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

[paramedicduo]

 

 

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[kwazi07]

Hmm, Revoiced, I think they were on Navigator in March.

 

What happened to their two production shows on Freedom? The TA has both Once Upon a Time and Marquee but I don’t see either here.

 

 

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[paramedicduo]

Day 5: Cozumel

 

We woke up this morning to see the Oasis outside our balcony...so close!

We're in port today with 7 other ships...2 of which are at the other port (wherever that is...we can see it in the distance) & Vision OTS is tendered close by, along with 3 Carnival ships (I only counted 2, but hubs said there was a 3rd behind).

 

The WJ was crazy by the time we got up there, but we were able to grab a table big enough & enjoy our breakie before heading out for the day.

I had used Shore Excursioneer to pre-purchase day passes for 5 of us, including the buffet for about $165US. I slipped up to the computer lounge, printed our tickets & headed of the ship.

So many people!! But, the lines moved quickly. We waited in line for a taxi, at which time we had about 90 seconds of rain (seriously, I don't think it lasted 2 minutes). We snagged a cab for the 5 of us...the kids freaked out that they put 5 of us in a 5 seater plus the driver...we're not in Canada now kids!

Playa Mia is a short 10min, $25 (for 5 people) taxi ride.

What a great spot!! We don't have many water parks at home & those we have wouldn't be comparable to this place...now, if you're used to extravagant parks, this might not tickle your fancy, but it was great for us.

For $4 each, you can rent a locker & umbrella (an additional $4 deposit for each is required). The $$ gave us all access to 3 different pools - 1 similar to the H20 zone on onboard, plus 2 deeper pools...1 had loungers & cabanas around it, the other just had a few benches to sit at. Beside 2 of the pools were 2 water slides - nothing amazing, but enough to keep our kids happy. We did try swimming out to the inflatables on the ocean...which was originally what drew me to this place, but the wind & strong current made it impossible. After 30 minutes of swimming to get absolutely nowhere, I convinced the kids it was a lost cause & we headed back to shore. I knew that in order to be successful, we needed to "come at it" from the other side, but they were too tired out and discouraged to try again. They grabbed a volleyball to play beach volleyball before heading to the pool/slides.

We didn't venture into any of the shops, but there must have been at least 8-10 of them, along with cash bars, massages & restroom facilities. It was not nearly as busy as I expected with so many ships in & it was brilliantly clean and well kept. Hubs said the biggest bonus was not being accosted by anyone to buy anything!

 

Because of the traffic, our plan was to head back to the ship around 2...I guess plenty of people were planning to leave later because there was no wait for a cab & the traffic was light until we were back in the port area. We were wandering around for our Christmas ornament some time around 2:15.

The buffet was nothing spectacular, so we were hungry getting back - off to WJ to fill up.

With their bellies full, the boys decided they wanted to try ice skating...seriously boys, we're Canadians who all play ice hockey - we spend an average of 15hrs a week at the hockey rink and while in the Caribbean, you want to skate?!? Maybe they were suffering from withdrawal, I mean it's been just shy of a week since they've been on the ice - lol! Anyhow, long pants & socks and we were off to skate. They were none too impressed with the "plastic skates" - lol, but it was pretty cool to skate while aboard a cruise ship in the Caribbean!

 

After skating we returned to the rock wall for the kids to take another turn - they're part monkey I swear! Each of them tried & completed each wall.

While I went back to the room to get ready for our 2nd formal night, hubs took the boys to grab supper in the WJ before kids club...ahhh...a kid free dinner! But, when I got out of the shower, they were all in the room! By this time, the winds had really picked up and apparently the 11yr old (motion sick guy) got really nauseous and needed to come back - he returned to the room to lose his supper in the toilet. Luckily, the teenager popped by and offered to watch them for us to have dinner! Yay! The 11yr old took a gravol and curled up to watch TV.

We met PIL outside the MDR for our 7:45 dinner.

