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Day 3 (sea day)
This was another slow day for us, but I think we all were getting into a bit more of a groove with the ship. Certainly it didn’t hurt that I got a much better night’s sleep.
For me, this was a day to take pictures around the upper decks, as well as catch some unusual items in a sort of “photo safari”. First, pics of the latter hunt:
This odd enclosed couch:

Dammit, how many times did I tell the merchant my name does NOT have a “G” in it?!?

This old girl has been photographed a million times, but it was a good test of my tele lens.

This Next was definitely an oddity for this day and age. Seriously, when was the last time you saw a Wurlitzer jukebox (on land, at least)?

I stumbled across this in one of the stairwells. Very different from the other art and artistic photos you’ll find on each deck landing.

Last was this mural-style wall sculpture in Boleros Lounge.

 
Now on to the pool deck, where I gave all three of my lenses lenses some work.

After this, I checked out the live pool band for a bit.

Next I made my way over to the Flow Rider. On the way, I had to get a shot of the wake from this high vantage.

I spent about a half hour at the Flow Rider, getting some stills but mostly video. I’m going to put together a wipeout compilation after I’m home, but here was one of the better stills I got.

After a quick lunch in the Windjammer, I went back to the pool and found a nice little hallway between the solarium and gym, with a handful of chairs and relatively empty. It was still open to the sea, so I spent an hour there going through the previous day’s pics and cleaning them up. After that I went back to my cabin to recharge my phone and work on the post for Day 2; you all know how that ended. ?
During all this time, my wife and daughters were off doing their own things. My wife checked out the t-shirt sale (2 for $30) and grabbed a shirt for me and one for D14. After that, she got in another workout at the gym.
Meanwhile, the girls did some homework (D17) and drawing (D14) before going out. D14 tried the kids’ arcade and couldn’t figure out how to get the credits onto her Sea Pass card; I wasn’t much help here, I’m afraid, so that visit was a dud. D17 went to the rock wall with my wife after she was done with her workout. Only D17 actually climbed, my wife said she did well. 
While they were out, after the Day Two posting mess, I went to the casino for a little bit and tried my luck at the slots; as expected, they were not my friend and I lost the small bit I’d brought out of my total gambling budget.
Now it was time for Chef’s Table! I got dressed in my suit, even though the invite said smart casual, and it was a good thing! The other six taking part were all dressed the same way, so clearly we all agreed smart casual made NO sense for this event.
The three couples I met, two from southern NJ and one from Texas, we’re all great company for dinner and we had lots of good conversation while thoroughly enjoying the meal and all the wines. I’ll be writing about that separately, it’s a post all to itself! 
My wife and girls had regular dinner, and while wifey wanted to see the ice show, the girls were both tired and went to bed after dinner, around 9:15. I was back from Chef’s Table not long after, and since it was after the start of the second ice show we decided to wander the upper decks, try see the stars around the still nearly-full moon, and see the pool deck at night.
My plan to go to the helipad with her was scrapped when I found the gate leading to it on deck 5’s outside track closed. A staff member passing by said the winds were too strong and passengers weren’t being allowed on at night for safety reasons. Hopefully we’ll get a chance on one of our remaining nights!
My wife and I then took the elevator to the uppermost decks; even with the lights from the pool area killing our night vision, we got a great view of the moon on the water. I was also able to see the Big Dipper, and what was either Venus or Jupiter below the moon, but nothing else.
After taking in the moon, we checked out the pool and agreed it’s really pretty at night. I got one decent shot of the Solarium area using my night shot app, but nothing else.

Mat this point we went back to our cabin. We had this guy as our towel animal this night:

I wasn’t tired yet and decided I wanted another crack at the casino, but this time at the craps tables. I couldn’t make it a late night because we had to be up early for our excursion in St. Kitts, so I set myself a 1-hour timer. Craps worked out much better for me, and made back everything I’d lost on the slots. It was a good way to end the day, and I went to bed feeling a lot better about Day Three than I had Day Two.
 
