Cheapo dad's trip report on Freedom of the Seas

[harryfat1]

Happy cruising Harry! It's a good thing they are doing extra sanitizing and taking the time to be extra cautious.

Thanks for well wishes.

 

No more Noro virus protocol in place at buffet. We can all serve ourselves.

 

Talk to you when I get back. Will be online for awhile until we get to San Juan as cheapo dad not paying voom or zoom or whatever they charge for internet.

 

Few pics from today. Including free onboard champagne for all.

 

Sent from my Samsung Note 8 using Tapatalk

[dani negreanu]

No more Noro virus protocol in place at buffet.

 

Harry, glad the Noro virus is a thing of past.

 

Thoroughly enjoy your cruise,

Merry X-mas and a very Happy New Year to all of you, Dani

[joand452]

Merry Christmas and Happy Cruising, Harry and family!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[wilmingtech]

Hi, Sean,

 

Good to speak with you once again.

 

We will be sailing on the Indy next week to the hurricane battered Eastern Caribbean for a long 9 day Christmas cruise. This wasn't the original plan as holiday cruises are super expensive but my son's school district changed their winter vacation time and this is the only time we can cruise. So I had to suck it up and pay a huge premium just to be on a cruise this year.

 

Cheapo dad will need to attend therapy post cruise to get over this traumatic experience. I think I will title the next installment as - (Slightly less) Cheapo dad's trip report on the Indy...

 

That being said, I am excited to visit the eastern Caribbean to see what is the latest news on the storm ravaged islands and how things look currentlt. We will be visiting San Juan and St. Maarten as ports of call and the reporter in me wants to see how things first hand.

 

I believe we will be the second wave of cruisers going to St. Maarten after the Grandeur visit. Hopefully I will have some pictures to share for future cruisers going to those two ports in the near future.

 

I signed up for the island tour at St. Maarten and even the tour guide has no idea on where he might take us when we get there as things are in state of flux in the island on what might be open or closed. So we'll just wing it when we get there but I'm sure we'll have fun as we're on vacation and not working.

 

Talk to you when we get back. Happy holiday to you and yours.

 

Harry

 

(Hey, your phone is SM 950U per your signature. That's the new Samsung Note 8, right? I have same phone as well after trading in my Note 5 for the Note 8)

 

Enjoy Your Cruise Harry!

 

Im looking forward to reading this years installment of "Not So Cheapo Dad...." cant wait to read about the therapy visits!

 

I dont think I could swing those holiday prices. I wont tell you about the amazing deal we got sailing the week before Christmas this year. (Inspired by some Cheapo Guy around these parts that writes about how much money you can save by not sailing the week of Christmas)

 

Interested to hear your take on the Islands.

 

As to the phone - Same boat... went from the 5 to the 8. Been on a note since the Note 2. Love this phone. Takes great pictures and just has some amazing features.

 

Taken with Note 8 -

 

Enjoy your cruise. See you on the other side.

 

-Sean

 

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

[taylortime05]

Enjoy Your Cruise Harry!

 

Im looking forward to reading this years installment of "Not So Cheapo Dad...." cant wait to read about the therapy visits!

 

I dont think I could swing those holiday prices. I wont tell you about the amazing deal we got sailing the week before Christmas this year. (Inspired by some Cheapo Guy around these parts that writes about how much money you can save by not sailing the week of Christmas)

 

Interested to hear your take on the Islands.

 

As to the phone - Same boat... went from the 5 to the 8. Been on a note since the Note 2. Love this phone. Takes great pictures and just has some amazing features.

 

Taken with Note 8 -

 

Enjoy your cruise. See you on the other side.

 

-Sean

 

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

 

I would love to hear the strategy to getting the best deals for traveling the week before Xmas. How good was your deal? I am always looking for a great deal.

[Coralc]

Hi Harry,

 

I copied your giant iguana photo from the water taxi dock and had it printed at Walgreens along with our other Ft. Lauderdale and cruise photos. I work on our personal photo albums over the holidays.

 

Bill asked where we took it? :)

 

I told him that it was one of yours, but certainly photo album worthy!

 

That is one of the largest iguanas that I have ever seen. Thanks for sharing!

 

~Patti :D

[wilmingtech]

I would love to hear the strategy to getting the best deals for traveling the week before Xmas. How good was your deal? I am always looking for a great deal.

