Freedom of the Seas - 12/19 Review

[MarinerBride]

We've recovered from the cruise and holidays, and I thought I'd share a review from our recent trip! This was my 5th cruise, husband's 4th, and kids' (6yo and 9yo) first. Husband and I got married onboard 15 years ago, but hadn't sailed since our 5th anniversary, so we decided it was a good time to cruise again and celebrate. We booked about a year ago, and I kept an eye on prices and got several decreases. We had a Jr Suite for the 4 of us, and my parents were in the balcony room next door. 

 

We flew SW into FLL, and the airport was crazy when we landed, but we had no major issues. We took an Uber XL to our hotel, Hyatt Regency in Miami. FYI, my parents didn't believe me, but you cannot comfortably travel with 6 people and luggage in an Uber XL. It was late, so we ate dinner at the hotel, which was really good.

 

We had an 11:30 check in for the cruise, so we relaxed a bit in the hotel, and then left in our Uber around 10:30. Traffic was pretty bad, so plan ahead. Once we got to the port, we dropped off our bags, went through the Suite entrance, went through security (we had some bottled drinks they let us keep for the kids), got checked in, and were on the ship in no time. This was a huge improvement over our last sailing! Even my parents who didn't go through the Suite entrance were impressed at how quickly everything moved. We had watched our safety video in advance, so we stopped by our muster station, which was also super convenient. Then we stopped by a bar to get our first drinks! We ended up purchasing the Deluxe Beverage + Internet package, mostly out of convenience, and for the kids we got the Soda + Internet. Again, I had been watching the prices, and the lowest I saw them were $69/person/day for just the drinks, and $86/person/day with internet.

 

 

[MarinerBride]

We had a lot of fun exploring the ship - previously we had only sailed on Voyager and Sovereign Class, plus things have changed a lot and again, this was a first for the kids. I had packed swim suits for the kids so we were able to take them straight to the pool. I also got them checked in for Adventure Ocean.

 

 

At 1 we were able to get into our staterooms, and we got the balcony divider opened up between our two rooms. Later on, my daughter climbed the rock wall (don't forget socks!), and we ate a lot of ice cream and waited to set sail.

 

Edited December 27, 2022 by MarinerBride

[MarinerBride]

We had early dine, so at 5:45 we headed to the dining room. I wasn't sure what the kids would think, but this was one of the highlights for them. They loved being called princess and champion. The kids menu wasn't amazing, so we ended up ordering a bit from that and the regular menu for them, and it worked out well. One thing I noticed on the first night is that the My Time Dining line was insanely long, and I sort of felt like they kicked us out of our table before we were truly done. 

 

[MarinerBride]

We decided to go to the ice show that evening, and it was fun. Make sure you get there early for seats! This was the only show we ended up seeing (we actually saw it twice), because I wasn't sure how the whole reservation thing worked for the other shows, and we were just tired and the kids weren't up for it. 

 

[MarinerBride]

Our first stop was CocoCay! Husband and I had been there before, 14 years ago, so things have changed since then! We had purchased a Water Park Cabana so that we had a dedicated shaded space. If you have 6 people, it's not that much more expensive to get the cabana compared to just water park entry. Our cabana was at the end of the Twister/Slingshot slides. Lines for the slides were super long, so we only did a few of them, but we still really enjoyed them. Daughter and I did the Twister and Splash Speedway (the latter usually had no line), and later the whole family did the Slingshot (45ish minute wait, but truly fun). We spent a lot of time in the wave pool and the adventure pool too, and then Daughter and I did the Daredevil's Peak (another 30ish minute wait, but again, pretty fun). Our cabana attendant was great with bringing us food and drinks, and overall we had a great time. The weather was starting to look rainy, so we got back on the ship around 2. We were also super excited to see Mariner next to us!

 

 

 

[MarinerBride]

The kids had a lot of fun in the arcade, and my daughter spent some time in the kids club before dinner.

 

 

 

Also at dinner, the staff surprised us with an anniversary song/dessert.

 

[MarinerBride]

Next day we were at sea, so I started my morning off in the spa, which was heavenly. It seemed really crowded when I was leaving, so I was happy I started early.

 

We enjoyed some time in the room, and then made our way to the pool. We ended up getting breakfast from Windjammer and bringing it back to our room - in the best, the room service options seemed better. It started raining later, so we got dressed and decided to go see the ice show again.

