Brobbins246

The bad news is, my dad told me last night that he's moving from where we leave near each other in Michigan to the Seattle, WA area.  I'll be sad to see him go, moving so far away. 
The good news is....what a great excuse to plan an Alaskan cruise out of Seattle!!!!!!  I may or may not invite him along.  LOL

The bad news is, my dad told me last night that he's moving from where we leave near each other in Michigan to the Seattle, WA area.  I'll be sad to see him go, moving so far away. 
The good news is....what a great excuse to plan an Alaskan cruise out of Seattle!!!!!!  I may or may not invite him along.  LOL

The bad news is, my dad told me last night that he's moving from where we leave near each other in Michigan to the Seattle, WA area.  I'll be sad to see him go, moving so far away. 
The good news is....what a great excuse to plan an Alaskan cruise out of Seattle!!!!!!  I may or may not invite him along.  LOL

The bad news is, my dad told me last night that he's moving from where we leave near each other in Michigan to the Seattle, WA area.  I'll be sad to see him go, moving so far away. 
The good news is....what a great excuse to plan an Alaskan cruise out of Seattle!!!!!!  I may or may not invite him along.  LOL

The bad news is, my dad told me last night that he's moving from where we leave near each other in Michigan to the Seattle, WA area.  I'll be sad to see him go, moving so far away. 
The good news is....what a great excuse to plan an Alaskan cruise out of Seattle!!!!!!  I may or may not invite him along.  LOL

The bad news is, my dad told me last night that he's moving from where we leave near each other in Michigan to the Seattle, WA area.  I'll be sad to see him go, moving so far away. 
The good news is....what a great excuse to plan an Alaskan cruise out of Seattle!!!!!!  I may or may not invite him along.  LOL

The bad news is, my dad told me last night that he's moving from where we leave near each other in Michigan to the Seattle, WA area.  I'll be sad to see him go, moving so far away. 
The good news is....what a great excuse to plan an Alaskan cruise out of Seattle!!!!!!  I may or may not invite him along.  LOL

The bad news is, my dad told me last night that he's moving from where we leave near each other in Michigan to the Seattle, WA area.  I'll be sad to see him go, moving so far away. 
The good news is....what a great excuse to plan an Alaskan cruise out of Seattle!!!!!!  I may or may not invite him along.  LOL

The bad news is, my dad told me last night that he's moving from where we leave near each other in Michigan to the Seattle, WA area.  I'll be sad to see him go, moving so far away. 
The good news is....what a great excuse to plan an Alaskan cruise out of Seattle!!!!!!  I may or may not invite him along.  LOL

The bad news is, my dad told me last night that he's moving from where we leave near each other in Michigan to the Seattle, WA area.  I'll be sad to see him go, moving so far away. 
The good news is....what a great excuse to plan an Alaskan cruise out of Seattle!!!!!!  I may or may not invite him along.  LOL

The bad news is, my dad told me last night that he's moving from where we leave near each other in Michigan to the Seattle, WA area.  I'll be sad to see him go, moving so far away. 
The good news is....what a great excuse to plan an Alaskan cruise out of Seattle!!!!!!  I may or may not invite him along.  LOL

The bad news is, my dad told me last night that he's moving from where we leave near each other in Michigan to the Seattle, WA area.  I'll be sad to see him go, moving so far away. 
The good news is....what a great excuse to plan an Alaskan cruise out of Seattle!!!!!!  I may or may not invite him along.  LOL

The bad news is, my dad told me last night that he's moving from where we leave near each other in Michigan to the Seattle, WA area.  I'll be sad to see him go, moving so far away. 
The good news is....what a great excuse to plan an Alaskan cruise out of Seattle!!!!!!  I may or may not invite him along.  LOL

The bad news is, my dad told me last night that he's moving from where we leave near each other in Michigan to the Seattle, WA area.  I'll be sad to see him go, moving so far away. 
The good news is....what a great excuse to plan an Alaskan cruise out of Seattle!!!!!!  I may or may not invite him along.  LOL

The bad news is, my dad told me last night that he's moving from where we leave near each other in Michigan to the Seattle, WA area.  I'll be sad to see him go, moving so far away. 
The good news is....what a great excuse to plan an Alaskan cruise out of Seattle!!!!!!  I may or may not invite him along.  LOL

You have to make sure you bring a lot of singles for the...."entertainment"

Noticed one of my excursion was missing from my order history on cruise planner today.  Called royal customer service was told excursion is no longer being offered and my card credit is being credited, no email sent.  I booked on Black Friday for a great price now if I want a different excursion in that port I have to pay full price not happy.
 