Next is St. Kitts, where we’ll be swimming with dolphins and crossing a major item off my wife’s bucket list!

That's a bit of an understatement....  they look great.

That's a bit of an understatement....  they look great.

Day 4 - St Thomas
There is no easy way to put this, this post will be photo intensive.  Sorry @Matt, in the immortal words of Roy Sheider's character in Jaws... "We're going to need a bigger boat".
I met with a friend and former co-worker before the excursion.  He reports the majority of residents on St Thomas have power back but other luxuries like cable TV are still a work in progress.  Residents on St John are still getting there.  Many areas have power but more remote areas are still without.  Despite that people are settling back into a routine.
My excursion today - St John's "All Inclusive" Beach & Snorkel
To clear up a commonly heard misconception, all inclusive refers to ferry + taxi + park admission + snorkel gear.  Nothing else.  No water, food or anything else. 
A few pictures around Crown Bay to start us off:




Our greeting committee:




Our chariot (ferry) to St Johns.


We cruised along the Southern coast of St Thomas and from a distance much looked normal but you could see many of these coastal buildings took it hard during the storm and they are a work in progress.

Twenty fives minutes later we approached Cruz Bay in St Johns.






We loaded into our taxi's to begin our way to Trunk Bay.






Our first glimpse at Trunk Bay.

After a 15 minute drive we arrived at the Virgin Islands National Park - Trunk Bay.

Restrooms and showers faired well during the storm:


Some things like the concessions are not open yet.

Chairs are available for rent.

Snorkel gear included in the excursion was available near the beach.
There is a snorkel trail underwater.


The beach is gorgeous with sugar like sand.



The snorkel course is to the left of the island with marker buoys in the water.  I set my stuff in the sand and donned my snorkel gear.
Lots of Sea Urchins.  You do not want to step on one.

If you look closely you'll see lots of minnows.












This complete and about an hour later we boarded our taxi.  Our driver stopped at several viewing spots so we could take pictures.  That's the British Virgin Isles in the distance.

Jumbie Beach

This is the Caneel Bay Resort.  Like most hotels it's closed pending restoration.  

Back on our ferry and heading to St Thomas they offered beer for $5 (brewed in Portland, ME).  

I managed to talk to a few locals this trip.  Most hotels remains closed with no word when they might reopen.  Building material and labor are hard to come by to fix them.  While some hotels have opened, tourism is swayed towards cruise ships at the moment.
While island life is settling into a new normal, the storm's effects continue.  For example, rain inundated many homes.  Appliances not physically damaged are beginning to rust and break down just now from water damage, even if minor at the time.  The storms that keep on giving.  Those that had the money built with concrete and faired better than those with older homes.  They didn't escape unscathed though, even the concrete began to saturate from the days of rain before, during and after both storms which amounted to weeks of rain.  The concrete in some cases withstood the wind but leaked water from saturation.  
I was glad to make it over to St Johns and just as happy to see life moving forward.  It's a process but the tens of thousands of dollars each cruise ships brings are very welcome.  With hotels shut many are out of work but they very much appreciate each ship and the jobs that are created from the cruise industry.

I won!  Woohoo!  At the CC Meet & Mingle they had a raffle for "stuff you'd never buy" and I won an RC backpack.  Our ship representative warned us several times they tend to fall apart but knew exactly how they could be fixed by sewing them up with dental floss.  Things you make you go "hmmm".  I should have brought my dental floss needle, but heck it's free and I won it (I never win anything).

Enjoying my balcony today... how else?

I thought I'd test out wifi calling given that this is a non-O3b ship.  I called my agent to save $400 on a December cruise.  Not bad, the call broke up a few times but in the end I saved $400 so I'll take it!
As I sat there I spotted a celebrity approaching.


Using my bot-like vision I discovered it's the Celebrity Silhouette.

Soon after some birds came along.  At first I wasn't sure what they were doing out here but then it became obvious. 



