Cranberry or Pineapple?? Part 2

[Jsme]

A picture taken from our balcony just shortly before leaving. Alot of people wore the shirts that the kids had on. At Bayside we all decided to wear our 5 oclock somewhere Big Dog shirts instead. The men had blue ones like Jeff has on and the ladies had pink ones.

 

[Jsme]

We arrive at the port around 10:45. It was a mad house. I am so glad we went that early. We were lucky to get there and be able to stand inside of the terminal. Remember how the Freedom is currently the largest ship and they are able to have 3500 passengers.

RCI had mailed out to those who got paper documents a note saying do not come to the port until 2:00pm. We got edocs so we could go anytime. Now they would not turn anyone away this was just to try not have all 3500 there at 11. We were on the ship by 11:30. It might have even been earlier.

Woo Hoo we are on the ship

 

[Jsme]

As soon as we got our seapass cards (KTTW card) we noticed how Bonnie and Richard was at a different table. We all were suppose to have a table for 12. Comes to find that person had hit again as she said she was going to do.

She had called and had our tables made into 2 of 6 and she had Bonnie and Richard put with them. I later found out a lot more about her request. All I can say I know think she is bi-polar. I am not kidding.

In that picture we are waiting for them to fix the tables. Bonnie and Richard decide since they are right beside of us they would just stay at their table. I think they regretted this decision because that person stayed drunk the whole cruise. Richard had never cruised before and we so wanted him to have a great experience for Bonnie's sake.

We head up to the Windjammer and have a nice lunch and then head out for a drink. lol By this time we can get into our rooms. My luggage was already there and we took all 4 pieces into our balcony room. Our room is nice. The kids are in their own room across from us in a pr room. These are inside rooms that have a baywindow they can look out over the shopping area which is like a street in NYC. Very nice.

We put out our magnets. And head back to Guest Relations. Jeff and Erik's seapass cards are messed up. We get it fixed and learn the onboard credits I had put onto the kids accounts would not be credited until Wednesday. I was upset but we worked it out. All I know to say the best thing to do is put cash on their accounts. I will do this next year. I will not link them to my account again. Big mess but they did not over spend. I put a limit on them and they stayed within that.

 

[Jsme]

After all this we head up to the flowrider. Everyone was to meet there. We sign the kids up to get on the flowrider. I had been told the best time to use the flowrider is embarkment day. I totally agree with this. My kids loved the flowrider!! We meet everyone there and had a great time. It was just so neat to sit there and watch the kids and be with the family. They all were yelling at E and Mac as they rode.

I lost the pictures of MacKenzie.

 

[Jsme]

Here is Barb's pictures

http://family.webshots.com/album/555528948YYlqWt

 

[jiminyC_fan]

Gosh Selena, I wanted to go watch TV but you have my attention. I am having so much fun reading your trip report!

 

[Jsme]

http://s5.photobucket.com/albums/y179/TallNOGal/?action=view&current=FreedomoftheSeas-Card1127.flv

Erik on the Flowrider

This is from Barbs videos

 

[Jsme]

OK sorry I got busy looking at Barbara's pictures.

After the flowrider we had to go down and get ready for the muster drill. With the kid being across the hall from us we had two different areas to go to so Jeff went with E and Mac and I went to ours. We had fun joking around during with the gang. Now it would have been bad if we had needed to evaculate. I would not have had a clue as to what to do. lol

Goodness then it was sailaway time. The other group meet at the pool bar but since they were all being so nasty to me we decided to go to the Helipad. Oh I totally suggest if you go with RCI to watch sailaway from the helipad. It was so amazing to watch us leave that up close and personal. We were there with the family again. Sharon, bless her sweet soul, had made everyone a beautiful swarowski red, white (clear) and blue Freedom bracelet. It is so pretty. I wore it most days on the cruise. I am still wearing it. She gave this to us all at this time.

We all had a wonderful sailaway. After that it was time to go to the schooner bar for our meet there. We met there or the champagne bar most nights prior to dinner. Then off to dinner. Wonderful meal. Great dinner.

We had late seating and I honestly can not remember what we did after dinner. I know it was very late. I think we went by the Cyrpt to check on the kids but they were not there. The Cyrpt is a nightclub but this night they opened to families to dance.

Jeff and I walked around a bit then headed to bed.

 

[Jsme]

Here are some pictures from the ship

Believe it or not this was not planned. We were on our way to the champagne bar and I decided it would be neat to have the girls get their pictures made together. That led to me and Barb with them and then a picture of all 8 of us. We did not plan our outfits but there is no way it could not have worked any better if we had planned this picture.

 

[Pooh_Friend#1]

Wow Selena, your ex friend's tactic just blows my mind. I don't know how people come up with these things. Loving your trip report and love all the pictures. The video of E on the flowrider was great. Why did you have to sign up for it?

Finally got the Ipod worked out. It was not registering on my computer and I finally decided to push the Ipod hard onto the USB port and it finally registered. So I got the docking station out and the USB extension cord and hooked it up to the same USB port and it worked perfectly. Another DISer said that this has been the problem with the shuffle. But with it working correctly with the docking station, I really don't care then!!!

