Fabulous Freedom of the Seas Review with Pics - 7/8/12

[Just The 3 Of Us]

Great review - lovely family, too!!!

[disneyfan68]

What an awesome and thorough report. Thank you! We love the Freedom and can't wait to sail her again in December. We'll be doing the Eastern itinerary this time, but good to know you enjoyed the Hilton resort option in Falmouth.

 

Can I ask what car service you used and what the cost was? I'm debating a few options since we're staying in Orlando a few days prior to our cruise too.

 

We used Quicksilver Tours. They are popular on the Disney sites. The cost was $210 round trip. Gratuities was automatically added. Total was $252. We paid the whole amount on the arrival and the driver confirmed our departure. The service was very good.

[disneyfan68]

Great review - lovely family, too!!!

 

Thank you :)

[MORcrzr]

You were right! Fabulous!

 

Thanks for the great review. Never tire reading about a great cruise. Beautiful family, too!

[gandkinFL]

Thank you! What a great review. I'm looking forward to my cruise on Freedom even more now.

[BecciBoo]

Excellent review and great pics...we'll be on her for Thanksgiving (Eastern Itin) with the family. Can't wait.

Was tasting the enchiladas at Nachi which I have had:D. BTW, if you go again, don't miss the cerviche mixto and the BBQ Ribs are some of the best I've ever had, beleive it or not! MMMMMM

[TPCRUISER2]

Please tell more. how can i arrange this excursion for myself the next time i am in that port? thanks in advance!

[time11130]

Thanks for the links! I LOVED the pictures... we are going in Sept and had an offer to upgrade from a Balcony E2 Room to a Jr. Suite. We are still trying to figure out if it is work the extra money or not but your room looked really nice, especially for a family vacation!

[sailingawaysoon]

Awesome review. We've done many of the same excursions as you. Your pictures were great and it looks like you had a wonderful time. Can't wait now for our Aug 26th sailing! Happy future cruising.

[Newtoncruise]

Thanks for the review. We are on adventure next week and it has got us right in the mood. I agree with all of your sentiments re dressing for dinner.

 

They should have a naughty section for diners dressed inappropriately for the formal nights. Baseball caps........I ask ya!

[disneyfan68]

Please tell more. how can i arrange this excursion for myself the next time i am in that port? thanks in advance!

 

We booked through jamaicaforaday.com. We also purchased their transportation. It was a little pricey - $90 per adult with transfer. Was $320 for our family of 4. Was all inclusive which included unlimited food and drinks and some water sports. Very nice resort. When booking, you pay a deposit of $20 per pass plus transfer of $15 if purchased. Balance is paid on arrival in either cash or credit. We had a great there. They also arrange for your transfer time back. There were quite a few people from our ship on this excursion.

 

Karyn

[disneyfan68]

Awesome review. We've done many of the same excursions as you. Your pictures were great and it looks like you had a wonderful time. Can't wait now for our Aug 26th sailing! Happy future cruising.

 

Your 4th time on Freedom. I'm so jealous. She is beautiful. Have a great trip!

[disneyfan68]

Excellent review and great pics...we'll be on her for Thanksgiving (Eastern Itin) with the family. Can't wait.

Was tasting the enchiladas at Nachi which I have had:D. BTW, if you go again, don't miss the cerviche mixto and the BBQ Ribs are some of the best I've ever had, beleive it or not! MMMMMM

 

Thanks for the tip! Will have to try them next time :)

[disneyfan68]

Thanks for the links! I LOVED the pictures... we are going in Sept and had an offer to upgrade from a Balcony E2 Room to a Jr. Suite. We are still trying to figure out if it is work the extra money or not but your room looked really nice, especially for a family vacation!

 

Go for the junior suite. The extra space is awesome!

[njmomof2]

Awesome review. We've done many of the same excursions as you. Your pictures were great and it looks like you had a wonderful time. Can't wait now for our Aug 26th sailing! Happy future cruising.

 

We're waiting just like you...on the August 26th sailing, having sailed her on the Western in April of this year.

 

Great review. I see you did the flowrider. My son (14.5) is a flowrider junkie and made friends with the staff, and my younger son (10) was a rock wall champ, and all of the sports staff knew his name by day 2. Do you remember any of the staff up there...Sergio, Gaga, Andrew, etc.?

[Italy52]

Thank you for your great review and pictures, I appreciate you taking the time to post them.

 

We have sailed with RCI before but never on the Freedom class -- your pictures were a big help.

 

Question for you: We will also be staying at the Hyatt at the airport and was curious about eating facilities. Did you have to go through security to eat inside the airport or were there eating venues outside of the secured area? I only ask because while spending the night at the Hyatt at the DFW airport we had to clear security before we could go into the restaurant area which is located inside the secured area.

