Full disclosure: My husband & I recently got back from our honeymoon on Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas. We've been on one other cruise before, Carnival's Fantasy, and had a blast. We heard great things about RCI, so we started this vacation with high expectations & were severely disappointed. You only get one honeymoon (hopefully), so we wanted it to be special. Potential young honeymooners, this is NOT the cruise for you. This cruise is ideal for retirees who enjoy buying souvenir knick-knacks, gambling, paid bingo & lounging in the sun all day. Nothing wrong with that, but if we had known we would've picked another line. Needless to say, this review is pretty negative, but I tried my best to include all the positive aspects as well.
Embarkation
I'll start off by saying that getting on the ship was perhaps the most pleasant experience we had on this cruise. Check-in was a breeze! The security guards were extremely nice, though they did state they worked for Disney, so that might be why. Once checked in, we had about an hour wait for "priority members" and frequent customers to board first, which I totally understood. I mean, if I could afford 700+ days of cruising with the same line, I would want preferential treatment, too! Once you're allowed to board, expect to walk by tables upon tables of up-sells for paid restaurants, drink packages & staged photos. My thought process is that we already paid so much to be on this cruise, so couldn't we take a second to enjoy it without being asked to spend more? I've only been on one other cruise, so maybe this is a staple on many cruise lines & I'm just not used to it.
The cabin had dated furniture, but we were expecting that for this price point. The room had ample space & storage for two people; it never felt claustrophobic, despite being an interior room. Everything was clean & well-maintained, thank to our amazing room attendant Ronnie (the only crew member we remember fondly). Since RCI has a deal with Dreamworks, you occasionally get to see their animated films on your tv, though expect to see mostly Shrek Forever After & other thrilling sequels. Good thing the room was nice, because we spent a lot of time in it on sea days due to boredom & never being able to find an open lounger. I would say overall it's a standard stateroom that gets the job done, but is nothing special.