We picked this cruise for the itinerary - ABC islands and St. Marten. It was my first time sailing with Royal Caribbean. We flew into San Juan a few days early as we have never been to San Juan either. We stayed in Old San Juan at a VRBO and loved it. We did a Spoon Food tour the first morning and really enjoyed it. Then we looked around and did a little shopping and had dinner. On Saturday we took a taxi to Charlie's Car Rental in Isle Verde (did not want to drive in Old San Juan as streets are narrow and people parallel park on one side and you can barely squeeze by- the uber and taxi drivers here are very skilled). We drove to Fajardo and did 2 tours with Kayaking Puerto Rico - the mini boat tour and the bio bay kayaking. The mini boat conditions were rough (rough seas and got caught in a squall) - I would only recommend doing this on a calm clear day. The weather was better for the evening kayak tour and we really enjoyed it. Got back to our VRBO at 10pm. Made our way to ship on Sunday and checked in quickly around 11:30am. We stayed on the second floor in an ultra spacious ocean view (cabin 2568) - it had lots of space and can theoretically sleep up to 6 - but it would be tight with only one bathroom. For 3 ladies it was perfect. With two large portholes I didn't miss the balcony and it was very quite with minimal to no motion. Our room steward, Willy, was awesome and helped us with anything we needed and serviced the room both morning and night.

We ate dinner in the main dining room every night and didn't try any specialty restaurants. The food was mostly excellent. Only found the fish we ordered to be over seasoned and a little salty. Not a big deal with good appetizer and dessert - we didn't feel the need to order another meal - though they always asked if you would like something else. The waiter also gave his recommendations each night and the few things I didn't care for wasn't one of his recommendations. Both our waiter and asst waiter were great - Putu and Placid at table 314 - we had anytime dining but usually ate at 6pm and sat at the same table. Even though you prepay tips - these people go out of their way to be friendly, helpful, and give you great service. I think Freedom has some of the best service I have received. We ate breakfast twice in the main dining room and lunch twice in the main dining room and I preferred this over the Windjammer which was always so crowded and hard to find a seat. We did like the Cafe for an alternative to breakfast (free coffee there seemed better as well). We also grabbed pizza at the Promenade restaurant for a late lunch after port day and found it to be very good.

We went to most of the shows except the last night as we were tired and busy packing. I liked the first night show with the acrobats and comedian. I really liked the ice show and El Gaucho. I also enjoyed the second comedian and repeated acrobat performance. My least favorite was the Marque show and the singer - not that they were bad - just not for me. I also didn't care for the Love and Marriage show - I think things like this should be alternative entertainment and not take up the "main show" for a night. Read more