bubba's mom's annual trip report to Univ...wait! WHAT?! NO Universal?!?!?!?!

[Cdn Friends of Pooh]

Awesome update ... I agree with Robbie - reading your trippie and seeing the pix makes me want to do a cruise sooner rather than later

I always wondered about the booster rockets ...

Interesting about the drink station with the chip ... I can just see if Disney eventually goes that way with their drink stations - everyone with old refillable mugs (and other assorted mugs) would be so confused why they couldn't get a refill

 

[RVGal]

Oh, thank you for the bathroom pic! Now, I just need to know what the door-to-toilet clearance was like. Did you have to hug the toilet to shut the door? 'Cause that IS my biggest pet peeve.

 

[bubba's mom]

Now I have to ask you about the swimming dogs because my sister's dogs swim too - when the dogs are behind that fence watching other people in the pool, were they whining and complaining because they couldn't go in?

No...they weren't whining. Actually, they had just come OUT of the pool, and my BIL was in there alone (thinkin he doesn't swim w/ the dogs?) They love the pool, but the fence is up cuz there is a toddler and 5mth old 'new' baby in the family

sigh, u never forget anything lol

crap on the camera going south, was it the waterproof one?

king julien - now way! did they have the penguins too?

ship really looks nice but trying to figure out the theme being nightclub named the crypt

did i mention that when we arrived for our cruise on 6/23 there was an announcement on the electronic billboards that 'your' ship had a delayed departure of 8 pmish and that security delays were possible

Nope...was NOT waterproof cam...was our regular Sony Handycam. We got it on sale and with a warranty sale too. Purchase ANY accessory and get an extended warranty (can't remember if it was 1 or 2 yrs) for FREE I think we bought something for $.99 and got the extra warranty. Which, the salesman told us we could do...so we did! Worked out pretty well for us I'd say!

They had penguins...but only the inflatable ones in the finale of the parade. Guessin too hard to get someone IN that costume AND WALK like one?

The Crypt was like a HHN themed place. Dark, red velvet seating at lounge tables, dummies around with "doom" and "zombie" theme... One reminded me of the CM's that work ToT at WDW Studios.

You cruised in July...not June...right?? I *think* I remember reading the ship had to detour to Nassau on the way back to port to drop off a sick (eventually died) passenger. It was super late getting TO Port Canaveral, therefore was leavin' late. Thinking maybe it was that cruise?

Great update! This is making me really want to do a cruise next year. I'm torn between Royal or the new Carnival Magic out of Galveston (or if I really want to splurge one of the new Disney Galveston cruises!). Can't wait for the next update!!

I don't know about you, but I'm stickin with Royal. I would LOVE to do Disney (again), but it's like twice as much $$. BUT..you can bring your own alcohol onboard Disney..which you cannot do with Royal (prolly why so much more $. Carnival allows like 1 bottle of wine per person, I think?) After last year, we're not putting our faith, or money, into Carnival anytime soon. But, I would think the newer ships would have their act together...at least I hope!!

Awesome update ... I agree with Robbie - reading your trippie and seeing the pix makes me want to do a cruise sooner rather than later

I always wondered about the booster rockets ...

Interesting about the drink station with the chip ... I can just see if Disney eventually goes that way with their drink stations - everyone with old refillable mugs (and other assorted mugs) would be so confused why they couldn't get a refill

I say GO! We like to cruise because meals are done for you and we enjoy visiting different places (ports) without having to get there ourselves. Let's face it...out of 7 nights, we were in 4 different countries that week (if you don't count PC in Fla!) Cost effective way to see places.

Oh, thank you for the bathroom pic! Now, I just need to know what the door-to-toilet clearance was like. Did you have to hug the toilet to shut the door? 'Cause that IS my biggest pet peeve.

No...didn't have to hug the door.... Just step to the side (that's why the pic)

 

[tlinus]

I love it....no surprise there

 

[bubba's mom]

I love it....no surprise there

'Bout time you showed up

...a trippie w/o you here isn't the same

 

[natebenma]

Wow! Really great tour of the Freedom! Thanks for all of the detailed pictures and descriptions.

