Freedom of the Seas - July 14-21 - Post Cruise Report

Going in oct can’t wait! Still deciding on excursions love your posts

Enjoying your review, daughter & I will be on the Freedom for March 1 & 8 of 2020 and this will be our first time to San Juan. I am thinking of staying 2 nights pre cruise so we can see a little of SJ. This will be the daughters first Caribbean although I have been several years ago.

Debarkation & Final Impressions

Look, debarkation day is always going to be kind of sucky, right? I am sure everyone misses home and looks forward to seeing their pets, friends, etc. but cruises are so magical nobody wants them to end. But end they do and we just hope the logistics are smooth. Well, it turned out, in our case, the logistics were a comedy of errors.

Given I have already bored you with way too many details, let’s just say we dealt with power issues in the port in San Juan (we were essentially stuck on the ship for an extra 45 minutes which sounds great until you realize we were stuck in the line to get off and it was about 90 degrees with 206% humidity), delayed planes and uncomfortable seats. Oh well, at least we have the Allure of the Seas to look forward to!!!

OVERALL

Ship – The Freedom is still amazing. The Oasis class ships are literally in another class (although we have only been on Allure) but we still and always will love the Freedom. She is aging well and I have no doubt they will continue to improve things in the future. In my opinion, rumors of her demise/downfall are greatly exaggerated.

Food – First and all, please let me come clean…I am not a foodie and neither is anyone in my family. In fact, I am the clown who orders a kids chicken fingers and fries along with my“adult” entrée in the MDR. So, to me the food is perfectly fine. Big thumbs up to the waffles with toppings (you saw that one coming, didn’t you?), French fries- always good on the ship -, mac and cheese in the Windjammer, and French Onion soup in the MDR (B would also want me to mention his new infatuation with escargot). Thumbs sideways (no thumbs down allowed – it is vacation) for the ice cream in the Windjammer which always seemed to be melty, and the lack of selections in the MDR (and they also no longer have pizza in the Windjammer). Speaking of which, the new menus are a downgrade in my opinion. They have taken away a lot of options although to their credit, they seem to be able to accommodate special requests. For example, the head waiter asked what we thought of the new arrangement and P noted that she missed the cold fruit soups that used to be standard on the menus. On the last night, they made a special peach soup for her which she loved. Our server also gets high marks including for surprising B on the last night with a slice of birthday cake (he turned nine the day after we returned). We also had absolutely no issue with the bread already being on the table nor with having to order all three courses at the same time.

Activities on the Ship – Non- cruisers ask me if they will get bored on the ship and I always kind of look at them funny. A couple of reasons for this – (1) I am funny looking; and (2) they have no clue that there is a LOT to do on the ship. In fact, which such a port heavy itinerary, I kind of felt as though we really had to squeeze everything in on the last day and did not have enough time to just hang out and relax. Looking back at everything we did – trivia, rock wall, ice skating, movie at the pool, lots of shows, games, etc., it really is amazing. RCCL has set the bar when it comes to activities on a ship and I am always excited to see what they come up with next. But why hasn’t anyone thought to put a boxing ring on a ship? (That is a joke people…the boxing ring may have been the dumbest idea in history IMO).

Crown & Anchor Society – I am very proud to be a Diamond member and, yes, there are times when I have made sure my Seapass card was facing the “right way.” There I said it. Go ahead and dislike me or call me immature or whatever. What I really wish is RCCL was as proud to have me as a Diamond member as I am to be one. My first “complaint” is the way they treat their suite guests compared with those who have shown tremendous loyalty over time. I get that the suite guests are spending a lot of money and they are making an effort to get them to continue to spend a lot of money but my family and other Diamond members have PROVEN that we are here to stay. Just one man’s opinion.

Crown & Anchor Society II – I have seen a fair amount of discussion on these boards about the Diamond Lounge and RCCL’s apparent effort to limit it to Diamond Plus and Pinnacle members. I will say that if this is true it disappoints me greatly. Having three complimentary drinks on my card is very nice (for the record, I am just as likely to get soft drinks with them as I am to get something alcoholic) but I like having the option to go to the lounge (and the kids love the little Rice Krispy Treats!). I do also understand the concern that the lounge will be overcrowded but I can say this was absolutely not an issue on this cruise. The lounge on the Freedom is very small but there were always open seats. (A personal message to “Pinnacle Man” if you are out there…get over yourself).

Itinerary – Ports of Call – I mentioned it before but five ports in five days is a lot. We all agreed that it would have been better if we had a sea day in the middle but alas. What was most interesting was each member of the family independently ranked each port and then we shared the results. Antigua and St. Kitts were definitely the big winners while Barbados was the little winner (once again, there are NO losers when it comes to a trip like this). And St. Lucia scored very high despite the issues we encountered. Overall, I personally see the islands/ports thusly:

St. Maarten – An old standby that we continue to love. We hope they continue to make progress on the road to post-hurricane recovery as there is clearly work to do. That said, we will be back in March on the Allure and I cannot wait!

