Live from the Freedom of the Seas

[Kokomo_Man]

This is my first cruise on Royal Caribbean. I’ve cruised predominantly with Carnival the past few years and have also cruised with NCL. So I’ll be giving you a view as sort of a newbie, but not a virgin. I hope to give you a glimpse of what it is like onboard the Freedom of the Seas over the next seven days.

 

One of the main reasons I booked this cruise over others is because it goes to Labadee, Haiti. Labadee is Royal Caribbean’s “private island”… except that it isn’t an island. It’s a little jetty that sticks out into the ocean from the main island of Hispaniola. (Yea, the same Hispaniola mentioned in the Pirates of the Caribbean movie franchise. )

 

So now you’re asking “why does he want to go to Haiti?” The answer is simple, to “catch a glimpse of Port Au Prince”. Hummmm…. I guess that you need the rest of the explanation. You see, I’m searching for Kokomo. You know… the place the Beach Boys told us about in 1988… You know… “Off the Florida Keys… there’s a place you want to go.”… You know the song… “Aruba, Jamacia… ooohhhh I wana take ya”. Go ahead, bring up Youtube or iTunes and listen to it. I’ll wait.

 

Ok… now that you’ve got that song in your head and can’t get rid of it, I’ll go on.

 

It’s my quest to visit every place mentioned by the Beach Boys in the song. I’ve been working at it for a while now and the list is starting to get short. I still need to “catch a glimpse of Port Au Prince”. But since Port Au Prince is not a very nice place to go to, I think I can “catch a glimpse”… a tiny glimpse of what it’s like in Port Au Prince by visiting Labadee... that counts... doesn't it?

 

This trip on the Freedom of the Seas also goes to my other favorite ports… Grand Cayman and Cozumel. We also are going to Falmouth, Jamaica which I have never been to. Finding Kokomo is a tough job but someone's got to do it.

 

So come along with me and I’ll try to give you a bit of what it’s like on the Freedom of the Seas. I’ll be posting all of the good, the bad, and the ugly of the cruise… and together we can catch a glimpse of Port Au Prince

 

Bob

Memories of Naked Fanny

[wallie5446]

We are on Freedom doing the West on the 9/18 sailing, have looked at copies of the Compass some have posted, and are trying to figure out which evening to book Chops?

 

Day 1 is sail away so we want to get to know our table mates

Day 2 is the Captians Gala, dont want to miss

Day 3 is called the Venetian Feast ?? Just what is it all about ??

Day 4 is Surf n Turf, another dont miss

Day 5 is the Chef's Dinner, sound's great...

Day 6 is Anchored in Excellence ?? What was it ??

Day 7 is Feast of Nations ??

 

Your thoughts are looked forward too as a seasoned cruiser yet 1st timer on RCCL

EW

[Cruisegirl6]

We are going on the Freedom next month...we also booked up two nights Chops and 2 nights Portofino's as we enjoyed both of them on both our LOS cruises in the past.

 

Question what day and time do we have to get the passes for the ice show, I heard its on monday between 8-9am but I not up then its a vacation I go to sleep late I not getting up early just curious if they offer another day or time to get them or what happens if you forget to get them and want to go to the ice show?

 

How are the lunch buffets I imagine still good and offering the meat carvings, good soups, hot meat dishes and veggies?

 

Also wondering which shows are being shown at this time.

 

You have a wonderful cruise enjoy!

[Silverman]

Love the Live reviews. Looking forward to it. Thanks for taking the time to do this.

[cot427]

We are on Freedom doing the West on the 9/18 sailing, have looked at copies of the Compass some have posted, and are trying to figure out which evening to book Chops?

 

Day 1 is sail away so we want to get to know our table mates

Day 2 is the Captians Gala, dont want to miss

Day 3 is called the Venetian Feast ?? Just what is it all about ??

Day 4 is Surf n Turf, another dont miss

Day 5 is the Chef's Dinner, sound's great...

Day 6 is Anchored in Excellence ?? What was it ??

Day 7 is Feast of Nations ??

