Freedom of the Seas April 14th Review

[DM_KidAtHeart]

After months of waiting and counting down, it was finally time for my birthday cruise trip.

 

We had packed up everything the night before, including putting the two main bags in the car. So when I got off work (early) we just got in the car and left. We had decided beforehand to start off the vacation with a trip to Popeye’s. Both my mom and I love their spicy chicken. So even though it was in the exact wrong direction (only by 15 minutes or so), we started out with getting our chicken, dirty rice, and biscuits. We ended up with enough to have it for both lunch and dinner.

 

The drive to Atlanta was very pretty with most of the trees just blooming in the late spring. We were happily ensconced in the hotel by 6 pm. I had been a little nervous about the hotel, Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham. We had gotten a groupon deal for it, and after the fact, I realized the TripAdvisor reviews for it were about 50/50. But it was a done deal, so I just crossed my fingers that the good reviews were right, and the bad reviews were trolls or just overly expectant people. I was happy to find it a very pleasant room with no complaints at all. We did have to get the room changed as the first one was up three flights of stairs, and my mom can’t do more than a few stairs. Driving around the hotel it almost looks more like an apartment complex than a hotel. The room had a microwave and a small fridge. We had a view of the tennis court out the window.

 

The only downside to the hotel was that there was no wifi in the room. It wasn’t long of being in the room, and I started feeling the cruise critic withdrawals. I could get to it on my phone, but we haven’t a limited amount of data for each month, and I didn’t want to go over.

 

I had my leftover chicken and dirty rice for an early dinner, but then got to thinking about dessert. On my last business trip to Atlanta, I went to Cheesecake factory. I have never liked cheesecake before, but on the menu they had a Red Velvet Cheesecake. Since it was the company dime and I love Red Velvet Cake, I figured I give it a try. I LOVED it. So I searched Google maps and Cheesecake Factory was only 10 minutes from the hotel. So I happily planned for my first birthday celebration dessert, and hoped they had free wifi so I could do a little cruise critic checking.

 

The breakfast at the hotel was pretty good. There were eggs, biscuits, sausage, gravy, some cereals, some various breads, regular milk, chocolate milk, and yogurt. My mom said the coffee was good, a rare summary for her. She likes her coffee strong.

 

So after breakfast, I repacked our carry-on bags better. The initial packing of them was done rather haphazardly and had left one of the bags too full. I’ll have to re-do this packing again the next morning, since it still wasn’t the way we’d want it for getting on the boat. The plan for getting on the boat is to turn in one of the carry-ons, and just keep the one with our random liquids and various sundries that can be put on the back of mom’s wheelchair.

 

After this I laid down and thought about taking a nap. This would be fine because we thought our bus didn’t leave until two pm. But I thought I should check our bus departure time, just to make sure. It turns out it was 12:15 pm, and not 2 pm. So we quickly rushed out the door. I dropped mom at the Megabus departure point, and went to take the car to pre-arranged parking for the week at the Crowne Plaza Airport. I then took their shuttle to the airport, and got a round trip MARTA ticket to get to the Peachtree station and back. The wind was VERY cold that day, so I just tried to picture the sunny locations we were going to. The train finally arrived and I got on and was finally out of the nasty wind.

 

But here’s where the plan went off track. What are the chances of the MARTA not being able to run? Honestly, I never considered it a possible problem. So the train started moving around 11:05, went to and by one station, and then stopped at this tunnel. The driver came on, and said we had to wait while the southbound train went by on the one working track right now. Apparently the other track was having some type of repairs. Okay, small delay, that’s okay, still plenty of time. Then the driver comes on again, and says the other train has broken down on the one part of the track, so we are going to have to return to the previous station. Now I’m getting worried about the time. We get back to the previous station, we sit there a little longer, and the driver says we’re going back to the airport station.

 

At this point, I know the MARTA is not going to get me to the Peachtree station where I’ve left my mom and have to catch the bus. It is almost 11:30. Since the train didn’t actually take me anywhere, I go back to the desk where I got the ticket and ask for my 3 dollars since the train didn’t take me anywhere. She says because I swiped it, there’s nothing she can do. I plan to file complaints when we get back, but for now I just had to get back downtown to the Peachtree station. My only option at this point to get there in time for the bus is a taxi. Now this was not in the budget, but there wasn’t a choice at this point. So into a taxi I climbed.

