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Middle Aged Drama Queen's Eastern Carib Review: Fun on the FREEDOM!!!

KansCocoa

By KansCocoa,
in Royal Caribbean International

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mon1jan1

mon1jan1

Posted
Posted
I never had one, but they look like donut holes...only they're bread. Maybe someone else reading this has a better idea of what they are?? All I know is, Mickey LOVED them! She wouldn't try any of the other breads, no matter what they tried to tempt her with!!!!

 

 

 

Hi Sherri! I am really enjoying your review. My daughter loves the savory bites too.

BTW....we are almost neighbors, I live in Olathe, KS. We love to cruise, go to the beach and have lots of fun. We just got back a couple weeks ago from Kauai, spent two weeks getting some much needed R & R.

Thanks so much for all your hard work with this review.

 

Janet

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clsmsu

clsmsu

Posted
Posted

Sherri,

Freedom will be the first cruise for DH and I, but not until April. If I could find a trip report this good every week then the time would just fly by...sigh. I think we share a similar sense of humor.

 

Ironically, I also have a DH Mike and a DD Mikayla (same spelling). I call her Kayla but she prefers Mikayla. Mine is fifteen. She was named after Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman. I didn't realize the father/daughter name connection until somebody asked me if her dad was her namesake when she was 6 months old :eek:. Although she is very much his mini-Me. We have a boy too. He is 13 and entirely too much like his mother for my taste.

 

I would love to do a mother/daughter cruise...sometime before I stroke out over driving lessons. I also love Disney World. DH and I will be there for a week before our cruise. Our second couple's trip to WDW.

 

I promise I am not an internet stalker trying to find like minded cruisers/disney lovers/moms of mikaylas/wives of Mikes. Though there was this one thing with a family from the TourGuideMike boards...

 

I very much enjoyed your report and even DH admitted to sneaking a read a few times. Thanks for taking the time to share with us.

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Gorki1951

Gorki1951

Posted
Posted

Thanks for posting this Sherri, it was just as good as your Serenade of the Seas posting. We were on the Serenade just before you, May 29th sailing. We followed up with sailing on 4 August on Splendour of the Seas, Vision class. We didn´t like it as much as the Radiance class but really enjoyed the cruise. We will sail on Independence of the Seas, Freedom class, next May. Thanks to you we know exactly what to expect and how to gear up to get the best experience possible. Cheers from a fellow Ft. Myers resident.

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  • 5 months later...
sanditoes4

sanditoes4

Posted
Posted

I've read all 3 of your FANTABULOUS reviews, start to finish and now.....it's just over. We have become best friends (in my mind anyway :o) and now you are just walking away?

 

How long do I have to wait to hear from you again?

I will miss you dear friend, until we meet again.....

 

p/s GREAT reviews!! :D

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  • 3 weeks later...
shofer

shofer

Posted
Posted
The after dinner shots look yummy. Were they different each nite and were they good? I know they were overpriced, but just how much were they?

Keep it coming...loving every minute.

Have also saved your blog to start reading. Love your writing style.

 

We (a group of 14) were on Grandeur back in 2000 and I know 2 of my cousins ended up with a full set of those glasses. Each one a different color but all with the Crown and Anchor on it.

 

Sue

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travelplus

travelplus

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If you're following along, we left our Mother & Daughter cozy in their beds, reading their Kindles, and minding their ship manners by NOT opening their drapes and interfering with the 2nd Engineer on the Bridge. Life was good. So, we are now up to Day #3…Tuesday, July 17th…a Sea Day.

 

Yay! Our first "official" sea day...although we had an "unofficial" sea day yesterday, due to the CocoCay cancellation.

 

 

Mickey and I head up to the gym at 7:00 am for the (free!) Vitality Stretch class…today, it’s being led by Vanya, the other personal trainer, and there are about 10 of us in class. It appears that some passengers are realizing they need to get some Good Intentions if they don't want to walk off this ship fifty pounds heavier. I DO have to say that the (free!) Vitality Stretch class is a REALLY good low-impact class that leaves you feeling really good. We've always loved this class that RCI offers.

 

 

Afterwards, a quick jog to the Windjammer for juice (Okay. Wait. Who am I kidding??!! The gym is at the FRONT of the ship…the Jammer is at the BACK of the ship…and there is a LOT of real estate in between…it was not a “quick” jog, by any stretch of the imagination), and I was ready to take on the day. When I giggle upon seeing the Jammer Greeter's silly wig for the day, I feel a little twinge of pain. Huh. My abdominal muscles are a little sore from yesterday's (free!) Fab Abs class...and giggling seems to aggravate this. Oh, well. I'm sure it will go away - so I carry on. Little did I know.

 

 

Both Mickey and I had appointments at the Spa at 8:00 am…she was getting a Teen Acne Facial, while I was getting a pedicure. I had the most interesting talk with my pedicurist, who told me all the ins and outs of working onboard a cruise ship. For the spa ladies, their first contract is 9 months long, and they do not get to choose what ship they’re on. They work six days a week, fourteen hours a day (from 8:00 am - 10:00 pm). They love being in a port on their day off, as that gets them the opportunity to eat at a restaurant, which is a break from regular old "ship food." They’ll often get a haircut while in port (as they don’t “work” on each other). I found it fascinating to hear her side of things, and it gave me a new appreciation for how hard some of the crew work. (Yes. I used the word "some" on purpose...as I'll find out later the work schedules of another group of the crew, and it is far different than a 14-hour day...that story to come later.)