 

Your thoughts are looked forward too as a seasoned cruiser yet 1st timer on RCCL

EW

 

I am going on Freedom two weeks before you on the Western and we are doing the same thing...trying to figure out which night to book Chops Grill. I believe we are going to do the night 4. Surf and Turf is not the lobster night, they serve shrimp with the meat and then lobster is day 5. I know one of the dishes on that night is also cornmeal encrusted tilapia...ewwww. I am just having trouble booking on line. :(

[cot427]

Additionally, the Venetian night is the Italian night I believe, they have chicken marsala and garlic tiger shrimp (yum) and the lamb I believe. And Tirimisu for dessert. I am not sure of what Anchored in Excellence is.

[Merion_Mom]

I am going on Freedom two weeks before you on the Western and we are doing the same thing...trying to figure out which night to book Chops Grill. I believe we are going to do the night 4. Surf and Turf is not the lobster night, they serve shrimp with the meat and then lobster is day 5. I know one of the dishes on that night is also cornmeal encrusted tilapia...ewwww. I am just having trouble booking on line. :(

 

Did you see the other thread yet? Just use IE instead of Firefox. Works every time.

[Woodmnky]

Looking forward to the live review. We will be on our first Royal Caribbean cruise in December.

[Tyler80]

We are on Freedom doing the West on the 9/18 sailing, have looked at copies of the Compass some have posted, and are trying to figure out which evening to book Chops?

 

Day 1 is sail away so we want to get to know our table mates

Day 2 is the Captians Gala, dont want to miss

Day 3 is called the Venetian Feast ?? Just what is it all about ??

Day 4 is Surf n Turf, another dont miss

Day 5 is the Chef's Dinner, sound's great...

Day 6 is Anchored in Excellence ?? What was it ??

Day 7 is Feast of Nations ??

 

Your thoughts are looked forward too as a seasoned cruiser yet 1st timer on RCCL

EW

 

Typically Day 2 (Captain's Gala) and Day 5 (Chef's Dinner) are formal nights. The food served in the dining room tends to reflect the style of the evening. Day 5 will feature the fisherman's plate which will have a lobster tail on it. You may order additional tails if you want.

 

Venetian Feast dinner is also known as Italian Night. Alot of italian inspired dishes are served that night including anti-pasta, chicken marsala and tiramisu among others. After dinner the servers will sing and parade around the dining room to serenade the cruise passengers. Photo opportunity: Great photos can be taken of the wait staff all lined up on the grand staircase of the dining room.

 

Anchored in Excellence dinner is nothing more than another exceptional meal which highlights the many reasons why Royal Caribbean has their Gold Anchor Service.

 

Feast of Nations dinner will feature more international dishes from all over the world. Again the waiters will parade around the dining room waving flags of many nations. This final dinner onboard will highlight the exceptional food you have been served and the exceptional service in which it has been served. Photo opportunity: This is the time to take photos of your wait staff and have photos taken of you with your wait staff.

The Feast of Nations dinner is when tips are extended to wait staff and goodbyes are shared.

[Silverman]

after reading the CCL Freedom review I cant wait for more!!!! Im also going to order your book! More please!!!

[Pichu21]

FOS next year!! Cant wait...meanwhile, Im definitely gonna be reading this thread for updates...any tips would be great! Tips on absolutely ANYTHING!

[Kokomo_Man]

I've been writing down stuff as I go and then doing a little editing to make it at least half way readable so I've gotten a little behind on the posts. So starting with this post, I'm going to blast out the rest of the first day. Sorry to pack these all toghther.

 

Port Canaveral

 

This is our first time cruising out of Port Canaveral. The port really has their act together in the parking and baggage handling area. We had rented a car and drove to the port. You drive into the port area and they let you into the combination baggage drop off – parking area for 1 hour without charge. So we dropped off our bags with the folks who take care of that and then I parked the car.

 

Those of you who know me know that I and the “Woman to Blame” travel on these cruises with way too much stuff. We have three bags that are each right at the 50 pound airline limit. Then we both have the airline limit for carry-ons… two carry-ons each loaded down with cameras, iPads, laptops, and a host of other electronic gadgets. We pulled up to the drop-off area and within two minutes the baggage handlers had the trunk empty, and were ready to wisk our bags away.

