Roll Call Carnival Freedom 9/11/2010

[Eddington910]

Hi all

 

Me: Sam, 30, and partner Casey, 30, are shipping out on a great cruise on the Carnival Freedom on Sept. 11! this will be cruise #3 for us on this ship. We're from Houston.

 

Who else is going? :)

[Fun and Simple 1]

My friend and I will be doing the FREEDOM Sept. 25 - Oct. 2. We will be doing the western itenerary. I see you have done both, with a second eastern in the works!

 

Just wondering if you had any suggestions for excursions in the different ports of call. We were looking at maybe a ruin in Coz., possibly Tulum or San Gervasio. In Costa Rica, maybe zip-lining, and Panama the Embera Indian, locks, and river/waterfall tour.

 

Do you have any suggestions? Have you gone through My Friend Mario or do you book through Carnival. I hear/read good reviews; however, I would hate to be at the pier running after a ship that has just untethered!:eek:

 

Thanks in advance for any help you care to offer, reviews, etc. We are going from Kansas and spending a few days in Ft. Laud. post-cruise to celebrate my birthday on 10-04 (one past a big one!). Getting a rental car and staying in LBTS area. Any suggestions on that?

 

Enjoy your cruise!:) ~ Tom (and Bob)

[IowaGrl2009]

This will be the first cruise for my husband and I, any advice? On anything?

[Eddington910]

Hi guys!

 

Thanks for replying! Bummer we won't be on the same cruise, but I can still help with the ports.

 

We always do the Twister trip to Isla Passion when we go to Coz. We have been three times now and loved every minute of every trip to the island. It reminds me of the Corona ads..WHITE beaches, total relaxation, and everything is taken care of. The Twister boat trip over there is fun as well...there are some vids on YouTube of the Twister boats. It's a thought. Also, Nachi Cocom is a similar destination in Coz, but we haven't been yet.

 

As far as ruins, I've heard that they are wonderful, but that the trip is kinda slow...a few hours killed in souvenir shops, etc. We're beach ppl though, so that colors our thinking.

 

Costa Rica: We did a tour through Oscar Brown tours. We visited a beach at a national park. The water was choppy and dirty, but we made the best of it. If we had it to do again, we would zip-line. I heard that the zip-lining there was fun.

 

Panama: Gatun Locks are the MUST DO here. I'm an engineer, so visiting the locks was akin to Disneyland for me! It's a short (20 min?) trip to the locks. After we visited Gatun, we went to a beach. They called it Columbus Beach, because allegedly C. Columbus visited it. It was gorgeous. In Panama, I can recommend "My Friend Mario" tour company. If you are active on a roll call, try to get a group together. For $40 pp, we were able to get a group of 16 in comfortable, air-conditioned buses to the locks, through to the beach, with unlimited beer and a nice outdoor lunch complete with Panamanian rum drinks and beer at the beach, plus two locals with excellent English skills to narrate as we drove. It was a blast!

 

I really hope I've been of some help. If you want to know anything else, fire away! We're big fans of the Freedom. If they still have the Beatles show, check it out, it was very, very good. Also go say hi to our friends at the Sun King Steakhouse. We ate there every night and it's spectacular.