Success!  Flying fish being taught a lesson by a flying bird - better to stay in the water.

Ending with with our overall impressions, some random thoughts and going back to my original concerns. Overall, Harmony is a great ship and we’d be thrilled to go on it again.  
Food:  Very good. Breakfast we ate in Mini Bites all week for made to order omelets and eggs. Great selection in the buffet too. I thought it was a mini Windjammer…not quite the selection but had what we’d typically eat without the crowds.  Lunch was always at Park Cafe.  D6 didn’t like it but we’d ride the Ultimate Abyss to the Boardwalk for a hot dog and carry it up to the Park Cafe to eat with everyone else. I enjoyed the salad and sandwich selection.  For dinner, we ate in the MDR every night. Except for the first night, dinners took about an hour..this was quicker than MTD on Liberty. We had some great dishes..the prime rib & lamb were our favorites. I know food is subjective but it is quite good considering they are trying to feed about 2000 people at once. There were no or at least very few specialty dining reservations available after day 3. Grade: Very Good
Entertainment: We made it to all the main shows: Grease, Fine Line (only done during the day due to weather), Headliner (ventriloquist Ronn Lucas), Columbus and comedy show. MIL found comedian too edgy but we enjoyed them. We all enjoyed the family comedy show the last evening. A mixed review of Columbus..didn’t love it but I liked how they made fun of themselves. Grade: Good 
Daytime activities: D6 is finally tall enough for slides. Most of our sea days were spent in the pools and slides. Loved Ultimate Abyss and the water slides. Older 2 kids tried zip lining the first day and thought it was ok...wouldn’t wait for it. Didn’t try the rock wall or ice skating. MIL had several massages which she loved. I had one too but MIL made a reservation for 50 minute massage but I ended up with 75 minutes. I loved it but was surprised and I was not happy with extra cost. Biggest problem was there was too much to do and not enough time.
Adventure Ocean: S15 had a friend from school on the ship so he didn’t attend the teen club as much as he has in the past. D6 only went in the evening...slides were her daytime activity. S11 loved the Voyagers club, made a few friends and he routinely checked himself in and out during the day. He always went in the evening. This is different than the past on Liberty where I had to make him go in the evenings.
 
Random things:
MDR Dress:  The most casual cruise we’ve ever taken. No more smart casual. The cruise compass lists dress as casual and people took advantage. I’d say a good portion of men where in nice shorts and polos on casual nights. Even on formal night, saw several t-shirts and shorts. 
Mass and Passover services: It is the week before Easter, there was a Catholic priest on board and he held a Catholic Mass every day. On Good Friday, he held a Good Friday service. There was a Passover Service that you had to register for at Guest Services.
The full price of drink package:  Deluxe $63, Refreshment $26 and Soda $9.50.
Bar Service:  On Air was a great place to grab a quick drink to go.  Also the Pub had a good selection of wine (On Liberty, I remember having to run to Vintages to get a glass of wine).
Account Statements: I always check my statement on TV so was surprised to see the written one at the end of the cruise. A $100 pool towel charge on the last night.  A quick trip to guest services and it was removed but I would have been stressed out if we had an early flight. Prepaying everything made for a light bill for us.
Bookings and Sales:  I booked MTD and the Beach Bungalows in September. The beach bungalows were never on sale. Drink package was booked in October during a sale for $47...cheapest I saw. Dragons Breath Flight Line was also on sale in October for $83. I did see it cheaper at $78 in February but the times were late and I didn’t want to lose my time slot to save $5.
 
