LIVE attempt...Freedom of the Seas, November 5-11, 2017

[paramedicduo]

Alright, let me start by saying, this is my "attempt" at a Live review...it shouldn't be difficult with the internet package dh purchased for work purposes, but the work doesn't do itself, so we'll see how I manage [emoji41]

 

We are a family of 5, just getting started on our first big family vacation and since my younger 2 boys had been challenged with keeping a Vacation Journal for school, I thought I'd attempt my own to use as a review.

We travelled from Prince Edward Island, Canada to board Freedom of the Seas on a 6 night Western sailing, with stops in Grand Cayman, Costa Maya & Cozumel. Dh and I have done 3 other cruises, but never a Western, so it will be a bit of a first for everyone.

Our boys are 15, 11 & 8 and while we've done plenty of short (diving) distance vacations & summer long camping trips, they've never flown or been out of the country, so it will be a week of firsts for them!

 

Our flight from home took off at 5:20am, thankfully we're just a 10 minute drive to the airport. The boys had hockey games the evening before we left, so we weren't in bed as early as we'd have liked, but let's be honest - nobody was going to sleep well anyhow! I crawled in to bed at about 11:30pm and back out again at 2:00am...thank God I'm used to sleepless night shifts at work :)

We drove ourselves to the airport, arriving at 3:30am. Luckily, my mom was flying back home later in the day & staying at our house to dog sit, so we just left the car in short term parking for her to take home mid day.

 

The phrase ought to be "dark & early", not "bright & early".

The youngest was super pumped to get in the air...he was my seat mate for both flights, "calling" the window seat before I had a chance - lol.

We started boarding to before 5am, with take off for Montreal on time. We grabbed breakie after clearing Customs (our local airport isn't an international airport) and arrived at our gate just a few minutes before boarding began. With everyone boarded, the cabin door was closed for takeoff, but just a couple of minutes later, the Captain announced a problem with a hydraulic pump & advised a mechanic was boarding to fix the problem. After 20min of waiting, another announcement came from the Captain, the problem couldn't be fixed...we had a bum plane & would need to deplane and wait for a replacement.

The problem resulted in about a 2.5hr delay, but at least that would have us arriving at our hotel after check in time and we wouldn't be stuck killing more time...WRONG!

We arrived at GalleryOne (booked mostly because we wanted a room to accommodate 5 people - being a 5min walk to the beach and on the Intercostal was a bonus) at 3:10, with the check in time advertised as 3pm. The check in process was completed in just a few minutes, but the rep assisting us said the room wasn't quite ready, but he'd Check with housekeeping & call my cell when it was ready. It was at this time that we realized the pool was empty as it was closed for maintenance. So With the kids running out of mo-jo and assuming it wouldn't be long at all, we decided to just chill in the lobby. At the 1hr mark, the 2 older boys were sound asleep on chairs in the lobby and the youngest was running on fumes...starting to get really whiney! I ordered a pizza for delivery, assuming the room wouldn't take much longer. At the 90min mark, Hubs was getting really impatient & went back to the desk - he explained how long we'd been travelling and how tired/cranky the kids are..."it should just be a few more minutes" was the reply, along with 2 free drink tickets. DUDE, we'd left home at 3:20am, if you include the hour time difference, we were at about 16hrs, we don't need drinks...we need pillows & blankets...you know...like in a hotel room [emoji12]

At the 2hr mark, Hubs returned to the desk...which happened to be just at the time the pizza delivery guy was walking in. The guy at the desk said the room was ready & he was just prepping our keys...as a gesture, he offered THREE complimentary breakfast buffets...DUDE, we're a party of 5! Nope, no go...they were only willing to comp 3 (my next review will be a Trip Advisor one [emoji12]).

 

 

The room was what I was expecting - separate bedroom with 2 queens, plus a kitchen/dining/living (with pull out) areas. I didn't take any photos...we were simply done!

Once all the bellies were full, the younger boys crawled into bed, and the 15yr old and I took a stroll next door to Galleria to browse around. We were back by shortly after 8 and hubs was already getting ready for bed. Long day!

 

Next up...Day 1...or as the 8yr old says, "the day that's going to be the best day of my life!" Lol

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[JessyCruises]

Great start! I sympathize with the long travel days from small airports! I am in NB :). I am looking forward to the rest of the review - we sail on Nov 25. Please let me know what your thoughts are on the Schooner and pub entertainment!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[ToothDoc78]

Excited for you guys! Enjoy the cruise! We're leaving on the 10th to catch the Nov. 11th sailing on the Freedom with our 9 and 10 year old kids. We've been on Freedom before and loved it. Looking forward to your review and hope you have a blast!