 

Edited December 27, 2022 by MarinerBride

[MarinerBride]

For dinner, we did Hibachi, which was a ton of fun. We missed the dining room, but the kids really enjoyed the food and entertainment. They also celebrated our anniversary again.

 

 

 

 

[MarinerBride]

The next day was Nassau, and we had booked tickets for the Atlantis Aquaventure. The kids had seen it on YouTube, so we thought they'd enjoy it. We waited forever on the port to get on our shuttle bus, and then we had to wait in line for our tickets at Atlantis, but we had fun once we got there. Again, the slide lines were pretty long, so Daughter and I did the Leap of Faith once and then we spent the rest of the day on the Rapids River.

 

 

 

 

[MarinerBride]

In the evening, our daughter went back to the kids club, and my mom and I went up to the Windjammer bar. I had run into the bartender Michael making some fun drinks the night before, so we went back and had a ton of fun with him.

 

 

 

[MarinerBride]

Disembarkment on the last day was pretty straightforward. We decided to self carry our luggage, so we had breakfast in the Windjammer and then made our way off the ship around 8. They were taking pictures instead of checking passports, so we were through in no time. Unfortunately our flight home wasn't until 6, so we ended up spending a LOT of time at the airport, but overall it was a great trip, and we all can't wait to do it again soon!

[MarinerBride]

Some random observations:

 

The food isn't quite as good as it was 14 years ago, but we still enjoyed it.

The internet is MUCH better. We had service all throughout the ship and on CocoCay, and Atlantis also provided free service, so we never had to pay international fees.

Some of the cost of the beverage package is convenience, so even if I didn't drink that much, I still really enjoyed having it.

Our stateroom was a great location on the 9th floor, aft/near the back but toward the center - close to the Windjammer/Pool and Adventure Ocean without having to use the elevators.

Next time I'll figure out how NOT to let the kids spend so much money in the arcade unrestricted, but they still had a lot of fun.

I wish I could figure out how to order photos after the cruise, because I just didn't get a chance to do that while onboard.

[The Fun Researcher]

First, your family is adorable.  Second, your photos are great.  Third, thanks for allowing us to follow along for the ride!  Loved your review.  Always fun to read ones like this!

 

Freedom was the first to ship we ever sailed on back in 2012. Still love that class as well as the voyager class. May be still our favorite classes especially if they have been AMPED like the Freedom and Navigator…

[MarinerBride]

5 hours ago, The Fun Researcher said:

First, your family is adorable.  Second, your photos are great.  Third, thanks for allowing us to follow along for the ride!  Loved your review.  Always fun to read ones like this!

 

Freedom was the first to ship we ever sailed on back in 2012. Still love that class as well as the voyager class. May be still our favorite classes especially if they have been AMPED like the Freedom and Navigator…

Thank you!! We truly had so much fun, and it really was a great first cruise experience for the kids.

[MarinerGroom]

Definitely was a great cruise for us and a first for the kids. They're already asking to go back next year, though I don't know if it's just for the Plucky Ducky or not.

 

This reminded me how much I enjoyed cruising.

 

The junior suite was 100% worth it for us with the 2 kids. Unfortunately my wife ended up sleeping on it 3 of the 4 nights, as my kids wouldn't just sleep together and let us have the big bed and mom is everyone's favorite. I did sleep on it one night, but it is not long enough for me (I'm 6'2) and I had to sleep on the diagonal, which was very uncomfortable.

[The Fun Researcher]

BTW, maybe it's my connection or something but your photos aren't showing up now.

[Pellaz]

On 12/27/2022 at 10:27 PM, The Fun Researcher said:

BTW, maybe it's my connection or something but your photos aren't showing up now.

Not for me, either.    I see a "no" symbol.  

 

[MarinerBride]

Photo fail - they don't show up for me either now, and I'm not able to edit the posts.  

[MarinerBride]

On 12/27/2022 at 9:58 AM, MarinerBride said:

We've recovered from the cruise and holidays, and I thought I'd share a review from our recent trip! This was my 5th cruise, husband's 4th, and kids' (6yo and 9yo) first. Husband and I got married onboard 15 years ago, but hadn't sailed since our 5th anniversary, so we decided it was a good time to cruise again and celebrate. We booked about a year ago, and I kept an eye on prices and got several decreases. We had a Jr Suite for the 4 of us, and my parents were in the balcony room next door. 