 

 

My pedi finished at 9:15, and I went back to the cabin to let my piggies dry….as I had an important class at 10:00 am. Yes. I had Day #1 of Boot Camp. (And wasn’t THAT brilliant? Scheduling a pedicure right before strapping on tennis shoes for a brutal work-out? Sometimes, I amaze myself with my lack of planning.)

 

 

So…Boot Camp. I used to do Tae Kwan Do up until about two years ago, so I figure I’m in pretty reasonable shape. How hard can this be? There will be four sessions total, and today is Session #1.

 

 

I head to the gym at 10:00, to be met by Jayla and two other victims – I mean, participants….Before class, I ask one of them if he’s ever done Boot Camp before. “Oh yeah,” he says…”I’ve done this back home.”

 

Uh oh. I’ve NEVER done Boot Camp before. Ever.

 

I ask the other participant, who’s about 30-years old, if she’s done it…and she says, “No…” and I breathe a sigh of relief…but she continues, “But I DO work with a personal trainer three times a week.”

 

Oh, snap. I’m going to die.

 

 

And I did. Boot Camp begins…and for those of you who are Boot Camp Virgins, it consists of 4-5 exercises that you do in short cycles…such as lunges, squats, mountain-climbers (I hate these), push-ups, or sit-ups, with about a 20-second break in-between each rotation. We’d finish a set; Jayla would say, “Twenty second break! Get a drink!” and I’d be stumbling and staggering just to get up off the floor, when it would be time to start the rotation all over again.

 

 

HOLY DRILL SARGEANT, BATMAN! If I started to slack off a bit, Jayla would be in my ear, screaming, “Bend those knees, Sherri!” Oh, every so often (but not very often), I’d hear, “Good form, Sherri!” – but that was a rare occurrence. And when she'd yell in my face, by golly, I'd bend those knees - even though my knees were SCREAMING for mercy at the pain. Oh, the pain. I've watched Bob Harper take contestants through the wringer on NBC's "The Biggest Loser" - and Bob's got NOTHING on Jayla.

 

 

Thirty minutes of extreme torture, with me huffing, puffing, panting, sweating, cursing, and hurting…and at the end of it, I pretty much staggered back to the cabin…with one thought only: “I PAID for this??!! And I have three more classes to go??!! I’m going to die. Really. I’m going to die and leave Mickey an orphan on the ship.” (Okay - that was more than one thought - but you get the gist.)

 

 

There was only one thing that could ease my pain at this point…and that was a CocoLoco, which could be found at the pool. So, that's where I stagger. The lower deck is pretty packed at this point, so I painfully make my way up to the upper deck…. The good news: there are tons of deck chairs to be found up here. The bad news: there’s a sustained 25-35 mph wind whipping everything and everyone. I fought the wind for about 20 minutes...but my towel kept blowing off, my hair was whipping into my face, and when my flip-flops about flew overboard - that was IT. NO MORE! I crawled back downstairs (OMG, my body HURTS!) and hung out at the little table & chairs in front of the bar. Not only was the wind non-existent here, but my BFF, CocoLoco, had a nice little perch and was in no danger of being spilled by yours truly.

 

 

At 2:15 that afternoon, I had a Body Fat Analysis test at the gym. This was included in the cost of the Boot Camp classes, and I walked in, pretty confident, that I would NAIL this and that Jayla would be SO IMPRESSED with how good of shape I’m in for a 50-year old...since she wasn't so impressed by my Boot Camp performance. That was the plan. The reality of it went somewhat differently. She first says I have to lose six pounds – and then tells me I am in the unhealthy range, for my age, for body fat. Wait. What??!! Seriously??!! Snap – NOT what someone wants to hear while on a cruise ship…with a buffet…and (free!) cookies…and delicious CocoLocos...and three desserts every night. I pretty much stagger back to my cabin…with one thought only: “I PAID for this??!!”

 

 

Laying on my bed in a state of depression (and pain), it occurs to me that I’ve missed lunch. Where should someone go who’s just received the news that they need to lose six pounds – and their body fat composition is unhealthy? Why…Johnny Rockets, of course. I grab Mickey and off we go – and we walk right in with no wait. So, there's a tip: GO LATER IN THE AFTERNOON AND YOU'LL AVOID THE LUNCH RUSH.

 

 

Ketchup.jpg

This made me giggle...which hurt. Ow.

 

 

The french fries and onion rings are delicious...as are the shakes.

