Sorry, this is longer than I thought! This was our very first trip in twenty years. My hubby and I took along our youngest son, 16 and niece, 14. We had booked a year and a half ago thinking it would ensure a smooth trip but quickly learned that Murphy's Law is unavoidable! Thank God we left the day before the cruise! We missed our connecting flight to Miami due to our Canadian weather and were sent to Orlando instead because there was a huge snow storm coming and we had to get into the states before it hit or risk not getting there at all. Unfortunately, from there we had to take a taxi to Miami, a 3 and-a- half hour ride in an unfit taxi that rattled like a tin roof in a tornado because I wasn't going to risk losing my sanity by making my hubby drive all the way there... after all, it was a vacation! I am going to ask Air Canada for a refund for that $460 death-defying cab ride... Once in Miami, we stayed at the Intercontinental Hotel, a beautiful and grandiose hotel with an overpriced restaurant and beds that sunk in the middle. We walked about 5 minutes to the seaside mall that had a lot of variety to eat and we enjoyed all the Christmas lights on our way. In the morning, we went back to a wonderful restaurant "Mambo" to eat a great breakfast brunch while listening to Caribbean music and watching the boats (including the Freedom!)and birds on the pier. The best was the omelet that was custom-made for us on the spot! Embarkation was about 30 minutes long and I was disappointed when I found out that if I wanted to pay my tab on the ship with cash, I had to put a $500 deposit first. I should have thought of that! Seeing as I had already spent that on the taxi ride, I used my credit card instead because I wanted to have cash available for shore outings. We were issued our sea passes and sent aboard! We went to our interior cabin on the 9th floor and it was small but good enough. There was enough space to put our clothes in the drawers and in the closet. There were hangers available and an easy-to-use safe. The bathroom was small but had enough space on the shelves to put our toiletries. I have to admit that we all fell in love with the 3-second flush toilet! Didn't even have to wait for it to fill! I was happy that I had bought a 10$ over the door organizer thingy where we kept the sunglasses, sunscreen, cameras and other small items. I do wish I had brought some Fabreeze to freshen up the room when we all took off our shoes or had wet swimsuits hanging...Do bring extra swimsuits because they don't dry very fast in the room. The beds were very comfy, I think they were made of thick foam and didn't move when you moved around on them. The kids' beds were in the ceiling above ours and during suppertime, our friendly and hard-working stateroom attendant, Hopeton, would take them down. They were very solid and we were never scared that the kids would end up falling on us! We didn't need a night light because we left one of the bedside reading lights on. I wouldn't have paid more for a window; we hardly spent time in there!

The food was amazing! The buffet at the Windjammer had everything you could imagine for breakfast and lunch. The problem was deciding what to eat! At first, we found it uncomfortable to have everyone wait on us, knowing by experience the work it involves, but the staff was always nice and ready to accommodate us in any way. They handed out antibacterial wipes at the entrance and I saw everyone using them. I thought that was a great idea. For supper, we had chosen to do the open seating at Galileo's. We ate at about 6:30 and that gave us just the right amount of time to eat and walk around before the 9 o'clock shows. We enjoyed the waiters that served us the first night so we asked our friendly head waiter, John, to be served by Emil and Nelson every night. They were all great even though they never asked us our names. We had good laughs and always looked forward to supper. Emil was very knowledgeable and made sure we were always satisfied with our meals. He would even bring us extra meals just so we could taste them! I really enjoyed that at dessert time! We were told that there were 25 pastry chefs on board! The meals were so good, always freshly made, no frozen veggies or rubber meat. And the portions were perfect so we didn't feel overstuffed. I have to admit that I have never tasted food so full of flavors! Emil would always tell us about the evening shows or activities and Nelson would always make sure we were never in need of anything. I think it's important to note that all these people who work long shifts for 6 months at a time are an important part of the success of this cruise and when we showed interest in their lives, they got a bit of the spotlight that they so deserved! The kids had their hang out spots, the Living Room and Fuel and they had organized activities to keep them busy. The security guards were there to ensure that the age requirements were respected. The kids loved coming in late (12-1am) and met a bunch of new international friends to email. There was so much to do, the Love and Marriage show was the best but all of them were good. The ice show wasn't really our "thing" but it was impressive to see them perform on such a small ice surface without getting hurt! We tried to stay up late to go dancing but by 11, we were down for the count! Did the formal night and bought a fantastic picture of us, it was fun dressing up! My hubby enjoyed the nice bikinis, I enjoyed freedom from "the not-having-to-figure-out-what-to-make-for-supper-and-then-cooking-it" routine and the kids liked doing their own thing away from us. We did buy a painting at the art auction and were delighted when the auctioneer reversed the bids and actually lowered the price $90 under the starting bidding price! We also bought our oldest son a beautiful Citizen watch on sale one evening for $265 duty free and priced it a home at over $500! At Puerto Rico, we walked to the fort and watched the sunset; went to Coral World at St-Thomas and did some VIsnuba, (a MUST DO!) and went to Orient Beach at St-Maarten to swim in the ocean then went shopping near the pier. This was the best port to shop, lots of variety all close together and my son bought an 8 Gb Ipod with accessories for $215 at the electronics store Klass! Our niece got strep and pink eye two days before the end of our trip and the doctor's visit and prescription was so expensive, it was funny! One thing though, the insurance co. wants you to call before you see the doctor or be charged a 25% deductible. While their collect call is free, the ship charges you $8 per minute to call…! I didn't call… Almost $400 later, I hope the travel insurance will cover that!

Our cruise director, Richard Spacey, was a really energetic and talented guy who had a great sense of humor that would entertain everyone. The ship is humongous and with over 5000 people on it at all times, it never seemed crowded. She was always kept in pristine condition with hot tubs being scrubbed at night and constant upkeep that was noticeable. The staff was always smiling and it felt nice to be well treated! Read more