Freedom 3 day cruise review

[michuck1219]

Just returned from Freedom's 3 day cruise.  

Embarkation - I can't walk long distances so I arranged for wheelchair transport, and am so glad I did.  There would have been a lot of walking that I couldn't have done.  The crew member who pushed my wheelchair checked my birth certificate and ID.  He then took me directly to my muster station, and then into the ship.  I didn't see any long lines for check in.  Crowds seemed more in control since different times for boarding seemed to have been followed for the most part.  Found a seat in Boleros to wait for the rest of my family since we were coming from different places at different times.

Day 1 - Typical first day.  Went to the Windjammer which was surprisingly not very crowded.  No long lines at the buffets and a table was easily found.  There was a good variety of food available, and it was good.  Not great, but good.  We had early dining at 5:45, and were seated at a table which allowed our family to sit together (we were a party of 8). Our head waiter, Randy, was very attentive and entertained us with some card tricks.  Our waiter, Maxsym, was excellent.  Also very attentive and described all the dishes on the menu.  We were surprised at how accommodating the kitchen was in preparing special requests for the vegans in our family.  Ni, our assistant waiter, always made sure we had our water glasses filled, and was available to take our drink orders. After dinner we went up to the Viking Crown lounge for cocktails.  It was very crowded and very loud, but we enjoyed ourselves.  We then headed to the casino.  I wanted to get some cash from the cashier, but was told they no longer do that.  They said if I play the tables, I could use my SeasPass card to obtain cash, or could use my SeaPass card in the slot machines.

Day 2 - CocoCay.  We met for breakfast in the main dining room.  Food was very good, and service was great.  I was very tired, and decided to stay on board (which is what I usually do on these days). The ship was empty, I had my choice of loungers at the pool, and had a very relaxing day.  The younger family members headed to the Cay, and they said it was wonderful.  Dinner was great, as it was on Day 1.  Randy again did some card tricks for us.  After dinner we went to the comedy/magic show and it was very enjoyable.  We then played shuffleboard, and headed to the casino again.  

Day 3 - At Sea.  We met for breakfast in the Windjammer as the dining room was closed for a special event: brunch, and then a tour of the kitchen, etc., for a charge of $35.99 per person.  After breakfast we headed to a very crowded pool, and couldn't find any loungers available.  A majority of the loungers had only towels on them and after about an hour we asked a crew member what could be done.  We were told there was nothing they could do, that if we wanted to, just to take the chairs and deal with it when the person returned.  They never did, and we had the chairs for the afternoon.  The younger family members went up to the 13th floor for the water slides, etc., and had a blast.  Dinner was excellent again, and the servers were on their toes.  We had our professional photos taken, did some shopping, stopped off at one of the bars that had an excellent key boardist, guitar player and drummer, and headed back to the casino.  

Disembarkation - Was very well organized and fast.  Waited in Boleros for my wheelchair transport and was off the ship in what seemed like minutes.  The other family members commented on how smooth disembarkation was.  The crew member who pushed my wheelchair took me directly to the taxi stand where I got a taxi to take me to the Brightline station.  

General - I've cruised many times on RCCL, but haven't for a number of years.  What I did notice was that the menus didn't have as many choices on it as I remember them having.  The embarkation/disembarkation was much more organized than it used to be.  I probably wouldn't do another 3 night cruise if one of the 2 days was a sea day as this was.  Would have preferred a stop somewhere (Nassau, Key West), to either get off the ship, or stay on board while everyone else got off.  

All in all it was a wonderful break.  Even more wonderful was to have the family together.  Our ages ranged from 19 to 79, three of whom never sailed before, and now can't wait to book another cruise.

 

[la_croisiere_s'amuse]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts! I'm glad you and your family enjoyed yourselves. 🙂 

[thjeepster]

Love freedom!!!

been on her twice and going back on in 8 days for our anniversary. 
 

menus have changed to a smaller selection so time will be shorter for dinner service with less to cook. 
 

glad you had a nice trip with family!!