Jamman54

Thanks so much for reading! We'll be getting you on the Spirit in the next couple of days.

Day # 9 - (January 12th) – Goodbye Freedom, Hello Fort Lauderdale! We were up at 6am just as the Carnival Freedom was sailing into the channel at Port Canaveral. The ship was docked at Terminal 5 at 6:45 am. It’s a chilly 57 degrees this morning. Here are some early morning views of Port Canaveral….. Here is the General Debarkation information….. Here is our Diamond Debarkation information….. We had put our luggage outside the door last night, so we were scheduled to meet in the Chic Restaurant at 7:45am. We got our stuff together and we were down there at 7:20. Diamond luggage debarkation began just before 8am. We breezed through customs via facial recognition. We found our bags in Zone 1 easily, and by some miracle all three bags were together. We grabbed a porter, and we were at our car in no time at all. We paid for our parking as we exited. The cost was $110 ($22 / day). We were on our way to Fort Lauderdale at 8:30. While driving down to Fort Lauderdale, Patti and I had time to reflect about our time on the Freedom. We loved the ship but were sad about the lack of a whale tail. Of course, that will be fixed in October. All the crew, right up to the Senior Officers, were a very happy crew, and that reflected on how well they performed their jobs. We wouldn’t hesitate to sail on her again. The weather was perfect for the whole cruise, and we really enjoyed our time, and our cabanas, in both Amber Cove and Grand Turk. In addition, it was great to see some old Cruise Critic friends once again. Another thing that Patti and I agree on is that we will never do a stand-alone cruise shorter than seven days again. Five days is just too short. If the ship we’re booked on is doing shorter than seven-day cruises, we will make it into a B2B to make sure that we are on that ship no less than seven days. After three and a half hours we were approaching our destination. We could tell that when this jet tried to land on our car heading into the Fort Lauderdale airport! We couldn’t check into our hotel yet, so we went to lunch at the nearby Hollywood (Miller’s) Ale House….. To be continued…..

Glad you enjoyed your cruise, and your issues were taken care of quickly. As I post about our Spirit cruise, feel free to add your thoughts.

We love the Spirit Class the best. Thanks for coming along for the ride! We spent the day at Jack's Shack during our Spirit cruise. I will share our thoughts when we get to that part of the review. The good, and the not so good.

We love when these older reviews pop up from time to time. Thanks for reading and your comments. 😎

Cruise Director James Love hosted the event and introduced some of the Senior Officers….. Captain Imbimbo said a few words…… These are all the contest winners posing with the officers. Jerry, all the way on the left usually wins for most days cruised. He’s approaching 1,400 days and 250 cruises! Afterwards we decided to head up to the Lido for dinner. Patti went to Bonsai Sushi Express for some California Rolls….. I went to the Seafood Shack and ordered a crab cake and some fish and chips. Of course, I forgot to take pictures. Afterwards, I made my way to the International Lounge for Jersey’s 8:30 show. Patti took a walk around the ship before heading back to the cabin to read. Passing through the Lobby, Patti got this picture of the Freedom Rock Band….. Jersey’s show was very good once again. I then went to Alchemy for a while before heading back to the cabin to put out the luggage and call it a cruise. Here is our final towel creation for this cruise….. Coming up next: Debarkation and heading south again!

Looks like about 100 or so Diamonds and Platinums attended…… We sat with our friends Cindy and Jerry…. Here are Patti and me….. The drinks were flowing. But no snacks were served….. We were being entertained……. Of course, they played the usual video….. To be continued…..

Patti then went to the last bingo session of the cruise but had no luck….. I didn’t have much luck playing blackjack either, giving back most of which I had won earlier. I went up to Guy’s Burger for some lunch, and then back to the cabin to do my packing. Looking outside I could see that the seas were very calm…. At 5:15pm we made our way down to the International Lounge for the VIFP Party….. To be continued…….

Some of the Senior Officers came to lend their support….. After everyone was finished grooving for St. Jude, next up was an ice carving demonstration….. To be continued…..

