Tell me if Freedom of the Seas is for us

[arielmomma]

Hello everyone! My family recently cruised on DCL's Fantasy and now we are officially addicted to cruising! We currently have an OBB on the Fantasy again for next September, but we could cruise on RCCLs's Freedom for $1000 less for the exact same dates, so I am exploring my options. Let me preface by saying I have lots of questions, so thank you for any help you can give.

First off, let me tell you a bit about my family and our likes to see if the Freedom is for us. There is DH37, Me38, DS10, and DD7. My kids LOVED the Oceaneer Club and Lab on the Fantasy. DS likes the organized activities, while DD likes to go off and do her own thing, at her own pace.

While on the Fantasy, DH and I like to drop our kid off around lunch time and sit in the main dining room to have a quiet lunch by ourselves. I read a review of the Freedom that complained that the kids clubs were closed at lunch time and the parents didn't get to eat alone. Is this true?

Next off, we are the sort of folks who primarily stay on the ship on port days. What can we say, we like the ship more than the beach! Plus, that's when we like to take advantage of the pools. We did really enjoy Castaway Cay, but other than Labadee, we would probably stay onboard on port days. We do not drink alcohol and we do not gamble, so the bars and casinos are out for us. We also aren't shoppers. Would there still be plenty to do on port days? Is the MDR still open for lunch? Are the kids clubs open all day? Are the sports activities open?

On Labadee, if we brought our own snorkel gear can we snorkel for free in a specified area, or do we have to pay for the excursion?

This question is on behalf of my kids - I know there is soft serve, but is there hard-serve, hand scooped ice cream available in the buffet or MDR during lunch and dinner for free or do we have to go to Ben & Jerry's for it?

Can the kids order meals off of the adult's menu? I assume we can all order as much food as we like in the MDR?

If you do not purchase the soda package, do you at least get soda with your meals, or is it only the milk, lemonade, and tea, etc. that comes with your meal?

Are there many family-friendly shows, movies, and organized activities during the day? The one compass I saw said the "family" movie was Grown Ups 2 on the big screen by the pool. That's not one I would exactly call "family friendly" for the little ones. They had Man of Steel one other night in the evening in the theater, but that was it. Is this the normal amount of movies they show? Do they ever offer any during the day in the theater?

Is there a place where I can find recent Compasses for Freedom? I found one from two years ago, but it doesn't seem complete.

Thank you for any help that you can give. We had such a perfect time on the Fantasy, I must admit, I have high expectations! It looks like a great ship though. I'm looking forward to hearing what others have to say.

 

[holula]

Royal Caribbean Blog has cruise compasses from a lot of cruises. This is a link to a set on Freedom from Dec 2013: http://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/cruise-compasses/freedom-of-the-seas/sun-2013-12-01-0000

I can't help you, as we don't sail on Freedom until January. If you search this forum there is a lot of great info about Freedom, Independence and Liberty which are all in the same class of ships. The question is, is $1000 worth it to you? That's $250 per person for your family.

 

[sam_gordon]

While on the Fantasy, DH and I like to drop our kid off around lunch time and sit in the main dining room to have a quiet lunch by ourselves. I read a review of the Freedom that complained that the kids clubs were closed at lunch time and the parents didn't get to eat alone. Is this true?

Here are the open hours we had in June for our W. Caribbean sailing:
Day 2
9a-Noon
2p-5p
5:15p-6:45p (Adventure Dining)
6:45p-10p
10p-2a ($$)

All port days they were open through lunch (Labadee session was on the island) and would take the kids for lunch at noon. We did not take advantage of this. We only dropped our kids off when we went to a show after dinner

Next off, we are the sort of folks who primarily stay on the ship on port days. What can we say, we like the ship more than the beach! Plus, that's when we like to take advantage of the pools. We did really enjoy Castaway Cay, but other than Labadee, we would probably stay onboard on port days. We do not drink alcohol and we do not gamble, so the bars and casinos are out for us. We also aren't shoppers. Would there still be plenty to do on port days? Is the MDR still open for lunch? Are the kids clubs open all day? Are the sports activities open?

DS & I stayed on board at Falmouth. We played ping pong, swam, watched the big screen and ate. Flowrider and rockwall were closed during part of the port stay.

On Labadee, if we brought our own snorkel gear can we snorkel for free in a specified area, or do we have to pay for the excursion?

Yes. Both Nellies Beach and Columbus Cove you are free to snorkel (not a lot to see) in designated areas. I don't know about Adventure beach. It's pretty rocky I understand and we never went there.

This question is on behalf of my kids - I know there is soft serve, but is there hard-serve, hand scooped ice cream available in the buffet or MDR during lunch and dinner for free or do we have to go to Ben & Jerry's for it?

There is ice cream available in the MDR for dinner, don't know about lunch. I don't remember any in the buffet.

Can the kids order meals off of the adult's menu? I assume we can all order as much food as we like in the MDR?

Yes to both.

If you do not purchase the soda package, do you at least get soda with your meals, or is it only the milk, lemonade, and tea, etc. that comes with your meal?

Without a soda package you can get soda with your meals if you pay extra for it.

Are there many family-friendly shows, movies, and organized activities during the day? The one compass I saw said the "family" movie was Grown Ups 2 on the big screen by the pool. That's not one I would exactly call "family friendly" for the little ones. They had Man of Steel one other night in the evening in the theater, but that was it. Is this the normal amount of movies they show? Do they ever offer any during the day in the theater?

I'll have to dig out my compasses and look through them.

 

[arielmomma]

Thank you so much for the help. Ice cream is very important to my kids for dessert! LOL So, it looks like the kids area is closed during lunch unless we ate very early. Bummer! As a homeschooling mom, the quiet lunch was one of my favorite parts of my last cruise. It sounds like we could still take advantage however during port days, though.

So, did I read your post correctly - they have organized kids club activities on Labadee?

 

[sam_gordon]

Thank you so much for the help. Ice cream is very important to my kids for dessert! LOL So, it looks like the kids area is closed during lunch unless we ate very early. Bummer! As a homeschooling mom, the quiet lunch was one of my favorite parts of my last cruise. It sounds like we could still take advantage however during port days, though.

So, did I read your post correctly - they have organized kids club activities on Labadee?

Since you're going to Labadee, I'm assuming you're on W. Caribbean... so there's only two sea days that it looks like the kids club is closed.

We stayed together as a family on Labadee (we got a cabana), so I don't know what kids activities they had on the island, but the compass plainly says they'll be on the beach that day.