 

OnionRings.jpg

 

 

I didn't read the menu correctly, and ended up with a DOUBLE cheeseburger... most of which was wasted, as I was enjoying the onion rings and shake too much...and, well...thinking of those six pounds I had to lose. I had to assure our waiter that the food was good; I was just full. At one point, the song "Stayin' Alive" by the BeeGees began playing really loud, and before I knew it, I was up dancing with the waiters. My body was screaming, "NOOOOO! THE PAIN!!!!" but my brain was like, "OMG - it's the BeeGees! I MUST DANCE!!!" I can do a MEAN John Travolta impression from "Saturday Night Fever", and I was NAILING it. (In my opinion, anyway...others may beg to differ.) Mickey was watching, shaking her head with embarrassment. This proved to be a big mistake, because she was immediately grabbed by a waiter and pulled in to join our dance line. And she DID it! She danced!!!

 

 

Oh, happy day! I WISH I'd had the camera in hand for this, because this was one of those moments I've mentioned before...where you just want to stop the clock and let the moment last FOREVER. My (almost) 13-year old daughter was dancing...in public....Life just doesn't get much better!

 

The song ended much too soon, and the moment was over. Sigh. It will have to live on our memories...

 

 

Upon leaving JR's, we headed back to the FlowRider, where it was quite the busy place:

 

FlowRiderDemo1.jpg

I'm already in pain, but watching some of the wipeouts on here...ow. It made me hurt even worse.

 

 

Soon, though, it was time to head to our Cupcake Decorating Class. Again. JUST the place you want to go after you've been told to lose six pounds and lose the body fat...but cupcakes will help ease the sting of that bad news....right? But first...I have to go visit Guest Relations...for we've discovered a slight problem.

 

 

I hope you showed Jayla the photo of you eating at Johnny Rocketts :D:D:D

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Triplee203

Triplee203

Posted
Posted

I just want to thank you for writing this detailed review about Freedom. My very first cruise is in exactly 5 weeks on FOS's eastern itinerary. I am OBSESSED with research (every night I am on the computer after dinner is finished!) and thus far I've enjoyed reading about your experience the most. Thank you for your tips and insight!

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  • 3 weeks later...
Dawniepoo

Dawniepoo

Posted
Posted
Sherri, I am really enjoying your second "novel". Or should I say short story. :p I noticed you haven't finished reading "Explosive Eighteen" yet. Unless you finished reading it while on board the Freedom. You know her next book, "Notorious Nineteen" comes out on Nov. 20th. I really don't know how you get any reading done with all the writing you are doing to keep us glued to CC. BTW, when is your next adventure? Will be looking forward to it. I guess I will have to follow you on your blog.

 

Thanks again for all your time and effort to entertain us. You are definitely doing a darn good job. :D

 

Gwen :)

 

I laughed when I read this because I was thinking this review is written in the spirit of Janet Evanovich!

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KansCocoa

KansCocoa

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Just re read your review of Freedom before time to board tomorrow. :)

 

I love the review!!

 

May I ask what are Saviory bites and are they still available?

 

Savory bites are little bread rolls (or smallish bite-sized pieces of bread) that have some sort of seasoning on them that make them "savory"...! They're served by your assistant waiter in the Main Dining room - and my daughter LOVED them! I'm sure they're still available...

 

Have an amazing trip! :)

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KansCocoa

KansCocoa

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Your review is so amazing!! We are about to book Freedom for September 2014!! The excitement will kill me the whole time, I'm sure.

 

Thank you! The Freedom is a pretty special ship - and I know daughter and I had a wonderful time (with the exception of boot camp!) Have a great time when you go!

 

 

I laughed when I read this because I was thinking this review is written in the spirit of Janet Evanovich!

 

What a compliment! I love Janet Evanovich! ;)

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  • 5 weeks later...
teacher34

teacher34

Posted
Posted

Sherri, I have just finished this review and absolutely LOVED it! It truly is EPIC! I had first read your review of the Allure going solo and I am now hooked on your reviews! I know you mentioned that you have a blog, but I couldn't find the blog address. Could you post it again, please? We have not sailed on RCI before, but we are booked on the Freedom the first week in Mar. of 2014. We have the cow suite above the Ben and Jerry's. Previously, we have sailed on Carnival and a couple of other ships way back when. Most recently on Carnival we have always had balconies and I'm not sure what it will be like in an inside room. That was a compromise we had to make since RCI is more expensive. I am really looking forward to the cruise now and feel like I have a better idea what to expect after reading this review. You really are such a gifted writer ! I am definately planning on reading your review of your European trip. Thank you so much for taking the time to write these! I wish you would be cruising with us (hint, hint). If you don't have any plans for the first week in March of 2014 ... just saying!!:D

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Lucinarei

Lucinarei

Posted
Posted

Sherri- another bestseller!! Thanks for posting another great review- I was so sad when the Med. one ended and was thrilled to find this one! Now that this one is over, you'll have to go on another cruise so I can live vicariously through you and your family! :D

 

Seriously, thank you for letting me relive my Caribbean cruise- I loved Maho Beach SO much and I loved hearing about your experiences and seeing all of your pictures! :)

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swwake

swwake

Posted
Posted
Hi Sherri, Thanks for your awesome review. Hubby and I are going on the FOS but not until next April. How far in advance would you suggest booking the Maho tour with Bernards?
I'm not Sheri but I can comment. We booked about 1 month out with Bernard for our 10/2012 cruise. It was a great tour!
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