April 7, 2013 Freedom of the Seas picture review - 2nd Cruise and 1st time Royal

[pscruzinboyz]

Hi, great review so far.....we were also on this cruise and I do agree with you.....It was a great cruise. Coco Cay was awesome and so happy we were able to go since most reviews I read always say they miss it. I had to laugh though...your pictures were taken when you first got there early...by the time we got on the island.....10:00 ish......the island was pretty much packed. But oh so worth it.

I guess we are seasoned cruisers because we were on deck 9 and I just did not feel the ship rock that much....But that is me. Sorry Jon had a rough time. Looking forward to more of your review and pictures.

 

Mike

[BLAMBKY]

to the compass. Originally Posted by murfturf

Here is the Flickr account where I uploaded all the Compasses that aimathy sent to me!

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7085487...7632856471373/ Hmmmm? It did not pull up for me. I'll try to get mine posted, sorry. :(

I am going to compare but I think they are the same/close. Coco Cay was a lot less crowded AFTER lunch and the tides were so low that you could walk a long way without getting wet ablove your KNEES! We were able to see a good variety of sea life too! I would suggest going or staying later. :) Sara, keep up the great job!

[Eriksgarden]

We were also on this cruise. Only regret is that we didn't get to the Meet & Mingle and get to know CC'ers. This was our "Seniors" cruise; taking a high school senior and a real senior (my mom). Everyone had a blast!

[slord12]

Hi, great review so far.....we were also on this cruise and I do agree with you.....It was a great cruise. Coco Cay was awesome and so happy we were able to go since most reviews I read always say they miss it. I had to laugh though...your pictures were taken when you first got there early...by the time we got on the island.....10:00 ish......the island was pretty much packed. But oh so worth it.

I guess we are seasoned cruisers because we were on deck 9 and I just did not feel the ship rock that much....But that is me. Sorry Jon had a rough time. Looking forward to more of your review and pictures.

 

Mike

 

Thanks for reading! I made Jon wake up super early so we could be the first group to Coco Cay! We stayed all day and had a great time. I wish I had video of the lunch area around noon....CRAZY! About the movement/seasickness, I get carsick easily so I was so worried I'd be sick on my first cruise. I can feel the movement, but luckily no actual sickness. Poor Jon though has it bad (severe inner ear problems as a child). I thought Sunday night- Tuesday were the worst, even some of the crew/dancers commented that it felt like it was really moving.

[BLAMBKY]

:) Ok, try this....I think they are backwards Day7 counting down and at the end should be the Teen compass.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/68666202@N04/

[slord12]

I woke up bright and early this day even though we weren't arriving until noon. I went to the gym and walked around the track and took some nice scenery pictures while approaching St. Thomas. Jon and I had breakfast in the Jammer again and it was good and fast as always. We had big plans for today!

 

Heading to St. Thomas!

 

 

We were waiting on deck 2 for them to announce we could get off the ship, so as soon as they gave us the green light off we went. We immediately hurried to the taxi area and shared a cab with 4 others. We dropped them off at Coral World and Coki Beach, then continued on our way to Red Hook Marina.

 

Once we got to Red Hook we looked around and had a slight moment of panic as we didn't see our group anywhere! All of a sudden though appeared the wonderful Captain Pat yelling "Sara, is that you??"...YES, she picked us up on the dinghy and brought us over to her yacht, the Independence!!

 

Once on board we officially met Andy (first mate) and Ben, Melissa, Jessica, and Benjamin (hey guys!) that we had been talking to on our roll call board. Captain Pat only takes 6 people a day, so we were fortunate to be with a great family! She talked to us just a few minutes, announced "BAR'S OPEN" and off we went.

 

We sailed around and she pointed out different islands to us. We drank beer and delicious rum punch (soda for the kids obviously) and enjoyed our sail! The weather was gorgeous. Oh, and the rum punch was incredible. The sprinkle ground nutmeg on top and it really adds some special to the flavor.

 

One view while sailing. Gorgeous.

 

 

I have a lot of video footage of our sailing time, and I promise you'll see it all when I'm finished editing!

 

We moored offshore of this wonderful beach area and had some great snorkeling. We were in a perfect location. To our right was a grassy area for turtles and rays and to the left was a reef for snorkeling and seeing fish!

 

This is a picture of where we were "parked"!

 

 

Shot looking off the back of the yacht.

 

 

I snorkeled for a long time and saw turtles, rays, and of course explored the reef. Footage to come!! The turtles were so graceful and beautiful, I was so excited I almost teared up when I saw the first one. I do not like seeing animals like this is zoos or aquariums, so it was special to see them at peace in their home.

