Long, Detailed Review with Photos of Carnival Freedom, 6/13/10

[LBumb]

thanks for posting, great pics

[pcrum]

These were waiting for us in our room

 

 

The kids had a crab:

 

 

I also forgot to post the photo of Cruise Director, Ryan Fitzgerald from the show on Cruise Elegant Evening:

 

 

6/16/10, Grand Cayman

 

We woke up early this morning and had breakfast in the Posh Dining room. DS and I and had the eggs benedict, DD had a waffle and DH had an omelet and sausage.

 

We had read so much about the Reef, Rays, and Rumpoint tour on Cruise Critic that we wanted to give it a try. I chose it over Moby Dick, who also offers excursions to the sting ray sandbar, for the opportunity to visit Rumpoint and because Moby Dick transports you in an old (read unairconditioned!) school bus.

 

I e-mailed Native Way Watersports ahead of time to make the reservation and we were told to meet at 9:15 am eastern time on the pier. Grand Cayman is an hour behind us, so it was actually 8:15 am their time.

 

We had no wait at all to tender and made our way to Deck 0 to board the tender boat.

 

 

I think the Carnival Inspiration was also docked alongside us.

 

 

A quick photo on the dock:

 

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We found the Native Way representative on the pier, checked in and were told to wait under an awning until it was time to depart.

 

 

At about 9:30 we left with just two other passengers, a mother/daughter. We were led to a mini bus, kind of like the airport shuttles, and were given a mini tour of the area as the driver took us to meet our boat. I was surprised at 7 mile beach. It did not look as I had pictured it. The sand part was very narrow. Maybe we are just used to the FL beaches. Anyway, the driver took us past the 7 mile beach area, pointed out the Ritz Carlton Hotel and the shopping area. In about 10 minutes we reached the dock to meet our boat:

 

 

We met our captain, Shister, who was a true gentleman and who really made our day so enjoyable! We could not believe that it was just the 6 of us on the excursion. It was like our private tour. DD and I are going to be in Grand Cayman again in August on the Carnival Inspiration with another mother/daughter and we e-mailed Native Way about doing the same tour with Shister again. The reply that we received is shown below:

 

“Please note that the boat that you toured on is mainly used as a back-up boat. *On the day that you arrived, we were overbooked because I allowed 2 families to add people at the last minute. *I gave your group a semi private tour so that you would not have to go on a full boat. *Our RRR tour usually includes up to 25 people.”

So, I guess there are usually many more people onboard and we just lucked out with our semi-private tour!! Actually when we arrived at the sand bar, we did see many other boats of tours so I guess one of them was the larger Native Way boat.

 

We took off and it looked like it might rain, but the day turned out to be lovely:

 

 

DH sat in the “passenger seat”:

 

 

Along the way we passed some iguanas:

 

 

Shister kept up a running commentary about the history of the island, the homes we passed, etc. He said he was a second generation native of Grand Cayman and that he started working with his father taking tourists out. He claims to be the first person to take a boat of tourists to the sting ray sand bar.

 

We reached the coral reef to snorkel and saw several other boats also docked there. Shister handed out snorkel equipment and the kids jumped in.

 

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DH and I decided to stay on the boat.

 

 

See the cooler DH is standing by. He checked it out and it contained a container of water and a container of punch. However, we could not find cups and I think Shister forgot about cups because although he mentioned there were drinks onboard when we got on the boat, he never mentioned it again. But, that is a little thing and certainly did not detract from our enjoyment of this tour!!

 

 

At one point Shister dived down and picked up this conch shell. He brought it up for us to take photos of, but said he had to return it to the water afterwards:

 

 

 

The kids really enjoyed the snorkeling, but soon it was time to get back on the boat to make our way to the sting ray sand bar

 

 

After about 10 minutes, we reached the sand bar where the sting rays are. The sandbar is out in the middle of the water, yet is only about 4-5 feet deep. Many other boats were also there.

