dex08
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 22, 2007
DH needed a weekend getaway and decided to take a 3 day cruise on Freedom of The Seas. We only booked 3 weeks prior. Boarded on Friday 9/17 and debarked on Monday 9/20 and had a fabulous time! We had a balcony cabin and hooray for double C&A points! Thought I'd share our experience - let me know if you have questions and I'll check back and answer when I can.
My only irritation is with Uber and Lyft. When we debarked, there were hardly any Lyft drivers around. Uber was charging $55-60 for rides on UberX to the airport which was ridiculous! Yes, I am frugal. Ultimately, since our flight out wasn't until after 12N, we booked a Lyft with the wait time option (not sure what they call is - this is the first time we've done that) which turned out to be under $30 with tip. My recommendation is to pre-book your ride share trip before you embark!
- Covid Testing
For our sailing, the requirement was that all passengers had to be vax with the exception of children 11 and under. Adults were required to get tested within 2 days (rapid tests were ok) and children with in 3 days (PCR required). We booked our tests online at a local Walgreens on the Sunday night prior at midnight when the appointments opened up on their website for Wednesday 9/15.
The testing was so easy! Just go to the drive through window with your IDs. Pharmacists passes the swab and info to you thru the window and instructs you how to do the swab yourself and then you pass it back thru the drive thru drawer. About an hour later we got our results in email.
RC is offering at home tests with online monitored testing that are shipped to you and are $$ but we opted to do free testing at the local pharmacy.
- Flying to MIA
This was the first time I had taken a flight since March 2020, however DH had been traveling quite a bit for work. I was a bit nervous but all of those fears went away once onboard the plane. We flew Thursday night after work on Southwest via a layover in Atlanta. There were zero restaurants open when we were there around 8:30 PM! Be sure to pack plenty of snacks with you if you are flying at night through ATL!!! We arrived in MIA after 11:30 PM and took a Lyft to our hotel as their shuttle does not run late.
- MIA Hotel Stay
We stayed overnight at Hampton Inn Blue Lagoon which is around the corner from the airport and 15-20 mins to the cruise port. There is a Publix across the street as well as a TD Bank and just up the block there is a Walgreens and a CVS. The room was clean and breakfast was good. Would stay here again.
- Boarding Ship
We took an Uber from the hotel to the cruise terminal and got there around 12:50 AM. Our boarding time was 1:30 PM and the luggage porters advised us to sit and wait until 1:15 before we lined up to board. Make sure you have your Set Sail Pass, Passport, Vax card and Covid Test results with you when you get in line to board. You can have your covid test results on your phone - they will accept it this way.
There were only a handful of other passengers in line and many document check-in stations. Once our docs were checked, they gave us wristbands to wear. Ours were light blue - they used different colors on each sailing. Only vax passengers have these wristbands. Keep in mind there are children/teens under age that are not vax, thus the bands.
We headed up the escalators and there were no lines. Walked right up to get checked in again -- keep those documents with you! You will need them again! Also to note, if you upload your photo before you board, be sure to do it without your glasses on or they will have to re-take your photo.
The Security line was next and similar to airport screening. Then we boarded and went to our Muster stations.
After Muster, we went to the Windjammer for lunch and to start booking our entertainment. You cannot book entertainment until you are on the ship and on their wifi.
Cabins were ready by 2 PM but luggage didn't get there until about 45 minutes later.
- Coco Cay
There was one other ship there - Mariner of The Seas. So easy to find a shady spot under umbrellas. We didn't leave the ship til mid-morning and it wasn't crowded at all. Food was great - we went to the snack shack and had the chicken sandwich. Funnel cakes there are so good! Overall, it was very relaxing and just what we needed for this weekend getaway.
- Onboard Entertainment
Two comedians, and ice show and a musical and a juggler. All were great!
- Meals
Main dining room meals were not as good as our last cruise IMHO. Our last cruise was on Harmony and the food was so much better! I regret not getting the Ultimate Dining Package but hey - we still enjoyed the food! El Loco Fresh by the pools was so good!!!!! Cannot say enough good things about their food! Sorentos was the usual pizza and consistent.
- Debarking
Monday morning we went to the Windjammer for breakfast and then back to our rooms to wait to be called for our time to leave. It's all on the tv screen and while our time was estimated to be at 8:15 AM, it was actually at 8 AM.
My only irritation is with Uber and Lyft. When we debarked, there were hardly any Lyft drivers around. Uber was charging $55-60 for rides on UberX to the airport which was ridiculous! Yes, I am frugal. Ultimately, since our flight out wasn't until after 12N, we booked a Lyft with the wait time option (not sure what they call is - this is the first time we've done that) which turned out to be under $30 with tip. My recommendation is to pre-book your ride share trip before you embark!
