We just returned from an April 10th sailing on the Freedom of the Seas where we had a really great time. We sailed the Western Caribbean and this was our second cruise as a family (4th for my wife and myself) and I may interject some comparisons to our first family cruise two years ago on the Disney Fantasy.

Myself:51, Wife: 48, Daughter:18, Son #1: 16, Son #2:10

Embarkation: Could not have been easier. We got to the port approximately 10:30. Wait – gonna back up. I didn’t mention that we drove to Port Cavaveral from Akron, OH. Left on Friday evening and drove approximately ½ way (near Charlotte, NC) where I had room booked for the 5 of us. Saturday morning we leave the hotel and all is good in the world. We’re going to Florida to get on a cruise ship the next day. What could be better? So, we’re just reaching route 95 in South Carolina after taking the I26 corridor from 77 and I’ve got my headset in rocking out to a little Sammy Hagar (wife was reading so I didn’t want to bother her) when all of the sudden I get this sinking feeling in my stomach. I don’t remember loading the garment bag into the van with the other bags. You know, the bag with my suit (formal night), shirts, sport coat (formal night 2) plus a number of my wife’s dresses. After a bit of freaking out and even calling Fed-Ex to see if they have the ability to over-night our things our hotel in Florida (they do not have Sunday delivery), we had to come up with a plan. When we got to the Daytona Beach area of Florida which is an area we frequent for vacation we had dinner at a little restaurant called ‘Betty’s A1A’ in Ormond Beach which is one of our favorites in the area. Read more