Which are the best shows on Freedom of the Seas?

My husband and I, new cruisers in our early 30's with no kids, will be on RCL's Freedom Eastern Caribbean cruise toward the end of July for our 10th anniversary. We both have season tickets to Broadway musicals and love to see shows; however, he does not want to see as many shows as I do.

We prefer shows with a plot or with stunts that blow you away. We do not tend to enjoy "best of" music shows (music through the ages, best of rock and roll, etc.).

Which shows should we make sure to see? We will probably see only 3-4 shows so that we can relax and have a balanced vacation.

So far, it's between the Welcome Show, adult comedy, Freedom on Ice, Magic Show, Once Upon a Time (since we love Fairy tales and fantasy), and Farewell show.

It's nearly impossible to find specific information on the shows, so I'm relying on you to help us choose. Thanks!

We enjoyed Drew Thomas and his magic show.

I missed the Welcome show and thought the farewell show was pretty good.

The ice show was OK. It had great reviews on Cruise Critic though so maybe I was expecting something more, but it in my opinion it didn't live up to the hype. It is shown at least four times throughout the cruise though, so you should definitely try to catch it and make your own opinion.

Once Upon a Time was a pleasant surprise and I am glad I saw it.

My husband and I were both disappointed by the magic show as we love America's Got Talent and magicians.

You will love the Freedom. :D

What was Once Upon a Time like? Is it funny? Does it have a good plot? How long was it? (Sorry for all the questions.)

Was the Ice Show mostly stunts? Did it have a plot?

I wish RCL would describe their shows more specifically or have a preview for them online.

Thanks for responding! Definitely leaning toward Once Upon a Time and the magic show, but not sure what else.

What was Once Upon a Time like? Is it funny? Does it have a good plot? How long was it? (Sorry for all the questions.)

 

Was the Ice Show mostly stunts? Did it have a plot?

 

I wish RCL would describe their shows more specifically or have a preview for them online.

 

Thanks for responding! Definitely leaning toward Once Upon a Time and the magic show, but not sure what else.

There's not much risk in attending shows you are not familiar with. No one stops you from walking out if you find the show not to your liking.

What was Once Upon a Time like? Is it funny? Does it have a good plot? How long was it? (Sorry for all the questions.)

 

 

 

Was the Ice Show mostly stunts? Did it have a plot?

 

 

 

I wish RCL would describe their shows more specifically or have a preview for them online.

 

 

 

Thanks for responding! Definitely leaning toward Once Upon a Time and the magic show, but not sure what else.

Not sure which ice show is currently on the Freedom, but would highly recommend any of the ice shows. The rink is small, but the fact that the performers can do an ice show on a moving ship always amazes me.

There is usually a story line running through the show. The costumes, music and skating are, in my opinion, well worth seeing. There are solo, duet and groups of skaters. Also on all the ships I have been on there has been an individual artist, not necessarily a skater, half way through the show. Have seen aerial acts, comedy, a sand writer, and more.

Always a good show.

The ice show sounds cool! We'll make reservations for that when we're able to make them online.

As far as there being no risk tied with seeing the shows, we just wouldn't feel comfortable walking out (my husband more than me). Also, I'd really like to see the welcome show, but I worry that if the first show he sees isn't that good, he won't want to see any of the shows.

Should we skip the welcome show? What is the welcome show like?

The ice show sounds cool! We'll make reservations for that when we're able to make them online.

 

As far as there being no risk tied with seeing the shows, we just wouldn't feel comfortable walking out (my husband more than me). Also, I'd really like to see the welcome show, but I worry that if the first show he sees isn't that good, he won't want to see any of the shows.

 

Should we skip the welcome show? What is the welcome show like?

The ice show on Freedom no longer requires reservations. It is now on a first come first served basis.

We enjoyed Once Upon a Time more than any of the other shows. It is fairy tales but set to modern music. There are little vignettes of different stories like Cinderella. There are lots of youtube videos of some of the different stories if you google it.

Don't miss Quest!!

What is Quest?

What is Quest?

Adult, in the room, scavenger hunt.

I'll have to check out Quest. It sounds like something we'd love!

Once Upon a Time was traditional fairy tales with modern songs and a twist. I know it doesn't sound great but it was really well done. Even my husband liked it;)

The highlight of the ice show is the hula hooper. She skated while hula hooping with roughly twenty hula-hoops.

I missed Quest, Love and Marriage, and the late night comics cause our kids were too young to leave in the room by themselves. That's why we needed to book another trip next summer when they will be old enough:D

None of the shows last more than an hour and most are run twice a day as well. The other show they had while we were on was a Bon Jovi tribute band which we had no interest in seeing and I heard I didn't miss much.

You should try to find a compass - I think there are several on the boards from Freedom - and it will help you plan a little better.

We really enjoyed the two production shows, Marquee which had scenes from various musical theater productions like Joseph and Phantom, and Once Upon a Time. We enjoyed the welcome aboard show. Both had an aerialist couple, Peter and Ildiko, that were absolutely amazing. The Welcome Aboard show did contain the 10 minute promotion video at the beginning, though. Rodney Johnson was the comedian in that one and was pretty funny. Tony Tillman was on Day 3. He starred as Sammy Davis, Jr. in "The Rat Pack is Back". He put on a very good show. We weren't sure about that one at first, but we were glad we stayed. My kids ages 17-25 left after a few minutes, though. None of the five of us cared for the Drew Thomas show because his illusions were pretty lame and he waited for the audience to applaud after any move he made. He would pull out a scarf dramatically and pause looking at the audience and wouldn't move on until we applauded. In his first illusion, the velcro had come apart, so the "solid" back of his box was waving in the breeze. His assistants wore cheap wigs to look alike during the tricks. We were about 12 rows back. Maybe it's better sitting further back? My son really like illusions/magic, so that may have swayed our opinion as well. The ice show was great, as always. There was an aerialist, Yulia Ayupova, in the ice show who was outstanding. The Farewell Show was pretty good. Casey, the cruise director, did a very funny little stand-up routine with a great video; they showed the Cruise in Review DVD; and did a little musical/dance number. We didn't really care for the comedian, though, and I can't find Day 7 compass to tell you his name, sorry. If we had to do it over, we would skip the Drew Thomas show and leave before the last comedian on Day 7. I hope that helps a bit!

There is going to be a new show starting the next couple of weeks called DIVAS starring Drag Queen Olivia Knowles. We saw her in January and she was awesome her new show I am sure will be just as great!

We enjoyed the ice show. Once Upon a Time was good, the singers and dancers did a good job. Mostly songs that related to the fairy tales, but not the typical songs you hear for this kind of show, more modern tunes. We didn't care for the magic show but maybe it was just us.

DIVAS sounds great!

Anyone have any thoughts on the welcome, adult comedy, and farewell shows? So far, it's looking like those are the ones we'll skip.

DIVAS sounds great!

 

Anyone have any thoughts on the welcome, adult comedy, and farewell shows? So far, it's looking like those are the ones we'll skip.

We liked them all.