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LIVE attempt...Freedom of the Seas, November 5-11, 2017

paramedicduo
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beej

beej

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We're doing the same cruise on Dec 3. Will follow along with you. Sorry about your long delay . We had major problems last year and didn't sail until well after 8PM Can't wait to tag along Thanks for the review

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paramedicduo

paramedicduo

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Perhaps before the end of the week, the kids (and my husband) will learn that they don't need to eat all of the food, all of the time! I swear we walk into the Windjammer & it's like they're never going to see food again! I told them, take a little bit & return for more if you're still hungry.

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After breakie, the teenager ran away and hasn't been seen since! We took the littles to the pool for a bit before dropping them off at the kids club...that lasted all of about 15min before they were calling to get picked up - according to the staff, our 8yr old was so sad and saying he just wanted to go back with dad. I completely understood when I went to pick him up because it was all very young kids, playing very "young" games. When we spoke with the staff last night, they did say they were running one big group this week and not separating the 6-8 & 9-11 kids...it looked like maybe the 3-5s were in the same group as well.

Once we had picked them up, we decided to tour the Royal Promenade & grab some pizza for lunch. On our last Royal sailing (Oasis), I seem to remember the pizza being much better...but this reminded me of warmed cardboard with cheese on top! Dh enjoyed his Florentine slice & the kids were obliviously...it was pizza...that's all that mattered.

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With their bellies once again satisfied, we made our way up to watch the brave souls on the Flowrider. As paramedics by trade, we aren't fans of those sorts of activities for our kids, but it's a lot of fun to watch. When the kids got sick of watching, they went over to the mini putt while I soaked up some sun before we returned to the pools again.

I rarely "treat" myself & usually spend very little time on hair & makeup...for 2 reasons - I have no idea what I'm doing with either of them and #2: as a busy mom (this time of year I spend an average of 15hrs a week at the ice hockey rink...some of it for the boys & some for the teams I coach) I just don't have time. But...today, I decided, what the hell...I've got nowhere to be - lol - so I treated myself to a cut/style in the salon for formal night.

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I snuck off while hubs and the 2 youngest grabbed a few winks in the cabins - the sun really zonked everyone out today...yes, we're lightweight vacationers - no real partiers here!

Next up...formal night with the in laws...we have a 5:45 seating so we can maybe catch a movie under the stars with the kids.

 

 

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Kfoot

Kfoot

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Exciting to read your review. I am waiting to read what the Kids think of their first cruise overall. Will they get any writing done while enjoying their time at sea? Maybe not.

You're off to a great start.

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Llonergan3

Llonergan3

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Alright, let me start by saying, this is my "attempt" at a Live review...it shouldn't be difficult with the internet package dh purchased for work purposes, but the work doesn't do itself, so we'll see how I manage [emoji41]

 

We are a family of 5, just getting started on our first big family vacation and since my younger 2 boys had been challenged with keeping a Vacation Journal for school, I thought I'd attempt my own to use as a review.

We travelled from Prince Edward Island, Canada to board Freedom of the Seas on a 6 night Western sailing, with stops in Grand Cayman, Costa Maya & Cozumel. Dh and I have done 3 other cruises, but never a Western, so it will be a bit of a first for everyone.

Our boys are 15, 11 & 8 and while we've done plenty of short (diving) distance vacations & summer long camping trips, they've never flown or been out of the country, so it will be a week of firsts for them!

 

Our flight from home took off at 5:20am, thankfully we're just a 10 minute drive to the airport. The boys had hockey games the evening before we left, so we weren't in bed as early as we'd have liked, but let's be honest - nobody was going to sleep well anyhow! I crawled in to bed at about 11:30pm and back out again at 2:00am...thank God I'm used to sleepless night shifts at work :)

We drove ourselves to the airport, arriving at 3:30am. Luckily, my mom was flying back home later in the day & staying at our house to dog sit, so we just left the car in short term parking for her to take home mid day.

 

The phrase ought to be "dark & early", not "bright & early".

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The youngest was super pumped to get in the air...he was my seat mate for both flights, "calling" the window seat before I had a chance - lol.

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We started boarding to before 5am, with take off for Montreal on time. We grabbed breakie after clearing Customs (our local airport isn't an international airport) and arrived at our gate just a few minutes before boarding began. With everyone boarded, the cabin door was closed for takeoff, but just a couple of minutes later, the Captain announced a problem with a hydraulic pump & advised a mechanic was boarding to fix the problem. After 20min of waiting, another announcement came from the Captain, the problem couldn't be fixed...we had a bum plane & would need to deplane and wait for a replacement.

The problem resulted in about a 2.5hr delay, but at least that would have us arriving at our hotel after check in time and we wouldn't be stuck killing more time...WRONG!

