. It improved later in the week when we re-ordered it.

 

We did not see the 9pm show that evening, which was the Don Barnhart variety show. I don't remember what we did.

 

I'll start day 2 in a new post...

[Tara619]

Day 2: This was a sea day. I had pre-booked the DreamWorks Character breakfast for $10 per person. This was a bad idea for a couple of reasons. It was at 7:45 am on the first sea day. We really wanted to sleep in a bit, but it was too late to cancel and get a refund. The food and service were average. The disappointing thing was that there were only 2 characters. Also, DS was a bit old for this, which I knew going in, but thought we'd still have fun.

 

The cat from Shrek came around each table and took pictures. DS wasn't into it at all, but the cat forced him, lol.

 

After breakfast, DS and DH climbed the rock wall a few times. Then we had lunch and went to see Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. This was one weird movie. I'm glad I didn't pay for it at a theater.

 

We went to Boleros to grab a drink before the 9pm Marquee Show and found a great bartender. DS wanted a "fancy drink" but didn't know what kind. Lawrence made him a mango ice cream type drink and drew pictures on the inside of the glass with chocolate syrup. This made DS's day and we returned every night for the same drink, different pictures. He remembered us and the drink every night.

 

Day 3 Grand Cayman: We booked a RCI excursion, Reef and Wreck Snorkeling. We met on the pier at 10 am and had a pretty long walk with the group to the boat. I don't remember them saying it was a long walk, but it was doable. I have a rare autoimmune disease and arthritis-like symptoms, so it was on the border of being an issue for me. I stayed on the boat while the boys snorkeled for about 40 minutes in each of the 2 locations. They were literally right by the dock/shore, so we didn't even really get a boat ride out of the trip. It was okay and they had fun, but the company wasn't overly helpful or informative.

 

 

We stopped at Margaritaville for lunch and the hope of wifi, but couldn't get it to work, even with the password.

 

DS found the ship's band, Caribbean Force, and fell in love. The rest of the trip, he'd look at the schedule to see when they were playing so he could go watch them. He'd stand and watch them forever and give them thumbs up. By the end of the cruise, they recognized him and called him over to chat about playing the guitar (he just started taking lessons). It really was the highlight of his trip.

 

The show that night was Drew Thomas. We sat in the front row on the left side of the stage. At this viewpoint, we could see some of the background and how the tricks worked, which ruined some of the fun. There were still quite a few we couldn't figure out and we really enjoyed this show!

Edited April 8, 2017 by Tara619

[Tara619]

Day 4 Cozumel: We didn't have any plans for Cozumel since we've been here a few times. However, this was a different pier than we've been to before. We walked around and window-shopped for about an hour and went back to the ship to enjoy the empty pool and amenities.

 

The ice show was tonight and we really enjoyed it. I'm glad I read to bring a sweater, because it was chilly in there. I changed out of my dinner dress into jeans and a t-shirt with a cardigan and I was still a bit chilly. I saw people there prepared with blankets. That'll be on the list for next time!

 

Day 5 Costa Maya: This was the BEST day!! We went to Maya Chan Resort and had a wonderful time, despite the massive amounts of sea grass. They had a taxi to take us there. It was a 25-30 minute ride on a very very bumpy gravel-type road. So make sure you go to the bathroom right before you leave the ship, haha. As soon as we got to the resort, we were shown to our private palapa with 3 chairs, umbrella, and a bed. The immediately brought rum punch and chips, guac, and salsa to snack on. Food and drinks were unlimited for $59 per person.

 

DS played giant Jenga and tried the kayak, but didn't last long. The lunch was homemade tacos with homemade soft tortillas, steak, chicken, fish, or Mayan pulled pork with all the toppings. The food was seriously the best. I still think about it. They had authentic Mayan cooks using authentic cooking methods and spices. For example the pork was cooked overnight in banana leaves.

 

They knew exactly when we needed to leave to make it back to the ship and came to tell us when our taxi would be there. It was very well organized and just an excellent day for us. The people there were so kind and service was top notch.

 

The show tonight was The Beatle Maniacs, which we skipped.

 

Let me know if these pictures don't show up.

