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A Somewhat Live ‘Novel’ Review of the 9/1/13 Freedom of the Seas Cruise

foxgoodrich

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foxgoodrich

foxgoodrich

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September 1 - Cruise Day!

Rusty, as usual, was up first and made coffee in the little in-room coffee maker. It was certainly not a Keurig! (Sob!:() And there was no Dark Magic bold coffee, their usual brew, but Rusty was resourceful and used double the coffee packets to insure the coffee was at least strong enough, and not just coffee-scented brown water. It smelled good enough to get Anastasia out of bed and it was strong enough to get her eyes fully open, so it did the trick.

 

A check of the Port Canaveral web cam showed 3 ships in port this morning - the Freedom of the Seas, the Disney Dream, and the Carnival Sensation. The Freedom was visible in the distance from the hotel room balcony. Randy took his binoculars out this morning to have a look, and though he patiently waited for the fog to clear on the lenses, the heavy humidity made a good view difficult. The camera didn’t care much for the humidity either, but he was finally able to take a few pictures.

 

Rusty and Anastasia got themselves ready for the day and went downstairs for the breakfast buffet (and more coffee) at the Doubletree. They enjoyed a leisurely breakfast and stopped at the desk to confirm their 10:00am shuttle to the port. Then it was time to bring the luggage down, check out of the hotel and meet the shuttle.

 

They met up with Carol and Eddie in the lobby, and the wait for the shuttle began. And the wait went on. And on! Finally, Rusty checked with the concierge. The shuttles were running late due to a jam-up of traffic at the port. Apparently there were delays for passengers disembarking the Freedom this morning, but nobody could tell them exactly why these delays occurred! Finally the shuttle arrived at 10:40 and Rusty, Anastasia, Carol and Eddie eagerly hopped aboard for their ride to the port. After two stops to pick up additional passengers, they arrived at Port Canaveral and saw a long line of passengers waiting to get into the building.

 

Luckily, since both couples had Diamond status, they were shown to a shorter line and entered the building. First step was the x-ray of hand luggage. Anastasia’s gigantic travel purse and her roll-aboard carryon went through the x-ray with no problems, as did Rusty’s backpack. Rusty’s roll-aboard carryon, however, was “detained” in the x-ray machine!

 

“Sir, do you have pocket knife in this bag?” asked the security lady.

 

“Yes, I have a tiny little Buck knife with a blade that’s 1 and 3/4 inches long,” Rusty replied.

“I just flew in on United Airlines with that little knife. And it’s been on 16 previous Royal Caribbean cruises with me. It’s also been to Asia and Europe on airplanes. I use it to clean my fingernails. The TSA has blessed it. Is there a problem?”

 

“It’s a dangerous weapon, Sir, and it isn’t allowed to be brought on the ship,” said the security lady sternly.

 

At this point, Anastasia was about to argue with the lady, but Rusty gave her THE LOOK and shushed her. Rusty believed that there was just no point in arguing with this lady, so he filled out a little form and handed over his tiny dangerous manicure tool. He was told where he could pick it up after the cruise.

 

Rusty was terribly disappointed as this was his favorite little knife! Now he would have to find another method to clean his fingernails, and he, being somewhat fastidious about his personal grooming, just hated to see any kind of dirt under his nails. Anastasia reassured him, though. She reminded him that she had her small Swiss Army knife safely tucked away in her gigantic travel purse and she would let him use it.

 

They left the security area in wonderment! Rusty had to give up his tiny knife, while Anastasia’s handy little Swiss Army knife, equipped with tiny scissors, tweezers, a toothpick, a nail file, and a 2 inch knife blade had breezed right through that x-ray machine.

 

Whew! That was an interesting experience, but they decided not to let this little security weirdness cast a shadow on their cruise, so they took the escalator up to the check-in area. Within minutes they had checked in, filled out the health form on which they swore that neither of them had the swine flu, and handed over a credit card to set up their account on the ship. Photos were taken and their Sea Pass cards were handed over. They left the counter and continued onto the gangway to enter the ship at 11:20am. Day 1 on the Freedom of the Seas had officially begun.

 

Day 1 to be continued! Problems (alas!) uploading photos have caused this to be a short installment, but please be assured there will be more tomorrow!

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foxgoodrich

foxgoodrich

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As they walked onto the ship, they talked about their morning. They had risen early and been treated to a beautiful display of early morning sunlight filtered through clouds over the ocean. The view from their little balcony at the Doubletree had been nice.

