The cabin was small for 3 people, but having cruised before we knew exactly what to expect.  The third bed folded down from the ceiling.  A little odd having our 15 year old sleep in our room, but it was fine.   We didn't board the ship to lay around the cabin for 7 days.  Its only a place to sleep, shower and dress in the morning.

I will say that the TV's in the cabins and the channel lineup is a joke.  Less than expected.  I reckon they don't want you laying around the cabin all day watching TV - they want you out participating in activities or spending money on the ship.

Fort Lauderdale (Port Everglades)

This was our second dolphin encounter. The unique activity of being pushed on a boogy-board by a dolphin was awesome. I would recommend this activity to anyone. For those complaining about the price of pictures, I can only say that ALL dolphin encounters charge you ~$200 for pictures. You can also buy individual photos if the package cost is too high.

I am giving this 5 stars for the experience. The facility itself could use improvements. The lockers are literally falling apart. The floor around the lockers was slimy - a very odd and disgusting feeling. Take your flip flops, use them whenever possible. When you swim with the dolphins, there is an underwater METAL GRATE you must walk on. Its painful without shoes. There were areas where the grate rusted through, covered by a pad that can also hurt your feet.

We went here expecting to see wonders - like thousands of baby turtles and eggs being hatched. What we saw was a pit of turtles the center breeds. We also held a few baby turtles for a photograph. That's it. You don't see any inner workings or what goes on in the facility. You literally see an outdoor pit of turtles and then hold some babies. You are done in 20 minutes.

Lets be clear; this is in fact a turtle FARM labeled as a "Turtle Center". That's likely why they don't show you ANYTHING behind closed doors.

We booked our excursion through Shore Excursions Group, since Royal Caribbean did not offer this tour. We had no issues booking with a third party excursion group and Natives Choice was a very professional establishment. We thoroughly enjoyed the ruins and our tour guide Hugo was pleasant and very informative. We were intimidated by the 8 hour Talum ruins, so we opted for Chacchoben. It was a fantastic experience. The directions we clear, although getting out of the port authority was a little more difficult than we imagined. Just before you arrive at Natives Choice tours, you'll feel like "Maybe I shouldn't be walking down this street" but its there. I would highly recommend this to anyone visiting Costa Maya.

First I will tell you that we did not book this excursion through our cruise line, but decided to go and spend our day there. A man in a Chankanaab booth at the port authority was selling passes - it was $35 per person. We foolishly paid this man $105 for myself, my wife and our teenager. We had to pay for the taxi ourselves too (Another $12 both ways). When we arrived, we saw the admission price at the gate was $21 for adults and $15 for children. That's a difference of $48. In addition, the taxi driver conveniently didn't have singles for change, so we had to give her $15. That's a cute stunt - so remember to bring smaller bills. Chankanaab is beautiful. Its not a white sand beach; its rocks with ladders leading down to the water. Not ideal but it was suitable. They had a swimming pool for kids. I will tell you, that never in my life have I been to a swimming pool in the US where you cannot see the bottom. This water was so dirty, you could see about half way down until a brown hue took over. The most disgusting part was watching parents let their kids swim in it. The nearby fountains were spewing brown water, and the poolside bar had a "human waste" aroma wafting from it. Lastly, every other activity inside this park ALSO costs money. So you pay to get in, and you pay for activities $$$. We will not repeat.

We very much enjoyed the included dinner.Breakfast, lunch and dinner was amazing - we ate like kings.

Freedom of the Seas Review

Freedom of the Seas with Royal Caribbean on a 6 night family vacation

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Fort Lauderdale (Port Everglades)

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