Freedom of the Seas Review
Dream itinerary, beautiful ship, outstanding service!
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We chose Freedom of the Seas for the outstanding itinerary; the Southern Caribbean route was the one of the few available for the week we could travel (late May). I had read some horrible reviews of this ship and the Royal Caribbean passengers, but we found the ship to be in great condition (needs new carpet in guest hallways, some new furniture in public areas...but what older ships don't?), and our fellow passengers friendly and respectful! I would absolutely jump on an opportunity to sail on this ship and itinerary again any day.
We were in cabin #7408, which is a corner aft balcony cabin on the starboard side. It is for 3 people, as it has a pull-down berth for the third passenger. We thought the room was a bit small for 3, and the pull-down was uncomfortable according to my adult son. The balcony was huge, and we spent most of our time outside. It is mostly covered by the superstructure of the ship, which offered shade from the blazing sun and shelter from the pouring rain (both of which we had a lot during our week).
We dined in all 3 available specialty venues, Chops, Sabor and Giovanni's Table. Food and service in these restaurants was just wonderful, and we found them all well worth the price of the 3 night package we purchased on sale through the cruise planner prior to the sailing. The main dining room exceeded our expectations. Though we were assigned Traditional Dining which was not to our liking, the Maitre D', Rama, worked with us to see that we found suitable accommodations each of the 4 nights we dined there. Service on those 4 nights ranged from acceptable to great, and my perception of the just acceptable service was that is was due to us barging in on the setting and placing an additional burden on the servers. Windjammer was OK, we are generally not buffet fans, but we always managed to find something we enjoyed and we never left hungry. We also really liked the pizza at Sorrento's and the ice cream at Sprinkles (self-serve by the pool). The bar service was outstanding, we never had to wait long at any bar or pool for service, always with a smile.
Cabin Review
Ocean View Balcony
We were in cabin #7408, which is a corner aft balcony cabin on the starboard side. It is for 3 people, as it has a pull-down berth for the third passenger. We thought the room was a bit small for 3, and the pull-down was uncomfortable according to my adult son. The balcony was huge, and we spent most of our time outside. It is mostly covered by the superstructure of the ship, which offered shade from the blazing sun and shelter from the pouring rain (both of which we had a lot during our week).
The outstanding balcony more than makes up for the small size of the room and the uncomfortable berth, so we still rate it a 5! Our Steward Peter always kept our room spotless and always greeted us with warm smiles.