 

I parked the car in the car park area and walked over with the “Woman to Blame” and found a place for her to sit with our carry-ons while I took the rental car to the drop-off. Then I drove back into Cape Canaveral and dropped off the car. Renting a car to get here turned out to be the no muss-no fuss way to do it. Most of the rental car agencies have offices in Cape Canaveral with free shuttle busses to/from the cruise port. I don’t know what it will cost from Orlando airport since we flew into Miami a few days early so we could spend a few days in Key Largo before driving up to Port Canaveral. Still having your own transportation to explore the area with has to be the way to go.

 

The processing was quick and easy. Everyone at the port was very friendly… from folks in the parking area, to the security… to the TSA folks… to the people processing us onboard, this has got to be the friendliest port I’ve ever been to. The “Rockwall” folks were quite proficient and we were on the ship in no time at all.

 

All that said, Miami is still my favorite port so far. Don’t get me wrong… all ports are good ports if you are getting on a cruise ship. But there’s something about Miami. Even though the operation here in Port Canaveral is more efficient and friendly, it is a “working” port and just isn’t as pretty as Miami. “Pretty” isn’t normally too important to me, but there’s just something “special” about Miami and the sail away.

 

And speaking of the “sail away”… I’m going to stop for now and go to the sail away party… more later

 

Bob

Memories of Naked Fanny

[Kokomo_Man]

"FLOWRIDER OF THE SEAS"

 

Yahoooooo!!!! I’m officially changing the name of this ship to “Flowrider of the Seas”. I just got back from spending the afternoon at the Flowrider. That’s the best guizmo ever put on a ship… and it’s free. They had a demonstration of the flowrider and then opened it up this afternoon to everyone for boogie-boarding. As an old surfer I had to try this. And even though it was limited to boogie-boards today, me and all the other kids were there trying it out. It was a lot of fun.

 

But I’m getting way ahead of myself. I need to tell you a little bit about the ship.

 

Man!!! This is a big boat… and it’s not RCLs biggest. They’ve got two more that are bigger… the Oasis and the Allure of the Seas. I made a quick tour around the boat before going out to boogie-board and it has all of the usual trinket, booze and junk shops designed to suck every last penny they can out of you. And there were the usual folks all over the ship trying to push the booze on you. Except they were a bit overboard. They would hand you the drink as if they were giving it to you… kinda like NCL when they give you a free orange juice or mimosa when you board. But here, they hand Mr. and Mrs Unsuspecting a drink along with a “Welcome Aboard” greeting. When Mr. & Mrs Unsuspecting took a sip they are asked for their “sail and sign card”… gotcha. I saw this happen over and over again as passengers were boarding. So cruisers beware… those drinks they are handing you are not free. But… Ok… take one any way. What the heck… it’s a cruise.

 

Our suite was ready by about 1:30 so the “Woman to Blame” and I went to check it out… and dump all of our carry-on stuff. First, I’ve got to qualify the “suite”… it’s really a mini-suite by. As those of you who have followed my previous cruse posts know, the “Woman to Blame” REQUIRES a bathtub. So with the requirement of a bathtub, it’s at least a mini-suit for us on all cruise lines.

 

I was pleasantly surprised by the suite… I mean mini-suite. For all of our Carnival cruises we have booked an “Ocean Suite. (That’s the smaller of the Carnival suites.) But the mini-suite here on the “Flowrider of the Seas” is quite a bit larger than the “suites” we’ve had on the Carnival Freedom, Valor, and Glory. Our mini-suite has more electrical outlets which is convenient for all of our electrical guizmos. It also has both a coffee pot and tea-pot. The British amoung you will think the tea-pot to be quite civilized.

 

There is also a large walk-in closet with more nice wooden coat hangers than we would know what to do with. And there’s a huge balcony. The balcony is deep enough to stretch out the reclining chairs without having to put then sideways across the balcony. There’s plenty of room for two recliners and a small table along with two upright chairs and a full size table.

 

The one drawback to the room is that there is only one place for a computer. We’ve been on other ships where there is a vanity area connecting with the bathroom and that’s where the “Woman to Blame” sets up her computer. I usually set up my computer in the desk area in the main room. So we’ll for this cruise we’ll have to time share the desk. Also, the “Woman to Blame” reminded me to tell you that the bathroom here on the “Flowrider of the Seas is a plane tub… some lines have a “Jacuzzi tub”.

