slmwo

Nice review! Thanks for the comments regarding the hotel. We stay there pre-cruise next time as well. On 888 taxi service, did you arrange for this service prior to leaving for your trip, or just call them when you were at the hotel.

 

Also, on the flowrider reservation, did you do that in advance or after you boarded? There are three of us in our group that would like to do that as well.

 

Thanks in advance for your reply!

In regards to 888 taxi, we just called them when we needed them. We never waited more than 5 minutes. We did prearrange the transportation to the port the morning of our cruise, and they were timely on arrival.

The flowrider reservation. There are open times so anyone can do it during those times. There are two types of reservations you can do: the lesson or private time. With the lesson, you pay per person and they may or may not put you in a group with others (depending on how many of you there are). Last I knew, it was $60/person. The private time, which is what we did, was $300 for an hour. One person reserves it and that person has the right to say who can and can't use it during that time. There about 12 of us who did it, so once you broke that down, it wasn't a bad price. There were attendants, but they will not "teach" you, although they did help some, which was nice. It was great because there weren't long lines to wait in. Others from our group that didn't join us came to watch. I would highly recommend if it's in your budget! :)

Wednesday was Jamaica. We woke up to us approaching Falmouth. It’s a neat little port area with shops and musicians. But, it is small and once you leave the port, the scene really changes. I don’t know that I would have left the area if it had been just my husband and I but I know that I wouldn’t have with my kids. We had booked Jamaica for a Day, an all-inclusive resort. We met our group and caught a bus to the Hilton Rose. If you go here, bring water shoes – really! I mean, you will NOT want to get in the water without them – the rocks are terrible!!! The beach is small but large enough. There are not many people in the water (I would guess due to the rocks). There are a few pools, some slides, a bar pool. This included a buffet lunch with burgers, hot dogs, and jerk chicken. The chicken was delicious!

We decided to do the banana boat. There was an extra charge, but it was well worth the fun! My sister and I and five kids rode. These guys threw us around and we had a blast. It was hysterical! If you’re looking for a smooth ride, this is not the activity for you. I was actually sore that evening in my upper shoulders/neck area from holding on while bouncing around. It was loads of fun and the kids all loved it!!

We headed back to the port and spent some time shopping among the very pushy, typical vendors in the area. Then, we headed back to the ship.

We don’t do a lot of shows, although we did watch the magic show and the ice show. They were both the exact same as two years ago when we were on FOS, which was a little disappointing. The kids also participated in some open ice skating time – and we also rented out the flow rider for an hour (which I forgot to detail in day one, so will come back to that later).

If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I’ll post the rest of my review tomorrow.

This is my first review, so bear with me. I always love to read others reviews, so thought I would pay it forward, so to speak.

We flew into Orlando airport on 11/23/13. It was fairly quick and painless. We had booked transportation with Cocoa Beach Shuttle. We were to call them when we arrived and had our bags and they would tell us where to go. We went out to the meeting location just outside of the baggage carousel and walked probably around 200 yards. Our shuttle was not there yet but arrived within 5 minutes. The shuttle took us to the Country Inn and Suites in Port Canaveral.

We love this hotel (stayed her prior for another cruise). It may not be on the water, but the customer service is exemplary. We are a family of 6 so appreciate the large rooms that Country Inn and Suites has to accommodate our family. We arrived before noon and are room was ready at about 11:30am. You just can’t beat that! We were in our room and ordered pizza for lunch because we just wanted to relax.

After lunch, we contacted 888 Taxi service that took us (via 15 passenger van) to do some exploring. My sister and her family were with us, so there was a total of 10 of us. We used 888 Taxi multiple times and were very happy with prices and service! We also ended up booking with them to take us to the port the next day. Although Country Inn and Suites does offer shuttles to the port, the first shuttle we could get on was 11am and we knew from previous cruises that we might be lucky enough to be on the ship at 11am, so we booked with 888 taxi, instead ($4/person).

In Cape Canaveral, we went to Ron Jon’s Surf Shop, Cocoa Beach Surf Shop, and the beach in that same area. We went to Grill’s for dinner (our second time there). It’s on the waterfront, so you can watch Saturday’s cruise ships leave while you’re eating. We really enjoyed the restaurant!

So, the next morning, we were up early, enjoying the hotel breakfast (a full hot breakfast) and headed out with 888 Cab at about 10am. We were at the port and had our luggage checked with porters by 10:30. Check in was quick and pretty painless and we were on the ship by 11am. It was cool, cloudy, and windy but we didn’t care because we were on the ship!

This was our second time on Freedom of the Seas, so we knew our way around, for the most part. We headed up to the pool deck and hit Squeeze for our first drink (we had the premium drink package). By 1pm, our rooms were open. We were deck 10 almost all the way aft, with two adjoining balcony rooms. This was a great set up because with the adjoining room door open and the separator between our two balconies open, we felt like we had a ton of space, indoors and out. This would prove to be our saving grace tomorrow. 