 

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Shister had bits of octopus for us to feed to the sting rays. He caught a ray for us, held her until she calmed down and then let us pet her and gave us each a turn to hold her. We were receiving such personalized attention that we had people from other groups join our group!

 

 

 

 

Shister also did this thing where he had the stingray give people “back rubs”:

 

 

All in all, it was a very enjoyable experience. DH does not like the water, so he stayed on the boat and was the official photographer. I know that some companies which do this tour also take photos and sell you a CD of your photos. I do wish that Native Way had done that (maybe they do on the larger groups...does anyone know for sure?) since our photos are pretty far away and DH was trying to maneuver both our camera and the camera of the mother/daughter in our group.

 

I’d say we spent about 40 minutes at the sting ray bar. Then we boarded the boat again for the trip to Rum Point. On the way to Rum Point, Shister gave us a menu from which to order lunch. DD ordered chicken tenders, DS chose a jerk pork sandwich, DH chose a cheeseburger and I ordered the jerk pork plate with rice and beans.

 

We reached Rum Point and Shister walked us to the food area and made sure our food was ready. The waiter brought our food and iced tea and water to drink. There was a bar if you wanted to order something stronger. The food was good, however the jerk pork was not as spicy as what we have had in Jamaica.

 

Eating Lunch:

 

 

Pier to dock:

 

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Beach Area:

 

 

Rental Area:

 

 

This is the life:

 

 

Beach Area:

 

 

As you can see, it was not very crowded at all.

 

Kids swimming at Rum Point:

 

 

We really enjoyed our time at Rum Point, but all too soon, it was time to leave.

 

Yes, they have had a good day:

 

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On the way back to the boat dock, Shister stopped the boat, dove down and picked up these two starfish for us to handle and photograph. He said he would throw them back in the water later. He also found sand dollars:

 

 

 

Finally we made it back to the boat dock and a SUV was waiting to take us back to the pier. At this time, we paid for the excursion: $62.50 a person with a nice tip for Shister. We felt this tour was well worth the price!!

 

We encountered a long line of people waiting to tender back onto the ship, but it moved quickly:

 

 

Once back on board, we took naps. Tonight was our reservation at the Sun King restaurant and we wanted to be rested!

 

More to come...might be tomorrow before I can get to posting more!

[rocketmom09]

Loving your review! Especially with the pictures!! We have twins too!

 

My husband and I, along with my son and his wife will be on this same cruise Sept. 5th of this year. This is our first cruise and your review and pictures are helping so much!! We are SO excited! Plus we just found out my daughter-in-law is pregnant!!! Looking forward to the rest of your review!

[pcrum]

Loving your review! Especially with the pictures!! We have twins too!

 

My husband and I, along with my son and his wife will be on this same cruise Sept. 5th of this year. This is our first cruise and your review and pictures are helping so much!! We are SO excited! Plus we just found out my daughter-in-law is pregnant!!! Looking forward to the rest of your review!

 

Thanks for the kind words. Twins are indeed special!! I hope when mine are grown, they will want to travel with us!! Congratulations on soon becoming a grandmother! You will love the cruise. The ship is beautiful and the ports are wonderful!!!

[Mary49]

Thank you for a great review and for posting a picture of my favorite group "Music Boardwalk". I haven't seen any recent pictures of them yet. Glad you a great cruise. Mary49

[pcrum]

Thank you for a great review and for posting a picture of my favorite group "Music Boardwalk". I haven't seen any recent pictures of them yet. Glad you a great cruise. Mary49

 

You're welcome!! We really enjoyed Music Boardwalk!!

[dannymissy]

Thoroughly enjoying your review! My son is only 4 1/2, and is not quite ready for cruising yet, but the enjoyment that your beautiful kids are experiencing make me excited for when he is old enough to go with and do these fun things! Thank you so much for your attention to detail!

