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Better than average!

Wellington

This was our first cruise post-covid, and it didn't disappoint!  This is also our first cruise traveling with our daughter, who celebrated her 5th birthday on board.

Start to finish, everything was perfect!  We visited Coco Cay for our first time, and we're very impressed.  We still enjoy Labadee, but we feel Coco Cay is our favorite.  Plenty of activities to keep the littles entertained.  We did not do the water park (kind of regretting not riding the slides, but we'll be back).  We did not get off the ship at Nassau.  Maybe my only complaint was that there wasn't a good excursion option (in our opinion) for our daughter.  

We went to two shows (Once Upon a Time and Marquee), and enjoyed both.  We also mini-golfed.  Our daughter enjoyed everything.  We spent most of our days in Splashaway Bay (kids water park) on board.  Again, perfect to keep the littles entertained!

Food was great, service was great, room was great.  Already planning and anxiously awaiting our next Royal Caribbean cruise!

Another Amazing Royal Caribbean Experience!

Usually I do not write reviews, but after reading some of the negative reviews on this site I decided it would be best.

1st off please remember this is a mid size ship and not one of the largest/newer and HIGHER PRICED SHIPS in the Royal Fleet.  My wife and I (ages 48 and 50) went on a 4 night cruise with the drink package for under $3K including our flight.

We have been on over 10 cruises between the both of us.

Arrived on Monday around 11am and were on the ship in less the 15 minutes with a drink in our hand.

Pools are large enough to accommodate all guests but yes will get a bit tight on days at sea but you can always find a spot.  Drinks were fantastic - actually to strong to be honest but that is always a good thing.

Our Balcony Cabin was good size and clean, and our room attendant was awesome - gave him a couple extra $.

We only ate Dinner at the main dining room.  Food was good not unbelievable but good with a lot of choices.

We did the anytime dining which is killer awesome.  Our Waiter Marlon was on point and we loved him - gave him a couple extra $.

Breakfast and Lunch at the buffet - again great but not unbelievable.

Nassau - been there several times so we just walked around and shopped a bit and then headed back to the ship early.  Ship was surprising full with others thinking the same as us.  We had a blast at the pool.

Perfect Day and Coco - this place is unbelievable.  Make sure you walk around and enjoy it all.  Pool may get a bit clubby, but as long as you not a prude they keep it under control.

Our last day at sea was a bit disappointing.

After hanging out at the pool and making a bunch of friends we went back to the room for diner and heard we were heading back to port.

This was disappointing because we do gamble and since we were in Miami, casino and shops were closed.

It being our last night we actually held off on gambling till this night and couldn't.

I would have given a 5 star instead of  if our cruise didn't end early.

Yes was very disappointing but this does not happen often (I hope).

Heard later it was a medical emergency - not sure if I believe that because they could have just airlifted them off.

Assuming Royal lost a bunch of money on this situation.

Recommend the drink package especially on this cruise since it works at Coco and it includes the Starbucks at the Prominade. 

Don't let the negative reviews stop you from booking this ship or ships similar in age and size.

To many people want perfection and not willing to pay for it.

We are actually looking at booking with our family next year.

Enjoy

Perfect Cruise for the price

My first cruise I am 67 years old , traveled with grand daughter , her husband  and 3 children . Ship and crew very wonderful . The complimentary lunch first day was delicious, I had filet mignon . The  buffet had a huge assortment of food and desserts .It was very hot when we went to Paradise Island so pool was refreshing . I love CoCo Cay , we had a cabana and it was cloudy that day so it was much nicer . Saw iguanas at pool eating flowers . Kids went snorkeling , one was stung by jelly fish but it wasn’t to . This trip  was a wonderful experience for me , we loved dancing with kids on ship to music . I would definitely recommend Freedom Of The Seas  for cruise and would love to cruise again when it’s a little cooler , was very hot .

Very pleased 

Went on 1st cruise with another couple while we were all celebrating our 25 anniversary. We did not know what to expect. It was amazing. Treated like royalty. Staff all amazing. Food outstanding and entertainmemt was great. Went out of their way to make you happy.  Our room was decorated for our anniversary by staff and we had a bottle of free wine. If anything did not make you happy they worked hard to fix it. Room was fantastic as well. Definitely happy with balcony room. Will always get one. Excursions were great. Perfect day at Coco Cay loved. Had a fabulous time with the dolphins

Amazing 1st cruise

My Immediate family of 10 had so much fun on this cruise. Coco Cay was the best! The snorkeling was fantastic (no excursion). The free buffet excellent, especially the philly beef steak sandwiches. 

