Freedom Review! Dec 14-20

[crsnfun]

Just back from Western Carribean on the Freeedom!! Trying to play catch up at work so, the review is soon to come!!

I will say this:

This was an incredible, well needed vacation!! :D

[crsnfun]

We left on Friday, December 12. Stacie, 28 (29th celebrated on the ship) and myself, 27. This was Stacie's first cruise and my 5th. I was very nervous about how she would do....sea sick? Hate the food? Feel confined? Those feelings slowly melted away when I saw her face the first time she lay eyes on that beautiful ship, sun sparkling all around!

Back to the beginning...

We both worked Friday morning and left around 11:30 am to start vacation. We decided that driving would be better...we would have our own vehicle, come and go at our leisure...take our time coming home, that sort of thing.

I got home around noon and Stacie was not home yet. I started to pack up what little we had left to do and prepare to pack it into my little Hyundai Accent! After some shifting of suitcases, we managed to fit it all in. Set up the GPS and we are ready to roll! I hop on the freeway and we do one more mental check to make sure we have everything....Stacie says to me "and you have your insurance and registration, right?"

What? Crap! Geez, I took it OUT of the car when I was loading the car!! What was I thinking? Quick, get back off the freeway and turn around so I am actually legal to drive for the next 2,000 miles!!!

And, the fun does not stop there.....

I told Stacie that I wanted to hop on 23 and she insisted that we go 33! Well, after an extra hour driving around Columbus, I got my way and we eventually got to 23! My family has traveled to Sunset Beach every year for the past many years and this is the way I always remember going. And, every year, I remember driving past Biscuit World...I told Stacie this and she seemed less than enthusiastic about it. We were getting closer and I was beginning to get concerned because I saw no sign of Biscuit World anywhere! As we approached a few signs of life, I saw it! The old, worn out building, no cars in the parking lot, the sign flickering...just as I remember it....

Take a picture, quick Stacie! I need documentation we were here to send to Mom and Dad!

WHAT, she says!?!?!?! You mean we are not stopping to eat!?!?!

Well, no, of course not! We never actually EAT there! It has been beat into my brain that you don't eat here....the biscuits are not as good as Grandma's!

Let's just say she was NOT A HAPPY CAMPER! Her seat goes back, blanket over her head and she is out for the count!

I drove most of the way to Columbia, SC (our first stop). This first stop included a drive on the WV turnpike. The trees were so beautiful....you could tell a snow storm had come through recently and everything was glimmering and shiny! That thought came to a hault when I suddenly realized that it was snowing! No, not a few flurries has it had been the rest of the trip....but, literally, the snow was FALLING, the road was covered, it was dark and, honeslty, I was very nervous!! My 70 MPH eventually turned to about 30 MPH. Afterall, I just purchased my new car in July and did not want to see it rolling uncontrollably down the mountain!!

After a few deep breaths and several cigarettes later, the snow diminished and we were still alive!

We stopped to get gas at a truck stop and decided it would be a really great idea to get a little something to spruce up the car for Christmas....it didn't take us long to find 2 very cheesy ornaments with our names written on them which we proudly displayed from the visor on our respective sides of the car.

Stacie took over driving the whole 2 hours left to Columbia. We arrived around 10 pm and we're pleasantly surprised to find that since we hold a gold card club/member thing, we got a special breakfast in the morning and also received a voucher for an ALCOHOLIC beverage...just what we needed after driving for 9 hours!! We both felt much better bringing all of our luggage into the room with us so, after unpacking everything, we headed to the bar for our free cocktail. It was only then that we realized they had JAMESON WHISKEY! So, a beer and a tiny shot of whiskey later, it was time to call it a night!

Little bit about the hotel...it was a Holiday Inn, right off of 26. Decent neighborhood. We did not feel nervous at all about staying there. The room was clean, had a safe, refrigerator, large television. The cost was about $100.....maybe less.

To be continued.....

[direfun2000]

Wow dude. Lovin your review!! Can't wait to read more.

[crsnfun]

I brought the wrong cord to work to upload my pics...I will try and find some time to put them into my computer tonight.

