Freedom of the Seas Review w/lots of pics! 10/16 to 10/23

[BeachChik]

This was our first time on Royal. It was myself, hubby, sister and her husband. Ports were Labadee Haiti, Falmouth Jamaica, Cozumel Mexico and we were supposed to visit Grand Cayman but we missed it due to the weather. We had a great time. I took over 800 photos and will post alot once I am done going through them and editing them. I will post the things I loved and some things that I didn't care for. For excursions we just wanted to relax so I will post some info and pics of the beaches as I know when doing my research I wasn't able to find alot of pictures.

 

We live in Orlando but decided to head over the night before and stay at a hotel near the port. After alot of reading I chose the Courtyard by Marriott Cocoa Beach. I think it was about 5 miles from the port and a 5-10 minute walk to the beach. We had a standard room that was $119 per night. We ended up in a handicap room as that was what they had available when we checked in. Because it was handicapped accessible it was very roomy. Worked great considering we had four adults. They also had a small restaurant on site. Expensive but very convenient since we didn't have a vehicle. They get alot of cruise passengers and we noticed they do a shuttle for $40 per group to the port area. However we booked a taxi in advance and it was $10 for all four people. So a much better deal to book independent. Here are photos of the room.

 

 

 

It was clean and comfortable and we would stay here again. They have a pool and hot tub as well as a pool bar. We didn't really do anything that night, just relaxed on our balcony.

 

 

The next morning we headed off to the ship pretty early. I think we were on board by 11:30am. In fact when we got to the Windjammer for lunch there was almost no one there yet. One complaint is that the embarking process seemed very unorganized. The employees were directing people and then directing them to go to other places to wait. It didn't seem they knew what was going on. It was a little chaotic.

 

Due to some health issues we did board with a wheelchair. I did notice some stink eye from people that clearly thought it was just to skip the lines. Let me tell you it is a pain in the rear to board with a wheelchair and too much hassle if not necessary. My hubby told me to ignore but its difficult when you can tell people are being judgmental. We had to go to special lines that had ramps, wait for the one and only elevator to go up, be patted down since it couldn't go through the metal detector. Which leads to my second complaint. The elevators on this ship are terrible! We would be standing in the hall with four elevators and would wait up to ten minutes just for one to hit our floor. If people wanted to go up they would take the one going down because you never knew when the next one would hit your floor. We heard many complaints about this from other passengers. It was very frustrating.

[BeachChik]

We had room 8624 which was near the back hump and close the elevators.

 

 

My only complaint is the shower or what I called the death tunnel :D. I ended up showering with the doors open and flooding the bathroom everytime. I prefer to not have an enclosed shower but it was fine.

 

 

 

I did do the bon voyage decorations. They hang low so by the end of the week I think they were annoying my 6'3 hubby as he would walk by and they would hit him in the face. :) I actually ended up bringing them home and pulling off the crown and anchors because they will make great decorations for my scrapbook.

 

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the review. I am 6'2" so I understand your DH concerns with the decorations.

 

Kirk

[JBoshears]

I love it! Please keep it coming. I'm sailing her in 2012, so I'm reading everything I can in the meantime. :)

[bcwaves]

Yay!! Another picture review. Can't get enough of these!

 

Thanks!

[Cya@Sea]

Love the pics and review. I can't wait for more.

[ryano]

thanks for the review so far..........as a paraplegic that uses a wheelchair all the time and HAS to use the elevators, I already have my fears of the elevator problems you have mentioned on this ship :( This will be my first "big ship" experience and this is just one of many complaints about the elevators I have read. Im just gonna go with the flow though and try not to be in any hurry.

 

looking forward to more of your review :)

[bionicman97]

thanks for the review so far..........as a paraplegic that uses a wheelchair all the time and HAS to use the elevators, I already have my fears of the elevator problems you have mentioned on this ship :( This will be my first "big ship" experience and this is just one of many complaints about the elevators I have read. Im just gonna go with the flow though and try not to be in any hurry.

 

looking forward to more of your review :)

 

Ryan ~ I can't believe your going on the freedom at that date. That was our target date for our first cruise after Keith being born, but he came late, so we will probably being going the week afterward because he won't be old enough.