St. Kitts – Quickly becoming one of the favorites of our family. The area at the dock is very nice and the people are friendly. And we met some new friends named Watson, Angela and Ayla. Can’t wait to return and possibly make a first trip to Nevis.

Antigua – The big winner of the three islands we had never visited before. Amazingly soft sand on the beach and a nice shopping area. We are relieved they avoided the wrath of the hurricanes and pray for the recovery of Barbuda.

St. Lucia – Still a bit of an unknown but I look forward to making a return trip and taking Spencer Ambrose up on his offer. Stunningly beautiful. I wish I could comment on Castries and the banana plantation but, well, you know…

Barbados – A bit of a letdown or simply our least favorite? It is easy to say that the setup at the beach was not ideal but you can then remember the incredibly soft sand and the turtle and stingray. It is easy to say the city of Bridgetown was nothing special or that the port itself was too industrial but they you think of the palm trees and aquamarine water. That said, I choose the latter. (Next time, I do believe I would try and find a more private beach).

OVERALL – For gosh sakes it is a cruise. I tend to get frustrated when I read people’s reviews that comment on little stuff that went wrong and I hope when they look back they focus on the positive memories and not the little stuff (that is not to say that serious issues do not occur and I am so sorry to hear when they do). Sure, I mentioned several “issues”but at the end of the day, running out of smoked salmon and not visiting a banana plantation and facing fewer choices in the MDR are not going to outweigh the fact that I spent seven days on a beautiful ship visiting fantastic islands with my incredible family. Do I look back and say “wow…that was the best cruise I have ever been on?” Yes, I do…because so far they have all been. I hope you are as lucky as I am to be able to say that.

Thanks for reading! Only 234 days until our next cruise vacation adventure!!!!!

{Postscript - A big THANK YOU to everyone for reading and for your comments. Writing this review took quite a while but it really helped me relive our incredible trip! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! And I promise I will do my best to answer any and all questions! To everyone who has an upcoming cruise - have a GREAT time! And I hope to see all of you on the high seas someday.

Really enjoyed your entire review. Every aspect of it. My wife and I are sailing in Dec with our adult son and his girlfriend. Overall different ports but glad to learn about the vessel. Thank you very much !!! :)

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Was so looking forward to your final post and have enjoyed reading everything.

I have to strongly agree with your paragraphs on the C&A Society. It took us a long time to get to D+ and the lack of appreciation now from RCI is most disappointing. I had no idea there was a thought to excluding the D level from the lounge...absolutely unfair.

Thank you so much for the time you took to let us all come along on this cruise with you.

Happy, healthy cruises ahead to you and yours.

Ashland I was looking at flights for myself and daughter to San Juan and right now it looks like are are better off taking a Non Stop out of LAX. Flights back to PSP are ridiculous with over 8 hr layover. Use Super Shuttle door to door + Non Stop flights is far cheaper. Funny part we can get of out PSP but the return is horrible.

Gay

Ashland I was looking at flights for myself and daughter to San Juan and right now it looks like are are better off taking a Non Stop out of LAX. Flights back to PSP are ridiculous with over 8 hr layover. Use Super Shuttle door to door + Non Stop flights is far cheaper. Funny part we can get of out PSP but the return is horrible.

 

Gay

Gay ..... No rhyme or reasoning to air schedules & cost. Hope you can get something that will work nicely for the two of you .... I'm sure you will.

The ideal flight out of PSP is connecting in Newark but I could get two cruises for what they want now for that flight. LOL. Good thing we have loads of time to check all options. R/T shuttle to LAX is $500 + TX & Tip. LOL

Gay

Really nice job with this review, thank you for the time and effort!

BobJ

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Loved your review. I personally felt the content was just the right amount to keep me engaged and eager for more. We are strongly considering this ship with a port intense southern itinerary in January and your review was very helpful! Many thanks!

OVERALL – For gosh sakes it is a cruise. I tend to get frustrated when I read people’s reviews that comment on little stuff that went wrong and I hope when they look back they focus on the positive memories and not the little stuff (that is not to say that serious issues do not occur and I am so sorry to hear when they do). Sure, I mentioned several “issues”but at the end of the day, running out of smoked salmon and not visiting a banana plantation and facing fewer choices in the MDR are not going to outweigh the fact that I spent seven days on a beautiful ship visiting fantastic islands with my incredible family. Do I look back and say “wow…that was the best cruise I have ever been on?” Yes, I do…because so far they have all been. I hope you are as lucky as I am to be able to say that.

Thank you again for sharing your adventures on Freedom.

14 days until I leave for PR!!