 

But all in all, the mini-suit is better than a full suite on some cruise lines and certainly well above my expectations.

 

 

More later.

 

Bob

Memories of Naked Fanny

[Kokomo_Man]

Royal Caribbean is hooked up with “Dream Works”… you know the folks that make the feature length cartoon-movie like the Shrek series. So the sail away party was something of a production show by “Dream Works”. Shrek and Fiona even make an appearance. This is probably aimed more at kids than adults, and I think the kids loved it.

 

The special dinner we went to was a “Murder mystery dinner”. The “Woman to Blame” and I have been to this type of dinner show before and in the proper dinner theaters they have been good… lots of fun and a good dinner. I have to tell you that the “theater” part of it was mostly a gimmick designed to get you to spend $50 (each) on a dinner that you might not otherwise go to. The “Murder mystery” part was cute and a couple of the actors were probably pretty good… but… it was really only a couple of interludes between courses of the meal.

 

Before dinner we were seated in the Olive or Twist bar upstairs. There we got Champaign and Hor d’Overies. The Hor d’Overies were tasty and the Champaign was just “so-so”. This was just a brief gathering in a place so that they could get everyone checked in and then put on the little skit that set up the premise for the murder mystery.

 

The meal itself??? Well, it was gourmet type food… the appetizers were weird stuff that gourmets like. You know… green things, and brown things, and fancy mushrooms… eggplant, toad-stool and other things on the plate that I don’t know what they were. All of this is a matter of taste. . I fully admit to be a grazer… not a gourmet. I would rather have a Big Mac-in-the-box-O-Bell than a steak. That said, I had the filet mignon. It was cooked just like I asked for it and was quite tasty.

 

One of the things that might make the “Murder Mystery” deal worth while is that wine is included with the meal. They came around with bottles of red and white wine and they didn’t limit how much wine you could have. They came around often and kept everyone’s glass filled properly. There were a few that were really “downing” the wine and the waiters kept it coming. If they can remember it, those folks had a wonderful meal. As they left they were singing and dancing their way down the hall.

 

After dinner we walked down the central promenade area looking to see what night life there is. There is an attempt here on the “Flowrider of the Seas” to have evening entertainment suiting many styles. There’s the two piece classical music duo… piano and violin… both very skilled. There’s the Scooners “piano bar” which doesn’t seem to be an audience participation type place. The entertainer there was skilled and seemed to not make it two loud for those enjoying a drink and pleasant conversation.

 

There’s a lot of activity in the central promenade where all of the stores and shops are. There were lots of people checking out the wares and trinkets. The eateries, bars, and Ben & Jerry’s were all doing a lot of business.

 

Tomorrow’s a sea day. That will give me plenty of time to explore the ship better and find all the interesting cubby holes.

 

Bob

Memories of Naked Fanny

[vickykay]

We are thinking about Freedom of the Seas for a March cruise (usually cruise on Celebrity) so will be very interested in you posts and overall impression. Thanks!

 

Viccy

[Kokomo_Man]

I'm still catching up... here's the post from the sea day.

 

 

Day 2

 

This will be a bit long since this was a sea day and I’ve had plenty of time to ponder the goings-on on the ship.

 

The Flowrider

 

Usually on the first sea day I spend lots of time exploreing the ship. Except that I ended up spending most of my time at the flowrider. I have not got this thing mastered yet. Hummmm, not mastered is an understatement. Everyone, and I mean everyone, “crashes and burns” on the flowrider. That’s the way the line progresses. By this, I mean that each “rider” is allowed to stay on the Flowrider until they crash & burn. So if some of the better riders have been on for a while, the operator (or audience) encourages them to do a more difficult trick. And of course when they try the trick, they “crash and burn”. Great sport!

 

Me? Well, I’m not what you might call proficient. The time I stand on the board until the time I’ve been washed away by the rushing water is measured in mili-seconds… err, make that nanoseconds. But I’m not going to give up easy. I’m bound and determined to do better. Today I actually managed to stand on the board… on my own… in the flow of the rushing water… for maybe even as long as a second… until I crashed and burned.

