May 26-June 1 Freedom Review with LOTS pictures (AND Food Porn)

[CheckersMidwest]

Ready for dinner:

 

 

So....hypothetically....if you were to buy a small bottle of rum.....use the tie string on your swim trunks to tie through the handle on the plastic bag & tuck in your swim trunks and pull your shirt down over it....you might get it through security back on the ship. Just sayin'

 

 

We did the usual after dinner.....shows, comedy, karaoke, dancing, piano bar, casino, etc. Our daughter split from us right after dinner every night to go to 02. The had activities until late - usually midnight or 1:00.

 

Tomorrow: Jamaica

[CheckersMidwest]

Ocho Rios, Jamaica

 

My husband & I stayed at a Sandals in Ocho Rios in 1998 for our 10th anniversary. We knew then you weren't suppose to stray from the property or go without a group.

 

I booked our excursion through Carnival for this exact reason. However, there were security guards all over. They wandered inside where the straw market is, they were on the street outside the market....and walked you across the street. They were at the corner of the shops and all along the street through that area. I really felt like they were trying to make everyone feel safe.

 

We booked the 8:00 am River Rafting trip. Our driver told us we were the only ship in port all week and this was their slow time. The bus took us through the outer parts of Jamaica up into the mountain. We saw homes, people walking, children in their uniforms going to school, goats, etc. The driver was excellent to tell us what we were seeing.

 

We stopped at the main building to use the restroom (not one at the start of the river), pre order jerk chicken to have ready when we get back, be fitted for helmets, etc. It took another 5 minutes to the top.

 

They had the tubes ready for us along with the life jackets. The driver stayed with the bus and said to leave anything on the bus we wanted & he watched it. Some people rented lockers back at the main building.

 

We had 2 guides in our group that were very entertaining ! They took good care of everyone. If you got 'stuck' over by the side, they moved you, etc. There was a little girl in our group & they stayed with her in the rapid sections for extra safety. No one flipped over. The water was very clean & clear. My only complaint is that there were a lot of spiders. I am terrified of spiders.

 

It took 3.5 hours from start to finish & was our favorite thing on the entire cruise. At the end, they offered pictures they'd taken when you were in the rapids. I bought 15 photos for $40. They had packages that were $20 & $25 too. They burned them immediately on a CD. I printed them yesterday at WalMart with no problems and downloaded them onto this computer.

 

 

 

 

 

[CheckersMidwest]

More Jamaica:

 

 

 

We returned to the port area at 11:30. My husband went back on board to do the Golf Tournament. He won a ship on a stick !!

 

The kids & I did some shopping. We thought the prices were good here. I bought '2-sided' reversible dolls for some little girls back home. I got vanilla and jerk sauce for my dad. When going back through the scanner at security, the guard felt the bottles & asked if it was alcohol & I said no....it was vanilla & sauce, he said Ok and didn't open it. The kids got $5 t shirts for their friends, bracelets, etc. I got a 'coach' purse for $30 and my son bought a Bob Marley wood carving of some sort.

 

We headed back about 1:20 from the straw market right by the ship. The line wasn't bad....and it was still 2:05 when we got on board. We were suppose to be on board by 2:00. We went to our cabins and this is what the line looked like then:

 

Sail Away was delayed. The Cruise Director came on about an hour later, maybe, and announced there had been a medical emergency that their ship doctor's could not take care of it. They were waiting on an ambulance and helping the family get off the ship. We sailed just over 2 hours late. I felt so bad for that family ! I think Jamaica would be the worst place to get sick/hurt. I can only imagine how their medical system is.

 

 

That is the night that the waves were 18 feet high. The ship was ROCKING. We really felt it at dinner at the back of the ship and again at the show. They considered cancelling the show but did it anyway.

[CheckersMidwest]

Time for dinner again. The night of Jamaica, they had a midnight Mexican buffet. I missed the announcements nor did I see it written on the fun times, etc. My son came in and told us, he knew I wouldn't want to miss it. They had different salsas, chimichangas, burritos, etc.

 

 

Salad:

 

 

shrimp cocktail:

 

 

Oysters Rockefeller

 

 

lasagna as an appetizer

 

Filet Mignon

 

 

 

Raspberry something....