You ever reach that point where you feel like youve researched all you can, youve set up all your excursions, youve filled out all there is to fill out.....and youre just WAITING. Its agony, and I just want my embarkation day to GET HERE. What do yall do to deal with the agony, the torture, the slow death of WAITING? 

Thanks for the heads up I double checked and it definitely says Surf& Stream ?

Sorry had to take a picture of the picture but here is formal night!
 
 
 

So here's the wrap up of my recap...
Finding the Royal Caribbean Blog was a Godsend!  I could go on and on but if you’re already here you know how great of a community this is.  I have to admit that I did go over to the dark side several times (CC). I found some useful information on the ports I was visiting.  
I saw some really terrible reviews of Freedom and I’m so glad I didn’t listen to any of them.  One of the most critical things I read over and over again was that sailing from PR meant I was going to encounter very rude people.  I won’t say we didn’t, but honestly the few that we did encounter weren’t all from PR.  I’ve seen worse behavior at Disney World.  I think there were 2 quinceanera’s being celebrated on board, and we only noticed them on the formal nights because of the beautiful dresses.  Yes, the young girls were all over the place posing for photos, but they weren’t rude at all. Heck I was all over the place taking photos of the ship myself! 
I also want to mention there was a Salsa Group on board.  They were a very large group.  I noticed signs on some of the doors leading to our room right away and thought uh oh, this could get noisy.  I have to say, they were having such a great time.  They had some private events and yes certain lounges were very crowded but there was so much to do on board that we never felt cheated.  They ranged in all ages and were very friendly.  We chatted with some of them here and there throughout the cruise. 
Yes, Freedom is showing her age a bit & I knew going in she was scheduled for dry dock afterwards. We were in cabin #7400 and the hallway carpet was very badly stained.  Not stains here and there, just really long dark spots from people constantly walking on them.  It did not smell, only one night walking back to our room there was a strong chlorine smell along the hallway but it wasn’t near our room. No idea what that was about.
The room decor was outdated, the coral and teal colors scream the 1990’s to me. Otherwise everything else in the room was great, even the bathroom.  Plenty of storage space. Our room was at the very end of the ship and it was very quiet.  We never heard any of our neighbors.
Our room attendant was great.  I swear he was a ninja.  We really only saw him 2-3 times but our room was perfect and he took excellent care of us. We saw 2 other attendants in the hallway every day and they were both very friendly.
I ended up getting the Voom package for 1 device & we shared it.  It was $77 total. Even though our kids are technically adults, my mom is elderly and I wanted to make sure we could get in touch with each other if needed.  It was nice to be able to share photos with them using the WhatsApp.  My mom loves Instagram so I would add photos to my story at least once a day and she really enjoyed that.  We did not use it to stream anything but we never had any problems with it. Totally worth it IMO.
Ultimate Drink Package - Always a debate!  I booked it for $47 pp during last year’s Black Friday sale.  I figured I had plenty of time to cancel it and I honestly went back and forth for a while.  In the end I kept it and I’m glad.  With gratuity it was $776 making it approximately $55 per day, pp. I didn’t keep track of everything we drank, that wouldn’t have been much fun.  I can say this: When we had breakfast in the MDR we took advantage of the fresh squeezed juice.  Several mornings we had specialty iced coffees. Every time (not day, each time) we left the ship we each took 1 vitamin and 1 regular water to bring with us.  Every night at dinner I had 2-3 glasses of wine and hubby had 2 drinks (perfect Manhattan’s which are pricey at home too).  During the day when we were on the ship I enjoyed plenty different frozen drinks - I alternated with virgin versions here and there.  Most days hubby stuck to beer in the afternoons and switched to Bourbon after dinner. I think I had maybe 2-3 soda’s during the week but not in the souvenir cups.  We never used those. We enjoyed going to the different lounges and trying different drinks.  Yes I know we can get any drink pretty much anywhere as long as the bartender has the ingredients, but it was fun bar hopping.  There were a few drinks I didn’t like and some that I tried that I might not have if it wasn’t already paid for.  Ending the night with a cordial was also a nice treat. I’d say we took at least a dozen bottles of water back to the room during the week as well. I like to think we did get our money’s worth, but we were totally happy with it so that’s that. 