[phinfan63]

Looking forward to reading the rest ~ I can tell it's going to be a great review :-)

[crsnfun]

Saturday, December 13

Up and at'em early...not much sleep the night before...in bed around midnight, up around 7. We stopped down in the lobby to get our breakfast. Since we had that gold club member/card thing, we received ALL the breakfast options. Everyone else got the usual toast, bagels, fruit, cereal....our list included eggs, pancakes, sausage, bacon, etc. It was delicious!

We finished up, headed up the road to gas up ($1.59 for gas, not bad) before hitting the road.

The drive was uneventful....alot of singing to entertain ourselves.

Find a buddy who is heading the same direction as you and going 85 and follow him!!

We arrived in Fort Lauderdale around 6:30 pm. The temperature was about 75 and it felt GREAT! We stayed at the Hyatt Plantation on Broward Blvd. It was a VERY nice hotel. We needed to check on a few things...

1) Can I leave my car parked here for 6 days?

2) Will your shuttle take us to Port Everglades?

The answers were yes and no. The front desk told me I could leave my car parked there for the duration of the cruise. Of course, they would not be responsible if it was damaged. I asked should I leave my license plate with them so it would not be towed? No, she said...so, I said a little prayer that my car would still be there when we returned.

2nd question: No, they would not take us to the Port Everglades terminal. :eek: Oh no! What to do??!! The lady at the front desk was nice enough to call a "personal" friend of hers who runs a shuttle service to see how much he would charge us. $20 per person he says. Seems a bit steep but, as long as we make it there, I guess we should just accept his offer. We asked him to get us at 10 am the next day since the terminal is about 20 minutes or so away.

After checking in (including taking EVERYTHING out of the car AGAIN) we decided to make a few purchases that evening. We went to the local Publix and purchased 2 bottles of wine, a cheap wine opener and a six pack of diet coke. They did not sell liquor there so we had to walk just a few stores down to get our liquor.

Next door we purchased a 10 pack of Bacardi rum (the small, airline like bottles) and a 6 pack of Crown Royal. This would save us quite a bit of money on drinks throughout the week.

After finishing our shopping, it was around 8 pm and we went to grab a bite to eat. The only restaurant we saw really close was J. Alexanders. Now, we have been traveling for 2 days, have not showered. Wearing tshirts, jeans and a baseball cap and Stacie is insisting that we eat at J Alexanders. I finally give in and we walk in, looking sloppy as all get out and I am SO relieved when they say that it will be a 30 minute wait and Stacie decides we will eat somewhere else.

As soon as we got in the car and drove around the corner, low and behold, there sat a TGI Fridays! Right up our alley! We got out, had some dinner and headed back to the room around 9:30.

As soon as we got off the elevator, we noticed something a tiny bit unpleasant....there was music. LOUD music coming from the direction of our room. As we got closer, we realized that the LOUD music was coming from the room right next to ours! Well, I thought, it is Saturday night and it IS only 9:30. No big deal. Let them enjoy themselves for a while. Well, after an hour or so, I decided that enough was enough already. Around 11 pm, I called the front desk and asked them if they could please call my neighbors and tell them to quiet down just a bit. Well, that lasted for about the 10 seconds phone call from the lobby. I took a melatonin and attempted to fall back asleep. I slept until about quarter to 1 when I was woke up to the loud thump of the bass. Once again, courtesy of my thoughtful neighbors. I was now past the point of no return. I groggily dragged myself out of bed, found anything to throw on and walked down to the front desk.

"I am sorry Ma'am. I don't mean to be a pain but, the people next to us are throwing a lovely party...they seem to be having a great time..maybe too much fun! "

"No problem, I understand it is getting late. I will call them. What is the room number?"

She picked up the phone as I walked away. It was only then that I realized that, when these people receive a phone call from the front desk, it will just about the time I am getting off the elevator...what if they open the door, see that it is me and then, to spite me, turn that radio up even louder!

Well, I tip toed back to my room, just in time to hear the music go down and them to answer the phone. I walked in my room only to hear the door open next to me!! Sure enough that music got turned up SUPER loud!

Well, eventually I fell asleep to the thumping through the wall...

