Freedom of the Seas Review

4.0 / 5.0
2,405 reviews

Oh what Freedom!

Review for the Eastern Caribbean Cruise on Freedom of the Seas

Rating by category

Value for Money
Embarkation
Dining
Public Rooms
Entertainment
Service
Cabin

Additional details

Sail Date: Jun 2008
Cabin: Family Interior Stateroom
Traveled with children

This was our family's first cruise and we were so excited and ready to experience everything that Freedom of the Seas had to offer. My husband and I are in our mid 30's and our children are 11, 9, and 5. We had booked this vacation in January and could not believe that it was finally here.

We live in Baltimore and decided to fly to Florida for the cruise. We flew into Ft. Lauderdale around 9 in the morning and had to take a transfer to the Port of Miami. As soon as we exited the Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood Airport, we were bombarded with taxi and limo drivers pressuring us to use their services. We were only interested in using the GO! shuttle and tried telling them so. It was nice once we got on our shuttle and were on our way. Our driver was very personable and gave us a mini tour of Miami and South Beach. It was very exciting when we got our first glimpse of the ship. It was so huge and would be our home for the next week. Shortly thereafter, we arrived at the Port and got dropped of at the correct location where a porter came to retrieve and tag our luggage. We were ready to begin the embarkation process. We entered the terminal and since I had our Set-Sail Pass ready, it was easy getting through security. We did receive a boarding number(8) and was ushered to a waiting area which was packed with people. They had made several announcements that we might have a late boarding time due to immigration issues with the previous cruise. However, once the numbers were called, boarding went pretty quickly and smoothly. After we had our welcome aboard photo taken, we decided to head to the Windjammer Cafe for lunch in case our room wasn't ready yet. We were pleasantly surprised at the selection of food available. Even my picky 5 year old found things to eat. The staff was very friendly and went out of their way to find us a table for 5. We headed to our room after lunch. Our room, 8307, was a family promenade stateroom. It was absolutely wonderful. It was very spacious with ample sitting and sleeping space. The kids had their own room with bunk beds in it. We were worried about our 7 suitcases but the room had a walk-in closet to store the suitcases. Hamilton, our room attendant, was very friendly and did an excellent job of caring for us and our room. The surprises he left our family each night became the highlight of bedtime. The room had two window seats overlooking the Promenade. This was wonderful since we never had to leave our room to watch the parades. We did not worry about our luggage arrival. We had decided beforehand to just take the day to explore the ship. It did, however, arrive around 5pm.

The best thing about the ship was Adventure Ocean. Our children went to their age appropriate rooms each day leaving good quality time for my husband and I. This is the first vacation that our kids actually left us and "did their own thing." The counselors were wonderful and provided an excellent service to the children and parents. They had great activities and receiving the schedules the night before allowed the kids to pick and choose which times (pretty much all of them) they wanted to attend. The "kids clubs" were open from 9-12, 2-5, 5-10. The programs were open after 10pm but charged $5 per child per hour. We did take advantage of this one time and the kids had a blast. The counselor nicknamed "Spacey Casey" was my older two children's favorite by far. Basically, he was a grown up who acted like a kid.

Cabin Review

Family Interior Stateroom

Cabin FI

Awesome view of Promenade, plenty of space, great bunk beds and walk-in-closet, comfortable beds, terrific room attendant, full sized bathtub.

previous reviewnext review

Find a Freedom of the Seas Cruise from $241

Any Month

Get special cruise deals, expert advice, insider tips and more.By proceeding, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

© 1995—2024, The Independent Traveler, Inc.