June 4 Freedom CC'rs Post LIVE FROM FREEDOM

[emmy]

Well no postings quite LIVE yet but soon.... thought we would start this thread a little ahead of time so everyone would know we plan to use this thread to post our experiences and thoughts about Freedom as the First Official Sailing:)

 

Many on our roll call threadmates have graciously agreed to share their excitement of being on Freedom as the 'first paying customers' We will use this thread as a means of sharing with you all here who are landlocked.

 

So come back often especially as we sail away June 4 ... to see what our great group has been up to.

 

For many like myself after 15 months of waiting..our Freedom is at hand!!

 

Emmy and all the rest of her PBS'rs and rollcall mates:p

 

Think Pink:p

[skiiergirl]

Way to go Em! Get us started early so we can share our excitement! Thanks so much for all of the leadership you and Ter and Cin and Caro and Renee and.....well...I could go on and on....have provided to us! You gals have made our thread so much fun and made the long wait for our Freedom trip so enjoyable. I can't wait to meet you all this weekend. (Sorry to any of our fine folks....ladies and gents....that I didn't list. You have all been leaders in one way or another in making this a fabulous cruise for us all!) This has been a long 15 months since we booked early that Monday morning last Feb 28! The excitement just keeps building and building!

 

I too will try to post some while onboard Freedom next week during the "first revenue sailing". Will be excited to share our experiences and impressions too!

[emmy]

hello Ski...

 

Okay some introductions... I am Emmy and have been waiting since day one Feb 28/05 to sail on this ship with DH Rick..actually way before that since they announced Ultra V... to say I am excited is an understatement...

 

We are staying pre cruise at Hyatt Regency so my review will reflect my stay there and plan on doing ziplining in Montego Bay, rent a jeep in Grand Cayman and drive to Rum Point, shop in Cozumel and hit Panchos Backyard and Carlos and Charlies with our Pink Boa Society friends :)

 

Emmy

[NAHA]

Hi, Emmy and Ski, yes, good idea to start early to share our pre cruise excitement!

 

I ditto what Ski said, thanks to everyone who made our thread so wonderful! I consider it a priviledge to sail with all of you, I am so looking forward to meeting you face to face! :)

 

I am Mary, sailing with my DH, Steve. We are planning a tour and shopping in Cozumel, and are joining Emmy and Renee to Rum Point in Grand Cayman, no plans as of yet for Jamaica, except to meet everyone at Margaritaville after the zipline.

[rbran100]

hello Ski...

 

Okay some introductions... I am Emmy and have been waiting since day one Feb 28/05 to sail on this ship with DH Rick..actually way before that since they announced Ultra V... to say I am excited is an understatement...

 

We are staying pre cruise at Hyatt Regency so my review will reflect my stay there and plan on doing ziplining in Montego Bay, rent a jeep in Grand Cayman and drive to Rum Point, shop in Cozumel and hit Panchos Backyard and Carlos and Charlies with our Pink Boa Society friends :)

 

Emmy

 

Emmy,

I will be on the big boat with you, i have been so excited the days are starting to go slow. I hardly know what to check out first...

 

I have a question for you, who did you rent you Jeep from in the Grand cayman, I promised my new Wife a wonderfull beach and i was hoping to get to Rum Point since i have heard so many good things.

 

Also if anyone knows of a "tour" that has both the singrays and rum point as a stop I would love to know about that.

 

Thanks,

Richard

[emmy]

Emmy,

I will be on the big boat with you, i have been so excited the days are starting to go slow. I hardly know what to check out first...

 

I have a question for you, who did you rent you Jeep from in the Grand cayman, I promised my new Wife a wonderfull beach and i was hoping to get to Rum Point since i have heard so many good things.

 

Also if anyone knows of a "tour" that has both the singrays and rum point as a stop I would love to know about that.

 

Thanks,

Richard

 

Richard..It won't be long now

 

we are renting our vehicle through Avis.. I got the website from the Ports of Call board... I was on Coral princess last month and a group I know did the Stringray and Rum Point through Nativeway an independant place on Grand Cayman..also check out ports of call board...

 

here is the link for Nativeway

 

http://www.nativewaywatersports.com/shiptours.html

 

and a great thread on the Ports of Call board about Rum Point..this is the thread I got all my information from

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=172576

 

Emmy

[cruiselife4me]

Mary - I'm not cruising until next March but I just had to tell you that I have an ORANGE boa....so there! :P

 

:) mary

[emmy]

Mary - I'm not cruising until next March but I just had to tell you that I have an ORANGE boa....so there! :P

 

:) mary

 

mary... there will be lots of pink boas around for our sailing:)...and other pink things:p hey do you live near me.. I see you are in Northern Michigan... I am flying out of Detroit on Saturday for Freedom... always use the US airports

 

Emmy

[cruiselife4me]

Emmy, I was born in the Detroit area, went to school in Grosse Ile and then moved to Indian River, MI (about 25 miles south of Mac Bridge) right after graduation. So I've been here for (yikes!) 29 years! Where are you?

