Just Back from June 25th Freedom! Sort of Mini-Review

[faithwins]

Just got back from the June 25th Freedom cruise and it was one word AWESOME.... all my fears about long lines and crowds were laid to rest.

Since many have already read long reviews I'm just going to comment on some of the things that I enjoyed or new features,

 

Room:

We had a promenade family stateroom and it was brilliant. It had a bathtub and a walk-in closet (what more could you ask for). Yes the flat-screen TV's arent the best quality but they do look good and take up alot less space.

 

The BEDS:

AMAZING! 100x better than there old ones. The comforter is better than my one at home.

 

Promenade:

Very similar to Voyager class ships but noticeably wider and Sorrento's was a big hit (as was the addition of a Ben & Jerrys shop). The bridge that came down from the celing was a nice feature too.

 

On Air Club:

Very nice. They had two Karaoke booths where you swipe your card, pick a song and background you want the green-screen to be. Then it asks you if you want the glass to be transparent or not (so people could look in). Is fun if you have a fun group with you. All in all a good laugh

 

Elevators:

Well it is not RCCL fault for laziness but people are you kidding! I could not count the amount of times someone got in on deck 11 and pressed deck 10. And these were not elderly people or people with young kids. These are people in there 30's!

 

Solarium/Main Pool/H20 Zone

Way too go RCCL! This is the main area IMHO that RCCL improved on. The Solarium was noticabley bigger with nice tables to sit down at. The hot tubs were neat too. A nice place to be at sail away. The main pool was improved upon too. The dance floor in the middle proved a nice place to be at night. Also there were many tables and places to sit in the main pool area too. The H20 zone was a HUGE HIT with the kids and I saw a few adults in there too (;)). The only negative here is that it closed at 8:00 pm and the water fountains were turned off and the area was roped off. Wished they would have kept it open longer for after dinner. Also the pool areas looked great at night! The lighting effects were incredible.

 

Deck Chairs:

Much better than Voyager class! There were so many more deck chairs! You could always find one, even on sea days. Yes, there were chair hogs but finding a lounger was never a problem. Also there were alot more tables and chairs in all 3 pool areas which was nice if you wanted to bring food from Windjammer outside

 

Flowrider:

All I can say is WOW! RCCL went above and beyond to make this a huge hit! There were pro staff who were there to help you and teach you (who were very friendly) and designated times for surfing and boogie boarding. They even had designated teen times (which my 15 year old loved) and night time surfing, which was a very neat idea. It was open on average 7 hours a day (even on port days). And yes it did get busy, say if you went 3:00 pm on a sea day. But if your willing to go early on a port day, there wasent too much of a wait. There was nearly always a photographer there too snap you picture (good and bad :D)

 

Sound System:

Normally I wouldn't comment on a sound-system but on this ship, the music was above and beyond. From the Royal Promenade to the Pool Deck to Under Water music in the Solarium to the Flowrider. The sound system and the lights were the best ive seen on a cruise ship.

 

Shows:

Once Upon a Time: Best show Ive seen on a cruise ship! Do NOT MISS!

 

 

Well I know it may seem like this review is glowing in positive, which it is. But I just felt like RCCL went above and beyond on this ship. As a diamond member I know what else RCCL has got to offer and this while only slightly bigger than Voyager is so much better in many ways

 

Feel free to ask any questions

[emmy]

Thanks for doing the review.. I also had so many positives to say about this ship as well...

 

Now my comment is thank you so much for posting that you saw our Ode to Freedom hanging on the ship by Deck 5 elevators... did you happend to get a photo that you might share with us?

[dnoble74]

Thanks for the review! short and to the point! I love reading all the reviews I can find for Freedom. We've had mixed feelings of cruising on such a HUGE ship and by reading your review, there's nothing to fear.

 

Thanks!

 

Frank

[faithwins]

Emmy:

 

YEP! Snapped a picture for you guys. Will post tommorow. Felt a strong connection to CC when I saw this: :D

[emmy]

Emmy:

 

YEP! Snapped a picture for you guys. Will post tommorow. Felt a strong connection to CC when I saw this: :D

 

Thank you so much faithwins:) I plan on taking my own photo when I get back on her in October... so is it hanging by the elevators near Boleros and the 'bridge' around the corner from Guest Relations?

 

Renee who did the calligraphy on the poem had it beautifully framed and took great care getting it on the ship in one piece.

 

Big smile and thankyou here

 

We all had our own copies and Captain Bill signed each of them...by the way who was your Captain on this sailing?

