7/31 Freedom – Rude People, Cows and Bears! Oh My!

[BSQ]

Here’s my Trip n Ship report on our 7/31 sailing of the Carnival Freedom. Our itinerary was the 8-day Western Caribbean with stops in Cozumel, Mexico, Limon, Costa Rica, and Colon, Panama. A bit about us, this was my 4th Carnival Cruise, and I was traveling with my BFF BubbaQ on his first cruise. I’m in age denial so all I will say is all my school pictures are in Color. We’d both had a lot going on in our lives leading up to this cruise, and in hindsight we’ve realized we really didn’t do a whole lot. You may find this review a bit of a snoozefest, so get comfy and you can thank me later for the lovely nap experience.

I prefer port days over sea days - have you figured out what Splendor cruise I was on? Quit laughing. Seriously. Stop.

 

Cruise Critic Group Cruise

 

Originally I’d booked this because it was a Cruise Critic Group Cruise with folks I’d sailed with on the Liberty two years previous. As a group, the pricing was neither bad nor fantastic. Days before final deposit was due, the Group Leader let us know that she had to cancel. What we were unaware of is that Cruise Critic would not try to replace the leader and we were left to flounder on our own. There was no further communication and we didn’t even know that CC didn’t consider us a group until a few weeks before we sailed. So for the way this was handled, while I used to be a group cruise cheerleader (this was my third CC Group Cruise), I’d now issue the warning to those considering a group cruise for the first time, choose your group carefully.

 

[BSQ]

Lemonade from Lemons

 

We went rogue (yeah I watched too much 24), our roll call thread had become active, so what was left of the CC group, decided to rename ourselves, create a new banner and include everyone in our roll call to join in anything we were thinking of planning for the original group. Best decision ever. To every single person on our Roll Call, BubbaQ and I really enjoyed meeting everyone and having one of our best overall vacations ever. Thank you, Thank you, and Thank you.

 

 

Pre Cruise Hotel

 

From group mode, I had arranged a group rate at the Hyatt Place Airport North. This was a solid 3-star stay. Not fancy, but comfortable for an overnight stay and it didn’t break the budget. We chose this hotel because they offered a free shuttle from the airport to the hotel as well as from the hotel to port. I drove in, so I didn’t take advantage of any of these amenities. They also offered a free continental breakfast. We passed on this as well because by the time we were alive and moving the lobby was a total zoo with folks waiting to catch shuttles to their ports. We drove down the street to Denny’s for a leisurely breakfast.

 

The location of this hotel was great. It was close to the airport, close to port, and walking distance to a Publix grocery store and a Total Wine package store (two essential pre-cruise stops for many). There were many services and dining options within walking distance. One other I will point out for the ladies, is Nail Port … if you need a manicure, this place was great. It’s to the right of Publix.

 

 

 

I liked that there was a good sized sitting area separate from the sleeping area. The cowz liked the big-a TV.

[BSQ]

PARKING

 

I used Park N Go. I had a coupon for $5.99 per day, making my total for the 8 days $50 and change. The lot is secure, and all the staff we encountered quite nice. No sooner had I parked my car, a shuttle was there to take our luggage and whisk us off to the ship. Well except for as soon as we got to the gate someone else in the shuttle realized they forgot their reading glasses so we had to flip a U and go back into the parking lot. Wow, trips over already?? I secretly entertained myself by making bets on how long it would take for one of the kids on the shuttle to spill his bottle of juice that he kept holding upside down.

 

We were dropped off at the curb, our luggage was whisked away by a porter and into the cattle queue … err line, we went.

 

EMBARKATION

 

warning folks, this is Florida and it’s gonna be hot and perhaps a touch humid. We started out inline outside. It was crowded and chaotic. There were some containers with ice water available so that was a nice touch. I’ve recently transplanted into Florida, and I’ve noticed two things here. Buildings are over or under air conditioned. The terminal was the later. There was a little air conditioning downstairs, but once you move upstairs it’s hot and stuffy. There are big fans but … wait for it … they are ALL aimed at the workers, none aim out towards all the passengers that probably aren’t used to the heat. This felt like a super slow process. We got our Sail n Sign cards, bypassed the photo op, smiled for the ship picture, and here we are on board the Carnival Freedom!!!

