Cheapo dad's trip report on Freedom of the Seas

Looks and feels like Disney Studio or Universal Studio Movie Props

More walking through the shops area

Finally made it to the water front area

Nice view of the ship, but it’s very very far away after a long hot day walking around the ruins

Pronghorn antelope! How pretty Harry! What a great photo!

We’re the only ship left in port from earlier today. HAL took off awhile back and nowhere to be seen. Princess is just a blur in the background even with a super zoom camera.

This was one of the sample front page picture with a zoom in from the previous picture.. Didn’t realize people would be interested in the back balconies or else I might have been able to zoom in some more. I stopped here at the zoom as I wanted people in the picture to show the size of the ship

Seems a long way to walk back from here

Pronghorn antelope! How pretty Harry! What a great photo!

Thanks.

Taken from Custer State Park in South Dakota

Few more pics from the park area. Bison’s roaming around

Similar to the Cozumel pier where they drop you off way on the far side of the shops and you must walk past all the shops just to be on the road back to the ship. All part of the not so subtle way to try to get you to buy things last minute on way back to the ship.

I believe the cruise shopping guy said people can swim for free at the pool as they are for cruise ship passenger’s usage, but obviously we didn’t try it. Somebody with firsthand knowledge can confirm or deny that claim. Guess this would be a cheap way to spend some time off the ship if you don’t feel like venturing too far but that’s not my style. I didn’t fly all the way there and spent thousands of dollars just to swim here – although the view is nice. I want to venture off to see more of the local sites.

Princess ship way in the distance

I like this picture but I had to cross the red line to take it. Did it really fast and scurried back behind the safety line before someone yells at me

Are we there yet?

Of course the freebie trolley not in operation late in the day when you really need it

Really enjoying your trip report, Harry! I'm going to have to go back and read your Allure one again as we're headed there for spring break.

There is nothing better than walking toward the ship at the end of a long, hot shore excursion- that "Bing!" sound as you check in and the cool air and that cruise ship smell as you step onboard...ahhhh!

 

Minivan fits a lot of people and luggage.

 

Just use Google map to plot out where you want to go and stop off at the major cities. Stay at the places that offers kitchens so we you can cook your own meals and that serves free breakfast. Places like Residence Inn/Homewood Suites/Staybridge all fit the bill. Just look at what we did at day 0 at FLL and you have an idea on how we travel for road trips.

 

 

I like to stay at Staybridge Suites or Residence inns Mon - Wed. They generally offer something that resembles a hot evening meal (for free!).

 

I have various break even points for hotels (when it's worth not having an included breakfast) and minimum standards for room inclusions (mini fridge, microwave, etc.)

 

I also mapquest takeout restaurants in the area and their deals.

 

When we travel down to Florida (stopping at hotels each night), I am probably a 9+ on the anal scale. Everything is planned, mapped, noted plus at least one alternate if something goes wrong.

 

I find it fun to plan those kind of trips.

Harryfat/Cheapo Dad

Great report, great writing style! Really enjoying your cruise story...!

Beautiful - I am so thankful for your thorough review as we are a family new to cruising, the freedom being our second this spring and I am very much a planner. I have a few questions when you have time...

 

I see that you visited the ruins in Cozumel previously and Costa Maya this round, how do they compare, which do you recommend?

 

I also see on your cruise compass (THANK YOU) that there was a 70's themed night...is that typical? I am starting to prepare dinner outfits..

 

Thank you and I can't wait to see the rest of your review!

And don't feel you HAVE to dress up for theme nights. You won't feel out of place at all if you're in your regular clothes.

Happy Sailing!

I think you do have San Juan covered. There is so much to do with a self-guided walking tour there. I mean, all of the islands are pretty good for this. My parents tend to prefer the eastern itinerary, so I have been to all of the ports at least twice.

 

I know you are "Cheapo Dad" but if you are ever looking for a fantastic place for lunch, there is a place called Cafe' Amalie that serves Spanish food. Their sangria is good and the food is amazing. And one can never go wrong with Gladys's. My former employer lived on St. Thomas for several years, so I keep meaning to get a cab to take me up to the area where he lived. I just want to see the house in person once.

 

On St. Maarten, there is a shop for a guy called "The Yoda Guy." There is all kinds of Star Wars memorabilia and artwork in his shop. It's a fun place to walk through. No charge, unless you buy something in the shop. He does other artwork as well. I have never done an organized tour in St. Maarten. I may have to do it the next time. I am kind of tired of visiting the Uncle in Prison on St. Maarten. It's a beautiful island.

Agreed - I just posted a bunch of stuff from our visit to the Yoda Guy museum on my trip report!

