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Freedom with 54 Surprise Guests, $6513, and Justin Bieber :)

myfamilyluvs2cruise
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myfamilyluvs2cruise

myfamilyluvs2cruise

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Do it!! I think he'd get a kick out of it. :cool:

 

I'm loving your review. I too teared up reading the very first post about the big surprise and then I just couldn't stop reading. I wish I could get a big group of friends/family together on a cruise at the same time, but it's so hard to work around everyone's schedules. I don't know how you did it, but you are my hero!! LOL

 

Thanks! I think I will post a few notes about Jay. Appreciate the feedback! :)

 

I think you should try it! :D Just pick a time over the July 4th or something, when most people already have vacation days at their job- as far out as you possbily can. I bet with enough notice, you could get a nice sized group for sure! The nice thing is it gives everyone something fun to look forward to for many months or even year+!

Edited by myfamilyluvs2cruise
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myfamilyluvs2cruise

myfamilyluvs2cruise

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Oh Noooooo!!! I've come to the last post so far!! :( Hurry and post some more!! Reading about your awesome trip has made me feel like I am on it too! I still have till after Thanksgiving till I get to go!!

 

THat will be a great trip for you! It will be here before you know it :)

 

I am so slammed at work and with the kid's sports that I keep trying to sneak in times to post. But, I will finish soon, I promise :)

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t1adams

t1adams

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LOVING all the pictures!! I always especially enjoy seeing the cruise elegant pics. Where's one of you in your sparkle dress? (I recall you mentioning you wore a comfortable yet sparkly dress, or something like that, lol.)

~Tammie

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myfamilyluvs2cruise

myfamilyluvs2cruise

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LOVING all the pictures!! I always especially enjoy seeing the cruise elegant pics. Where's one of you in your sparkle dress? (I recall you mentioning you wore a comfortable yet sparkly dress, or something like that, lol.)

~Tammie

 

Well, I cant find one. But, we have a shared Shutterfly site and only 2 of us have uploaded our pictures/videos at this point. (Still another 10 cameras to go!) I will find one and post as I am sure the Disco Ball is in a picture somewhere.

 

Thanks! :)

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myfamilyluvs2cruise

myfamilyluvs2cruise

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A Broken Engine, and New Belieber, and a Little Nassau

 

We awoke to our alarm signaling our LAST day had begun. We headed upstairs for our workout. James and Jacqui had planned another challenging one! I was so amazed by the creativity and planning they put into our workouts. It was also so cool how that morning group activity really enhanced our cruise. Not only did it get us fired up for the day, but we had so much fun encouraging each other, laughing at ourselves, and getting our days off to a great start!

 

Covered in sweat, and exhausted, they gathered us together to give out the awards. Points were given out for perfect attendance, effort and also the scavenger hunt results. No huge surprise, by my brother in law and his sister won! They were both animals and gave it 110%! The prizes (very generous, by the way) were 8 weeks of personal training! Both winners live out of state, so James agreed to email them workouts and correspond with them about their progress. My BIL is an airline pilot, so this was really a great prize for him. He is an avid athlete and runner- and is always looking for a workout on the road. This was a perfect solution for him!

 

We took a few pictures, thanked James and Jacqui profusely, and then headed down to the Freedom Restaurant for breakfast. We looked up and saw Jay! He came into the restaurant and was looking for someone he had scheduled a date with the night before J. All of a sudden, he became very distracted, and was looking out the window. He said “WOW, I have never seen a ship list so much unless we were in a hurricane”. Justin Bieber said “SAY WHAT JAY???” It is slighting alarming when a seasoned sailor is slightly alarmed. I guess we were not noticing that the ship was listing, as our balance was already off from oxygen deprivation from the workout. Jay seemed very curious about what was going on with the ship. But, knowing the seas were warm, and thinking that we had paid careful attention at the muster drill, and seeing all my family and friends gathered together for breakfast, I decided to go get in line for my usual “real egg” scramble and some POG and not worry about it in the slightest.