 

I got to my mom in time. The Megabus arrived a little late, so we got to stand in the biting wind a little longer. But eventually we got on the bus, and all was good. I enjoyed the trees as we rode down. Florida trees are different than trees in my part of the country. I particularly like my first sightings of palm trees. It’s one of the first natural signs of the vacation for me. We got to Orlando right on time. I had gotten a good priceline express deal on the Sheraton downtown.

 



 

Photo was taken the next morning.

 

And the bonus was that it was only about 2 blocks from the bus station where Megabus dropped us off. So were just able to walk there. And then had the challenge of trying to sleep with the anticipation of our boarding of the Freedom the next day.

 

For the record, the Orlando main downtown bus station is quite beautiful at night. These three pics are at the bus station as the lighting on the palm trees keeps changing colors.

 

 

Embarkation Day next...

[DM_KidAtHeart]

My intention at the start of the cruise was to do the write-up for each day at the end of each day. But I didn’t actually get to writing this one until after the 1st sea day. I was just too tired after the 1st day. Now there won’t be many photos for this day. I forgot to charge my iPhone the night before so it didn’t last long. Then when I went to take a photo with my real camera, I found that both batteries were dead.

 

I wake up obnoxiously early. I was just too ready for the cruise to start. I went ahead and got going to get the rental car. The nightmare of the Atlanta public transportation the day before was evened out nicely by the wonderful ease and simplicity of the Orlando public transportation. For only $2, I easily got from downtown to the airport, and enjoyed some fun people watching on the bus.

 

We had found a really good deal to get a convertible for only like $20 more than a regular rental car.

 

 

It was a lot of fun to drive in the nice Florida weather down to Port Canaveral, and this smile on my mom's face was well worth the extra $20 for the upgrade.

 

 

We had an errand to run and so once all was done we didn’t get to the port until around 12:30 (much later than I would have preferred).

 

First ship view

 

Embarkation was easy and fast though. Since it was so late, we went to the room first and dropped off our stuff. We were pleased to find that our special requests to the accessible department had been done. We then went to the Windjammer for lunch. There was a crowd, but it wasn’t actually too bad.

 

What we did between lunch and the Welcome Aboard show is a total blur at this point. I think we explored the ship a little, and enjoyed the hot tub in the Solarium.

 

I love this metal bulldog on the Promenade. I could see him from my roon.

 

I have minimal pictures for this day, since I discovered on the shuttle ride to the port that the batteries for my real camera were dead (fortunately I had brought the charger). So the handful of photos are all before my iPhone battery died.

 



One sail away photo from a window on the pool deck

 

The Welcome Aboard show was fun. The cruise director Richard Spacey was quite a trip. The aerial show was awesome. The comedian was okay. He has some funny lines, but wasn’t really funny enough that we wanted to his adult show late on the next day.

 

We had dinner scheduled for 8:15 that night. For the appetizers, I had the shrimp and the grilled cheese from the kid’s menu, and mom had shrimp and the salad. For the entrees, I had the prime rib, and mom had the grilled fish. For dessert, I had the crème brulee and mom tried the sugar free offering of the night. Overall, the food was good. Our waiter was okay but somewhat non-existent (rarely smiled). The assistant waiter was great and very friendly though, but we still decided to ask for someone else the next night.

 

We then went and watched the Majority Rules gameshow. This was a gameshow I had never made it to on the previous cruises, and was curious about it. Mom retired to the room part of the way through this. It was kind of fun, but I doubt I’d go again. After this I watched the Move it Move it parade from the end of the deck above it (or most of it anyway). It was cute.

 

As I was about to leave the parade, I stopped to look at the "What was happening" on the interactive board. King Julien scared me while I was concentrating on the board. He was apparently running from one end to the other. It was fun. Whoever was in that King Julien really liked his job and always seemed to be totally in character whenever I saw him even if he wasn't really interacting with anyone at the time.

 

I then went back to the room intending to retire for the night. I found mom in the window of the room, where she had watched the parade from there. I ended up going back out to grab us some snacks. I got mom a cookie from Café Promenade. I tried two of the little pudding cup things from Sorrento’s. I went back to the room, and shortly afterward collapsed asleep.