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Debarkation & Final Impressions

 

 

 

Look, debarkation day is always going to be kind of sucky, right? I am sure everyone misses home and looks forward to seeing their pets, friends, etc. but cruises are so magical nobody wants them to end. But end they do and we just hope the logistics are smooth. Well, it turned out, in our case, the logistics were a comedy of errors.

 

 

 

Given I have already bored you with way too many details, let’s just say we dealt with power issues in the port in San Juan (we were essentially stuck on the ship for an extra 45 minutes which sounds great until you realize we were stuck in the line to get off and it was about 90 degrees with 206% humidity), delayed planes and uncomfortable seats. Oh well, at least we have the Allure of the Seas to look forward to!!!

 

 

 

OVERALL

 

 

 

Ship – The Freedom is still amazing. The Oasis class ships are literally in another class (although we have only been on Allure) but we still and always will love the Freedom. She is aging well and I have no doubt they will continue to improve things in the future. In my opinion, rumors of her demise/downfall are greatly exaggerated.

 

 

 

Food – First and all, please let me come clean…I am not a foodie and neither is anyone in my family. In fact, I am the clown who orders a kids chicken fingers and fries along with my“adult” entrée in the MDR. So, to me the food is perfectly fine. Big thumbs up to the waffles with toppings (you saw that one coming, didn’t you?), French fries- always good on the ship -, mac and cheese in the Windjammer, and French Onion soup in the MDR (B would also want me to mention his new infatuation with escargot). Thumbs sideways (no thumbs down allowed – it is vacation) for the ice cream in the Windjammer which always seemed to be melty, and the lack of selections in the MDR (and they also no longer have pizza in the Windjammer). Speaking of which, the new menus are a downgrade in my opinion. They have taken away a lot of options although to their credit, they seem to be able to accommodate special requests. For example, the head waiter asked what we thought of the new arrangement and P noted that she missed the cold fruit soups that used to be standard on the menus. On the last night, they made a special peach soup for her which she loved. Our server also gets high marks including for surprising B on the last night with a slice of birthday cake (he turned nine the day after we returned). We also had absolutely no issue with the bread already being on the table nor with having to order all three courses at the same time.

 

 

 

Activities on the Ship – Non- cruisers ask me if they will get bored on the ship and I always kind of look at them funny. A couple of reasons for this – (1) I am funny looking; and (2) they have no clue that there is a LOT to do on the ship. In fact, which such a port heavy itinerary, I kind of felt as though we really had to squeeze everything in on the last day and did not have enough time to just hang out and relax. Looking back at everything we did – trivia, rock wall, ice skating, movie at the pool, lots of shows, games, etc., it really is amazing. RCCL has set the bar when it comes to activities on a ship and I am always excited to see what they come up with next. But why hasn’t anyone thought to put a boxing ring on a ship? (That is a joke people…the boxing ring may have been the dumbest idea in history IMO).

 

Crown & Anchor Society – I am very proud to be a Diamond member and, yes, there are times when I have made sure my Seapass card was facing the “right way.” There I said it. Go ahead and dislike me or call me immature or whatever. What I really wish is RCCL was as proud to have me as a Diamond member as I am to be one. My first “complaint” is the way they treat their suite guests compared with those who have shown tremendous loyalty over time. I get that the suite guests are spending a lot of money and they are making an effort to get them to continue to spend a lot of money but my family and other Diamond members have PROVEN that we are here to stay. Just one man’s opinion.

 

 

Crown & Anchor Society II – I have seen a fair amount of discussion on these boards about the Diamond Lounge and RCCL’s apparent effort to limit it to Diamond Plus and Pinnacle members. I will say that if this is true it disappoints me greatly. Having three complimentary drinks on my card is very nice (for the record, I am just as likely to get soft drinks with them as I am to get something alcoholic) but I like having the option to go to the lounge (and the kids love the little Rice Krispy Treats!). I do also understand the concern that the lounge will be overcrowded but I can say this was absolutely not an issue on this cruise. The lounge on the Freedom is very small but there were always open seats. (A personal message to “Pinnacle Man” if you are out there…get over yourself).

 

 

 

Itinerary – Ports of Call – I mentioned it before but five ports in five days is a lot. We all agreed that it would have been better if we had a sea day in the middle but alas. What was most interesting was each member of the family independently ranked each port and then we shared the results. Antigua and St. Kitts were definitely the big winners while Barbados was the little winner (once again, there are NO losers when it comes to a trip like this). And St. Lucia scored very high despite the issues we encountered. Overall, I personally see the islands/ports thusly:

 

 

 

St. Maarten – An old standby that we continue to love. We hope they continue to make progress on the road to post-hurricane recovery as there is clearly work to do. That said, we will be back in March on the Allure and I cannot wait!