[Chesapeake1962]

Disneyfan68,

 

Just got off same cruise and had a great time w/ my wife and 12 & 15 yr. old children !!

[disneyfan68]

Thank you for your great review and pictures, I appreciate you taking the time to post them.

 

We have sailed with RCI before but never on the Freedom class -- your pictures were a big help.

 

Question for you: We will also be staying at the Hyatt at the airport and was curious about eating facilities. Did you have to go through security to eat inside the airport or were there eating venues outside of the secured area? I only ask because while spending the night at the Hyatt at the DFW airport we had to clear security before we could go into the restaurant area which is located inside the secured area.

 

Macaroni Grill, Fox Sports Grill and the food court could be accessed without going through security. Food court had McDonalds, Nathan's and others. We went down around 10:00pm to get ice cream at Carvel and mst were closed up except McDonalds. It was very convenient since we didn't have a car.

 

Karyn

[disneyfan68]

Disneyfan68,

 

Just got off same cruise and had a great time w/ my wife and 12 & 15 yr. old children !!

 

We loved it!

[SlimChance]

Great review Karyn, Thanks for putting it up, we are sailing Freedom in a few months and staying in the Hyatt on the saturday night too. Can I ask how long it took to get to the port from the airport?

 

Thanks!

[Italy52]

Macaroni Grill, Fox Sports Grill and the food court could be accessed without going through security. Food court had McDonalds, Nathan's and others. We went down around 10:00pm to get ice cream at Carvel and mst were closed up except McDonalds. It was very convenient since we didn't have a car.

 

Karyn

 

Thanks, appreciate your response.

[PirateChK24]

Thank you for the wonderful review. I have FOS- western booked next year for my graduation cruise, and cannot wait. I will probably do some of the excursions you listed, as they looked wonderful. Thank you again!!

[jkety19473]

We booked through jamaicaforaday.com. We also purchased their transportation. It was a little pricey - $90 per adult with transfer. Was $320 for our family of 4. Was all inclusive which included unlimited food and drinks and some water sports. Very nice resort. When booking, you pay a deposit of $20 per pass plus transfer of $15 if purchased. Balance is paid on arrival in either cash or credit. We had a great there. They also arrange for your transfer time back. There were quite a few people from our ship on this excursion.

 

Karyn

 

I'm glad I came across your review. I am thinking of this excursion next summer when we do the FOS. Sounds nice. Would you recommend their transporation, or going on your own after having done it once?

[jkety19473]

We absolutely loved this cruise. It was our best vacation yet and worth every penny we paid. We found the service from our room attendant and the main dining room to be impeccable. Our room attendant, Gregory, was amazing. He was such a pleasure and really made us feel comfortable in our home away from home. He was very attentive and helpful. The MTD service was amazing. By day 2 our assistant waiter knew my kids drinks and would automatically bring them. He knew their names. Little things like opening the sugar holder after pouring the coffee. I am sure they are trained this way but it was these touches that made the difference.

 

I wasn’t that impressed with Adventure Ocean and the kids clubs. It may have just been my kids but they really weren’t interested. My daughter is 10.5 and was almost too old/mature for her 9-11 age group. My son was a week shy of 13 and not as social as my daughter. They grouped as 12-17 most of the time and he just felt out of place. It was fine. They are old enough to enjoy the shows, the main dining and the ports. They never ordered off of the children’s menu. Tried new things every night and just had a great time. Maybe next time when they are both older, but I was fine having them with us. We all had a great time.

 

The ship was amazing! Although big, we found our way well. It never felt overly crowded with the exception of the pool area on sea days. It was packed! The elevators were slow but we were on Deck 9 so only 2 flights to Deck 11 which worked out great.

 

I know there is a lot of discussion about dress in the main dining room. I didn’t think I would care but after seeing some of the dress, I have to agree. We dressed formal on formal nights. My husband in a suit, me and my daughter in a dress and my son in dress pants, tie and shirt. Casual nights were dockers, polo shirts and dock shoes. By the end of the week, I allowed my son to wear dress shorts and a polo shirt which I felt was fine. We could not believe what some were wearing in the main dining room. Shorts, t-shirts, flip flops, baseball hats – even on formal night! OK that’s all I’m going to say about that J

 

Fabulous trip and we are booked again for April 2014. We loved Royal Caribbean and will sail with them again.

 

Thanks for reading.

 

Karyn

 

I'm sure I'm in the minority here, but I'm happy to hear a more relaxed dress code on FOS. That is one item I really love about Disney. They really don't push the dress code. It vacation, and I don't want to dress up.

[dacsmom]

Thank you for the wonderful review and pictures, you have a beautiful family. I am on the FOS in Feb. and cannot wait.