 

 

 

 

[Tara619]

Day 6 Sea Day: We slept in, grabbed breakfast, ate pizza at Sorento's (which was gross), then went to see the premier of Boss Baby in the theater. We got there about 25 minutes early and they had already run out of 3D glasses. The theater at this time was about half full, maybe. We were really really annoyed at this and ended up watching a 3D movie without 3D glasses. The theater ended up being jam packed full of people too, so they were really underprepared. This is one example where I compared it to Disney and I don't think this would've ever happened with Disney.

 

The show tonight was Once Upon a Time.

 

We put out our luggage in the hall and had an #26 (9:40 am) exit time for the morning.

 

Departure day: It went really smoothly and we appreciated having a later assigned time. We grabbed breakfast in the buffet around 8 and then waited at R Bar for our number to be called.

 

We stayed at Crowne Plaza again and took the Hertz shuttle to the hotel where we dropped off our luggage, and rented a car for the day. We drove out to Everglades Holiday Park and had an airboat ride and gator show with the main guy from their TV show, Gator Boys. We had so much fun and saw an alligator during our boat ride and lots of neat birds.

 

 

 

 

After we went back to the hotel and got cleaned up, we drove to Bubba Gumps for dinner. That whole area was crazy busy because of Spring Break and I was regretting driving vs. using the Sun Trolley or Lyft. Thankfully we were able to find one last parking spot for $8 and walked to the restaurant. There was no wait and we surprisingly really enjoyed the food. Our expectations weren't high, but the food was #2 after Maya Chan. Much better than ship food.

 

~~~~~~~~~~

In conclusion, we really enjoyed the trip. We booked the same one for next March's Spring Break. On day 2, we booked onboard for a 30% discount. However, when we got home, the sale running saved us another $200.

 

The food sucked and the MDR service was average at best, but it didn't ruin it for us. For example, one night was Garlic Tiger Shrimp. It was not "tiger" shrimp, it was small, normal shrimp cut in half with the shell still on. It also had not been deveined, which really disappointed me. The shrimp cocktails were puny. The best dinner I had was beef tenderloin one night.

 

Thank you everyone for your tips and help planning. If my pictures don't show up, let me know. If you have any questions, ask away!

Edited April 8, 2017 by Tara619

[DISFANS3]

Awesome trip report. We be on the Freedom in Jan 2018. DCL also has priced us out and with my kid being a adult it was time to give RCI a chance, I also miss the service on DCL. 10th cruise coming up, 4 on Carinval, 2 on DCL 4 on RCI..

[kwazi07]

Thanks for the review! We're going to be on the exact same itinerary next March spring break as well--did you book the March 25 sailing?

 

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[ronandcarla]

Am I missing something or confused by reason of according to your trip report almost everything was not so good and then you have re-booked for next year. If you want to stay with RCCL and give it another try why not give an "Oasis Class" a chance? I realize that everything Disney does cost substantially more than the rest, but that's what they do and have the product(s) to show for it.

[tanyaewa]

Thanks for the report and the photos are awesome! We are doing same in December and it's our first RCCL cruise too.

 

Question: How did you book Maya Chan?

[Clarea]

Thanks for the report and the photos are awesome! We are doing same in December and it's our first RCCL cruise too.

 

Question: How did you book Maya Chan?

 

http://costamayabeachresort.com/

[Tara619]

Thanks for the review! We're going to be on the exact same itinerary next March spring break as well--did you book the March 25 sailing?

 

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Yes, we booked 3/25 With the same ports as this one.

[Tara619]

Am I missing something or confused by reason of according to your trip report almost everything was not so good and then you have re-booked for next year. If you want to stay with RCCL and give it another try why not give an "Oasis Class" a chance? I realize that everything Disney does cost substantially more than the rest, but that's what they do and have the product(s) to show for it.

 

The food was the main thing that we didn't like but it's not why we cruise. We enjoyed the ships amenities (pools, flowrider, rockwall, mini golf, evening shows, etc). We do want to try Oasis or one of the bigger ships, but they're more expensive and not in the budget right now for the dates were available to go. Maybe in 2-3 years we'll try one.

[Tara619]

I also wanted to add that I'm grateful for the tips to bring my own hairdryer, soap, and shampoo. 😄

[kwazi07]

Yes, we booked 3/25 With the same ports as this one.

Come join the roll call here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2461660

 

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