We arrived at GalleryOne (booked mostly because we wanted a room to accommodate 5 people - being a 5min walk to the beach and on the Intercostal was a bonus) at 3:10, with the check in time advertised as 3pm. The check in process was completed in just a few minutes, but the rep assisting us said the room wasn't quite ready, but he'd Check with housekeeping & call my cell when it was ready. It was at this time that we realized the pool was empty as it was closed for maintenance. So With the kids running out of mo-jo and assuming it wouldn't be long at all, we decided to just chill in the lobby. At the 1hr mark, the 2 older boys were sound asleep on chairs in the lobby and the youngest was running on fumes...starting to get really whiney! I ordered a pizza for delivery, assuming the room wouldn't take much longer. At the 90min mark, Hubs was getting really impatient & went back to the desk - he explained how long we'd been travelling and how tired/cranky the kids are..."it should just be a few more minutes" was the reply, along with 2 free drink tickets. DUDE, we'd left home at 3:20am, if you include the hour time difference, we were at about 16hrs, we don't need drinks...we need pillows & blankets...you know...like in a hotel room [emoji12]

At the 2hr mark, Hubs returned to the desk...which happened to be just at the time the pizza delivery guy was walking in. The guy at the desk said the room was ready & he was just prepping our keys...as a gesture, he offered THREE complimentary breakfast buffets...DUDE, we're a party of 5! Nope, no go...they were only willing to comp 3 (my next review will be a Trip Advisor one [emoji12]).

 

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The room was what I was expecting - separate bedroom with 2 queens, plus a kitchen/dining/living (with pull out) areas. I didn't take any photos...we were simply done!

Once all the bellies were full, the younger boys crawled into bed, and the 15yr old and I took a stroll next door to Galleria to browse around. We were back by shortly after 8 and hubs was already getting ready for bed. Long day!

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Next up...Day 1...or as the 8yr old says, "the day that's going to be the best day of my life!" Lol

 

 

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Great first live review, looking forward to the rest of the story!! Hope your cruise is a wonderful one!!! Stay safe and enjoy!!!

 

 

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BillOh Holiday Sharing Rare

BillOh

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Next up...formal night with the in laws...we have a 5:45 seating so we can maybe catch a movie under the stars with the kids.

 

 

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If you see this couple, say," Hi Jon and Penny!" It will freak them out and remind them wherever they are, "I'm watching :evilsmile:

 

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Llonergan3

Llonergan3

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Looking forward to your live review. I have an 8 year old boy who just loves to cruise. He is counting down the days until April when we go on Liberty. Great looking family.

I was On the Liberty last January 15th and love it!! My next cruise is January 22, on the carnival Valor! Love cruising very much myself!! Safe cruising!

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njmomof2

njmomof2

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Freedom is our favorite ship and we've cruised her many times. I would think your 15 yo would try out the Flowrider...it's where my kids spend most of their time. My younger one (15 also) loves the rock wall and ice rink. Older one (almost 20) is either flowriding or napping.

 

Looking forward to the rest of your report.

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Llonergan3

Llonergan3

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Freedom is our favorite ship and we've cruised her many times. I would think your 15 yo would try out the Flowrider...it's where my kids spend most of their time. My younger one (15 also) loves the rock wall and ice rink. Older one (almost 20) is either flowriding or napping.

 

Looking forward to the rest of your report.

Hi njmomof2,

What destination was your cruise on the freedom? Haven’t been on that ship!

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CYN2920

CYN2920

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Thank you for the review. I am going on this cruise in December. The reviews that I have read state that there is a drop off nursery for those under 3. A shore excursion rep. Told me that there was not. Have you seen anything regarding this? Hope you have a fabulous cruise,

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paramedicduo

paramedicduo

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Okay...first off...the LIVE part isn't quite accurate - every time I sit to start typing up my notes, I fall asleep - lol! But, here's Day 3:

 

Grand Cayman...first port stop and the kids were excited to get started - even with the 6:30 wake up call!

We had decided last night that it would work best to order room service & the kids could be eating and getting ready at the same time. I ordered for both rooms for delivery between 6-6:30 and just before 6:30, got a call that the food was on its way...only 2 out of 5 of the orders came...nothing for the second room at all. Meh...no big deal, the teenager and I slipped up to the Windjammer and came back with a couple of plates to split.

After breakie, we made our way to the theatre for our excursion departure. Inlaws we're on tender 2 & us on the 3rd, once we made it to the port, we were quickly whisked off in a van to Dolphin Cove. As I mentioned earlier, I didn't book this one & had no idea how far the drive would be...our 2 younger boys suffer from motion sickness, so I was happy it was just a short 10-15 minute drive and unlike a few other ports we've been to, the driver wasn't a maniac.

The first part of our excursion would be with the stingrays...which required a boat ride...now this felt like tempting fate after the van ride was uneventful. But, we made it out without issue, grabbed the kids' life jackets & literally peeled the 8yr old off my leg and dragged him into the water...after hearing the safety speech on the way out, he suddenly decided he didn't want to get into the water. He clung to me like a 3rd appendage for the first 10 minutes, then slowly started to get comfortable. What a mean mother eh? It was really windy, with a heavy surf, so I knew he'd be sick on the boat & I knew if he didn't do it, he'd regret it. He didn't touch any sting rays, but he ended up thinking it was super cool & pointing them out as they swam around.