I went up to the Red Frog Rum Bar for a couple of Thirsty Frog Wheat’s, then made my way down to the casino to play a little blackjack. In the meantime, Patti had gone up to the Lido to check out the Groove for St. Jude, hosted by Cruise Director James Love….. DJ Henny Baddz and DJ Osh were spinning the tunes….. The long lines mean GREAT support for St. Jude's….. To be continued……

Day # 8 - (January 11th) - Fun Day at Sea # 2. We are up to another beautiful day today! The seas are calm, and the temperature should hit 80 degrees later. Here are the views from our balcony, including a beautiful sunrise….. Patti wasn’t hungry for breakfast today, so she was going to get a jump on her packing this morning. I went up to the Lido for a bite to eat, and then stopped at the Café for a coffee and today’s “Fun Times”…… I then stopped at Jerry’s “office” by the Red Frog Pub and chatted for a while. Afterwards, I went back to the cabin and worked on the review pictures until it was 10am, when I went to the bingo card pre-sales to pick up the cards for Patti. Patti had won the bingo package at Deal or No Deal, so for $23 more I upgraded her to the highest package. Going to the pre-sale gets you an extra three cards for the coverall game, plus if you don’t need a dauber, you can get an additional three cards. Of course, everybody else has the same idea so the line is long but moved fast….. Looking at the ship’s chart I could see we were about halfway back to Port Canaveral…… To be continued……

Thank you for following along and your kind words! We'll be getting you on the Spirit shortly, so be sure to take notes. I'm sure that you will like what you see.

You've got to get back there Barb! They are doing a great job with the place, but I did have one major problem which I will address once we get back there on the Spirit.

Watching you sail out on the port cam. I'll be looking for you!

Me too!

That certainly is not the case anymore. 😎

My bad. I had forgotten to post the link in our last review. SG's post reminded me. Glad you made it! 😎 No, we did a 5 and an 8. New rules. No single cruise will be less than 7 days. If sailing a ship that does shorter cruises, a B2B is a must to bring the time on that ship to at least 7 days. When we book the Valor, it will be an 9 or 10 day B2B. 😎

Incorrect. 😬

A new adventure has begun!

We moved up to the Promenade Deck where we ran into Cindy and Jerry, and stopped to chat with them a bit. Our plan is to go to the 8:30 Comedy Show, so we began to head aft. The Skybox Sports Bar was dead, as there wasn’t any sports of any value going on….. The Wonder Duo was performing at the Casino Bar…… Just before we entered the International Lounge for the Comedy Show, we peeked into the Swing Time Bar where nothing at all was going on….. We made it in plenty of time to get good seats….. Comedy Club Host Marcella opened the show…. Will Marfori did an okay job with his PG material….. Afterwards, we decided to call it a night and head back to the cabin where we found today’s towel animal and our VIFP Party invitations….. Coming up next: We’re sailing back to Port Canaveral. These five-day cruises are just too short!

Our wait wasn’t much longer than ten minutes, and we were soon seated at Table # 110 which was a table for two. Of course, the couple sitting at the table for two next to us were only 6” away. Happily, they were a very nice couple, and we enjoyed talking to them. For our appetizers, Patti had the flatbread, and I had the alligator fritters….. We both enjoyed our Caprese salads….. For our mains, Patti had the lasagna, and I had the spareribs. All were excellent….. We both chose the apple pie for dessert….. Have to say, we enjoyed our meal, and we were out of there in about an hour. As we left the restaurant, we noticed that the Chef’s Table was being held in the Chic Restaurant Annex….. The Art Gallery is directly across from the Annex….. We stopped at the Lobby Bar to watch the Shine Strings perform for a while….. To be continued…..

So long Grand Turk! We’ll see you next time! Next time being in about six days! We get showered and ready for the night. We decide to give the Chic Restaurant a try tonight. We have YTD, so at 5:30 I request a table. The app says we have a ten minute wait so we head down to the Millennium Lobby. Patti took the time while we were waiting to get these pictures of the Monticello Library….. To be continued…..

We are getting back on board the Freedom…… Here’s the view of the pier from our balcony….. They are working to repair the missing sections of the pier….. The Carnival Freedom sails away promptly at 4pm….. The Freedom spins around to head out to sea….. To be continued……

Based on Saint Greg's Comedy Club schedule Jorge Solano will be one of them. There will be more.

A short time later our food arrived. We shared an appetizer of Lava Lava Shrimp….. Patti had the Turkey Club, and I had the Jambalaya….. Because I don't want to forget that she took these, here’s a section I call Patti’s Grand Turk Flora & Fauna….. We relaxed, drank, and took dips in the pool until we decided to leave around 2pm. We paid our tab which was $136 with tip and left our Grand Turk vacation home. The pool never really got crowded….. This is the Pool Retreat for two which is sold on Carnival’s website for $150. The cabana rentals are $280….. The last order of business is that I have to collect my Sail & Sign card at Margaritaville. I forgot to mention earlier that when you rent a cabana, you have to surrender you Sail & Sign card. Not because you can charge the food and drinks to it, which you can’t. You need a credit card or cash for that. They hold your card until you pay your bill. This way you can’t skip out without paying. No pay, no getting back on the ship! We are now on the pier heading back to the ship. To the left you can see the excursion pier and the beached whale….. To the right is the beach which is quickly emptying…… Patti gets a picture of me with the Freedom….. To be continued….