Freedom of the Seas - A family review 2/8/2015

[wilmingtech]

This will be a review of the Freedom of the Seas departing 2/8/15 from Cape Canaveral Florida.* We are a family of 6 and this will be our very first cruise ever.* Our goal for this review is to give a perspective from each member of our family pre, during and post cruise.* We are starting the review early so that we can introduce ourselves and dump some of our pre-cruise expectations and excitement here before we actually go on the cruise.*

While I would love to do a "Live" review I don't think that will be realistic this time around as we will be buried in excitement and activities after Sunday.* I am not even sure how much I will be able to post between now and the day we get back from the cruise.

 

Lets get to the introductions first -

 

Our story may be a little different from most.* For the past 20 months we have been living fulltime in a motorcoach and traveling the country.* This past week we have had to drop our motor coach off to get repairs done.* While leaving our coach we had pack everything for the cruise, defrost the fridge and freezer and turn everything off and make sure we have all the important documents and such. We had invites from close family and friends to come and visit while we were here in Orlando so we took advantage of that so the kids could spend time with their friends they have not seen in a while. And finally tonight (Saturday) we are headed over to Cocoa Beach for a hotel room before we head out to the Cruise Terminal at Cape Canaveral in the morning.

 

My wife and I both come from a hospitality background.* I grew up in the restaurant industry and she has also worked in restaurants as well as a flight attendant.* Currently she is a full-time stay at homeschooling mom who is the hardest working member of the family.* I currently freelance for production companies that produce corporate events all over the world.* We have 4 children ages D14, D12, D9 and S7.* We are well traveled, and love good food .* So expect a critical review of the food. We also like to get off the beaten path.* Big turnoffs are doing the touristy thing and mediocrity.* You'll often find us on the path less traveled meeting up with locals rather than being packed into an excursion of hundreds of people.

 

Here are some of the things we are looking forward to -

 

S7- He loves the fact that we are going on a giant ship.* He also loves watching the youtube videos of the ship.* He is really looking forward to playing golf.* Not too many videos have showed the Mini-Golf course but I think that is where he would want to spend most of his time.* He wants to do the flow rider as well but we are not sure he will be tall enough to go on.* We will have to see where we end up with that once we get on the ship.*

 

D9 - She has been waiting and pouring over every detail of the cruise since we booked it 4 months ago.* She has been asking regularly to watch youtube videos of the cruise ship and figure out where the free ice cream is on the ship.* She is mostly looking forward to eating and swimming.

 

D12 - Looking forward to good food, she is excited to get dressed up for formal night and a chance to get the fine dining cuisine from the main dining room.* She says she should be able to stay up as long as she wants and get cream puffs and hot chocolate from room service.* She also is looking forward to snorkeling in the islands and feeding the fish.* And of course the flow rider is the main attraction on this one.

 

D14 - As thin as a bean pole you would be surprised that this girl loves to cook, bake and most of all eat.* She is looking forward to eating as much as she wants, whenever she wants, especially room service.* She is looking forward to the freedom of doing things on her own without having to watch or take her little brothers and sisters along.* She is nervous about getting lost on the ship or missing the ship all together.* She also is curious about the teen club onboard and what that will be like.

 

Wifey - Looking forward to spending time in the gym as the ocean flows by.* She has tried not to think about the cruise since we booked it as it seems surreal and with so many variables in our lifestyle she has learned to not get excited until it actually happens. She will be most grateful about not having to cook or clean for an entire week.* She is also looking forward to the unending supply of food....mostly so she doesn't have to listen to "mommy I'm hungry" all day long.

 

Me - I've been stoked about this cruise since we purchased.* Being that I work in events I tend to be the planner of the bunch.* I've spent way too much time pouring over videos and reading cruise critic to figure this all out.* I'm most excited about the food and spending romantic nights walking around the ship with a glass of wine and I also promised my wife to do a stadium run through the ship at some point so I can burn off some fat and eat more food.

 

Tonight we stopped by the port to get the lowdown on Terminal One and take a look at explorer of the seas.

 

 

I'll post a little from the hotel tonight and hopefully a little from the ship tomorrow before we set sail.

 

-Sean

[wilmingtech]

Sorry bout the asterisks...I typed this all out in ever note and it seems they carried over in the formatting with the copy/paste

[breezy_carol]

We took our first cruise ever on the Freedom this past October, and loved it.

 

Looking forward to the rest of your review.

[ampc007]

Looking forward to the review as this will be our first family cruise on FOS in the fall! We have kids similar in ages as well, 5 (6-16) so will have 2 connecting inside.. Have fun enjoy!!! Looking forward to reading especially on the kids clubs activities etc :)

 

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[wilmingtech]

Some front end stuff....

 

We initially booked with little research. We choose the family oceanview on the 7th deck. If I booked again I would have picked the family ocean view on the 8th deck. Reason being is that there are 2 bedrooms (one for bunks and one with a bed) separated by a living space. The other floors have a tiny alcove for the bunks and the living space is in the same room as the bed.

 

If 8th floor family oceanview was not available I would spend the extra money and get 2 rooms, a balcony and an interior. The 2 bathrooms would be nice especially having 3 girls on formal night.

