Freedom of the Seas Review

Everything We Hoped For

Review for the Western Caribbean Cruise on Freedom of the Seas
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Fisherbob
2-5 Cruises • Age 50s

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Additional details

Sail Date: May 2011
Cabin: Deluxe Oceanview Stateroom with Balcony
Traveled with children

We are a family of four (husband, wife, 15 year old son and 11 year old daughter) who sailed on the Freedom of the Seas on May 29 for the Western Caribbean, with stops in Labadee, Falmouth, Grand Cayman and Cozumel. The kids have wanted to sail on Freedom of the Seas since seeing the Samantha Brown episode on TV. We chose this ship because of the size and variety of things to do, as well as the convenience for us-- we live 15 minutes away from Port Canaveral. Embarkation went smoothly and we were having our first beer by noon (5:00 somewhere in England).

I chose the rooms on the Internet and booked them online. It was about the same price to have two rooms on deck 9 -- two of us in a balcony cabin and two of us in an interior cabin across the hall -- as it was to have four of us in one balcony cabin, so we went with the two rooms. If you have a family of four definitely check that option out if you are sailing during the summer when the 3rd and 4th person prices get jacked up. I stayed in the interior room with my son and the girls got the balcony, naturally. The difference between the two rooms is night and day (literally), and I know people say all the time "the room doesn't matter; you don't spend much time in it anyway", but I didn't like waking up every day not knowing if it was light or dark outside. We were on deck 9 near the aft elevators and stairs, which was very convenient for a trip up two decks to the pool or Windjammer, and it was an easy trip down the stairs to the Promenade, etc. A word about the stairs and elevators - I've seen others' comments about waits for elevators, etc. I blame that on the cruisers, not the ship. I saw seemingly able-bodied people wait to get on the elevator to go up a single floor. If you can get around OK, leave the elevator for those who need it if you just have a floor or two to go.

Fellow Cruisers: The elevator thing is my only gripe about my fellow cruisers. I was a little scared about who'd I be sharing the ship with after experiencing a couple 3-day Carnival cruises but found our shipmates to be a great mix of folks who were out to have a nice vacation, just like us. The ship does a good job of keeping the reins on the tweens and teens, with an enforced 1:00 am curfew and also just by setting the expectation that they'll behave. I was really happy to see the smokers using the designated areas and using the ashtrays. Also, a great thing about cruising is that almost no one is using their cell phones!

Cabin Review

Deluxe Oceanview Stateroom with Balcony

Our interior cabin on deck 9 near the aft stairs must have been next to some generator room because there was something running all the time. We didn't mind the rumbling though. The bathrooms are tiny. There are actually a couple channels on TV so it's possible to keep up to date with what's going on in the world if you need to.

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