Going back to my original concerns:
*DD18 just turned 18 a few weeks ago and worried about meeting other young adults without teen club.
*Is the ship just too big?
*Will the staterooms be too small? They will be the smallest (square footage) we’ve stayed in.
*Is it worth the extra “surcharge” for this class ship? The price per person per night is significantly more than other cruises...even staying in a JS on Liberty last year the week before Easter. We’ll see if we feel it is worth the extra cost.
1.  There were some meet and greets for 18-20 yo starting on Day 3 but they weren’t organized events and were not attended. D18 ended up hanging out with us which was very nice as in the past I didn’t feel like I’d see much of her during the cruise.
2.  Yes it is big. Having been on other cruises, we could figure it out fairly quickly. My MIL had a tougher time and routinely was lost.  There is no way to do everything in a week.
3.  The staterooms are too small for us, especially if we had to sleep 4 in one. I’d probably book 2 connecting Junior Suites next time.
4.  This is a tough one to answer. The price of one Spring Break cruise on Harmony is the same as a 5 night cruise over Thanksgiving in a JS AND a week cruise in 3 staterooms on Adventure for Spring Break 2019. So would I rather have 2 cruises or one? In 2020 and 2021, we’ll be back to one cruise a year and I would try for another Oasis class. I feel like this is a splurge, as we also like to do other vacations, but I may only have a few more years of cruising with all 6 of us.   
That's all from Harmony!  Time to start planning our Independence cruise for Thanksgiving!

Hope you get to see the Caribbean greens and aqua water too.  One of my favorite things.

Took a couple of minutes to stand in our balcony and take in the view. It’s truly breathtaking. I am SO glad I invested in these add-on lenses, as they’re helping me take photos that capture the memories so much better than the plain camera.

As you can see, we’re almost exactly in the middle between the bridge wing and the whirlpool on deck 11.
I’ve never seen the ocean such a cobalt blue. It makes me pause every time I see it, just to take it in. Being a New Jerseyan, the Atlantic has always been more of a greenish tint whenever I’d go to a beach. I just assumed you had to get to a Caribbean island to see blues like this.

Embarkation Day recap...
We checked out of the hotel about 10:20 and hailed a Lyft. The experience was not nearly as smooth this time; the first assigned driver mysteriously changed the ride to “in progress” without ever showing up, and I had to cancel that one and hail another (thankfully with no penalty applied). The second driver we got showed up earlier than predicted, but clearly didn’t know the area fully as he was blindly following Lyft’s GPS directions and I could see it was taking him in a crazy route compared to where the port was. It eventually got us there, and we made our way to Terminal 29, the very last one in the port. As we made our way through, we passed Harmony of the Seas, Carnival Conquest, and HAL Nieuw Amsterdam. It was indeed a busy day in the port!
We arrived about 11:10, and there was already a good line of cars forming for drop-off. We checked our bags with a porter and I tipped $10 for our 8 bags (four big suitcases and four carry-ons that we wanted to check, while keeping the essentials in our backpacks and handbags). I was openly gawking at the ship and the sheer size of her, now that I could see her up close. I kind of pissed off the port workers as I failed to quickly follow their directions to GTFO and go into security, and just stood there for a minute debating whether to take a picture (I didn’t).
From there we quickly went through security, and ship check-in was relatively fast as well comparing to other times I’ve seen reported here. We boarded Freedom around 11:50, so a 40 minute turnaround. Considering the large crowd already there when we arrived, and the time I “wasted” ogling her from outside the terminal building, I’d consider that pretty good. Sadly, our t-shirts advertising our 20th anniversary got us no love from any attendants, and we had to take the “no status” line.
Here’s a shot of the crowd at the checkin counter, plus a panoramic showing it wasn’t actually that crowded.

We boarded on deck 4, and went straight to the gym and spa so my wife could find out about those unlimited classes. Unfortunately, this resulted in us getting the guided spa tour, which none of us wanted but we got roped into as we didn’t see the way into the gym that bypassed the spa. We realized afterward that we should have gotten off at deck 11 instead of 12. My wife ended up not signing on to the unlimited classes in the gym, deciding she’ll be fine just using the complimentary equipment. But she did sign up for the free pampering session they had on offer, and the girls signed up for the teen version (though they might skip it).
After this, we went outside to the pool deck, and had our first split up of the day, with the girls wandering off to explore the ship. I got right down to business, and sat down in a lounger in the shade with my first beverage — a lava flow!

