Freedom of the Seas Diamond Lounge Review

I recently returned from a 7 night cruise on the Freedom of the Seas. There have been quite a few posts/threads relating the Diamond Lounge. I was urged to write a review of the Diamond Lounge by other CC members, so here it is.

· The Diamond Lounge on FOS is located on deck 14 adjacent to Olive or Twist. What Royal did is to partition off a section of the Viking Lounge, and built the lounge. The lounge is accessible to Diamond members by using their Sea pass. The Diamond Concierge who currently runs the Diamond Lounge is Mr. Rahul Barua. Rahul is a very professional, knowledgeable, polite, helpful and just a wonderful person.

In the morning, continental style breakfast is offered with various pastries, fruits, bagels and such. I usually went in to just get a triple espresso and get out. There is a specialty coffee machine and various tea bags available 24/7.

In the evening, from 4:30 to 8:00, the Diamond lounge serves wine, champagne, bottled beer and mixed drinks along with hot and cold hors d'oeurves.

I observed during my cruise that many suite guests and diamond plus cruisers opted to utilize the Diamond Lounge instead of the Concierge lounge. Those that I talked to told me that they preferred the Diamond lounge over the Concierge lounge because they thought the Diamond Lounge was much nicer. Since the Diamond lounge has a fabulous ocean view, IMHO, it is better than the Concierge Lounge with no windows.

We really enjoyed the Diamond lounge on the FOS. It truly was one of the highlights of our experience on the Freedom of the Seas.

If anyone has any questions, I will do my best to answer them.

I will post some pictures shortly

Here are the first three pictures.

i may have to try this again.

I also prefer the DL over the CL on the Freedom class ships :D

We have only been on the Monarch since turning Diamond. I see you talk about a continental breakfast in the DL in the AM. On the Monarch there is a Diamond and above special breakfast every morning in the MDR is this also on the Freedom ?

We have only been on the Monarch since turning Diamond. I see you talk about a continental breakfast in the DL in the AM. On the Monarch there is a Diamond and above special breakfast every morning in the MDR is this also on the Freedom ?

They held a Diamond Event one morning on the next to last sea day. It was a sit down breakfast with one of the ships officers joining each table. They had a special menu for the event. It was pretty nice.

We have only been on the Monarch since turning Diamond. I see you talk about a continental breakfast in the DL in the AM. On the Monarch there is a Diamond and above special breakfast every morning in the MDR is this also on the Freedom ?

On ships that have a true Diamond Lounge, there is no special breakfast for Diamond and above.

On ships that have a true Diamond Lounge, there is no special breakfast for Diamond and above.

It is my understanding that this is something they recently started. They did the same sort of breakfast on the Monarch a week earlier except there was no officer at the table.

The only advantage the CL had over the DL that we experienced was the noise. Some nights it can get pretty loud in the DL. If you looking for a quiet place for a drink, it may not always be ideal.

Hi Scott, thanks for the info. You mentioned that some suite guests used the DL. Were they also Diamond though? The reason I ask is that we are D+ and staying in a suite but our friends are Platinum and in a suite. It's my understanding they can ONLY use the CL. Hope this makes sense!

Good to know I can grab a cappuccino in the DL too - I'd rather have windows!

It is my understanding that this is something they recently started. They did the same sort of breakfast on the Monarch a week earlier except there was no officer at the table.

I am pretty sure what you are mentioning is a top tier event and it only happened once during the cruise.

On ships without a dedicated Diamond Lounge they have a seperate area in the MDR for Diamond and above where they have a daily breakfast and you get the specialty coffees that are typically available in the lounge

There was a breakfast for returning higher level (platiunum and above I think) on our last cruise on Mariner. This was in place of the usual cocktail party or brunch often seen on past cruises. But Patty is correct. On ships with a Diamond Lounge, there is no special breakfast area for D and D+. And suite pax that are also D or D+ can use the D Lounge. If not D or D+, suite pax only have access to the Concierge Lounge. I believe a lot of suite pax are also D and D+. We are.

Hi Scott, thanks for the info. You mentioned that some suite guests used the DL. Were they also Diamond though? The reason I ask is that we are D+ and staying in a suite but our friends are Platinum and in a suite. It's my understanding they can ONLY use the CL. Hope this makes sense!

 

Good to know I can grab a cappuccino in the DL too - I'd rather have windows!

I met a few D+ folks in the Diamond loung along with people that were in GS suites. They were there every night. The lounge would be pretty crowded until 5:30 when the first sitting for dinner began. After that, there was plenty of room.

I cannot answer about non-diamond suite guests using th DL instead go the CL.

The only advantage the CL had over the DL that we experienced was the noise. Some nights it can get pretty loud in the DL. If you looking for a quiet place for a drink, it may not always be ideal.

Agreed. A few of the people I talked to told me that the CL was too quiet.

Thank you for the information. I am sailing on FoS next month, first time as Diamond! So looking forward to it!

I am pretty sure what you are mentioning is a top tier event and it only happened once during the cruise.

