Freedom review 9/5/10 - more info than you can stand!

[matthewthamm]

I have a big problem with this review. :eek:

That is it will not be complete before I leave in a few hours. :D

 

Nice job, I will read after I get back from my FOS adventure.

[QTMichele]

Just found your review today - I was in Disney last week. :) Yes, another Disneyholic!!! My uncle is a DVC member, so we were able to give Old Key West a try - wonderful time!!! My favorite is the Beach Club (hotel, never stayed in a DVC there), but I'll take almost anything Disney and be quite happy. :) Anyhoo... back to your review... it's wonderful! I love your good spirits and wit, the pictures are wonderful too. Oh, and before I forget, those Wal Mart Water Shoes are just tooooo cute! ;) :D

[Seas the moment]

Love, love, love your review. You have an impressive outlook on life and just the right amount of humor to make any situation tolerable. I've LOL'ed, read with intrigue and pondered the blessings in life. You've captured them all. Thanks for the review. You truly have a gift for expressing yourself! :D

[seaandsea]

OK, Not to be pushy, but its the week-end. Hope we here from you soon. Really enjoying your review.

[jewelmick]

A TOTALLY agree CC should have a pretrip and trip report tab!

 

Let's start a petition!

 

I guess they want u to go the main site an read the reviews....but, I think those reviews are WAY too short and incomplete.

[Maybaybie10]

Bumping this so it's easy for Tony to find on Saturday morning! :p

[onyourtoes]

I'm jumping out of the chronology for just a minute. We had late seating for dinner, so we saw the welcome aboard show first. But I wanted to introduce you to our tablemates before getting on with the narrative. This was formal night, which is Day 2, but I wanted you to meet these folks first:

 

 

In front are Brandy and Alicia and DW Teresa. Brandy and Alica are from central Florida.

 

Back row are Anita, also from central FL, Traloom from Toronto (but originally from Sri Lanka), Wendy from near London, Patrica from County Cork, Ireland, Tasheem from Toronto, and moi.

 

I was the only guy at our table. I was swimming in a sea of estrogen. And I think we set some sort of record for family diversity ... in the mix were a mother and daughter, two sisters, a recently divorced single, a lesbian couple, and Teresa and I. We pretty much had all our bases covered. Now, on paper that shouldn't have worked. But we had a blast together. I know tablemates can be luck of the draw, and Anita had moved to our table on the 2nd night because the mix at her previous table just simply didn't work. By about the third day we were all like old pals. And it's always struck me funny as to how you see the same folks all over the ship, out of the thousands on board.

 

I know that some first-time cruisers are distressed at the prospect of sharing meals with relative strangers. Some folks are naturally shy ... as an INFJ (look it up), sometimes it's a challenge for me to gladhand and hobnob. My work has taught me to be more gregarious than I am by nature. But I genuinely enjoy having tablemates, although I'm sure it's been because we've always had good'uns.

 

Be back tomorrow.

 

You're surrounded by all of those pretty ladies. I hope they were "gentle" with you. I will be on Freedom next September (9/11/11). I am so looking forward to it. I just came off Serenade on 10/3/10 and it was not my favorite cruise or ship. I don't think the Southern Caribbean is for me. I'll stick to Eastern/Western Caribbean islands and try a couple of other venues.

[texnewbie]

A TOTALLY agree CC should have a pretrip and trip report tab!

 

Let's start a petition!

 

I guess they want u to go the main site an read the reviews....but, I think those reviews are WAY too short and incomplete.

 

WAY TO COMPLICATED... I HAVE TRIED TO READ SOME BUT NOTHING MADE ANY SENSE. :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes: COME ON CC, HELP US OUT!!!!!!!:D:D:D

 

Where should we talk to CC and give them our fabulous advice....

 

Tony,

It's the weekend.... I've got my coke (I don't drink coffee) and patiently waiting... We're your biggest fans...

 

Texnewbie

Carolyn

[Tony1865]

Ah, the White River.

 

When we finished up our time on the falls, we loaded PJ's bus with about a dozen other folks. Everyone else had signed up for a tour up into the mountainside, and PJ asked if we'd like to tag along before going to our tube float. Well, sure, we said.

 

Glad we did. We wound way up into the mountains, and were treated to some great views of Freedom in port:

 

 

 

We ran across a fire eater:

 

 

... and also saw sights like Ian Fleming's house, an elementary school (got to stop and visit with some way-cute kids), Fern Gully, and some other spots. All the time, PJ - who is fiercely proud of his country - kept us entertained with lots of factoids about Jamacia, his family, Ocho Rios, etc. Gosh, Peat Taylor and his crew are the best.

 

We were the only two who had planned to tube. When we got to the vendor's dock area, we were also the only two on the river at that time. PJ made sure we got a good guide - George - and within minutes we were off. Teresa was a bit nervous at first, with us being the ONLY folks on the river at the time, but George was great. He sang to us the whole way.