 

[Jrsy Boy]

Selena, I am engrossed by your Trip Report. More drama than The Love Boat. Great pictures, too. I am biting my tongue to keep the inappropriate, non-family friendly comments to myself.

Rode the light rail again on Saturday night with my family and in-laws. Wasn't crowded until we got up to Broadway, then it was standing room only. Did I mention that some of the track was made from steel that came from Mile High Stadium? Imprinted on the side it says "From Mile High to T-REX." I thought that was pretty cool.

Doc says my knee is all better now and I don't have to go back and see him again. I actually ran on it a little when we took the dogs for a walk. It has been just over a month since the surgery.

 

[Jsme]

Wow Selena, your ex friend's tactic just blows my mind. I don't know how people come up with these things. Loving your trip report and love all the pictures. The video of E on the flowrider was great. Why did you have to sign up for it?

It was a waive that had to be filled out daily.

 

[jiminyC_fan]

Wow, Jrsy. You got released from the doctor fairly early didn't you? That is cool about the Light Rail and Mile Hi stadium. Something probably most people won't ever know.

Selena, those pictures are absolutely BEAUTIFUL!!!!! I LOVE YOUR DRESS. Plus, I love your hair. If mine was straighter than it is that is the exact style I would choose. My hair dresser told me that it would be too much work for me.

I won a 150.00 Nike "wardrobe" over the weekend. Our Dillards opened a huge store and had several drawings.

 

[Jsme]

Wow Sandy that is awesome.


Thanks about my hair. This is the longest it has been in a while. I am trying to let it grow. I have to say it finally is at a length I like. I did not like it on the cruise but it has grown even more.

If you looked at Barb's pictures you should have been able to see at least 3 of my dresses. I think I paid the most for the red one from ebay. lol The black one in the picture is the one I pid $15 for from B.Moss. I really do like it. I am sure I will use it for a while. You guys will probably see it a lot because it fits well.

 

[Jsme]

Oh my I left out the many phone calls the first night from the kids. We are in bed. The kids were in bed too but remember they are in another room across the hall from us. The lights are out and the phone rings. On the Freedom you have caller id on the phone so we know it is E Boles. We answer thinking something is wrong....NO it is Erik telling on Mac. Jeff talked to him, they hang up and then he calls back. This goes on and on then finally it gets so bad Jeff is just picking up the phone and hanging it up. He was not talking to them or anything. Just lift and hang up. This happens several times until they figure out we are not going to talk to them again!!! I was ready to walk over there in my pj's and kill them. lol

Monday is a sea day. Prior to going to sleep we fill out our room service menu for fruit and coffee for 7-7:30. They call us at 6:30 telling us they have it ready can they bring it to the room. Well something went wrong. We got ours and the kids. Only thing is the kids did not order room service. Someone put the wrong number on the sign. We had so much food. We had breads and danishes and jellies and butter. Two fruit trays, eggs, sausage and bacon. Orange juice, apple juice and coffee. I thought the kids must have ordered. I called them and woke them up and they came over to eat on the balcony. This is when I found out they did not order room service.

We head to the pool to meet our friends. I put our towels down and sit a while. Talk to my friends and before I knew it was time for the Meet and Mingle. If you are fimilar with Cruise Critic they are sponsored by RCI and they have a Meet and Mingle for you in a lounge. We had a nice time. I walked in with Barb. We sign in and there is "my friend" and Liz. I talk to Liz a while and give her the goodie bags for her Lads. They are from Scotland. We hug and she cries. I tell her no crying we said no crying remember. She said we will talk later. I put my ornament in the spot and of course I have to make my rounds to give out hugs. It was fun but I turned around and I notice my "friend" and Liz had left. They even took their ornaments. lol
Several comments were made about the fact they came and left. Some did not even see them there. I had Bunti come up to me and say I see they did not even come. I said oh they were here but they left. She made several comments as to how they need to get over it. I nearly fell off my chair. I had not mentioned anything to Bunti but later I was told at the other sailaway plenty had been said about me to all. It is rather funny now to see it from a distance. I see now how very foolish she was seen as acting. Then I just was a little wary and was really watching what I said and did.

We all brought an ornament that was from our home state. It was funny because I could not find anything that I felt reresented NC. I bought a cardnial because that is our state bird. When it was my time to go up and get an ornament I picked this red bag. It was from Loretta. I did not know who it was from. Names were not on the outside of the bag. I open it and guess what it is a cardinal too. She is from NC as well. We both laughed about it. But I have to say I was highly disappointed in my choice. While it is a very nice ornament I was really wanting an ornament from another state. I know my bad.