 

I was getting hungry and sure enough Captain Pat and Andy announced lunch was almost ready so we headed back to the boat to eat. She showered us and our equipment off with fresh warm water then we sat up front in the sun to dry off for a while. We made our way to the back of the boat in the shade to eat. One by one they delivered us these beautiful wooden trays with cloth napkins holding our delicious lunch of pasta primavera, salad, and garlic bread! YUM! I had another rum punch, typical. Dessert was amazing, but sadly, no picture as I inhaled it before I even thought about it. It was called "death by chocolate". The adults chocolate cake was soaked in rum, Pat told the kids ours had extra sauce, LOL! Anyway, the cake was then covered in sliced bananas, whipped cream, and chocolate syrup. SO GOOD!!

 

Here's picture of lunch minus dessert!

 

 

Jon and I right before we ate!

 

 

After lunch we got back in the water and swam and snorkeled more seeing more turtles and reef. This was truly paradise!

 

Sadly though all aboard was at 6:30 and we had to be back at the marina to catch our tax by at least 5:30 just to make sure we'd make it back. We slowly sailed back and enjoyed more drinks and beautiful scenery. We all had a great time and great conversation! When we got back to the marina Pat loaded us in the dingy a few at the time and sadly told us goodbye. It's not goodbye for me though as I will return and do this all over again!

 

Jon announced as we got back to the marina "it's all downhill from here". I think he was right, I couldn't have asked for or expected a greater day than what I'd just had! Captain Pat had a taxi waiting for us so we all hoped in and made it back to port a little after 6pm. We said goodbye to Ben and his family and told them we'd hopefully run into them on the ship again!

 

I've reached my picture limit for this post, so the next post will continue with some more pictures from our day in St. Thomas! Remember to keep an eye out for when I post all my video footage!

 

Here's Pat's contact information - http://independence44.us/ - if you're in St. Thomas - do this!! You'll be so happy you did!

[slord12]

We were also on this cruise. Only regret is that we didn't get to the Meet & Mingle and get to know CC'ers. This was our "Seniors" cruise; taking a high school senior and a real senior (my mom). Everyone had a blast!

 

Me too!! We had every intention of going, but Jon was feeling so bad that morning I got up and went to the pool and just forgot about it! Oops!! Glad you had a great trip and thanks for reading!

[slord12]

:) Ok, try this....I think they are backwards Day7 counting down and at the end should be the Teen compass.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/68666202@N04/

 

Yay! Thanks for adding these!

[slord12]

Here are more pictures from my incredible day in St. Thomas!

 

 

The whole gang (with Jon doing what he does best...talking!)

 

 

 

 

About to head back to the marina!

 

 

 

This 6 photo limit is killing me, more pictures to come!

[slord12]

More pictures!

 

 

 

 

 

Jon chatting with Captain Pat, and I think Ben was across from him!

 

 

If you look in the middle, you can see the rainbow behind us!

 

[slord12]

Even more...sorry I got carried away!

 

 

 

 

Getting back to the marina (look at Jon chilling!)

 

 

Here's the Independence (American flag on the back). Her husband built her this yacht back in the 1970's. Her and her family have sailed around the world on this. She has incredible stories to tell!

 

 

Back on the ship..goodbye St. Thomas (until next time!)

 

 

One more post coming to finish up Day 4!

[slord12]

Leaving St. Thomas

 

 

Once back onboard we immediately went and got dressed for the evening, not going to lie, we kept it pretty casual tonight because we were tired. Jon joined in the khaki short club at dinner (go ahead, flame me, big deal!).

 

We made it just time in time for the "Now You See It" illusionist show at 7. It was a pretty entertaining show, but we were starving (imagine that) and kept looking at our watches hoping it was time for dinner!

 

We had a wonderful dinner, it was an italian themed (I accidentally posted what we ate and did this night back on day 3, there's a post somewhere back there with the corrections!). Anyway, dinner was great..those garlic shrimp..OMG! We had such a good time telling our new friends at our table all about our day.

 

Here's Jon holding the dessert menu. He's pointing at elberberry (think Monty Python and we watch a lot of BBC..nerds.)

 

 

After dinner we went to the Love and Marriage game show (told you I messed up my day 3 post!) and it was hilarious. We immediately went to sleep after to wake up early for our next big day!

 

Here's our towel friend tonight, a jackrabbit perhaps?

 

 

Up next, another fabulous port day in St. Maarten!

[Luv06012012]

Your day in St. Thomas looked so amazing! I'm jealous by the way....I too, love to snorkel and my goal is to one day see a sea turtle down there with me and I have yet to see one! One day....one day....

 

How many did you get to see?

[slord12]

Your day in St. Thomas looked so amazing! I'm jealous by the way....I too, love to snorkel and my goal is to one day see a sea turtle down there with me and I have yet to see one! One day....one day....

 

How many did you get to see?