 

OP ~ sorry for the hijack, enjoying the pictures and review so far and looking forward to more :)

[BeachChik]

thanks for the review so far..........as a paraplegic that uses a wheelchair all the time and HAS to use the elevators, I already have my fears of the elevator problems you have mentioned on this ship :( This will be my first "big ship" experience and this is just one of many complaints about the elevators I have read. Im just gonna go with the flow though and try not to be in any hurry.

 

looking forward to more of your review :)

 

Patience is definitely the key. When I was feeling ok we did take the stairs if it was only a floor or two but I did feel for those where that wasn't an option.

 

I don't know if it is the settings on the elevators but it was weird. On the glass ones you can see them going up and and down. You would hit the down button and watch one of the glass elevators go down and not stop on your floor. For some reason they would skip. Or they would stop on your floor and already be full. I did write a comment on the comment card because it was an issue no matter what elevators we were attempting to use.

[BeachChik]

We did sit up on deck for the sail away. While you can't interact with the characters or take pictures with them, I did enjoy the performance that they do. They come out and dance to various popular songs. It put you in official vacation mode.

 

 

 

 

I know alot of people had concerns when the characters first came on, but unless you are looking for them you won't find them. With the exception of the sail away and we also did the breakfast, we never saw them again. We laughed because we were actually the only table at the breakfast without kids. We are big kids at heart.

 

If you like the characters I would definitely go to the breakfast. They make sure each character stops at each table and allow you to take as many pictures as you want. They do standard breakfast items along with chocolate items. There was a basket on the table of various chocolate pastries and you could order chocolate waffles, milkshakes etc from the menu.

 

 

 

 

I think its random on what characters show up. We had the Shrek group, but I have read that it is different for each breakfast. There wasn't a large group of people present, maybe 30. But they don't advertise it anywhere that I could see. The only reason I knew about it was from this site. We signed up right when we boarded at the anytime dining desk but they allowed people in that had not registered in advance.

 

Side note, I did bring on three cases of soda with no problems. They never questioned them or even asked for the bags to be opened. And there is a note in the room that says that if you want ice to request it. We asked on the first night and it was in our room twice a day for the rest of the week.

[dadatsea]

We are going on Freedom this Sun. 10/30/11 Yahoo...Love your report and especially the pictures..keep up the gret job!!:)

[lovesthebeach2]

Thanks for this review, I subscribed to this thread since we're going on Freedom in 55 days :)

[Linco711]

Love the review and pictures so far! is this the first time you sailed on Freedom?

[Chozn1]

We were there as well and while we had a great cruise!... I have to say the elevators were an issue. It didn't help that I got on 2 separate elevators where a kid had pressed every floor's button :mad:

[ktm62]

more please :)

[suebear37]

 

My only complaint is the shower or what I called the death tunnel :D. I ended up showering with the doors open and flooding the bathroom everytime. I prefer to not have an enclosed shower but it was fine.

 

 

 

 

 

Really??? In addition to making more work for your cabin steward, did you ever stop to think that you may be flooding your neighbor's bathroom???

 

Hey, whatever makes life more convenient for YOU.

[AF-1]

Thank you for review. I have not been on a Royal ship where u did not have to wait for the elevators. I will be on in Dec so every trip review I read helps me out.

[andy7753]

Enjoying your review and photos and looking forward to more. Very glad you enjoyed the Courtyard, because we are staying there for 3 nights next week before our cruise.

[04mach1]

We did sit up on deck for the sail away. While you can't interact with the characters or take pictures with them, I did enjoy the performance that they do. They come out and dance to various popular songs. It put you in official vacation mode.

 

 

 

 

I know alot of people had concerns when the characters first came on, but unless you are looking for them you won't find them. With the exception of the sail away and we also did the breakfast, we never saw them again. We laughed because we were actually the only table at the breakfast without kids. We are big kids at heart.

 

If you like the characters I would definitely go to the breakfast. They make sure each character stops at each table and allow you to take as many pictures as you want. They do standard breakfast items along with chocolate items. There was a basket on the table of various chocolate pastries and you could order chocolate waffles, milkshakes etc from the menu.