 

 

My brain is officially in Vacation Mode, so all the next events may or may not be in the actual sequence in which they occurred. Those chances are greatly increased if it’s just before dinner and I’ve been to see Maria at the Nouveau Wine Bar ... But I’m getting a head of myself. :D

[BSQ]

afternoon t-storms have rolled into town ... so if you're still reading ... to be continued.

[lalahaha]

afternoon t-storms have rolled into town ... so if you're still reading ... to be continued.

 

Yep those storms are coming in fast.

[yogimax]

Looking forward to more....

[vacruizer]

Oooh, keep it coming! You know Mike and I wish we could have been there with you guys!!! :D

 

Will definitely be on the next one everyone plans!

[cruisinsly]

great review! Waiting for more.

[MrPete]

 

Cruise Critic Group Cruise

 

Originally I’d booked this because it was a Cruise Critic Group Cruise with folks I’d sailed with on the Liberty two years previous. As a group, the pricing was neither bad nor fantastic. Days before final deposit was due, the Group Leader let us know that she had to cancel. What we were unaware of is that Cruise Critic would not try to replace the leader and we were left to flounder on our own. There was no further communication and we didn’t even know that CC didn’t consider us a group until a few weeks before we sailed. So for the way this was handled, while I used to be a group cruise cheerleader (this was my third CC Group Cruise), I’d now issue the warning to those considering a group cruise for the first time, choose your group carefully.

 

 

I had read about this. Looks like someone left you high and dry, even though you were all told you really didn't need one..

[BSQ]

MANDATORY SAFETY BRIEFING

 

OK, so gone our the days when you have to drag our life vest to your Muster station and stand in silence as you watch a demonstration akin to the flight attendant pointing our how to fasten your seatbelt, which by the way, should already be fastened cause the plane is moving. On the plus side, we weren’t putting away our life jackets when the ship started sail away. YAY! On the down side, if my life absolutely depended on that safety briefing … in the event of an emergency, I’d be using BubbaQ as a flotation device. People were arriving and general chaos prevailed through the whole thing. I didn’t hear a dang thing in English, Spanish OR French. Yes, we stood there through all three briefings.

 

I’m on the fence whether this method is better or worse than the other’s I’d been through. Since we all go there only because we have to … I’ll only add shorter n to the point is good. No life jacket in tow is great. We were standing next to two other CC members from our roll call. Surprise!

 

SAIL AWAY MEET & GREET

 

We’d organized a Sail Away Meet & Greet. The spot we chose was the Aft Lido Deck near the pizzeria & pool bar. Good location. Food, drink, and ice cream (I’m looking at you BubbaQ) handy, and the stairs nearby afforded access to an open deck. The back of the ship at sail away wasn’t very crowded, the views beautiful.

 

 

 

Somewhere between Embarkation, and sail away we grabbed lunch at the Grill station at the back of the ship. They served hamburgers and hot dogs just like every where else, but there was never the line here. I took BubbaQ on a roaming tour of all the different areas of the ship. We did a spa tour, which was a waste of time. The group we were on the tour with was quite large, so cramming into the treatment rooms was nothing short of stifling. I NEED AIR!

 

BubbaQ commented that had he known he could get a haircut on board he would have waited. (For the record I had asked him if he wanted me to find out how much it would be on the ship and he said no). For you all, its $35 for a cut … I think. I threw out the pricing thing they gave us.

 

Of the torture, errr treatment rooms we saw, the one that really made me go ***** :eek: was the one where the gal was covered in an aloe goo mud and had little electrodes stimulating her muscles so she could lose weight (PERMANTNTLY!) off her thighs n hips. I left shaking my head.

 

I brought us on this tour so BubbaQ could see the workout facilities and showers and such. Turns out he forgot any gym shorts and neither of us saw the inside of the workout area again. Siiiighhhhh. We had good intentions to work out though!

[BSQ]

Cabin 6270

 

It’s coming back to me. We were actually on board right at 1:30pm. It waited for about an instant for the doors to be open so we could see our room. This was my first time with a balcony cabin. We were in #6270. We met our cabin steward who was very friendly and efficient. Wish I could remember his name. (I’m real bad with names). Each morning he greeted us and each evening he knew exactly when we headed out for dinner to turn down our bed. He actually had our routine down better than us. We didn’t even realize we had a Routine till about Thursday. Now that’s good service!