 

It was amazing! In all the years I have snorkeled and dived at resorts (I'm currently getting certified) I had NEVER came across a turtle. I wound up only seeing 3 or so in St. Thomas, but St. Maarten was a different story there were turtles EVERYWHERE. I can't wait for y'all to see the video! They look so beautiful swimming around!

[allie3490]

Thank you so much for this review. We just sailed on Freedom in November same itinerary and miss it so much! Absolutely best vacation ever!

 

Oh, and I know exactly who you were referring to the "So nice" guy! He was great and my son would crack up each time he walked by with a tray of drink saying "SO nice". Of course we felt "obligated" to buy drinks from him. :)

[KansCocoa]

What a great review! It's bring back memories of the Mother/Daughter cruise I took last summer on the Freedom - with the same itinerary! We didn't get to stop in CocoCay, due to the weather, so I was happy to see your photos of what I missed! ;)

 

I'll have to remember the acupuncture thingie for seasickness...my Hubby gets seasick pretty easy...we just did a short cruise last weekend, and he found good luck with the SeaBands on the wrists - which is similar to acupuncture, but uses acupressure, instead.

 

Can't wait to see photos of St. Maarten! :)

 

 

 

 

 

Yay!!!

 

Finally a Freedom review with pictures! :)

 

We are going in October, and I check every day for a Freedom review, and it's always Allure, or Oasis, or Independence! :rolleyes:

 

Thank you for taking the time to do this!

 

 

I don't mean to hijack the thread, but I saw that you were relatively new to the boards, and were looking for a Freedom review with photos...check out my review listed below my signature...the one that says, "...Goes to the Caribbean" is a Freedom review...! I have tons of pics and tips that should help you!

[CruisinAg]

Beautiful pictures. I love St. Thomas and St. Maarten. only 10 months til I get to see those sights in person!

[slord12]

Thank you so much for this review. We just sailed on Freedom in November same itinerary and miss it so much! Absolutely best vacation ever!

 

Oh, and I know exactly who you were referring to the "So nice" guy! He was great and my son would crack up each time he walked by with a tray of drink saying "SO nice". Of course we felt "obligated" to buy drinks from him. :)

 

Thank you for reading! I agree this was a fantastic vacation and I can't wait to do it again! Gotta love the "so nice" guy!!

[slord12]

What a great review! It's bring back memories of the Mother/Daughter cruise I took last summer on the Freedom - with the same itinerary! We didn't get to stop in CocoCay, due to the weather, so I was happy to see your photos of what I missed! ;)

 

I'll have to remember the acupuncture thingie for seasickness...my Hubby gets seasick pretty easy...we just did a short cruise last weekend, and he found good luck with the SeaBands on the wrists - which is similar to acupuncture, but uses acupressure, instead.

 

Can't wait to see photos of St. Maarten! :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don't mean to hijack the thread, but I saw that you were relatively new to the boards, and were looking for a Freedom review with photos...check out my review listed below my signature...the one that says, "...Goes to the Caribbean" is a Freedom review...! I have tons of pics and tips that should help you!

 

Thank you so much for reading, I have read all of your reviews and really enjoyed your Freedom one! I was super sad for you though that you had to miss Coco Cay, but I know you'll make it there next time!

 

I'm telling you the acupuncture was incredible, I couldn't believe it worked. Jon even did fine on the 2 small boats we were on in St. Thomas and St. Maarten. I want to try it for my migraines since he told me it could help!

[slord12]

Beautiful pictures. I love St. Thomas and St. Maarten. only 10 months til I get to see those sights in person!

 

Thank you so much, I'm super jealous you are going back! Have a great trip!

[Redsfan]

great review, we are there Dec 1st, and don't want to miss Coco..Carnival's Half Moon looks hands down nicer, but this Island looks great, so hoping we don't miss it!

[slord12]

great review, we are there Dec 1st, and don't want to miss Coco..Carnival's Half Moon looks hands down nicer, but this Island looks great, so hoping we don't miss it!

 

I would love to try Carnival's Half Moon, ya know,for comparisons! :D I see you did the Breeze to Tortola and all, how was that? I've been looking at that cruise. I also really like the Dream's new itineraries they have planned. Thanks for reading!

[slord12]

Thanks for reading and for the comments everyone! Day 5 - St. Maarten will be posted tomorrow!

 

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

[madra2112]

Having done the Western run on Freedom a few years ago, I was enjoying this review anyway, but the Holy Grail reference immediately wins it "Review of the Week" status! Now I shall go away, in case you taunt me a second time!

[slord12]

Having done the Western run on Freedom a few years ago, I was enjoying this review anyway, but the Holy Grail reference immediately wins it "Review of the Week" status! Now I shall go away, in case you taunt me a second time!

 

Yay!! I feel honored to be "review of the week" in your book! You're the first person to even mention my reference! "You're mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!" gotta love it!

 

Thanks for reading!