Carnival Freedom 6/19/2010 Review with Pictures!

[Britbrie]

More Day 3

 

Some pictures of San Juan...

 

 

The terminal had a neat little shopping area with a liquor store, but we were ready to get back to the boat so we didn't stay long. I definitely plan on going back to San Juan during the day to explore!

 

 

 

 

When we arrived back the room, we had a towel animal...

 

 

Coming up:

Day 4- St. Thomas

[Britbrie]

I'm leaving on Friday for the Freedom, so I really want you to finish. How were the shows? Were there $5 Blackjack tables in the casino? Not the Face Up or Fun 21, though - regular BJ. Thanks!

 

I am hoping to finish this report soon! :D The shows were okay, typical Carnival style.

 

The comedians were the best in my opinion, and the Ticket to Ride show was just strange to me... and I like the Beatles.

 

and I'm pretty sure they had a 5 dollar blackjack table... but I could be wrong?

 

I hope you have a great trip!!!!!!

[vital1]

Did you know the "newlywed" couple was Beerbuckets from our roll call? They were a lot of fun!

[Britbrie]

Day 4- St. Thomas

 

We had booked the Downtown Shopping and Magen's Bay excursion through Carnival and were told to be on the pier at 9:30 am.

After eating breakfast, we were told to board a taxi with the driver Caesar.

 

 

According to the description of the excursion, we were supposed to go to Magen's Bay and then shopping downtown where we could leave as we pleased. This was not the case as we were brought downtown for 2 hours of shopping.

 

 

 

We got bored with shopping, and decided to sit in the little square around the statue. Our driver was a few minutes late so we took a few pictures of the old jail, and an iguana I spotted.

 

 

 

 

more to come...

[Britbrie]

Did you know the "newlywed" couple was Beerbuckets from our roll call? They were a lot of fun!

 

aww!!! That's exciting! They seemed really funny! I was glad that they were having fun! I wish I would have met everyone :(

[nysingle]

I was on this cruise also on the same deck as you! I am sure we passed each other. We enjoyed this cruise and wish we could do it again later in the year with more people. I am loving your review as I reminisce. :)

[Britbrie]

Day 4 continued

 

After shopping, we were brought back to the ship for an hour to drop off our things and change. So, we went to the lido deck for lunch (which was Caribbean).

 

We went back out to the taxi (where the driver was late once again), and were driven to Magen's Bay.

Now, I have been to Magen's Bay before on the Disney Cruise I took several years ago and it has changed greatly!

 

The water used to be so pretty and blue, and now it's kind of murky blue. The beach has turned into an overcrowded and dirty area. Within minutes of being there, we were ready to leave.

 

View of the Freedom, and the Dream:

 

 

 

View from Drake's Seat:

 

up next: pictures of Magen's Bay

[Britbrie]

Day 4- St. Thomas

 

Pictures of Magen's Bay:

 

 

 

We approached Caesar (our driver), and asked if he could take us back to the ship or if he knew of anyone that was able too. He pretended to try for a few minutes, and then said he was taking another group but that it was full. So, we were just going to suck it up and continue our day until Caesar said he would make room for us.

 

We made it back to the ship, and went up to the room and took a shower.

 

We watched the sail away, and got ready for dinner.

 

For dinner tonight I had:

2 shrimp cocktails (don't judge me! they are addicting)

-no picture, because they are seen earlier in the report! No since in being repetitive!

 

For my entree the Jerked pork loin-- which I did not care for:

 

 

and the Strawberry Cheesecake:

 

 

After dinner, they had a showgirl outside of the lounge that you could take pictures with so we did.

 

We were exhausted from the day, so we went up to the room to sleep!

Up next Day 5: Antigua!!

[Meyer2]

More wonderful pictures & great review.

[Britbrie]

Alright everyone I am off to bed!

 

Thanks SOOOO much to everyone for reading! I hope you guys are enjoying it!

 

:D Have a great night!

[trvlqueen]

Great review so far! I'm dying to try Freedom. We're doing the same itin on Liberty in October and I can't wait! Your pics are beautiful!

[anewmac]

Love your report. this is perfect to get me in the mood (like im not already LOL) and geared up for our Freedom cruise in March (ya I know long time to go still LOL)

 

Cant wait for more

 

PS I wont judge on the 2 appitizer if you dont judge me on my 2 desserts when I finally come back with a review LOL

[CrzGrl62569]

Loving your review and all of the pictures. The Freedom is one of my favorite ships. Can't wait to read more!

[tradewinds traveler]

Your pic are wonderful! We are going on the /freedom in the late fall & can't wait to see the rest of your review w/pics!!

[Britbrie]

Thanks so much to everyone for reading and for the comments!

