Trip Report: Freedom of the Seas Western Caribbean March 31, 2018

Hello all!

I’m back for another trip report! Those who read my Harmony thread from last year are likely familiar with my style, and know that when I’m having cruise withdrawals, I like to write about it! However, I hope to have improved a bit since my first review, so hopefully this one will go even smoother! Here’s the link to my Harmony review, for those who haven’t read it - hopefully CC will let me put in a link from within its site!

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2495695

If you haven’t read it, I hope those with a cruise on Harmony booked will read that review, as I hope I can be of help to all of those on here who have helped me. Now, let’s get started.

My name is Kevin, and I’m a 19-year-old college freshman from a lovely suburb just outside of St. Paul, Minnesota. Even though I go to school in Saint Paul itself, I could not put myself to move out and live in a dorm, so I live at home with my parents Jeremy and Beth, almost-16-year-old brother Matthew, and cats Patches and Pepper. Those of you who read my Harmony review are well aware of the emotional rollercoaster we rode with Patches last year!

We tried cruising in 2012 when we sailed Monarch, and enjoyed it enough to book Disney Dream in 2013, and we liked this whole new cruising thing. In the summer of 2014, a friend of mine showed me the Oasis of the Seas documentary, this getting me hooked, and as a result, I got my family hooked. I give him all the credit for getting me fascinated with Royal Caribbean cruising - I may be young, but I have fallen in love early. We booked Oasis for 2014, then Allure for 2015, booked Liberty for 2016 while onboard Allure, then we booked Harmony for 2017 shortly after disembarking Allure, then Freedom 2018 while onboard Harmony.

As mentioned, we tried Disney and loved it, but due to the price, considered that a one-time thing and have fallen in love with Royal, everything they offer, and their value for the money in the marvelous experiences we have every time. This particular cruise was a 6-night sailing out of Fort Lauderdale and visiting George Town, Costa Maya and Cozumel, and we chose this cruise because we had not yet been on Freedom (but docked next to it in Cozumel during our 2016 Liberty cruise, the only noticeable difference between the two ships being the slides) and had never been to Grand Cayman or Costa Maya.

Matt is a high school freshmen and we got lucky enough to have his and my spring breaks line up this year in my first year of university, but sadly, that was a one-time thing, so we do not have any cruises booked at the moment. Sad face. BUT, I am determined to get on Symphony with friends - would be booked already if it wasn’t for that darn 21+ booking rule! (I’m over 18, cut me some slack!)

In all seriousness, if anything, my cruising career has just begun, as I plan to take many more in the years ahead and throughout my lifetime. But enough about us. Let’s get into the actual review. But before I do, I’ll open up the floor to any questions or requests for things to add, and then I’ll get started with Day 0!

Thanks everyone in advance for reading, and I can’t wait to share my experience with you! And yes, there will be plenty of photos, given that I can figure it out this time! I was able to figure it out last year with Tapatalk thanks to my dear friend Celisse, but it has been quite some time since I’ve tried it so wish me luck! Take care for now, and I’ll be back tomorrow!

Up next: travel day (a smooth one this time!)

That is an impressive amount of cruising in a short time! Looking forward to the review from a connoisseur!

Hello all!

 

I’m back for another trip report! Those who read my Harmony thread from last year are likely familiar with my style, and know that when I’m having cruise withdrawals, I like to write about it! However, I hope to have improved a bit since my first review, so hopefully this one will go even smoother! Here’s the link to my Harmony review, for those who haven’t read it - hopefully CC will let me put in a link from within its site!

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2495695

 

If you haven’t read it, I hope those with a cruise on Harmony booked will read that review, as I hope I can be of help to all of those on here who have helped me. Now, let’s get started.

 

My name is Kevin, and I’m a 19-year-old college freshman from a lovely suburb just outside of St. Paul, Minnesota. Even though I go to school in Saint Paul itself, I could not put myself to move out and live in a dorm, so I live at home with my parents Jeremy and Beth, almost-16-year-old brother Matthew, and cats Patches and Pepper. Those of you who read my Harmony review are well aware of the emotional rollercoaster we rode with Patches last year!

 

We tried cruising in 2012 when we sailed Monarch, and enjoyed it enough to book Disney Dream in 2013, and we liked this whole new cruising thing. In the summer of 2014, a friend of mine showed me the Oasis of the Seas documentary, this getting me hooked, and as a result, I got my family hooked. I give him all the credit for getting me fascinated with Royal Caribbean cruising - I may be young, but I have fallen in love early. We booked Oasis for 2014, then Allure for 2015, booked Liberty for 2016 while onboard Allure, then we booked Harmony for 2017 shortly after disembarking Allure, then Freedom 2018 while onboard Harmony.

 

As mentioned, we tried Disney and loved it, but due to the price, considered that a one-time thing and have fallen in love with Royal, everything they offer, and their value for the money in the marvelous experiences we have every time. This particular cruise was a 6-night sailing out of Fort Lauderdale and visiting George Town, Costa Maya and Cozumel, and we chose this cruise because we had not yet been on Freedom (but docked next to it in Cozumel during our 2016 Liberty cruise, the only noticeable difference between the two ships being the slides) and had never been to Grand Cayman or Costa Maya.

 

Matt is a high school freshmen and we got lucky enough to have his and my spring breaks line up this year in my first year of university, but sadly, that was a one-time thing, so we do not have any cruises booked at the moment. Sad face. BUT, I am determined to get on Symphony with friends - would be booked already if it wasn’t for that darn 21+ booking rule! (I’m over 18, cut me some slack!)

 

In all seriousness, if anything, my cruising career has just begun, as I plan to take many more in the years ahead and throughout my lifetime. But enough about us. Let’s get into the actual review. But before I do, I’ll open up the floor to any questions or requests for things to add, and then I’ll get started with Day 0!

 

Thanks everyone in advance for reading, and I can’t wait to share my experience with you! And yes, there will be plenty of photos, given that I can figure it out this time! I was able to figure it out last year with Tapatalk thanks to my dear friend Celisse, but it has been quite some time since I’ve tried it so wish me luck! Take care for now, and I’ll be back tomorrow!

 

Up next: travel day (a smooth one this time!)

Discovered an error already - my friend showed me the Oasis documentary in 2013, not 2014 - hence why we booked Oasis for 2014 😁 my apologies! I’ll be back soon to get this started!

That is an impressive amount of cruising in a short time! Looking forward to the review from a connoisseur!

Thank you so much for following along! I’m happy to answer any questions along the way!

So I just realized that I started this review late at night, half asleep, and made a few severe errors, so am restarting the thread here. Proofreading is important folks! My apologies! Here’s the link to the new and improved version of this thread, which will be the active one from here on out!

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=55778873#post55778873

My sincere apologies for my errors, and I can assure you the review will be much smoother! In the meantime, moderators are welcome to close this thread as I am moving everything over to the new one. Sorry again, and I look forward to everyone following along!