The splash away bay outstanding for the kids!

Our cabins were very clean with outstanding service and comfortable beds.

Steel band was excellent! Ice show very enjoyable! Silent Disco the most fun and wish there was more! Game show a lot of fun. Stage shows were good.

Windjammer buffet was good and amazing crowd control. 

Main dining room food good but certainly not as good as previous years.

The ship hardly moves compared to 7 night cruises.  It went 4 knots (2 miles an hour at times)

Sometimes the ship stayed perfectly still. No movement was ever felt. I prefer the ship to move!(LOL)

All in all we so enjoyed this family cruise, after trying to book it for 4 years(mainly because of Covid).

Perfect day at Coco Cay!

Just got home from the Freedom of the Seas July 31, 2023 cruise from Miami. I have been cruising over 50 years with 6 different cruise lines and while I always found RCL to be a class above most other cruise lines I find I can no longer boast of RCL’s top notch status. 

Yes, I realize as an older person I recall the days of excellence and being spoiled while cruising and find it sad our younger generation will never have such an experience.

Cruise lines continue to take away the class, excellent food, and service along with top notch amenities. They find it easy to mainstream the younger generation to accept mediocre offerings at high price and not think twice about it. 

RCL use to be a cruise line we adults enjoyed since they once upon a time did excel at the finer points and offer adults a great experience while at sea however, RCL has now become a haven to babies, toddlers, and rowdy teenagers. The overwhelming number of kids on recent cruises is nearly turning me off cruising all together.  It seems RCL is saying, come young families, cruise with us, bring your kids for free and hey older folks, screw you. 

So, just heads up if you have not cruised RCL lately, here is my list of yeas and nays 

1.	Navigating parking at the port of Miami for embarkation was a breeze. A short walk from where we parked to an elevator and poof, we were on board. Getting off was the same however, I was shocked no one checked my passport or even asked if I had anything to declare. No wonder crazy terrorists can get into our country so easily. I just walked off the ship and right out the door.

2.	The ship is a bit older but has been updated and looks much like the others of this class and is clean and well maintained.

3.	Our balcony room was as expected and as always, our room steward was fantastic however;

A.	The beds are uncomfortable

B.	There is no coffee table or anyplace to set room service trays (we should not be expected to put our food on the tiny vanity desk where makeup and toiletries are) and often used up food trays can pile up therefore they end up stacked outside room doors on the floor which is just gross

4.	As for MDR.  Yes, I know, you are probably shaking your head saying this is one crazy old lady, but hey, the bygone experience to dress for evening meals and expect a certain level of conduct when among others (social skills such as politeness and behaving properly) is something many of us enjoy and find relaxing.  The crew will not turn anyone away regardless of how they dress which is sad but I sure do not want eat a meal across from some chick with her boobs nearly hanging out or some guy in a sweaty t-shirt and shorts or next to screaming kids who do not know how to respect their parents or others. Maybe RCL should split up the main dining rooms and make one for casual dress and/or those with little kids and one for adults who want to dress and have a more refined experience. Yes, I realize this may seem insignificant to many young people but there is still plenty of us older folks out there who enjoy the experience of fine dining that should be included with our cruise.

5.	As for Food.  This is by far one of the saddest parts of this review. RCL always had excellent food. The quality was top notch, the variety was wide and pleasing, the way it was prepared was always fantastic and the presentation was always on point. 

A.	Sadly, I have nothing positive to say about the food. Be it MDR or Windjammer the food quality (poor cuts of meat for example) and preparation (tasteless, rubbery, and cold for example) was AWFUL. Thank goodness for salad and rolls, I could not eat the other crap. At breakfast the eggs were ok but the poor quality of bacon and sausage was disgusting not to mention the bacon was soaked in grease and under cooked. The meats such as chicken and burgers at lunch and dinner were dry, rubbery, and tasteless. They of course save money by serving a lot of pasta, breads, rice, and other inexpensive food products. Perhaps they give crappy food to those of us who refuse to pay extra for what they now call specialty dinning as all meals at one time were special and included with your cruise.

B.	The traffic pattern in the Windjammer is chaos 

C.	Making both adults in a room purchase a drink package is ludicrous. It made sense for my son to get the deluxe package, it paid for itself easily with how he can toss them back but as for me, the only drinks I want are coffee, water, and an occasional cocktail which I get free so making me pay for a drink package I never even used was a waste. 

