Opinion of Freedom of the Seas

Hi all! I am considering the southern Caribbean itinerary next winter on Freedom. Looking for some feedback on the food and service as well as overall thoughts on the ship. I am a single mom (mid 40's) traveling with a 6 and 10 year old. We like to spend a lot of time in the water and like to see the shows. My kids are happy to eat pasta and hot dogs, but I like to enjoy good food lol. Just came back from an all inclusive resort for the first time, and couldn't believe the difference in food quality and especially service compared to a cruise.

Thanks for your feedback!!

We've been on the sister ships Independence and Liberty and like them a lot. We have Freedom booked for two weeks this winter. So I guess we like those ships:)

If you're into the main dining room for dinner the food is acceptable - not spectacular. Buffet the same. There's pizza, sandwiches etc on the promenade.

There will be plenty of water/beaches on the islands. Pools on the ship are small.

I don't know what production show is on Freedom. Headliners are often pretty good. The singing/dancing shows are what they are....... :) The ice show is always worth the time on any RCCL ship.

The southern routes are great - 4/5 islands that are all worth visiting.

... Just came back from an all inclusive resort for the first time, and couldn't believe the difference in food quality and especially service compared to a cruise.

Thanks for your feedback!!

Was the all-inclusive better or worse than a cruise?

My wife and I have sailed Freedom a couple of times as well as her sister Liberty. It is our favorite class. We have Independence booked for January. Our most recent Freedom cruise was November. The ship and staff were terrific. We had a few issues with slow service in the MDR on My Time Dining. Lots to do during the day. The usual evening entertainment is pretty good (we do not do the comedy shows, so I can't help there). I also cannot speak of the Kids Club as we do not travel with young kids. We will be travelling with a 9 year old in January. So if you use the Kids Club, please let us know how that works out. I hope this helps.

We just sailed on Freedom two weeks ago.

It's a great ship.

Food is not gourmet, but mdr offers very nice food, including escargot most of the days.

Buffet is ok. We've seen better and worse. Service there is good.

For kids there are nice clubs as well as minigolf, surf, climbing, ice rink wall etc

Shows are pretty good and you don't need to book them.

I know you will be with kids, but try to visit adult Solarium. Pool is great as well as Jacuzzi over the ocean.

Promenade is pretty active with all kinds of things going on.

Music in Bolleros and Schooners bar is nice.

Ask if you have any particular question.

About A/I, we long time ago and my family often went to nice A/Is like Upper hotels of Iberostar, Now and had a great food, but it is not great everywhere. For me ... A/I are a bit boring. Same beach everyday. I love going to different places.

Was the all-inclusive better or worse than a cruise?

Worse! I do think a lot of it is preference though. The food and service (especially the service) didn't come close to a cruise. It was really bad. But...the pool was massive. It was about 1/4 mile long, winding through the entire resort. So there was plenty of room to swim and relax. That part was great. The had floating mats for the pool. Still same issue with towels sitting on chairs all day.

Worse! I do think a lot of it is preference though. The food and service (especially the service) didn't come close to a cruise. It was really bad. But...the pool was massive. It was about 1/4 mile long, winding through the entire resort. So there was plenty of room to swim and relax. That part was great. The had floating mats for the pool. Still same issue with towels sitting on chairs all day.

Was the all-inclusive better or worse than a cruise?

Which resort? They are sooo different in quality. Including food quality.

Dreams Punta Cana resort and spa. Got great reviews, but I didn't love it. I'm sure there is a lot of variation among the different resorts.

We went on freedom in 2015 for our first cruise ever and going again next year and we love it! We had not one complaint. Loved the nightlife, entertainment, food choices, everything! You will not be disappointed!

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Have been on Freedom many times, and totally enjoyed it each cruise. Really miss her here in Port Canaveral and would love to have her back. Prefer her over too big Oasis.

My family was just on the Freedom last week. My kids are a bit older (16 and 13), but we all had a great time. I thought the food in the MDR was good and the service there was excellent. In the Windjammer (buffet), the food is still solid but not spectacular. Service is still great there though. The key is to avoid it at the busiest times. If you go to the Windjammer at noon on a sea day, godspeed. It's chaos. Get there a little early, or grab a light snack at the Promenade Cafe and wait until about 1:00 to hit the Windjammer and you'll be fine. On port days, it will also be a breeze.

On sea days, you can also have lunch in the MDR. They have a terrific salad area, where you walk through the line and tell them what you want on your salad and they'll make it for you. There's also a buffet in there, or you can order off the lunch menu. It's a quieter and more peaceful lunch than the Windjammer for sure, though you'll need to change out of your swim attire to go there if you've been at the pools.

