Our good friend and house sitter transported us to the Port Canaveral Cruise Terminal 10 (parking fees are high) to board the Freedom of the Seas about 1:30 pm on Sunday 6/5/11. The Freedom of the Seas is the third largest passenger vessel in the world - much bigger than any aircraft carrier. Boarding was a breeze, had a snack, made sure we were assigned our choice of dining tables (for some reason, we are rarely assigned what we ask for - a table for two). Our Wait Staff, Michael & Hendri, and Steward Irvin were outstanding - super in all respects. For some reason there were many hundreds of children and teens aboard this cruise - school must have just let out for the year.

Our itinerary was the usual 7 day Eastern Caribbean route: Port Canaveral, Coco Cay, Sea Day, St Thomas, St Martin, Sea Day, Sea Day, Port Canaveral. We've been on this route many times, we rarely get off - I did get off in St Thomas for 20 or 30 minutes to buy a couple of shirts. Good days for naps and hot tub visits.

As usual we spent almost all of our time in the casino. I had a complimentary entry into a high roller slot tourney - lots of fun. This cruise really set all records for us. It was the best, most fun we've had in 57 cruises. The casino staff was really outstanding, the dealers and especially our favorite host Andreea. I cannot say enough about Andreea; she is the hardest working, most likable and most impressive host in the Royal Caribbean fleet - we really love her. Read more