The fridge in the room didn’t keep anything cold. This might have been because I don’t think the door actually always closed. A lot of heat came off the fridge as well. I just realized I took absolutely ZERO pictures of our cabin.

 

I’m on the fence about this location. It was right off the elevators and stairwells which we liked … but we could hear the lobby entertainment in our room. A few times it went late into the night when we had early port times and one of the lobby singers I found particularly bad. Nothing like drifting off to sleep to “youuuu liiight up. my liiiiifeeeeee….” We had a lot of hall runners, and a few times we were nearly plowed down. The crotchety old lady in me came out a couple times (not that I’m old or anything, I was imitating my mom), and I yelled “quit running you brats.” I’m sure there were well behaved his on this sailing. But they were probably reading quietly in the library or something. I just came across unruly ones. ESPECIALLY on elegant night. Thing is, it wasn’t just the cruise. There were just flat out a lot of rude people on this sailing. I thought I was imagining it, but others mentioned it as well. This surprised, confused and disappointed me.

 

one a personal note. "MADISON OPEN THE DOOOOOR! MADISON! OPEN THE DOOOOOR".

 

the one night I tried to go to bed early, I head this over n over n over until I put in my ear plugs. Madison, who ever you are ... next time open the dang door.

[golfadj]

Amazes me the dumb things people do at the spa. Enjoying your review.

 

Have been on the Freedom twice and two great cruises

[dannymissy]

I love this review already! The adventures of BSQ and BubbaQ are quite entertaining, and the pictures are great! Adding to favorites and popping some corn, so keep it comin'!

[BSQ]

COCKTAIL TIME!

 

Another socializing time we’d coordinated for our roll call was a nightly Cocktail Club. We’d selected the Nouveau Wine Bar, timing it so both early and late diner could drop by. In the Funtimes, I’d noticed a Martini tasting. We’re there. The description was “try 4 Martinis for a special price”. Now we weren’t sure if this was any 4 regular Martini’s or what.

 

 

$15 bought you a Martini Sampler. Mango, apple, pomegranate, a Cosmo, and what ever the blue one is were our choices. (I think), I followed this up with a Cosmo and Appletini. Maria is the bartender here and we LOVE her. She’s the best on the ship and this was the perfect location for pre-dinner cocktails. We just had to go down two flights of stairs (watch your heads) to the Posh Dining Room (lower level) for dinner each night.

The downside (a matter of perspective here) was our cocktail club lasting an hour. One can easily knock back 3 martinis in that time if one’s not careful. I don’t drink a lot. Nuff said.

 

FOOD & MDR

 

We had the option of early, late or anytime dining. We chose late dining. We were downstairs in the POSH dining room at the very back of the ship. (This becomes key later in the cruise). The first couple nights service was shaky at best, the timing of bringing out everyone’s food was off. I don’t remember any of our wait staffs names (see cocktail hour above :rolleyes: ) But our headwaiter was quite good, our other waiter was a bit grumpy and a few times we had to shuffle our plates as we been given each others orders. We had a table of 6, there were four of us with two spots left open which I’m sure were for VAcruizer (we missed you guys!!). The third (?) night we were joined by two more people. In all our dinners were fun and enjoyable.

 

Catherine was the talk of the dining room I’m sure. Everyone noticed her. She was smartly dressed each night. Never in all my vacations had I met someone quite like Catherine. We just couldn’t stop staring. Whispers followed her. I vowed to my tablemates, “By the end of the cruise, I will know the story here.”

 

 

Now as one who takes a teddy bear with her where ever she flies (and we each brought a cow with us), we can totally appreciate this. Working in the fashion industry I appreciated her outfits and bold choice of accessories. I felt she needed a tiara for elegant night though. Gentleman, if you are on CC … Catherine needs a tiara!

 

We fretted we might offend the gentlemen who brought this bear to dinner, wondering amongst ourselves “what if she represents someone who passed away”. Turns out it was just something fun they liked to do. So cheers to Catherine! I hope your sunburn is better!

 

We found the buffet just ok. The pizzeria good, BubbaQ loved the frozen yogurt. Mr. Observant thought he was eating ice cream for the first half of the trip. We liked everything we tried in the MDR, enjoyed breakfast once in the MDR, (MDR = main dining room incase you’re looking for it on the deck plans). Our absolute favorite meal was at the Sun King Steakhouse.