 

About 15 minutes later, the captain came on and said that we were having engine trouble. Although all the systems on the ship were functioning properly, we would be traveling at a much slower speed, as we were down an engine. This would put us into Nassau a few hours later than planned, but we would stay an extra hour or so. Blah blah blah was all I heard, as I was planning to stay on the ship anyway. I think there were a few of us that were hoping at that moment for a Carnival Splendor situation- a couple days at sea with sandwiches and open bar sounded OK at that point. J (No disrespect meant to anyone who actually went through that situation).

 

Our group then headed up to our favorite deck for one last time. We figured we would have a few hours until we hit land, and we wanted to make the most of the time we had left. We laid out in the sun, ordered a few last mojitos from Yasa, and relaxed. The day was perfect- sunny and very warm! The color of the water was also stunning- so blue and clear.

 

We ordered lunch off of the Serenity menu, for one last time. I loved the Caesar and the shrimp salad sandwich- but the consensus was that ALL the items were great! Again, so convenient to have it brought right to your chairs. And then there is no worry about being mistaken for a CHOG either! In fact, had we had adult diapers, none of us would have moved an inch all morning! J

 

Out ahead in the distance we could see Atlantis! I have to say that the journey into Nassau was spectacular! The water looks amazing, the tall buildings just pop right out of the ocean it seems. We took a bunch of pictures when we rolled up, and it really was beautiful!

 

I had planned from the beginning to NOT get off; especially as our port time was originally scheduled to be 12-7pm, and we had early dining. Now that we were arriving much later, the options as to what you could do were pretty much limited to shopping. I am not a shopper, and I really wanted to enjoy my last day of relaxation on the ship. My husband however, does enjoy his shopping time. He agreed to take our DD14 and DS12 with him for a little “ Bahama Shop-a-rama”! I stayed on board with a few of the college age kids, my DD9 , and one of my girlfriends.

 

WOW! I was shocked at the immediate emptiness of the ship. I think there were like 10 people that we could see in the whole pool area. The kids had access to as much sliding, putt putt, and swimming as they could handle. We sat an enjoyed the scenery from the upper pool deck, and relaxed. We were parked between the Monarch of the Seas and the Carnival Ecstasy (I think). The back of the smaller Carnival ship sure looked fun- great waterpark area! It was stunning how much taller and longer the Freedom was. I guess you can lose perspective sometimes. We had been saying that it looked as if we could jump right off our ship into that warm blue water. But once we could see how high up we actually were by gauging our height by the other ships, that suddenly seemed ridiculous to even joke about.

 

We LOVED having the ship to ourselves, and dinner time came WAY too fast. Our friends and family made it right back onboard. Most were lamenting the heat and the crowds and were generally bummed they didn’t stay on the ship with us. My sweet DH came back wearing a T-shirt (courtesy of my sister) that said “See you all at my intervention”- which we thought was absolutely hysterical!

 

We changed quickly, and headed up to see Parrrrrta (rolling the ‘r’s) for our last (boo) dinner. Dinner was great! We had not a bad service night once. All our food was hot, correctly prepared, and delicious. We gave all our waiters lots of tips and lots of thank-you’s , and then we headed out to soak in the last few hours of entertainment.

 

Our group opted for self-assist debarkation, as we had a beach day planned in Ft Lauderdale (which I will review next). We were concerned because our arrival into Ft Lauderdale was going to be late because of the engine situation, and we thought it best to take matters into our own hands so that we wouldn’t miss our transportation to the beach. Some of our group went back to their rooms and packed, others of our group went to the Casino, and some went to listen to music.

 

Our master plan however, was to meet in the Victoriana Lounge to watch the Legends show. I have not mentioned this before, but Jacqui was selected to sing as Gloria Estefan- and we wanted to go and support her! We told Jay that we would come see him afterwards so we could say goodbye. He said that she could sing with him on stage if we made sure to show up, so we had a plan!

 

We met in the Victoriana and got good seats up on the second level. I think we were all a little nervous for her when we realized that she would literally be signing all by herself that the others on stage would only be dancing- not vocal backup! I have to say there were some pretty darned good impersonators- especially the guy who did Garth Brooks. Wow- he was a dead ringer vocally!

