Freedom of the Seas Review
Flight n hard sell take the shine off
Rating by category
Additional details
I choose this cruise because of the itinerary, my friend a first time cruiser wanted to see lots of ports and this one delivered with five ports in all. (Marseille, Villefranche, Citivecchia, La Spezia n Naples) departing Barcelona.
We paid an additional £50 to fly from Belfast on a 'specially chartered ' royal Caribbean flight. What a disaster! On flight out time changed but no one was notified, no duty free , snacks or drinks available either outbound or inbound.
Inbound flight was like a scene from Airplane the movie. About twenty of us were left behind and forgotten about and when , after half an hour, were transported to plane, doors were closed n we had to bang on door to be let in!!!!! I kid you not! Stressful!
Cabin Review
Promenade Stateroom
Great view of promenade, no noise - very well soundproofed from promenade noise (but not from next door neighbours!)
Shower excellent pressure
Cabin small with insufficient storage but not much different to any other inside cabin I've stayed in.
Port Reviews
Marseille
Don't pay for the ship shuttle. There is a free shuttle in the port. Take the hop on hop off bus or tourist train.
Villefranche
Good information desk in terminal. Take the train to either Nice or Monaco (bout 6 euros return) on arrival in Monte Carlo take a number 4 bus to the palace. You can get the tourist train or hop on hop off bus. Villefranche is very steep hills with lots of steps.
Florence (Livorno)
We took an excursion to Pisa using one of the tour operators inside the terminal. Excellent.
Rome (Civitavecchia)
We shared a taxi minibus with six others. It was 65€ each. Well worth it. Taxi driver took us to every venue very little walking. If you want to visit Vatican or Collesceum pre book your tickets! Very long queues around three hours long. Suggest you aim to get to Vatican for around 9am n then do other sights.
Naples
Took an official tour at terminal. Absolutely awful. Journey took over an hour for what should have been thirty five minutes. Unreliable. Pompeii is a nightmare to negotiate without a guide or good map.