[BSQ]

Before ...

 

After…

 

Kidding. KIDDING!! Our cowz aren’t table cows. : ) KIDDING!

 

 

Steak house lobster bisque

 

Chocolate extravaganza

 

Sorry there’s not more. I was too busy shoveling it in to stop and take pictures.

 

Oh, and this one just was too weird ...

this is the stain my wineglass left on the table one night. I couldn't have done this if I tried. some strange juju on this ship.

[Indiansbaseball]

Hee hee...so far no napping :D I am loving it !

 

Jen

[BSQ]

We really enjoyed the Serenity Deck area. The only way to improve upon this area would be to have a pool up here. The showers were good enough for a break from the hot sun though.

 

The Habana Cigar bar was a nice place to sit and relax … apparently it had been changed to nonsmoking for a few weeks, then back to smoking during our cruise. I’m not a smoker, so selfishly I’d wished it had stayed non smoking. It was a good place to get away from all the chaos on the main decks. But, a Non Smoking Cigar Bar? Obviously that makes no sense.

We did throw away a little money in the casino, but otherwise didn’t spend much time in here. We browsed the promenade shops from time to time, and enjoyed sitting outside on deck three when we sailed away from ports (hardly anyone is every down here … very peaceful).

 

We caught one show, Ticket to Ride which was a little slow to get going, but got better towards the middle. (I liked it, BubbaQ on the fence). The glow sticks we got at this show made nice beacons guiding us to the bathroom in our cabin at night. I taped one to the edge of the desk and one to the wall near the bathroom light. They lasted two nights. I might bring a supply of those things for our next cruise.

 

We went to the Punchliners Comedy Club a couple nights with mixed results. We saw two good comedians and one that was straight up not funny. Of all that we saw, we liked Eddie Capone the best. I also liked Donnell Keith Grey … cause I could totally relate to his stories about growing up in L.A.

 

We did the Wine Tasting ($15, first sea day). We made a reservation for this with our Maitre d' the night before, and then paid when we got there. The sommelier did a good presentation and we did learn a lot about wines and food pairings. When we ate at the Steak House with two other friends we ordered a bottle of one of the wines we all liked. Because of that tastings, we all commented how we were looking forward to having it with our chocolate dessert. So, if you like wine this was a good thing to attend.

 

After our night at the Steak House our Maître d' mentioned we might enjoy the chef’s table. It was definitely tempting, but we couldn’t imagine all that food. I mean we were totally stuffed after the Steak House. It probably goes on our consideration list for next time.

 

Rough Seas. Our last couple nights we had very rough seas. I mentioned our dining table was at the back of the ship. Our drinks were definitely sloshing around. Both inside our glasses and out tummies. This being BubbaQ's first cruise, he got a lil queasy. He mentioned Dramamine knocks him out, and having no desire to try to drag around a giant, I gave him a box of Gin-Gins that I picked up at World Market.

 

Now I mentioned rude people. This was particularly noticeable on elegant night as we tried to walk along the promenade deck. People would just stop dead in their tracks in front of you for no apparent reason, were continually bumping into us without apology, and were generally all snarly … making me want to be all snarky right back at them. I can’t even write about this because it might turn into several pages of ranting. I just didn’t understand it. This is VACATION!

 

HOWEVER, I’m convinced big brother is watching/listening on the elevators.

We got into one of the glass lobby elevators only to see that EVERY SINGLE BUTTON HAD BEEN PUSHED. instead of going up as the buttons indicated, we went down one floor, then all the buttons magically cleared. So thank you Carnival.

 

[SMSACE6]

Enjoying your review and photos. Im going on the Freedom next month, so all this info is much appreciated. Thanks for taking the time and effort to post your reivew.:)

[BSQ]

Since we were technically a group booking, on behalf of our group I'd worked with our Travel Agent Johna to book a private cocktail party. (We love Johna by the way!) We were able to get this for our second sea day, in the afternoon. Prior to sailing I had really tried to get my hands on a copy of the FunTimes so I could avoid doing exactly what I did. The Cocktail Party time overlapped with the Love & Marriage show. One of the few shippy things I like to go to. Since I had a difficult time getting my hands on them, you all on future sailings can find copies of all the FunTimes in my signature.