 

[CheckersMidwest]

Tonight's towel animal:

 

 

 

Midnight buffet pictures:

 

 

 

 

 

Baked Alaska for dessert

 

[GROUCHPUSS]

How did you like the Piano Bar?

[CheckersMidwest]

We liked the piano bar. The actual bar around the piano was always full. We sat at the tables.

 

He seemed to know all the songs requested and sang one right after the other. He sang some funny 'pub' type songs too. People sang along when they knew the words, etc

[CheckersMidwest]

Here's the last of the food pictures....

 

Frog legs from the Didja Ever menu

 

 

Excellent Crab cake

 

 

Mushroom

 

 

crusted shrimp

 

 

chicken breast over bacon macaroni & cheese

 

 

Prime rib ?!

 

[CheckersMidwest]

lime sherbert

 

 

This was some kind of soufflé.....they poured a sauce over it right before you ate it. My husband said it was his favorite.

 

 

Our head waiter was Jaydi. He was excellent. He knew all about the items on the menu. He called us each by name all week and made sure we had everything we needed.

 

 

Our last towel animals....

 

 

[givemeliberty]

Very nice review! I had to laugh, when I saw that you flew out of Des Moines becasue it was cheaper than KC. We live in Des Moines and haven't been able to "afford" to fly out of Des Moines on our last 3 vacations! We have driven to KC, Omaha, and Minneapolis. How the heck did you get so lucky?! I'd love to actually fly out of my own town for a change! LOL

[crusinfamof4]

Great review! Doing the same cruise in 77 days!!!!!

 

I assume you and your children found the port in Jamaica to be ok? We were going to the bobsledding excursion, but my DH is afraid of heights and cannot take the sky ride to the top. So we thought about hanging out in the port.

 

How was disembarkation with FTTF? We have a 16 hour drive and want to be off the ship first thing.

[mephistoles]

Memorial Day in Key West.

 

This was our first trip to Key West and we loved it. We did the City View Hop on Hop Off tour. I booked on their website and printed the tickets for $19.95 each. It was about $10 per person cheaper than booking through Carnival. I think I read too that kids under 12 are free ?! We walked across the street from the big red Customs' building to a t-shirt shop. In front of it in the doorway was a podium to check in and the first stop was across the street. Very easy. We got off at a few stops and rode on through on a few others. It was hot and would have been a lot of walking.

 

There was so much to do !

 

 

 

Here is the Red Customs House (History museum) from the ship - the City View trolley is on the other side.

 

 

My husband pretended to catch a big one....

 

 

 

Loved all the statues around the History Musuem !

 

 

Great review. We're sailing the Breeze in August and will be driving down from NC. We're going to stay in Miami for 2 nights prior to our cruise and DH plans to visit Key West on the Friday before we cruise. Would you mind supplying the link that you used to book your Key West excursion? Our DS is 11 so it would be a treat if he can tour for free but $19.95/person is a pretty decent deal if not. I'm really looking forward to our cruise.

[CheckersMidwest]

I just looked at the Hop on Hop Off brochure and went to their website to double check.

 

Kids UP TO age 12 are free with a paying adult. :)

 

Walk up and buy ticket price : $21

Online price: $19

Carnival Shore Excursion price: $29 (kids still free)

 

city view trolleys dot com (they have several cities - just click Key West)

 

Pick up a brochure when you're checking in. It has the map with a list of what is at each stop. I just now noticed it had 2 different coupons we could have used along the side !!

[sjn911]

Great review..really like the idea of this ship with some traditional shows and a nice regular spa with more less fee usable things...and the itinerary..all sound great..thanks so much..Sarah

[CheckersMidwest]

Activities for the week:

 

Club 02:

 

Sunday: Orientation, Roll out, Party Patrol,Welcome Aboard Party 10:00 pm

 

Monday: Game time, Foosball, apples to apples, Just Dance Off, Crazy Colors party, Dodgeball, Movie Time: Touchback 11:00 pm

 

Tuesday: Wii bowling, wacky photo race, gamers haven, Ninja & B/S, Hip Hop dance class, Teen choice, Dance like MJ, DTI Party, Teen dance class with Circle C 3:30 pm

 

Wednesday: Tekken Tourney, Digital Race, Foosball tournament 4:00 pm, Teens vs. Director Xbox, The Pre-party, Deck party, Late night pig out

 