We attended one of the two headliner shows, which was a ventriloquist. He was entertaining and funny, and worth the hour of our time. I missed the first comedy show but took in the second (Kivi Rodgers), which was VERY funny. Definitely not for the kiddos though! I think the headliners rotate, so yours would be different. Only the production shows repeat, as far as I know.

If you're into that style of music, I found the orchestra fantastic, they just didn't perform often. We caught their show early in the cruise (perhaps night 2 or 3, I can't remember), but their only other performance, to my knowledge, was during the production show, which we didn't attend. The Cool Band is the cover band aboard the ship and they were pretty good. There's also the usual reggae/Caribbean band aboard the ship that was enjoyable. The Bull & Bear Pub also has a singer (James Brown, but not THE James Brown) who was good. I sat and enjoyed him through a few beers in the evenings. There were other musicians aboard, including a Latin band in Boleros and a piano bar in the Schooner Bar. I caught little bits of those walking by and they sounded good, but I didn't sit and listen for an extended period.

On port days during the day and almost every evening they play movies on the big screen by the main pool. I thought the movies were odd selections during our cruise...don't know if they rotate those or not. Of the movies I'm aware of, they showed Wonderstruck and Darkest Hour. I had seen Darkest Hour in the theater and thought it was very good, but it's heavy on dialogue, as was the little bit of Wonderstruck that I watched. Not exactly the kind of movie that's good for a large screen in full sunlight, when you have to read subtitles to follow along. Just my opinion. They also showed The Greatest Showman.

There's plenty of stuff for the kids to do, including the DreamWorks characters which make numerous appearances onboard. Perhaps that would still be appealing to the 6 year old. And, of course, there are the kids programs. My kids didn't go to those this cruise, but they always went when they were younger and enjoyed themselves.

We had a great time and I'm sure you and your family would as well.

Besides the ship, the ABC islands have some pretty good snorkeling particularly on Bonair and Curacao. I recommend the Woodwind snorkel and sail in Bonair and go find a snorkel excursion to the Blue Room in Curacao. We used Scubacao when we were there.

My family was just on the Freedom last week.

fwacruiser, were you on the 8-night itinerary? If so, do you recall (or have pictures of) what the menus were each night? Trying to plan specialty dining for our upcoming cruise and can't find the order for the 8-night anywhere.

TIA!

We were just on Freedom in February and the crew and the ship were great. I'm a picky eater and usually hate everything. I thought the dining room was inedible and the couple of nights we went there I ate almost nothing. My husband thought it acceptable. We won't do Windjammer ever again for various reasons always mentioned in these threads. We loved all the specialty restaurants. Food aside, we had a great cruise and I wouldn't hesitate to sail Freedom again.

fwacruiser, were you on the 8-night itinerary? If so, do you recall (or have pictures of) what the menus were each night? Trying to plan specialty dining for our upcoming cruise and can't find the order for the 8-night anywhere.

 

 

 

TIA!

Hi Aimee - I'm sorry but I don't have pictures of the menus, nor do I remember a great deal about them. What I can tell you is that nights 2 and 6 are the formal nights. The first formal night had filet mignon and the second formal night was lobster night (I hate lobster and ordered the prime rib, which was quite nice).

I suggest avoiding the standard steak that's on the menu every night as the default beef option. My son ordered it one night and it was a pretty lousy, fatty cut.

As a rule, I'm a meat and potatoes guy, so I pretty much always went with the beef or chicken option that was featured for the evening. I was pleased with all my meals.

Enjoy your cruise!

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fwacruiser, were you on the 8-night itinerary? If so, do you recall (or have pictures of) what the menus were each night? Trying to plan specialty dining for our upcoming cruise and can't find the order for the 8-night anywhere.

 

TIA!

Aren't the Freedom menus the same new menus that are on the other ships in the fleet and in various threads about other ships?

Hi all! I am considering the southern Caribbean itinerary next winter on Freedom. Looking for some feedback on the food and service as well as overall thoughts on the ship. I am a single mom (mid 40's) traveling with a 6 and 10 year old. We like to spend a lot of time in the water and like to see the shows. My kids are happy to eat pasta and hot dogs, but I like to enjoy good food lol. Just came back from an all inclusive resort for the first time, and couldn't believe the difference in food quality and especially service compared to a cruise.

Thanks for your feedback!!

It seems to vary week to week, crew to crew, but Freedom remains my favorite ship

Aren't the Freedom menus the same new menus that are on the other ships in the fleet and in various threads about other ships?

Yes, but like other ships the order changes based on the itinerary. And since it is an 8-day instead of a standard 7-day there is obviously one additional menu.

Most recent Freedom reviews have been of the 6-day itinerary and like I said I am trying to plan what days to make reservations at specialty restaurants. I was wondering what nights were formal night and fwa was nice enough to answer my question.