 

Coming up next, the first sea day (probably in multiple posts though as there are lots of pictures)...

[DM_KidAtHeart]

I had taken notes for this day on the day of, but by the next day I decided that notes were all I was going to do each day. I was just busy putting all my energy into having fun, and by the time we returned to the room most nights I had little energy left.

 

I was late deciding that I wanted to do the character breakfast, and so I wasn’t able to reserve it online. I had meant to ask about a reservation after getting onboard, but I just forgot. So I decided to just try showing up and asking. I was actually about 10 minutes late from the scheduled start. I asked the first waiter I ran into, he and another waiter found the head waiter who said it was fine and seated me. I did have to repeat what I wanted about 5 times through the course of this, but no big deal.

 

I loved the character breakfast. The menu was a Dreamworkified version of the chocolate breakfast. I started with a chocolate milkshake (very yummy). I ordered my usual breakfast plus a banana chocolate waffle. It was delicious.

 

 

You also see a plate of chocolate pastries that were offered in the background, but I didn't actually try any of these.

 

Not long into the meal, a waiter came out and said the characters would be coming out and doing a little performance and then would come around for pictures. The little dances they did for each character (Shrek, Puss in Boots and Fiona) were cute. It was particularly fun when Shrek did Gungnham Style.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Coming up - First Sea Day Part 2 (more character breakfast and the Meet-N-Mingle)

[DM_KidAtHeart]

I took pictures with Shrek and Puss in Boots.

 

 

 

 

I could have with Fiona as well, but didn’t really want to. I really enjoyed the breakfast and was glad I did it. Afterwards I got them to give me a to-go breakfast for my mom.

 

Mom and I then went to the Cruise Critic Meet & Mingle.

 

 

Everyone got a little plastic document holder with a notepad and pen. There was a raffle for various things (better document holders, hats, champagne bottle, and some other knick knacks). We didn’t win any of those though.

 

We then went to the shopping show. Hindsight being 20/20, I’m not sure I would have gone. It was long, very, very long. We barely got out in time for our cupcake class. We also never ended up using anything we got from it. We just had too much else going on when we were on the islands. The one coupon I tried to use from it for $5 off from Del Sol, I was told I could either use the coupon or get the tote bag. This was not something he said during the show. But more on that tote bag on another day.

 

Coming up - First Sea Day Part 3 (Cupcake class) (This six photo limit is killing me).

[DM_KidAtHeart]

The cupcake class was a lot of fun.

 

Only 4 people actually showed up, but more had apparently registered and just not shown.

 

We made these cute puppy dog cupcakes.

 

My cupcake is on the left, and mom's is on the right.

 

 

I think they turned out pretty close to the sample she made.

 

 

Mom was able to trade her made cupcake for a sugar-free cupcake since she didn’t want to eat the very high calorie one we had made. I walked out of the cupcake shop and immediately while pushing mom’s wheelchair dropped my puppy on the floor. The cupcake lady gave me hers to have instead.

 

I strongly believe in eating in the MDR at every available opportunity. So after the class we went to the MDR for lunch. I had an absolutely fabulous lamb pita. It was spiced so well, and was just delicious.

 

 

We had our cupcakes for dessert. I actually only had part of mine. It was just too much and too sweet to have the whole thing.

 

Coming Up - First Sea Day Part 4 (Rest of the day)

[Eriksgarden]

My partner and niece also did the cupcake class. They made a burger and fries and had lots of fun. Loving your review!

[DM_KidAtHeart]

We then went to the cantilevered hot tubs and enjoyed a nice relaxation with our kindles. The question we got asked the most while on this cruise was where we had gotten our water-proof cases for our kindles: Amazon, of course. Link to them on Amazon. It was so fun to watch people’s reactions when we intentionally dunked our kindles into the hot tubs or pool. One lady actually screamed a little. I love our cases, and highly recommend them. We also loved these hot tubs. We vowed to try and hit them at least once a day, and most days we succeeded.

 

We then went to see Rise of the Guardians in 3D. However we got bored with it, not long into it and decided to go for a snack in the WJ instead. Here is as good a place as any to talk about how much I love bread and butter. I only really eat it this one week a year, but I eat a lot of it this week.

