Freedom of the Seas (photo credit: Kerry Roth)

When my sister decided she wanted to spend her 40th birthday celebration aboard a cruise ship with 10 members of our family, I once again turned to Royal Caribbean.  When you have so many people wanting to travel together of all ages, a cruise ship seems to fit the bill perfectly!  I had sailed previously on the Freedom of the Seas and found it to be a great ship, so I knew what to expect.  I was curious, however, how it would match up to its big sister, Allure of the Seas, having just sailed the larger Oasis class ship less than a year ago.  Here are my overall impressions after this sailing:

• Goldilocks would love this ship.  Like Goldilocks, I find this ship to be not too big, not too small, but just right!!! It has the offerings of the bigger Oasis class ships but in a smaller format.  Instead of two surf simulators and climbing walls, there is one of each.  There is an ice skating rink, mini golf course, and a full size basketball court!  And if the included food options weren’t enough, you will find more specialty restaurants for an extra charge: Sorrento’s Italian, Sabor Mexican, Chops Grille, Ben & Jerry’s, Johnny Rockets, and the Cupcake Cupboard.  There is also the small matter of TWELVE bars & lounges to choose from!
• Entertaining Entertainment for everyone.  This isn’t the cruise ship entertainment of old.  On our ship, we had a comedian, an acapella group, a juggler/comedian, a magician, aerial acrobats, and several full scale broadway style shows.  Every single show was entertaining for the youngest to the oldest members of the group.  Royal Caribbean has somehow found the sweet spot in entertainment for all ages!
• Age is just a number.  Freedom of the Seas launched in 2006, but she wears her age well. She is still a beautiful ship and was just as beautiful as when we sailed her years ago.  She was refurbished in 2015 and it was great to see all the new additions.

Also on this ship, I purchased my very first alcoholic drink package!  Prior to the trip, they had run a special on drink packages at 30% off.  At this price point, I figured it was worth a try for “research purposes”.  Oh the perils of being a travel agent!  Read more about this here!

Okay, now that we got that out of the way, let’s cruise!

Day 1 – Ft. Lauderdale.  Oh I how I love an Embarkation day.  The promise of a new cruise and a day to explore the ship!  We always arrive early (even earlier than they tell you to arrive) and are often on board early.  This time, we arrived around 10:45 am.  Even with having to park at a parking garage further away from the pier and shuttling back that can be found in this site, we still found ourselves onboard in less than an hour!  Our rooms were not ready yet as there was a surprise coast guard inspection that day and everything was running late.  This was no problem as we were able to begin our tour at the Windjammer buffet for lunch!  By the time we had completely stuffed ourselves, it was 1:30 and our cabins were ready. For our family of four, we had chosen two adjoining balcony cabins.  This was ours and it adjoined to our kids room with two twin beds.

Balcony cabin aboard Freedom of the Seas

We also were able to get our adjoining cabins next to my parents’ balcony cabin.  This was great because we were able to have them open the balcony separators across all 3 balconies making one giant balcony.

Separators removed from 3 adjacent balcony cabins to make one BIG balcony.

The Luggage began appearing shortly thereafter and we were able to explore the ship until the muster drill at 4:00.  After that, we joined the sailaway party as the ship pulled out.  We were on our way!

Day 2 – At Sea.  I love to have a day to explore the ship at sea.  You can sleep in and have a whole day to relax.  I am sorry to say I don’t have a single picture from this day.  I guess that means we were really on vacation!  It was a day of Flowrider surf simulator, mini-golf, 3D movies, the kids waterpark and pools, and free soft serve ice cream (I think my kids would always casually find a route that took them by the soft serve machine on their way to anywhere).  After dinner, were we treated to the entertainment for the evening: a broadway style theatre show featuring excerpts from all the famous broadway shows.

Day 3 – Labadee, Haiti.  We arrived at Royal Caribbean’s private island on Haiti early in the morning.  While some ports have you up early ready to catch your tour, you will find Labadee is a laid back port.  Royal Caribbean serves a free lunch ashore in several spots on the island and if you have a drink package, you will find your specialty drinks are still included here!  We took our time this morning as the weather was not cooperating.  Shorting after 10:30 am, the clouds parted, and we made our way ashore.  A quick 10 minute walk from the pier (follow the cement path from the dock or take a free shuttle) brought us to Columbia Cove.