 

EarlymorningCocoaBeach.jpg

 

They had also seen the Freedom of the Seas in the early morning haze, waiting for them in Port Canaveral.

 

Freedominport.jpg

 

Anastasia and Rusty concluded that the morning had been lovely, despite the long wait for the shuttle to the port and the issue with port security over Rusty’s little pocket knife. Undaunted, they headed straight for the elevator to go to the Windjammer (or as Rusty had affectionately nicknamed it, the “Foodcrammer.”) The Foodcrammer was already full of people and a long line was forming just past the entrance. Rusty knew the best strategy was to head straight to the back to find a table. They were able to find a round table for 4, however it only had 2 chairs. This was perfect! It offered seating for 2 and plenty of carryon parking space under the table where the other 2 chairs would have been. The table secured, each of them took a tour of the buffet islands and came back with lunch. The roast beef was excellent and the mashed potatoes outstanding! The salad bar was nice, as was the array of fresh fruit available.

 

After lunch there was a short excursion to the dessert area. By accident they found the absolute best dessert either of them had ever had in the Foodcrammer! It was called an “Opera Slice” and it consisted of thin layers of cake alternating with layers of creamy stuff, topped with a nice thick layer of delectable dark chocolate. Anastasia was tempted to get two pieces of this confection since the pieces were small, but she resisted. It was good that she did because she discovered that the Opera Slice was so rich and satisfying, one small piece was perfect.

 

Bestdessertpic.jpg

 

After lunch there was still some time to kill before they could get into their Junior Suite. So a stroll of the Promenade was in order. Their favorite sculpture on the ship, the mermaid diving down through the ceiling of the Promenade with a trail of bubbles, greeted them and welcomed them back to Freedom. They remembered that the lighting of this mermaid sculpture changed at night and made a promise to come back and visit her later. (Rusty had always been quite fond of her because....ahem...her 'high beams' are on.:o

 

Promenadesculpture.jpg

 

Shops, of course, were not open yet since the ship was still in port, but Anastasia indulged in a little window shopping as they walked along. Tables were set up for various attractions on the ship, including the specialty restaurants and Vintages. They found that there is a new feature on Freedom - a wine pairing dinner at Vintages. A seven course meal, which is basically the same menu as the Main Dining Room, is served and a different wine is paired with each course. Choices of food are given, so different diners will be sampling different wines with their courses, depending on their individual choices. The sommelier is present for the whole meal explaining the reasons for the pairings of particular wines with particular foods. This experience is selling for $49 per person, and it’s offered every night of the cruise. Part of Vintages had been set up with a small number of tables for the dining experience, and the number of people who can participate on a given evening is limited.

 

Anastasia and Rusty, being somewhat dedicated (though high-functioning) winos, were tempted to make a reservation right then and there! After discussing it with the sommelier in Vintages, they decided to wait a day or two to book until they had figured out how they would be spending their evenings. But this was something they both thought would be fun and both enjoyed tasting and learning about new wines. They learned that there is no specific time for this experience - the diners can come at any time during the dinner hours as the table is theirs for the whole evening.

 

to be continued....

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paulsurf

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Hey paulsurf....why did you say to be careful at the Mystery Dinner Theater? We are booked for that on the Sept. 15th Freedom sailing. Just curious.

 

 

Just as a precaution . Safe guarding to keep their characters from getting lost into another

novel.

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foxgoodrich

foxgoodrich

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Please know that we are working on this! We've had a few internet issues (very slow, couldn't go anywhere...same old, same old!:() and a couple of problems uploading pictures. Hoping the pic problem is solved now!

 

There is much more to come! But today was a busy one, and there is editing still to be done, so I won't post more tonight. (Rusty and Anastasia are TIRED from all that sun and fun on Labadee today!) But more adventures will be posted tomorrow.

 

Thanks for your patience! And thanks so much for all the great comments - I'm so motivated to continue!!:) I will try to get caught up tomorrow.

Judy

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foxgoodrich

foxgoodrich

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1:00pm rolled around, so Rusty and Anastasia went up to deck 10 to find their cabin, JS 1364. Anastasia had arranged a little surprise for Rusty - she had bought the Happy Birthday decorations from Gifts and Gear before the cruise. So when he entered the cabin, he looked up in surprise at the colorful decorations hanging over the bed and in the sitting area. He was surprised and delighted! The cabin was the normal junior suite, with an expanded sitting area, a huge walk-in closet, a balcony that was a little larger than the normal balcony cabins, and a bathroom that had a tub/shower combination. The balcony was equipped with two chairs, a small table, and a lounger. JS 1364 looked like a great place to spend the next seven days!