[kjunea]

I'm enjoying your review! What a wonderful time you seem to be having! I'm so glad you didn't let the rude people spoil your vacation. You said your son is going to a magnet high school. Is your daughter going there also, or will they be a separate schools for the first time? Sorry, but as a teacher, I always find it interesting. Here is Nashville, if one twin applies for a magnet school and gets in, they both get in.

[jdawsonrn]

Loving the review!!! I just love Grand Cayman. I can't wait to go back sometime. We have 3 year old girl twins. I can't wait till we take them on their first cruise. I'm love seeing your children enjoying time with you. I love being with my parents and hope my kids love being with us when they grow up. :D

 

Can't wait for more!!

[pcrum]

I'm enjoying your review! What a wonderful time you seem to be having! I'm so glad you didn't let the rude people spoil your vacation. You said your son is going to a magnet high school. Is your daughter going there also, or will they be a separate schools for the first time? Sorry, but as a teacher, I always find it interesting. Here is Nashville, if one twin applies for a magnet school and gets in, they both get in.

 

Thanks for reading the review. We did have a great time. My son is in a theater magnet, his first time in a public school. He loves it, but my daughter preferred to stay at the private school she has been in since the 3rd grade. I think 9th grade was a big change for them, as it was their first time in separate schools, but now that 10th grade is approaching (faster than we'd like!) they are used to the idea. It just makes summer vacations all the more special because they get to be together more!

 

Loving the review!!! I just love Grand Cayman. I can't wait to go back sometime. We have 3 year old girl twins. I can't wait till we take them on their first cruise. I'm love seeing your children enjoying time with you. I love being with my parents and hope my kids love being with us when they grow up. :D

 

Can't wait for more!!

Your girls will love their first cruise. Enjoy them...it all goes by so fast!! Yes, I am hoping my kids will vacation with us when they are older with families of their own!!:)

[Quigley10]

Thanks for the great review! We were on the C Freedom last year and ironically were on the Freedom of the Seas while you were on the C Freedom...I realized from your time/date stamp that our ship was one day behind yours into Grand Cayman.

 

A few quick comments: we are always amazed by the heat in Key West, too. Loved the cat pics -Hemingway House is always a must-see for us, too. We love our feline family and are happy to see how much loving your family gave to his cats. :)

 

I love the pic of the two ships in G Cayman. We were the only ship there that Thursday, so we didn't have any pics like that. It's a gorgeous photo.

 

Happy cruise memories - thanks for sharing! :)

[pcrum]

DD and I got ready for our dinner at Sun King before the guys, so we went to the Casino Bar because DD had seen in the Fun Times that they were offering Flavored Mojitos and she was still hoping for her virgin mojito. HAL actually offers a specialty drink for kids that basically is a virgin mojito, but both on this cruise and on past Carnival cruises we have had trouble getting this drink for her. The Casino Bar did make her the virgin mojito and I had one with a lot of berries in it. Both were very good.

 

We had 8 pm reservations at the Sun King Steakhouse. The Sun King is located on deck 10 and if you have a window table and it is still daylight, you get a wonderful view.

 

Here is DD at the entrance still holding her virgin mojito:

 

 

The guys joined us and we sat down.

 

 

We have never seen the specialty restaurants crowded and tonight was no exception. It is nice to have the solitude of a nearly empty restaurant and the service was exceptional. As noted on Cruise Critic, recent cut backs mean that there is no more live music, although the dance floor was still there. We also noticed that the sorbet, usually offered to “cleanse one’s palate” before the entrée is served, was missing. However the food was exceptional and the service was first rate.

 

DH ordered a nice bottle of red for us. Incidentally, both in the Sun King and in the MDR, when we would order wine, they always asked how many glasses we wanted, implying that they would give the kids wine if we desired. Since they are only 15, we asked for only 2 wine glasses!

 

The waiter first brought out something for us to sample, compliments of the chef. I didn’t write down what it was and looking at the photo have no idea. I think we liked it though!

