We booked this cruise in late January. It was a whole family cruise - my family and my girlfriend's family (8 of us total). First-time cruiser, so obviously this will be a "better" review since I have nothing to compare to, but I had a wonderful time! Week-long cruise to the Western Caribbean, stopping in Labadee, Haiti, Falmouth, Jamaica, Georgetown, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel, Mexico. For anyone flying into Orlando, I'd suggest getting a hotel near the airport which offers a shuttle to Port Canaveral. We stayed at the Ramada Inn and got a package deal with a round-trip shuttle to and from Port Canaveral. Great deal - saved a bunch of money.

There were three medical emergencies during the week, the first of which happened during the first night on the way to Haiti - had to turn around and go back to Port Canaveral to evacuate them, so we lost some dock time in Labadee, Haiti, but still got to enjoy the private port. The last emergency required a stop-off at Key West on the last day whist returning to Port Canaveral. A minor inconvenience. All ports were awesome and the weather was great, although super hot (especially in Cozumel). There was always wind on the pool deck, which made the sun a bit more bearable. Beautiful ship, and I learned that in November 2016, the Freedom of the Seas and the Oasis of the Seas are switching ports and itineraries, so this cruise and the Eastern Caribbean itineraries will then be taken by the Oasis ship. Freedom will move to Miami and take on some Bahamas itineraries and other random ones, I believe.

My favorite part of the cruise without a doubt was the service onboard. I'd seen tons of reviews saying various ships had staff that seemed to be disinterested and didn't seem happy. That was NOT my experience on this cruise at all! We had great staff in all locations - bars, dining rooms, stewards, etc. - who seemed to love doing what they do. It was awesome that they were from all around the world, too. Made it a fun time getting to know them. My three favorites on the ship were our dining room waiter, Valentino (he was AMAZING!), and the R-Bar's two lovely ladies, Heidi (Heidi-Heidi-ho!) and Clorina. They always had so much energy and made the experience really fun. Great drinks, and strong like I like 'em! Overall, the staff just seemed very fun and seemed to want to make sure you were having a good time. Obviously, most are fueled by potential tips, and I tipped well to those who deserved it. Heidi and Clorina got lots of tips from me! Read more