[emmy]

Emmy, I was born in the Detroit area, went to school in Grosse Ile and then moved to Indian River, MI (about 25 miles south of Mac Bridge) right after graduation. So I've been here for (yikes!) 29 years! Where are you?

 

I know Indian River.. I am 50 miles north of the Mac Bridge.. in Sault Ste marie, Ontario..other side of the border with Sault Michigan.... we are driving down to Detroit on Friday..stay near the airport and fly out on Saturday...

 

So we are neighbors:)

 

Em

[Terfer]

Hey Everyone ~

 

Leave it up to my bud Em, to get us started on this new "adventure" in creative communication. ;)

 

It's been one helluva long haul thus far, but we're almost there.

 

So, on behalf of DH Tony (aka Advocat & Cobra1), I would just like to say how exciting this ride has been, and how much we're looking forward to the ride yet to come....:p

 

With great affection to the whole crew.

 

I remain,

~ Ter (aka Terfer & Spunky) :)

[nanner10]

We, Nancy and Scott, weren't scheduled to sail on Freedom until December. Then in early May it just got to be too much of a temptation and, finding the pricing a "little" more reasonable than it was listed originally, we changed from our Mariner cruise scheduled in August to this sailing. We have a balcony cabin on Deck 6.

 

We are flying into Fort Lauderdale one day early and staying overnight at the Holiday Inn at the Port in Miami which is next to the Bayside Market.

 

Since booking this cruise we have been chatting with all these great, fun people over on the Meet and Mingle thread. This is one heck of a light hearted and crazy bunch, so, I am sure you will be reading some interesting posts during and after our cruise.

 

Members of our thread are staying in cabins all over the ship from deck two to at least deck 9. There are people in inside, accessible, promenade, balcony and aft cabins. I am pretty sure someone is in a suite.

 

There are plans to visit and try out just about everything on the ship from (every!) bar to Chops and Portofino to the flowrider. There are people dining at the main and late dinner seatings. We are all pretty dedicated to really breaking in this ship!

 

As you may guess from our posts PINK is our theme color and pink Boas (you know, the crazy feathered scarfs) are a signature item. A number of the men are wearing pink too from polo shirts to pink bow ties and cumberbuns. If any footage from this sailing is broadcast on TV and you notice a sea of pink, it will likely be some of us!

 

Check in with this thread next week to follow what is likely to be one heck of a ride!!!!!!!!!!!

[zotzer]

Members of our thread are staying in cabins all over the ship from deck two to at least deck 9. There are people in inside, accessible, promenade, balcony and aft cabins. I am pretty sure someone is in a suite.

 

Hey Nancy,

 

And there are even a few of us on the HUMP! :)

 

There are also a wide range of travellers...my friend Molly and I are 40-something single chicks. We also have a college-aged group of boys...girls too (can't promise they'll be posting much, but will see if we can wrangle them from their fun for a few minutes!), and families with children.

 

Hopefully, between us all, we can give a little something for everyone.

 

Thanks Em, for getting this going!

 

Tracy

[CruiseAwayWithMe]

Have a good vacation all :cool:

[nanner10]

Hey Nancy,

 

And there are even a few of us on the HUMP! :)

 

Tracy

My, my Tracy, now how could I have forgotten that!

[emmy]

We, Nancy and Scott, weren't scheduled to sail on Freedom until December. Then in early May it just got to be too much of a temptation and, finding the pricing a "little" more reasonable than it was listed originally, we changed from our Mariner cruise scheduled in August to this sailing. We have a balcony cabin on Deck 6.

 

We are flying into Fort Lauderdale one day early and staying overnight at the Holiday Inn at the Port in Miami which is next to the Bayside Market.

 

Since booking this cruise we have been chatting with all these great, fun people over on the Meet and Mingle thread. This is one heck of a light hearted and crazy bunch, so, I am sure you will be reading some interesting posts during and after our cruise.

 

Members of our thread are staying in cabins all over the ship from deck two to at least deck 9. There are people in inside, accessible, promenade, balcony and aft cabins. I am pretty sure someone is in a suite.

 

There are plans to visit and try out just about everything on the ship from (every!) bar to Chops and Portofino to the flowrider. There are people dining at the main and late dinner seatings. We are all pretty dedicated to really breaking in this ship!

 

As you may guess from our posts PINK is our theme color and pink Boas (you know, the crazy feathered scarfs) are a signature item. A number of the men are wearing pink too from polo shirts to pink bow ties and cumberbuns. If any footage from this sailing is broadcast on TV and you notice a sea of pink, it will likely be some of us!

 

Check in with this thread next week to follow what is likely to be one heck of a ride!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Nan.. loved your summary... Tracy it will be fun to give back to the posters on CC

 

Emmy

[emmy]

We, Nancy and Scott, weren't scheduled to sail on Freedom until December. Then in early May it just got to be too much of a temptation and, finding the pricing a "little" more reasonable than it was listed originally, we changed from our Mariner cruise scheduled in August to this sailing. We have a balcony cabin on Deck 6.