 

 

 

 

I think its random on what characters show up. We had the Shrek group, but I have read that it is different for each breakfast. There wasn't a large group of people present, maybe 30. But they don't advertise it anywhere that I could see. The only reason I knew about it was from this site. We signed up right when we boarded at the anytime dining desk but they allowed people in that had not registered in advance.

 

Side note, I did bring on three cases of soda with no problems. They never questioned them or even asked for the bags to be opened. And there is a note in the room that says that if you want ice to request it. We asked on the first night and it was in our room twice a day for the rest of the week.

 

Did you have the soda in your carry on?

[BeachChik]

Did you have the soda in your carry on?

 

Yes we took it in a rolling carry on bag. I was surprised that they didn't even want to look and make sure it was just soda. But nothing was questioned.

[BillOh]

thanks for the review so far..........as a paraplegic that uses a wheelchair all the time and HAS to use the elevators, I already have my fears of the elevator problems you have mentioned on this ship :( This will be my first "big ship" experience and this is just one of many complaints about the elevators I have read. Im just gonna go with the flow though and try not to be in any hurry.

 

looking forward to more of your review :)

 

A little tip for you that is good for Freedom or the Oasis Class. In the big public areas such as the Promenade or the Main dining room, the majority of people will go to the first bank of elevators they see. In many of these locations there is a bank on the other side of a wall. You have to go a few further, but they are far less used.

[karajeboo]

Definitely subscribing as we have booked FOTS for March, 2013! Yes, that's a LONG wait (but we have a DCL to look forward to between now and then, thankfully!) - but I am really excited about this ship so keep it coming!

[BeachChik]

We ate almost every meal in the MDR. (sorry no food porn ). We only ate in the buffet twice for lunch. Having never sailed Royal before I have nothing to compare it to but we found the food to be very good. Breakfast had a buffet of standard items, eggs, bacon, sausage, fruits etc. and then you could order specialty items from the menu, ie omlets, waffles, etc. Much less rushed than eating in the buffet.

 

 

 

 

For dinner we had an awesome waiter with food ranging from steak, chicken, pasta and seafood. I got to try some things I probably would have never ordered which was nice. I had requested a table for four by a window in advance via email and was pleasantly surprised when we were seated that was exactly what we had. We had early seating, 6pm, so it was still light enough to look out the window while dining. The section we were seated in was very empty, many people never showed up.

 

Only because it has been discussed so much here did I pay attention to what people were wearing. The first formal night I only saw three men in a tux, the second formal only one. As the week went on it appeared people dressed more casual. Many men just wearing a button down shirt and slacks. Never saw anyone wearing hats but did see shorts and flip flops. Didn't see anyone looking sloppy or dirty but I am not one that is bothered if some dress formal and some dress casual. Didn't affect us but I do find that there is a double standard for dress from men to women. Women were allowed in for breakfast with tank tops and halter tops yet men were turned away in sleveless shirts. I guess I don't really understand the difference.

 

The only pay location we ate at was Johnny Rockets. We were able to sit outside on a day that was cooler so it was nice. The burgers were huge and I ended up not eating half of mine. But I did get a root beer float which I haven't had since I was little. If they are busy they ask if you want to sit inside or outside and give you a pager like you would get in a land restaurant.

 

 

 

 

We were told that on the last night the NY Strip steak that is served is the same one that they serve in Chops, but I don't know if that is really the case. I had also ordered a bottle of wine to be in our room when we arrived. We ended up bringing it to dinner but they never charged us a corkage fee. They also did different shots nightly. Each came in a different colored glass that you got to keep so of course my hubby ordered one every night so I could have a full set. They have the logo on the front. Very cute.

[04mach1]

Yes we took it in a rolling carry on bag. I was surprised that they didn't even want to look and make sure it was just soda. But nothing was questioned.

 

 

Thank you !!!!!

[BeachChik]

Here is the list of nightly shots along with the color of glass they come in.

 

 

Another side note, in the photo area they set up the displays so you can view your photos and purchase the ones you want. I didn't notice until the end but they have an area off to the side with several touch screen computers. You swipe your room key and it allows you to view all the photos you have had taken and purchase the ones you want. Much less hassle than trying to sift through the mounds of photos on the display boards and this way you can see all your photos at once to determine which ones you really like.