Freedom of the Seas Eastern Caribbean Photo Review- Jan 26th, 2014

[Russ Lomas]

so i have 2 kids and am trying to decide if we want to sit with others or not and how long does it take to eat.

 

thank you

 

amanda

The Freedom class of ships (the Independence and Liberty at least, not sure about the Freedom) offer the option if you have an early seating for dinner where Adventure Ocean staff will come to the dining room and pick up your children if you signed up for this service. This way we always ate together in the main dining room. The waiters bring the kids food first and they are just usually finishing dessert whey your appetizers are finishing. The kids are taken to the program and the adults can enjoy entrees and dessert while the kids are having fun playing upstairs.

 

This is a wonderful program that we missed on the Oasis class since they did not offer the same option (Oasis class takes your kids to the Wind Jammer and they do not spend any meal time with the adults, which we like to do on vacation - the kids just cannot handle a 2 hour meal).

[Russ Lomas]

What Now?

 

What’s the first thing you do when you get off a Royal Caribbean cruise? Plan your next trip (if you haven’t already)! For our next cruise, we’re trying to decide between a Southern Caribbean out of San Juan and/or maybe a spin on the Oasis again so the kids can experience the extras and Nathan can possibly get the scuba class we keep chasing after! Either way we want to start dragging family members on the cruise to enjoy the fun with us! DH’s parents live in California and my mom just retired so both grandparents love to spend time with the Grandkids and a cruise vacation seems like a great way to justify some more cruising fun!

 

First of all, thanks for a wonderful review with fantastic photos. We are looking forward to our first sailing on the Freedom in March 2016 even more now.

 

My family has done very similar cruising to your family, but just have a couple more cruises under our belt (I am sure you will catch up with us soon enough). We did the Liberty (Freedom class), then the Oasis (obviously Oasis class), then last year the Independence (Freedom class again). We loved all 3 ships and have trips booked on both classes again (Allure in 2015 and Freedom in 2016). Our family loves both classes of ships and will be happy to sail them again. It is nice to rotate to different ships to see the different shows if you have the chance to do so.

 

After doing the Oasis, something I told the family would be a once-in-a-lifetime trip, we are booked on the Allure again next year. It was just too wonderful of an experience, that we simply have to do it again (plus the BOGOHO sale made this cruise almost half the cost that the Oasis was a couple of years ago). It was difficult returning to the Freedom class ships after the Oasis, but if you set your expectations "differently" (not lower, just expect a different experience), then you will have a great time on both classes of ships (that is why we have both classes booked for the future).

 

As for sailing out of San Juan, we did this without the kids last New Year's. If it was not for the expense of air fares to San Juan and the lack of ships sailing out of San Juan with a flowrider (come on and get one on the Adventure!), then I highly recommend a southern Caribbean cruise. You get many more ports, you avoid cooler weather in winter months totally, their are lots more different ports to see there. Definitely take several days in San Juan either pre- or post- cruise though to enjoy this incredible island. There is so much to see and do there. I would have felt robbed if we landed at the San Juan airport, run straight to our cruise, and then return to the airport right after disembarking the ship.

 

Whatever you choose, I am sure both you and your family will be in for many more happy RCCL memories in the years to come.

[counsdr]

We have the my family time dining on Freedom and my 3&5 year old grandchildren are taken away by staff after dessert.

[usckatieh]

It only took us about an hour to eat most days. The waiter was very conscious of our time. We did decide to eat with others but we also worked on table manners for weeks before the cruise. That's always a good thing for kids to practice! :)

Edited July 15, 2014 by usckatieh

[usckatieh]

First of all, thanks for a wonderful review with fantastic photos. We are looking forward to our first sailing on the Freedom in March 2016 even more now.

 

My family has done very similar cruising to your family, but just have a couple more cruises under our belt (I am sure you will catch up with us soon enough). We did the Liberty (Freedom class), then the Oasis (obviously Oasis class), then last year the Independence (Freedom class again). We loved all 3 ships and have trips booked on both classes again (Allure in 2015 and Freedom in 2016). Our family loves both classes of ships and will be happy to sail them again. It is nice to rotate to different ships to see the different shows if you have the chance to do so.

 

After doing the Oasis, something I told the family would be a once-in-a-lifetime trip, we are booked on the Allure again next year. It was just too wonderful of an experience, that we simply have to do it again (plus the BOGOHO sale made this cruise almost half the cost that the Oasis was a couple of years ago). It was difficult returning to the Freedom class ships after the Oasis, but if you set your expectations "differently" (not lower, just expect a different experience), then you will have a great time on both classes of ships (that is why we have both classes booked for the future).

 

As for sailing out of San Juan, we did this without the kids last New Year's. If it was not for the expense of air fares to San Juan and the lack of ships sailing out of San Juan with a flowrider (come on and get one on the Adventure!), then I highly recommend a southern Caribbean cruise. You get many more ports, you avoid cooler weather in winter months totally, their are lots more different ports to see there. Definitely take several days in San Juan either pre- or post- cruise though to enjoy this incredible island. There is so much to see and do there. I would have felt robbed if we landed at the San Juan airport, run straight to our cruise, and then return to the airport right after disembarking the ship.

 

Whatever you choose, I am sure both you and your family will be in for many more happy RCCL memories in the years to come.

 

 

Thanks for your feedback and suggestions! I'm really liking the idea of S Caribbean! Now we just need to make it to next year when my hubby gets some vacation time!

[cant_w8_2_cruise]

Any chance your pictures will be available to view again? They are blocked due to bandwidth issues on photo bucket. :confused::(

[usckatieh]

Oops, boy that bandwith gets eaten up quick on photobucket. I upgraded again so they should show up now! Thanks!

[mpcaruth]

Our Ocean View Room

 

Here’s a photo of the room from the door

 

 

And one from the window

 

 

The kids LOVED the Pullman bed that came down from the ceiling. That bed was like their own secret loft during the day. It had a little bar across the long side to keep anyone from falling out and a ladder that you can set up and take down to get to the bed. The mattress up there was fairly comfy and definitely sized to fit a medium sized adult. Even with just one side down though, I still managed to whack my head on it a few times when getting up from tying someone’s shoe or something. I meant to grab a picture of it pulled down but I forgot- probably a side effect from all those bed to cranium collisions.

 

There was a loveseat sized couch that we made up as a bed for my son. It was the perfect size and we turned the bed towards the bathroom wall which made it impossible for him to fall out.

 

 

 

Do you remember which cabin you stayed in? Was it a "Large Oceanview Stateroom" or "Oceanview Stateroom"? I ask because I am thinking about booking the large OV on the Freedom, but the website description only states "with sofabed" and allows for 4 guests. Did your cabin have a pull out sofa? Were there 1 or 2 overhead pull down bunks? I have 2 kids. My son is 5'-10" and my daughter is 5'-6". I am just concerned that the cabin's "sofa bed" may be too small.

[usckatieh]

Hi! We had an Oceanview Stateroom and our little couch was more of a love seat, but I'm afraid I don't have any experience with the large staterooms or the sofabed. We did have two beds that came down from the ceiling, one on either side of the large bed, but we only brought down one of them. Good luck finding out about the sofa bed. Sorry I couldn't help more!

[beachbaby1218]

Great review!!! I know it's been over a year and the Freedom has been dry-docked since, but we now have an idea of what we're looking forward to.

 

From Florence, SC - THANKS!! :)