 

I do like the layout of the FunTimes over the old Capers, so A+ to Carnival for that change. (as a former layout geek the capers hurt my eyes with all the clutter and chaos).

 

One of our servers for our Private Event

 

Why is it that when people see a close for Private Event sign they need to peek in? Our Cocktail party was in the Swingtime Jazz Lounge and people did peek in as if we were all special and rock star-ish. But we were just some ordinary folks gathering for a few cocktails and conversation.

 

Since I was the person who booked this, I was contacted several times through out the cruise by the Group Services department to make sure we were happy lil campers. So another A+ to Carnival for that communication. Even though it was weird getting Mail on vacation. :p

 

I think that wraps up all the shippy things except for Debarkation which will be at the end ... when the trip is over, and I'm all sad and grumpy cause there's no one to turn down my bed and leave little towel animals I can't identify for me.

 

[nothomeonacruise]

I'm chuckling as I read along. I can't wait to read more. :)

[BSQ]

Sunday night we moved our clocks back one hour before going to bed in anticipation of our arrival into Cozumel. We never heard any sort of announcement that we’d actually arrived in Cozumel and could get off the ship. We woke up leisurely and had breakfast in the main dining room. By the time we left the ship there was no line. Now to get to the Taxi area, you HAVE to walk through all the shops at the port. We checked out the Duty Free liquor shops to see what sort of things they had (okay, but pretty ordinary for us). We headed right to a taxi and off to get our rental car. ($7 from port to downtown).

 

Looks like our cowz had one of their peeps or sources in port …

 

We go to Cancun every year, so visiting the beaches of Cozumel was not something that particularly spoke to us. (Especially since we’ll be in Playa del Carmen in a couple months). Tequila, however, does speak to us. LOUDLY.

 

For Cozumel we decided to explore on our own. I’d booked a rental car through ISIS and paid $40 for an Air Conditioned Chevy – manual transmission, inclusive of insurance. I’d reserved the car at the price of $45; Margarita knocked $5 off saying “because you took taxi.” She upgraded us to a slightly bigger car which she said would be better for BubbaQ (as she raised her hand above her head a couple feet). I would not hesitate to use ISIS again for car rental. Margarita gave us a little map, wrote down the speed limits, and highlighted places we could not park in town. Explained about the streets and right of ways.

 

Off we went to explore! OK, first we stopped at a bank to get some Pesos. Although US Dollars are widely accepted, it’s just the way the Q’s roll being all Yucatan savvy and all (in our heads anyway). Using Pesos in the end was a $15 advantage in our spending money … or one small bottle of Tequila. Nest we stopped at an OXO to get some water, cokes and snacks. Originally our plan was to get a small cooler and ice, but it wasn’t that hot of a day so we didn’t think we needed it.

 

I thought I was armed with my MapChick map. Unfortunately I had the section that heighted hotels and not the map that had all the tourist stuff on it, yeah, just call me BHQ (bonehead Q). Because of that little snafu we didn’t quite do everything we wanted to. But this was just a go with the flow kind of day. And we headed out on the traversal road to our next destination.

 

Quick decide! San Gervaiso or not? We passed on this one simply because we’ve seen many of the larger ruins sites on the mainland … however if you do go on your own, go early to beat the heat and the crowds. No one was there when we passed by. Our first stop …

[BSQ]

HACIENDA ANTIGUA TEQUILA TOUR

 

I couldn’t find a whole lot of information about this on line, except that it was $14 and would be either really dumb or really interesting. It was actually $10 (special price just for you my friends) and really interesting!! I mean REALLY interesting (to us anyway).

 

 

Our tour started off with us being led to an outdoor eating area and getting served a refreshing margarita. It was fizzy … had 7-up in it, I think. We also had a small snack of jicama with some chili salt sprinkled on it. BubbaQ really liked the jicama … call me stunned since BubbaQ doesn’t really do fruits or vegetables.

 

 

Halfway through our margaritas our tour guide, Paco, came to get us. Least I think that was his name … he said Paco, Pepe and a whole bunch of other names that started with a P. I’m pretty sure it was Paco cause I thought of my aunts little dog by the same name. I’m drifting here. Sorry.

 

Outside we were given the over view of the agave and how it’s a cousin of the aloe plant. We talked about where tequila is made, and the cultivation and harvesting. We nerds I guess cause we like this kind of stuff.

