We sailed on the Freedom of the Seas Jan 8th returning Jan 15th. This was our 4th cruise overall, all of them with RCCL. We have previously sailed on the Mariner, Independence, Oasis and now Freedom. We had cruised with my family, a party of 12, my in laws, and our two teenage sons, but this time it was just my wife and I. Our overall cruise experience, from Pre cruise flight, pre cruise hotel to the actual cruise was excellent.

Flight and ground transportation: We flew Southwest for the first time. I highly recommend paying the extra $10.00 per person for priority seating. We booked Travelynx for ground transportation to cocoa Beach. After landing, we called Travelynx and they were there within 15 minutes. Our Driver, I believe his name was David ( long blond hair older surfer dude), was very knowledgeable and informative pointing out points of interest as we drove from the airport to our hotel.

Pre-cruise hotel: We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express on Astronaut Blvd the night before our cruise. It was clean, staff was friendly and near Cocoa Beach Pier which we wanted to check out. Advantages to this hotel were plenty of restaurants within walking distance along with a Publix right next door which we used to pick up soda and water to take on the ship. We ate at Beef O Bradys which is in the same shopping strip as Publix. It was good, not great. My wife had the Ruben platter which she said was good. Next time I think we will check out Boston Beef and Seafood which is directly across the highway from our hotel. Read more