 

 

We were given a choice of two types of bread, one a sweet bread and the other a garlic flavored bread. Three types of accompaniments were brought out for the bread:

 

 

For appetizers, both DD and DS had the ahi tuna. I had the escargot and DH had the crab cake. Everyone enjoyed their food.

 

Crab Cake:

 

 

The escargot were served inside little puff pastries with a butter sauce to dip them into. Just what we need, more calories, but we were not counting tonight!

 

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Ahi Tuna: This is a favorite of my kids

 

 

For the salad course, DD and I both ordered the spinach salad with blue cheese and bacon. It was wonderful. The men skipped the salad course.

 

 

For our entrees, both DH and DD ordered the filet mignon. I had the lobster tail, which is “previously frozen Maine lobster,” according to our server and DS had the surf and turf, steak and lobster combination. My lobster consisted of two tails, which were very tasty. The food was presented very beautifully:

 

 

Steak and Lobster:

 

 

Filet Mignon:

 

 

The waiter came around and offered us side dishes. We tried the mushrooms, creamed spinach and wasabi flavored mashed potatoes. All were very good. The wasabi gave the potatoes a bit of a bite! They were spicy!

 

We enjoyed the food very much. Finally, it was time for dessert. I had the cheesecake, which was enough to feed the entire table:

 

 

I love the little "tree" next to the cheesecake. It was very rich chocolate!

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DD had the healthier fruit cup with a cappuccino:

 

 

DS had peach ice cream:

 

 

DH went with the cheese plate. The waiter brought a rolling cart with different types of cheese from which to choose from. He asked for a little bit of everything:

 

 

The cheese was served with grapes, strawberries and the same kind of nut bread served in the MDR.

 

DH also ordered Hennessy X.O cognac, a double shot. There were no prices on the after dinner drinks menu, so when we received the bill we found out it was $30! I kidded him that we could have purchased an entire bottle from the Duty Free shop for that!

 

But, the cognac, like everything else, was beautifully presented with a glass of warm water underneath to warm it up:

 

 

We greatly enjoyed our dinner at the Sun King Steakhouse and find it comparable to any 4 star restaurant on land. At $30 a person, it is good value for the amount and quality of food you receive.

 

After dinner, DS went back to the room, as he was feeling very full. A deck party was going on at the Lido Deck so the rest of us walked outside. We ended up in the Serenity area, which was empty. It was nice to sit and relax listening to the band playing Beach Boys songs in the background.

 

Here is DD on one of the clamshells:

 

 

Another photo of DD:

 

 

We enjoyed our time on the Serenity area until some people decided that it would be the perfect place to smoke cigars. Now we were the only ones there until this other group appeared so I can see how they thought they had found a semi private place in which to enjoy their stogies, even though I’m sure the Serenity area is meant to be non-smoking, but the smell was so bad that we left soon after. DH is an ex-smoker who quit after a 30 year habit, so he sympathizes with the plight of smokers and the limited places where they have to smoke, but at the same time, when faced with the smell, he says he either has to leave or give in and have a cigarette. So, we left and returned to the cabins!

 

DS had left a note that he had gone to the show, which was Showcase of the Stars, the show where the audience does the performing. This seems to have replaced the Legends show, which used to be performed the last night of the cruise and also featured passengers as the performers. DS returned shortly after and said he had enjoyed the show. We also got to see some of it the next day, as they replayed it on the TV in the cabin. There definitely were some talented performers.

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After the heavy meal, we were worn out, so we went to sleep. A towel puppy was waiting for us in our cabin:

 

 

More to come...

[pcrum]

Thanks for the great review! We were on the C Freedom last year and ironically were on the Freedom of the Seas while you were on the C Freedom...I realized from your time/date stamp that our ship was one day behind yours into Grand Cayman.

