Nobody can beat the Freedom of the Seas and her slightly “Voyager-class” ships for entertainment variety – nobody. The singular reason for this is that there’s no other class of ships afloat that offers a professional ice show! The venue is Center Ice and it’s an “E” ticket event (yet there’s no additional cost to guests). The ice is open for the guests, too, and there’s no need to lug your ice skates to the ship – they’re available for rent at no extra charge.
The main entertainment venue is the three-tier Arcadia Theater. It’s a real theater with comfortable seating, a massive stage, and top-notch technology and production capability. Our only suggestion: try to avoid the seats at the very rear on Deck 3. Even though the sight lines throughout the theater are excellent, the noise from the bar (ice-crushing blenders, martini-shaking, etc.) can be distracting.
Many of the other entertainment options are strung out along the Freedom’s exceptional Deck 5 Royal Promenade, or just below it on Decks 3 and 4. Connecting it all are at least 7 stairways. Much like a shopping center, “anchor” venues are positioned at opposite ends; forward is the Arcadia Theater and below it, a show lounge, Pharaoh’s Palace.
Aft are the entrances to the ship’s giant, three-level Dining Rooms. The Royal Promenade and its nearby decks function like a town’s main street with bars, a coffee shop, an icecream parlor, discos, shops and restaurants and all sorts of places to relax and watch the crowd go by. And like any bustling downtown, it is best appreciated at night. Here, or within a few steps, you’ll find The Crypt – the two-level disco. Here also is Royal Caribbean’s always-popular hallmark, the nautical-themed Schooner Bar.
You’ll probably hear Bolero’s Latin beat long before you arrive at this popular dance bar – another of Royal Caribbean’s instantly-successful new entertainment venues. Vintages, is the wine bar, of course, and the Champagne Bar makes for an elegant excuse to sip your favorite bubbly. The Karaoke On Air Club is just off Studio B on Deck 4, site of the ice rink “spectaculars” Royal Caribbean is now famous for. At selected times (i.e. not during the production shows) you can borrow a pair of skates and test the ice yourself.
And remember, this promenade includes restaurants and shops, such as a General Store, a Logo Shop, a sports shop called Get Out There, a Fashion Boutique emporium, a Perfume Shop (across from the Bull & Bear Pub, men), the Café Promenade and even a men’s barber shop – A Clean Shave! All this - plus the simple pleasures of people-watching. And at night the ship schedules parades, street performers, and all manner of diversions. And finally, this ship’s downtown has a casino – the Casino Royale, accompanied by its own bar, of course.
RCTV is where the onboard staff produces the ship’s TV programming. It qualifies as “entertainment” because almost the entire room is behind glass, allowing you to watch the production from outside.
Far above the Royal Promenade perches the Viking Crown Lounge. Think of it as the Freedom’s tiara. With each successively larger Royal Caribbean ship, this “tiara” has grown bigger and bigger, too. On Freedom of the Seas it’s a multi-room complex of five distinctive bars and lounges: the Viking Crown Lounge, Seven Hearts, Cloud Nine, Olive or Twist and The Diamond Club. Together they offer a 360-degree view out to sea.
Elsewhere on the ship, mostly on the upper decks adjacent to the pools, you’ll find the Plaza Bar, the Pool Bar, the Sky Bar, and Wipe Out! – a great vantage point for watching the successes and failures of those taking on the FlowRider® - the world’s first “surfing at sea” device. Book yourself into a suite and you’ve got the added benefit of the “private” Concierge Club, too. Bring the kids along and they’ve got the added benefit of the Gaming Arcade.