It was good, at least when the rum wasn’t settled to the bottom and overwhelming the flavor. My wife stayed with me and had a taste, agreed it was good. We got up and explored the rest of the deck, enjoying the view of the surrounding area. I had a moment looking over the railing where it really hit me that I was on a cruise ship, about to embark on a helluva trip, and I laughed out loud. This is what I was looking at.

From the other side of the ship, we could see Harmony and Carnival Conquest, sharing the port with us.

We made our way to the Promenade, and once again I had to take a few moments to just absorb it all and realize I was somewhere I’d only seen in pictures up to this point.

Where to start?!? But, it was 1:10 and the announcement came out that rooms were now open. So, off we went to see what our balcony rooms were like.
In two words, very nice! We were a little nervous when we saw how narrow the door was, but breathed a sigh of relief when we walked in and saw the actual space. No photos right now, my wife was adamant that I not do a photo tour set the second we got in. And happy wife does indeed equal happy life!
She did not, however, say anything about taking photos of our view, so I give you one fisheye and one telephoto pic that sums it up.

Our luggage arrived not long after, around 1:30. Most of it... Oddly, we got every piece except my wife’s carry-on; maybe because it was more like a very large handbag than a suitcase? That didn’t show up until a little after muster.
Before muster, after unpacking our luggage, my wife and I went to the MDR to see where our table was and if we got the really big table we’d hoped for. We didn’t, but from what I could see there really weren’t any apart from a half dozen in the center.
Our table is on Deck 3, #356, located to the right of the central staircase.

We left the MDR and wandered around deck 4, making our way to Studio B and the ice rink. It is cold in there!

By the time we were done taking in the MDR and ice rink, it was about time for muster. Muster itself was uneventful, but a little surprising. I was sure we were going to be outside, so I had all of us put on sunscreen... and then we had muster in the Star Lounge! It was over pretty quickly, and then D14 and I got Down to our post-muster goal — a margarita for me to have with sailaway, and a mocktail for her.
She went back to the room to enjoy sailaway from her balcony (favorite spot #4, per @Matt, IIRC), and I made my way to the helicopter deck (favorite spot #1) by way of the “secret path” through the Star Lounge. Here I did my first ever Periscope, which was... well, let’s say I have a lot to learn on this front. ?
I really enjoyed sailaway. The weather at this point was perfect, not too much sun, comfortable temperature, and a refreshing breeze blowing in. Once we cleared the channel and got into the open ocean, I took a few pics of the receding coastline and the helipad.

I made my way all the way aft to take in the view of the wake. Doing that walk really made clear how long the ship is! But it was worth it, as I caught this view that was absolutely striking.

After this, I met up with everyone back at the cabin. We got changed for dinner, then saw the welcome aboard show. I got my second margarita of the day before the show started. We got to meet our cruise director, Drew. He was very funny and engaging, so this bodes well; I found out later from the staff at Vintages that he just transferred (from Liberty?) last week. As for the main acts, there was a pair of artistic dancers who opened up the show and were really impressive, with good choreography and some jaw dropping moves. After them was a comedian who was hit and miss for me, mostly because of some his subject matter that has become a sensitive subject for me. No photos as photography was not allowed and we were sitting in the back of the theater.
After that, we had our 8 PM dinner (not 8:30 as I’d originally posted) in the MDR. Menus are the same as posted earlier by @LetsTryThisPlace in his live blog, so I didn’t take pictures. Also didn’t take pics of our food as I was too engaged with the family and our table mates, a mother and son from Michigan who happen to know @mpoole3 and have cruised with him a couple times! Small world, indeed!
I tried the escargot, not expecting to like them, and was very pleasantly surprised! D14 had asked to try one if I liked them, so I passed over the plate. I have to quote her here, because it kind of sums up my own experience:
”I’m kind of nervous about this...” ::eats the piece, and a moment later her face simultaneously lights up and gets confused:: “This is wrong, why does this taste so good?!?”
She said she’d have it for sure tomorrow, assuming it’s offered.
The rest of our meals were very good. In addition to the escargot, I had the wild mushroom soup, the horseradish crusted salmon, and creme brûlée for dessert. My wife had the Caesar salad, spaghetti bolognese, and royal chocolate cake. D14 had the crispy calamari, prime rib, and hazelnut chocolate. And D17 had the French onion soup, salmon, and fruit for dessert. D14 and I both got a cappuccino with our dessert, which is why I’m posting a novella at 1 AM instead of sleeping; lesson learned!
After dinner, I went to the pub and spent some time listening to guitar player James Brown from Canada for a while, while I enjoyed a Paulaner Salvator double bock.