D.	Johnny Rockets was good with great staff.  

6.	Over the past few years, as I stated above, RCL has shifted their focus from a refined excellent adult experience to one catering to the ‘party hearty, teen, and young adults’ RCL is becoming more of kid centric cruise line. This most recent cruise epitomized this philosophy. Loud crying children running in the hallways, rude teens disrupting an otherwise calm pleasant experience. Screaming babies all over the place. I realize the need for RCL as a company to make money and increase revenue but their tactic of doing so by catering to said families and ignoring the older generation is sad and only pushes us away.

7.	Given this was a Caribbean cruise it would have been nice to have the Caribbean atmosphere and music as it was on prior cruises however, on this cruise they played modern teenage type music and far too loud. 

8.	The app came in handy. You do not have to purchase the internet package to use the app. It was very easy to find the daily activities and add which ones I wanted to attend to my calendar then get reminders as appropriate. It also came in handy to text other members in my party to keep in touch so all in all this is a nice new addition. 

9.	As for the casino. 

A.	Get more comfortable chairs/stools 

B.	Make it colder

C.	Make it easier to find an ash tray, it is like a great hunt every day to find one then you better hang onto it for dear life

RCL You are No Longer Number One in my Book 

Cruise Review

Disorganized embarkment - muster confusion, delayed baggage, no bottled water in room despite buying “deluxe beverage package” and claims that we’d have bottled water brought to our room daily.

Broken room balcony door handle required maintenance.

Forced to pay for WiFi or you can’t use the mobile app to track business hours or activities on boat. And wireless access is horribly slow and inconsistent requiring reconnects regularly. Good luck with international data plans from your carrier too because 9 times out of 10 cellular won’t work.

Bar drinks are all watered down and not worth the cost. 

Lots of automatic gratuity fees added to room service and other awful restaurants.

Sells cigars but no matches or lighters or cutters to enjoy them. Cigar lounge is gone but was still advertised online.

Pools are small and crowded.

You have to walk miles to access basic necessities; no easily available soda, water or food items.

Be sure to complete your in person muster drill that’s a 5 mile walk so you can be told 2 sentences that you could have been told at boarding OR via the mobile app.

No vending machines anywhere.

Most restaurants, bars and entertainment close by 10 pm. The issue is, most don’t open until 6 pm.

Elevators are useless. Either by design or too many people. You end up walking a ton of stairs on top of long walks to access anything.

Food was terrible quality.

Excursion choices are mediocre and too full of other people to enjoy.

Docks at Coco Bay next to other ship, other ship blasts a loud screaming “Perfect Day” song on loop at 8 am.

Laundry is a fee and isn’t done until 5 pm. It requires filling out a form but no pens provided to fill out the form. Request for pen from guest services was ignored.

Windjammer Restaurant- Soda machine with cups beside it. Cups don’t work. Have to get special cup from bar. Guy says he’s going to get a cup then ignores me and served 4 other customers. So I take a Diet Coke from behind the bar myself and leave.

Wrapped silverware omits spoons. Spoons are in separate stations.

Fitness Center doesn’t have or sell bottled water. Forces you to find an open bar to get one or bring your own or drink from the low pressure warm drinking fountain.

Excursion at Nassau involved a lengthy boarding process to sit on a hot crowded boat with hundreds of other people while obnoxious music was blasted the entire time. Actual VIP blue lagoon excursion was laughable; awful buffet style food, juice. Advertised as child free but island was crawling with them. VIP beaches were 3 feet deep rock covered coves. Departure provided zero guidance for which boat to take to return to the boat. Drop off back at the boat was two miles away from our departure location require a lengthy hike in the sun after a long day of sun-stroke walking.

This was a honeymoon vacation that cost me several thousands of dollars to receive horrendous, rude service, low quality food and drink and extensive inconveniences that made it more work than staying home and ordering pizza to celebrate.

Not only will I not recommend this cruise line or company, I will actively take measures to dissuade others to not use Royal Caribbean cruises because of how awful the experience was.

Worst Vacation Ever

We decided to go on a short family weekend getaway on Freedom of the Seas with our son, DIL, 10 month old granddaughter and extended family.  Our party had a total of 5 cabins. 3 balcony, 1 promenade and 1 inside (our cabin). 

The good... Embarkation was a breeze, we where on the ship with in 15 minutes of walking into the terminal.  Whomever they contract to check passengers in, great job! Also, one of the servers in the Main dining room was outstanding.  His name was Denver.  He did an excellent job of serving our party of 11.  We had a couples massage and it was fantastic.  my girl, really worked out the nots in my back. I wish I could remember her name. Water slides are great!

