Let me preface this by talking a bit about our journey in booking this cruise. In late November, we were trying to figure out how to make the best use of the January and February federal holidays (Martin Luther King Day and Presidents Day) without taking much, if any vacation time as that is not something I really have to spare this year.
We were considering just using points for a free weekend at the beach when my husband suggested a weekend cruise. We have done a few five night cruises but never anything as short as a weekend cruise. And I realize a weekend cruise might sound crazy for a number of reasons, starting with the fact that the cruise port is a 12 hour drive from us (so quite a long drive for so few days) but we decided to give it a go.
We were also looking to keep the budget down so we did something I don't normally recommend and booked a guarantee inside room. At the time of booking, online check-in was less than 2 days away and although Royal Caribbean wouldn't reveal to us our new cabin that quickly, our boarding pass that appeared after checking in gave us some hints. The boarding pass itself in the app was referencing a deck number and muster station so I was guessing a room had been assigned. The barcode on the boarding pass suggested our room would be 3307, immediately below Playmakers Sports Bar & Arcade (not really an ideal location to go to bed early).
Considering how many cabins were still available to book (including quite a few balconies), I then used the RoyalUp link to see if we could bid on any upgrades. After researching possible locations for the various categories and reviewing what it would have cost us to book those higher category rooms to begin with, we submitted our bids. And then the waiting began.
Royal Caribbean confirmed that our assigned stateroom was 3307 about 16 days before embarkation day. After further reviewing the deck, we decided we probably weren't in that bad of a location under Playmakers so cancelled a lot of our bids and just left two small bids on a spacious panoramic ocean view and promenade interior. About 2 days before embarkation day, we received an e-mail that the ship would review our bids and let us know before departure. The cruise appeared to be sold out.
On Thursday, January 12, which was still a work day for us (although a shorter one), we watched the weather closely as a long line of severe thunderstorms were making their way across the south. It didn't seem to be letting up and we didn't want to drive through heavy rain at night, so we rushed our departure trying to time our drive between storms.
I was switching between radar and weather apps on my phone as I kept track of the severe thunderstorm warnings and tornado warnings. A tornado had touched down around Selma, Alabama and was making its way across much of the state to the Georgia state line. At one point, highway 280 had a lot of debris on the road with clear signs a tornado had crossed probably not that far ahead of us. Not too much past that point, we came to a stop on highway 280 and discovered a tree had downed a power line across the road. Knowing that would take a while to clear, we made a U-turn and tried to navigate to another road that would get us around that spot.
Eventually, in Georgia we made it through the storms and sun peaked out.
We made it to our hotel about seven and a half hours later, about an hour longer than we had anticipated. We stayed at a Fairfield Inn in Lake City, Florida for just enough hours to sleep and get back on the road. They upgraded our room to one that included a sitting area.
The next morning we were on the road before 5am. The storms had gone through overnight so we would once again have to pass through them but they had weakened and so were no longer severe. After passing through the storms, we had the most beautiful sunrise.
As we got closer to Miami, the estimated arrival time on the GPS kept getting later and later. It turns out a small portion of the Florida Turnpike temporarily closed so we detoured to interstate 95. Then there was a crash on I-95 that looked like was brining traffic to a standstill so we got off and started navigating back roads. We got back on I-95 after the crash but then faced stop and go traffic as we entered the outskirts of Miami. We made it to the parking garage at about 11:30 am about an hour behind schedule.
Fortunately, that is when the long travel ended and the vacation began. From the time we left our car to the moment we had finished our muster drill, not more than 10 minutes had passed! I don't think we ever stopped walking as we dropped off luggage with the porter, went through security, checked in, entered the ship, and scanned in at our muster station. We had watched the videos on our phone in the car that morning. This was probably our best embarkation ever.
I love the day of the week in the elevators on Royal Caribbean ships!
We had a quick bite to eat at Johnny Rockets and then checked out the water slides.
The slides in the background were the ones we tried. They are a bit slow and we both briefly got stuck and had to push ourselves to get going again but they were worth trying once.
Rooms were ready a little after one so we eventually made our way back down to deck 3. At this point, we wanted to unpack so we cancelled our remaining bid, accepting the room we had been assigned.