I forgot to take photos of the dinner menu, but nobody was disappointed with what they ordered...2 Duck consumme, cream of mushroom soup on puff pastry & chicken noodle soup.

Coming from an island who's main industry is fishing, nobody was interested in what we would consider second rate lobster, so we were likely one of few tables this night that skipped out on lobster. 3 of us went with the prime rib & hubs ordered the Thai Chicken. My only complaint with the prime rib was the mediocre sides...I'd have preferred mashed or whipped potatoes over the croquettes.

The recommended dessert was Baked Alaska - which was ordered by 2, and the others were chocolate cake & cream brûlée...everyone left stuffed and content!

 

With a teenager wanting to head off to the Teen club's Prom Party, hubs and I stopped for a couple of photos & then made our way to the cabin to send him on his way.

We changed out of our dress clothes & took the other boys to the Promenade for pizza and cupcakes before bed.

Once back to the cabin, hubs & I were too full for drinks on the balcony, so we just chilled out there in the dark silence...minus the sound of the waves - it was quite rough!

Next up Day 6 - at sea...it's hard to believe the next time we touch land they'll be kicking us off permanently!

 

 

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[paramedicduo]

Our last day...and boy is the wind blowing!! We've had an amazing week of weather - hardly a breath of wind, but the weather God's appear to be making up with it now.

After not being able to get a pool lounger all week, I decided this morning I would head up when I woke & grab one front and centre.

Now, I'm sitting here, wrapped in my towel, waiting for my lazy family (it's 9:40) to join me. It's quite cloudy, but the forecast looks like it'll clear up a bit later - I still have to work on my tan!

 

 

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[irishgal432]

Here's a taxi hint for Cozumel. Walk out if the port area. Turn left and walk a short distance and there is a hotel that has plenty of taxis with no wait.

 

 

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[BillOh]

Here's a taxi hint for Cozumel. Walk out if the port area. Turn left and walk a short distance and there is a hotel that has plenty of taxis with no wait.

 

 

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sounds like a good tip, I've never had to wait too long, but they do have 7 ships in port today.

[paramedicduo]

The live review may have sh_t the bed...but I'll get it finished :)

The weather never did clear up yesterday - the one day I get perfect poolside loungers! The enjoyed the pool for a short time after breakfast, until big dark clouds rolled through with heavy rain (though it didn't last long).

We spent the day moving from place to place to keep the kids entertained & happy...they spent a long time on the rock wall before returning to the pool again late in the afternoon.

Each of the boys was promised some arcade money, so hubs spent some time wasting money in there, they watched some television in the room & then showered for dinner at Johnny Rockets. Apparently there was such a line up all day long, that they were out of ice cream - no ice cream, malts or milkshakes :(

After dinner we toured the inlaws inside cabin & they toured our adjoining balconies before we wandered the ship & gathered our photos from the photo gallery.

Like pretty much every other night, we "planned" to go to the show (adult comedy), but it never happened - we didn't want to keep the teenager from one last night with his new friends.

The entire cruise was a new experience...not better or worse...but definitely different from our others! For all those people who make travelling with kids sound easy...well, I can't be friends with them any more! Yikes it's exhausting!! I'm so ready for a vacation from my vacation!

Hubs and I are already looking for a short cruise for later in the winter - without kids...if we can make it work with a sitter plus their hockey schedules (and of course my work schedule since mine is a lot less flexible than his).

 

Disembarkation:

Of course everything was packed up last night, so it was an easy morning of showers & WJ for breakfast.

We left our room at 8:05, had our luggage in hand at 8:15, were through Customs at 8:35 and had our rental keys in hand (Budget on SW 17th)...a very smooth departure.

We don't fly until tomorrow, so we drove out to Sawgrass Mills to do some shopping/browsing before heading to Miami for the night (we got better flight times/cost out of MIA instead of FLL on the return).