I Periscoped some of his set before my battery got too low, and my wife joined me after a while. We tried to go back to the helipad to see the stars, but the moon is full and the wind from the bow so strong that we couldn’t even make it all the way up there! We decided to call it a day and went back to our cabin, where I started working on this. She fell asleep about midnight, but I was still wired and decided to finish this post.
So there you have it! Future posts may be broken up more or they may also be novellas, but that’s the writer in me for you. I hope I conveyed how amazing this first day was for all of us, me especially.
 
Just want to wrap up with a couple items:
- Drink package tally: 1 lava flow, 2 reposado margaritas, 1 cappuccino, and 1 craft beer; I think I got my money’s worth today, given the $43/night rate I paid.
- I stopped in the casino briefly and spoke with the gent at the craps table; minimum is $5 all day, and you get single odds for that bet, however if you bet $25 you get double odds; betting $50 gives you 3x/4x/5x odds, depending on what number you rolled. So serious craps players can actually get Vegas casino level odds on their pass line play.

Yep, I've learned the hard way that exercise alone (unless you're a professional athlete in-training) does not equal weight loss.  Calories, calories, calories....   
 
Same here.  I hit the gym every sea day at a minimum (goal is 5x during the week).    Losing 3-4 lbs is a lot less daunting and depressing than 10 lb

I use a zippo when I try to paint... to light it on fire.

Because we'd like to send you to college some day.
 
As has been said on the podcast, the smaller ships and/or weekend cruises are more appropriate for veteran cruisers looking for a quick getaway or to scratch the cruise itch.  I really enjoyed our past Enchantment cruise, but for us, that was a relax by the pool and watch the sea go by getaway cruise.  

T-minus 1 day to embarkation...
The weather is a lot nicer today, as expected. Just some scattered clouds, and nice and warm. We’ll be catching the shuttle at the Publix in a little bit to get to the nearby beach; only $1 per person vs whatever we’d have to pay for a Lyft.
Will be another “take it easy” day, no set agenda.
A few random thoughts:
- Our room lock was adjusted yesterday, and it is much more reliable now
- I can’t for the life of me understand why a room meant to sleep four has two double beds instead of two queens, especially when the bedroom section is more than large enough to accommodate them. The girls are doing OK with it, but my wife and I are finding it a little too cozy. I called the main desk before we came in and confirmed that there are no queen bed rooms, only two doubles or a single king.
- D14 painted this last night, just for fun. Sketched the drawing from a photo she pulled up on her iTouch, then painted with watercolors. I continue to be amazed by the artistic talent of both my girls, but D14 is rapidly outpacing her sister (which is understandable, since D17 takes art for fun and is focused much more on music, where D14 is planning on an art / visual design focus in high school and eventually college)

Day 6 Labadee
Arrived at 10 am, D18, S15 and I made our way to Dragons Flight Line.  We were supposed to be in the 2nd group of the day but I asked if we could go earlier if space was available which it was. Not nearly as scary as I thought.  A fun, smooth ride and we all agreed we’d do it again. 
DH, S11, D6 and MIL headed to our beach bungalow on Columbus Cove.  Cheapest bungalows in Labadee, it’s a private beach area, close to the food with nice sand.  The bungalow attendants would clear people who tried to put chairs on this part of the beach which made it for peaceful day for us.  The poor attendants had to deal with some really mad people. We checked out Nellie’s beach and the over the ocean water cabanas looked great but the beach seemed crowded. These seemed to be a better fit for my family and I’ll book these same bungalows for our next cruise when we get back. 
 
