Day 1 Getting there and sailing away......
Quick Rating
Food Main Dining room- 3 out of 5
Food Buffet- 2 out of 5
Drinks- 5 out of 5
Drink of the Days- 1 out of five
Production Entertainment - 3 out of 5
Meet and Greets - 4.5 out of 5
Additional Entertainment (Bingo, Trivia, etc) 2 out of 5
Embark/Disembark - 2 out of 5
Quick Rating
Food Main Dining room- 3 out of 5
Food Buffet- 2 out of 5
Drinks- 5 out of 5
Drink of the Days- 1 out of five
Production Entertainment - 3 out of 5
Meet and Greets - 4.5 out of 5
Additional Entertainment (Bingo, Trivia, etc) 2 out of 5
Embark/Disembark - 2 out of 5
This cruise was not one I will soon forget we lost a stateroom and a kid and almost needed to call the coast guard needless to say it is one we will not forget for a long time to come. The ports for this seven-day cruise where Coco Cay the private island for Royal, St. Thomas and St. Maarten with three sea days the cruise left from Port Canaveral Florida we have sailed from this port before but not for this line.
For this trip, we were a group of seven people myself 33, my husband 41, grandmother 74, mother 56, my little brother 25, and both of my children 10 and 15. We decided to take the Freedom of the Seas for the DreamWorks experience we are suckers for the meet and greets with all the charterers. Three adults had the unlimited drink package the kids, and my brother had the ultimate soda and more package since they love smoothies and mocktails and my mother had no package. We stayed in a veranda room and a suite originally we were supposed to be in two suites, but an issue between Royal and my travel agent resulted in a mess of our rooms and leading to them giving one of our suites away.
We got in the day we were to sail. Usually, we arrive a day before hand, but we decided to take a red-eye and get in around 6 am needless to say there is nothing open at 6 am at the Orlando airport outside of a coffee stand. We did personal transportation instead of using a ship transport mostly due to being here so early in the morning and wanting to save a little on the cost unfortunately the driver was giving the wrong phone number and was unable to reach us and being a Sunday the AAA travel agency was closed so we spent a few hours sitting in the airport trying to work out our options to get to the port. Finally, our driver was able to contact us after I found a stray email with his correct number and left a voicemail.
The bad part of coming in the day of the ship leaving is we were at the port early really early we had to wait in the parking area with a lot of other people who arrived early this was totally on us being so early and nothing to do with the cruise line. I do not like the outside area of this terminal I think there need to be some benches and sitting areas in front of the terminal for nothing more than the older people who also arrived early. I understand this is a terminal Royal was using, but I was not impressed the line to get in it was long and overrun with people trying cut in. There was no help outside to direct anyone where they need to go it was a mess even though we had suite it was a pain to get through security and to check in.
Check in was a mess I honestly felt sorry for the lady checking us in since we had two bookings we had to check in with separate people usually we can check in together. Not checking in together lead to the confusion of our booking my daughter was in one room with my grandmother, mother, and brother they keep asking them for a form saying she was allowed to travel without her parents. I keep running between the mess with our stateroom at our check in desk and their check in desk explaining that we are her parents and she is traveling with us, so there is no need for a form, but they were insistent I had to prove she was my daughter. I felt this was due to her being African American while my husband and myself are not even though she had our last name and said these are my parents finally it was worked out but I thought this was a ridiculous amount of additional wasted time.
When we checked in we found that we had not been upgraded to our suite as we were supposed to be apparently between the travel agency and Royal the booking for our suite was lost and we were put into a veranda last minute. I was not pleased that we were moved due to their mistake but by that point, there was nothing we could do since they had already booked someone in our suite we took the veranda. I was not happy about the fact we were moved without my knowledge, and now our parties were on different floors I had never heard of something like that happening before we made the best of it.
As part of our booking, we got free soda and more packages for both kids it was all in all my paperwork that we were to receive this so when we got our room keys and found out that instead of Royal Replenish package they were given the soda only package I was surprised. Within 15 minutes on the ship, I was stuck at customer service to iron out all the messes that were made of our reservations. I showed them all the paperwork so they could see that were supposed to get the other package. I was told they needed to go through corporate because they did not handle that on the ship so they charged me to upgrade from the Royal Refreshment that only covers soda to the Royal Replenish until they could work it. I was not happy about especially when she told me they were not sure if they would be able to fix the charge by the end of the cruise and it may have to be refunded after I got home this was a significant extra expense I was not expecting. I was not pleased, and the mistakes had already taken up so much time I decided to wait it out and leave some messages with my TA I would check back in with customer service in a few days and push it.