Tomorrow will be a better day, I tell myself! Afterall, tomorrow we board the ship and set sail with no worries or cares for 6 days!

Good night!

To be continued.....

[DarthGrady]

Man would that suck. Not being able to sleep is one thing, but having a bunch of (insert expletive here) keeping you up is something else altogether.

[MandyGirl]

Great review! But UGH - so sorry about the thoughtless/rude neighbors. We had an experience like that on my wedding cruise nextdoor to my parents except they were pretending to make a XXX movie or something (loud enough to clearly hear EVERYTHING through the walls). One of the girls got mad and told my dad he was too old to be on the cruise, and this was HER cruise and that SHE was going to have fun (yes, security had been called twice already). And my poor dad (albeit only in his early 50s) just wanted to get a few hours of sleep before walking me down the aisle the next morning... made my parents realize how lucky they were to have raised decent kids versus this trio of sisters nextdoor to them. And of course the parents of the girls were in a different cabin onboard but did absolutely nothing - typical. People these days have such a me-me-me complex and attitude that they don't care if they are ruining their neighbors' vacation. Sorry you had to experience a similar situation.

[crsnfun]

Here are some pictures of the hotels..Holiday Inn and Hyatt Plantation.

 

I hope these attachments work....:)

[crsnfun]

Alright Folks...how do I make the pics bigger?:confused:

[LizaMM]

Loving your review!!!! Sorry about those hotel neighbors.....sure hope it got better on the cruise!

 

I have not added photos to thread before but here is a link to a thread that tell how to do it:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=610576

[Catrin]

I hope when you left the next morning you banged on thier doors!! :rolleyes:

 

Great review so far!!

 

(BTW>> for the pics, I use that picture icon when you post, then copy the pic from my webshots URL....)

Catrin

[crsnfun]

So, can I just copy and paste from Kodak Gallery?

[crsnfun]

Let me try again...

[crsnfun]

Ok, I give up!!

 

I have uploaded my pics to Kodak Gallery...

 

I have the pics on a memory card....when I try to attach the pictures, I go to "Manage Attachments" and then I browse the computer...when I find the picture I want to upload, I click it and then upload it but, I don't see anywhere where I can change the size of the file??

 

The only other way that I know how to change the size is to save each photo on the desktop and save it as a bigger photo....

 

I am such a dork!

 

If you know of a way to help this computer challenged person, please do so!

 

Thank you!

[aspen36]

Great review! I can't wait for more. We will be on the Freedom January 3rd.

 

Sorry about the rude neighbors. It would have been a very loud morning for them.:D

I use photobucket. I upload the photos and they have an area where you can change the size. Then you click on IMG then paste it in your review. I don't know how the Kodak Gallery works, Sorry.

[DarthGrady]

You have to upload the pictures to a host website like Webshots, Photobucket or Snapfish. Once they are on the internet, you simply copy and paste them into your thread response. I use walgreens.com since there is one right by my house and I can get them printed in an hour.

[dst]

Anna:

 

Loving your review, I feel like we were in the car and traveling right along with you......please keep it coming; it is getting me excited for my sailing on Jan 17th

 

Oh and I am another computer challenged person so I can not help with the pictures, but the little ones are cute :D

[crsnfun]

Ok, Ok....I downloaded some pictures to PhotoBucket...I am going to attempt this yet again!

[crsnfun]

Wahoo!! It worked!! Now, I will just go and set the sizing on Photo Bucket a little smaller and all set to go!!!

 

CHECK IT OUT!!

PROUD OF ME???

[crsnfun]

Ok---one more for good measure...

 

 

[dst]

Wahoo!! It worked!! Now, I will just go and set the sizing on Photo Bucket a little smaller and all set to go!!!

 

 

CHECK IT OUT!!

 

PROUD OF ME???

 

 

You are much better than I am :) I love the frog - he should be your avatar!

When its my turn you can educate me

[crsnfun]

Purchases at the local Publix.

 

 

 

[tiffytutu99]

more more, we want more!! :D

[Ivy1908]

Why am I only seeing white boxes with red "x" in them? I could see the ones before but not the new ones:(. Do you have a link to your photos that I can view? Please!!!!:D