MDR - I also went back and forth with trying specialty dining.  With the exception of our one dinner in Aruba we ate there every night.  My theory was that we had fabulous steak houses and Italian restaurants at home, there was bound to be something we would enjoy on the menu.  In hindsight, I wish I had checked the menu on our Bonaire day.  I ended up getting the steak again which was delicious, but honestly this girl was missing her macaroni!  That probably would have been a good night to splurge and go to the Italian place.  Oh well, now I know.  I truly enjoyed being served every night and the waitstaff was just great.  
Windjammer - I know everyone loves this place, heck we enjoyed it last cruise too but I just didn’t enjoy it this trip.  The 2 times we went it was jam packed and when we went for lunch the options were either something really heavy or salad.  I don’t enjoy pre-cooked burgers so that wasn’t an option for me.  I’m sure if you are a picky eater or don’t want to go to the MDR it’s probably just fine for dinner as there are so many options.
Sorrento’s - I can’t believe I’m saying this either, but the pizza wasn’t terrible.  Dare I say we kinda liked it!  When hubby saw the pizza sign his eyes lit up and I told him don’t get excited, it probably sucks.  He works in Brooklyn so he eats great pizza for lunch AT LEAST once a week.  This place became our guilty pleasure.  Several nights I brought some back to the Bull & Bear.  We liked the veggie pizza the best but the cheese wasn’t bad either.  
Sabor - we only went here for the Guacamole class but we thought the food was fantastic.  We would gladly have a meal here again if given the chance.
The Promenade - depending on what they were selling sometimes it became quite crowded.  What’s the deal with watches?  It seemed like they were constantly selling them! I’m totally not a watch person so I didn’t pay too much attention.  People seemed to be going crazy for the t-shirt sales too, none of them really appealed to me all that much though.  I originally planned to get a Freedom of the Seas Spirit Jersey, but I didn’t like that the front was completely blank.  I thought it should have an anchor or at least the RC logo in the upper left chest or something.  I ended up with a super comfy hoodie instead. Also, I thought that balloon party was crazy. All the popped balloons all over the place, this from a company that doesn’t allow plastic straws? Weird.
Spacious Ocean View Room -  I thought it was great.  The window was very big and we didn’t miss having a balcony.  I would much rather use the money saved towards other things, such as the drink package or excursions.  Also, we had to factor in the flight to PR. We could have afforded one, but I chose book this instead.  We did agree that we could never do an interior room and probably wouldn’t want one overlooking the Promenade, just not our style. 
My “Something New Every Day” was just for me and just for fun.  
Pre Cruise PR:  Mofongo - loved it
Cruise Day: Escargot - hated them
At Sea: Souffle - not a fan
Aruba: Rode a motorcycle - loved it
Curacao: Walked on a floating bridge - very cool
Bonaire: Rode on a Catamaran & got to see a sea turtle while snorkeling - awesome
At Sea: Baked Alaska - loved it
St. Thomas: Conch Fritters - delicious
I’m pretty sure I covered everything.  I know I’ve said it several times but we absolutely loved this cruise. Although I don’t see us cruising every year, we definitely plan to go on another one in (hopefully) the next 2-3 years.  
Freedom didn’t have many reviews when I was looking so that’s the main reason I decided to write this.  Also, I’m going to print it and keep it so I can look back on it some day.  
Thanks for reading and if you have any questions feel free to ask.  
 

