MITSUGIRLYS FREEDOM OF THE SEAS REVIEW & PICTORIAL

[4ptjo]

Hi Kim, I’ve been reading your wonderful reviews for years and always look forward to your next family adventure. I’m so sorry to hear about your health. I feel like I know and care about you, even though we’ve never met. Maybe it’s like a favorite character in a book. Please keep enjoying life and I definitely wish you a long, healthy, happily ever after. Thanks for all you do! 🌺

[bobmacliberty]

Thanks for a great review AND for mentioning La Brasserie restaurant in Condado for breakfast. Just had a good ham and cheese Mallorca sandwich. Yum. Ready to board!

[crystalspin]

On 5/17/2019 at 1:19 PM, crystalspin said:

Oh gosh...I'll have to look up the review you are talking about. I can't imagine it being bad for anyone. FOTS is amazing and so are the ports and PR is my favorite place to sail out of.

Found it in my "followed" threads:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2615067-freedom-of-the-seas-the-good-the-bad-the-ugly/

[gui218]

Thank you, Mitsugirly for another Fabulous review. The Freedom of the Seas port intensive schedule gave your 

family so much to do. We enjoyed your great writing style and photos. The Scuba adventure to the Barbados shipwrecks was another first for the family. So many spectacular photos and everyone did the dive with no problems.

Good to see photos from Kendra and Sakari.

This holiday trip was a well earned Bachelors graduation reward for you. Good choice on the spacious Ocean view at front of ship. We had 2 windows at front of Zaandam for South America to Antarctica.

We are saddened to hear of the Family and Friend losses for Billy and Kendra. This adventure has hopefully helped

ease the sadness. Over time the good memories will prevail.

All the best to you with regards to your health situation. Where are you and the family off to next.

Cheers to you and the family, from all of us. 

[mitsugirly]

On 5/17/2019 at 7:10 PM, kpark895 said:

Kim, so sorry to hear about your health problems.  Hope things get resolved favorably.  Meanwhile, enjoying all of your pictures and the review!

 

Thanks so much and glad you are enjoying the review.

 

On 5/17/2019 at 11:35 PM, crystalspin said:

Guessing a baby in a swing? Never seen that one! I love to get one I haven't had before; our stewards on Zuiderdam made a koala bear that had me guessing!

 

 

Hmm, ok, maybe that's it. I definitely haven't seen this one before.

 

11 hours ago, 4ptjo said:

Hi Kim, I’ve been reading your wonderful reviews for years and always look forward to your next family adventure. I’m so sorry to hear about your health. I feel like I know and care about you, even though we’ve never met. Maybe it’s like a favorite character in a book. Please keep enjoying life and I definitely wish you a long, healthy, happily ever after. Thanks for all you do! 🌺

 

Aww thanks so much. I really appreciate it. Such kind words. 🙂

 

10 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

Thanks for a great review AND for mentioning La Brasserie restaurant in Condado for breakfast. Just had a good ham and cheese Mallorca sandwich. Yum. Ready to board!

 

Thank you and no problem. I'm glad you enjoyed it. Have an awesome cruise!!!

 

4 hours ago, crystalspin said:

Found it in my "followed" threads:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2615067-freedom-of-the-seas-the-good-the-bad-the-ugly/

 

Thanks, I'll take a look.

 

1 hour ago, gui218 said:

Thank you, Mitsugirly for another Fabulous review. The Freedom of the Seas port intensive schedule gave your 

family so much to do. We enjoyed your great writing style and photos. The Scuba adventure to the Barbados shipwrecks was another first for the family. So many spectacular photos and everyone did the dive with no problems.

Good to see photos from Kendra and Sakari.

This holiday trip was a well earned Bachelors graduation reward for you. Good choice on the spacious Ocean view at front of ship. We had 2 windows at front of Zaandam for South America to Antarctica.

We are saddened to hear of the Family and Friend losses for Billy and Kendra. This adventure has hopefully helped

ease the sadness. Over time the good memories will prevail.

All the best to you with regards to your health situation. Where are you and the family off to next.

Cheers to you and the family, from all of us. 