 

George, pulling a dead weight:

 

 

A view from the pilot house:

 

 

 

Looking down river. The water clipped right along at a brisk pace, even going through a couple of little rapids:

 

[Tony1865]

And then ... The Incident.

 

The only other folks we'd seen on the river were a couple of those bamboo rafts - you've seen 'em. They have what looks like a park bench about a third of the way from the back in the middle of parallel bamboo poles, and the raft guide uses another pole to guide 'em along. Sort of like a Jamacian gondolier.

 

We'd rounded a bend in the river when we heard an awful verbal racket right ahead. If you've ever heard that Jamacian patois, you know there are occasional English words you can pick up. Well, there were a couple of really loud voices ringing out, and I only caught a couple of words, and they weren't words you'd use in polite company.

 

"Is someone partying or are they mad?" I asked George.

 

"They mad," he said. He quickly swung his tube to the side of ours, positioning himself between us and the lefthand bank.

 

Presently we saw a couple of guys on the riverbank. Right below them, in the water, was a couple on one of those bamboo rafts, and they were obviously terrified. Their guide was standing stock-still, watching what was happening on the bank.

 

There was a lot of hand waiving, hollering, face off stuff going on. "We'll be OK," said George calmly, but he kept between us and the guys on the banks. We heard more hollering from further in the jungle.

 

As we passed, the guy on the other raft s-l-o-w-l-y began pulling his folks in line with us, and soon we left the guys on the bank behind, until we saw one of them tearing along the riverside with the other right behind him. Soon they were out of sight.

 

I asked George what that was all about. Turns out that one of the two on the bank had stolen a T-shirt that identified him as part of the rafting company we were using, and was stealing business in the name of the company. He'd been confronted the day before, apparently, by someone who legitimately worked for the company, and had clocked the guy upside the head with a pole when questioned. So he was still mad, and out for revenge, and there you are.

 

When we got to the pull-out point, there were a bunch of employees from the rafting company waiting for us to make sure we were OK. One supervisor-type went overboard apologizing, telling us that they were one of the best respected rafting companies around, and they had to protect their integrity by making sure that no imposters gave guests a hard time or bad experience.

 

In retrospect, it wasn't that big of a deal. But being sort of unprotected on the water, with no real idea of what was happening, was disconcerting at the time. And it was still a fun trip.

 

Would we do it again? Honestly, we would. Like I said, I can't praise Peat Taylor enough, and this was one of those things that was out of everyone's hands. Still, it did cause a little cardiac rush at the time.

[Tony1865]

hi there

can you tell me if Pete and PJ only do tours which include the falls and the river with the tube or do they do other stuff too, and, can you please post their website or email details

 

thanks

marilyn

 

Here ya go:

http://www.ochoriosjamaicatours.com/

 

And PLEASE, don't let our tubing adventure be off-putting. Peat offers plenty of other excursions, and really gives you an amazing value. Personal touches abound. Besides the tours he offers, they'll customize tours for you, too. I especially liked not having to put a deposit down beforehand. Check out his reviews on www.tripadvisor.com, too.

[Tony1865]

Let's see if we can get out of port.

 

We finished up our excursion, and PJ got us back to the docks. We boarded Freedom, got cleaned up, and headed for the Windjammer. The Windjammer offers what they call "tea," but it's more of a full meal, if you're so inclined. It was a late lunch for us. Loved having a taco bar (with nice fresh quacamole), some other light entrees, and sandwich fixin's. And wonderful, wonderful bread pudding. Highly recommended.

 

We pulled out of Ocho Rios soon enough. From the Windjammer:

 

 

I like Jamaica. It gets what I consider undue bad press. True, you probably wouldn't want to spend much time in Kingston without being hyper-careful, like plenty of other large cities. But the country itself is beautiful, poverty is apparent, but the people are wonderful. "No problem, mon," is the mantra, and as Peat says, "Worry is like sitting in a rocking chair. It passes the time, but you don't get anywhere." I think Americans, perhaps other Westerners, expect every port to be scrubbed and pristine and like a theme park. Well, pilgrim, most places in the Caribbean aren't necessarily like that.

 

In the Arcadia Theater that night, just aboutall the musicians of the Freedom were featured. The Zig Zag band, who usually held court in Pharoah's Palace, were especially fun ... they were grizzled old rockers that still had game. A treat, for sure. But the ringer was CD Graham. When he started singing, I thought that he was lip synching and was gonna make a joke out of his performance. But danged if it wasn't him, live, and it is a CRIME that one guy should be that talented.

