bigburlyjohn Posted October 13, 2015 Report Share Posted October 13, 2015 My family and I recently returned from a Freedom of the Seas Western Caribbean cruise. We had a great time and would encourage everyone to try FOS. The performers and shows were excellent. The officers and staff of the FOS were super and very accommodating. The food was the best of the three cruises I have been on (although it was never bad before). My grandsons enjoyed both the DreamWorks Experience and Adventure Ocean / Royal Babies and Tots. I encourage anyone to try Freedom of the Seas, or the ship we had twice previously cruised, the Independence of the Seas. With all that said, there were some things that I found surprising on FOS that I did not encounter previously on IOS. The overall condition of FOS was excellent but not superior to IOS. In a couple locations, including in the hall near our stateroom, we could smell what we thought was sewer gas. It was not overwhelming but it was there. On deck 4 aft, the men's public restroom near the elevator door closure was missing so the door would not return closed automatically, and it was that way for the durastion of the cruise. In this restroom and some others, there was a distinct odor of urine. Mulitple times my wife and I both found empty soap dispensers in the public restrooms. In our stateroom, we had to ask that our provided shampoo dispenser be refilled. Upon entering the dining areas, the attention of the crew to ensure the use of hand sanitizer was not as prevalent as our previous cruises. Another "condition" item that comes to mind was the carpet on the bottom of one of the steps in the aft stairwell; it was hanging loose the entire cruise. Again, this was a GREAT cruise. Casey Pelter is an outstanding Cruise Director and very personable. He, the Captain and many of the other officers were ever present and readily approachable and friendly. Anyone that is considering FOS or any other RCI cruise, please do not hesitate. This was our third cruise with RCI and we have three additional scheduled, including another on FOS. I'm certain these instances mentioned were anomalies, but I wanted to get other opinions. michelle and Matt 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted October 13, 2015 Report Share Posted October 13, 2015 This is kinda unfortunate since Freedom just had a renovation in January. I was on the Freedom in May and didn't notice any of the things you've noted but then I rarely notice something unless it's very obvious. bigburlyjohn 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted October 13, 2015 Report Share Posted October 13, 2015 Great report, thank you for sharing!I did not notice any of the things you mentioned except for an odd smell near Adventure Ocean. At the time, they were working on repairing the fire damage (or at least I suspect that was what they were doing) and chalked it up to that. bigburlyjohn 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted October 14, 2015 Report Share Posted October 14, 2015 Matt has a point...had forgotten about the fire. There could have been some collateral damage that is just being manifested Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerel Posted October 14, 2015 Report Share Posted October 14, 2015 Iv heard of the sewer smell complaint on ships before, normally on the lower decks. Not sure the cause but it can happen. Hopefully they fix the other issues, people notice details like that. My guess is its on some maintaince guys list and just haven't got done yet. My only hope is that you filled out your online review through Royal and mentioned what you saw. IMO it's important to let them know. Glad you enjoyed your trip though, I'm tackling that class of ship for the first time on the Independence next month. Good thing I didn't choose the run down Freedom :) :). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CelebrationFlCruiser Posted October 19, 2015 Report Share Posted October 19, 2015 Great report, thank you for sharing! I did not notice any of the things you mentioned except for an odd smell near Adventure Ocean. At the time, they were working on repairing the fire damage (or at least I suspect that was what they were doing) and chalked it up to that. We also just got back from the FREEDOM of the SEAS. We love that ship and the crew. This seems to be the perfect size ship for us. We also noticed some unidentifiable smells just before docking in the lower deck areas. This was usually when we were at port. There are always some issues, but overall, this is a GREAT ship and crew. And, the Captain is understandable and seems truly interested in keeping the cruisers informed. One day we had to divert due to weather. The Captain was on the overhead explaining and came on the TV with maps and graphs to explain how he reached his decision to divert to another port. He, in my opinion is an excellent Captain. And almost the entire crew, with just a few exceptions, was excellent. It's a shame they are moving Freedom to Ft. Lauderdale. We like at Port Canaveral. Matt 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted October 20, 2015 Report Share Posted October 20, 2015 There are always some issues, but overall, this is a GREAT ship and crew. And, the Captain is understandable and seems truly interested in keeping the cruisers informed. One day we had to divert due to weather. The Captain was on the overhead explaining and came on the TV with maps and graphs to explain how he reached his decision to divert to another port. He, in my opinion is an excellent Captain. And almost the entire crew, with just a few exceptions, was excellent. I agree, Freedom's captain was quite good. On Quantum we had concerns about big waves and the captain was on TV showing a map and explaining what was going on and what we could expect. It was very helpful! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bcarney Posted November 10, 2015 Report Share Posted November 10, 2015 I did not notice any of the things you mentioned except for an odd smell near Adventure Ocean. That would have been the odor of children. LOL Matt 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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