 

We flew SW into FLL, and the airport was crazy when we landed, but we had no major issues. We took an Uber XL to our hotel, Hyatt Regency in Miami. FYI, my parents didn't believe me, but you cannot comfortably travel with 6 people and luggage in an Uber XL. It was late, so we ate dinner at the hotel, which was really good.

 

We had an 11:30 check in for the cruise, so we relaxed a bit in the hotel, and then left in our Uber around 10:30. Traffic was pretty bad, so plan ahead. Once we got to the port, we dropped off our bags, went through the Suite entrance, went through security (we had some bottled drinks they let us keep for the kids), got checked in, and were on the ship in no time. This was a huge improvement over our last sailing! Even my parents who didn't go through the Suite entrance were impressed at how quickly everything moved. We had watched our safety video in advance, so we stopped by our muster station, which was also super convenient. Then we stopped by a bar to get our first drinks! We ended up purchasing the Deluxe Beverage + Internet package, mostly out of convenience, and for the kids we got the Soda + Internet. Again, I had been watching the prices, and the lowest I saw them were $69/person/day for just the drinks, and $86/person/day with internet.

 

 

Edited December 30, 2022 by MarinerBride

[MarinerBride]

On 12/27/2022 at 10:04 AM, MarinerBride said:

We had a lot of fun exploring the ship - previously we had only sailed on Voyager and Sovereign Class, plus things have changed a lot and again, this was a first for the kids. I had packed swim suits for the kids so we were able to take them straight to the pool. I also got them checked in for Adventure Ocean.

 

At 1 we were able to get into our staterooms, and we got the balcony divider opened up between our two rooms. Later on, my daughter climbed the rock wall (don't forget socks!), and we ate a lot of ice cream and waited to set sail.

 

 

 

 

Edited December 30, 2022 by MarinerBride

[MarinerBride]

On 12/27/2022 at 10:06 AM, MarinerBride said:

We had early dine, so at 5:45 we headed to the dining room. I wasn't sure what the kids would think, but this was one of the highlights for them. They loved being called princess and champion. The kids menu wasn't amazing, so we ended up ordering a bit from that and the regular menu for them, and it worked out well. One thing I noticed on the first night is that the My Time Dining line was insanely long, and I sort of felt like they kicked us out of our table before we were truly done. 

 

 

Edited December 30, 2022 by MarinerBride

[MarinerBride]

On 12/27/2022 at 10:08 AM, MarinerBride said:

We decided to go to the ice show that evening, and it was fun. Make sure you get there early for seats! This was the only show we ended up seeing (we actually saw it twice), because I wasn't sure how the whole reservation thing worked for the other shows, and we were just tired and the kids weren't up for it. 

 

Edited December 30, 2022 by MarinerBride

[MarinerBride]

On 12/27/2022 at 10:16 AM, MarinerBride said:

Our first stop was CocoCay! Husband and I had been there before, 14 years ago, so things have changed since then! We had purchased a Water Park Cabana so that we had a dedicated shaded space. If you have 6 people, it's not that much more expensive to get the cabana compared to just water park entry. Our cabana was at the end of the Twister/Slingshot slides. Lines for the slides were super long, so we only did a few of them, but we still really enjoyed them. Daughter and I did the Twister and Splash Speedway (the latter usually had no line), and later the whole family did the Slingshot (45ish minute wait, but truly fun). We spent a lot of time in the wave pool and the adventure pool too, and then Daughter and I did the Daredevil's Peak (another 30ish minute wait, but again, pretty fun). Our cabana attendant was great with bringing us food and drinks, and overall we had a great time. The weather was starting to look rainy, so we got back on the ship around 2. We were also super excited to see Mariner next to us!

 

 

 

 

Edited December 30, 2022 by MarinerBride

[MarinerBride]

On 12/27/2022 at 10:18 AM, MarinerBride said:

The kids had a lot of fun in the arcade, and my daughter spent some time in the kids club before dinner.

 

Also at dinner, the staff surprised us with an anniversary song/dessert.

 

 

 

Edited December 30, 2022 by MarinerBride

[MarinerBride]

On 12/27/2022 at 10:20 AM, MarinerBride said:

Next day we were at sea, so I started my morning off in the spa, which was heavenly. It seemed really crowded when I was leaving, so I was happy I started early.

 

We enjoyed some time in the room, and then made our way to the pool. We ended up getting breakfast from Windjammer and bringing it back to our room - in the best, the room service options seemed better. It started raining later, so we got dressed and decided to go see the ice show again.