 

I will be back after work today to post Day 5- Antigua!!! So, don't go anywhere :D

[douglinc@msn.com]

Great review and pictures. Thanks.

 

Doug

[tulman]

Thanks for posting, we're on the Freedom, same itinerary, in 18 days!:D

 

A few questions, if you don't mind;

1. A must do would be? (beside the shrimp appetizer:))

2. Avoid at all costs would be?

3. Did the lido deck have a band playing?

 

Great review and great photos.

Thanks again.

 

 

[Septcruise2]

I am so enjoying this! Can't wait to have hubby read it tonight! We will be on this cruise Sept 11 to celebrate our 35th Anniversary, and this is getting me really excited about the trip! Thank you so much for sharing and I LOVE your pictures!

 

Susie

[Britbrie]

Thanks for posting, we're on the Freedom, same itinerary, in 18 days!:D

 

A few questions, if you don't mind;

1. A must do would be? (beside the shrimp appetizer:))

2. Avoid at all costs would be?

3. Did the lido deck have a band playing?

 

Great review and great photos.

Thanks again.

 

 

 

Awesome, you will have a great time!!

 

1. I do love the shrimp cocktail... so don't miss that.. hahah. :D But besides that definately attend the comedy shows! They are hilarious! If you enjoy attending or even participating in kareoke, Kim the DJ is funny on his own! He loves attention!

 

2. I would avoid slot machines :p , and the transportation Carnival provides from the terminal to the airport. It was around $15 per person for like a 5 minutes ride... I would just assume that it would be cheaper to get a taxi? Maybe I'm wrong... maybe do some research?

 

3. The lido deck did have 2 guys playing the steel drums quite a lot. So, yes they have live music! :)

 

I hope that kind of answered your questions, let me know if I can answer anything else!

[fee]

I have a question about the cooking demonstration at the Sun King steakhouse, do you have to call and make some kind of arrangement to be apart of it or do you just show up and that's that.

[Britbrie]

Day 5- Antigua!

 

We were scheduled to arrive in Antigua at 7 am, but our shore excursion didn't meet up until 9:30 am... so we took our time getting ready.

 

We ran up to the lido to grab a bowl of cereal and something quick to eat, and headed out into Antigua. It was a gross day outside (lucky us), so a Carnival representative was out on the pier offering refunds. Good sign right?!

 

A little rain wasn't going to stop us from enjoying our day, so we went ahead as planned with the excursion. The group walked a short way to some taxi's, and we were on our way!

 

I don't remember much about the ride (I was too busy talking to people), but it was a pretty short and uneventful anyways. We arrived at a resort which held Dickinson Bay, as well as a shop, and some kind of restaurant that was closed.

 

Here is a view of the resort:

 

Dickinson Bay:

 

 

The beach was very nice, and they offered rum punch to everyone. We sat down in our lounge chairs, and started to relax when it started raining again.

 

The biggest negative about this excursion was the fact that vendors walked around constantly trying to sell stuff. They had no affiliation with the resort, they were just trying to make money. It didn't really bother me, but I could see some people being annoyed while you're trying to relax.

 

After several minutes of the rain, we gathered underneath the restaurant patio trying to take shelter. We still had an hour or so left, so we walked to the resort's taxi stand and headed back to the ship.

 

to be continued...

[Britbrie]

I have a question about the cooking demonstration at the Sun King steakhouse, do you have to call and make some kind of arrangement to be apart of it or do you just show up and that's that.

 

You just show up! Make sure to get there early, it filled up quickly and they turned people away! Look in the fun times to see when it is! :)

[reeree313]

I'm loving your review. Now I can't wait to do this itinterary. Thank you for taking us with you :)

[Britbrie]

More of Day 5

 

The taxi ride on the way back to the ship was nice, the driver was upset that we were wet but he got over it when we tipped him.

 

Once back aboard, we took showers and got some lunch at the grill. The thing I hated about the Freedom, was that the grill was totally backwards. (The Legend had it right... haha) You start on the side with the condiments and cold salads, and move on to the hamburgers where they give you more plates and you can't go back to the other stuff because the line is too long. Maybe I'm just complaining, but I thought it was silly.

 

Anyways, we went back to the room to watch the sail away and take some pictures.

 

 

 

After the sail away, we got ready for dinner and went down to the lobby to grab a drink and people watch...

 

For dinner tonight, I was torn between the potato soup and the shrimp cocktail. I wanted both so I ordered 1 of each. When the appetizers arrived, I was given two shrimp cocktails and the potato soup. The waitress assumed I wanted two, so I just bit the bullet and ate both of them. It was so tough to do... HAHAHAHA.

 

Potato Soup:

[ginamarie935]

Thank you so much for this great review. I love all the pictures. I will be on the Freedom in 3 days but not the same itinerary. thank you for all the time you are spending doing this for us. :p