 

I just love the port intensive cruises. I'd be happy if there was a port every single day. LOL

 

Thanks for liking the review and pictures. It was definitely a well-earned reward for sure.

 

Thanks for the kind words. We all appreciate it.

 

We are not sure yet. I have 2 NCL cruise certificates I have to use by Feb 20, 2020 :0  IDK how I'm going to do that. We will probably have to forego a land vacation this summer. 

[mitsugirly]

Ok gonna try to finish this up.

 

APRIL 28: SUNDAY

 

It's time for our last day....getting off the ship....or lack there of and also spending a day and night in Puerto Rico.

 

So it's sunday and  by the time we get up, we are already docked in Puerto Rico. They get there VERY early...like 6am or something like that. 

 

 

 

This would be the last time I didn't have to actually think what day it was and someone told me.

 

 

 

I had my somewhat usual breakfast

 

 

 

 

Everyone met up on the pool deck at some point and we were just hanging out and talking. (Although most acted as if they were needing a nap already....).

 

They kept making announcements that there was a delay and please wait for them to call the floors or numbers you had associated with debarkation. So wait we did.

 

 

 

I always hate the last day and getting off. Even though we were spending another day here in OSJ and not flying home until tomorrow...it still feels like things are over and it's quite depressing.

 

There were plenty of people around and they started to dwindle down after a while. Then before long, we started to notice that we were the only group up on the deck. We figured we had better take one last restroom break and head down to where they were probably making the last call for cruisers.

 

I've always said they would have to kick me off screaming and kicking...well....guess what? That basically happened.

 

We took the elevator down and the ship was a ghost! NO ONE WAS THERE!!! ANYWHERE!!! Like not a sole!!

 

Um ok....we never heard them announce everyone else...until we heard this....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Like seriously...we were the absolute LAST ones off the ship. I think this goes down in Mitsugirly history!!! Imma blame it on Kendra...she's always the late one. LOL She HAS to be rubbing off on me or something.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We made it off and started looking for our luggage, according to our number, and they were nowhere to be found. Everyone had already grabbed their luggage from that number and left. They had moved it to a different location. I'm pretty sure this location puts a target on our back and they wanted us to walk the walk of shame in front of the last group of people in the line for customs.

 

Oh yeah, well we decided to have our luggage carried for us and bypass the stares.

 

 

 

We made it out in no time flat and said our goodbyes to Kia and grabbed an Uber to the hotel.

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

The Hotel:   Hotel Milano

 

Now I went back and forth about getting a hotel. We were really pushing it and it was getting hard to decide. Everything seemed so expensive in OSJ this time compared to before. The previous hotel we stayed at (and loved) was SUPER expensive. 

 

I have first booked Casablanca, but it was a little pricey as well. Kendra decided she only needed a cheap place to sleep in for the night (we wasn't really planning on being in the room much and exploring most of the day) so I ended up canceling Casablanca and booking Milano with her. I was able to also find a discount code that made it even more cheaper and that was a score.

 

 

Now I know this place has excellent reviews....for the rooftop dining....but the hotel itself doesn't seem to get the greatest reviews. There's always complaints of noise too but yet it's right down the street from Casablanca and they don't seem to have issues with noises. How's that?

 

 

Hey as long as it was a clean room with no critters or bugs, I'd be happy with the money I saved. 

 

So when we got here we knew that check in wasn't until 3pm. They do hold your luggage in the lobby and they put a chain and lock around them, count the luggage and give you a receipt with the number and amount of luggage. Hmmm, ok works for me. 

 

 

 

Now the guy working the front desk seemed a little rude with his attitude and comments. I'm not sure if he was having a bad day or this is what he's always like.

 

 

We asked to use the restroom and they had it all locked up and you had to get a key to open the door (which is a space under the stairs) and then to the individual men and womens restroom). The door with the glass that looks like someones front door is the door to the restrooms. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

Now even though we had a long wait for our rooms and we went out exploring...I'm going to go ahead and show you the rooms and such...

 

 

They had an elevator but....you talk about super scary!!!! Only 5 people at a time and the thing felt like it was going to break when it came to a stop with a large thump and shaking. Eekkkk!