Sunday - Nov 24th San Juan/Fly Home
Can you believe they are making us leave this floating paradise? Our flight back to NJ was scheduled after 3pm & since I wanted to keep things as simple as possible I booked the San Juan On Your Own w/Airport Drop Off tour thru RC. 
The time on the tickets said 7:45 and the paper in our room said 7:15, so we were out the door by 7am, grabbed our last specialty iced coffee & croissants and headed over to the Star Lounge where we were checked in quickly and found a nice comfy seat.  We played the hurry up and wait game and I’d say we were finally off the boat around 8am which wasn’t bad.  All of the instructions they gave us were very clear, however once we found our luggage we just grabbed a porter and we were at the truck loading our luggage and on the tour bus in no time. The bus was air conditioned and our driver gave us a brief history lesson and pointed out things on the way.  We were dropped off at Plaza de Colon around 8:30am and told that we would be picked up here precisely at 1pm and to be sure we weren’t late.  
We didn’t really have a plan except for making sure we stopped for lunch so we didn’t have to eat airport food.  I wanted to walk around and take pictures but hubby is a big history buff so I figured we would probably end up at one of the forts which was a win for both of us.
The streets were pretty much empty and I was snapping pictures like crazy as we made our way over to El Morro. We wanted to start there so we could work our way back to the meet up point. Judging by the timestamps on my phone, I took a photo of El Morro in the distance at 8:56 and we were inside by 9:09 - that was walking very leisurely with me snapping photos and taking Go-Pro video. 
We had a lot of fun exploring the entire fort & we watched the movie as well.  The only part that was not fun was walking back up all those steps, and it had started to get really hot out. We opted not to walk around the bottom of the fort because we had already seen the view from high up, several times.  We wanted to look around Old San Juan some more.  We did walk over the grass and took a quick look at the Santa Maria Cemetery but we didn’t go in. That pic was taken at 10:44.
There was a man selling ice (back home we call it Italian Ice, but as I’m typing this I’m not sure what to call it?) Anyway, the flavors were coconut, pineapple & mango so we got a scoop of all three and shared it - it hit the spot & we were ready to take on more of Old San Juan. I really wanted to see Calle Fortaleza.  Our bus driver had already told us that the umbrellas had been taken down and replaced with the Puerto Rican Flag.  We could tell we were getting closer because there was lots of music and you could just hear the excitement a few blocks away.  I thought it was beautiful and glad we saw it.  
By this time it was around 11:30 and hubby said we should probably start looking for a place to eat & to keep in mind we were still on “Island Time” so it may take longer.  I kept saying I didn’t want anything touristy, but wouldn’t you know it, as we were walking we literally stumbled upon Barrachina’s.  Hubby said he was fine with walking some more to find a smaller, local spot but I pointed to the “historical” sign that stated this was the house Don Ramon created the Pina Colada & how could we not go in?!?  
Once we sat down we realized we were really hungry.  We ordered a sampler platter for an appetizer, we each ordered a mofongo dish for lunch & of course Pina Colada’s.  The drinks were delicious but we made a mistake with the food, the sampler platter for 2 could have easily fed 4. There was so much waste.  Then when the meals came out they were huge!  The restaurant wasn’t crowded so we took our time.  The steak mofongo was amazing, it was so flavorful.  I really enjoyed it.  Hubby had joked that he anticipates me now searching Pinterest for mofongo recipes.  If anyone has one I’d love to try it! 
We left Barrachina’s with full bellies and walked a little slower in and out of the local shops.  We were at the meeting place by 12:45.  It’s amazing how different it looks on the other side of the street from that statue.  Fancy buildings and palm trees everywhere.  I wish we had more time to walk down a few of those blocks and check them out.  The bus pulled up a little before one and we left at exactly 1pm.  Hubby said wow, they don’t mess around!  I told him I hoped they did a head count and since everyone was accounted for we left.  I don’t really know, but if you take the tour be sure to be back in plenty of time!
We took a nice air conditioned ride back to the airport where our luggage was waiting for us. At first I didn’t see the guy watching it and I was a little nervous. We found it easily and made our way through the terminal. We were dropped off at D and Jet Blue was in A, but it didn’t take long to get there.  We were through the agricultural check in no time. Security took about 40 minutes but once in our terminal we found seats easily.  It was a sad moment going into the bathroom to change into my sweatpants knowing the trip was indeed over. 
Luckily since we had gone to bed so late the night before because of the luggage fiasco, we were up early, walked for hours and had eaten a full meal I was tired.  I took my Xanax and waited for the boarding to begin.  I’d like to say the flight home was uneventful, but we experienced a lot of turbulence, so much that the man next to my husband screamed at one point! I’m really glad I took that Xanax because I was able to go right back to sleep.  We arrived in NJ safe and sound.  It was SO COLD!  Work wasn’t fun at all the next day.
One more wrap up post to go! 