We unpacked a some and headed to the muster drill at 4pm. I hate to say this, but I like to go late, not after 4 late, but right up until the last minute late. There are so many people that stroll in late and they will not let you go until everyone is there. If you’re there early, you get jammed to the back of a crowd, and I do not like that at all. I like my personal space.  This muster drill appeared to go faster than one’s in the past – not sure if it really was, or just my imagination. Anyway, off to the helipad for sail-away.

Well, it was windy – really, windy, and cool. We stayed up just until we stayed just up until we left the inlet and then the wind became too much. The captain had warned us about the weather and wind expected that evening and into tomorrow.

We ate at the Windjammer that night – as we did every night except for one formal night, which was Thanksgiving. My sister has 2 young kids and I have 4 ranging from 11-16, so the Windjammer was more convenient and easier to plan for us. We also had some other friends and family on board, but primarily stayed with my sister and her crew throughout the trip.

That night, we were tired from the trip (and not feeling great due to the rocking) and headed to bed semi early (around 9 or 10). Although, that pretty much became the norm during the trip because we wore ourselves out each day.

Monday, I awoke in the middle of the night and looked outside to see all the wind and rain. There was spray from the ocean or rain (not sure which) blowing hard past our balcony (remember, deck 10). It was pretty intimidating. We were rocking pretty well! This is my 6th cruise and 2nd time on Freedom of the Seas and can honestly say that I’ve never experienced seas like that! That day turned out to be most of the same. They had blocked off all of the decks, so no one could go outside anywhere, except on our own balconies – so that’s where we spent most of the day. The rain had subsided, but the wind was still pretty strong!

We had booked the character breakfast that morning. It was nice. They give you the option of a buffet set up in the dining room or ordering a few specialty items off of the menu (nothing real special, just like a different combination of omelet, or French toast). Two characters came out and each kid/family gets the opportunity for a one-on-one picture with each of them. It was nice. Also, no additional charge.

About 3pm, the kids were going stir-crazy and wanted to go wander around. They are the one’s that discovered that the sports deck was open. I’m not sure how long it had been opened, but lots of people were out there playing mini golf, basketball, rock climbing and using the flow rider. Ahhhh, wish we had known it was open – at least we could go get some fresh air. We sat out there the rest of the day. It was windy but comfortable.

That night, we went back to Windjammer again. There were not many people there. I don’t know if they were in the dining room, or maybe sick…??? My daughter was not feeling great and I had given her some Dramamine, but that just knocked her out. I went to the ships store and bought her some Motion Ease (this liquid that you dab behind your ears). I had not been feeling bad but didn’t feel great either, so I tried some. Within minutes, I felt like a new person. I hadn’t realized how much the rocking had affected me. Anyway, obviously, I highly recommend this stuff!

Tuesday, we woke up while we were heading into Labadee. The seas were calm (although I was still rocking) and the sky was beautiful. I was so looking forward to this day! We had booked the over the water cabana on Nellie’s beach. I know a lot of people try to decide whether it’s worth the money. For me, I would absolutely do it again! We had cabana 6, which is one I didn’t want, but in hindsight, I would probably pick that one if I went back again. It was perfect. I thought this was what heaven must look like. Like I said, we had the drink package and our waiter brought us drinks right down to our private water entry while we floated on the mats in the water. The weather was beautiful and the place was wonderful. I really wondered how I could sneak onto staying there forever!!! =)

See Drew's and my posts above. There's no way it's $50 pp for an actual taxi...I can get halfway to Rum Point for that...

Whew!!! Thanks!!

This concerns me. We have booked a trip beginning at Camana Bay, as well and had figured on only a couple $ per person for a cab. Can anyone advise on their experiences? Thanks so much!

I'd like to thank you all for your information. I'll be sure to pass on all of this to my daughter-and bring lots of tipping cash. :). Thanks so much!!!

When my 14 year old daughter discovered that we were cruising to Labadee and that it was a part of Haiti, she became very upset that we would be lounging by a beach eating at a buffet just a short distance from poor and hungry residents. I had never looked at it that way - I'm glad that she has a good heart. Question is, are there people working on the island that live there that we might bring gifts to - and would you have a suggestion for small gifts since we'll be flying into port? I had read in another thread that some people had observed what appeared to be kids in the area that may have belonged to someone working there.

Any thoughts you have are appreciated!

Thanks so much for all of this fabulous information. We leave in 78 days.... :) I'm wondering if you could answer a specific question about the tendering process. You stated that you got down early to catch the first tender. How early did you go? How crowded was it. did you have any problems catching your shore excursion on time? Thanks so much!

It's my understanding that the "rules" have always said no water but that it's not enforced. I've brought full cases of water on board with no problem. I've also read where some people put the luggage sticker right on a case of water and haven't had problems.

We are looking at this trip for November. I have 4 kids 1-10, 1-14, 2-16 - thought they would love the fishing and tubing while allowing mom and dad to do some relaxing on the beach. I understand this to be customizable, correct? Thanks for your information! :)