 

 

 

Notice the IT WILL GET STUCK!!! YIKES

 

 

We always took the stairs going back down...

 

 

 

The hallway area after coming off the elevator looked like this on each floor. 

 

 

 

 

Each floor had a vending machine as well and it was only $1 for pop. SCORE One floor would have Coke and the next Pepsi.

 

 

 

The other odd thing I found was that you also had to have a key to get from that elevator area into the "hotel" hallway of your room. See the glass doors?  This place was on lockdown!!!

 

 

Hallway outside our door. Now when you were in the hallway, you could hear people talking in the rooms. Those walls must have been paper thin. However, when we were in our room, we heard NOTHING at all...not from the hallway, not next door in the rooms and not outside. Weird. 

 

 

 

 

Ice machine in hallway

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

Now onto our room....we booked the "Superior Room" with 2 full beds. The superior room comes with windows. Kendra ended up booking a regular room and it didn't have windows but did have small glass blocks at the top of the wall to let in light. She said it didn't matter to her what the room looked like right? 

 

Well here's our room

 

 

Hallway coming in the door (on the right) and bathroom door (on the left).

 

 

 

 

 

Bathroom wasn't anything special but clean and it certainly was everything we needed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looked like paint chipped off the bathtub and needed resurfacing but it had hot water, it was lean, and water flow was good.

 

 

 

Now the closets were strange for sure.

 

 

 

There was a refrigerator in it with a "complimentary bottle of water"...like only 1 of them and I assume we'd have to share.

 

 

The thermostat was located in the closet

 

 

 

And so was the heater/air

 

 

 

 

There was a dresser and small tv along with a small table and 2 chairs. Now those beds...man were they bouncy. At one point I was laying down that evening, watching tv, and the hubby sat down quickly and I thought I was going to end up in the closet.

 

 

 

 

Our view out the window

 

 

 

 

The building directly across from us appeared abandoned and had windows busted out

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

So after dropping our bags off, it was time to find some lunch. All this being drug off the cruise ship had made us gain an appetite. I knew right away that I wanted to head back to the place we went to last time and get some fish tacos. They were so amazing last time and I had been looking forward to this since we booked the cruise.

 

Kendra had her heart set on taking Billy to Senor Frogs for their spaghetti and MEATBALLS, which is what she got last time and their meatballs are the size of someone's head and stuffed with cheese and she HAD to show him.  The last thing I wanted was regular food/hamburgers.

 

So, we told them we'd meet that back on the streets somewhere after eating and off we went to our place. The menu said Cayo Caribe, but I'm pretty sure that wasn't the name last time we were here but I do know it's the same place. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As soon as we sat down and ordered, it started pouring down rain outside. Go figure...nice weather the entire cruise and now this.

 

 

So yummy but it is so hard to eat 4 of these things. They need a platter with only 2. They also tasted a little different this time...still good, but a little spicy or hot. .I'm not sure what's different??? But they were still good.

 

 

 

 

As we were finishing up, I texted Kendra and ask if they were almost done and they said they had just gotten seated...at an entirely different restaurant. WHAT THE HECK????

 

She said they got caught in the rain and it was pouring down so much that they just darted into the first restaurant and that's where they were eating. I have to admit, I wish I would have known this ahead of time because it looked like a fabulous place to eat and the food came out on these skewers that went across something that held the food up in the air. I have no idea what they were called but her picture made it look yummy. 

 

 

Well they were just starting to eat...so it was now sprinkling a little and we decided to head out on our own and they'd just have to catch up.

 

 

 

Edited May 20, 2019 by mitsugirly

[mitsugirly]

Now I have to admit that the MAIN reason why I wanted to stay an extra day in OSJ was because I had heard they put up the umbrellas along Fortaleza Street.

 

So I knew that's where we were headed for some pictures. It was beautiful and the sun was out again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kendra and family finished up their lunch/dinner and I directed her on how to get there as we moved on to none other than.....

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

PIGEON PARK OF COURSE!!!

 

Sakari loves this place. 

 

 

 

 

 

An all white pigeon.

 

 

 

This was definitely a weird one...red and the only one like that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then I caught something out of the corner of my eye...the biggest cockroach (I think) ever. It was scurring across the sidewalk. The pictures don't do it justice AT ALL.

