On Monday we headed off to New York City for a one-night excusion on the new "Freedom of the Seas." Ellie and I were invited to go, since she's in the travel industry. It's a brand new ship and they're doing a bunch of trips to show-off the ship. it was on the TODAY show earlier this week too.

So let me get this straight...we get a free one night cruise on a brand new cruise ship, and all the food and alcohol is free? I don't even have to tip the bartender? THERE'S A CASINO??? What's the catch? oh, we have to drive thru New Jersey to get to the ship...ahh..there's always a catch.

So we drove thru Jersey (stuck for 2 hours on I-78 when a tractor trailer wrecked!) And got onboard.















Here's our stateroom. Nice linens, plasma screen tv...and a view of Jersey. damn. we need to get this boat moving!















It's a little chilly..but i had to check out the pool deck. This is actaully the kids pool, but i'd probably love it, since there's water guns and buckets.




















Look who's the first one on the dance floor! C'mon! It's early! Can't we wait til later for the dancing?? That's my way of saying "i need at LEAST 4 more Jack and cokes before i'm comfortable embarrasing myself with the white-man-overbite dance."















here's my plug for Royal Caribbean. Check out the logo placement. There's a rock wall on the right too...but i avoided that. Drinking + Rock wall climbing = imminent danger.















All dressed up for dinner with our friends! Got to enjoy wine, shrimp and beef. mmm. I even got escargot for an appetizer. yum. who would've thought that snails were so tasty?
















It's a little breezy on deck! OK, let me rephrase that... There's gale force winds on deck. I'm not used to having long hair! i walked outside and looked like i'd sprouted an afro.















Uh oh...this is trouble. Kim and I found a spot in the casino! hahaha. (evil laugh). Ellie won 13 bucks on her first spin! Of course, we lost it... sad to say i walked out of the casino two dollars poorer. :(




















In the elevators, they have carpet that tells you what day it it. Apparently people pass out on the floor of the elevators and forget what day it is. Anyway, We wondered if they changed 'em quickly. Wow...do they ever. This is at 12:05am, and they've already changed 'em all to TUESDAY!















It's really late. I've had a few too many drinks...i'm a little fuzzy. where'd my wife go? hmm..she was wearing green...oh, here you are. hey hun, you look nice....what's wrong? you're not saying much... oh wait...you're not ellie. dammit.