We have been on a couple of RC cruises- one was a family reunion cruise. Auntie Jeanne paid for 39 of our family members on the Mariner in 2006. We LOVE Auntie Jeanne! Then in 2007, just the 4 of us cruised on the Voyager.

Love your door! Customizing is a really fun way to recognize your cabin. I'll be interested in seeing if you struck up any conversations as a result of your decorations.

 

[bubba's mom]

Day 11 -- Monday, July 11

Cruise Day 2 -- Sea Day

Today's Compass.

It was a restful night...except when Bubba would move in bed. I'd hear him. Creaky, noisy pullman. DH & I were happy to finally be in a bigger bed and we all slept in this morning. We started waking up around 9 - 9:30 and decided to finally get up and get ready for breakfast.

We were finally ready to head to the Windjammer at 10:30! Good thing they serve till 11:00am...but, not long after we got there, they started breaking some stations down already! We all managed to get a decent breakfast....pancakes, biscuits/gravy, eggs, bacon, donuts, etc.... Made it just in time! (Promised ourselves we wouldn't do that again tomorrow!) Note: PLATES in Windjammer are hotter than the food on Carnival (MDR & buffet)!!!!

After breakfast, we picked up a Compass for Bubba because our cabin attendant left one for the younger age group. I also wanted to add $30 to his Seapass card for him to charge some stuff and long story short, we couldn't add 'cash'. Explanation I got was that it would change our account from 'credit' to 'cash', and we didn't want that. So we went ahead and added him, but she DID put a limit on HIS card...the $30. Interestingly, she said the ONLY place it would not "limit" his card is in the arcade. Well of course not....why would it? So, we let it go, gave him the spending allowance and had a nice little 'chat' with the boy.

After our trip to Guest Services, we headed back to our cabin so Bubba could change shoes. His plan was to do the Murder Mystery at 12:00, Bingo in the Living Room at 1:00 and Capture the Flag at 2pm. I thought he might need sneakers for the Capture the Flag thing, so that was the reason we went back to the room. He wouldn't have time to change shoes in between the activites he wanted to do.

Closer to 12:00, he left for the Living Room and we headed for the top deck.

First thing we wanted to see, that we hadn't yet, was the Flowrider. They were only doing boogie-boarding at the time, so we sat and watched for a little bit. Since we were aft of the ship, we headed down a few steps and took some awesome pix from the aft. I don't know why that water is so mesmerizing, but it is (to me anyway).

Next we checked out the mini golf. It's very nice but very windy up there. There are lights for night golfing up there....altho I would think it'd be awful windy & chilly? I wanted to get back there at night, but never did Pix: 1, 2, 3 and 4.

We took more pictures (and video) of the sports decks, including the rock climbing wall and more mini golf before my batteries in my camera died...again. (usually I carry extra on me, but so early into the cruise, I kept forgetting!) So, we went back down to our room to get batteries and change into our swimsuits.

After getting batteries and changing, we headed back up to the top decks. After wandering around the deck, we decided to play a round of golf. Not an easy course....some really wicked curves on some holes. We had fun playing and after a good start, I lost by 2 points.

After golf, we caught a little of the Sexiest Man contest by the pool. We didn't watch long before we went to the Solarium. It was crowded by this time of the day. Only 1 seat here or there. We saw a couple start gathering their things to leave and I was going to get their seats, but there were 2 girls coming from the other direction and the first girl got the seat closest to her, while I took the other seat closest to me. My husband was like "Really?" and walked away annoyed. I sat down figuring they would figure out we were headed for those seats. About 10 seconds after I sat down, there was a man and his wife on the end of the row of chairs leaving and he told me, "You can have our seats. I saw the whole thing and we want you to have these 2 seats together." I thanked him and we put our towels on our new seats and sat down.

My DH didn't stay long as the "sun beating down on you" is really not his 'thing'. I hate the cold and absolutely love the heat, so I got comfortable. He went for a walk, out to the helipad for a while and then came back later.

I was here about 45min - hour. DH went to see the ice carving demo at the pool. He was only gone about 15 minutes or so and was back. We debated going to watch Kung Fu Panda 2 in 3D, but decided we didn't want to see it without Bubba. More of a family movie we thought.