 

 

 

 

 

Now you can kinda tell from the picture below...these bricks aren't small and look at the size of it.

 

 

 

 

All these birds and then there's a cat....

 

 

 

 

And then this happened....Sakari the bird whisperer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

Kendra and family finally made it and Kam just wasn't sure, at all, about these birds...

 

 

 

 

 

She finally got used to them...and Shawna back there being calm...for the moment.

 

 

 

 

 

Bill got into the action to show Kam it was ok to let them land on her....but she wasn't having it.

 

 

 

 

 

Sakari found the white one...

 

 

 

This is not the place for someone with a phobia of birds

 

 

 

 

 

Before long, Shawna was screaming and running for a bench. "I don't like these. I have decided I don't like birds"

 

 

They followed her and Billy decided to throw about a half a bag over that way....Oops LOL

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kendra thought she'd pay Billy back for throwing food over by Shawna...only he buster her out coming up around the tree she was hiding behind

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

We headed out of Pigeon Park and down the street and ended up along the other side of the coast.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My kid has escaped...

 

 

 

Ok, they're all down there now....all the adults RUN!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brayden caught a lizard

 

 

 

 

Then Sakari caught a crab...but we weren't exactly near the water ....hmmm...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Great views from up here

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

We started walking down the street (going toward the graveyard and fort).

 

 

 

You could still see some of the hurricane damage in areas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brayden found a rather huge bullfrog. Anything to scare Shawna

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

We managed to circle around and back down to the other side by the cruise ship area.

 

 

 

Last time we came down here, this was a park with stands for like outside concerts. They had made it into a kids playground now.

 

 

 

 

 

We decided to have a snack...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

The hubby stopped for some ice cream but we had decided earlier that we wanted to go to the ice cream store that we had passed along the way and get some rolled ice cream. So, I didn't want to eat it twice.

 

We headed on down to the Raices statue. Last time we were here, this area and along the waterfront, was closed from the damage by the hurricane.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Funny pics...staring each other down! LOL

 

 

We hung out for a while along the waterfront and watched the pelicans diving for fish.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

Then it was time to move along. The hubby put up a fight about going that way saying that we'd have to turn around and walk back or end up all the way down by the fort. Well, I knew better than that because we had done it before. I'm not sure why he didn't remember the opening to get back into town. Well....I won the battle and we kept going...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Would ya lookie there...the gate....to get back in...without walking around. Hmmmmppppffff

 

 

 

I don't think you could have walked all the way around anyhow because it looked like they were still repairing past the gate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

Back into the city area and headed for our ice cream place.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After this, we headed back to the hotel, stopping at shops along the way, and then went to our rooms for the night.

 

 

 

 

I do want to mention....we did go back to the hotel at some point to finish our "check-in" and grab our luggage and put in the room before heading back out. Brayden had to use the restroom really bad and when we ask for the key the mean guy at the desk said "we don't have a restroom". Um....say what? We used it earlier. He got a sassy attitude and said "yea well this GROUP OF PEOPLE used it earlier and now it doesn't work" ....um, "group" of people? As in us? It worked perfectly fine when we were here and now you are saying neither one works???? Get the flark outta here. What the heck was wrong with this guy???  Now the other staff members that came after him and the following day were nice. But this guy, they need to get rid of him and his lousy customer service attitude. 

 

Also, I want to mention Kendra's room. I swear I thought I took pictures, but I can't find them. Maybe it was on my phone I'm not sure.

 

However, her room looked like "a prison" she said. There was no carpet or wooden floor like ours and it was dark and dingy looking. Not nice AT ALL. She, of course, was wishing she would have booked a nicer room like I did. But hey, it was some place to sleep for the night and we were leaving tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 20, 2019 by mitsugirly

[mitsugirly]

Early to rise and it was time for breakfast. I knew that I wanted to take them to the Carthage Express because I thought the kids would think it was neat. So off we went. It was just right around the corner. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The kids got a kick out of their food being delivered on the train.

 

I decided to get the breakfast burrito this time (hubby had it last time and it looked really good) because it also comes with potatoes. The hubby ended up with a Mallorca.