Saturday - Nov 23rd - St. Thomas
After I first booked this cruise I became obsessed with watching YouTube videos that featured Freedom of the Seas,  which led me to Griff and Alyssa’s channel. I loved the tour they took on St. Thomas with Sunfari but the only thing hubby asked for all trip was to take a taxi to Coki Beach.  
About 2 weeks before we sailed someone told him Coki wasn’t like it was 10 years ago so maybe we should do something else instead. I immediately reached out to Sunfari Jeep Tours to see if they had anything available.  I’m a crazy planner and I thought their website was a bit vague but I reached out anyway because of the videos I had watched.  
They replied back to me that night letting me know they had availability for the All Day Beach and Jeep excursion. We emailed back and forth a bit but hubby was surprised when all I could tell him was that I wasn’t really sure what exactly we would be doing but it looked like it would be a fun day…. What an understatement, we had an AMAZING DAY.
We met outside of Tickles Dockside Pub right outside of where the ship docks around 9am.  We found it easily & were greeted by Lolly from Sunfari. We were the ONLY ONES. We were getting a private guide for the entire day, how cool was that?  
We chatted a bit about what we wanted to do and we told her basically we were looking to visit a few beaches, feed some fish, and eat a local meal, anything else we were open to suggestions.  
Since we mentioned Coki we started there even though it was rougher than usual because of the storm out at sea. We chatted the whole way there and before we knew it we were there. 
It was beautiful and brought back great memories. It wasn’t as calm as it was and we weren’t able to feed the fish like we had the last time, but we did see a bunch of them and enjoyed playing in the surf.  Lolly stayed on the beach taking random pics and would check on us. 
Next stop was Sapphire Beach. Since she has a working relationship with local businesses she was able to take us to a private resort where we enjoyed snorkeling and feeding the fish.  I had an unforgettable moment when a decent sized fish got caught up in the ruffle in the top of my bathing suit and almost ended up inside it! We stayed here much longer, it was so much fun.
Our next stop was her favorite beach, Secret Harbour, again located at a resort.  This was our last beach of the day and we really enjoyed it, especially knowing it was our last beach day. 
Once we had our fill, we were able to use the outdoor shower and change out of our bathing suits and get cleaned up some more in the rest rooms. 
She took us to enjoy the views by a place called Prime at Paradise Point.  We were able to enjoy such an amazing view with no one else around.  She also knew hubby was a beer fan, so we stopped at Rock City Brewing.  
By this time we were hungry and she had already told us earlier she knew exactly where she wanted to take us for lunch.  When she said Jen’s Deli hubby wasn’t all that excited. I told him she hadn’t disappointed us yet and that I’m sure it’s nothing like the deli’s we have back home.  
Boy were we in for a treat!  By this time Lolly had already proclaimed me a “sister from another mister” so I was surprised when she asked if it was okay if she sat with us.  I told her there was no way she wasn’t sitting with us, that was crazy talk!  We walked in and were immediately treated like family.  Jen couldn’t have been more hospitable.  We could have easily stayed there for hours eating, drinking and chatting with them.  
While I drank a rum bucket and hubby enjoyed the local brews, we were also treated to homemade Coquito. I wish she was able to ship it home because I would have placed an order in a heartbeat.  Hubby enjoyed an oxtail meal and since I couldn’t decide on what I wanted, I had 2 appetizers instead - I chose the house specialty of Conch Fritters and also Coconut Shrimp. I almost licked the plates, everything was DELICIOUS.  Homemade, local cooking at it's best. I can’t say enough good things about this place and Jen herself.  You know you had a good time when there are hugs all around when you are leaving! 
Lolly wanted to take us to a place she called Mountain Top, it had even more great views and a souvenir shop (I had told her I wanted to hit at least one and she insisted this was THE place to go).  If I hadn’t had a rum bucket I may have enjoyed one of their world-famous banana daiquiris but I was just too full.
I didn’t mention it earlier, but driving around in that Jeep was so much fun.  We went up and down lots of hills and it was a great way to travel.  Also, David Geffen’s Yacht, The Rising Sun is kind of a big deal there, and we were able to see it several times.  I googled it once we were back home, it only cost him about 300 million.  Now I know why she insisted I take some photos - holy smokes!!!
Our time to be back on the ship was 5pm but I like to get there about an hour before so around 4pm Lolly dropped us back off right at the ship.  We did the Italian goodbye where it took us about a good 30 minutes to actually say goodbye, lol.  You know how you just kind of click with someone?  We had an absolute blast and St. Thomas ended up being one of our best days.
Our last dinner was scheduled for 5:45 but we didn’t get there until after 6.  Luckily we were still seated in the same section.  Wouldn’t you know it, coconut shrimp were finally on the menu!  I knew there was no way they could be better then Jen’s so I went with a Caesar salad and hubby had the shrimp cocktail.  Dinner was prime rib for me and he went with fish and chips.  Both delicious.  I finished up with creme brulee and he had the royal cheese cake.  
I’m still mad at myself for the next part.  We arrived at 80’s trivia as they were playing the first song.  I didn’t realize we could have still gone up and grabbed a paper.  We knew all 20, the team that won only knew 19.  We didn’t go home with medals, but I know in my heart we won, lol. 
After that we attended Once Upon a Time, all in all I thought it was a good show.  There are definitely some numbers I would cut but I enjoyed it and hubby tolerated it.  We followed that up with Battle of the Sexes and went back to the Bull and the Bear for one last night.  
Since we aren’t experienced cruisers this is where we hit a snafu.  We had the San Juan on your own with airport drop off scheduled the next morning. We weren’t sure what to do with our luggage.  In hindsight I should have double checked this earlier.  It was now after midnight, housekeeping was done for the night and the line for guest services was a mile long.  Long story short, our luggage was put out around 2am. 
 