 

Got in a little round of trivia, then had dinner in the MDR. Had cream of mushroom soup, which had been nowhere near a can of Campbells, a nice salad, and a surf and turf ... a little filet and some garlic shrimp, kinda scampi-ish. The filet was cooked to the proper temperature and was tasty enough (think Outback), and the shrimp were NOT overcooked, which can easily happen. Still no complaints. The banana cream pie was nothing extraordinary but certainly not bad.

 

The evening's capper was the love and marriage show. As always, the cruise director makes or breaks this event, and my jaws ached from laughing. Salty without being obscene. Worked for me.

 

And bed.

 

Tomorrow - Georgetown, our favorite port.

[skipper3]

yeaaaaa! you're back!!! i had just found you , and then i thought "oh no,i lost you"! your report is addicting! we are taking this cruise on march 6th. i want to pass you along to my fellow cruisers, but want to wait 'til you finish your report. it would be cruel and unusual punishment to put them on to you before then!i especially want my sister to read your promenade cabin experience!!! thanks,tony. you are delightful!

skipper3[mother of 3 grown kids!]

[sgregel]

Tony,

I am so enjoying this review! We leave in 2 weeks and have a tour booked with Peat Taylor. We took a tour with him several years ago and he is the best! This time we are going to Dunns River Falls & the Cool Blue Hole. We had considered the rafting, but my sister backed out. The Cool Blue Hole looks very scenic and is a new destination on his website.

[Tony1865]

This was the best single day of our cruise.

 

This morning, because we needed to get off the ship early, we had room service deliver breakfast. It came about 7:30, and while Teresa pulled the covers up to her nose, I gratefully accepted the genteel service. Breakfast was just fine, thank you ... just standard fare.

 

Grand Cayman itself is sort of a featurless island - low and flat and sort of "scrubby." But the beauty of this place is found off shore, in some pristine waters.

 

And Georgetown itself is a quiet, subdued community. Loved it, loved the people we chatted with ... it has that veneer of British civility.

 

The port area itself was well-organized and easy enough to manage:

 

 

 

We'd booked an excursion with Stingray Sailing. OK, time for total disclosure: this was the best experience of the entire cruise. Perhaps it's not your cup of tea, but for us, it was the whole pot.

 

Stingray Sailing is a little charter company run by a gentleman named Chip, assisted by his dad, Buster, and a mate, Mark (who looked for all the world like the dude in the Old Spice commercials). Unlike the big charter operations, Chip runs one catamaran, which would hold maybe 30 or so folks, but on our day there were about a dozen of us.

 

These guys get the ultimate high marks for customer service. After Chip bussed us to the boat slip, we boarded the catamaran and pulled out.

 

Here we go:

 

 

 

 

One thing I learned: you'll find lots of trips to Stingray City. Well, the sandbar Chip took us to is NOT Stingray City. Tides can affect Stingray City and make it almost too deep to manage; this sandbar was waist deep.

 

And here's Mark, introducing us to the odd creatures we'd spend the next several minutes with ...

 

 

I'll tell you, I've never had encounters like this.

[Cruisinbeaner]

Loving this review. We sail on the Freedom 1/9/10 (3 newbies) and your pictures and stories are great.

 

One quick question about dinner. We are currently down for My Time dining mostly because I don't want to be rushed back from port for the early meal and I heard that taking the late seating means you can miss some of the evening shows. What is your take on this. I am tempted to change our dining option to the early seating so we have consident tablemates and can still make shows.

 

thanks,

Jill

[Cruisinbeaner]

Awesome info on Labadee. We're trying to decide which excursion (if any) to do here. The coaster looks way too scary for me, but my DH and DD (16) may do that and the zip line. So cool to see the perspective of someone who just experienced it.:)

 

Labadee offers a ton of shore activities. The only one we opted for was the Dragon's Tail Coaster, which I think was $15 a pop, or unlimited rides for $40. See, I purely love roller coasters, and I figured most anything else we did we could do on our own.

 

So, this particular attraction was, indeed, a true roller coaster. Like other coasters, you sit in a little car designed for one or two folks, strap yourself in, and a bicycle chain-type apparatus pulls you to the top of a significant hill. Then, you're released to roll freely. There are a couple of control bars that give you the opportunity to brake yourself ... which is something you're gonna want to do.

 

So, the initial view from my vantage point:

 

 

I'll tell you, this was a thrilling little ride. I wish we'd opted for multiple rides, because on that one ride, I was so obsessed by trying to control my little vehicle I couldn't enjoy the scenery. Because there are some times when the track curves way out beyond the mountainside, you're suspended over nothing but air, you're catching glimpses of the mountains, shore, and ship, but dang it, you're also thinking about not getting yourself killed. I watched caution signs whoosh past, warning of curves and places to brake, and so I was almost too busy staying in control to actually enjoy the trip. But I fininshed up with an immediate desire to do it again.