 

On ships without a dedicated Diamond Lounge they have a seperate area in the MDR for Diamond and above where they have a daily breakfast and you get the specialty coffees that are typically available in the lounge

You may very well be correct. The only time I ate breakfast in the MDR was the special breakfast as mentioned earlier. That was in deck 5.

I do know that on the morning my DW decided to have breakfast in the Windjammer, I was told we could eat in Portofino since we were Diamond. I also think this applied to those that were in GS and above.

We are D+ and always go to the DL on the Freedom for the view and for Rahul, it is a great spot with an excellant crew.Also no children in the DL but are allowed in the CL(no flames please,I paid my dues as I am a Gr.Grandmother). We also enjoy it during the day for a cappucino and a nice place to read.

I loved that Diamond brekkie in the MDR on one cruise that I was on (forget which one!).....am seriosly thinking of a Freedom cruise in January. Are you saying it has a dedicated DL? I'm not sure what one has to do with the other, but I guess there is some reason they don't do both.

M.

I know there is a way to place photos in a post, but I don't know how.

The man in the photos is the Diamond Concierge Rahul Barua. It is my understanding he will moving to the CL for 3 months in a week or two.

I did not take a picture of the Frig with the beer in it.

If anyone has any questions, i will answer as best I can.

The FOS is a great Ship!

We like to go to the DL for the view and Rahul is a fine man.

However, sometimes the DL is too crowded or too loud.

The CL has no windows..right but it nice and peaceful in there and feels more like an intimate cocktail lounge. So we visit both lounges depending on our mood and the crowd.

We have only been on the Monarch since turning Diamond. I see you talk about a continental breakfast in the DL in the AM. On the Monarch there is a Diamond and above special breakfast every morning in the MDR is this also on the Freedom ?

Just off the Monarch on June 9th and there is a special breakfast on one day only. It is called the "Platinum and Diamond Breakfast" or a Top Tier Event (Platinum, Diamond, D+ and Pinnacle). The old daily "Diamond" breakfast is now limited to a continental style breakfast in the MDR.

On Freedom (we were there in April) there is a similar special breakfast where an officer sits at each table.

The regular Diamond breakfast is just being able to sit in Chops after you collect your own food in the WJ.

I recently returned from a 7 night cruise on the Freedom of the Seas. There have been quite a few posts/threads relating the Diamond Lounge. I was urged to write a review of the Diamond Lounge by other CC members, so here it is.

· The Diamond Lounge on FOS is located on deck 14 adjacent to Olive or Twist. What Royal did is to partition off a section of the Viking Lounge, and built the lounge. The lounge is accessible to Diamond members by using their Sea pass. The Diamond Concierge who currently runs the Diamond Lounge is Mr. Rahul Barua. Rahul is a very professional, knowledgeable, polite, helpful and just a wonderful person.

In the morning, continental style breakfast is offered with various pastries, fruits, bagels and such. I usually went in to just get a triple espresso and get out. There is a specialty coffee machine and various tea bags available 24/7.

In the evening, from 4:30 to 8:00, the Diamond lounge serves wine, champagne, bottled beer and mixed drinks along with hot and cold hors d'oeurves.

I observed during my cruise that many suite guests and diamond plus cruisers opted to utilize the Diamond Lounge instead of the Concierge lounge. Those that I talked to told me that they preferred the Diamond lounge over the Concierge lounge because they thought the Diamond Lounge was much nicer. Since the Diamond lounge has a fabulous ocean view, IMHO, it is better than the Concierge Lounge with no windows.

We really enjoyed the Diamond lounge on the FOS. It truly was one of the highlights of our experience on the Freedom of the Seas.

 

If anyone has any questions, I will do my best to answer them.

 

I will post some pictures shortly

Totally agree with you. The DL is way better than the CL on Freedom and Liberty b/c of the view. So even though we are D+, we always go to the DL since it is so much nicer.

I don't think non-Diamond suite guests are supposed to be allowed into the D lounge. The reason I say this is that we just got off FOS. We'd booked a suite but were not D. (After that cruise, we now are! :)) In any event, no one even mentioned the D lounge to us. This post was the first I'd heard of it (that is, where it was located).

So, maybe out SeaPass cards would have worked . . . but there's certainly not an all-out effort to tell non-D, suite guests about the D lounge or that they have access to it.

We would prefer the quieter venue, so all was good for us in the CL.

We are D+ and always go to the DL on the Freedom for the view and for Rahul, it is a great spot with an excellant crew.Also no children in the DL but are allowed in the CL(no flames please,I paid my dues as I am a Gr.Grandmother). We also enjoy it during the day for a cappucino and a nice place to read.

Ditto everything that you said (except the Gr. Grandmother)! Rahul and Willie are top notch --as was Amit (will miss him)-- and probably the example we hold all others to.

We loved the Diamond Lounge on our recent sailing. Loved Rahul too! He does run a tight ship. He did check to make sure the people in the DL were supposed to be. You had to be Diamond and above to get into the lounge.

Great pictures of the lounge, thanks for sharing.