Freedom 6/20 Review *Warning* Lots of pictures and very detailed!

[Mrs.C05]

AHHH it started out good...what happened?

 

I know!!! Breezy.....come back!!! I can't wait to read your review and see fabulous pictures!!! I know it's time consuming to do this sort of thing, but can we get a little peek every now and then?

[cathyoo]

Oh No, I got all settled in for a long review with lots of pictures. Even did a potty break before I opened the thread... AHHHH... please come back it started so good.

[amcjeep4life]

Why are people so cruel to tease us with a promise of a long detailed review with pics, then bail before they even get to the ship? Come on breezy, where are you? I need more Freedom cruise reviews!

[breezycruiser]

Ok so I want to start off by saying I am soooooo sorry for leaving you guy's hanging for so long! I have had the most chaotic summer ever! I know I'll probably get a lot of bad comments for coming back and trying to continue my review but to be honest I don't really care. I started this review and gosh darnnit I'm going to finish it! Lol but here we go...........

6/20-Embarkation

I got up at around 9am and since I showered the night before I just waited for the others to get ready. The hotel had they're usual complimentary breakfast but we passed on it. Once we were all ready we went down to the lobby to wait our turn for the shuttle.

 

We ended up waiting longer than evpected because the shuttle driver was about 15 minutes late getting back to the hotel. So we were starting to get bored.

When he finally got back he informed us that he needed to get gas and asked us if we wanted to wait until he got back or ride with him. It was sooooooo hot so we rode with him. There were 2 other groups headed to the port with us. It was a short ride to Port Everglades. I got excited at the first sight of the "Whale Tail" from the road.

 

My friends Kira and Melvin (Cruise Virgins) gasped when they saw the ship. We got to port, got out of the van and actually saw how big the ship was. It was so big Kira thought it was a building. Once we handed our bags to the porters I took a step back to try to get a picture of our home for the next 8 days but I was too close to get a good picture. The lines moved quickly at the terminal. They even had ice water available if you wanted it. It seemed like air conditioning in the terminal was either not working or on low because it was hot with a whole bunch of t's at the end (hotttttttttttt). We got our sail and sign cards and headed off to take our embarkation pictures. 2 cheezy photos later and we were walking up the gangway. Lol Kira just kept saying "oh my goodness". We doinked our cards for the first time and walked into the Atrium.

 

As we walked around the lobby the first thing Melvin said is "It looks like a hotel". From there we decided to go to our rooms. Spencer took the stairs but Melvin, Kira and I took a glass elevator. Lol Kira got a little freaked out by it saying it was too high. Our rooms were on the Panorama Deck (Deck 10). We had 2 interior rooms. Melvin and Kira were in 1040 and Spencer and I were in 1044. Spencer and I were only in the room long enough to drop off my laptop but Kira and Melvin wanted to try and wait for their bags. We went out to explore the ship a little before lunch. We met up with Melvin and Kira about 45 minutes later to have lunch at the Aft Grill.

[retroPK]

Welcome back :D

[breezycruiser]

I grabbed a cheeseburger from the grill and stopped the first bar waiter I saw to get my 1st Funship Special of the cruise.

 

When we finished lunch we headed back to our rooms to see if our luggage was there yet. Everyone had all their bags but me. I was short 1. We grabbed our life jackets and started walking back to the Lido when the alarm went off for the muster drill so we headed to our muster stations.

Muster was quick and painless. After we returned our life jackets to our rooms we went out to the Lido for the sailaway party. We waited........

 

and waited........

[breezycruiser]

and waited..........

 

 

We were supposed to sail at 4:00 but it came and went and before we knew it, it was going on 4:30 and we still hadn't left. The sun was getting to be a little too much so we went to find another spot to wait for sailaway. We ended up on deck 10 near the funnel.

 

2 Funship Specials later and we were finally leaving Ft. Lauderdale!

 

We decided not to go to the main dining room for dinner since it was already 5:00. We were scheduled for 6:00 seating in the Chic dining room upper level. We grabbed 4 stools at 1 of the Lido pool bars. Spencer had another Funship Special and a Long Island Ice Tea and I had another Funship Special and a Miami Vice. I liked the red side of the Miami Vice but I'm not a big fan of the Pina Coloda. Melvin had a beer and Kira had a Kiss on the Lips. The bartender blushed a little when she ordered it.

 

We started to get hungry so we walked to the Freedom Restaurant for dinner.

 

I can't really remember what we ate except for some fried shrimp because they were really good! Oh and I had the warm chocolate melting cake also but it was too watery. While we were eating I looked up and saw John Heald walking in the direction of my table. As he was walking by I blurted out "Hey, Hi" and he turned around and said "hello". We had a short chat and he told me to stop by the pursers desk and leave my name and cabin number and he would send me something special.