After this I went back to the Lido deck to the pool. Ya know where I left Jeff. But no Jeff. He was at the flowrider with the kids. I told everyone what had happened with my ornament. We are all sitting around having a nice time. I notice that several was leaving to eat and get drinks. I am starting to feel a little lonely because Jeff had given away my chair so I was just sitting at the pool. I mean I am talking to everyone but I was lonely. Tammy and Kim come and sit with me. Sharon comes to me and hands me this package. I said what is this? I then realize it is her ornament. She chose not to go because she did not want to leave the pool. That touched me so deeply. It made tears come to my eyes. She gave me this incredible ball ornament that is from her home state of Florida. It is so pretty. I was embarrassed too because I was not thankful for what I got. I really was but just a little disappointed in my choice. I just love both ornaments.

I have to say although our group had been through lots of drama everyone is great. Each of them took me as if I was their family. I know you guys love me but I am not use to this type of treatment. I really love these guys. Heidi I know you were concerned that Ty had other motives for his apology but he was awesome to me. I think everyone just realized that so many things can be taken wrong when it is in print. You can not get the true meaning when you read something. I think we all realized we had over reacted. We also realized that we had a few that really have issues and they were the entire problem.

Anyway Bonnie and Richard come up for a while. Then I have a bite to eat and go on to the Flowrider. I sit there for a while. Jeff, Kim, Tammy, Mari and Thom were there. We all had a good time just watching.

Jeff and I head down to the Art auction for free champagne. We did not register. My bad I just took Chris' sign and got a glass of champagne. Jeff just took a glass when I did this. We meet Barb there. We all walk around a bit and look at the art. It is very expensive.

We leave and go back for a nap. I was just so tired. After the nap we head back out to see what is going on. I think we go back and check on the kids.
At 6:30 Jeff and I go up for some sushi. Jade had very good sushi. We had green tea and sushi. I also had a glass of wine. It was 7 before we new it and time to be at the Schooner bar to meet everyone for our pre dinner cocktail. We meet everyone. We did not sign up for trivia but we should have because we would have won. We decide to walk down to the Champagne Bar where part of the group is hanging. On our way we get way laid looking at the pictures. This is when we decide on talking the pictures. I am so glad we did this. I truly love these pictures.

Jeff did not wait on us and went with the guys to the other bar. He scored free Champagne though. lol We wiind up at the table for dinner shortly after all of this. We have a great dinner. I have to say I do not remember what I ate but I know I had shrimp cocktail and a salad. We ahd a great dinner. Funny thing about dinner is while my friend was being smart by moving our tables she did not request to where she wanted my table. LOL she was right in front of us. She sat where her back was to me but she had to look in a mirror the whole time. If she looked up she would have still had to look at me. I thought it was really funny.

Since we had the late seating we were done so late everynight. It was hard to stay up for things. We did take a turn around but nothing was going on that interested us. We went on to bed. The kids were already in bed. We up them to bed and gave them kisses and off to our bed we went.

The Freedom is truly and awesome ship. They have amazing beds. I slept so good the whole week. Our room was a nice size and we had a flat screen tv which was very nice although I did not watch much of it. I also did not sit on the balcony as much as I thought I would have. I think I was just too busy with being with my friends. Now if we had been alone I think our balcony would have been used a lot.

Over all Monday was a great day. The kids had the flowrider to play on. Mac also did the rock climbing wall. I never saw her do this but she made it to the top each time she tried. I was impressed. They also went to Johnny Rockets to eat lunch. Since we had gone on RCI before we had coupon books and one of the coupons is free lunch there.

Once we went to bed we knew we had Cozumel to look forward to the next day.

 

[jiminyC_fan]

Selena, I couldn't believe all that food that you got for breakfast. That is my favorite meal. I hope you didn't waste anything. lol. Then the phone calls from the kids. I have to admit that I was laughing. Tattling over the phone. Again, lol. I can't believe you eat sushi. YUCKY!! I was surprised to read that Johnny Rockets is on the ship. Is it the same as the chain?

 

[Pooh_Friend#1]

Selena - I find it hilarious that your friend didn't plan everything correctly and had to still see you when looking up at the mirror!!! I am so glad that Ty didn't have alterior motives and was very nice to you. Sounds like the group turned out to be great. I just find it funny how you were so nice to your ex friend but she kept giving you the cold shoulder. I am sure she did not enjoy her cruise as much as you enjoyed yours. So because Johnnye Rockets is there and you said you had coupons, I am assuming you have to pay to eat there. Do you have to pay to eat everywhere?

 

[cristit14]

NNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Broken bottles of beer break Jrsy Boy's heart.

I had never heard of Twisted Pine until my dad sent me a newspaper article from NJ about it. I like the Hoppy Boy.

Brad wasn't happy either. I felt terrible about it. It looked like the side of the carton at the bottom was slit open with a boxcutter. It is surprising that it didn't break before I got it in the car, but I think I probably was holding it on the bottom when I picked it up. It took forever to get all of the glass up.

 

[cristit14]

Cristi, count me in on the party as well!

Okay, great. I know there will be at least two people there


When do we have to mail our ornaments out by? I have mine I just need to find a box to mail it in.

 

[cristit14]

Selena, I am loving your trip report so far! I love the video of E on the flowrider! I am glad you had a great time even with all of the drama.

Jrsy, I didn't know that about the lightrail and Mile Hi. That is pretty cool. That is great that your knee is doing so well!