Freedom of the Seas - Oct 4-11 Review

[FrancescaH]

Let me preface that we are not the run of the mill cruisers. Among our group of 4 we have myself in a wheelchair with limited mobility without it, a 4 (almost 5) year old who inherited our tall genes and looks like a 7 year old which can influence what to expect from him, and an almost 20 year old. This was my husband's and my 8th cruise (all RCCL), our 4 year old's 5th cruise and the our 19 yr old niece's 1st cruise. We cruise not for the ports but for the ship. While my niece went ashore in St Thomas and St Maarten, the rest of us never left the ship.

We cruised the Voyager once and the Mariner 5 times so were very comfortable with Freedom's layout. It remains a very wheelchair accessible design with a few notes... while the mini golf course is better for wheelchairs on the Freedom, getting physically onto the sports deck is more challenging thanks to the design of the door (not quite wide enough for my chair you had to unlatch the smaller half at floor level to open both sides) heading out onto the sports deck compared to Mariner. Of course with Voyager the mini golf wasn't wheelchair accessible.. at least not when we sailed her. I know it may seem a small thing but our son fell in love with the game of golf thanks to the mini golf on the Mariner 2 cruises back so it's a big family event to play while onboard.

Our stateroom was outstanding!! We were in JS 1328 which is an accessible JS officially listed as having a sofabed and 2 pullmans hence officially it sleeps 6 but with only one bathroom 4 seems more practical. In place of the traditional JS closet we had a curtained alcove with a set of bunk beds. Around the cabin there were a few wall cabinets to make up for the lack of closet. There is also a sofa bed in the main part of the cabin but the kids slept on the bunks. It was such a pleasure for my husband and I to have a bit of privacy in our cabin as opposed to having to dim all the lights when we put our son to bed on the sofabed like on the Mariner.

We have been big fans of the Mariner and the level of service on it. We were surprised that Freedom exceeded the Mariner. Our cabin attendant Gregory from Trinidad & Tobago was always helpful and greeted us by name when we ran into him in the hall. The M&M magnet door sign (I hope the others enjoyed having one as I made them for any who wanted them on our roll call) I made with my username and first names probably helped with the kids names although he always addressed me as Mrs LastName. Having ice throughout the day was never an issue unlike our last cruise. And in the dining room our waiter Woravit from Thailand was fantastic. We bought the Savor cookbook from him and he made sure to get us the chef's autograph and included his own email for us to keep in touch. Our assistant waiter May from Columbia also was on the ball. After an intial mix up over our preferred drinks she was ready for us every night. Even our head waiter Erich from Austria put in a few appearances over the week to chat with us as opposed to only appearing at the end of the week for tips. And we also had great luck in the Windjammer as a young waitress named Ipek from Turkey seemed to keep an eye out for us and see to our needs for drinks and the like.

Our son didn't hit it off with the Adventure Ocean Staff on our last Mariner cruise. He spent much more time with us. The staff on the Freedom seemed to appeal to him though as he was anxious to go to AO at least once a day.. more if we let him. He obviously made friends as I heard "Hi CJ!!" multiple times from a few kids through the week. He continues to talk about AO now that we are home with a happy note as opposed to a bit sad like last time.

While we never even got around to using the regular pool and the Solarium pool, we did use the H20 Zone. For me it was nice to be able to roll up poolside and transfer to the edge and sit with my feet wet and cool as my husband played with our son in the water. For a family with a younger child it was a brilliant addition to the ship.

The cruise event staff was a bit different. I suppose the larger size of the ship limits how much they can interact with passengers but we found them much more aloof than past cruises. I go to most of the bingo, some of the trivia, as well as some of the night events and never got much more than a hello. I did manage a win of the Sudoku challenge and earned a luggage tag which I passed on to my niece. And what events I didn't make it to my husband and/or niece did. I'm hoping it was a fluke as I have always enjoyed chatting with the events staff.

Having read reviews we were pleasantly surprised by the food in the dining room. I think I only had one thing all week that I considered marginal.. that being the steak on the last night. I found the lamb particularly good on this cruise. And Sorrento's was a big hit with my pizza crazy family and I enjoyed the antipasto section.

The Freedom of the Seas left a very good impression with us and we booked her again for next year on the western run to give my niece some more islands to visit. My goal is turn her into a cruise addict too!

I did day by day webpages on our personal website from the ship (loved having WiFi in the cabin!) so our friends and family could cruise vicariously through us. Feel free to take a look if you wish... http://www.david-and-francesca.com/c...e_2009_top.htm

[kellbellscruise]

Very nice personal website you have created. Thanks for the review. I have only been on Carnival Sensation, and loved it. But I have been looking at RCI and your pics were great to see. Freedom looks huge and beautiful. Hope the time passes quickly till your next adventure..Thanks Again

[Lionesss]

Thanks for the review.

9 months and counting till the Western Freedom of the Seas.

Later

[boaterette]

Thank you so much for posting your review. I read your day to day on your website and thought it was great. It sounds like you have a loely family. Your niece is certainly a beautiful young women and it is nice htat she travels with you. My niece is almost 16 and I take her on cruises also. But she is at the age where she thinks her Auntie is crazy.

[FrancescaH]

Originally Posted by boaterette

Thank you so much for posting your review. I read your day to day on your website and thought it was great. It sounds like you have a loely family. Your niece is certainly a beautiful young women and it is nice htat she travels with you. My niece is almost 16 and I take her on cruises also. But she is at the age where she thinks her Auntie is crazy.

Thanks, my family is important to me and my niece means the world to me. She was the first baby I ever cared for being my oldest niece. It's been fun watching her grow up. This was our first trip together since she officially became an adult. She takes a lot of responsibility back at home between work and family so I thought she needed a trip where she could have some fun.

[azvacationgirl]

Francesca -We met a few years back on the Mariner. I still have my Mariner Merry Makers door sign on the side of my fridge. So happy to read your review. Roger and I are boarding Freedom next month for another anniversary trip. We are doing Western so it will be nice to see new places.