Thursday: Bean bag toss, FIFA tournament 9:00 pm, movies Touchback, The Lorax, & We Bought a Zoo, P-Bone, Fight Night video games, Sickest Shades of Grey, Dodgeball payback

 

Friday: Board games, Ride the slide, Karaoke Craziness, ERS or Slap Jack, Abracadabra with Circle C, Foosball challenge, Last Call, Tshirt exchange, Last Blast Pizza, Farewell party 9:30 pm

 

Daytime Activities - just a sampling from the Fun Times

Sunday: Welcome aboard music on the lido, Gym & spa tours, Bean bag toss, Trivia, Key West shopping highlights show, Spa raffle, Martini tasting, Free texas hold em demo, Free liquor tasting, Latin music, super star live karaoke, Ballroom dance class, Heat/Pacers game on big screen, Game Show Mania, $500 bingo, Welcome Aboard Show in main lounge, Adult Comedy show, casino

 

Monday: 80's trivia, Adult games night, DOOR DECORATING contest, Love & Marriage show, Michael Jackson trivia, Thriller dance class, tribute hour in the dance club, trivia, matinee movie on deck, scavenger hunt, sports trivia, Art seminar, free facial bar, laser tag, spa classes, karaoke, texas hold em, latin music, bingo,

 

Tuesday: The Big Easy show in the main lounge, Captain's celebration, Comedy club shows, Diamond & gemstone seminar, Fun Finds shopping show, Food & Wine pairing, Bingo, Murder Mystery, Live champaigne art auction, indoor cycling, yoga, Disney trivia, ping pong tournament, watch sale #1, scavenger hunt, ice carving demonstration, Master Mixology competition, Hairy chest competition, black jack tournament, karaoke, Country Line Dance Class, Tea time, pilates, 70's & 80's hour in disco,

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a3d822b3127ccef3126402b40900000030O01AauHLRm5cMge3nwc/cC/f%3D0/ls%3D00208093498520130603175410412.JPG/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/

 

Wednesday: Talent show, art sale, watch sale #2, Chef's table, Mega Deck Party, 60 seconds or less game, bingo, karaoke, trivia, and more (don't have the side schedule - sorry )

 

Thursday: Daily puzzle, tv trivia, mini golf tournament, decades trivia, match game, Matinee: Jailhouse Rock on lido, Pool games, ping pong, Latin music, Heat/pacers game, Bingo, Jump, jive, & Wail in main lounge, Comedy Club, Electric White night in dance club.

 

Friday: Ticket to Ride Beatles tribute show in Main Lounge, bingo, $10 tshirt sale, $10 watch set sale, Bella Perlina bracelet sale, Groove for St Jude, jazz with the showband, Adult game night, trivia, Mr & Mrs Freedom pageant, Towel Folding demo, ping pong, scavenger hunt, stretch class, latin music, comedy club, karaoke, Motown Showdown in lobby, Salsa dance class

 

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a3d822b3127ccef313867f944900000030O01AauHLRm5cMge3nwc/cC/f%3D0/ls%3D00208093498520130603175555267.JPG/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/

Edited June 4, 2013 by CheckersMidwest

[adam3313]

Great review. Looking at a possible Freedom cruise, so this is great!

 

LOVE Flying Monkey's in Key West. They can be dangerous though! I still have my "coozie cup" from my visit there in October!

[CheckersMidwest]

Faster To The Fun: It was $49.95 per cabin. We arrive early anyway....but instead of maybe zone 3, we had Priority Boarding.

 

 

We went straight to our room. Our luggage came just a little bit after we were inside. That was a nice perk.

 

I went to Guest services a couple of times. The regular line usually had 10-20 people in it, and the FTTF line was either just me, or only one other person.

 

In Grand Cayman, we were instructed to stop at Guest Services before going to the tender. They escorted us downstairs & to the front of the line. We got directly on the tender.

 

For disembarking, we did get zone 1 luggage tags, which left the ship about 7:15 am. We had a really late flight, so took our time and left about 9:20.

 

Overall, I think it was worth it for the tendering, guest service line, and getting our rooms right away.

[Vitamin_Sea]

Wow!!! What a great review. I think you covered it all. We are on that same cruise in 32 days!!! Cannot wait!!! Thanks!!

[CheckersMidwest]

You're welcome ! I wish I'd made little notes each evening of exactly what we did each day ! Now it kind of all runs together !