 

Although tomorrow we’ll be in Haiti and I’ll be going to “catch a glimpse”, I’m also going to give it another try when I get back to the ship.

 

Breakfast & Morning Coffee

 

On other cruise lines the “Woman to Blame” and I like to have our morning coffee and maybe a bite to eat up on one of the outside decks. All of the other ships we’ve been on have the buffet adjacent to the outer decks. You can take your food from the buffet out to the pool area and enjoy your breakfast there. Here on the “Flowrider of the Seas” the buffet area is not set up very well for that. The only thing adjacent to the buffet is the kids pool area. I suppose we could hike down to the other pool area but what a “pain” it would be.

 

On-Deck smoking areas

 

For some this will be good news and for others this will be bad news, but please… don’t make this into a discussion of smoking… and don’t shoot the messenger… I’m just passing on information. (In case you didn’t catch this before, I’m a non-smoker and the “Woman to Blame” smokes.)

 

This ship is a little different than all the other ships I’ve been on. Here on the Flowrider, there is no smoking on the pool decks. (All of the pools are on deck 11 in this case.) Other ships allow smoking on one side of the pool deck and prohibit it on the other side. By the way, on other ships this is also the area next to the buffet so those who wish to can have a smoke with their morning coffee.

 

Here on the Flowrider, the next deck up (deck 12)… the deck overlooking the pool, there is smoking allowed on the left side of the ship. When the ship is underway, it is quite windy… which is good and bad. It’s good because it really will blow the smoke away, but it’s bad because I suspect that the ash and sparks get blown as well. There are no table and chair arrangements on deck 12. So if you want to go up there for a smoke, then have a seat on the recliner… except that oops… the chair hogs have all claimed the recliners. Which brings me to…

 

Chair Hogs

 

I’ll only say a brief word on this. As you walk onto the pool area there’s a big sign that says that if someone leaves their stuff on a poolside chair longer than 30 minutes. I hoped that things would be different here on the “Flowrider of the Seas”… but sadly it isn’t. The chair hogs were out in force first thing this morning. I was up early this morning and the chair hogs were out early too. They would spread towels and maybe a magazine on the chair and then leave. I even saw one person bring a pair of flip-flops and proceed to put one flip flop on each chair. Puh-lease!!!!

 

There is a little known maritime law that I thought about enforcing this morning… but I didn’t. The law says that if a chair hog has left their chair and the cruise line doesn’t enforce the 30 minute rule, the other passengers may, after 31 minutes, throw the chair hog belongings into the pool. You may throw it overboard only if it is something the fish can eat. Remember it… maritime law… chair hogs… 31 minutes… stuff into the pool.

 

Lots of Kids

 

There are lots of kids on this ship. And I like to have kids on the ships since they are most often making “happy sounds” while they are on a cruise. There was a cruise we did a couple of years ago in October/November where the average age was at least 125. I’ve never seen so many “walkers” and “scooters” on a ship in my life. Now don’t get me wrong. I like old people… I hope to be one some day. (OK… those who know me… you quit your snickering right now!!!!) When I get old and can’t get around, I’ll have a scooter too… except that it will be souped-ed up and I’ll be racing it. (Those who know me know that’s true tool.)

 

Anyway, I think a ration of 10 kids to about 100 adults is about the right mixture. Plenty of happy sounds and not so many walkers/scooters that the isles are clogged up. When we booked this cruise we knew that would be lots of kids because it’s summer vacation time. But… OMG. There are at least 10 thousand kids for every 100 adults… make that 10 thousand and one including me. (I told those who know me to quit snickering… the “Woman to Blame” will certify that I’m still a kid… or at least that I’ve never grown up.)

 

I’m not really complaining about the kids. They are really making lots of happy sounds… and who cares if they pee in the pool, most of the adults do that too.

 

And there’s a lot of teen-agers. I think about 20% of the ship must be teen-agers. I’m not exaggerating on this. Everywhere you look there are teenagers. And the 16 and 17 years… OMG some of them almost make it understandable why school teachers end up in jail. But there are laws, but there should be more. 16 and 17 year old guys should be prohibited from being that buff. (I see the middle aged women talking when one of those guys walks by.) And for the 16 and 17 year old girls there should be a law requiring them to wear only baggy sweatshirts… I see the guys who think that because they have on dark sunglasses you can’t see their eyes following the girls… WRONG. (Not me of course… I’m just an objective observer reporting what I see.)