 

 

 

St. Kitts – Quickly becoming one of the favorites of our family. The area at the dock is very nice and the people are friendly. And we met some new friends named Watson, Angela and Ayla. Can’t wait to return and possibly make a first trip to Nevis.

 

 

 

Antigua – The big winner of the three islands we had never visited before. Amazingly soft sand on the beach and a nice shopping area. We are relieved they avoided the wrath of the hurricanes and pray for the recovery of Barbuda.

 

 

 

St. Lucia – Still a bit of an unknown but I look forward to making a return trip and taking Spencer Ambrose up on his offer. Stunningly beautiful. I wish I could comment on Castries and the banana plantation but, well, you know…

 

 

 

Barbados – A bit of a letdown or simply our least favorite? It is easy to say that the setup at the beach was not ideal but you can then remember the incredibly soft sand and the turtle and stingray. It is easy to say the city of Bridgetown was nothing special or that the port itself was too industrial but they you think of the palm trees and aquamarine water. That said, I choose the latter. (Next time, I do believe I would try and find a more private beach).

 

 

 

OVERALL – For gosh sakes it is a cruise. I tend to get frustrated when I read people’s reviews that comment on little stuff that went wrong and I hope when they look back they focus on the positive memories and not the little stuff (that is not to say that serious issues do not occur and I am so sorry to hear when they do). Sure, I mentioned several “issues”but at the end of the day, running out of smoked salmon and not visiting a banana plantation and facing fewer choices in the MDR are not going to outweigh the fact that I spent seven days on a beautiful ship visiting fantastic islands with my incredible family. Do I look back and say “wow…that was the best cruise I have ever been on?” Yes, I do…because so far they have all been. I hope you are as lucky as I am to be able to say that.

 

 

 

Thanks for reading! Only 234 days until our next cruise vacation adventure!!!!!

 

 

 

{Postscript - A big THANK YOU to everyone for reading and for your comments. Writing this review took quite a while but it really helped me relive our incredible trip! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! And I promise I will do my best to answer any and all questions! To everyone who has an upcoming cruise - have a GREAT time! And I hope to see all of you on the high seas someday.

What a wonderful review! Thanks for taking us along for the ride! Looking forward to being on the ship on Saturday and even more so after reading your review.

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It's all fun and games until it is luggage night. ;);) Why must there be a last night??? Where is my lottery winnings so I could live permanently on a cruise ship???

Sounds like you had a great cruise overall and thanks for sharing with us.

Awesome Trip report. We will be doing the same Cruise next March...

Thank you so much for the wonderful trip report. It was great!

We too LOVE the Freedom class, but, like you, the Oasis class is just top notch!

Thanks for taking the time to post this review! We sail Freedom in June & can't wait to get back to the Southern Caribbean!!!

Thank you for the review!  Considering Freedom for next July - and wondering how the crowds were?

Read some reviews from September that it was very crowded - and as this will be a kid free trip for us - wondering how it will be at the end of July?

Interestingly - we are choosing between this and Harmony (and we have also cruised Allure and Adventure) - so I get your feelings about the class of ship.

On 7/28/2018 at 6:12 PM, CubsWin2016! said:

Hello fellow cruisers!!! Now that we have been back from our2018 Family Vacation Extravaganza for a week I thought I would file a report onour trip. First a little background on my family and our cruisingexperience. My family consists of myself (46 years old), my wife P (45),daughter K (15), son R (13), and son B (9). We are very fortunate that wehave gone on a lot of cruises and are Diamond members with RCCL. This wasour 4th trip on the Freedom and we have also been on the Allure, Independence,Adventure, Grandeur, and Radiance.

 

Our cruise this go-around was a7-day Southern Caribbean out of San Juan. We chose this cruise b/c wewanted to spend a few days in San Juan, liked the itinerary (we had never beento three of the islands before), and have always loved the Freedom – we considerit our “home” ship.

 

 

We've been on FOS before and are planning this same itinerary with daughter and grandaughters for April, 2020.  But optionally we are looking to later in the summer.  The problem there could be the heat.  Some meds I take don't react well with it.  Sohow hot were the islands in July?

Sad to hear Philipsburg may not be recovering well.  We were in San Juan, St Thomas and St Maarten in March, 2018, and were encouraged then by the industriousness of the locals.  We made sure to take extra cash to spend with local vendors.

We had lunch at Lizzy's on the first day they were open after the hurricanes.  You could still hear hammers in the back.  Friendly, great food - wife had a seafood salad and I had ribs.  When it came time to leave the waitress realized she didn't have any prices.  So she called back to the owner and he responded with a really low total.  So we doubled it plus a good tip - our preferred method of recovery support.

Great review, btw.  It'll be a good help in our planning.

CubsWin2016...thanks for taking us along on your cruise. We are doing a B2B cruise on the Freedom March 2019.