 

Next I had seen on the compass this thing called bouldering. I had seen it on previous cruises, and so we went to check it out. I watched this young teenage girl do it for awhile and decided it looked like fun, although I knew I’d never be as good at it as she was. Now I didn’t make it very far across the wall, only about 3 or 4 panels, but it was a lot of fun. Mom took pictures for me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ll probably try it again on my next cruise by when I should hopefully be down to my desired weight, and maybe I’ll be better then. But I had fun doing it, regardless.

 

We then went back to the room and got ready for dinner. We went about 30 minutes earlier than our scheduled reservation time of 7:30. We did this most every night. It worked out well for us for making it to the 9:00 show. For the appetizer, I had grilled cheese with tomato from the children’s menu, and this time it actually had the tomatoes on it like the menu said it did. Mom had the shrimp cocktail. For the entrée, I had the filet and mom then had a double serving of shrimp cocktail for dinner. Mom had a goal of leaving this cruise at the same weight at which she started it. Her choices were limited this night, and the waiter was not cooperative with special ordering for her. I had the cheesecake for dessert and mom had a sugar-free pudding like dessert. In general, we were not impressed with our service this night. Overall these waiters weren’t bad, but they weren’t good either. So we decided to ask for different waiters again the next night.

 

We then went to the 9:00 show of Marquee. This night we were able to sit up close, as during the shopping show we had learned how to use the handicap lift down to the bottom level. So I guess it was good we had gone to the shopping show after all. Marquee was a very fun show. The singing and dancing was amazing, particularly one of the female lead singers. She had an awesome voice.

 

We then went in search of the deck 3 karoke booths that I had learned about from middle-age drama queen’s review on cruise critic. We enjoyed it, but only did like 1 song. There was a couple sitting right in front of the screen where you select the song so it was a pain to look at the song list. Later in the week, I realized there are two booths (one on each side of the room).

 

We then went back to the room where we found our first towel animal of the cruise, elephant, I think.

 

 

I love towel animals. I would always move them over to the window seat so I could enjoy them all of the next day as well.

 

Okay, so that's as far as I'm getting tonight. I've actually got everything written up already. It's just a matter of copy-pasting and getting the pictures uploaded and the right size.

[DM_KidAtHeart]

My partner and niece also did the cupcake class. They made a burger and fries and had lots of fun. Loving your review!

 

I saw those burger and fries later in the week. They were very cute.

[DM_KidAtHeart]

Somehow when I try to just shrink the "too large" photos just a little in photobucket, they are ending up way smaller. My blog has all the real photos loaded. Also it has each day in one post, that I'm then breaking up into smaller posts with a max of 6 pictures for here. I also am leaving out a photo or two here, just because of that 6 photo limit per post. So if you should want to see the actual larger version of any photo: go here: http://smokyadventures.blogspot.com/.

[DM_KidAtHeart]

I had decided to start this day with the early morning flow-rider session. So I kept waking up in the night with my excitement to try it. At around 6, I just went ahead and got up. I wandered the ship for bit, and then went to have my usual breakfast in the MDR. My usual breakfast is the Classic Breakfast: two eggs, bacon and hash browns (little stack of griddle fried ones). I usually supplemented this with some the hash browns (triangular type) and the bacon from the hot buffet area. I did always start with the chocolate donut from the bread basket brought around as well.

 

I was near a window at breakfast as we docked, and could see some of the workers coming in.

 

 

 

It was fun how they would wave at the passengers as they went by the ship.

 

So then I went to the flow-rider. This was the Labadee day, even though I had decided I had no interest in going to the island. I just didn’t want a lay around the beach day for my birthday. So there was only this one person there for the advanced stand-up session that morning. In case you’ve ever wondered, the difference between advanced and not, is that for advanced you have to be able to get yourself going. For the regular, they help you onto it and let go when you get reasonably stood up and balanced. While the advanced time went by, I walked around some at the top. The island was quite beautiful.

 

 

Coming up - My Birthday Part 2 (My first attempt at flowrider stand-up surfing)

[DM_KidAtHeart]

I did 4 tries at flowrider stand-up surfing that morning. For the first I just have pictures that the other guy took for me. (Not his fault that I forgot to turn on the auto-focus.)