 

Table-Mates

 

When the “Woman to Blame” first got me to go on a cruise, one of the things I was worried about was being stuck eating dinner with someone I didn’t care for. So for the first couple of cruises we booked had some form of “any time” dining and we could always sit by ourselves… or with someone we had met and liked.

 

But, we went on a cruise line that didn’t have “any time” and we found out that we liked that too. On that cruise we were seated at a table for eight and everyone got along well and became friends. So since then, we’ve chosen “traditional” dining. I now think of it as living adventurously. Although the cruise lines claim to make some attempt to group like people, I think it’s just about pot-luck… about 50% of the time we have been seated with folks we got along well with… but the other 50% were I’ll say were ummmm… less than favorable. This time we are again seated at a table for eight. Except that there were only four of us tonight. Last night, while we were at the “Mystery Theater Dinner” there was only the other couple by themselves.

 

So now I’m sure the question on your mind is… are these the good, the bad, or the ugly. Well, none of the above. It’s kind of neutral. The folks at our table are nice folks, but we have very little in common with them… except that we are on the same cruise together. They have no kids, and we have a hoard… he’s a visit the museum kind of guy and I’m a flowrider kind of guy. In Haiti she wants to go to the beach, and the Woman to Blame would burn to a crisp. So we will have pleasant chit-chat at dinner time, but probably never see them otherwise.

 

That’s all for today. It’s time to “rock-n’roll”… and perhaps a frozen concoction or two to help me hang on. More tomorrow after I catch a glimpse.

 

Bob

Memories of Naked Fanny

[iuki]

Looking forward to your posts. We'll be on the the same ship and itinerary in May 2012.

Enjoy your cruise! :)

 

This is my first cruise on Royal Caribbean. I’ve cruised predominantly with Carnival the past few years and have also cruised with NCL. So I’ll be giving you a view as sort of a newbie, but not a virgin. I hope to give you a glimpse of what it is like onboard the Freedom of the Seas over the next seven days.

 

One of the main reasons I booked this cruise over others is because it goes to Labadee, Haiti. Labadee is Royal Caribbean’s “private island”… except that it isn’t an island. It’s a little jetty that sticks out into the ocean from the main island of Hispaniola. (Yea, the same Hispaniola mentioned in the Pirates of the Caribbean movie franchise. )

 

So now you’re asking “why does he want to go to Haiti?” The answer is simple, to “catch a glimpse of Port Au Prince”. Hummmm…. I guess that you need the rest of the explanation. You see, I’m searching for Kokomo. You know… the place the Beach Boys told us about in 1988… You know… “Off the Florida Keys… there’s a place you want to go.”… You know the song… “Aruba, Jamacia… ooohhhh I wana take ya”. Go ahead, bring up Youtube or iTunes and listen to it. I’ll wait.

 

Ok… now that you’ve got that song in your head and can’t get rid of it, I’ll go on.

 

It’s my quest to visit every place mentioned by the Beach Boys in the song. I’ve been working at it for a while now and the list is starting to get short. I still need to “catch a glimpse of Port Au Prince”. But since Port Au Prince is not a very nice place to go to, I think I can “catch a glimpse”… a tiny glimpse of what it’s like in Port Au Prince by visiting Labadee... that counts... doesn't it?

 

This trip on the Freedom of the Seas also goes to my other favorite ports… Grand Cayman and Cozumel. We also are going to Falmouth, Jamaica which I have never been to. Finding Kokomo is a tough job but someone's got to do it.

 

So come along with me and I’ll try to give you a bit of what it’s like on the Freedom of the Seas. I’ll be posting all of the good, the bad, and the ugly of the cruise… and together we can catch a glimpse of Port Au Prince

 

Bob

Memories of Naked Fanny

[iuki]

I'm really enjoying your posts. Looking forward to more of your postings. ;)

[imola]

This is my first cruise on Royal Caribbean. I’ve cruised predominantly with Carnival the past few years and have also cruised with NCL. So I’ll be giving you a view as sort of a newbie, but not a virgin. I hope to give you a glimpse of what it is like onboard the Freedom of the Seas over the next seven days.