We figured Buds would be about finished with his afternoon schedule and we went back to the cabin and caught up with him there. He told us about what he did that afternoon, while we shared what we did. He also mentioned he was hungry, as he didn't have any lunch. He wanted Sorrento's pizza, so that's where we went. He had his soda and 2 slices and was good to go.

We didn't have a plan for the later afternoon, so we went up to check out Olive & Twist lounge...one place on the ship we hadn't been to yet. While there, I took a couple pix of H20 Zone too. Here and here.

After our photos from Olive & Twist, I suggested we play a round of golf, as a family, and they liked that idea. That's where we found ourselves next. We couldn't keep score as there weren't any scorecards left. Matter of fact, we got the last 3 clubs! We had a quick round and after we finished, we went to check out the Flowrider again.

Flowrider was closed for lessons, so we sat and watched for about 20 minutes. This was Bubba's plan, but he never did it. I mentioned a couple of times about going up to sign him up for lessons, but I never got around to it. Didn't matter, he decided he didn't want to do it anyway.

When we were finished watching lessons, we headed down the aft steps, passing Fuel and going through Johnny Rockets. By this time, it was just about 5:30 and there really wasn't much to do till 7pm. We figured we'd head back for showers and to get ready for dinner. It was formal night, so maybe we'd get a family picture taken or meet the Captain or go to the trivia show before dinner. So, off to 'hit the showers'.....

We took our time getting ready for dinner, and by the time we were all showered and ready to go, it was almost 8pm. Now, I must say, I will give a two thumbs up to Royal Caribbean on their showers. Not only was the water temperature adjustable (not just hot water like we had on that other line last year), but the water pressure was great! You could adjust the pressure as light or heavy as you like. The only thing I don't like is how small a space it is to shower. For tall people with longer legs & arms, it can be a little cramped...especially if you're a chick trying to shave those long legs! I remembered to take the trashcan in the shower with me and put it upside down...something for some leverage for my leg so I could shave more easily. Other than the small space, the shower is great!

At 8pm we headed to the Promenade to see if we could get a family picture taken. Holy cow! Crowded doesn't begin to describe the Promenade! There were lines everywhere! Lines so long, you couldn't tell what they're for, OR where they ended! A suggestion: go EARLY (or in between dinner seatings) if you want a nice formal picture taken without waiting a lifetime in line.

At the Captain's party on the Promenade, they were giving out complimentary champagne. They did have some hors d'oeuvres and a band playing, but I didn't see the Captain anywhere? Eh, I wasn't really looking either. We did poke in the Logo gift shop to have Bubba pick out his t-shirt. Each vacation he gets a t-shirt of where he's been or what he did, then he wears it the first day of school. Easy for me to keep track of what we did the summer before that grade and how old he was. We also wandered around checking out stuff in the store. They did have a lot of stuff...and quite the selection for the kids.

About 8:15pm and we decided to leave deck 5 Promenade and head to Deck 4 to Isaac's dining room to wait for dinner to begin. On our way to the dining room, we stopped by the Photo Gallery to check out our photos. Here is one package they offer. We buy "by the picture" and don't usually get "packages". This trip was no different. After roaming around looking at pictures for a bit, the dining room opened their doors and we went to our table.

The menu tonite was: Vitality, Appetizers, Entrees: 1 and 2, and Desserts and the Pairing Recommendations.

We ordered: Lobster bisque, escargot and shrimp cocktail for starters. There's no picture of the shrimp cocktail because it was eaten before I could get my picture.

After we ordered, we had Bubba take our picture for us. Our assistant server must have noticed because she came over and offered to take a picture of the three of us. She took this one also because she wanted the chandelier in the background. We also had the professional come around to take our picture. This is the picture we purchased from that night's photos. Bubba also took a picture of the Captain's table...although the Captain wasn't there yet.

For dinner, we had: roasted duck, sauteed seasonal mushrooms, shrimp ravioli and the grilled seafood brochette. Everything was delicious...yet again.

There was dessert tonight. We orderd the bittersweet chocolate souffle and the double strawberry cheesecake. I sampled both...pretty good. The chocolate souffle was hot too!

After dinner, we went to our cabin, it was approximately 10:30pm, to get ready for bed. Ah yes...the towel animal. Wouldn't be a cruise without those! Normally it wouldn't have been an early night, but the lack of sleep since our trip began (last week) was catching up to us and we wanted to try to get some rest. Tomorrow was Royal Caribbean's private island, Labadee, Haiti, and we didn't want to sleep in too late, but we didn't want to get up too early either.