[alreadypacked]

Thanks for continuing your review. I'm on the Freedom in 3 weeks!! I hate to be selfish--I know you're probably very busy--but I hope you will finish the review and post lots of pictures!! :D

 

BTW, what did you guys do in Tortola?

[breezycruiser]

Once we finished eating we headed down to the pursers desk. While on deck 3 we decided to go out on the deck where I snapped a picture of the sunset.

 

We sat in the lobby, had a couple more drinks and listend to the music being played on the guitar by Paul.

We sat outside on deck 3 for a little while chatting and then explored the ship a little more. 2 more cheezy casual portraits later and we were on our way back to our rooms. On the way we stopped outside and I was able to spot another ship at sea.

Once we got back to our rooms I started unpacking and decorating our room door.

Spencer had a few too many and fell asleep before I finished unpacking. At about 10:00 Spencer was still sleeping so Melvin, Kira and I decided to go down and wait for the Welcome Aboard show to start. It was supposed to start at 10:30 and there was only 1 show so by the time we got down to the Victoriana Lounge it was packed. We had to stand up at the beginning of the show but some people left before the comedian came out so we were able to get some seats at the bar stools on the top level. The comedian was Michael Panzeca and he was hilarious.

Ok I have to go and get my daughter off to bed so I'll be back in an hour.

[breezycruiser]

Thanks for continuing your review. I'm on the Freedom in 3 weeks!! I hate to be selfish--I know you're probably very busy--but I hope you will finish the review and post lots of pictures!! :D

 

BTW, what did you guys do in Tortola?

In Tortola I actually didn't get off the ship! I ended up sleeping late. We were going to try and do the excursion to The Baths but it was already sold out. My friends Kira and Melvin got off the ship and walked around a bit but thats all.

[AryMay]

Hey...so glad you are back! I'm enjoying your photos...you look like a fun group! We were on the July 4th cruise on the Freedom.

[breezycruiser]

Ok I'm back I'll try and get more done before I go to bed.

After the show I went back to my room to check on Spencer and he was still in the same place I left him...... sleeping on the bed!

By this time it was midnight and the rest of us were still wide awakeso we went down to the 70's Disco. This is where we met the best bar waiter in the world! His name is Gerard Flores but he told us to call him what all the other passangers on past cruises started to call him "G-Rad" but we decided to shortened it at simply call him "G".

He gave me my first "Kiss on the Lips" and I loved it! It is now my official cruise drink!

 

We hung out there until about 2:30am people watching, talking, chatting with G and dancing. Honestly the DJ sucked but the people there made it fun to just dance and enjoy our vacation (even though most of the most of the music played was LAME!)

Kira and I at the club

 

Melvin enjoying himself

 

[falkcor]

welcome back ;)

[breezycruiser]

More from the club

 

Kira and 2 other club regulars

 

Melvin trying on Kira's Hoodie

 

On the way back to my room we stopped out on the Lido to look around at the whole lotta nothing out there and it was so peaceful! Once I got back to my cabin I went through my bed time routine. When I finally got in the bed and laid down on my pillow Spencer turns over and says "I'm wide awake now!" After telling him about the events of the night he decided that he wanted pizza. So here I am at 4am walking across the Lido deck in my pajamas and a robe to get pizza with my best friend. Once we got our pizza we went up to stand at the railing watching the wake of the ship. It was the perfect way to end our first day of vacation!

Ok it's now after 1am and I've had a very dramatic day so I'm off to bed. Tomorrow: First day at sea!

[seafun]

Hi again -- we've spoken on several threads. :) I'm glad to see you getting your review done. The pictures show you're off to a great start and I look forward to the rest.

Remember, even though it can be hard to push yourself to write these things (**he says from experience** :rolleyes: ), it will be worth every mnute once you've got it done!

Keep up the good work! :D

[Mrs.C05]

I can't wait to hear more and see more of your cruise review!!!! I'll be checking back!

[amcjeep4life]

Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!!!!!

 

I am so glad you came back to finish this review. No bad words from me! I've got 65 days until it's my turn on the Freedom, although we are doing the other 8 day itinerary! Can't wait to read the rest!

 

PS: I understand chaos completely!

[Senoj84]

Great review! Looking forward to the rest.

[Jeans*Fanatic]

Thanks for coming back!!! I am loving your review! Could you please tell me exactly what is in "kiss on the lips" drink? I have to try that!!

[breezycruiser]

Hi again -- we've spoken on several threads. :) I'm glad to see you getting your review done. The pictures show you're off to a great start and I look forward to the rest.