 

Here's Teresa, finishing her run:

 

 

One of the ride attendants told me that heavier folks go much faster than the featherweights. Which explains why I came down the mountain like a scalded dog. Fun!!

[Tazsamp]

Hi Tony,

 

Just wanted to pipe in and concur with everyone else, I'm just loving this review. It brings back great memories of being on FOS with the kids last year. They still talk about "the big ship" and can't wait to go another cruise!

 

Anastazia

[Tony1865]

Loving this review. We sail on the Freedom 1/9/10 (3 newbies) and your pictures and stories are great.

 

One quick question about dinner. We are currently down for My Time dining mostly because I don't want to be rushed back from port for the early meal and I heard that taking the late seating means you can miss some of the evening shows. What is your take on this. I am tempted to change our dining option to the early seating so we have consident tablemates and can still make shows.

 

thanks,

Jill

 

Jill, there was absooutely no conflict between the 2nd seating and missing any shows. We didn't miss a single show, nor were we rushed to make either dinner or a show. Second seating worked perfectly for us - and it gave a good excuse for some serious snacking late afternoon. ;) If I had my way, I'd eat like a hobbit, with second breakfast, elevenses, luncheon, afternoon tea, dinner, supper, etc.

 

I'm not saying that we'd never consider My Time Dining, but as I've stated elsewhere, we enjoy building relationships with our tablemates (granted, we've always had good ones), and, equally as important, I love having our servers call us by name, learn our likes and dislikes, etc. Some folks don't like that level of familiarity with the "help," but I sure enjoy it.

[Cruisinbeaner]

Jill, there was absooutely no conflict between the 2nd seating and missing any shows. We didn't miss a single show, nor were we rushed to make either dinner or a show. Second seating worked perfectly for us - and it gave a good excuse for some serious snacking late afternoon. ;) If I had my way, I'd eat like a hobbit, with second breakfast, elevenses, luncheon, afternoon tea, dinner, supper, etc.

 

I'm not saying that we'd never consider My Time Dining, but as I've stated elsewhere, we enjoy building relationships with our tablemates (granted, we've always had good ones), and, equally as important, I love having our servers call us by name, learn our likes and dislikes, etc. Some folks don't like that level of familiarity with the "help," but I sure enjoy it.

 

That's exactly the kind of input I needed. It was our TA that said we would probably miss shows with the later dinner -- I am thinking he was assuming based maybe on some other ships??? Anyway, your perspective on it is great to hear, and will really help me make my decision (which I think I've already made).:)

[letscruiseasap]

Love this review. We are almost booked on FOS for 7 day western Carribean July 10, 2011. This would be our 1st cruise and we are leaving our 7yr old DD at home for once. It will be the honeymoon we never had...

 

Keep your review coming, I can't wait for more info!

 

Cheers!

[Daycare Provider]

:DThank you for leaving me hanging in Jamaica....Loved it...we are doing the falls and float next May.....your pictures were perfect.

Angela

[malackym]

That's exactly the kind of input I needed. It was our TA that said we would probably miss shows with the later dinner -- I am thinking he was assuming based maybe on some other ships??? Anyway, your perspective on it is great to hear, and will really help me make my decision (which I think I've already made).:)

 

I totally concur with Tony, we had 2nd seating on the same cruise and never missed a show because of a dinner time conflict.

 

The thing I want to mention is about our kids. You didn’t say if you were traveling with any. Our youngest is 10 and after an “active day” he was too tired to make it anywhere after dinner, just plum exhausted and ready for bed – about 9:30 – 10:00 pm, and I had to stay in the room with him one night and missed a show that he would have enjoyed too if he wasn’t so tired.

 

So if you do have kids and they’re not night owls, this is something to consider about 2nd seatings.

 

Mark.

[JD26]

We choose the first seating for the simple reason that my husband has trouble with his stomach if he eats to late in the evening. The early seating works well for our family. I have lots of friends who love the second seating. The time for dinner just seems to be a very personal decision and I don't think that one time is that much better than another. You will have a great time no matter what time you eat dinner. :):):):)

[annecolorgreen]

Loving your review! Dh and I are contemplating FOS next 9/4/11 and this really helps.

 

We have cruised to Jamaica before and had a very scary experience in Ocho Rios. I hear they are going to Falmouth now? Part of our experience would be running a race in the blue mountains and I really want to feel safe there!

 

The stingrays are a blast! I'm so glad I had that experience with a guide because, while snorkeling in Hawaii, a stingray came right up to me like they do in Grand Caymans! I was able to enjoy it without being afraid...well, maybe I was a "little" nervous ;).

 

Can't wait to hear the rest! We've also been to Cozumel but with Carnival each time (will NOT sail Carnival again).

 

Did you make it out to the turtle farm? Is it still there? I know they have issues with hurricane damage.

 

THANKS!