Friday - Nov 22nd at Sea
It was nice not to wake up to an alarm this morning.  We had breakfast in the MDR and since it was a bit crowded they didn’t have any tables for 2.  We gladly made up a table for 6 with others behind us and had a nice leisurely breakfast.
We walked around the ship and bit and then went back to the room so I could pack up what I could so it wouldn’t be so overwhelming the following night.  I’m really glad we did this.  I don’t normally fly for vacation so having to keep things to one checked bag each plus a carry on was a bit of a challenge, especially after all the extra stuff I had accumulated throughout the trip.  Afterwards we ended up in the solarium and spent some time at the pool bar located in the pool.  Just an all around relaxing afternoon.  We thought the parrot statues were so cool, which brought us to the question once they amp the ship, if they don't use them what do they do with them?  
It was formal night, so again we both dressed up and headed down for dinner.  Again, the lines for pictures were long and honestly since it was just the 2 of us we didn’t feel like waiting. Dinner was once again in the MDR and it was fun.  I should mention that although we sat at different tables every night we did have the same waitstaff.  By the 2nd night they knew our drink orders (Moscato for me, perfect Manhattan w/Bourbon for hubby) and we all had a lot of laughs throughout the week.
We couldn’t decide on appetizers so we both ordered the Vidalia onion tart and the shrimp cocktail.  The tart was more like a quiche and just okay, the shrimp were great and served ice cold.  I ordered the lobster tail and hubby wanted the roast beef tenderloin but also a lobster tail, they ended up giving him 2 full dinners.  I was surprised by the lobster, I wasn’t expecting much but it was served nice and hot and was very tender.  It was so good that when she asked if I wanted another one I said yes.  They brought me just the lobster tail and not the entire dinner like hubby received so it was perfect.
For dessert hubby ordered the molten chocolate cake and I went with the classic baked Alaska.  They also brought us one of the 50th Anniversary Cakes.  We both thought the baked Alaska was the best.  Since we were both so full we took the Anniversary cake back to the room and changed out of the formal clothes.  
Hubby indulged me and we went to Harry Potter Trivia which was fun.  We went to see the comedy show and it was just okay.  He had some funny bits but not someone I would want to see again.  The one negative note was when he started with the politics.  I don’t care what your view is but I go on vacation to forget that stuff. Luckily it didn’t last long because I was already looking at the hubby like - time to go!  We enjoyed the Piano bar with Raul and at the end of the night we went to the Quest game show and had an absolute blast, we laughed so much.  
 

