InfoNrs629 Posted July 7, 2018 Report Share Posted July 7, 2018 First post! Planning to surprise my two children with a cruise next June during my son's *slim* window of opportunity to take a vacation. They will be 17 and 10 at the time. Traveling as a single mom with them, I'm wanting to have as much assistance as possible, so wanted to do a Suite in order to have priority boarding and luggage assistance, plus concierge service. They both wanted to visit PR or Jamaica, so thought Freedom of the Seas from San Juan would be perfect! Also saw this is a good ship for 'first-timers' since it's not as large as the Quantum Class (although we're not technically 1st time cruisers, only have done Disney but I think they've outgrown that and Disney ships are very limited in activities after you've done them so many times!) Is this a good choice or is the ship too small compared to Harmony, to find activities? Is the up price for Suite worth it or should I just do a JS (because we WILL need the extra room for sure!) Any advice greatly appreciated! mom2mybugs 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawn T. Posted July 7, 2018 Report Share Posted July 7, 2018 Hi @InfoNrs629! We have cruised with our 2 kids on Disney many times. Freedom was our first cruise on Royal with the kids. They were 12 and 16 at the time. We have sailed on Freedom twice since then without the kids. It is a GREAT ship! You and the kids will have no trouble finding things to do. The shows and ship amenities are wonderful! A junior suite is a great choice for 3 people. The extra space in the cabin, walk-in closet and full tub in the bathroom are great. I have actually sailed in a grand suite on the Freedom as well, and we loved it. I guess I would have to decide if the extra cost is worth the amenities that come with a full suite. If the cost isn't necessarily a consideration, then I would probably go with a full suite. Whatever you decide, you should have a wonderful trip! InfoNrs629 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLMoran Posted July 7, 2018 Report Share Posted July 7, 2018 I just sailed on Freedom as my first cruise ever back in April. I thought it was great, big but not too big. Sailed with my two girls, 14 and 17. Both felt bored on sea days, but neither could be bothered to go to the teen meetup on night 1. I have a feeling their experience would have been a lot different had they taken the time to that one critical thing. Even with that, the older one did the rock climbing wall twice and enjoyed it; younger one did a cupcake decorating class and really enjoyed that. InfoNrs629 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2mybugs Posted July 8, 2018 Report Share Posted July 8, 2018 My youngest teen (13 and 15 when we sailed) loved freedom. It was big enough to have things to do and enough other teens to hang with and not so big you couldn't find people without texting. Meeting up that first night in the teen center is a must for your older teen... The kids meet that night and then basically use the teen center as a meet up place. Freedom has a ton to do and is significantly less expensive than the bigger oasis class ships... With that extra money you could spend more on the cabin. We have never done a suite so I can't advise on that...we still squish in one cabin because we are hardly ever in our room! Welcome to the boards and have a great cruise! Jane InfoNrs629 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason.H. Posted July 9, 2018 Report Share Posted July 9, 2018 Sounds great! Freedom is my favorite ship. Keep in mind that up until 2009 when oasis was introduce freedom class were the largest cruise ships in the world. Freedom is still larger than any Carnival ships. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeK Posted July 10, 2018 Report Share Posted July 10, 2018 Not sure what your budget is but you might look into connecting balcony rooms. The suites are nice but so is having two bathrooms. Jr suites are bigger with walk in closets and full baths but other than double crown and anchor points they don't have the luggage assistance, concierge service, priority seating at shows etc. that full suites have. Connecting balcony rooms wont be as crowded as one Jr suite or full suite. We usually do Jr suites but have done the full suites and one can get spoiled with the full suite privileges Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.