The bad... The food was at best a 2 out of 5. From the main dining room breakfast and dinner, to the windjammer buffet. not sure who plans out the meals and purchases the food. quality was not good. Pools are small for amount of people. Everything on the private island is extra, except the food. Talk about nickel and diming passengers.

Now the ugly... Our cabin was unsanitary, dirty and unkept. When we first arrived, all we did was drop off our luggage and went back out to spend time with family.  We did not return until about about 11 pm to shower and call it a night.  To our surprise, the bathroom and shower were full of mold and mildew.   

Our son had to pay full price for a 10 month old to travel with him and his wife. She does not eat anything besides formula and cannot enjoy the pool.

Never again RC!

Unsanitary Cabin - Never again RC!

This cruise was selected to introduce a friend to cruising who was extremely fearful.  This would allow her to sample what cruising is like, be on the water, experience the food, the drinks, the entertainment, the ports and the host of new friends you meet.  The result of this experience is that she would cruise in the future so I would consider it a success. 

I have over 20 cruises under my belt, most with my children (they are heading to college...yeah), and girl trips over the years on a variety of lines.   I've always considered Royal to be above average when considering all factors and this time was no exception.  For the first time, we chose a later embarkation time at 1:00 PM.  It took about 10 mins from initial check in to boarding the ship.  We were able to easily find a table in the Windjammer (which is not an easy feat).  Enjoyed a nice lunch and our rooms and luggage arrived shortly thereafter.  The food in the Windjammer was fairly consistent throughout the trip with lots of options, however, the design for foot traffic is horrible.  It does not have good flow and the table availability during peak is awful.  Choose other complimentary venues or wait until earlier or later.  Breakfast and lunch are offered in the MDR. We had a specialty dinner at Izumi which was great.  Our start of dinner was slowed down and the mood dampered by the simple question, " is the chicken Halal?"  It appears that's not a widely known fact as it took over 15 minutes to figure it out while the rest of the table waited.  This answer should be known or the answer easy to gather, while not making the inquirer feel awkard for asking.  

My suggestion for those new to the ship is to get a feel for it, paying attention if you are Starboard, Port side, AFT, Middle or Forward and the associated elevator banks near your room to avoid the long hikes from end to end.  Once we got that down getting from any place on the ship to our room was a breeze.  The ship is well maintained and everything appeared clean in various locations. 

Our balcony room was near the elevator and not noisy and a bit dated, but typical of a cruise ship.  There were no features to call out except that I could not find more than the 2 USB ports on the vanity desk.  Also, the thing that looks like a refrigerator is a cooler so don't look for anything to be kept cold.  The water pressure in the sink was extremely low most times of day but the shower pressure and temp was great. Our room Steward Soniy....was awesome and was on top of everything before we asked. 

We had Drink packages and found Bar service in most locations to be responsive and friendly.   I did find we had to go to a bar in most situations vs. having someone around in general areas.  We attended the Once upon a time show in the Royal Theater and I enjoyed it.  There were several activities to take advantage of which surprised me due to the short length of the cruise (3 nights).

CocoCay was awesome.  We rented a Cabana on Chill Island and stayed in the Cabana and the water all day. Our host Thor was the best.   In all of my trips on Royal I never experienced this stop and it was awesome.  

I also had the best time ever in Nassau, which I detest typically. My only suggestion is there are shuttles to prioritize getting the disabled from the ship to the top of the port which can be a hike.   It seemed many able- bodied people were detouring and pre-tipping the shuttle driver for rides leaving little room for those that required assistance.  There should be a waiting area and a line.  When I asked an employee if there was a shuttle he stated "sometimes", which annoyed me to no end. 

Overall, I had a great time with friends and would recommend this one for anyone who's just looking for a bit of R&R.

More than what I expected for a short duration cruise 

I jumped from a Virgin Voyages cruise to this RC cruise. I enjoyed both for different reasons. I think the entertainment is better on the RC. I definitely LOVED CoCo Cay. A beautiful resort which I hope to see again soon. I thought the food was good if not great. My room steward Junky was great. My dinner with Anna and Aquim gave excellent service. 

My only real complaint was the one excursion I booked in Nassau.  The Nassau Sail & Reef Snorkeling with 1 Hour Open Bar is a ripoff. FIRST OFF, there is NO SAILING. There are sails but we motored in and out. The snorkeling site had about 95% dead coral and 5 varieties of fish. We had an hour to snorkel. Most people were back on board within 30. Nothing to see. Also, we were not offered fins. FIRST snorkeling trip I've done with no fins. The Open Bar consists of Hawaiian Punch and Rum. Save your money and do not book on this excursion. Worst one ever.

Thoroughly enjoyed this ship and destinations

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