I was hungry and just wanted to get some food and relax since I was supposed to be on vacation. Finally found my family and got some food at the buffet sat down ordered a drink and gave them my card the one with the unlimited drink package by this point I felt I needed a stiff drink. You can imagine my surprise when the waiter came back, and I was charged for my drink apparently when they were upgrading the kid's packages they somehow took my unlimited out. I signed and tipped the poor guy who I think saw the darkness creeping into my eyes at the thought of another trip to customer service. I ate, had my drink, and back I went back to customer service this time I took my daughter so I could use the suite access since they gave mine away I was unable to use this line unless I had her with me.
I got the same lady that helped me before "helped" is a loosely used word for the mess that was this trip so far. I was told that my paperwork only showed only the kids getting the Replenish package and not my husband and I getting the unlimited drink package this was wrong since we paid a tidy sum 1106.84 to buy our packages, and it was not a perk. 10 minutes of her telling me she would have to charge us for the unlimited packages that we already paid for months ago was the final straw I was not going to be charged an extra 1000 plus dollars that I have already paid once.
I hit my point with this cruise line and asked for the next officer above her by this stage I was about to demand the captain. The kind man she got me started to say the same thing as the girl until I finally raised my voice a little something I never have in all my trips had to do to get the point across. I told them that I have my confirmation paper, proof that my credit card was charged the amount of the packages and that they needed to call the corporate office with me there and fix this mess now and that if they charged me for another drink package I was going to complain about every part of Royal Caribbean and every online review site I could find.
I was unhappy about the way my reservation had been handled to this point it was one thing after another even though I had all my paperwork to back me up from the suite that I originally paid for to the drink packages. Finally, they added my drink packages back on. I will say I have never threatened or raised my voice in all my travels this is not the first trip I have every had that had issues, and usually I simply go with it and make the best out of the situations but the fact that in the span of two hours they messed up by room, my kids drinks packages, and mine I had reached the end my sanity.
Finally, back to our vacation drink packages and rooms as worked out as they were going to get I decided it was time for another drink the remainder of the day was spent exploring the ship and seeing the sail away. We took care of kid’s club registration and walked my son around the ship, and to the suite, his sister and grandmothers were in so he knew how to get back from each. A little talk about ship rules with the kid’s speech by this point I was exhausted and after dinner decided to go to bed early and hope for the best on the next day.
We got in the day we were to sail. Usually, we arrive a day before hand, but we decided to take a red-eye and get in around 6 am needless to say there is nothing open at 6 am at the Orlando airport outside of a coffee stand. We did personal transportation instead of using a ship transport mostly due to being here so early in the morning and wanting to save a little on the cost unfortunately the driver was giving the wrong phone number and was unable to reach us and being a Sunday the AAA travel agency was closed so we spent a few hours sitting in the airport trying to work out our options to get to the port. Finally, our driver was able to contact us after I found a stray email with his correct number and left a voicemail.
The bad part of coming in the day of the ship leaving is we were at the port early really early we had to wait in the parking area with a lot of other people who arrived early this was totally on us being so early and nothing to do with the cruise line. I do not like the outside area of this terminal I think there need to be some benches and sitting areas in front of the terminal for nothing more than the older people who also arrived early. I understand this is a terminal Royal was using, but I was not impressed the line to get in it was long and overrun with people trying cut in. There was no help outside to direct anyone where they need to go it was a mess even though we had suite it was a pain to get through security and to check in.
Check in was a mess I honestly felt sorry for the lady checking us in since we had two bookings we had to check in with separate people usually we can check in together. Not checking in together lead to the confusion of our booking my daughter was in one room with my grandmother, mother, and brother they keep asking them for a form saying she was allowed to travel without her parents. I keep running between the mess with our stateroom at our check in desk and their check in desk explaining that we are her parents and she is traveling with us, so there is no need for a form, but they were insistent I had to prove she was my daughter. I felt this was due to her being African American while my husband and myself are not even though she had our last name and said these are my parents finally it was worked out but I thought this was a ridiculous amount of additional wasted time.