[Sky616]

Looking forward to your live review. I have an 8 year old boy who just loves to cruise. He is counting down the days until April when we go on Liberty. Great looking family.

[nimiq]

Following

 

 

Envoyé de mon iPad en utilisant Forums

[paramedicduo]

Day 1...oh the excitement! After a VERY long travel day, we did manage to get the kids to bed early last night & sleep late...the clock change didn't hurt either!

 

We grabbed breakfast in the hotel lobby and took awalk down to the beach...we have great beaches at home, but they certainly aren't used in November! It was a good way to kill a little time & energy before heading to the port.

 

 

We don't have Uber back home, so I downloaded the app & hailed us a ride (our 15yr old is a huge car guy - I had my fingers crossed to maybe get a higher end ride), 1 minute later, our Dodge Grand Caravan was out front to pick us up (maybe we'll get a high end car on the next try).

Traffic was heavy with the boat show in town, but we were at the port in about a half hour.

 

 

We knew the ship was returning from Europe, and didn't know how long it would take for the ship & crew to clear Customs, so we didn't head out as early as we normally would...arriving at 1:05. There was already a pretty decent line up for security, but, the lines moved quickly and we had our Seapasses in hand by 1:45. When we turned to head to the boarding line up, we noticed there was nobody left in the line for Seapass cards, the security lines were at a stand still and way more police & security were suddenly visible. We stood around waiting, with lots of whispering about what could be happening and at 2:15, those waiting in the security line were evacuated and those already cleared were brought through the other side of the terminal, back outside and through security again! Us naive Canadians had no idea what to think was happening.

The Broward County K9 Unit went through the terminal while we were waiting in the security line up the second time.

At 3:05, we had made it back through security and just a few minutes later, an announcement was made that a "security problem" was the reason for the delay, but it was fixed and boarding would soon begin!! And it did!

We were onboard at 3:30!

Everybody had achey backs & feet and empty bellies! Because the rooms were ready, we made our way there first to unload the couple of backpacks we hadn't left with the porters.

Dh & I always sail in a balcony, so we decided on adjoining balconies for this sailing...6600 & 6602. The first order of business was to get the boys' room arranged. Although our TA had asked for twin beds & the pullman to be made up, the room was set up as 1 bed. We also asked for the balcony divider to be opened up.

When we left for the Windjammer a few minutes later, he was already getting started on our requests.

As the mother of all boys, food is at the centre of my universe...I'm either buying it, cooking it or cleaning it up...and for the boys...they're always eating it! They were pumped to head to the Windjammer after hearing their father talk about the buffet - eager to try new things. There weren't many new things experienced tonight, other than the dessert bar! We only ever have dessert at home for special occasions, and even then, it's usually 1 item...tonight I thought each of their heads might explode - including dh's!

 

By the time we had finished eating and returned to the room, the boys' room was made & our luggage had arrived. Since the security problem caused such delays, the Muster Drill was pushed back 1/2hr, so used that time to get the unpacking done. I'm a pretty efficient packer, who only planned to take the kids to the MDR twice for dinner (several dinners for 2 with the kids in Kid Club activities sounded like a better idea), so the unpacking didn't take too terribly long.

We wandered the ship for awhile, got the littles registered to the kids club and hung out on deck 12 waiting for sail away.

We were finally underway at 7:05...all but 1 of the other 7 ships were already long gone.

Remember...boys and food...we were no sooner clear of the port area and they were requesting a return to the Windjammer to fill their now empty bellies!

By the time their bellies were full, I could see the sign of burnout all over them! We had a crazy week leading up to vacation...so an early night on Day 1 might set us up for a more successful week! We headed back to the rooms to chill out on the balcony - a gorgeous evening with either a full or almost full moon over the water. The kids said, "now we know why you guys always want to go again!" Uh oh...we may have started something here - lol.

 

With the kids in bed, we could easily get out and enjoy the ship ourselves...but we're just as bagged and going to be old fuddy-duddies - chill on the balcony and then call it a day before it's too late.

 

Up next...Day 2...our first sea day. I don't think they'll accept a low-key day tomorrow...they're talking swimming, basketball, arcade, more food, kids club and whatever else they get themselves into!

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[#55worktoplay]

Great start.

 

Thanks

[easyboy]

Enjoying your review! Following.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[LibrarianBecky]

A friend and I just booked this same itinerary for December 3rd. I have never booked a cruise so close to departure! Looking forward to your review!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[Kissmya63]

Following! Awesome so far! Enjoy!