JS1364.jpg

JS1364-2.jpg

 

Anastasia and Rusty stowed their carryon items and left to continue exploring the ship. Anastasia needed to go to Guest Services to apply their internet coupons and to the computer center on deck 8 to set up a user ID and password, so these tasks were done first. Then they went back to deck 11 to walk around the pool deck. The pool deck was starting to fill up with people, and there were already people in the pools and hot tubs. Anastasia loved the H2O Zone on Freedom! It’s colorful, inviting, and offers so many water play options. She and Rusty really wanted to do a family cruise with their son, daughter-in-law and two granddaughters one day on a ship like this one.

 

“I wonder if I could ‘borrow’ somebody’s child and go play in the H20 Zone,” said Anastasia.

 

“Ana,” Rusty replied, “You can’t just walk up to someone and ask to borrow their kid! They’d probably think you were some kind of a pervert!”

 

“Well,” she responded, “it just looks like so much fun in there! There’s even a small ‘lazy river’ pool that I’d love to try out. I think I’d feel stupid going in there without a kid.”

 

“Tell you what,” said Rusty, “Let’s stay aboard at one of the ports and you can take ME in there and play. How about that? I am younger than you, you know!”

He grinned broadly and she whacked him smartly on the back of his head. (she had learned this technique from Leroy Jethro Gibbs on NCIS)

 

They decided to get out of the sun and headed back down to the Promenade. Rusty wanted to check out the Connoisseur Club, the cigar lounge on Freedom. It’s located just inside the entryway to Pharaoh’s Palace at the forward end of the Promenade. It’s a manly oasis for guys who enjoy a good cigar, which is a ritual indulgence for Rusty’s enjoyment aboard cruises.

 

On the way, Anastasia met the Kung Fu Panda!

Panda.jpg

 

They stepped into the Connoisseur Club and looked around. One of the couples from the hotel shuttle, Matt and Deb, were seated in the lounge while Matt enjoyed a cigar. The bar was unmanned at this time of day. They stopped briefly to chat with Matt and Deb and Rusty engaged in a little cigar talk with Matt.

 

As it was now late afternoon, they decided to go back to the cabin to see if their luggage had arrived yet. It had not yet been delivered, but they met their stateroom attendant, Rondell, who greeted them with a smile. They let him know that they enjoyed having ice in the room, and he promised to bring it morning and evening. They also requested a foam egg crate pad to be put on the bed to soften it a bit. Rondell promised to do that when he did the evening turndown.

 

Anastasia decided to try getting online with her laptop in the room. She was successful, but dismayed to find that she could not log off! With her free internet minutes starting to disappear like dust in the Oklahoma wind, she flew down to Guest Services with her computer. The GS young lady gave her a URL to type in and told her to bookmark it. This would log her off. She also gave her back a credit on the Sea Pass account for the minutes used, which was very nice. Apparently the Royal wifi is not very Mac friendly, as this situation had occurred enough that there is actually a little pamphlet that tells Apple users how to log off. Hmmmph! Anastasia thought that in today’s world there are surely lots of Apple users. She had already seen about a hundred Ipads walking around the ship. Surely Royal can do better for folks using the Apple OS!

 

When she went back to the cabin, luggage had arrived. But it was almost time for Sail Away, so she and Rusty put on their Tilley hats and sunglasses and went back down to deck 4, intending to enjoy Sail Away on the helipad with members of their Meet & Mingle group. They stopped in Bolero’s on the way for the ritual drinks - a Mojito for Anastasia and a Corona for Rusty. Off they went, walking forward and up the stairs to the helipad, which already had a fair sized group of people standing at the rails. Rusty and Anastasia stood next to a couple of young women from Texas right at the bow of the ship and chatted for a few minutes before the ship left. The ladies from Texas were telling Anastasia about a rather bitchy woman who had bent their ear earlier about all her complaints about Royal Caribbean. The girl told Ana that all she could think of to say was, “Well, bless your heart!” and Anastasia cracked up. Being a good southern girl herself, originally from North Carolina, she knew very well that “Well, bless your heart!” actually means EFF YOU in polite-southern-girl-speak. (But I digress...)