 

A few quick comments: we are always amazed by the heat in Key West, too. Loved the cat pics -Hemingway House is always a must-see for us, too. We love our feline family and are happy to see how much loving your family gave to his cats. :)

 

I love the pic of the two ships in G Cayman. We were the only ship there that Thursday, so we didn't have any pics like that. It's a gorgeous photo.

 

Happy cruise memories - thanks for sharing! :)

 

Thanks for the kind comments. How did you like the FOS?

 

Yes, we are definitely cat lovers...the fact that Hemingway actually lived in the house was just gravy, so to speak, we were really there for the cats! In fact, it was not until I got home and downloaded the photos that I realized we had not taken a single photo of the inside of the home!! I guess that says where our focus was!!

[canette]

PCRUM...sorry we never met up after all of our posts on the roll call.

 

I'm loving your review. I did not do one.

 

We also LOVED music boardwalk. In fact we were probably in there at the same time on Monday night after the welcome aboard show. We closed down the Habana bar that night and we had a blast dancing to the band. Our youngest member of the group who is 8 had us laughing all night dancing to the band. They ended up letting him play the drums at the end of the night. (He takes lessons at home)

 

We had a great trip and agree with you...Key West was probably the hottest of them all.

 

Looking forward to more of your review.

[pcrum]

6/17/10

 

Today we awoke to find that we were already docked in Ochos Rios.

 

 

Breakfast in the MDR ended at 9 am today and we wanted to sleep in, so we braved the Lido crowds. DH and I woke up first and went to breakfast alone, leaving the kids to sleep. We waited in the omelet line and then added some French toast, sausage, a bagel and some ham to our plates. The French toast was surprisingly good, made with challah bread.

 

We walked out on the deck off from the Lobby Deck and it was empty. I do wish that Carnival would do as Princess does along their Promenade Deck and put some comfortable chairs along this deck. With some comfortable chairs, it would be a nice place to sit and relax!

 

 

We then went back to the kids’ cabin to find them awake. We went to the Lido deck with them while they ate: DD had some cereal and a Danish and DS had cereal, scrambled eggs and French toast.

 

Lido buffet:

 

 

We debated on what to do for the day. We had not planned any excursions in advance because we just could not decide what to do. We had been in Ochos Rios a year ago on the Carnival Glory and had done the bobsled excursion then. While we enjoyed it greatly at the time, it was not something we really wanted to do again. The sky ride over to the bobsled is very high and I kind of freaked out the last time, even though I normally am not afraid of heights at all. But, I knew it would take a few rum punches before I could do that again! I had climbed Dunns River Falls 22 years ago when I was in much better shape and I found it difficult then, so did not really want to do that again and neither the kids nor DH showed any interest in that excursion either. We also debated on whether or not to do Bamboo Beach Club, but the reviews, both on Cruise Critic and on Trip Advisor, were very iffy. If I had seen one review raving about the place, we might have given it a try. In addition, being from FL, the land of beautiful beaches, it was hard to justify paying $59.95 a person for half a day at the beach, even with unlimited food and drink. The excursion began at 9 am and ended at 1:30 pm. I am hard pressed to drink anything stronger than a mimosa or champagne before noon, so I really didn’t think it would be cost effective for our family. Maybe if they offered a price for non-drinkers, but I think the children’s price was for those 12 and under, so we would be paying full price for the kids, who would not consume any alcohol. We also debated on just shopping in the Taj Mahal shopping center or going to Margaritaville, but again, we just could not get motivated. A quick glance at the Ochos Rios shopping guide showed the usually tourist stores and there was not really anything we were interested in buying. We have Margaritaville in Orlando, so that was not a big draw either.

 

So, dear readers, I’m afraid I have let you down, because we did not even get off the boat in Ochos Rios and instead just decided to make it a “relaxing day on ship.”