Here are the cabanas:I’ll send more pictures in a bit.  Taking forever to upload and I want to go for a run.  

Because we'd like to send you to college some day.
 
As has been said on the podcast, the smaller ships and/or weekend cruises are more appropriate for veteran cruisers looking for a quick getaway or to scratch the cruise itch.  I really enjoyed our past Enchantment cruise, but for us, that was a relax by the pool and watch the sea go by getaway cruise.  

Someone is realizing he’s about to be without his “hoo-man” for a long stretch...

Good point.  A retrofitted Voyager class will stack up better against the Disney Dream, particularly if it would sail out of Canaveral.  The cost for anything Disney (land or sea) just keeps going up and up, having an apples-to-apples 3/4 night ship option would be a good move for Royal.  Do 3-4 days at the parks and try another cruise line at a third of the cost.   

452 days have passed since I booked.
Now it's just 6 days away!
I'm single digit dancin'! I'm super excited, and I just can't hide it! No more waiting, no more holding back, it's time to get this ball rolling!
This will be my live(ish) blog for our long-awaited first-ever cruise. My family and I will be on Freedom of the Seas, sailing out of Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale. It's an Eastern Caribbean itinerary with four sea days and four port days, and we have a fair bit planned on those port days. BUT, that's not all we're doing! We're flying down to Fort Lauderdale 3 days early, as it saved us a ton on the airfare, so we'll be taking in the sights and activities around Fort Lauderdale for a couple of days before we board. AND we're staying one extra day in Fort Lauderdale after disembarkation, to get in one more beach day (and maybe an air boat ride) before flying back home.
Here's the full cruise itinerary, plus what we have planned each day:
March 31 - Embarkation from Port Everglades at 5:30 PM April 1 - Sea Day April 2 - Sea Day I'm doing Chef's Table this day April 3 - St. Kitts, 9 AM to 6 PM Dolphin push/pull/swim excursion in the AM Wandering around town in the PM, after we shower and have lunch on the ship April 4 - St. Maarten, 7 AM to 5 PM This is the big big day; we're doing an all-day beach and snorkeling tour around the island with Soualiga Destinations I'll be curious to see how the snorkeling is after the hurricane roared through there last year; haven't really heard much about that on the other recent live blogs to St. Maarten, so I will be sure to report back April 5 - Old San Juan, PR, 7 AM to 2 PM We're meeting up with a friend my older daughter met last summer, who lives in Old San Juan We plan to visit El Morro, and around that my daughter's friend said she'll show us some other interesting places, as well as the best places to eat; this might mean we'll miss a stop at Barrachinos as originally planned, but who am I to ignore the advice of someone who's lived there her whole life? April 6 - Labadee, 9 AM to 5 PM Wife and kids are doing the zip line in the morning All of us are doing the alpine coaster, as I got all-day passes for a really good sale price The rest of our time we'll be chilling in an over-the-water cabana! I heard @Matt's recommendation and rave reviews on his podcast, and I said, "This is my splurge item this trip!" April 7 - Sea Day April 8 - Return to FLL Why this itinerary?
We needed a cruise that timed well with the girls' Spring Break week, but wanted one that filled up as much of that time as possible and also gave a good mix of port days and sea days. Our only other options were 7-day trips on Harmony or Allure that only gave us 3 ports, or a 10-day on Navigator to the Southern Caribbean that we'd have loved to take, but ran over the time we had (and before we knew we'd want to fly down early anyway). So this wound up being our "Goldilocks" cruise, especially with Freedom being liked by so many as a first-time cruisers' ship.
We also wanted something kind of big for a first-time cruise, because we're celebrating 3 simultaneous milestones that will all happen in May / June of this year:
Our 20th wedding anniversary Our older daughter graduating high school Our younger daughter wrapping up middle school Our TA actually has "20th anniversary" down on the reservation for the room my wife and I are in, and "High School Graduation" for the girls' room; I'll be curious to see if there are any decorations in either room when we arrive, or if the staff does anything out of the ordinary. Not expecting it, but ever-hopeful.
Our Cabins
We booked two D3 Superior Balcony rooms on deck 8, forward. The rooms are connecting, so my wife and I were able to book in one room together and the girls are in the other room. This was after looking at the prices of suites and realizing that we got more space and saved a ton of money going the two-balcony route. We plan to get the divider opened up as soon as possible, so even though we won't have a suite, we'll at least have a suite-size balcony! 
The rooms included $100 OBC each, we have no idea what we'll spend that on at this point. The girls are thinking of putting theirs into a purchase at the salon or maybe to get some on-ship merchandise.
Drink / Dining / Other Packages
I've purchased the Deluxe package for myself, and I'm planning to at least try and keep a running tally of everything I get to see if it works out. I think it will, but time will tell. The rest of the family has the Refreshment Package.
Since it's our first cruise, we chose not to plan on any specialty dining and just use the MDR for all dinners. Not sure yet if we'll use the MDR for breakfast, at least on sea days, or go to the Wind jah-mehr for all the morning food. WJ will likely be our go-to for lunch, at least when we're not in port. Depending on whether any lunch specials are offered, we might try Giovanni's for lunch one day. For sure I'll be visiting Sabor, even if only for guac and margaritas.
I did get the 4-device VOOM Surf and Stream package on a fairly good sale in the Cruise Planner. We mostly plan to use it for communicating with each other through iMessage and Google Hangouts (my wife is the lone Android user), and of course I'll be taking advantage of it to post updates here as I'm able.
Updating this blog
I'm only bringing my phone with me, no laptop since the one I have is employer-issued and I'm not working on this trip. I'll post updates as I'm able to each day, but they may be on the shorter side since typing on the phone is a lot slower than I can manage on a proper keyboard.
 