 

Finally it was time! The Freedom of the Seas started to push away from the pier and began to sail slowly out of Port Canaveral. The ship’s horn blew - what a fantastic sound that is - and everybody cheered. Anastasia and Rusty clinked their glass and bottle and drank a toast to the cruise. They were off! As the ship progressed out of the port, they watched the water and waved to people going by in small boats. Suddenly a shout went up! They saw two dolphins cavorting in the water just ahead of the ship! What a treat that was - the dolphins jumped again and again, as if they were part of the entertainment, providing a nicely choreographed water show for the enjoyment of all the passengers on the helipad. The sail away had been a good one, so they left the helipad and headed upstairs to their cabin.

 

She and Rusty spent the next hour or so unpacking and getting spiffed up a bit before dinner (late seating in the MDR.) When they were sufficiently presentable, they ventured up to the Diamond Club on deck 14. Rusty put his Sea Pass in the slot and nothing happened. Then he noticed a sign that directed D and above cruisers to Pharaoh’s Palace for cocktails this evening. Apparently the Diamond Lounge and the Concierge Lounge were being combined in Pharaoh’s tonight. (This was fine, but it would have been nice to have know ahead of time! Maybe a letter or card could have been left in the cabin...oh well!)

 

So they hopped the elevator back down to Pharaoh’s Palace lounge on deck 5. The room was fairly crowded, but they were invited to join a group and sat down. They ordered drinks which were delivered almost immediately. The three couples in the group were great and conversation was flowing. All were laughing and chatting...suddenly a younger woman, blonde and fortyish, with a big martini glass in her hand pulled up a chair and joined the group. In about 12 seconds everyone realized that she was drunk as a skunk and was making no sense at all. Unfortunately, she was sitting right next to Rusty, eyeing him and complimenting him on the long silver braid hanging down his back. (Anastasia calls it his ‘hippie combover’ as he seems to be replacing the hair he’s losing on top with that braid hanging down his back. It does look good, though. And Rusty is a tall, skinny guy who wears it very well. She also knows he won’t cut it off since he gets an awful lot of female attention with that braid...usually from women more enjoyable than this one,...again I digress!)

 

So the drunk chick was eyeing Rusty and trying to talk some kind of gibberish to him. He was polite, as was Anastasia. The other couples in the group were watching this drama with a little eye rolling. Rusty was polite, but not encouraging, so the lady finally lost interest and wandered off for greener pastures. The group had a good chuckle about her and number of fairly colorful comments were made, eliciting even more laughter.

 

Main Dining Room

LeonardosDeck3MDR-1.jpg

Dinner in the MDR was a little disappointing tonight. Anastasia and Rusty were shown to their table for six, and they were alone at that great big table! Since both enjoyed conversing with other diners at dinner, it wasn’t much fun to be at a big table by themselves. They asked to be moved, and the assistant headwaiter promised to do so the next night.

 

Anastasia, a great fan of Royal’s chilled fruit soups, ordered the watermelon raspberry soup as her starter. It was dreadful! In fact she thought it tasted a lot like kerosene smells! Plus, it was WARM and not even remotely chilled. She took two sips and pushed it away. Rusty’s caesar salad was much more successful. Both enjoyed the prime rib, which was excellent. Anastasia’s carrot cake for dessert was very good too.

 

After dinner, they went to the Connoisseur Club so Rusty could enjoy a cigar. They met a few interesting people in there, including an elderly, but fairly spry, man named Ted. Ted was traveling solo. When Anastasia asked him if he were married, he replied that he was not. She asked if he had a woman in his life, and he told her he would like to have a woman in his life, but since he was 85 years old he had outlived them all. Anastasia thought he was flirting with her just a bit! Later Rusty confirmed that he thought Ted was indeed flirting and that he also thought Ted liked her cleavage since he seemed to be looking at that part of her during their time in the lounge! (Anastasia was somewhat complimented...she had finally met a man who thought she was a YOUNG chick!) After a drink in the Connoisseur Club and Rusty’s cigar, they retired for the evening.

 

Next...Day 2, a day at sea on Freedom

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foxgoodrich

foxgoodrich

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The Cruise Compass indicated that today’s forecast would be 90 degrees and partly cloudy. The humidity, as usual, was high. Rusty and Anastasia had used the hang tag for room service coffee and had ask for a delivery between 7:30 and 8:00am. True to form, they got their wake-up call from Room Service at about 7:40 to let them know that coffee was on the way. Rusty opened the door in his robe, as Anastasia scooted into the bathroom. The coffee was placed on the small table, he tipped the server, and then let Anastasia (still in her nightgown) know that it was safe to come out of the bathroom. She also put on a robe. There had been two terry robes in the cabin closet, and they both used them. The robes were new and had a different insignia than those they had had in the past. These robes had a round Crown and Anchor patch sewn on them rather than the Royal Caribbean logo that used to be on them.