We called it a night around midnight after watching a movie in bed.

 

[bubba's mom]

Wow! Really great tour of the Freedom! Thanks for all of the detailed pictures and descriptions.

We have been on a couple of RC cruises- one was a family reunion cruise. Auntie Jeanne paid for 39 of our family members on the Mariner in 2006. We LOVE Auntie Jeanne! Then in 2007, just the 4 of us cruised on the Voyager.

Love your door! Customizing is a really fun way to recognize your cabin. I'll be interested in seeing if you struck up any conversations as a result of your decorations.

I'd love Auntie Jeanne too It was a great ship. After last year's mess, I had a lot of expectations for this cruise, and we were not disappointed! The last nite on our way to dinner, a couple caught us coming out of our cabin and said to us they were wondering who "lived" there all week...since they had been admiring our magnets.

 

[schumigirl]

Wow......just read through the whole thing, what a fantastic trip report

I really enjoyed reading it and the pics are brilliant. Loved the time you spent with your dad and family. So nice to read

 

[Cdn Friends of Pooh]

Wow ... I can't believe how huge that ship is ... and there's so much to do ... I always thought I'd be bored silly on a cruise ... hmmmm

 

[rpbert1]

Another great day Barb, take it Randy won the Golf
Think Lily is coming around to giving the cruise a go a 3 day one to see, well at the minute this could change if i get close to booking it, unfortunatley will not be till 2013.
Look forward to the next instalment

 

[RAPstar]

Great update! I was just looking at a brochure for the "Freedom Series" earlier today! Its kinda cool to see that the look the same "in person".

 

[natebenma]

Fun day at sea!!! Once again, thanks for all of the great pictures of the ship!

I hear the water hazard on the mini-golf course is tough to recover from!

I am totally OBSESSED with Food Porn, so I truly appreciate you "feeding" my addiction. Great food pics and I love that you include the menus (every day I would take a picture of the dinner menu that was posted outside the dining rooms)

Think I'm gonna whip me up a bowl of Papaya and Pineapple soup for breakfast! Sounds YUM!!! Very nice pictures of you guys in the dining room. LOVE the colors of your dress!

Can't wait to hear all about Labadee and see your pictures. We have been there twice. Before the ZL. Beautiful island!

 

[keishashadow]

Glad to hear ur liking RC (still feel bad u had such a crappy cruise on CCLwe've had such good experiences with them, guess it all depends on how tight the captain runs the ship).

was wondering how even such a big ship would handle the number of passengers especially lido buffets, other than the promenade issue did you feel crowded or have to wait long time for services?

ps ur right, if it's July it must've been the cruisei mixed up the months for summer trips, that makes sense re the unfortunate passenger.

 

[bubba's mom]

Wow......just read through the whole thing, what a fantastic trip report

I really enjoyed reading it and the pics are brilliant. Loved the time you spent with your dad and family. So nice to read

Glad you're here...was wonderin' where you was?

Wow ... I can't believe how huge that ship is ... and there's so much to do ... I always thought I'd be bored silly on a cruise ... hmmmm

Make sure you are reading each day's Compass. It lists all the activites going on...trust me, there are things we didn't do because we either ran out of time OR wanted to do something else. If you take a cruise with a lot of port days (like we like to do), you get off the ship each day. That limits your amount of time onboard. I always say take a 3 or 4 nite...just to try. Then you'll most likely be ticked you have to get off at the end of those few days. It will seem 3 or 4 days just ain't enuf...

Another great day Barb, take it Randy won the Golf
Think Lily is coming around to giving the cruise a go a 3 day one to see, well at the minute this could change if i get close to booking it, unfortunatley will not be till 2013.
Look forward to the next instalment

Yeah...he did And I was SO beating him!! If she's reading (so far), don't worry...she ain't seen nuthin' yet. Good stuff yet to come I honestly have never heard/read about anyone who took a cruise and didn't like it. Tip to good price: book as soon as available. Best prices are EARLY!

Great update! I was just looking at a brochure for the "Freedom Series" earlier today! Its kinda cool to see that the look the same "in person".

