Carnival Freedom Cruise 2017
Cruising with a family of 10 is no small feat, but when you add the extended family.. you get A TON OF FUN!!!
Throughout this blog you will see the red lettered links, they will direct you to a short minute or so of video.
Throughout this blog you will see the red lettered links, they will direct you to a short minute or so of video.
At the end of day 2 we were settled into our hotel, our roadtrip clothes were re-packed into the van, and we went down to the gulf to eat at Wendy's and dip our toes in the ocean!
The next day we got everyone dressed and headed to the BOAT!!!
Finally we were there.
The line to get onto the boat, and the gangplanks proved to be
exactly as much as energy as we could muster.
exactly as much as energy as we could muster.
Let's get on the boat!
Phoenix physically couldn't keep going, so he climbed aboard the rode in style.
We got all the kids settled into their rooms,
half of the bigs bunked with a few of the littles, and Abi had a week long sleepover with her cousins and aunts.
(all the same age)
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Our first night we sat with our bottomless ice-cream sundaes and watched the dolphins jump through the wakes left by the ship as we left the harbor.
Incredible!
Then came day two.
Bum BUM BUMMMMMMM!
Oh day two...
Why OH Why didn't I put that little thing behind my ear???
Waking up the next morning, was like being born into a world you don't recognize...
Everything is heaving and rolling and you feel like maybe you're going to die...
Or worse yet, you'll have to live like this!!!
I remember my daddy sprtizing me with water, laughing, and then regretting it.
Finding all 180 restrooms on board.
(That's a made up number... there are plenty, but when you are desperate...it's like a torturous maze that keeps heaving and churning...)
Ew, let's move on.
All the brothers-in-law brought drugs, and oils and I TOOK THEM ALL!
At the same time!
3hrs later I woke up, and the world was still rocking, but I wasn't begging to get off the boat anymore.
Day 2 ended with an incredible dinner and floor show!
That's our waiter...with a horse head on.
Hysterical EVERY time, and the fancy dinners became
a HIGHLIGHT of our trip!
Arcade, Amazing dinner and a floor show!
We also found out day two, that our children are too special
and/or too many to be left in Camp Ocean.
(The kid zone)
They literally tried to escape 5 times in the 45min it took us to sign them in.
Day 3 was card playing, exploring the ship and another amazing dinner.
All our children took full advantage of the 5 course menu and ordered all the "At Sea" specialties.
If you look REALLY close at the end of the clip you can see
Abi and a few cousins dancing on the stage.
Everyone trying Escargot
Day 3
Montego Bay, Jamaica
Oh my goodness so much fun!!!
After a short stay with customs,
we all loaded into a tour bus and we were off to see the island.
Our tour guide was so funny, and showed only a little trepidation when we mentioned needing diapers.
There is a little bit of the song Montego Bay, and a woman in traditional dress that Jazzy and Daddy danced with.
We were going to try to get family pics on the beach,
but the weather didn't want to cooperate.
Dinner was Oxen tongue,
(Did we taste it, or did it taste us?)
;-)
At the end of the clip you'll see the pools at night on the deck, with the giant movie screen.
Oooooo ooooo ooooo Montego Bay
Day 4
Grand Cayman
We can not say enough good things about Grand Cayman!!!
We got up early and took a realtively small boat to the port.
Then we took a tour around the Island and we all fell in love.
The weather was perfect, and the people were friendly.
First stop was the Sea Turtles and Dolphins.
KFC in Grand Cayman stands for,
Kill the Freaking Chickens!
Haha
But for real, the chickens are everywhere!
Then my favorite 2hrs of the whole week!!!!!!
A boat ride out to a sand bar, in beautiful weather.
The kids were able to ride up on the deck at the bow of the ship.
WOW!
It was a little windy up there.
The Manta Rays were a once in a lifetime experience.
Grand Cayman Manta Ray City
Bum BUM BUMMMMMMM!
Oh day two...
Why OH Why didn't I put that little thing behind my ear???
Waking up the next morning, was like being born into a world you don't recognize...
Everything is heaving and rolling and you feel like maybe you're going to die...
Or worse yet, you'll have to live like this!!!
I remember my daddy sprtizing me with water, laughing, and then regretting it.
Finding all 180 restrooms on board.
(That's a made up number... there are plenty, but when you are desperate...it's like a torturous maze that keeps heaving and churning...)
Ew, let's move on.
All the brothers-in-law brought drugs, and oils and I TOOK THEM ALL!
At the same time!
3hrs later I woke up, and the world was still rocking, but I wasn't begging to get off the boat anymore.
Day 2 ended with an incredible dinner and floor show!
Hysterical EVERY time, and the fancy dinners became
a HIGHLIGHT of our trip!
Arcade, Amazing dinner and a floor show!