Gotta just keep an eye on the prices. About 18 - 12 months out do a mock booking for one of the cheapest weeks of the year for the sailing you are contemplating. (Typically the 1st week or two of december is pretty cheap for most Itineraries)

 

Use that as a base line and when the prices drop below that baseline you will know you are getting a pretty good deal.

 

There are many times of year such as Spring Break and Christmas week where the prices will hardly if ever drop and the cheapest time to buy is usually 18 months out or when they first go on sale.

 

But other weeks such as the weeks between Type thanksgiving and Christmas or a week or two before the end of October where you can usually find a good sale if the ships not selling out.

 

I cant really tell you how good a deal I got as it would only increase the number of Harry's therapy sessions and he would go from Cheapo Dad to Broke Dad.

 

:)

 

-Sean

 

PS - I will say we got 2 balcony cabins for less than 2 inside cabins.

 

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

[taylortime05]

Gotta just keep an eye on the prices. About 18 - 12 months out do a mock booking for one of the cheapest weeks of the year for the sailing you are contemplating. (Typically the 1st week or two of december is pretty cheap for most Itineraries)

 

Use that as a base line and when the prices drop below that baseline you will know you are getting a pretty good deal.

 

There are many times of year such as Spring Break and Christmas week where the prices will hardly if ever drop and the cheapest time to buy is usually 18 months out or when they first go on sale.

 

But other weeks such as the weeks between Type thanksgiving and Christmas or a week or two before the end of October where you can usually find a good sale if the ships not selling out.

 

I cant really tell you how good a deal I got as it would only increase the number of Harry's therapy sessions and he would go from Cheapo Dad to Broke Dad.

 

:)

 

-Sean

 

PS - I will say we got 2 balcony cabins for less than 2 inside cabins.

 

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

 

Thank you for the great tips! We recently got Oasis 8D balcony for 2 for Dec 16 2018 for total of 1529. That seemed like a pretty good deal. The price is closer to 2000 now. It really pays to keep tabs on the prices.

[harryfat1]

We are baaaaack. Here at Miami airport waiting to board the long flight back to West coast. Thanks for all comments. I will respond when I get home later.

 

Just few pics for now. One of which is Orient beach at St. Maarten. Totally wiped out but Maho beach is still operational.

 

I will start new trip report tomorrow with few picture uploads. But actual trip report will take few days yo really get started as it will take me several days to sort out the thousands of pics from the cruise.

 

Harry

 

Sent from my Samsung Note 8 using Tapatalk

[taylortime05]

We are baaaaack. Here at Miami airport waiting to board the long flight back to West coast. Thanks for all comments. I will respond when I get home later.

 

Just few pics for now. One of which is Orient beach at St. Maarten. Totally wiped out but Maho beach is still operational.

 

I will start new trip report tomorrow with few picture uploads. But actual trip report will take few days yo really get started as it will take me several days to sort out the thousands of pics from the cruise.

 

Harry

 

Sent from my Samsung Note 8 using Tapatalk

 

Have a safe trip home. Can't wait for your review. Did you visit San Juan?

[harryfat1]

Have a safe trip home. Can't wait for your review. Did you visit San Juan?

Yes, we did. Trying to upload few pics but having problems with internet.

 

Sent from my Samsung Note 8 using Tapatalk

[harryfat1]

4 more from the cell phone pics

 

Sent from my Samsung Note 8 using Tapatalk

[taylortime05]

What did you do in San Juan? We are on Freedom next Saturday. Me and hubby were going to walk around and see forts. My adult kids and spouses want to try something more adventurous like ATV excursion. I am worried sick on all the news I am hearing about police calling in sick and half the island still without electricity.

[AmyJA]

WHAT! no picture to the ships rear end?

[harryfat1]

Haha, of course I have them. Was saving them for the real trip report where I will reference the rap song. But here are few ship pictures in the meantime.

 

Off to Costco to buy food as we have nothing in the refrigerator after being out past 10 days.

 

Sent from my Samsung Note 8 using Tapatalk

[LuCruise]

Welcome back Harry. Cruise looks great. Can't wait to read your report.

[Miryam1234]

Harry! Please give us a new Cheapo Dad report!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[harryfat1]

What did you do in San Juan? We are on Freedom next Saturday. Me and hubby were going to walk around and see forts. My adult kids and spouses want to try something more adventurous like ATV excursion. I am worried sick on all the news I am hearing about police calling in sick and half the island still without electricity.