Freedom of the Seas just had drydock in March...so she's in good shape The only ships larger than her in the RCI fleet are the Oasis class: Oasis & Allure. They are also the 2 newest... I'd recommend Freedom if you want a week in the caribbean

Fun day at sea!!! Once again, thanks for all of the great pictures of the ship!

I hear the water hazard on the mini-golf course is tough to recover from!

I am totally OBSESSED with Food Porn, so I truly appreciate you "feeding" my addiction. Great food pics and I love that you include the menus (every day I would take a picture of the dinner menu that was posted outside the dining rooms)

Think I'm gonna whip me up a bowl of Papaya and Pineapple soup for breakfast! Sounds YUM!!! Very nice pictures of you guys in the dining room. LOVE the colors of your dress!

Can't wait to hear all about Labadee and see your pictures. We have been there twice. Before the ZL. Beautiful island!

This was our first time to Labadee...LOVED it!!! Wish we had more time there...but, then again, if we'd gotten up earlier, we prolly woulda!

Glad to hear ur liking RC (still feel bad u had such a crappy cruise on CCLwe've had such good experiences with them, guess it all depends on how tight the captain runs the ship).

was wondering how even such a big ship would handle the number of passengers especially lido buffets, other than the promenade issue did you feel crowded or have to wait long time for services?

ps ur right, if it's July it must've been the cruisei mixed up the months for summer trips, that makes sense re the unfortunate passenger.

i keep tellin' ya...don't worry about feelin bad about CCL....we have other friends that recommended them and don't get what happened either. I'm sure someday we'll try again...only a bigger/better/newer ship most likely. Remember when Jodie did RCI? She wasn't all that impressed.... Different strokes for different folks....

The buffet (Windjammer) had many stations in it...no real line anywhere. And there were duplicate stations too... So, it was pretty spread out with a lot of selection... never felt crowded unless we were there early (esp port day) tryin to scope out a seat. A couple days that was tuff...but, we found a table and grabbed it and did the "I'll sit here while you get your food and then I'll go" thing... worked well. There's always MDR too...
Never felt like we really waited for anything...and, unless we were on tender at Cayman or at the parade, it didn't really feel crowded. She's a big ship...a bit bigger than the Wonder. Did you know the Freedom ship is only 3 ft shorter than the Dream?

Mixin' up trips Wonder if that means you take too many summer vacay's?? luv ya!

 

[keishashadow]

i'm running in permanent vacation mode he he

 

[RAPstar]

i'm running in permanent vacation mode he he

You and me both. I'm doing as little as work as I can until Oct. gets here. Of course it didn't help that we were busy yesterday, lol.

Freedom of the Seas just had drydock in March...so she's in good shape The only ships larger than her in the RCI fleet are the Oasis class: Oasis & Allure. They are also the 2 newest... I'd recommend Freedom if you want a week in the caribbean

Sounds like a plan. You're making Royal sound better and better lol

 

[Marquibiri]

Awesome pictures! I'm dying to do some mini golf... Love the detailed report!

Cheers!

Marquibiri

HHN21 Pre-Trip Report

 

[jenseib]

I am JUST starting to get caught up again...I know ....no excuses..

But when I looked at this picture you KNOW what I saw 1st!

OK, back to more reading!

 

[jenseib]

All caught up. The ship is gorgeous! I have always heard good things about Royal Carribean. I get mesmorized by the water too. It's so blue and pretty and not like home water.
Did you eat in the same dining room each night then? I am trying to remember how other cruiselines do it. My last cruise before DCL was NCL with free style so we could eat in either dining room when we wanted. Of course same food each place.
And how are those other food places? Do you have to pay extra for places like Johnny Rockets, icecream, etc? I know alot of NCL ships have put more eating places, but I am pretty sure the yal lhave an upcharge of some sort.

It was so nice to see the Dream too. So how do you compare RCCL to DCL?

Can't wait for more!

Interesting about the drink station with the chip ... I can just see if Disney eventually goes that way with their drink stations - everyone with old refillable mugs (and other assorted mugs) would be so confused why they couldn't get a refill

Disney is actually testing this out at AS Sports right now. they have regualr cups with chips and the refillable mug with chips.