Thursday - Nov 21st Bonaire
A new island for both of us.  
I originally planned on sleeping in a bit and having a nice sit down breakfast. We would go to the local craft market, back to the ship and then snorkeling.  That was all turned around before we left when Woodwind moved our snorkeling excursion to early that morning. Luckily I found out before the cruise!
I was a bit nervous because they wanted us there at 8:15 and we were only able to get off the ship at what I thought was 8am.  The crew told us that no, we could not get off until 8:30.  I originally thought it was my mistake, but judging by all the people (and my cruise compass) RC changed it. I messaged Woodwind because I was nervous but he assured me they were waiting for us.  Sure enough, we had less than a 10 minute walk once off the ship and we weren’t even the last ones there. (They are located on the property of the Divi Flamingo Resort.)
I cannot say enough good things about Woodwind. Ulf was very responsive to all of my emails beforehand and Dee and her crew were simply the best. Their catamaran was roomy enough for everyone (18 of us) & they had clean bathrooms.  Dee gave a short talk about Bonaire and the reefs we would be visiting, we all boarded the catamaran and set sail. It was so nice and relaxing and we even went by our ship so it was cool to see her from another angle.  
We were offered beverages (water, punch, rum punch, beer) and the crew went around giving everyone their fins & masks.  I was super impressed with how Dee took our glasses, looked at her thumb and gave us the perfect prescription masks.  The equipment was super clean and we were all shown the proper way to use everything. As a novice snorkeler I was asked if I wanted to use a weighted belt and/or a pool noodle, I took both.
There were 3 crew members that took out 3 different groups and a photographer.  All were very friendly, knowledgeable and clearly enjoyed their jobs very much. They divided us by experience which was great.
They made a brief stops to drop everyone off at different parts of the reef so we wouldn’t crowd each other.  Ours was a group of 6. It was a drift type snorkeling trip and I have to say, having both the belt and the noodle I was able to do it very easily without much effort.  We had Dee as our guide and she was great pointing out all kinds of things, many I would have never noticed on my own.  
We spent a good deal of time in the ocean (no watch or phone so I honestly have no idea how long) they circled back and gathered all of us up and we were off to our next stop.  It was nice to sit and relax on the catamaran and just chat with everyone about what they saw.  We were offered more drinks and a snack of local cookies & all of our masks were treated with more baby shampoo to avoid fogging.  
The second stop they switched guides so we had Rowan who was also a lot of fun.  We were lucky enough to see a sea turtle and it was pretty awesome.  We all kept our distance so we could watch him and not scare him off.  The photographer got some great pics for us too.  
Just as I was starting to feel tired, Rowan told us it was almost time to start lining up because the boat would be back soon (it went to pick up the others).  Once back on board, the crew collected all our gear and served us an AMAZING lunch.  I couldn’t even tell you exactly what it was, but it was a local dish that had lo mein type noodles, chicken & vegetables - I’m totally not doing it justice but trust me, it was amazing.  Between the flavors and after being in the ocean all morning we gobbled it all down.  We were also offered cake for dessert and we really enjoyed the nice relaxing ride back to the resort.  I should mention that during this time the photographer had us pass around an iPad with all of the photos he took and the cost was $40 for him to email them to us with a link that would be active for about a month.  I knew this in advance and since he got some great shots I gladly ordered them.
We took a nice leisurely walk back to the ship, showered and since we already had lunch we headed out to the Bonaire Arts and Crafts Cruise Market which is made up of all local vendors with crafts, food, drinks and music.  We decided to walk a bit further into town and work our way back.  We were rewarded with finding a local brewery and hubby enjoyed the ice cold beer on such a hot day.  I enjoyed shopping in the market, but it was so hot so we sat on a bench in the shade, sat and relaxed a bit, having a drink and listening to the music, just kind of taking it all in.  Once back on the ship we grabbed lounge chairs on the port side. I had a nice refreshing Lava Flow and since hubby fell asleep, I enjoyed the sail away. The salt mines looked incredible from a distance, I hope to visit them some day.
Tonight’s dinner was kind of uneventful. Hubby had pork tacos and I had the onion soup for appetizers which were both good.  I took the bread out of my soup because I wasn’t all that hungry.  Nothing really appealed to me for dinner so I went with the NY Strip again and he had the Steak Diane - both cooked perfectly.  Dessert was the warm donuts for me which were tasty and he had the apple pie ala mode which was more like an apple tart served with ice cream on the side.  We couldn’t stop talking about how beautiful Bonaire was, the water was so blue, it looked fake.  
We spent the rest of the night going to the different bars and enjoying the entertainers, once again ended the night at the Bull & Bear.