Checked into Hampton Inn Miami Airport South (NW 57th) and got settled before taking the short drive to Dolphin Mall to have Cheesecake Factory for dinner & let the teenager spend more time shopping.

We fly tomorrow at noon, so there won't be a crazy rush in the morning...but at this point, we all wish we could click our heels together and just be home! Everyone misses the dogs at home!

 

 

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[#55worktoplay]

Well this was a great review, thanks for sharing.

 

You have a beautiful family.

 

I love those sandals!

 

Safe travels tomorrow.

[cruisefan0110]

Great review. We're on Freedom in 2 weeks to the Eastern side of the Caribbean. We have a group of 10. Should be exciting. Take care.

[mitchpam]

Wonderful review! Thanks so much for sharing your family’s vacation story with us... hope you and the hubs are able to manage a quieter trip for yourselves [emoji1303]

 

 

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[breezy_carol]

Thank you. Safe travels home today.

[Llonergan3]

Great review, thanks for sharing, safe travels back home!!! Have a great and safe alone short trip with hubs!!

Linda

 

 

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[fpcruiser]

We were on this sailing also. Our plane arrived 15 minutes early, we headed down for a short wait for our luggage and then to the short taxi line(despite many ships in port). Off to the ship we went. Once at the port we never stopped moving, no lines anywhere. We were in the Windjammer at 11.

[Meehan2]

Awesome review. It really took me back to my family’s Cruise On the Independence. We also traveled with all boys (four, ages 10,11,13&15)

 

 

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[Destaw71835]

What time did the ship arrive back to Port Everglades?

 

 

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[paramedicduo]

I honestly have no idea, I just know that when I woke up just before 7, we were already docked.

 

 

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[paramedicduo]

Well, we're on our final leg to home and I've got time to put together a few thoughts from the past week!

As much as they grated on my last nerve at times, I'm so happy we were able to take the kids on their first "real vacation" and even more excited that it was a cruise after hearing about ours each time!

I don't know that there will be another in their near future, but only because I really like my husband and really missed "our" town on this vacation. Our quiet mornings curled up on the balcony for breakie either as we docked at a new port or as we sailed through the Caribbean on sea days, our quiet time strolling new beaches, holding hands and chatting...strangely enough, usually about the kids (irony??). I missed getting a few drinks in the middle of the afternoon in a quiet, kid free area where I could read and he could just veg in a little shade. I missed our quiet dinners, talking about the craziness of family life at home, and as cliche as it sounds, our hopes & dreams. I missed the late night shows, stopping for drinks at various bars/venues and wandering the ship when it was almost empty.

The trip wasn't better or worse than previous ones...it was just different!

We got to experience the boys' excitement of their first flights & cruise, the excitement of visiting new countries, missing a week of school. Their excitement as they explored the ship; watching the teenager truly come out of his shell & make new friends - so many times on this trip I started to wonder if he was just a figment of my imagination since we'd routinely go 8-10hrs without hearing from him...having him creep in at curfew. Yes, the littles drove us crazy boycotting kids club...but shouldn't we be happy they still want to be with us?? It's just hard to think about that at the moment. They drove us crazy at times with their bickering back and forth over silly things (seems vacation is not all that different from home after all). But we saw the older of the 2 take care of the younger when he was crying for us to pick him up at kids club and then the youngest repay the favour when he saw "the look" on his brother's face in the WJ in time to prompt hubs to return him to the cabin before he puked in public...then let him choose what to watch while he felt so yucky.

Yes, I still believe that most days their entire goal was drive us bat sh-t crazy before bedtime (and oh so many days they succeeded, on others...they came alarmingly close!), but spending so much time with them this week, we were also reminded of just how entertaining, sincere, hilarious, intelligent, curious & just plain amazing they all are.

I still stand by an earlier statement that I cannot be friends with people who make it seem easy to travel with kids...they're either liars or a whole other level of crazy themselves...ain't nobody got time for that!