 

 

 

 

First try didn't last very long, but the falls don't actually hurt much at all even when they look bad.

 

For the subsequent tries, I realized I could set-up my camera on the 2nd level of the seating, so I have videos of these 3 even though the one of them is really blurry. I compiled the videos into one and here's the link to it:

. I was really proud of how well I did on the last one.

 

Coming up - Birthday Part 3 (this won't come until later today though, because I need to eat some lunch and go to the store).

Edited April 27, 2013 by DM_KidAtHeart

[StarSong2001]

I am soooo enjoying your review! It is fun to relive some of the same things you did & saw too (many of which I failed to mention in my own review). I felt the same way about the shopping lecture - live and learn, eh? I was setup to do the character breakfast, but we just couldn't get moving that early so skipped it. Happily I did get pictures taken with Puss in Boots later (he's my favorite!).

 

Looking forward to the rest of your review. Sorry we didn't connect at the M&M.

[tarajean1962]

Very nice review so far!:D You and your Mom are so cute!! Your cupcakes came out great and you did much better than I did on the Flow Rider!

 

Happy belated birthday!!

 

Tara

Edited April 27, 2013 by tarajean1962

[DM_KidAtHeart]

I am soooo enjoying your review! It is fun to relive some of the same things you did & saw too (many of which I failed to mention in my own review). I felt the same way about the shopping lecture - live and learn, eh? I was setup to do the character breakfast, but we just couldn't get moving that early so skipped it. Happily I did get pictures taken with Puss in Boots later (he's my favorite!).

 

Looking forward to the rest of your review. Sorry we didn't connect at the M&M.

 

We didn't stay too long at the M&M as I wanted to get to that silly shopping show. And yes, live & learn. If I had a trip planned where I didn't plan to do much in the ports (like only beach days), then I'd do the shopping show again. Since then I'd have time to go to all the shops to get the free offers, but I do tend to plan things that take the whole day in the port.

[DM_KidAtHeart]

Very nice review so far!:D You and your Mom are so cute!! Your cupcakes came out great and you did much better than I did on the Flow Rider!

 

Happy belated birthday!!

 

Tara

 

Thank you. I was very surprised at how well I managed to do at the surfing, and how much I enjoyed it.

[DM_KidAtHeart]

After the surfing, I went back to the room and the mom, who had already went and had breakfast by this time. We had pre-arranged this meeting plan. We went for a quick snack in the WJ as I was hungry after my flowriding efforts. While there we watched them testing the lifeboats.

 

 

You can also see the waverunners in the top right corner of this photo.

 

We then back up to the sports deck to try the putt-putt.We had a fun time doing the putt-putt.

 

I think this is one of my favorite picture of mom on the trip.

 

 

 

 

The putt-putt was much harder than I would have thought. The course takes all these turns and has some hard slopes to it. We actually decided that if we hit the metal on the cup, then that counted. It was fun though, even though it was really hot out there too.

 

We then went down to deck 4 I think, and just relaxed and read in a lounge to cool off. I think I took a short nap here as well.

 

Coming up - Birthday Part 4 (Johnny Rockets lunch (the silly picture limit is just killing me))

[DM_KidAtHeart]

We then went for my planned birthday lunch at Johnny Rockets. It was fun and great.

 

 

This was one meal where mom indulged. We started with the fries and onion rings, and the waiter made the ketchup smiley face. I had the double cheese burger, and mom had boca burger (still behaving some even while indulging). We both then had hot fudge and oreo sundaes.

 

Notice the beauty of Labadee behind us.

 

We had originally planned to use our C&A coupon for a BOGO shake for each of us, but we were both so full after the meal that we didn’t have it. We had intentions of returning to have it later in the cruise, but we never did.

 

We then went for relaxing some in the solarium. The ship was filling up with people again by this time. So we eventually decided to go back to the room for a nice birthday nap.

 

Coming up - Birthday Part 5 (Boogie Boarding)

[DM_KidAtHeart]

I then went to try the boogie boarding. Mom went with me this time, and took pictures and a video.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Due to the sun position, she couldn’t really see the screen for the video, so I’m only on screen some of the time. It's posted here:

.