When we checked in we found that we had not been upgraded to our suite as we were supposed to be apparently between the travel agency and Royal the booking for our suite was lost and we were put into a veranda last minute. I was not pleased that we were moved due to their mistake but by that point, there was nothing we could do since they had already booked someone in our suite we took the veranda. I was not happy about the fact we were moved without my knowledge, and now our parties were on different floors I had never heard of something like that happening before we made the best of it.
As part of our booking, we got free soda and more packages for both kids it was all in all my paperwork that we were to receive this so when we got our room keys and found out that instead of Royal Replenish package they were given the soda only package I was surprised. Within 15 minutes on the ship, I was stuck at customer service to iron out all the messes that were made of our reservations. I showed them all the paperwork so they could see that were supposed to get the other package. I was told they needed to go through corporate because they did not handle that on the ship so they charged me to upgrade from the Royal Refreshment that only covers soda to the Royal Replenish until they could work it. I was not happy about especially when she told me they were not sure if they would be able to fix the charge by the end of the cruise and it may have to be refunded after I got home this was a significant extra expense I was not expecting. I was not pleased, and the mistakes had already taken up so much time I decided to wait it out and leave some messages with my TA I would check back in with customer service in a few days and push it.
I was hungry and just wanted to get some food and relax since I was supposed to be on vacation. Finally found my family and got some food at the buffet sat down ordered a drink and gave them my card the one with the unlimited drink package by this point I felt I needed a stiff drink. You can imagine my surprise when the waiter came back, and I was charged for my drink apparently when they were upgrading the kid's packages they somehow took my unlimited out. I signed and tipped the poor guy who I think saw the darkness creeping into my eyes at the thought of another trip to customer service. I ate, had my drink, and back I went back to customer service this time I took my daughter so I could use the suite access since they gave mine away I was unable to use this line unless I had her with me.
I got the same lady that helped me before "helped" is a loosely used word for the mess that was this trip so far. I was told that my paperwork only showed only the kids getting the Replenish package and not my husband and I getting the unlimited drink package this was wrong since we paid a tidy sum 1106.84 to buy our packages, and it was not a perk. 10 minutes of her telling me she would have to charge us for the unlimited packages that we already paid for months ago was the final straw I was not going to be charged an extra 1000 plus dollars that I have already paid once.
I hit my point with this cruise line and asked for the next officer above her by this stage I was about to demand the captain. The kind man she got me started to say the same thing as the girl until I finally raised my voice a little something I never have in all my trips had to do to get the point across. I told them that I have my confirmation paper, proof that my credit card was charged the amount of the packages and that they needed to call the corporate office with me there and fix this mess now and that if they charged me for another drink package I was going to complain about every part of Royal Caribbean and every online review site I could find.
I was unhappy about the way my reservation had been handled to this point it was one thing after another even though I had all my paperwork to back me up from the suite that I originally paid for to the drink packages. Finally, they added my drink packages back on. I will say I have never threatened or raised my voice in all my travels this is not the first trip I have every had that had issues, and usually I simply go with it and make the best out of the situations but the fact that in the span of two hours they messed up by room, my kids drinks packages, and mine I had reached the end my sanity.
Finally, back to our vacation drink packages and rooms as worked out as they were going to get I decided it was time for another drink the remainder of the day was spent exploring the ship and seeing the sail away. We took care of kid’s club registration and walked my son around the ship, and to the suite, his sister and grandmothers were in so he knew how to get back from each. A little talk about ship rules with the kid’s speech by this point I was exhausted and after dinner decided to go to bed early and hope for the best on the next day.
Day Two Coco Cay
I love when we get a ship's private island usually it is a stress-free relaxation where we cannot get lost a bonus in my opinion. My daughter had signed up for the group teen excursion in this port, and she had to be off the ship early. I had spoken with her the night before made sure she had everything. I was not prepared for the early morning wake-up call from her saying they would not let her off the ship. She was less than thrilling she almost missed the excursion, and I had to take her off the ship by tender and then go back to get dressed and ready for the day. No one could really explain why they would not let to explain to me why I had to take her to the island when she was of age to get off the ship and the concierge said it would not be an issue the night before.
