Cruise 2009
Trip Summary
On a cold, snowy January 10, we headed down to Miami Florida for the night. The McDonalds joined us
for an easy going flight down from Logan. We stayed a night at the Doubletree and then
headed to our boat after breakfast!
The Freedom of the Seas is so gigantic that you can't even imagine it until you see it for real.
There was barely any line so we were on board early and quickly headed out to explore the boat.
We went above deck and saw the splash park (with unlimited self serve soft serve ice cream) and pools and everywhere
we went were waitstaff with lovely fruity drinks. We checked out the kids club and the surfing pool as well as the
mini-golf, sports court and rock climbing wall. All fabulous! Here are some pictures from around the boat.
After all the exploring and settling into our fantastic suite, we were excited to attend our first meal in the dining hall. The food was excellent and the portion
sizes were reasonable so that you could enjoy multiple options if you so desired. The 18 of us were split between 2 tables
located side by side, so it was very social. The waiters kept the kids entertained with napkin oragami and magic tricks. I
am fairly sure that Sydney ordered pb & j, which was served with the crusts cut off, every night for dinner. I had a very
good Prime Rib on the first night and went on to enjoy Filet Mignon, Roast Lamb, Prime Ribeye, Grilled Salmon, and a
Penne with veggies and meat sauce dish. I have to say I double ordered once on dessert because I couldn't decide between
a creme brulee and some banana chocolate cake concoction. Everything I had in the dining room from beginning to end was
thoroughly enjoyable! The bottle of wine with dinner every night completed the experience.
Monday morning, we dropped the kids at the Kid's Club and headed to the gym. The gym is state of the art and offers a selection of
appealing classes. I ended up just using the ellipse machine because the classes that I wanted to take didn't coincide with
when I wanted to take them, but there was everything from pilates, to spinning to boxing (full ring in the gym). I did get a
chance to run on the slightly less than 1/4 mile track which goes around the bow of the boat. It was a very cool experience! It was
fairly windy out (January) and my hair band blew off me and overboard which left me to continuously hold the hair out of my eyes
when the wind gusted around me. Fun!
The Kid's Club ended up being even better than expected. Katie was underage for it, but they accepted her on a trial basis,
which ended up lasting the whole trip. The girls loved it! They had scheduled themed activties that they could take part in from
9am until 10pm and then they could stay and hang out until 2am if you needed babysitting. We sometimes had to convince them to
spend time with us, they wanted to go to "camp" all the time. They had so much fun - did many crafts including making a
pillow case which the other campers signed, did science experiments like blowing up a volcano, participated in a
talent show
which aired on the ship's TV channel, did a
pirate parade and mini-play, played sports and other games, got their faces painted
daily, got balloon animals, danced, had pajama night, and, in the end, slimed one of the counselors.
And, of course, there were some excellent excursions at our Ports of Call:
San Juan, Puerto Rico,
Saint Thomas,
and Saint Maarten.
We also were entertained with shows like the spectacular ice show. and the
Once Upon A Time musical which guest starred Sydney and Lindsay as children in the beginning!
We took the oppertunity to go ice skating for the first time as a family. We also enjoyed Bingo and
the ship spa. Bill's recieved his first hot stone massage.