 

Jacqui took the stage- and we were shocked by the big curly wig and outfit- and then she started to sing “Rhythm is Going to Get You”. She was really good! She was very confident, and did an excellent job at playing Gloria! We gave her a standing ovation, watched the last act, and then headed to the Atrium for the after-party. The kids loved taking pictures with her, and then she went back to get “Un Gloria-fied” J. We wandered around and looked at some of the pictures in the gallery, and then headed off to the Swing Time Lounge, for just one last time. :(

 

Jay had quite the crowd in the lounge- which was great to see! J We walked in and immediately noticed that the smell of smoke was over-powering and was hanging in the air like a cloud. We had never noticed any smoking at all once before that night, which was great after all I had read here on CC. It seemed to us that the smokers on board must have been very courteous, as we never noticed a thing. And, the Swing Time is one of the few places on the ship that allows smoking- so it was no big deal. We hung closer to the door, and ordered drinks. And then, much to my surprise, Jay asked “Where is Justin Beiber?” SAY WHAT????? Could it be? Does Jay finally have “Beiber Fever?” J I told him he was back in the room packing for debarkation. He then said ‘I am SUCH and idiot- I even cleared a spot for him tonight on stage!” WHAT????? It was confirmed, Jay was now a Beileber! Well, there was little choice at that point, we ran down to our room, put my DD to bed, and came back up with Justin.

 

Justin was a little nervous because of all the lit cigars and cigarettes- he is made of paper, you know. But, he got on stage with Jay. Jacqui walked in, and then Jay asked her to join him. They sang the Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow duet about “Three Damn Days” – sorry I don’t know the title. They were GREAT!!!!

 

Then Jay told everyone that he was considering retiring after this contract was up as he was very burnt out, but that he had such a blast on this cruise that he had a new outlook on performing and was going to renew. J It made us feel great that we helped him have fun on stage, because I can totally see how depressing it could be day after day if you are not shown any appreciation, don’t get much applause, or play to a crowd that doesn't appear to respond to your hard work. He put on some music and came on to the dance floor to dance with all of us. After a few songs, we each gave him a hug and some thank-you’s and began wrapping up the night.

 

I looked around the bar, and thought again how lucky we were to have all these great people on the cruise with us. I felt a little melancholy about it being almost over, and yet, I was exhausted. We walked back to our stateroom, tired but content. I am a last minute packer, and decided not to do anything about packing until the morning. I wanted to enjoy my last night to the fullest, and my DH and I talked about how much fun we had the past 8 days.

 

I know some of you mentioned you wanted tips for Nassau. My only tip would be that if you have a short window of time- ENJOY THE SHIP! J

Edited by myfamilyluvs2cruise
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pcrum

pcrum

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Our friends looking dapper. Note the stitches on the lip! :) He still looks dapper.

ry%3D400

 

Hope everything was ok when he got home. Did he have to have the stitches removed or were they the dissolving kind? Did he have to keep his head out of the water for the rest of the trip? So glad you were able to get quick and efficient medical treatment on the island!

 

Loving the review!

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kr8z

kr8z

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LOL!!! I love your avatar- I totally remember you from the thread about the ES credit :) What song was Will Ferrell playing that required "more cowbell?"

 

"More Cowbell" Don't fear the reaper Blue oyster cult !!!!!

 

Yep, that's it. Here is the skit if you would like to revisit it. I cannot watch it without having tears streaming down my face.

 

I love that you've brought The Beib along with you everywhere. As a joke my 10 year old son and I bought JB valentines day cards for our 9 year old boy to hand out. We got home from Target and I said, "Here you go. You need to address them." "MOM! I can't give those out! Why would you embarrass me like this? I am not a girl!" he sure was acting like a girl with his dramatic fit and crying. I laughed my butt off. I got him Iron Man cards too, but it was so worth the $2.50 to torment him for a few minutes. I was all innocent, "What? I thought you loved him? Besides, they were sold out of everything and it was all they had left." "I'm not going to school then!" meanwhile the 10 year old belts out, "baby, baby, baby, oh baby!" and the 9 year old lunges at him ready to kill. 10 year old was almost peeing himself laughing even though his brother was going for blood. I may not be the best mother ever LOL

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