So looking forward to this!

Yes.  Easier to shed the pounds pre-cruise and it takes even more stress out of the trip not having to worry about how much weight you're gaining.
 

We did MTD, made reservations before hand, and got the table for two by the window with the same wait staff throughout.  

I'll cast a vote:  #3, #1, #2 (w/ apologies to ConeyRaven), with the caveat being ease/cost of embarkation if that's a significant factor.    It sounds like you could drive to Anthem and possible Grandeur.    The itinerary for #3 is more appealing to me though Anthem is a slightly appealing ship to me right now, but I think itinerary would trump ship this time.  It will be hot, but all the Caribbean/Bahamas ports will be hot so that shouldn't be a deciding factor.  

Yeah, they'd have to abandon Baltimore and Tampa and they seem to be popular and profitable ports.  Or invest in new ports south of the bridges which doesn't seem likely

While I have not been on the Allure (yet), I would agree.   One of the reasons we picked the Allure was to explore an Oasis class ship, we like more activity choices.   But I really liked the Freedom when we sailed on it so it's a great choice too.   As JLMoran mentioned, a choice in a cruise has a lot to do with personal preference:  ship, ports, days at sea, etc.   For us this time, trying an Oasis ship was the main thing.  But we picked the Eastern Caribbean since we haven't been to San Juan and loved St Maarten on a previous cruise.   While we need to give Cozumel another shot, just in my research, I have no interest in Falmouth so a Western run that stops there doesn't appeal to me much.   
But to your specific question, to me, if the cost difference was in the hundreds of dollars, I'd pick Allure.  A thousand or more, I'd probably go with Freedom.

I hope that is the case, allowing everyone the opportunity to "cruise the way you want to cruise"     While I would like to explore the new stuff, I also would like a quiet relaxation spot too.