 

Correction: The watch set sale on Friday was $20 each, not $10. They were nice sets, My son got 2. People gather around like it's Black Friday !

 

Shopping

 

I thought things were reasonably priced in Key West. I assumed they would be more expensive since it is the US. There were several places that t shirts were under $10, a lot of touristy stuff like sunglasses and cups, etc.

 

This was our second stop in Grand Cayman. We thought things were expensive. Great for jewelry, but not so much for other things. I did get a pottery cup & saucer - just something I collect from our trips. My son got a bottle opener. I did find a beach bag for $10 but it is already ripped. It started pouring & I didn't have anything to put the new camera in, so that served the purpose. There were a lot of wind chimes.

 

Jamaica was our favorite shopping spot. We like the straw market and haggling over prices. I got reversible dolls for some little girls back home for $6, a $10 Jamaica soccer ball for a gift too, t shirts for $5, vanilla, jerk sauce & marinade for $2.50 each, rum cakes for $4, wood carvings for $10-30, a 'coach' purse for $30.

 

The locals in the straw market are a little pushy, but the same as the Bahamas and Mexico. I just say no thanks and walk away even if they are still talking. I told the kids they could haggle like in the Bahamas and we split up. We could still see each other - I noticed my daughter was 'trapped'.:D I went over and got her....explained it is not rude to walk away. She figured it out after that.

 

On the ship, we didn't buy much this time. On Friday morning, they had t shirts from all the ports of call as well as carnival ones for $10. They were cute designs & colors. Inside the gift shop were clothes, rum cakes, decks of cards, kids ship toys, books, paper weights, bags, magnets, etc.

 

The Bella Perlina bracelets were on sale at 11:00. I missed the very beginning and they were picked over by the time I got there. On the Paradise last year, they restocked later but not on this ship. I still found 2 I liked. The regular price tags say $95 to $125. They were on sale for $24.95 and $39.95. There were extra charms available too. A lot of people were taking them home for gifts. They look similar to Pandora bracelets.

 

 

Entertainment & Shows

 

We went to all of the Main shows in the Victoria lounge. They were good. There is a live jazz band that plays for them. The choreography & costumes are good too. The main floor has cold air conditioning. I liked sitting in one of the first rows up above - I was more comfortable. I still carried a sweater around with me at night though since I tend to get cold.

 

The game shows were fun. We almost didn't go to the love & Marriage show since we'd seen it already on the cruise last year. The questions were different this time and they didn't finish it the same way, so pleasantly surprised.

 

I didn't play Bingo this time. It is usually $25 per strip and has 3 cards on each strip. Sometimes it is regular Bingo, other times it is a "C", or a block or 9, etc. Some of the games are over really fast. *poof* along with my money.

 

Karaoke was always fun. I was almost considering doing it myself. I wish I could sing. I think I sound ok in the car..... anyway, there was a good variety of music, young & old, good and not so good. The Super Star Live is a live band and a back up singer vs regular karaoke that is music from a CD.

 

Disco/Dance Club was a neat place. The squares on the floor blinked red. The music was not what we liked though. On the 70's & 80's hour, it was all 70's. A lot of real disco, a lot of modern dance club stuff. It had a good beat, but not really songs to sing along with. We were very disappointed. The times we were there, the floor was pretty empty except for a group of 18 yr olds who thought they were pretty cool.:cool:

 

If it's not being used a lot the way it is, then I think they should do a country night and a classic rock night. Why not ?!

 

Casino was good/bad. My son went up & down. He doesn't have much experience, so probably not walking away when it was time. (While he was winning....) My husband played black jack, 3 card poker, lots of roulette, and tried craps. He won about $500 this trip.

 

 

Food

 

We ate breakfast each morning in the Lido Buffet. They always had an omelet station, ham and bacon. They offered a different kind of potato each day along with scrambled eggs, toast, bagels, muffins, danishes, cereal, fruit, grits, sausage, pancakes, waffles, and/or French toast.

 

We also ate lunch each day in the buffet area. I had a Rueben from the deli on the first day then didn't want to wait in line the other days. They had a salad bar area with all the fixings along with potato salad, pasta salads, cottage cheese, etc. The burger area was always open, our daughter ate at the Mongolian Wok and loved it. On the main buffet they have fish, chicken, pastas, vegetables, etc.

