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Does boarding Freedom occur on deck five? If so, do you enter the Promenade directly from the open deck?

At the Mystery Dinner Theater at Giovanni's Table, you will likely be sat with other people. It would be nice to have some time to mingle before being assigned seating. That way, YOU can pick your tablemates, not Royal Caribbean, and hopefully ensure the most enjoyable experience. Also, it would be nice to pre-lubricate, so we reduce any shyness. ;) In light of this, we have created a little gathering that we are organizing through Facebook. If you are going to be on the October 18th sailing of the Freedom of the Seas, and you are going to the Mystery Dinner Theater, come join us and let's make the event a night to remember! :D https://www.facebook.com/events/1041769092513856/

Whoever is going on the Freedom of the Seas (or if you're on there right now), you must go to R Bar, ask for Alok Sharma, and ask him to make you the Bombay Smash! It should easily be one the drinks of the day. DELISH!!!!

Hey Matt! Hey everyone! We're just back from our fabulous RC FOS cruise, and, of course, we loved it! Matt, you and I had some previous discussions, and I was to report back to you about a few things (one of which was about the Murder Mystery Dinner Theater). I believe what follows covers it. What I have done is simply copy and paste what I wrote to Royal in their cruise follow up survey. I look forward to all of your thoughts, input, and feedback. *********************************************** First, let me say that we are "Loyal To Royal." We have never sailed with anyone else (with the exception of when I was a small child on a family vacation on NCL, but I did not have a say back then). So when I offer some criticisms, please know that it is with the best of intentions to help improve something I love: Royal Caribbean Cruise Vacations! That said, the Murder Mystery Dinner Theater was not up to the standards I know you have for your company. The whole production, from the start in the Star Lounge to the finale in Gionvanni's Table, was flat and boring. After seeing the rest of the week's performances, I know that the fault does not lie with the performers. However much they may have tried to bring the show to life, they failed. Which was very disappointing, because we were excited to be starting out our cruise vacation with a bang! The show was scheduled for the first night onboard. What a way to kick things off! Or so we thought. Though let me state clearly, in no way do we allow the show's failure to cast a shadow on Giovanni's Table. The food and service met our expectations for quality, even if it did not meet them for style. Somehow Giovanni's Table is far superior on the Oasis of the Seas. Contrary to Giovanni's Table, Sabor ROCKED!!! I had absolutely no intention of going to a Mexican restaurant on a cruise ship (and we skipped it on the Oasis). But, I was cajoled into at least trying the guacamole and margaritas. So in we went. I got turned around 180 degrees! Now I will demand that everyone go to Sabor! It is an absolute Royal Caribbean MUST DO! And we are so fortunate to have Sabor, as well as the other specialty dining options, because the food in the Main Dining Room has declined to the point that we will no longer be going there, but will instead opt for the Windjammer or just about anything else. What the heck happened!? I cannot say that we were ever blown away by the food in the Main Dining Room, but we have never been this disappointed. Out of the few dozen items presented throughout the week, there may have been 2 or 3 that were enjoyable. 2 or 3!? Is that the Royal Caribbean standard? I do not believe it is. I sure hope not anyway, because we love the atmosphere and the service there. The staff is always exemplary, and Edwin Santos and Olivia Chiriac were no exception. Which brings me back to the service we received at R Bar. As I said in the earlier question, Alok, Cookie, and Heidi were fantastic! I wanted to take them everywhere with me as my personal staff. What I really wanted was to take them home with me! The fact is, Royal Caribbean's crew is 99% perfect. There is an oddball here and there, but it is so rare, that I am quite sure it goes unnoticed. But, these three were the crème de la crème! As was Casey Pelter. He is the best cruise director we have had so far. Not much else to say on this point - just wanted to give him some credit. And that takes me to the entertainment. I have already stated that the production crew was top-notch. That cannot, however, be said for all of the headliners. Mark Cordes was fabulous! He had the entire room rolling. And John Caponera should take lessons from him. Mr. Caponera's attempt fell far short of the mark. And it was not just his style of joke telling. He simply was not witty enough to pull it off. The same could be said for Karen Grainger. While her singing ability cannot be denied, her act was in desperate need of professional help. I think that she is on to something, but it just is not fully baked yet. Which is more than can be said for Drew Thomas. His "magic show," if you can call it that, is little more than theatrics mixed with the same old routines that have been around for a century. A magic act is a hard thing to sell, so if you are going to try, the act had better be cutting-edge. It had better WOW the audience. There was very little head-scratching in that room. What was WOWing was the behind-the-scenes crew. That ship, as is every other Royal ship, was immaculate! It is so impressive that something that size, and something that is now 11 years old, could look and work that well. The art was wonderful! We stopped to look at everything. We did notice though that some of the music choices were odd. I am not sure what you are going for in the Promenade. Or, for that matter, in the Bull & Bear pub. What is up with Sam Collins!? Was he put there to help the seniors take naps? I love the British pub on the Oasis, but I only stepped into this pub to get a quick drink, then ran for the door! Which brings to mind one last criticism: why were you out of so many items ship wide? Several times a day, at several locations, this or that would not be in stock. At Boleros, it was the coconut rum. At Bull & Bear, it was the Spaten. At R Bar, it was glassware. At Sabor, it was one of the featured margaritas. At one of the pool bars, it was the strawberry puree for the daiquiris. At the Viking Crown Lounge, it was the sambuca. I could go on and on. I have never experienced anything like this on any other Royal ship. It was very strange. Fortunately, the wonderful crew at the bars did all they could to make up for the failure that was clearly being made way above their heads. The crew bent over backwards to try to please. Is there some officer who is in charge of such things? Where was he? Thank goodness for the crew! All-in-all, taking the bad with the good, the failings with the WOWS, the Freedom of the Seas still amazed. We loved our cruise vacation, and will continue to be "Loyal To Royal." In fact, we are already booked on the Navigator of the Seas for the April 14, 2017 sailing to the Southern Caribbean! We cannot wait! Thank you Royal! We love you!

A glimpse into our fun-filled, relaxing cruise vacation on the Freedom of the Seas​.... https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10206607849229037&type=1&l=891edf958b