Regardless of the ups and downs of the week, it'll be a trip we'll talk about for a long time...one they'll relive over and over again when telling their friends and family and when enjoying all the photos.

There will be stories and memories to last a lifetime and by tomorrow, they'll likely even forget all the times we threatened them this week with grievous bodily harm...including, but limited to: being thrown over board, being thrown out of a moving aircraft, being thrown into the pool/ocean...I'm only sort of kidding too!

We all have tomorrow off to try to return to some level of normalcy! Hubs is traveling tomorrow evening through Wednesday evening for work, and if I can make their hockey schedules work for Nanny (my mom), I'm going to tag along for my own chance to return to normal (I don't return to work until Friday...so either way - I'll either be out of town with hubs or sending the kids to school each day while I chill on my own).

 

To finish off my not-so-live review...I'll add a few photos at the end here of things I may have missed along the way.

 

Playa Mia Water Park in Cozumel:

Accosted by an Ogre:

 

 

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[paramedicduo]

Waking up next to Oasis

 

The cream of mushroom on puff pastry (2nd formal night)

Thai chicken on 2nd formal

Beef tenderloin on 2nd formal...notice the small sides

Baked Alaska from 2nd formal night also

 

 

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[paramedicduo]

Also from 2nd formal: Creme brûlée

Royal chocolate cake with ice cream

Arcade time...I was always surprised when walking through this area, at the number of adults playing.

 

 

Last night...dinner at Johnny Rockets

 

At the airport, having dinner on the way home, the 8yr old winks at me and says, "I'm single and ready to mingle!"

 

 

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[paramedicduo]

And we've arrived home!! It was a long 15hrs of travel, but the kids were legit troopers today!! 7hrs of hurry up & wait inside airports was tough when everyone just wanted to click their heels together and be home! We arrived home just shy of midnight, with my mom picking us up at the airport (she was only supppsed to drop off our vehicle, but we were happy to see her for the first time since August).

Balance in the house has been restored...the dogs were jumping & kissing and tails wagging, going crazy!

Since I am the packing queen & each bag was organized, I had everything unpacked & sorted in 30min...1 hamper for dirty clothes going to the laundry room & 1 hamper of clean (the ship's laundry didn't return until Friday evening, which meant most of our stuff returned home clean [emoji847]).

 

 

 

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[BillOh]

Paramed,

 

What did you think of Playa Mia? We didn't like it, but that was 9 years ago, The pool area looks much improved. Back in 2009 the water toys looked beat up and the lunch buffet was poor. I'd hate to keep bad mouthing it if its improved since my visit. Did you go there through a Royal excursion?

[loug1601]

What a great review! You have a lovely family!

 

Thanks for the time you put into this. I hope the kids look back on this review to relive what surely are wonderful memories!

[LuCruise]

Great review. We're coming with kids and so can relate. It's precious family time and as you said, it's nice to see their excitement. Thank you for sharing.

One question...i'm starting (early) research for our cruise and was looking at Playa Mia. Would you recommend it for a family? The pool seems lovely but the aqua park seems far out (think you commented on how you couldn't even swim to it due to the winds).

[Palmetto Pilot]

We were on the Nov 5th sailing as well!

[oldmom]

Really enjoyed your review-we are going in 3 weeks-this will be our 4th on Freedom for me. Totally understand about taking children on a cruise-you are not really on a "vacation" when you have to be on " Mom mode"24/7. So-not as relaxing-for sure. And when they get older-harder-almost impossible-to miss a week of school-so we did summer/spring break-sooooo-lots of kids on the ship. We were bad one year-and flew my Mom down to watch ours-so we could cruise when my husband won a cruise on RCCL-for poker-he is a paramedic also-management-we love to cruise-we don't buy the phone service-so work can not call him to ask him a question-or call him in -when someone calls in! Thanks for your review-Loved it.