It was located down a quiet hallway on a deck that didn't go through all the way so the only people we saw were others with cabins in our area. We were just steps away from the main dining room (on the same level) and very close to Studio B (the ice skating rink). Deck 4 (one deck up) housed some bars, lounges, and the casino and had a wrap around outdoor deck with access to the helipad. Two decks up on deck 5 was the indoor Royal Promenade with shops, more lounges, bars, and the cafe. The location was very convenient and throughout our entire cruise, we never heard any noise from the sports bar above (or any of the cabins around us).
After getting back home, I realized our cabin was actually one of the cabins added during the amplification Royal Caribbean did to the Freedom of the Seas just before the pandemic hit in early 2020. This probably explains why the finishings were so nice and everything was in such great shape.
After unpacking, we did a little exploring and I enjoyed my first drink from Boleros, a bar at the aft of the ship on deck 4, so quite convenient. While enjoying my drink we noticed our sea pass cards mentioned anytime dining, even though we had confirmed 6pm dining listed on our invoice. The app listed a 9pm reservation for this first night. So we made a stop at the Main Dining Room to talk to the Maitre'D. He found us the last table for two (or so he claimed) at 6pm and gave us a card with our table number, table 206.
We then headed to the helipad to see if the first ships had pulled away from the dock yet. One thing we absolutely loved about the Freedom of the Seas is a wrap around covered outdoor promenade deck with chairs (over decks 4 and 5) with 24 hour access to the helipad for sunrises, sunsets, sail aways, star gazing, etc.
Grandeur of the Seas, the first ship to leave Miami
NCL Pearl, NCL Sky, MSC Divina, Carnival Conquest
Fuel Barge with a tugboat
Carnival Conquest pulls out and turns around
We were at Terminal A, the terminal closest to the entrance of the harbor so all ships had to pass us as they disembarked.
The fuel barge is done refueling the NCL Sky
Miami skyline
The Freedom had pulled in when it docked that morning so when it was time to leave we had to travel to the end of the harbor where there was just enough room to do a U-turn and then head back out.
That is quite a yacht!
The sun setting over the skyline with the ship made quite the photo - credit for this particular photo goes to Paul.
We had now turned around and were headed back towards the entrance and out to sea. Unfortunately our dinner time was coming soon so I didn't get to linger as we headed out.
MSC Divina
NCL Sky
NCL Pearl
This was such a cool sail away and we had the best view being at Terminal A, which juts out a bit and facing in. It was a bit chilly though and we had some sprinkles. At one point, Paul went back to the room for warmer clothes and to get my Nikon once the rain seemed to have passed. The weather didn't keep people from attending though and there was a good turnout on the helipad.
Dinner was at 6pm. Our table was right in the middle of the main floor of the Main Dining Room, a gorgeous three story venue. Our wait staff were decent although our waiter clearly didn't know wine. I tried to order a specific Chardonnay that first night. The first glass that was delivered clearly tasted like a Sauvignon Blanc and was a very small pour. When I ordered the second glass, I repeated Chardonnay and something seemed to click as if our waiter recognized he may not have brought the right one the first time. The next one was clearly a sweet riesling.
The head waiter, Rathan was excellent, probably the best head waiter we have had in a long time. He clearly knew the menu well and was so helpful in finding good food I could eat that first night, pre-ordered all my meals for the next days, made suggestions, and even encouraged me to try the dairy free French toast they could make me for breakfast with advanced notice.
Royal Caribbean had rolled out new menus just in the past week or so and each of these new menus included a vegan starter, entree, and dessert. So during the week, I got to enjoy vegan ice cream, a fudge brownie, a berry tart, and more. With vegan always being dairy free, it was so nice to have those options. This night's menu was the Welcome menu.
This little tiny duck was perched on a picture frame above a huge red couch outside the Main Dining Room. We'll have to find another cruise to hide him on.
Tonight's show was FreedomIce.com, their ice skating show which we thoroughly enjoyed. We managed to even snag front row seats so we felt like we were right in the action.
After dinner, we walked through the Royal Promenade and then went outside to check out the night view from the helipad.
If you look carefully, you can see the constellation Orion. Paul took this photo just with his iPhone. I meant to get back out there with my Nikon but never did.
After all the travel we did, it was about time to call it a night. We stopped by Vintages (the wine bar) to get me one last glass of wine (this time I got exactly what I ordered) to take back to the room while we wound down. And we finished off the rest of our diamond drinks by asking for three bottles of water. Our loyalty on Celebrity gets us reciprocal loyalty on Royal Caribbean at the Diamond level. The Diamond level includes 4 free drink vouchers per person per day which covered all our drinks for the cruise, a huge benefit for us.