My daughter loved the excursion outside of when she went to buy an underwater camera to take photos with that they sell at the island they would not let her, even though she had no charging restrictions on her sea pass. She is at the age to be able to charge what she feels she needs and I have never had issues with my kids charging both of them are able to shop as they see fit. She was really upset. Apparently, some other children bought the cameras without issue, and when I talked to customer service, they said that there should not have been a problem with her also making the purchase. They teens had a blast regardless snorkeling, kayaking, and all around beach fun my daughter highly recommends this excursion.
We had reserved one of the private cabanas on the island before we left for the cruise. The cabanas included an excellent lunch buffet with light foods perfect for the beach, bottled water, sparkling wine, and a fruit plate inside the cabana waiting. It was beautiful and worth the price to relax with a fantastic view I would definitely purchase one of these again it was nice to have a shaded area with comfy seating to relax and towels at the ready.
My brother and I decided to do the parasailing excursion it was running late by 40 minutes. It was a terrifying blast. The other people on the boat are happy to take photos for you sadly the nice man who made ours had his finger in most the shots, but I was able to chop it out a bit, so the photos were usable. I hung on for dear life and am dearly afraid of heights that it was worth the experience. I would suggest this excursion to anyone it was fun and something that I never thought I would do but I am so happy I did it is something I will remember for a long time.
All in all, this is a lovely little island it is not as nice as some of the others, but it was relaxing. They really need to work out a way to make the bars more varied and cleaner. I had to stick to the drink of the day that they serve out of big coolers because they had no other options. Such a limited selection of choices and not the cleanest looking set ups. I understand that it is a private island, but I feel that they really need to address this and make changes. I see no reason they cannot have the same standards as the other ships islands.
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| Water and Sparking Wine |
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| Up Up and away |
The remainder of this day was filled with drinks, reading, and looking for some of the photo opportunities with the DreamWorks experience. We did some light looking in the shops however there really is not much that I felt I needed to get or to choose from. I am a big fan of Michael Kores so having this store on board was nice to see what was offered however I decided that I did not need a new bag maybe next time however my grandmother bought a nice small bag she loved.
This was also the formal night we did get dressed up and saw the show of the night “Marquee” it was a nice show dedicated to Broadway shows with the singers and dancers of the ship. It was not especially memorable it was not a bad show it was just not as exciting as shows on other lines. I think they should scrap this one and try something new.
Day three Sea Day
Honestly, the only thing I did was drink, relax and eat. I did look around a bit and try out a few of the bars. The kids were at their respected clubs, and they had a blast. We had to pay a few extra hours for our son after 10 pm because he was enjoying it so much I believe it was $7.00 an hour after the 10 pm cut off. My daughter was gone most of the time also with the friends she had made in her club. I believe both had ice skating with their clubs on this day something that makes this cruise worth it, they loved the chance to ice skate and had so much fun and made memories they will not forget come on ice skating on a cruise ship in the middle of the ocean you cannot beat that. The best thing about vacation is that there is nothing to do on a sea day if you do not want to and I did not want to.
We also went to the ice show on this day we had sitting in the suite area, so we were able to find a sweet spot. I really enjoyed this show and am amazed at how well they perform on the ice with the ship moving. I was highly entertained the skaters were exquisite at their performance, and this is something everyone should see if they are on a ship with the show I am so glad we made the time to see it so much we saw it twice. This a not to miss item on the Freedom you will regret it if you miss it !!!!!!
Day Four St. Thomas
We booked a sightseeing tour through the ship. Our excursion was two hours of sightseeing followed by two hours at a beach with a trip to the mountain top to see the place where the banana daiquiris were made according to the shop. We loved the island there was so much to see, and honestly, I love the islands the chickens running around, terracotta looks and fresh food and drinks. We did some light shopping in this port, and the kids had a blast at the beach. Get a banana daiquiri at the Mountain top and take a beautiful photo view here you can see the ship and the ocean and trees you cannot beat the photo op. The tour guild was so helpful and showed us little thing also like the cashew trees he asked if anyone knew what they were and not one of us could tell him but my daughter I still think she googled it! The guide treated us like family and truly shows you how the islands love the people that support them.