 

I was surprised to find that I like stand-up surfing better. The boogie boarding was just more of a ride, and one that was somewhat painful to the legs. Whereas the stand-up surfing, you’re actually having to do something for it. I just find it more fun. Maybe next year if I can manage to get up to my knees while on it, then I might like it better.

 

We then got dressed in our dinner clothes and went to the Crown & Anchor event with announcements about Quantum. Here I had my first drink of the night. Not sure what it was, but it was pretty good. And I really enjoyed hearing about the newly announced features of Quantum. I most likely won’t be able to afford a cruise for a number of years, but it looks great to me.

 

Coming up - Birthday Part 6 (Helipad, Deck 4 pre-dinner wandering)

[tarajean1962]

What an awesome birthday day you are having!!:D We went on the Allure for my 50th birthday and it was honestly the best birthday of my life!! Can't wait to hear more about your day!!

 

Tara

[DM_KidAtHeart]

Between the C&A Quantum announcement event and dinner we went to the helipad briefly.

 

 

 

Someone had thrown up on the helipad, so they didn't let us stay long as they were closing it down for cleaning. Another place that we intended to make it back to, but never did. Hey one always needs an excuse to cruise again, right?

 

We then went for a walk around the outer edge of the ship along deck 4.

 

 

 

 

Coming up - Birthday Part 7 (rest of the day)

[DM_KidAtHeart]

What an awesome birthday day you are having!!:D We went on the Allure for my 50th birthday and it was honestly the best birthday of my life!! Can't wait to hear more about your day!!

 

Tara

 

Thanks. It really was a really great day.

 

Some year I will probably make it on Oasis or Allure for my birthday cruise week, hoping that once Quantum comes out then prices for Oasis and Allure will drop some.

[DM_KidAtHeart]

So finally it was late enough for dinner. For dinner, we asked for different waiters yet again and preferably near a window for my birthday. And we finally got a good waiting team.

 

 

 

This is Sudhan. I forgot to get a picture of Florentina until the last night when I only had my iPhone with me.

 

We were pretty sure they were good just after arriving. Almost every night, I would go to the Freestyle machines before dinner and get caffeine free sodas for each of us. I had forgotten to on this night with having just done the walk around the ship. Florintena, our wonderful main waitress, had Sudhan, our assistant waiter go to the freestyle machine for me. I wasn’t expecting or asking for this. I had just been explaining why I didn’t the other drink options because of their caffeine. I actually tried to say no, when she was sending him. She insisted. We asked to have them for the rest of the cruise and did.

 

I loved my view for my birthday dinner.

 

For the appetizers, it was shrimp cocktail again for mom and the spinach dip for me. For entrees, shrimp goza for mom without the ponzu sauce (no trouble with special ordering). She had had all the shrimp she wanted for a month though after this night. I tried the pork dish but only liked the crab on top, so I then had the lamp chop instead, which was very good. No luck with the sugar free dessert for mom. I just wasn’t good so she only had like a bite. I ordered both the warm chocolate cake and the meringue kiwi-strawberry, cake had 3 candles and came with the singing of the birthday song by several waiters.

 

 

The cake was okay, but the meringue (not pictured) was very good.

 

Next up was the Drew Thomas Now You See It show. We loved Drew Thomas on AGT, and he was even better in person. He did some of the same tricks as he had on the show. For the most part, even though I was on the front row with a great view, I had no idea how 90% of it was done. So in summary, it was a very awesome show.

 

It was a very good birthday and I was now thoroughly tired out and headed off to bed to find a new towel animal, a rabbit.

 

 

Coming up (most likely tomorrow) - Jamaica Day (in more than one part probably)

[StarSong2001]

The cake was okay, but the meringue (not pictured) was very good.

Here ya go! This was one of my favorites too (should have included it in my review... I'm such a terrible reviewer :()

[DM_KidAtHeart]

Here ya go! This was one of my favorites too (should have included it in my review... I'm such a terrible reviewer :()

 

Thanks. I just wasn't much into taking pictures of the food. I was too busy eating it. I took a few here and there, but nothing consistently.

 

You did a great review. It takes all types. I enjoyed reading yours earlier tonight.

[tarajean1962]

Wow! What a terrific ending to your birthday! Looking forward to reading more.:D

 

Tara