We booked our RCI cruise on their website and felt that we got a great deal for a 7 night Eastern Caribbean cruise on RCI's Freedom of the Seas. We live close to Port Canaveral so we chose to drive and stay the night before in a hotel. Our hotel had a shuttle that took us to the port and allowed us to leave our vehicle parked at their property for a fee. We were quickly processed at the port with our bags collected by porters and our SetSail documents and credit cards processed for boarding. We did have to wait about 20 minutes before boarding because we were a bit early at 11:00 AM.

We were impressed when we boarded the ship as it is the largest ship we've been on. We headed straight to the windjammer for lunch and I must say some of my favorite food on this trip was not in the dining room but in the Windjammer. After enjoying a nice lunch we headed out to check out as many places as possible to get our bearings on the ship. At 1:00 PM we were allowed to go to our cabin. We were very happy with our interior stateroom. We especially enjoyed the way RCI had curtains separating the bed from the rest of the stateroom. Our children did not join us on this trip but we felt the curtains would be an asset if you had kids in your stateroom as it allows for more privacy. We were extremely comfortable in our room and bathroom. The beds were so comfortable and the bathroom clean.

We decided to get some drinks in the Schooner Bar while we waited for our friends to join us on the ship. Next we headed to the muster drill. Once complete we were given the bad news by the Captain that we would not be able to keep our original itinerary due to hurricanes. Although disappointing in the end the Captain made the right call and the weather and conditions were absolutely beautiful on our new itinerary of Grand Cayman and Cozumel. Read more