 

We are flying into Fort Lauderdale one day early and staying overnight at the Holiday Inn at the Port in Miami which is next to the Bayside Market.

 

Since booking this cruise we have been chatting with all these great, fun people over on the Meet and Mingle thread. This is one heck of a light hearted and crazy bunch, so, I am sure you will be reading some interesting posts during and after our cruise.

 

Members of our thread are staying in cabins all over the ship from deck two to at least deck 9. There are people in inside, accessible, promenade, balcony and aft cabins. I am pretty sure someone is in a suite.

 

There are plans to visit and try out just about everything on the ship from (every!) bar to Chops and Portofino to the flowrider. There are people dining at the main and late dinner seatings. We are all pretty dedicated to really breaking in this ship!

 

As you may guess from our posts PINK is our theme color and pink Boas (you know, the crazy feathered scarfs) are a signature item. A number of the men are wearing pink too from polo shirts to pink bow ties and cumberbuns. If any footage from this sailing is broadcast on TV and you notice a sea of pink, it will likely be some of us!

 

Check in with this thread next week to follow what is likely to be one heck of a ride!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Nan.. loved your summary... Tracy it will be fun to give back to the posters on CC

 

Emmy

[onevacationlover]

Hi,

My DH and I will be cruising with this great group of Cruise Critic posters. Most of this group booked the first day reservations opened for "Freedom". Half the fun has been getting to know these funny and very knowledgeable cruisers. This group has shared loads of information with us and now I feel like a "pro" at cruising eventough I only have a few under my belt. If they didn't have the answers they would research and share as a group. It's been a great experience learning and The THRILL of this adventure will be this Sunday. As Emmy and the others stated below; we plan to post during this voyage in order to share our first hand knowledge as a "cruiser" and not a TA. Look for the sea of "PINK" and keep posted for the updates.:)

[barnismom]

Emmy,

 

Thanks so much for starting this new thread. It will be a means for all of us to keep in touch after our fantastic adventure.

 

I too booked this cruise on the first day Royal Caribbean opened this up for Crown and Anchor members. As we live on the West Coast, no travel agent wanted to get up at 5 a.m. as the phones opened up at 8 a.m. ET. So as sick as I was that day, I set my alarm and called in; on hold for maybe 10 minutes and got through around 5:20 a.m.

 

It's been a long wait and now almost around the bend. I didn't initially get involved on the June 4th thread until after we made our final payment; I did not want to tempt fate. Actually, we managed to save our pennies and the cruise is paid up and not charged...yippee!

 

However, I wonder what damage we will do onboard.

 

Look forward to sharing the memories with all of you!

 

Love to all!

 

Janice

[cruiselife4me]

Emmy,

 

My daughter goes to college at LSSU - she'll be a senior this coming year. Nice to have a Yooper here at cruise critic!! :D :D

 

I don't know if I'm ever going to make until next March but I SURE AM LOOKING FORWARD TO ALL YOUR POSTS AND PICS!

 

Have an absolutely wonderful time! I'm so excited for you all!

 

Mary :)

 

PS: My orange boa is my Ya-Ya cherished item!

[emmy]

Emmy,

 

My daughter goes to college at LSSU - she'll be a senior this coming year. Nice to have a Yooper here at cruise critic!! :D :D

 

I don't know if I'm ever going to make until next March but I SURE AM LOOKING FORWARD TO ALL YOUR POSTS AND PICS!

 

Have an absolutely wonderful time! I'm so excited for you all!

 

Mary :)

 

PS: My orange boa is my Ya-Ya cherished item!

 

My son graduated from LSSU in 2004... Mathematics....thanks Mary for the good wishes love your signature car :)

 

Emmy

[gailc]

Emmy - Look forward to all the information. Know everyone will enjoy this cruise. We go on Freedom 11/26/06.

 

Silver Cloud - Nice to see someone else from Mich.

 

Gail

[frudutx]

Hi, we're Diane & John from just north of Dallas. We've also been booked since the end of Feb. 2005, it's been a long time coming. Looking forward to meeting all of the people who we've been posting too since then and relaying info about the ship and the cruise back to all those of you who will follow.

 

d

[rorito]

So as you sail away Sunday I am asking for a few specific items once you return. Please? Pretty please?

 

A scan of the entire weeks compass

 

How bad are the wait times for the flow rider

 

Best times to get a seat in the whirlpools

 

How the traffic flows and recommend best time to embark

 

Tendering traffic? In Coz, Cayman and Labadee

 

and of course a LONG DETAILED review!

 

Thanks so much! Only a few more weeks for our group!

[amickeyfriend]

Anxiuosly awaiting to see the "pink parade". I will be looking for your posts often. Oh, how I wish I was going with you now. Have a great time.

Bev:) :) :)