 

Sure seems like you were delayed a lot longer. I was watching sail away of all 7 ships on the Port Everglades webcams! Was hoping to see Freedom sail away when it was light out. We're on Freedom in April!

[JJSMaine]

Very Nice.. thank you

[Keith1010]

Enjoying your thread already and will follow.

 

Enjoy and thank you for taking us along.

 

Keith

[goldgirl2]

Wow what a crazy start to vacation! I’ll be on this itinerary in about 3 months so I’m excited to follow along. It will be my son’s first cruise and he is 26! Also taking DD on her second cruise.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Ethelfleda]

I'm following along, thanks for sharing your adventures!

[DelK1412]

Following, sounds crazy yet amazing fun so far.:D

[kwazi07]

Off to a great start—following!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[paramedicduo]

Day 2: at sea

 

Gahhhhh...I forgot to close over the drapes last night!! It was a gorgeous morning, but, I could have used a few extra winks (being a shift worker for so long, I no longer sleep through everything & anything...unlike the rest of my family who were all still happily snoring!).

 

Just before 8:00, the door to the adjoining room creeped open & my 8yr old's head popped through, "did you see the view?!?" LOL This guy is literally the life of the party...he loves life...he's always singing, skipping, smiling or telling stories.

He was dancing around the cabins until the other 2 boys finally gave in and crawled out of bed.

When we first booked this vacation, it was just the 5 of us...then after my hubby told his parents about it, they quickly jumped online & booked themselves as well. It's funny because friends who've cruised immediately said, cancel your second stateroom & throw a kid in with them. We honestly never considered it for a second...#1: we wanted to enjoy having the kids around the cabins, #2: having them all in 1 room would mean that when we really wanted it, we could leave the teenager to babysit the younger boys while we galavant in the evenings and #3: it's a vacation for the inlaws too, if they choose to spend plenty of time with us, great, but I wasn't going to "make" them take a child each night.

Turns out, there was an awesome #4: 2 bathrooms!! Which means 2 showers...much quicker for everyone to get ready! And I don't know about your house, but in mine, it never fails that as soon as someone gets in the shower, someone else needs in that bathroom for 1 reason or another! Not a big deal at home with shower curtains...but I don't know if any of them would ever recover from seeing through these shower doors [emoji15]

Everyone is finishing getting showered & ready and we'll just head up to the Windjammer to grab some breakie before starting today's adventures!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Citymom92]

What a great family and good mom for planning such an awesome vacay! Following!

[AntsInMyPants79]

Hey there lady! Would you mind taking a picture of your cruise compass each day for us? We're on the freedom in 5 days, just curious about theme parties, ect. Thanks! I'll be following you on your journey. I think this is really cool! Thanks for doing this, it really gets ya pumped! Enjoy!

 

Sent from my SM-G930P using Forums mobile app

[maryhou]

Excited to follow your review. We are on the Freedom before Christmas with this same itinerary. Please share some menu pics if you don't mind :) Have fun !! Hope you've caught up on some sleep and are enjoying vacation:cool:

[BillOh]

Next up...Day 1...or as the 8yr old says, "the day that's going to be the best day of my life!" Lol

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

 

I was pleased to see your thread. I have friends on this cruise and was conversing with them and watching the sailaway. I hope day 2 of your Adventure wasn't too stressful, but I read about issues with the ship all day. Off to read more. I hope you are enjoying yourself.

[BillOh]

Following! Awesome so far! Enjoy!

 

Sure seems like you were delayed a lot longer. I was watching sail away of all 7 ships on the Port Everglades webcams! Was hoping to see Freedom sail away when it was light out. We're on Freedom in April!

 

 

I hope you enjoy my favorite ship. They didn't sail till about 7:30. I heard a gun was found in a bag going through security and I my friend onboard told me a passenger had a heart attack while boarding and around 5pm he heard BRAVO BRAVO BRAVO.

[#55worktoplay]

I hope you enjoy my favorite ship. They didn't sail till about 7:30. I heard a gun was found in a bag going through security and I my friend onboard told me a passenger had a heart attack while boarding and around 5pm he heard BRAVO BRAVO BRAVO.

 

Wow, I wonder what the intent of the gun was. Scary.

 

Great review and what an awesome family.

 

I hope today is a great one!

[BillOh]

Wow, I wonder what the intent of the gun was. Scary.

 

Great review and what an awesome family.

 

I hope today is a great one!

 

 

I can only assume someone forgot they had it, or I heard of a person who is a legal CCW suddenly worried about leaving their weapon in a cruise port parking area.

[BobNoxious]

Looking forward to the review. Subscribed!