 

I had late night pizza one evening & it was good.

 

The ice cream and yogurt machines were also good. There are 2 , one out by the pool and another one toward the back.

 

We tried the Taste Bar. I didn't care for any of the dishes. I did enjoy the fresh pineapple and the cookies.

 

The specialty coffee shop has cakes, desserts, and chocolate dipped strawberries for sale. I had a plate of 3 strawberries for $2.50 several times. There other desserts were reasonably priced too.

 

The night of Jamaica, they had a midnight (more like 11:00) Mexican buffet. There were different salsas, chimichangas, burritos, nachos, taco bar, etc.

 

We ate dinner each evening in the Main Dining room. The food the last night was my least favorite. We enjoyed the food and atmosphere. The cakes were dry and a little bland both in the dining room and on the buffet.

 

One day they had a chocolate Extravaganza in the buffet area. I didn't try it since chocolates give me migraines sometimes. It did look good though.

 

We ate at the Fish & Chips a couple of times. I had the fried fish filet and the hushpuppy things with calamari, etc. There was rarely a line up there and always open tables.

 

Go up these stairs to the left for the Fish & Chips....see the round blue sign?

 

 

 

Soda Package (Bubbles)

 

We bought this for myself (a pepsi addict ), my son, and daughter. On the Paradise last year, it was very easy to walk up to the bar in the corner of the lido buffet to get a coke with lunch or breakfast. On the Freedom, the bar was either in the front by the pool or in the very back by the pool. It was so inconvienent that I rarely got a coke this trip. Even at dinner, bar service was slow. One night, it was at the table waiting. Otherwise, I'd have to ask the drink guy & wait until about time for the main dish to come before it arrived. Forget refills, too much trouble. Next time, I may just pay for the pop. The kids didn't use theirs as much either. For the 3 of us, it was $99 for the week.......at $2.20 each coke, that's a lot of pops.

 

Cheers

 

We did not do the Cheers program since we are not heavy drinkers. My husband had maybe 2-3 all day, I might have 1, and my son only had a few. He would have liked to try a few new drinks (since he just turned 21 this year), but didn't want to pay the $7 or $8 for them and then maybe not like them. He did say that he would do the cheers next time.

 

They do have fun cups like a disco ball, & a puffer fish. My daughter tried to find a Whale Tail, but no luck. Bartenders walked around he lido with a tray of "Drink of the Day" specials.

 

Spa

 

The first evening, there is a tour of the spa and a raffle for $500 in services. However, it's right when you're getting ready for the early seating of dinner and doing the Kids program orientation stuff.

 

If you go into the spa area, you can access the weights and exercise equipment. There is a steam room & sauna. A nice hot tub with a rock wall & plants is tucked away in there too. It can all be used. The beauty salon and spa services area is on the other side.

 

They talked about the products they used and asked me questions about what I use. I just told them I am happy with what I use & I like it , so not interested in purchasing anything new. They didn't mention it again. Not pushy, just informative.

 

Art Auction

 

They offered art auctions on several days. I went to one on the Paradise last year and thought it was the most boring thing I've ever done.

 

[CheckersMidwest]

They had a small candy selection in the formalities shop. Nothing like the Cherry On Top pictures.

 

 

The 4th floor had all the photos taken all week. They also sold camera, photo albums and scrapbooks with paper sets. I am a scrapbooker, so got a new one and my daughter got a paper/sticker/embellishment pack. The scrapbooks were $25 and the paper packs $15.

 

 

 

They gave you a punch card with a lanyard. With each photo purchase, they punched a spot. Free gifts were thrown in in different spots on the cards. They were things like a photo of the ship, a travel mug you could put your own photo in, a flash drive, etc. For an extra $9.99 they will put any 10 photos you purchased on it.

 

There were so many really nice backgrounds ! Some were fun like pirate stuff with bones, a hook, eye patches, etc and others were more formal.

[CheckersMidwest]

When we first got on board, we went to Guest Services and had our Sign & Sail cards punched. My daughter & I brought lanyards from home, my husband just carried his in his pocket, and my son got a free coil lanyard at the casino for his.

 

We were on the Verandah deck. There was quite a bit of noise above on the Lido deck. Sounded like moving chairs and tables. During the day it wasn't a big deal, but a couple of times I woke up about 3:00 am when they were rearranging the chairs and cleaning. We really liked the location, around the corner to the stairs...up one flight and right at the entrance to the buffet or turn and at the entrance to the pool.