Labadee, Haiti – Royal Caribbean’s private island.

There are many beaches to choose from on Labadee, but this is my favorite.  It is set in a protective cove and is less crowded than the closer beaches to the ship.  A quick order of a Labadoozie (Labadee’s signature drink) and I was back to relaxing.  We stayed all day until the very last call and the ship pulled away just 15 minutes after we boarded! Phew!

Day 4 – San Juan, Puerto Rico.  Of all the ports, I think this might have been my favorite stop! This is one I would love to come back to visit and stay longer.  As we did not dock until 1:00 PM, we had a mini sea day to play on the ship until then!  We tried out our sea legs at the ice skating rink (Yep, I said ice skating rink).

Ice skating at Sea – wait what?

After docking later in the day, we walked a short distance from the pier to a free trolley stop and rode it to one of the two famous forts on the island: El Morro.  This is the larger of the two forts, which are both a part of the National Park system! You are given a map and able to roam the fort at will.  The kids really loved exploring all the tunnels and secret hideaways in this 500 year old fort!

El Morro National Monument.

There is another fort, San Cristobal, that is within easy walking distance of the pier and within other attraction and downtown shopping.  Also, don’t miss, Raíces, an authentic Puerto Rican restaurant right near the pier!

Day 5 – Philipsburg, St. Maarten.  Having visited St. Maarten in the past, we opted for a snorkeling excursion instead of visiting the town.  This excursion was through a third-party, Soualiga Destinations with Captain Bob, and was an adventurous excursion!  Our excursion began with a short 10 minute walk from the pier.  We were directed to a speedboat that held less than 20 people and we were off! We embarked on our six hour tour with 4-5 stops for snorkeling, lunch, and sightseeing, and of course a super fast speedboat!  The kids will tell you this was their favorite part of the whole vacation as they sat up front and felt every huge wave on their rollercoaster ride!

Speed boating on St. Maarten (Photo credit: Kerry Roth)

Another tricky part was that the boat can not dock at any of the stops so you must swim a short distance to shore when stopping for lunch or shopping, but just look at that water!

Docked in St. Maarten (Photo credit: Kerry Roth)

Day 6 – Basseterre, St. Kitts.  Ok so by the 4th port day, you are perhaps a bit sunburnt (or a lot) and feeling a little like today might be a good sea day.  However, you rally and find yourself at yet another incredible Caribbean location.  From the pier on this day, we were able to catch a taxi ($4 each) to a great beach we found called Shipwreck Beach.  From what we had gleaned from the website, Shipwreck Beach was famous for its volcanic black sand beach, monkeys, mongooses, and you-gotta-try-these-fish-tacos and drinks.  Shipwreck beach didn’t disappoint.  We parked ourselves there until it was time to make our way back to our ship.

Shipwreck Beach in St. Kitts

Day 7 – At Sea.  A sleep in day!  Another day exploring the ship.  Amongst other secrets, we found a secret entry to the helipad at the front of the ship where you can have your own Titanic King of the World moment!  The simplest way to get here is to go all the way forward on Deck 5 to the Star Lounge.  Enter the star lounge and look to your right.  Here you will find a set of doors leading you to the outside.  Go through the doors, turn left, and go straight to the front!

King of the World!

Day 8 – At Sea.  Our final day of the cruise was bittersweet.  We wanted to enjoy our last day, but we couldn’t believe that our alternate reality was really coming to an end.  To lighten our spirits, we signed up for the All Access Ship Tour!

All Access Pass!

This is something I have always wanted to do.   What an experience that I highly recommend!  I have to say, I was extremely impressed.  The Freedom of the Seas is a floating city that produces its own water, disposes of waste appropriately, and keeps everything ship shape!  The attention to cleanliness and details was astounding.  We first visited the bridge! This was nothing like what I pictured!

Freedom of the Seas Bridge

Next, we visited the Engine Control room, food storage, food preparation, and kitchen areas.  I have to say I was astounded at each stop!

Food preparation aboard

Once finished with our tour, we of course could not finish our cruise without the “Move it, Move it!” Dreamworks parade!

Dreamworks Parade

A fabulous end to a fabulous cruise!  Hope to see you soon Freedom!!!  If you are interested, I would love to help you plan a cruise!  Contact me at yb*******@gm***.com.