We only spent about 30 minutes in the water before returning to the boat to head back to the dolphins. The ride back was quite rough & the 3rd time was definitely a charm...the 11yr old started vomiting less than 5 minutes into the ride back! But, we always come prepared, we had a stash of vomit bags in our backpack & shoved one in front of him just in time! I know being motion sick sucks, but with this kid being so used to puking - he's mastered doing it without catching the attention of everyone around & once he's emptied his belly...he's pretty much fine. He laid his head on the bench, in the breeze, for the rest of the ride back & was recovered in time hop in the water again, for the dolphin encounter.

Now, I had no idea when this was booked, what we'd actually be doing, and since it was "just" an encounter, they immediately wanted to upsell us because the encounter doesn't include swimming with the dolphins - but I know my kids, at least 2 of them wouldn't have done anything more than we were signed up for...on to our "encounter". This included petting one as it swam by, down the line of us a few times, having it come up and stop to kiss us & be kissed, "dancing" with the dolphin, posing for a photo with it & some "dolphin education" from the trainer. The kids thought it was a pretty cool (but short) experience.

I'm "one of those" that falls for photo packages...these are all things we may never experience again, so to me, it's not a waste (though it certainly qualifies as highway robbery at $150). The process for ordering photos is fairly simply, it reminded me of the photo kiosks you put your SD card into at the pharmacy...the problem with the process is the payment & pick up of the CD. There had to be about 75 people on the excursion, with 1 person running the cash register, the line included those getting little trinkets, drinks & the photo packages...after we paid, we went to the pick up desk...chaos! 2-3 young ladies taking tickets and gathering the finished product, but they lollygagged around there like they had all the time in the world - just very frustrating when there's a bus load of people waiting for you in the parking lot!

Anyhow...back on the bus, back to the port. We were heading out just before 1 and a small group on the bus wanted to head to a beach, so they were dropped off about 10 min from the port at what was referred to as a private beach with a $2 admission fee.

Traffic heading back was quite heavy, not surprising since we were 1 of 4 ships in...Norwegian, Disney & Pull-something - someone on the tender thought it was the old Monarch of the Seas.

We walked across the street to a souvenir shop to buy a Christmas tree ornament (which do in every port) and our teenager wanted to get something for his girlfriend.

The tender line up was huge when we returned...thank God for all the tents for shade and the fact that each tender held more than 200 passengers, so the line moved quickly.

We were back on board, heading to the crowded WJ by about 2:00.

The afternoon's sail away party was to include Alex the Lion & King Julien, so we made our way to the pool deck with stops at the bar for hubs & I and the ice cream machine for the young boys...by this time, the teenager was long gone!

We hung out in the pool to cool off - it was so hot, the kids even decided to ditch the ice cream because it was melting faster than they could eat it.

I swear these kids can't/won't do anything for more than 30 minutes at a time...at the 30min mark, these started talking about what to do next, lol. Another frozen drink for the adults and we were off to mini golf - the kids played while we watched the flowrider folks. Up until this point, I had only ever seen the stand up attempts - which was what made me so nervous (and the reviews of broken collar bones, legs & tailbones that I had come across). Anyhow, these guys were just boogie boarding, so I told dh we'd definitely let the kids try that instead...but when they returned from mini golf they "didn't feel like it"...code for, we're too afraid/nervous. Once we find the teenager again, we'll get him to show them how it's done & I'm sure they'll give it a whirl.

After a short game of ping pong for the kids...we headed back to the cabin to get showered.

The boys horsed around in their cabin for a while...my apologies to the neighbours! And we eventually decided to just make our way to WJ for dinner.

As I mentioned earlier, "I'm one of those people" who buys the photos, so we headed to the photo gallery to purchase their "special" all inclusive package...we wanted to get the CD of photos & purchasing by today meant they'd include all the prints for no extra charge. Now, we just have to be sure to pose for every photographer we come across for the remainder of the trip...sorry boys! Lol

Since the kids refused to return to kids club, they were dragged along with us to the Magic Show at 9:00 - the 8yr old was super pumped about how cool it would be & the 11yr old was bummed that it be "stupid and boring"...turns out the 11yr old was right. The magician was Justino and it was really slow, with nothing exciting. He was flip flopping between telling jokes, doing magic tricks and telling stories/giving advice - it was weird...one minute we were laughing at his silly jokes, the next he was telling a story about not being able to get back time with his dead grandpa.

After the Magic show - it was back to the cabin, with drinks on the balcony for the adults, while the kids watched a tv show to wind down.

Still no sign of the teenager who thought the Teen Lounge was going to be "stupid and boring" (what is it with my kids?!?). I fell asleep waiting for him to return...apparently at about 12:30, hubs thought maybe he should go out and look for him since we literally hadn't heard from or seen him since about 2:15. He had just opened the cabin door to head out when he saw him coming down the hallways...seems the Teen Lounge is anything but stupid & boring.

 

No photos for today - I have hubs my phone to take pics since he was on the outside on the bus & all he took pics of were fast food joints - lol. But I'll upload the Compass photos later!

 

Up next: Day 4 in Costa Maya with no solid plans. We'll head ashore to check out the port area & then likely back to just enjoy the ship.

 

 

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