 

For those interested, I am posting a link to my photos of the bobsled excursion at Mystic Mountain from last June. There are captions under the photos. If you have any questions about this excursion, feel free to ask. We did the Carnival excursion, which included transportation and the ride on the bobsled. We actually enjoyed the bobsled so much that we ended up purchasing extra rides once at Mystic Mountain.

 

http://picasaweb.google.com/pgstickney/CruiseSummer09AndGraduation?feat=directlink

 

So, we just spent the day lying out by the pool enjoying the hot tub. “Julia and Julia” was playing on the large screen and we watched some of the movie.

 

DS and I in the hot tub:

 

 

DD reading:

 

 

As you can see, the ship was very empty:

 

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The ship was empty, as most people were on shore:

 

 

When DS got too hot and went back to the cabin, DD and I went up to the Serenity area, which was also practically empty. I know it is not for children, but it was so empty and DD was just sitting and reading, being very quiet, so we stayed there for about an hour.

 

 

I love the view of the mountains in Ochos Rios:

 

 

DD got too hot and returned to the cabin to order room service for lunch. I found DH reading on the Lido deck and we went to the fish and chips counter for some lunch.

 

Exhausted by all these activities, we returned to the room for a nap.

 

The past guest party was at 4:30 pm. Neither the kids nor DH showed much interest in attending, but DH knew I wanted to go, so he agreed to go with me. Now, this was “cruise elegant” evening and the dress code on the past guest invitations stated “cruise elegant”. But, the party was at 4:30 pm, which was great if you had early seating dinner, but DH did not want to be in a suit from 4:30 pm onwards. I thought Carnival used to have two past guest parties, just as they had two Captain’s cocktail parties, one for early seating guests and one for late seating. In any event, I guess with the anytime dining option, they have cut things back to just one party. I told DH if he went with me, he could go as he was, in jeans and a t-shirt. I put on some “cruise elegant” attire and off we went.

 

Remember how I said that on the last “cruise elegant” evening, I was surprised by how casually the other dinner guests were dressed? Well, I guess the early seating people really get dressed up, because everyone at the past guest party looked great. I still didn’t see any tuxes, but people were dressed very nicely and guess whose turn it was to be underdressed? DH really didn’t care and he was not denied entrance, so we sat and enjoyed the party.

 

 

The appetizers were salmon croquettes, (which I found disgusting, but which DH enjoyed), some bean dip in a pastry and chicken salad on a cracker type thing, which was very good. The drinks offered were red or white wine, champagne, rum punch, or lime daiquiris. We also some people drinking beer, but I think you had to ask the waiter for that, as it was not on the trays they were carrying around.

 

The past guest party was the same as last year’s. They played the video with John Herald and you clapped when a ship you had previously sailed on appeared. Ryan Fitzgerald also did the game where you divide into sections onstage to answer trivia questions about the ship. A little boy won, so instead of the bottle of champagne, which is the usual prize, Ryan brought him out a ship on a stick! I bet his parents would have liked the champagne too!

 

At the party they also offered us the opportunity to buy lottery tickets for a drawing to be held the next night for a free cruise. They said the usual price would be $20 for 10 tickets, but for the past guests, it would be $20 for 20 tickets. We bought 20, but did not win the cruise! Actually a couple we saw the next day in the Marriage and Love game won and as they were on their honeymoon, that was a nice surprise for them!

 

After the party, we returned to the cabin to shower and get ready for dinner. DD and I got ready first, and as she was hungry, we went to the sushi bar for a snack for her.

 

 

We went back to pick up the guys and all went to Karaoke Madness in the International Lounge.

 

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They actually made DD a virgin mojito and I think DS got a virgin daiquiri. We listened to the karaoke until it was time to go to dinner.

 

DD and I started with escargot:

 

 

DS got the ahi tuna and shrimp appetizer and the cold cherry soup:

 

 

 

DH had the baked eggplant appetizer:

 

 

We all ordered the chateaubriand as our main entrée, which was served with a béarnaise sauce.