 

 

 

 

We headed back to the hotel, grabbed our luggage, checked out and headed out the door to wait for our uber to arrive. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

Our Uber arrived first and off we went.

 

Like always, something always happens to Kendra and the first to arrive couldn't fit everyone. But she eventually made it.

 

Check in was simple and fairly quick at the Southwest counter. Since Kendra arrived so much later than us, we went ahead and got in the security line while she was in the line checking in her luggage. 

 

THE LINES WERE FOREVER LONG!!! It took forever. I kept reporting to her as we moved along and told her "You better hurry up. The lines are extremely long and they are taking forever!!!" Then I seen her, Billy and the kids, roll right up to security and immediately go in. UGH! Just like that. We still waited in line a good 20 more minutes and they were already in and on the tram and shopping on the other side. Go figure.... I guess it pays to be handicapped sometimes. 

 

We were all on the same flight this time. I immediately notice this in my seat....737 MAX 8!!! Yikes! But we were actually on the 737-800 thank goodness! Whew

 

 

 

 

 

Goodbye Puerto Rico....until we meet again! We love you!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As we were in the air...my son, Kolin, texted me to say that Sakari's husky, Loki, was sick and throwing up all of a sudden. He had gotten into some poison...weed kill. Oh no! We were in full panic mode all the way home. Loki is Sakari's best friend, it's all she talks about, it's all she draws most days, Loki is life!

 

Our flight was delayed about 1 hour and this only increased tension and worry. Kolin kept me updated along the way and sent pictures. He was starting to have blood in his vomit. 😞

 

When our plane landed, we ran to get our luggage and then ran to the shuttle stop, passing Kendra along the way and almost everything is a blur.

 

We raced to Kolins house, grabbed Loki (he was so weak he couldn't even walk or stand when we came in and let's be honest, he's a husky and they get excited easily) and immediately drove him to the vet hospital. He received IV fluids and several medications and we elected to take him home to monitor him.  He was so bad for 2 days...I honestly didn't think he was going to make it. Sakari swears one day when I was napping that he quit breathing and I woke up to her screaming and crying and shaking him and him not moving. I personally think that his breathing was so shallow that she just couldn't see it but daddy told her that she "saved his life". He finally pulled through it but it was so touch and go for a while. I don't know what would have happened if she has lost him. We would all be lost and we've had enough loss to last us for a long time in this family. After about a full week...he was back to his normal self.

 

Now who am I supposed to have dog sit when we vacation? I'm sure Sakari don't trust Kolin with Loki and Kolin don't want the responsibility now. Ugh!

 

But....that's the end of my review.

 

I hope everyone enjoyed it.

 

 

Up next....probably NCL. I have 2 cruise coupons that have to be used up before Feb 20, 2020....only 9 months from now and I have no idea what I'm going to use them on. I haven't sailed with them in some time because I got tired of the same old ports and find a better port selection on Carnival and RC. But, I guess I'll have to start looking again just to use these coupons up. I looks like no summer Aruba land vacation for us this year darn it. 

 

 

HAPPY CRUISING EVERYONE!

 

 

 

[onlyano]

That was a wonderful cruise report. Thank you for sharing. I look forward to hearing about your next adventures!

[broberts]

How was the rolled ice cream?

[perfect match]

4 hours ago, mitsugirly said:

 

 

Like seriously...we were the absolute LAST ones off the ship. I think this goes down in Mitsugirly history!!! Imma blame it on Kendra...she's always the late one. LOL She HAS to be rubbing off on me or something.

 

 

Well, you said you would have to be dragged off the ship kicking and screaming! 🤣  Guess you really meant it! Yes, Kendra must be rubbing off on you!

 

I’m glad Loki is OK now. That must have been really scary for all of you, but especially Sakari. Hope you find a good dog sitter for your future travels.

 

Speaking of future travels, I’m sure you will manage to find SOMEWHERE to go on NCL, and a nice ship to take you there. I guess I’ll be looking for you over on the NCL boards at some point during the summer.

[Cherries Jubilee]

Amazing review as always! Your trips really inspire me to be more adventurous. Thank you so much for sharing with us.