 

Rusty pulled out his slippers. (On past cruises, they had been given Royal Caribbean slippers many times. Despite the fact that this ‘gift’ from Royal is a thing of the past, both had a supply of these at home, and both had brought a pair.)

 

“Damn! I can’t believe what I did,” said Rusty as he put on his slippers.

 

“What? What are you talking about,” Anastasia asked.

 

“I brought two RIGHT slippers!” Rusty looked down at his feet.

 

Anastasia giggled - Rusty’s feet really looked weird! “How do they feel,” she asked.

 

“Well...not too bad,” said Rusty, “but a little strange. They’ll be okay. It does feel a little wrong though. I’ve heard of people with two left feet...maybe I’m the first to have two right feet!”

 

They moved their coffee out onto the balcony to start their day at sea. The seas were calm and almost smooth with no whitecaps showing at all. The morning light was bright, but their balcony was in the shade since their cabin was on the starboard side of the ship, away from the rising sun. As they enjoyed a couple of cups of coffee with their Kindles on the balcony, a sudden movement under the balcony partition on the left caused both of them to look down at the deck. A tiny gray bird walked under the partition and slowly made its way across their balcony, stopping to peck here and there, heading across to the partition on the right side! Both were amazed at this and they concluded that this little guy (whom they named Birdy) had to be a stowaway. They were too far from land for a bird of this size to make the trip to the ship. Neither knew what kind of a bird it was, but it looked to be slightly smaller than a wren and had a nice little display of stripes on its chest. This was a first! Never before had they experienced wildlife on a cruise ship balcony! Rusty crushed a pretzel (from the plane) and put it on the balcony deck. Soon Birdy came back and had a snack.

Birdy.jpg

 

After sufficient fortification by a couple of cups of room service coffee (which was actually pretty decent coffee, by the way), they dressed and ventured out for breakfast. They decided to go to the MDR, but upon reaching it were dismayed to find a huge line of people standing in the lobby waiting to be seated. They decided to go to the Foodcrammer (Windjammer) instead, so they got back on the elevator and headed up. Breakfast was fine. One thing they missed on this cruise, though, was the Diamond Breakfast. This is usually an area off the MDR where D and above cruisers can order off the menu and get specialty coffees with breakfast. Apparently it is no longer offered on Freedom. Chops is open for D and above to bring their plates of food in from the Windjammer and sit in a quieter setting. Juices and coffee are available there, but the food must be gathered at the buffet.

 

After breakfast, they walked back down to deck 10 and stopped by the cabin briefly. A surprise was in store for both of them! Rusty grabbed his Tilley hat, as they intended to walk a bit on deck 12 before the Meet & Mingle, and he needed to protect the top of his head from the sun. A Tilley hat has a small pocket with a velcro closure on the inside of the top of the hat. While Anastasia dug out her little ship purse and began to put a few necessities in it, he opened the little pocket. He pulled out $23 and his Sea Pass from their last cruise. Wow! Found Money!

 

They both laughed about this as Anastasia loaded up her little Baggallini bag. All Baggallini bags have a bunch of zipper pockets, so she was opening various ones and stowing sunglasses, lip gloss, a few bucks, some Kleenex, etc. She opened the zipper pocket on the inside of the bag and found two fifties and a ten dollar bill! MORE FOUND MONEY! This was amazing - $133 they didn’t know they had! It felt like a little savings account left over from their April cruise!

 

They went up to the Olive or Twist lounge on deck 14 for their Cruise Critic Meet & Mingle party, scheduled for 10:15. They were early, so they walked over to the windows and spent a few minutes gazing at the ocean, which was still calm and lovely. They had not received the invitation to this event in their cabin as they normally did, but Anastasia had a copy of her registration confirmation from May 30 in her bag. They were given the name tags to fill out, tickets to fill out for the prize drawings, and the usual blue lanyard/note pad. Katie, the Activities Director, led the Meet & Mingle, and she was a hoot! Judging by her accent, Anastasia thought she was probably Australian. She had a quick wit and a great sense of humor, and the gathering was fun. The prizes were a couple of bottles of wine (Katie said it was “very cheap wine” and got quite a laugh from the crowd), some coupons for 30 minutes of free internet (that would have been nice!), and a few RC logo items. Neither won a prize.