Also fun in St. Maarten if you haven't been there before is to go to Maho beach and watch the planes come in to the airport that is a couple hundred feet from the beach. No tour for it - just the cost of the cab ride...

Awesome pictures from the Sea and the Land! Thank you for sharing! :)

Thanks for more bacon.

OK, onward and forward to the 3 PM port talk. I know most veteran cruisers scoff at the infomercial stuff. For me, it’s pretty useless as well as I had already booked all the port tours ahead of time but my wife and kids don’t read CC and they really don’t have too much clue on what’s at each port and this info helps them. So we went to it just to bring them up to speed on what’s what. I really don’t care. I’m good. I’m on vacation. Either I chill out here or elsewhere, as long as it’s on the ship with AC, I’m down with that.

 

 

 

Harry, for a newbie to RCCL would the Figure out the Freedom give us some useful information that we can use so we aren't so overwhelmed?

Also did you attend any of the port shopping talks and if so are they worth it? I know on DCL the raffled off some stuff and my wife won some Effy earrings.

Hi,

 

The pictures are not grand canyon. They look like it, but not.

 

Those are from Badlands National Park in South Dakota.

 

If you go to Las Vegas, be sure to go to the Valley of Fire, that's 1 hour away. Grand Canyon is 5+ hours away.

 

We loved Valley of Fire! http://www.herdofturtles.org/2014/04/17/valley-of-fire/

Badlands were HOT! 110 degrees when we were there.

Love traveling through the western US. Some amazing landscapes for sure. I certainly wouldn't want to be the driver on those 400-500 mile days though. Thats some crazy road to put down in a car full of family :)

-Sean

Really enjoying your trip report. Thank you. We hope to be on the Anthem this December so your report is helping keep the anticipation high.

Was that some kind of a wild cat, looked like a leopard, in the trees? I'm referring to the picture that your wife took, and you didn't know why. Right side of the photo, about 3/4 of the way up.

We have also done Maho Beach in St. Maarten. Fun to do once or twice.The beach there was kind of steep down to the water.

We got to see a couple of big planes come in. If you do Bernards's Tours, they usually take you there. They try to time it so that you can see a large plane land, and maybe take off.

When the large planes take off it is amusing to watch the drunk people hang on to the fence behind the jet wash. I don't recommend trying it though! Lol!

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How do you know in advance if they will have a theme nights? I sail at the end of March on Freedom 6 day and just curious if they always do a 70's theme or a any theme and how do find out?

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Harry,

I find myself both eager for your next inistallment and sad that it's almost over.

When the large planes take off it is amusing to watch the drunk people hang on to the fence behind the jet wash. I don't recommend trying it though! Lol!

There is now an idiot fence right behind the guard rail to prevent people from doing that. :)

I bow to you! Your spreadsheet is way better than mine! I think my ratio is probably 20 hours for every 1 hour on the cruise! Great review!

Hi,

I am so sorry I forgot to respond to your post yesterday. I get a notification on my phone via Tapatalk anytime someone has a new posting to this thread. I saw your posting yesterday and was planning to respond to it when I got home but then I was distracted by the questions on the rocks & road trips and went off to the tangent on that issue and forgot to reply to your post. I always feel bad when people say something meaningful and I don’t reply as that implied I am ignoring you. Not so.

So for the spreadsheet, the version you are seeing here isn’t “new” in the sense I didn’t create one out of thin air just for the Allure. This is an evolution of an old template I started for Disneyworld many years ago. I won’t show the original version as that was very anal since it was created to plot out what to do at Disneyworld. Anyone that has been to Disneyworld knows you need to be organized especially if you are on the meal plan and must reserve dinner reservations daily. So I have many years to tinker with the spreadsheet.

I have seen other version of the spreadsheet here on CC where another cruiser I think color coded his letter fonts and daily activity to be the same color. That looks really nice. I color code mine by activity type. Just waiting for the day someone color codes their schedule and has matching socks and underwear - red all over...

Really enjoying your trip report, Harry! I'm going to have to go back and read your Allure one again as we're headed there for spring break.

 

There is nothing better than walking toward the ship at the end of a long, hot shore excursion- that "Bing!" sound as you check in and the cool air and that cruise ship smell as you step onboard...ahhhh!

Hi,

Thanks for continuing to follow along. That Allure report is old and outdated so no real need to “read it”, just look through the pictures for eye candy and you will be ready for the Allure.

Fletch is doing his Allure trip report right now and his info is more current. So you can read his report also – you can see his picture in the post above. And be sure to pester him with bunch of detailed anal questions that no one else cares about (e.g. How many mooring lines does Allure use to be tied to the dock at St. Thomas?”) He loves those kinds of questions…

Yes, that’s why I always crank up the AC before we leave the cabin in the Caribbean. Not as useful on the Alaska cruise…