We cruised for the fourth time the week of Christmas on Freedom of the Seas. We have cruised other lines as well as other RC ships. Honestly, if this had been my first cruise it would have probably been my one and only.

This was not the same Freedom of the Seas we have cruised 3 other times. We were made aware of the propulsion issue and change to itinerary when we checked in at boarding. A little late to decline the cruise at that point. We did receive room credit for any inconvenience. It was a decent amount but quite honestly not enough to compensate in my opinion. We were late arriving at San Juan due to even slower ship speed from rough currents. Therefore our already shorted day was even shorter. RC would have been smarter to have deleted Labadee stop hence allowing enough time to arrive at San Juan and St. Marteen. Additionally, being Christmas Eve and Christmas day in San Juan and St. Marteen respectively there was little to do in port anyway. We were okay with that since we have been to both ports previously. We respect the businesses for closing. Just something to think about before booking the week of Christmas. The propulsion issues also created a heavy vibration felt all over the ship. We noticed it most in the MDR and in the Olive & Twist lounge.

We actually stayed in the same balcony cabin we had cruised in before. The cabin still (a year later) had all of the maintenance issues we experienced in it before. The balcony door vibrated loud enough to keep you awake at night and even worse with the propulsion issues. The showerhead was still not spraying properly. Read more