 

After the Meet & Mingle, they sat and talked to a few of the people from the roll call. It was nearly noon by the time they left. Neither was hungry, so they went back to the cabin and Anastasia got online for a short time. The roll call group had scheduled a Slot Pull for 1:00 and both of them had signed up for it. So they went down to the Casino a little early. Anastasia decided to try her luck on a quarter slot machine before the Slot Pull, so she put a twenty in the machine and played for about 10 minutes. At 1:00 she had $22.00 in the machine, so she cashed out with $2 ahead!

 

There were 40 people signed up for the Slot Pull, and each put in fifteen dollars. A Wheel of Fortune $1 machine was chosen, so each player would get 5 pulls at the max $3 bet. The pulls began. A few people won a little, but most lost a little. Then one lady hit a $250 jackpot! Several people got to spin the wheel, adding anywhere from $30 to $150 to the group total. At the end the machine had $760 to cash out, so each player got back $19. They were all pretty happy - the profit wasn’t a huge one, but everybody thought 26% was not a bad return.

 

This run of luck on the Wheel of Fortune machine made Anastasia want to try it, so she put in her ticket ($22) from the previous machine she had played. She spun twice with a $1 bet and twice at the max $3 bet and won $80!!! She knew better than to keep going and she cashed out. Now she could have a shopping spree at the Britto store!

 

Anastasia was fond of Romero Britto’s art. While pop art wasn’t her usual taste, there was something about Britto that she liked. His art was just...so happy! She had acquired a piece of Heys luggage with Britto’s palm tree design on it on a previous cruise on Allure. (That was the hurricane Isaac cruise - her 7 night cruise had been shortened to a 5 night cruise. Royal had done a great job of compensating the guests for this and part of the compensation had been a $650 onboard credit. Thus, she had acquired a piece of ‘happy’ luggage.) So in today’s Cruise Compass, there was an event scheduled at 2:00 - a Britto seminar in the Champagne Bar. She told Rusty she wanted to go to it, and he decided to join her.

Brittostore.jpg

 

Brittogoodgirl.jpg

 

They attended the Britto event and learned a lot about the artist. Neither won any of the prizes (Britto items) given away, but they were given a 10% discount on all their Britto purchases during the cruise. So after the seminar, she went into the store while Rusty grabbed a sandwich in the Promenade Cafe next door. She found some great gift items. There were some little notebooks with a Britto design on the cover for $6. There were some neat children’s interactive art books, so of course she had to get two of those for her granddaughters, along with some colorful placemats. Alas, there was no luggage! Nevertheless, she was pleased to find some nice gifts and got a 10% discount on her purchases. She joined Randy in the cafe with a bag full of Britto stuff!

cafe.jpg

 

After a light and late lunch, they carried her bag of goodies back to the cabin, relaxed, and Rusty helped her try to upload some pictures. It took awhile!

 

Tonight was formal night, so both showered and dressed up for the evening. Before dinner, they went to the Diamond Lounge on deck 14 and had drinks and snacks with two of the couples they had met on the first night. It was crowded in the lounge, but not too bad, so they stayed until time to go to the MDR.

 

After arriving in the dining room, they learned that they had been moved to a different table that actually had other people! (They noticed that last night’s table was completely empty tonight.) They enjoyed meeting the two couples at their table - Larry & Judy, and Susan & Chet. Both couples were from Florida. Conversation flowed, wine flowed, and the food was very good.

 

Anastasia and Rusty took a walk around the ship after dinner, Rusty enjoyed a cigar in the Connoisseur Club, and eventually they went back to the cabin and retired for the night. Both were looking forward to Labadee tomorrow!

 

Next installment: Labadee - Day 3 Aboard the Freedom of the Seas

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foxgoodrich

foxgoodrich

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Really a great concept and I love the subtle humor, especially since my reviews have humor but all the subtlety of a 10 lb. sledgehammer.

We left Freedom as you got on so we're both pretty current. Waiting for more of the saga.

Love your pic, Dr House! I'll look for your reviews...later when internet minutes aren't making me feel I need a 2nd mortgage!:rolleyes: I'm sure we'll enjoy your sledgehammer humor!!:D

Judy (aka Anastasia)

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