 

Next time I would also shop Travel Agents for deals (obc) or booked a cruise in the off season and saved a few dollars. We just booked because they had a bogo and all 4 kids were a low rate (in the family oceanview) after wifey and I paid. I wasn't really concerned with the price but after all the post purchasing research I've done I probably could have at least had some OBC.

 

We were hoping February was a slow season when we booked but our cruise is completely sold out.

 

A good thing that we didn't plan is that Freedom is just one week out of drydock which has given the crew a long awaited break and gives us a refreshed ship. I know the crew has worked through drydock but they have been off the ship and haven't had to deal with passengers for a month. So hopefully this turns into a bonus for us when it comes to service and food.

 

One other thing we found out after purchasing is that there are 2 partial charters on our cruise. Shouldn't be a big deal but I'm wondering how much it will affect the availability of certain venues at times if they all do group things together. In talking with experienced cruisers they say the ship is so big we probably wouldnt even know there were partial charters had we not read about it.

Edited February 7, 2015 by wilmingtech

[cynthialanderson67]

I am excited about this review. I wish you were sailing Western though. We also like to get off the beaten path and do fun and unusual things and we are on the Freedom in August but on the Western. It would have been nice to see what you did and see if it appealed to us. Also looking forward to a review post dry dock I think you will be the first one. Enjoy your cruise!

[WinksCruises]

Great start. It will be interesting to hear your perspectives given the fact you both hail from hospitality backgrounds. Looking forward to it.

 

See you in a week, I guess...

[bubba83]

Excited to follow along!!

[ckrobyn]

Following along!

We are boarding when you get off next Sunday :p Have a great cruise!!

[tuvalox]

We will be on board with you. See you tomorrow!

[SherriZ366]

First Eastern after yours.

[Berniecruiser53]

Will you please keep your eyes open and let me know what you see about carrying soda or water on through security. We cruise soon on FOS and never had problems at the old terminal but I heard this new terminal was a bit picky with not allowing. Also, regular scanner or full scans like the airports.

 

I would really appreciate it.

[Nanatochase]

Looking forward to your review....we will be on FOS in April.

[Suzeeque35]

Also looking forward to your postings. interested in wait times for embarkation, food reviews, entertainment must see's and whether the propulsion problem has been resolved. I hope that you have a wonderful time Bon Voyage! Suz

[Darstime]

Thank you for doing this I know it takes your time but we do appreciate it

[SherriZ366]

Watching Marine Traffic.com -- FR off Pompano Beach has hit and topped 23 knots. Marine Traffic has a neat AP that has ship actually sailing route. Geek alert!!!!!

[cajuncowgirl13]

Following along!!!

[gowensricks]

Wow, can not wait to read your perspective, as it relates to this beautiful ship!

[FMZ]

Have a wonderful vacation!

[debsters41]

I hope your vacation is wonderful and everything is just as your family wishes it to be. Looking forward to reading all about it when you get back :-)

[jules815]

Look forward to your review.

 

Have a great cruise!

[meyer_22]

We sail two weeks from today on FOS, so the next Eastern after you. Can't wait to read your reviews. Great start so far!

 

 

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[Colorado Babe]

I can't wait to read your review. My husband and I will be on the Freedom in September. I'm a little nervous you and your family maybe disappointed about the food in the dining room. It's not that good unless you plan on eating in the specialty restaurants in the evening. However, lunch is pretty good in the dining room. Try the tutti salad. Yummy! Open on sea days only!

[LuCruise]

What a lovely trip for your family. Looking forward to hearing more.

[wilmingtech]

I'm going to keep the stuff about the hotel short.* I hate reviews that have 5 pages of travel and hotel stay before they actually get to the ship but at the same time some of it is good info.

 

We stayed one night at the Best Western in Cocoa Beach.* I picked this hotel for 2 reasons.* The first was the parking. For the cost of a hotel room we had free parking for the week. 2nd was that we needed a hotel that would sleep all 6 of us comfortably.

 

View from the hotel room. Good location next to the Cocoa Beach Pier. Lots of restaurants, grocery stores and other shops within walking distance.

 

Know that Cocoa beach is a run down beach town and most of the hotels here are showing their age. For the dated hotel that it is the Best Western did a good job. We got a 2 room suite which had a kitchenette. The breakfast buffet was packed but food was plentiful and the buffet kept clean. Nothing special on the buffet just instant eggs, sausage and pancakes with a continental breakfast. Coffee was gross.

 

Busy busy buffet

 

Here are our bags packed for the trip. One Large bag for the kids, medium bag for wifey and the small bag for me. We also have one backpack full of snorkeling gear and one backpack full of soda and wine. The rest of the backpacks are our carryons.

 

As I type this at 10am we are walking around the port taking it all in. We have checked all our bags except the one with the soda and wine. Only because the porter asked us if it had wine in it. We are attempting to check 2 bottles and carry the other 2 bottles.

 

Debating now if we try to hand carry the soda or just check it. And if we should check the wine anyways or have wifey carry that and me carry the other 2 bottles.

 

Will let you know how it pans out.