ANNNND we're back!
Having never been on a cruise I have to say it was probably the most exorbitant thing I have ever done in my life. Now coming from a woman who has never flown first class or ordered room service, that might not be saying much.
The flights to Florida and back were the expected amount of bullshit and stupidity. I won’t go into it more than that, cause really it doesn’t matter.
First day there was the usual unpacking, checking in and emergency drills. Gotta say I was laughing my ass off at the life boats. They looked like “yellow submarines” hanging from the rafters. I am amazed that they more than four thousand people on the Freedom of the Seas. The staff was over fifteen hundred, that’s a LOT of rooms and food.
Over all the trip was really, really nice. It wasn’t as “child free” as I would have liked. Corbin went to the kid’s camp one night and didn’t have as much fun as he would have liked and refused to go back after that.
Not to mention that if your child is under 3 or not potty trained, then you can’t drop them off in any of the programs. Basically if the kid still has a diaper, the kid needs to stay with you. You can come to the programs with your child, but the staff doesn’t clean butts. And I can’t blame them.
That was a little bit of a letdown, considering I had myself seriously excited about just being able to lounge out a read my book while I drank daiquiris. But we still had a wonderful time with the kids in tow.
The boat was BIG and always had something going on, so it was easy to find fun things to do like: ice skating, rock wall climbing, mini golf, surfing (on the boat - no lie), board gaming room, full Broadway theater, movie theater, complete mall, casino and dance club. If you couldn’t find something to do, it was your own damn fault.
The food was very good for the most part, but the dinners were fantastic 5 nights out of 7. Every night I choose something I had never eaten before or something that I knew was too expensive for me to usually order in a restaurant.
Which meant I ate: prime rib, lobster, lamb, duck, escargot, fillet mignon and an array of outstanding deserts. I have to say dinner was probably one of my favourite parts of the cruise. Granted after the first night our head waiter brought Chris two entree's and me two desserts because most of the time we couldn’t make up our minds what we wanted.
I swear I have never seen Chris eat so much in the 10 years I have known him. I got smart after the second night and ate light breakfasts and lunches and took the stairs (yep even when it was 15 flights to get where I wanted to go) most of the time. Otherwise I would have exploded like a tick.
And yes Gwen believe it or not, I actually ran the track 3 days of the trip. Gotta say, running INTO the wind - really freaking hard. But running with the wind at your back - I felt like The Flash.
The beaches were nice and the shopping was good. And again, believe it or not I actually got up the nerve to wear a “bikini” at the beach. First time in my life, how sad is that. But I didn’t chicken out like folks thought I would and after about 15 mins I stopped worrying about what the hell else everyone else thought. Which is a HUGE improvement in my ego.
So there you have it. I do have a few mental notes though:
• If you order drinks, do the two for one special. Much more cost effective
• They don’t skimp on alcohol. Be prepared
• If you can, start saving for paying for gratuities. It adds up quick and can be an unexpected $300 at the end of the trip
• Sun Block, Sun Block, Sun Block. Although, we reapplied to Chris four times and he still got burned. Wonder if the water rides he was giving the kids wore it off.
• Cococay - about what you would expect. Nothing too fantastic, except for the cock fighting. Seriously ANGRY fowl on that island. They will take your knee caps off for food
• St. Thomas - good shopping, nice outdoor mall. If you leave that area it becomes blatantly apparent how much of a third world-non OSHA approved- sketchy country it is.
• St. Maarten - get past the aggressive hawkers (you want a chair and umbrella) and it is a wonderful, bright and fun island where once you pay for your seat at the beach they will cater to you all day long. Gorgeous and colourful, must go SCUBA diving there.
• Bunk beds are now called Bonk Beds thanks to the ones that dropped out of the ceiling in our room
And the photos are up on Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9039831@N05/sets/72157627502888402/
The flights to Florida and back were the expected amount of bullshit and stupidity. I won’t go into it more than that, cause really it doesn’t matter.
First day there was the usual unpacking, checking in and emergency drills. Gotta say I was laughing my ass off at the life boats. They looked like “yellow submarines” hanging from the rafters. I am amazed that they more than four thousand people on the Freedom of the Seas. The staff was over fifteen hundred, that’s a LOT of rooms and food.
Over all the trip was really, really nice. It wasn’t as “child free” as I would have liked. Corbin went to the kid’s camp one night and didn’t have as much fun as he would have liked and refused to go back after that.
Not to mention that if your child is under 3 or not potty trained, then you can’t drop them off in any of the programs. Basically if the kid still has a diaper, the kid needs to stay with you. You can come to the programs with your child, but the staff doesn’t clean butts. And I can’t blame them.
That was a little bit of a letdown, considering I had myself seriously excited about just being able to lounge out a read my book while I drank daiquiris. But we still had a wonderful time with the kids in tow.
The boat was BIG and always had something going on, so it was easy to find fun things to do like: ice skating, rock wall climbing, mini golf, surfing (on the boat - no lie), board gaming room, full Broadway theater, movie theater, complete mall, casino and dance club. If you couldn’t find something to do, it was your own damn fault.
The food was very good for the most part, but the dinners were fantastic 5 nights out of 7. Every night I choose something I had never eaten before or something that I knew was too expensive for me to usually order in a restaurant.
Which meant I ate: prime rib, lobster, lamb, duck, escargot, fillet mignon and an array of outstanding deserts. I have to say dinner was probably one of my favourite parts of the cruise. Granted after the first night our head waiter brought Chris two entree's and me two desserts because most of the time we couldn’t make up our minds what we wanted.
I swear I have never seen Chris eat so much in the 10 years I have known him. I got smart after the second night and ate light breakfasts and lunches and took the stairs (yep even when it was 15 flights to get where I wanted to go) most of the time. Otherwise I would have exploded like a tick.
And yes Gwen believe it or not, I actually ran the track 3 days of the trip. Gotta say, running INTO the wind - really freaking hard. But running with the wind at your back - I felt like The Flash.
The beaches were nice and the shopping was good. And again, believe it or not I actually got up the nerve to wear a “bikini” at the beach. First time in my life, how sad is that. But I didn’t chicken out like folks thought I would and after about 15 mins I stopped worrying about what the hell else everyone else thought. Which is a HUGE improvement in my ego.
So there you have it. I do have a few mental notes though:
• If you order drinks, do the two for one special. Much more cost effective
• They don’t skimp on alcohol. Be prepared
• If you can, start saving for paying for gratuities. It adds up quick and can be an unexpected $300 at the end of the trip
• Sun Block, Sun Block, Sun Block. Although, we reapplied to Chris four times and he still got burned. Wonder if the water rides he was giving the kids wore it off.
• Cococay - about what you would expect. Nothing too fantastic, except for the cock fighting. Seriously ANGRY fowl on that island. They will take your knee caps off for food
• St. Thomas - good shopping, nice outdoor mall. If you leave that area it becomes blatantly apparent how much of a third world-non OSHA approved- sketchy country it is.
• St. Maarten - get past the aggressive hawkers (you want a chair and umbrella) and it is a wonderful, bright and fun island where once you pay for your seat at the beach they will cater to you all day long. Gorgeous and colourful, must go SCUBA diving there.
• Bunk beds are now called Bonk Beds thanks to the ones that dropped out of the ceiling in our room
And the photos are up on Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9039831@N05/sets/72157627502888402/