 

One of the main reasons I booked this cruise over others is because it goes to Labadee, Haiti. Labadee is Royal Caribbean’s “private island”… except that it isn’t an island. It’s a little jetty that sticks out into the ocean from the main island of Hispaniola. (Yea, the same Hispaniola mentioned in the Pirates of the Caribbean movie franchise. )

 

So now you’re asking “why does he want to go to Haiti?” The answer is simple, to “catch a glimpse of Port Au Prince”. Hummmm…. I guess that you need the rest of the explanation. You see, I’m searching for Kokomo. You know… the place the Beach Boys told us about in 1988… You know… “Off the Florida Keys… there’s a place you want to go.”… You know the song… “Aruba, Jamacia… ooohhhh I wana take ya”. Go ahead, bring up Youtube or iTunes and listen to it. I’ll wait.

 

Ok… now that you’ve got that song in your head and can’t get rid of it, I’ll go on.

 

It’s my quest to visit every place mentioned by the Beach Boys in the song. I’ve been working at it for a while now and the list is starting to get short. I still need to “catch a glimpse of Port Au Prince”. But since Port Au Prince is not a very nice place to go to, I think I can “catch a glimpse”… a tiny glimpse of what it’s like in Port Au Prince by visiting Labadee... that counts... doesn't it?

 

This trip on the Freedom of the Seas also goes to my other favorite ports… Grand Cayman and Cozumel. We also are going to Falmouth, Jamaica which I have never been to. Finding Kokomo is a tough job but someone's got to do it.

 

So come along with me and I’ll try to give you a bit of what it’s like on the Freedom of the Seas. I’ll be posting all of the good, the bad, and the ugly of the cruise… and together we can catch a glimpse of Port Au Prince

 

Bob

Memories of Naked Fanny

 

Wow what a treat to hear someone else have the same goal as DH and myself. We started our quest in 1988. We decided that we would visit every place named in the song Kokomo. We have only Martinique left. We were able to "get a glimpse" in route to a cruise. We were flying and it was a night flight. We were sharing our quest with the flight attendent and how much we would love to get that glimpse. She told the Captain and as we got close he sent her to wake us up and direct us where to look so we could in fact , "get our glimpse of Port Au Prince". Ah yes, the good old days of flying. Remember Bob, if all else fails there is a Kokomo, Indiana. We will be on FOS in Sept so really enjoying your reviews. Have a wonderful cruise.

[Cruisegirl6]

Kokomo enjoying your onboard review! I wonder if Seattle Coffee will accept starbucks giftscards (we going next month) as they own Seatlle Coffee?

 

Did you get your ice show tickets yet, if so what day and time did they distribute them, if early am is there an alternative day/time?

[Scotty G]

Kokomo enjoying your onboard review! I wonder if Seattle Coffee will accept starbucks giftscards (we going next month) as they own Seatlle Coffee?

You must have a bunch of Starbucks gift cards to use up. I believe the answer is still the same on that - No! ;)

[Silverman]

I was starting to get a little worried. I thought the ship had sunk!! Didnt hear from you. But now I see it was the Flowrider keeping you busy! Trying to decide between this ship, Mariner and CCL Freedom. Looking forward to the rest! If this report comes out as good as your others Im pretty sure you picked the ship Im going on! Again thanks for taking the time to do this report.

[QTMichele]

Thanks for posting, Bob.

[karajeboo]

Absolutely loving your trip report!!! We have been on one Disney cruise (Magic - Eastern Caribbean), have our next DCL cruise planned for March (Magic - WEstern) and are already looking at the "Flowrider of the SEas" for our next cruise when we branch out from DCL. Furhtermore, I write lots of trip reports of my WDW trips and cruises on another forum and love your style!!!

 

You are informing and entertaining me at the same time! Keep it up!

[Nanatopiper]

WE are enjoying reading your posts! Keep em coming. Thanks for taking the time to write them.

 

Looking forward to being on this ship!