We also found out day two, that our children are too special
and/or too many to be left in Camp Ocean.
(The kid zone)
They literally tried to escape 5 times in the 45min it took us to sign them in.
Day 3 was card playing, exploring the ship and another amazing dinner.
All our children took full advantage of the 5 course menu and ordered all the "At Sea" specialties.
If you look REALLY close at the end of the clip you can see
Abi and a few cousins dancing on the stage.
Everyone trying Escargot
Day 3
Montego Bay, Jamaica
Oh my goodness so much fun!!!
After a short stay with customs,
we all loaded into a tour bus and we were off to see the island.
Our tour guide was so funny, and showed only a little trepidation when we mentioned needing diapers.
There is a little bit of the song Montego Bay, and a woman in traditional dress that Jazzy and Daddy danced with.
We were going to try to get family pics on the beach,
but the weather didn't want to cooperate.
Dinner was Oxen tongue,
(Did we taste it, or did it taste us?)
;-)
At the end of the clip you'll see the pools at night on the deck, with the giant movie screen.
Oooooo ooooo ooooo Montego Bay
Day 4
Grand Cayman
We can not say enough good things about Grand Cayman!!!
We got up early and took a realtively small boat to the port.
Then we took a tour around the Island and we all fell in love.
The weather was perfect, and the people were friendly.
First stop was the Sea Turtles and Dolphins.
KFC in Grand Cayman stands for,
Kill the Freaking Chickens!
Haha
But for real, the chickens are everywhere!
Then my favorite 2hrs of the whole week!!!!!!
A boat ride out to a sand bar, in beautiful weather.
The kids were able to ride up on the deck at the bow of the ship.
WOW!
The Manta Rays were a once in a lifetime experience.
Grand Cayman Manta Ray City
What an incredible day!!!
We went back the boat, and had another amazing dinner and enjoyed a
'70's inspired show.
The next morning we got up early, and with bananas and bagels in hand we headed downstairs to disembark in Cancun.
The video shows you the process, but you can see it's fairly complicated.
With little people the dis-embarkation gets tricky. But by the end of the trip, we had it down to a science.
Cancun, Mexico
Our "Papa" had rented an island with food, and fun, and had everything arranged.
However, the other resort and private beaches are very shrewd, and we ended up being steered towards a different day altogether.
It was still a great day, and we made life-long memories.
This is our crew with our cruise director.
I've actually forgotten his name, but Mr Cruise Director, if you are reading this, please know that our children consider you a celebrity, and we thoroughly enjoyed all your dancing and crazy antics.
Thank you for indulging us with a picture.
The last day at sea was actually one of my favorites.
Everyone had settled into a routine, and we had seen so much, and had made such amazing memories, we were all happy to just walk the length of the ship, and enjoy the ride.
We even lot the littles room a smidge without their back-packs.
The big cousins had free range on the ship, and they enjoyed pizza parties at midnight. Movies poolside and basketball courts pretty much all by themselves.
If you ever wondered how they wash the windows on the ship, it's really cool!
(That's at the very front of this video.)
Last Day At Sea
We squeezed in the family photo session, just before sunset.
It was a once in a lifetime trip, and we will never forget it.
Thank you Mom and Dad for taking us all, and for loving us through it!
Bravest and Best and Papa on the planet!!!
We Love You!
We went back the boat, and had another amazing dinner and enjoyed a
'70's inspired show.
The next morning we got up early, and with bananas and bagels in hand we headed downstairs to disembark in Cancun.
The video shows you the process, but you can see it's fairly complicated.
With little people the dis-embarkation gets tricky. But by the end of the trip, we had it down to a science.
Cancun, Mexico
Our "Papa" had rented an island with food, and fun, and had everything arranged.
However, the other resort and private beaches are very shrewd, and we ended up being steered towards a different day altogether.
It was still a great day, and we made life-long memories.
This is our crew with our cruise director.
I've actually forgotten his name, but Mr Cruise Director, if you are reading this, please know that our children consider you a celebrity, and we thoroughly enjoyed all your dancing and crazy antics.
Thank you for indulging us with a picture.
The last day at sea was actually one of my favorites.
Everyone had settled into a routine, and we had seen so much, and had made such amazing memories, we were all happy to just walk the length of the ship, and enjoy the ride.
We even lot the littles room a smidge without their back-packs.
The big cousins had free range on the ship, and they enjoyed pizza parties at midnight. Movies poolside and basketball courts pretty much all by themselves.
If you ever wondered how they wash the windows on the ship, it's really cool!
(That's at the very front of this video.)
Last Day At Sea
We squeezed in the family photo session, just before sunset.
It was a once in a lifetime trip, and we will never forget it.
Thank you Mom and Dad for taking us all, and for loving us through it!
Bravest and Best and Papa on the planet!!!
We Love You!
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