We did go to the open air market and look at the trinkets and shirts we bought a few small things, but honestly they are the same on each island you notice after item we still try to buy a few things to help support the vendors, but we try and find unique to the area items when we can. They also have the diamond and Jewry stores that are at every port and no matter what they say not really worth the time and cost when you can explore the lovely island and beaches instead.
The remaining day was on the ship and putting dents in those drink packages. We saw the illusion show starring Drew Thomas it was a good show and fun to watch much better than the show they had the night before with the singers. Later in the evening, we went to see the love and marriage game show so much fun this was a blast to watch. I recommend seeing it nothing is as fun as watching people do foolish things I was surprised that a few people brought younger kids I really think this is more of an adult thing but to each’s own I say. Do not miss this show on your trip.
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| Local Food |
Day 5 St.Maarten
Instead of using a ship tour like we originally planned in the end after reading some review we decided to book a tour with Bernard's Tours. This company was fantastic, and I would strongly recommend them I will provide a link at the end of this review in my highlight section. We did a private tour this included a van with AC and drinks of island punch and boy did it have a punch, water, and sodas were also provided. Our guide greeted us and off we went to see the island the driver was excellent and informative he made sure we saw all the site and got the best photos the wildlife. He stopped, and we saw the iguanas they were so much fun to see and feed.
We went to the airport beach and saw the planes take off while we had a drink it’s amazing how the sound and feel of the aircraft going over you while you sit at the bar. We strolled the open air market and bought some trinkets and then stopped for some island food and drinks. Orient beach was beautiful and relaxing we had drinks, and people watched we decided not to do much swimming since we had done so much swimming over the last few days we decided just to enjoy the sites. We bought a bunch of rum for people back home.
We were able to get a lot of photo ops in this island having our own guide helped a lot and allowed us to see both the French and Dutch side. We loved this island and cannot wait to go back to it the beaches where amazing the drinks were just right and really we got to be in the Dutch nations and the French nations so fun.
Day Six and Seven Sea Days
We did what we normally do on sea days not much of anything. We walked around and made more of a dent in our drink package and ate all the food we cannot eat at home. My kid's husband and brother did flow riding classes, and we watched it was a fun thing to watch none of them ended up being splendid. The flow rider lessons were $99.00 per person, but they were fun and while a bit pricey it was worth it to see them all have so much fun. We did early morning so many people would not be around for a more private feel it was nice to have an hour of the flow rider for them to play on and learn.
We saw the show Once upon a time it was different not as good as some of the shows we have seen before on other lines but it was still a pretty decent show to watch. We finished up a lot of meets and greets we wanted to do Alex the lion anyone! The last day started working out our photos we decided to get the disc with all of our photos on it. We saw the DreamWorks parade it was cute but it filled up quick and was fast a parade at sea is a unique was to end a cruise. We did not do the departure talk since we have been on many cruises before and knew how to get off in an orderly fashion.
The last day we also had to go back to customer service and deal with some things we prepaid our tips, yet we were charged again for them this took some time to work out. I believe it is necessary to tip. However, I do not like being charged twice for them on top of the cash we like to give at the end of a trip after some time we were able to get this worked out and they adjusted our bill. I checked any other last minute charges on our bill with the kids and husband. I finished up our drink packages and final day relaxation.
As for the lost kid, this was also the last night caused a ship-wide search and announcements at 3am in the morning. When my daughter did not return to the stateroom by curfew, my husband and I started looking when we were unable to find her we contacted the front desk to find that my daughter was not the only teen missing. My daughter and her friends were in a stateroom after apparently losing track of time at a party in another teens stateroom. This was a mess and embarrassing not to mention the most terrifying thing that has ever happened to me on a trip. The captain along with the head of security scared the kids and the parents of the kids who held the party in their stateroom and rightfully so. Luckily they were found before they had to start a stateroom by stateroom search and disrupt the other passengers or contact the coast guard.