 

Yes, we went to San Juan and as matter of fact, we walked to the two forts as the free trolleys were not running when we were there on Christmas Eve. It’s a decent hike to go to both places as it’s steep at certain places but as long as you have no mobility issues, you can walk the route.

 

I can’t vouch for the rest of the island but at the dock area and the rest of old San Juan that we saw, there were no problems. Plenty of taxis at dock side looking to take people for tour of the island for $20/pp but we passed as we wanted to see the forts.

 

I will not get to the part about San Juan in my trip report before you leave. Actually, at my typical snail pace in writing trip reports, I might not even get to San Juan by time you return as San Juan was day 4 for us. I will upload few pictures from my cell phone for now to show you what we saw as it’s easier to upload random pictures via the Tapatalk app than my usual Shutterfly upload.

[harryfat1]

6 pics from our self guided San Juan forts walking trip.

 

Pic of idle trolley not running on our visit.

 

Sent from my Samsung Note 8 using Tapatalk

[harryfat1]

Harry! Please give us a new Cheapo Dad report!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

Welcome back Harry. Cruise looks great. Can't wait to read your report.

 

Hi,

 

Nice to speak with you ladies again. It will take me awhile to get all the pictures sorted and uploaded. As always, we took way too many pictures with multiple cameras and cell phones. Per the last count, think we took around 5,000 pictures as a family. Of course, many are duplicates or bad ones. Hopefully I can find enough to drop them into the upcoming trip report.

 

I will try to start the report either today or tomorrow and sort out the pictures as I go along. For now, real live issues such as buying food and laundry demands my attention...

[taylortime05]

6 pics from our self guided San Juan forts walking trip.

 

Pic of idle trolley not running on our visit.

 

Sent from my Samsung Note 8 using Tapatalk

 

Thank you Harry! I am really hoping that Royal would not have the excursion if it wasn't safe. I really look forward to reading as much of your trip report before we leave. :)

[SeaTeach]

Absolutely love your style of writing which is filled with major hilarity. Looking forward to the next installation of "Cheapo Dad's Trip Report".

[harryfat1]

Enjoy Your Cruise Harry!

 

Im looking forward to reading this years installment of "Not So Cheapo Dad...." cant wait to read about the therapy visits!

 

I dont think I could swing those holiday prices. I wont tell you about the amazing deal we got sailing the week before Christmas this year. (Inspired by some Cheapo Guy around these parts that writes about how much money you can save by not sailing the week of Christmas)

 

Interested to hear your take on the Islands.

 

As to the phone - Same boat... went from the 5 to the 8. Been on a note since the Note 2. Love this phone. Takes great pictures and just has some amazing features.

 

Taken with Note 8 -

 

Enjoy your cruise. See you on the other side.

 

-Sean

 

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

 

Very nice picture.

 

It's amazing how far these cell phone cameras has come the past 10 years in terms of technology. This is the first cruise we took more than half of the pictures via the cell phones instead of regular cameras.

 

I had no choice on the holiday cruising prices as the dang school district changed my kid's vacation schedule so I had to cancel my pre Christmas cruise and re-book the holiday cruise. The eternal battle of bad of good dad and cheapo dad in deciding to take them out of school or not in order to save some money.

Edited January 1, 2018 by harryfat1
Dumb software keeps adding an extra line inbetween paragraphs

[harryfat1]

Hi Harry,

 

I copied your giant iguana photo from the water taxi dock and had it printed at Walgreens along with our other Ft. Lauderdale and cruise photos. I work on our personal photo albums over the holidays.

 

Bill asked where we took it? :)

 

I told him that it was one of yours, but certainly photo album worthy!

 

That is one of the largest iguanas that I have ever seen. Thanks for sharing!

 

~Patti :D

 

Hi, Patti,

 

Good talking to you once again.

 

I didn't know you wanted the iguana pictures. If I had known, I could have emailed you the original file as that would have higher resolution than you getting it from online.

 

As luck have it, we saw few more of these guys at St. Maarten so I have more pictures of them. Even one with a "bow tie" - you will see what I mean when I post the picture. Of course, took some pictures of trees and plants with you in mind...

 

Harry

[harryfat1]

Absolutely love your style of writing which is filled with major hilarity. Looking forward to the next installation of "Cheapo Dad's Trip Report".

 

Thanks for the kind words. Hope the next installment doesn't suck with all the "hype" similar to Star Wars movies in hyping their product.