[lovingmom]

"On Air Club:

Very nice. They had two Karaoke booths where you swipe your card, pick a song and background you want the green-screen to be. Then it asks you if you want the glass to be transparent or not (so people could look in). Is fun if you have a fun group with you. All in all a good laugh"

 

 

Is this an "extra charge" activity? Is it recorded, and do you get a copy of the recording???? Since they have these booths, do they still do the karaoke contests like on the voyager class ships?

[zotzer]

Well I know it may seem like this review is glowing in positive, which it is. But I just felt like RCCL went above and beyond on this ship. As a diamond member I know what else RCCL has got to offer and this while only slightly bigger than Voyager is so much better in many ways

 

Faith,

Ahhhh, it's tough to be home, isn't it? LOL

Thanks for your enthusiastic feedback. I am so glad to hear that our initial impressions are holding up, even as they are increasing the occupancy on the ship. There are really so many things that Freedom got "right"!!

 

The changes, in particular the flow-rider, improved kids areas, and H20Zone really do make it much much more than just a "bigger Voyager". Something for everyone, and a fun sort of overlap of generations back at the Flowrider! LOL

 

I'm so glad you had a fantastic vacation!!! So, when are you going back? :p

T

[kendallison]

Assuming you took kids, how old were they? Did you get the feel that all age kids were enjoying the H2O zone?

[BillyMetz]

Great review, thanks. We are booked on the FOS in March 07 and I read every review that is posted. Each makes me a little more excited. One question I come away with after each review is time you have to enjoy the new ship. I wondered if 4 ports of call is to many. Obviously you do not have to get off the ship while in port if you do not want to. You can stay on board and enjoy what the ship has to offer. But on the other hand you hate to stop at a port you may not have visited before and miss seeing it. I have looked so forward to seeing the FOS every since they started building it and wonder if we will have enough time to even scratch the service of all there is to see and do. With there being just two days at sea, and what is left of each evening after departing the ports of call, did you feel satisfied at the end of the cruise? I am torn between booking short shore excursions so as to spend less time on shore and more on the ship, or spending a full day on shore. For sure this will come up in Labadee. I am one of those people that enjoy cruising as much for the ship as the ports of call.

[zotzer]

Billy,

Good points....one reason I am going back in Dec. You really are hard-pressed to experience the ship in one week.

 

One thing I am super excited about is the Liberty eastern itin next year. Three sea days, and one of the three port stops is Labadee. It will be a ship vacation for sure!!! Right now, I'm actually planning a b2b, mostly because of my one-week-not-being-enough experience on FR!

T

[faithwins]

"On Air Club:

Very nice. They had two Karaoke booths where you swipe your card, pick a song and background you want the green-screen to be. Then it asks you if you want the glass to be transparent or not (so people could look in). Is fun if you have a fun group with you. All in all a good laugh"

 

 

Is this an "extra charge" activity? Is it recorded, and do you get a copy of the recording???? Since they have these booths, do they still do the karaoke contests like on the voyager class ships?

 

Nope, no charge. But you don't get a recording either. There is still Karaoke in the actual On-Air-Club every night and they have a TON of songs to choose fom

[faithwins]

Assuming you took kids, how old were they? Did you get the feel that all age kids were enjoying the H2O zone?

 

We had kids 15 and 18.... Though the H20 zone is probally designed for kids 9 and under they did play in it once or twice., but the kids who were younger seemed to be having a blast. The AO program on this ship is very similar to the Voyager class ships but there were a few more activities done with the new features on the ship (ie. teen karaoke, teen surfing, teen poolside party)

[CruiseExplore06]

It sounds like you had an excellent time on board. Great to hear all the Freedom reviews. :)

[mamax4]

I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THIS SHIP!!! Thanks for teasing me...

[shirljean]

We are going on the Freedom in October - we being 4 senior citizens. Would like to know if there is an adult pool, like on the Mariner, etc. If so, where is located?

 

Thanks for the great report.

[Huntster]

We are going on the Freedom in October - we being 4 senior citizens. Would like to know if there is an adult pool, like on the Mariner, etc. If so, where is located?

 

Thanks for the great report.

Hi! Which Oct sailing are you on? And yes, the Freedom has an adults only pool area. I'm not sure where it is located, but if someone else doesn't answer you, I'll look it up for you.

[GMoney]

We are going on the Freedom in October - we being 4 senior citizens. Would like to know if there is an adult pool, like on the Mariner, etc. If so, where is located?

 

Thanks for the great report.

 

Solarium, Deck 11 Forward.

[shirljean]

Thanks guys, for the quick replies. We sail on Oct. 22. I am looking at the deck plan and see the two whirlpools on each side of the deck, then down from there is a pool bar. Now, that strange shaped thing - is that the pool? It looks like the bathrooms on each side seems to be right in the pool? Geesh, how convenient! (giggle)