Freedom of the seas/fantasy/magic????

[mwins78]

Ok here's the deal I'm in love with the Disney ships have done both, the magic b4 dry dock and dream on two separate occasions....I want to cruise longer then 4/5days November prices are looking like this Fantasy 7 days 2,549$ for two. Magic 7 day $2,288. I just happened to check out rccl and freedom of the seas is $1,082 should I give them a try has anyone sail on the FOS?? Will I enjoy it as much as I enjoy Disney btw it's me and my 9 yr old son who is though with the character faze

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[Disneycrazymom]

I was just on the Freedom (2nd trip) in December. She is a lovely ship with a great crew. My family has done only 1 Disney Cruise and it was years ago when DD was little. Since then we have done 7 RCCL cruises. All have been really fun! Freedom has the flow rider, rock wall, mini golf, good kids clubs, good family shows. Any questions - feel free to ask.

 

[mwins78]

Thanks! How did your kids like the kids clubs on FOS compared to Disney my son hated going into the clubs on Disney but he would go with no problem if I asked him to for adult time also how did u keep and contact with each other do the have phones like Disney or pagers for the adults with kids??

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[Disneycrazymom]

My kids are older (14 and 21) but both enjoyed the clubs over the years. DD (14) had fun with the teens last summer. She loved something called GaGa ball when she was younger. DS has not been in the last few trips but enjoyed the teen clubs and special activities when he was younger. There is a deck of kids club rooms and even some outdoor space. I think they have a good program. You get a list of activities each evening for the next day. My kids would go for the things that looked interesting and hang with us the rest of the time. While the clubs are free until midnight I think there is a fee for after midnight. Neither of mine used the after midnight time.

There are a few adult only shows. They are clearly listed and are late at night. Usually a comedian and Quest. The early shows are very good and very kid friendly! As are the parades.

Again mine are past this stage but I think there is a character breakfast with the characters from Shrek.

 

[Bookwood]

love Freedom of the Seas, we're going back this summer for a week with Family (after 2 long Disney Cruises.) There seems to be a bit more to do trivia type games, belly flop contests etc on Freedom (was not bored ever though on 2 weeks to Hawaii or Panama Canal with Disney either.) I like the Central Park setup on Freedom, my least favorite thing was having to walk thru the casino to get to some places (ew smelled like old smoke)

 

[Disneycrazymom]

Central Park is only on the Oasis and the Allure.

 

[ldo]

We went on Liberty--which is the sister of Freedom. There is a promenade area that PP might be referring to as central park. We loved it--pizza parlor (free--also had appetizers, fruit cups, some desserts--my kids loved that place), coffee bar (free reg. coffee, tea and food, fee for speciality drinks--Mom loved this place), cupcake cupboard, shops, and nightly special entertainment. This is where the parade is.
Our only negative on the RCCL--there are not the all day movies like on DCL--just a select couple (DS12 was very disappointed), and the big screen by the pool did not play full run movies by the pool all the time like DCL--it had more sports, poker tournaments. Putt-putt is not as cute as DCL, but we still had fun and played 2X. I think no slide on Freedom, either. No wave phones. kids club is 9-12 age range, sometime 6-8 is mixed if small group. At 5 and at 9, my kids LOVED RCCL kids club. It is more structured than DCL--with more a a set activity. At 9, they made lots of crafts, bingo, board games, etc.

 

[mikethedigiartist]

I've sailed Freedom twice as well, 20's plus a teen, both eastern caribbean itinerary. We had a fantastic time and the value is incredible. We've sailed the Magic once before and just don't think there is enough of a difference for our family to justify the price.

Freedom is a wonderful ship with a lot of features that make it compelling for teens and young adults who are not of the Spring Breaker mentality. I'm sure your family will enjoy the amenities on board.

 

[Bookwood]

Central Park is only on the Oasis and the Allure.

OK it might not be called Central Park on Freedom but is essentially the same (without zip line) central area with stores, and food locations- sorry I don't remember the name on Freedom.

 

[msmayor]

OK it might not be called Central Park on Freedom but is essentially the same (without zip line) central area with stores, and food locations- sorry I don't remember the name on Freedom.

Its called the Promenade...

I'll be on Freedom in just three weeks for the second time. Just love the ship and all it has to offer.

 

[dpswift]

The Freedom has lots to offer. Loved the Prominade area. The buffet area was often crowded, however the week we went was very cold.

DS loves the kids areas on both Disney and RCI.

 

[bumbershoot]

We just left Freedom on the 2nd. Everything we feel about our cruise is tempered by exhaustion from having had that awful cold everyone had in January, but even with that caveat, it was really great.

DS (who is 9) puts the Dream's kid club up a little higher (b/c of the dance floor and more videogames), but he really enjoyed his few days that he spent at Freedom's club. On our sailing (not sure if it's across the board or just that one) they combined the 6-8s with the 9-11s, and that was fine with DS. It was all in the one big room, but they had activities and seemed to have lots of fun.


We were on the Dream (for the second time) in October. Freedom was at the port at the same time. While going on the Dream, we were looking forward to our Freedom cruise and were jealous of everyone going on Freedom. But when we were going to Freedom, and saw Dream there, we just said "hi" to Dream and wished everyone onboard fun, and were absolutely ecstatic to go on Freedom. No jealousy whatsoever. And when we got back and saw Dream there again, well, we had had 7 nights on a cruise while people had had either 3 or 4 nights on Dream, so we got a great deal. We would cruise Freedom in a heartbeat. (but we have Dream booked in October already so we'll have to wait for next year, LOL)

 

[DisneyOrBustColorado]

Do the kid's clubs on the Freedom charge an additional fee or are they there for kids to use just like on the Disney ships?

 

[bumbershoot]

Do the kid's clubs on the Freedom charge an additional fee or are they there for kids to use just like on the Disney ships?

Late night, after 10pm, there would have been a charge. They are not open all day long like on Disney; there are breaks throughout the day (all well laid-out on the info you get each day about Adventure Ocean). They are also VERY strict about pickup times. You get 15 minutes and after that it's $1/minute/child. Strict.

On this particular cruise, given our exhaustion, we appreciated the earlier nights. But in a pretty big way, being done with activities at 10pm for a 9 year old isn't a *bad* thing.

 

[MisMikiNikiLynne]

The Freedom is a beautiful ship! We sailed to Bermuda last October on the Grandeur (small, but very beautiful) and missed the promenade of the Freedom very much! We sail on the Vision in October this year and are looking forward to exploring another "small" ship!
We had very limited experience with the kids club on both ships as my daughter has special needs and I will not leave her, but we did go on a couple of occasions for a special bedtime story read by the Captain, and another time for Pirate training! All of the kids appeared to be having a wonderful time!