 

Remember, even though it can be hard to push yourself to write these things (**he says from experience** :rolleyes: ), it will be worth every mnute once you've got it done!

 

Keep up the good work! :D

Well hey yourself! I'm going to finish it! I'm about to continue on with the first day at sea!

 

Thanks for coming back!!! I am loving your review! Could you please tell me exactly what is in "kiss on the lips" drink? I have to try that!!

I don't remeber exactly what was in it but I know it had some peach flavor and mango flavor! I'm sure if you ask one of the bartenders they can tell you whats in it. It was sooooo good. For anyone that is cruising on the Freedom soon if you go to the 70's disco ask for Gerard to be your bar waiter. He's a really cool guy and he'll make sure your drinks are nice and strong ;). Oh and he also recommended some great drinks!

[breezycruiser]

Ok on with the review!

 

6/21-Day at Sea

Because of the late night I slept in that morning and didn't leave my room until about 11:30am so I missed all of the morning events. We went to lunch at the buffet and it was hard to find a table but we found one upstairs near the fish and chips. Lunch was good but we got caught up in old memories so we missed most of the hairy chest contest. So we decided to go to the Lido to catch the rest and I got my DOD and I want to say it was the Goombay Smash but I don't remember.

We tried to find somewhere to sit but chair hogs were out in full force! We couldn't find any chairs on the Lido so we went up to the Sky deck and we found some. We watched the water balloon fight and laid out in the sun talking and eventually napping.

Honestly we didn't do much that day but relax and enjoy our much needed vacation! We walked around the ship for a while doing a little more exploring before going back to the room to get ready for dinner. This was the 1st Elegant Night so we figured we would need the extra time to get ready. We skipped the Captain's Party and took our time. While we were getting ready there was a knock at the door. It was Melissa from the Entertainment Department and she said she was there on behalf of John Heald and the Freedom Entertainment Department to present me with some gifts and wish me an enjoyable cruise. I received a bottle of champagne, a ship on a stick and a autographed picture of the Freedom. That was very nice of John to send me something just for saying hi!

[breezycruiser]

 

Soon we were off to dinner. We were seated at table 218 in the Chic Dining Room at 6:00. Our table was a table for 4 which was fine but it would have been nice to be seated with others so we could meet some new people. We met our server Harlene and her assistant. I don't remember her assistants name because he never introduced himself and the only time we saw him was when he poured our water. Harlene was great though. She was very friendly and funny. While we waited for our starters the photographers were coming around taking their cheezy portraits and I took some of my own.

For dinner, Spencer and I had the grilled chicken breast and Melvin and Kira had the Lobster. Everything was delicious! For dessert we Kira and I had the W.C.M.C. again and this time it was perfect!

[breezycruiser]

Melvin had some caramel apple thingy but it didn't have much flavor. Spencer just had vanilla ice cream.

After dinner we went down to the lobby to take some portraits. The lines were so long we only stopped for 1 photographer. We decided to go directly to the Victoriana lounge to see the 8:30 show "Big Easy". We found great seats on the top level and still had about 30 minutes until showtime.

We enjoyed the show. Lucy Cambell has a beautiful voice! From there we went back to our cabin so I could change my shoes and Kira wanted to change her clothes and found our first towel animal with my daughters "Duckie" sitting next to it (I brought it to ease my anxiety of being separated from my 2 year old for that long!)

We were trying to pass some time while waiting for the midnight comedy show so we went to watch the wake of the ship again and walk the Lido.

After hanging out for a while my friends wanted to get ice cream and I stopped at the deli for a midnight snack. I got a turkey sandwich to take with me to the comedy show and it was also good but I couldn't eat the whole thing. By the time we got down to the International Lounge it was packed! We found somewhere to stand in the back. The comedian was Michael Panzeca again but this time he was doing an adults only show. Again he was hilarious. It took a while for us to get out of the lounge since there were so many people there. I stopped and looked into Scott's piano bar but it was smokey I just stood outside and listed for a little. We walked in the 70's disco. There were more people there that night and the music was a little better. I had my partner in crime with me that night so we had a ball dancing and sipping some drinks! There was this 1 guy that was extremely entertaining to watch. He was at the disco every night and participated in a lot of activities throughout the cruise. His name was Steve and he was a very cool guy.

Another Kiss on the Lips

Mmmm mmmm good!

[breezycruiser]

 

We left the club at about 3am and were still wide awake so we went out the "secret door" on deck 10 to look at the stars and talk some. We talked for an hour or more before we decided to go to bed.

Ok so thats it for now! Next up: A night in San Juan, Puerto Rico!

Here are a couple of random pictures I took on the way back to the room.

[Snorkel2Much]

:) Thanks for coming back to finish. I'm enjoying the review.