 

We had the divider opened between our two rooms and made our balcony really long. It was much handier to visit each other that way instead of keep knocking on the door, etc. I stopped at the Guest Services and asked, they said they'd take care of it. Nothing. I called Guest Services. Nothing. I finally left a post it note to the room steward stuck on the mirror. Done. :)

 

We all did whatever we wanted all day and the rule was 'dressed and ready for dinner by 5:50". We did run into each other during the day and would do things together, then split again for different activities. On port days, we stayed together.

 

We did prepay our tips. However, we thought the Head waiter and our room steward did such a good job that we gave them both extra at the end. They called us each by name. The steward let our daughter in her cabin one day when I had her sign & sail card. She was so efficient in cleaning & prepping our rooms. The head waiter brought little extras to our table. They went above and beyond. Our waiter was Jaydi (pronounced A.D.) and our room steward was Melinda.

 

We had a 3:30 flight home. Super late, but it was hard to find an afternoon flight at all ! We packed late the night before. Put all our bags in one room along the wall and went to breakfast. We told the steward we were done in our room and feel free to do anything to the other one you want and we'd come back after breakfast & get the bags. We took one last walk around the lido and left the ship. It was around 9:20.

 

Disembarking was easy. We did have to carry all our bags (3 big ones, 4 carry ons, 2 purses, and 2 totes) down the escalator but there was an elevator available. Wheeled through customs and out the door.

 

Taxi's were down on the end. It was a flat $20 to the airport. We were checked in and sitting down before 10:15.

[GAMOM4]

Wow! Loved your review! We were on the same ship and I have started posting a review....I can't remember how to post the pictures so they show up ... and I have done this before...this was our 9th cruise...I loved reading the things that your family did....we had the FTTF also...got on about the same time you did..used the FTTF at guest services, tendering and for the zone 1.

 

We didn't eat in the MDR but once for brunch (to get the free drink) and on the first Elegant night. We went to 3 shows (we normally only go to one ... but thought the entertainment on this ship was outstanding). We never played the putt-putt or even made it up to the level that it was on.

 

One place in Grand Cayman (this was our first trip there) that had really well priced souveniers was at Pedro's Castle ... this is run by the government ... our tour guide told us that if we were going to purchase something that the best prices was at that little store. We did the Grand Cayman Safari and loved it..we were the only two on it.

 

I kept looking at your pictures to see if maybe we saw you on board somewhere but I'm not sure.

 

This was our 4th time in Key West..all on cruises....now we try to book cruises that go to Key West each time becuase I love going there!!!!!!

 

Thanks again for your great review.....yours is way better than mine!:)

[joydisney]

Great review. We are planning to take this cruise in January 2014, have not booked yet. We love Key West, so a great incentive!

[chathamman]

Wow, what a great review and really timely for me and my family. We leave in 32 days on same cruise. My wife and I, our son & his girl friend (24 & 23) and my daughter and her friend (both 17). What is really interesting is that our plan for Grand Cayman is to spend the day at the beach at the Royal Palms and for Jamaica the Zip Lining/River Tubing Combo. So hearing your comments is really helpful!

 

On other cruises my wife and I have loved the piano bar, what did you think about the entertainer and crowds there?

 

Glad you had a GREAT Cruise! ;)

[CheckersMidwest]

Thanks everyone ! We did have a great time and are looking at possibly the Freedom going to Aruba & Caraucao . I'd mentioned back to backs and now we're wishing we'd just stayed on the Freedom and went on. Wouldn't that be cool ?! Also considering the one out of San Juan. Or maybe the Dream.......:)

 

Airfare cost us just over $1600 ! We figure if it's going to cost that much just to get somewhere, we might as well make the most of it. A back to back would make the second cruise portion so much more reasonable.

 

GAMOM: I put all my pictures on my computer in the photos section. I moved the files to Shutterfly. From Shutterfly I clicked each picture to make it bigger then copy & paste. Glad you had a great cruise too !

 

We did go to the piano bar. There was always a crowd. The 'usuals' seemed to sit around the bar and knew each other. The guy seemed to know all the songs requested and sang a few 'pub' funny songs too. The piano rotated while he played. We sat at one of the tables.