Without fail when you ask about this place on a message board, be it cruise critic or Trip Advisor, you will get some people that know it all have feel compelled to tell you “they don’t make tequila in Cozumel. It’s not like they are making it there. It’s just a tourist thing.” Hello. I know this. And FYI, I am a tourist. To those people who feel compelled to say that, I’m guessing they’ve never been there (because they know better … right?) sorry, got a lil PMSy there. I know I know TMI. JUST KIDDING!

 

We go through the process of making tequila, and the different tools and techniques that have been used over the years. Mayan vs. Spanish, etc. History, lore. In all it was a good dialogue between tourists and tour guide. We learned some things we didn’t know, knew enough to keep Paco excited to keep on talking with us on and on.

 

 

And then we started the sampling. You’re given two squirts (four for us … their special friends) into a plastic little cup and Paco explained the flavors we tasted within the tequila, about the type of tequila, if it’s aged, how long and in what. (Tequila tasting is very similar to wine tasting). All with us nodding and enjoying, occasionally blurting out the flavors we taste. By the time we got to our third sample (anejo) Paco noticed how we did our tastings. He exclaimed “Ah you know! You know how to drink good tequila!”

 

If you do this tour, I do recommend you ask your tour guide the proper way to sample tequila so that you get the full flavor from it. We bought a few bottles from the souvenir shop and headed off on our way … just as four busloads of tourists arrived. Did I mention, up till we left we were the only two people here. Life is good.

[BSQ]

We continued driving along the wild side of the island. The views were breathtaking … I was driving so I don’t have any pictures. Trust me, it’s beautiful. It was an overcast day, and on the back side of the island we found we didn’t really need the air conditioning in the car.

 

We weren’t particularly hungry, but next to tequila we like us some Mayan food. We stopped at Chen Rio for lunch. This is a simple restaurant with a beach area. This side of the island is known for bad riptides and rocky shores so it’s generally a little on the risky side. Chen Rio has a small protected lagoon that would make for a nice dip in the ocean. They have indoor and outdoor seating. We took off our shoes and put our toes in the soft white sand as we sat at our little plastic table under a palapa. The water was a clear blue turquoise and warm. Ahhhhh. The Mexican Caribbean we know n love. A thundershower decided to happen upon us. We didn’t move from our spot, we sat and enjoyed a couple cokes and the refreshing coolness from the rain. For lunch we had garlic shrimp and grilled grouper served with rice n beans. A very simple meal, very delicious. Fresh made chips and salsa rounded out the meal. The salsa was too hot for me. I had left my camera in the car so I have zero pictures from this great spot. But trust me; the pictures in my mind are amazing. We lingered here probably longer than we intended.

 

Incase you are wondering, while we were at Chen Rio, I saw one other group from the ship (I spotted the carnival towel), and a couple of local families. I thought this would be a great place for a group to have lunch as they had a lot of family style meals. Our waiter spoke English much better than I speak Spanish.

 

Time was getting away from us, we still needed to hit up a grocery store and put gas back in the car. We opted not to continue around the island, and went back the way we came (next trip we’ll circle the whole thing). Without my MapChick map I had no idea where Chedrai was and ended up at a San Francisco. (these are supermarkets) No tequila assortment, no Xtabentum but we did pick up some spices we like that we can never find at home as well as a bottle of that chili salt stuff that was on the jicama.

 

Our one big mistake was not going to a liquor store in town. We really wanted Xtabentum and none of the shops at the port had it. For souvenirs I do advise making a trip into town … the cruise port shops all had the same things and they were a bit over priced. We rounded out our souvenirs with a stop at a pharmacy and also some tequila chocolates (which we love).

 

We saw enough of Cozumel to know that we'll probably make a trip over the next time we're in Cancun or Playa, to explore and walk around more. we didn't regret not doing a beach club.

 

We got back to the ship and headed up to the Serenity deck for sail away.

[FreezingInMichigan]

"... if my life absolutely depended on that safety briefing … in the event of an emergency, I’d be using BubbaQ as a flotation device..."

 

That's the funniest thing I've read all day! I don't even know who you are but I hope we meet up with you on a cruise someday...lol :)

[Tao Diva]

Wow! Your tone is so frank and refreshing. This is one of the best reviews I've read in a long time. Thanks!