My daughter was grounded for the remainder of our trip and for a few weeks upon returning home along with having to write a "I am sorry" to note to the crew for disrupting their evening and causing extra work for the crew. I am thankful for the talk the captain had with my daughter and believe she truly was sorry for all the trouble she caused in her part of the evening, however, I was very disappointed in her and her actions. The crew handled the issue superb they were quick to start looking at video footage to see the last time they could spot the kids, and they began a search in a discrete way that did not upset or interrupt other passengers.
Disembarking was a mess line that was up, and down the hallways, I have never had such a bad time getting off a ship this along with the suite, drink packages and gratuities have put me off this cruise line. If there is a good deal I may give them another try, but it honestly was not worth the trouble, but there are times when bad luck just happens, and there is no saying another trip would not be better. Was this the worse vacation in history no was it the best not at all I will try other lines before going to this one again.
Food oh how I love Food
Overall, I thought the food was good not the best I have ever had, but it was not bad there were some really good options and menu items. We only did one specialty dining in the Mexican restaurant they were pretty good again not the best I have ever had, but I also understand that this is a cruise ship. If you go to the Mexican place on the ship the guacamole is good, and they made some for us to take back up to our room really nice of them. We did not feel the need to go to the other options because the food was enough to keep us satisfied. The food in ports was just as fantastic as you can get fresh and flavorful.
I was not impressed with the buffet at all not only was it disorganized it had little choices there was no real variety. For some reason, I do not understand they really had no basic food items for kids like chicken nuggets. I love cruises to try new foods I was a little sad that there were so many bland things plain rice, pasta, or over seasoned, spiced meats nothing that was plain simple food. They need to add some tasty food that kids and teen would really like. There is a pizza place on the ship, and the pizza was ok it was not as good as the pizza on some other lines, but the anti-pasta set up was a welcome thing my husband really enjoyed this. The fresh OJ was amazing, and we had it every morning this is something that you must try it was so good and the right thing to start the day right.
Drinks
The drink package was not cheap, and I felt I drank way more than I would normally since I had this package for myself and my husband it was worth the cost. It was so nice to not have to worry about a bill later or worry about what we drank and when. I was not impressed with the drink of the days on this cruise they seemed unimaginative, and honestly, we're not very good. I like blended drinks, and most of them were made well and strong there was no drink that I sent back. Taking the package is a personal choice, and really it is up to each person to decide if it is worth it I plan on getting them on the cruises I go on in the future.
Entertainment
I was not impressed with the entertainment on this cruise. I did not find a lot of fun things to do there were a few fun things like the battle of the sexes a must see and the love and marriage game. The shows were not bad they just were not wow the way I was hoping they would be I think they need to revamp their night shows and add in some more fun games like the battle of the sexes or other options. Bingo was also lackluster I would have liked some more lively bingo we pay a lot of money to play let’s make it exciting make me want to keep playing and make me keep buying those 30 buck cards, we only did one game usually I would try to do a few more games, but I want to have fun when losing my money and there was no fun in the Bingo on this ship.
One thing that was well done was the character meet and greets we were able to see them all my big disappointment was that the Penguins were not a part of the meets and greets I think that many kids and adults would have loved them. We also did the meet and greet breakfast this was fun early you need to be there by 7 am, but it was fun, and my kids are getting past the age for this, so I am happy we did it. They serve the same food as the dining room normally would for breakfast with some extras like chocolate pancakes and food the kiddies would like. It was fun we got to take photos, and each came by the table I would suggest doing this if you have younger kids my 15-year-old still loved it but she is nuts for the meet and greets my son also enjoyed it but I think in the next year, or so they will be beyond the fun of it.
In the end, it was not bad, there were good drinks and decent main dining room food that keep us coming each night our waiters were nice, but the drink service at dinner was slow we would only get a drink in one sitting sometimes. Like I said before I would not book again on this line right now maybe after my next few cruises I will give it a shot again if it’s the right literary and cost. We booked this to try out the flow rider and meet the DreamWorks characters, and we accomplished that. For what we paid it could have been worse I suppose, but the 1st-day mix-ups really ruined the overall cruise for us and hopefully if we give them another shot it will have better results. If you go make sure to try the triple coconut mojito it’s worth the trip just for that drink !!!!!!!
Link to Bernard’s Tours They were amazing and worth every penny they made sure we saw everything and that we had fun and learned about the island as we did the tour.
Link to the Royal Caribbean Drink Package Information
