Our group arrived in Ft. Lauderdale the day before we sailed and stayed at the Ramada Inn Airport/Cruiseport. While this is an older hotel, it is very clean and they offer a great breakfast as well as airport and pier transfers included. The hotel was very busy with both arriving and departing cruise guests.

This was not our first cruise with RCL, but it was our first cruise on a Freedom Class ship and we had looked forward to the cruise for a year. The embarkation was very fast and simple - although the porters working with luggage were frustrated with people having e-docs and having to write their cabin info on the luggage tags. We were lucky to have a very helpful porter, however, we did see those who seemed to be rushed and not wanting to take time to answer questions.

When we arrived onboard the ship, we felt it was truly gorgeous. We had an aft balcony cabin - which we adore on other lines - however, because of the super-structure across the back of the ship, the balcony was not as nice as other ones we have had. The size was incredible however and we could have easily had a dozen or more people there. The floor was marked with black soot marks and we were told maintenance would be there shortly to remove the marks. When we disembarked 6 days later - we were still waiting for them to appear. This was our first cruise ever that I can say our cabin steward was far below standard. Normally, cabin stewards are extremely friendly, hard working and a true joy to visit with. Our cabin steward never introduced herself to us and when we asked her if she would remove the contents from the refrigerator, she told us "no" because she does not have any room to store the items. We only had one small bar of soap all week and when we would run in to her in the hallway, she would always tell us that she did not feel like working and just wanted to go to her cabin. One night she told she was thought it was stupid she had to wear a tie when she was scrubbing toilets. We heard her say to one couple that she would get to their cabin whenever she got there because she was not in a "working mode" that day. Needless to say, it was a huge disappointment after having such great service on other cruises. Yes, we did go to Guest Relations to express our concerns, although it didn't matter. Read more