Carnival Freedom Review Nov 20-27, 2010

[hoosiergirl34787]

Embarkation—Nov. 20th

 

We drove down to Ft. Lauderdale with the in-laws. We were at then we parked at the Park-N-Go near the port and caught the bus to the terminal. We arrived and entered the terminal by noon and were eating lunch on the lido deck by 1. Funny thing, I am a 10th grade English teacher and within five minutes of getting on board, I ran into one of my students. She was on vacation with her family. I ran into her every day after that and it just became funny. I think she was a little shaken by the fact that her teacher actually leaves the school.

 

We sat by the pool for awhile with DOD in hand. Then, we explored the ship and made our way to our room. We were able to get into the room by 2 and our bags arrived by 5. We attended the sail away party before heading down to get ready for dinner.

 

At dinner we were introduced to SuSu who was our wonderful server for the week. She was very attentive and made an effort to remember what we wanted each night. Our table was in the very back of the boat and we were able to look out over the water. A few nights though we could really feel the boat rock from side to side.

 

Sea Day—Nov 21

 

Today was our first day at sea. I woke up early and hit the gym. It was all I could do to stay on the treadmill. I like to run, but had to keep one hand on the treadmill at all times. After my rocky exercise session, Hubby and I hit a comedy movie trivia session. He played while I enjoyed by DOD. He got every answer correct, but was overtake by not knowing the title to Runaway Bride. Another woman won the game and Hubby was a little bitter since he played the game without any help and she had a whole team helping her. (I suck at movie trivia!) After that we were on the quest to win a gold ship on a stick.

 

It ended up being a little rainy and overcast this day so we only spent a little time by the pool where I read my book and Hubby ate ice cream. We headed back to our room for an afternoon nap before getting ready for formal night. I love formal night and couldn’t wait to don my new little black dress. While waiting for dinner, we ran into Freddy and had to have a picture with him. I

 

We also enjoyed a martini of the day. I love the way that they used the ice carving to chill the martini. Delicious and had a little punch to it, unlike most of the drinks on board.

 

After dinner, we went back to the room to see our first towel animal. We never did meet our room steward, but he or she kept the room clean and provided us with a towel animal each night. This is one of the highlights of the cruise for me. I can’t wait to get back to the room after dinner to see which towel animal is waiting for us and to read the Capers for the following day.

 

Cozumel—Nov 22

 

Hubby and I were looking forward to our Cozumel stop because the last time we docked there we never actually stepped foot on Cozumel. We went straight to Playa de Carmen. This time we booked a dive off the coast of Cozumel on the reef. We docked next to the Liberty.

 

We joined our tour group with Sand Dollar Sports. They took us to their dive shop where we picked up our gear before heading to the first dive spot. We went down about 80 feet the first dive, I had some serious trouble descending. I didn’t think I was going to be able to do the dive because I couldn’t get my ears to equalize. I was squeezing my nose and trying to blow the pressure out of my ears so much I gave myself a bloody nose—not a very good way to begin the dive. After about five minutes, I was finally able to equalize and descend with the rest of the group. This was also a drift dive so I was getting really nervous that everyone was going to swim off and leave me, but they didn’t.

 

We saw some beautiful coral and some bright colored fish. My hubby chased a sting ray around as well. We all found that pretty funny. He was finally able to get a pretty good picture of that elusive ray.

After the second dive, we headed back to the boat. Our dive master, whose name I can’t remember, was so funny and informative. We really enjoyed our time with him.

 

Back on solid ground, we decided to explore the area around the dock. After doing a little shopping, we ended up at Fat Tuesday. We were both starving from the dive, so we ordered some lunch and drinks by the yard. Of course after drinking a third of my drink with the rum floater, I decided we needed balloon hats. Why is that that balloon hats only seem like a good idea when you are drinking?

 

By the time we finished up at Fat Tuesdays it was time to get back on the ship. I was exhausted so I grabbed a nap before getting ready for dinner. After dinner we caught the show then we hit the deck party. I screamed for beads until I lost my voice. They played all the cheesy line dances right before the rain started. They didn't stop even though it was pouring. I was drenched, but I had so much fun.

 

Sea Day—Nov 23

 

I woke up and hit the gym again today. By the third time in the gym I started to get the hand of running on the treadmill in rhythm to the rocking of the waves—no need to hold on today. After the gym I found Hubby the pool where he had claimed a spot for the day. After some sun worshiping, we continued our quest for a ship on a stick. This time we tried our hand at the bean bag tournament. Hubby and I made it through three rounds before being beaten. The quest for the ship on a stick would have to continue later. We headed back to the pool when the captain came on and told us that there was a stranded boat that needed our help. Apparently they were dead in the water and running out of food. Some Carnival mechanics went over and helped to fix their boat. They also gave them some crates of yogurt. The captain assured us that these people were not refugees, but there were an awful lot of people on that boat.

 

After all the excitement, I decided to donate $20 to a game of Bingo before getting ready for dinner. Tonight we dined at the Sun King Steakhouse. It was delicious. I started off with a delicious tomato, mozzarella, and balsamic vinegar salad. Then I ordered lobster and Hubby ordered fillet minion. Everything was delicious, but my favorite part was the dessert. It looked as good as it tasted.

 

After dinner it was off to the Beatles tribute followed by a trip to Scott’s Piano Bar where we treated ourselves to some more beverages. After a late night walk around the ship, we turned in waiting for our stop in Costa Rica.

 

Day 5—Coast Rica

 

The first day we were on the ship, we were informed that our zip line and sloth sanctuary excursion was canceled. I was so disappointed as this was going to be the highlight of the trip for me. We ended up substituting the sloth sanctuary and canoe tour instead. While I really enjoyed seeing the sloths, I really missed not being able to go ziplining. So after a decent breakfast, we headed off ship. There wasn’t really anything to do around the dock except look inside of a little flea market. I did end up buying a hand carved bowl there, but other than that there wasn’t much besides shot glasses and other typical tourist souvenirs.

 

After boarding a bus, we drove to the sloth sanctuary where we watched a promotional video about the origins of the sanctuary. Finally we were able to see the stars, the sloths. Sloths are one of those animals that are so ugly that they are cute.

After wandering the grounds and visiting all the resident sloths, we were able to board our canoe and take a trip down a creek. We did see a really cool Basalisk Lizard, hundreds of banana trees, a turtle, and a wild sloth very high in a tree.

 

After the canoes, it was back to the grounds for a nature hike through the rain forest. Our guide pointed out the flora and fauna as we hiked along. After our hike, we were treated to some fresh fruit before boarding the bus back to the port.

 

Back on board, we hit the room for a nap before getting ready for dinner. At dinner it was dancing and singing by our servers and Hubby joined in.

Then it was back to our room to turn in for the night.

 

Day 6—Panama

 

We woke up like usual and hit the buffet before heading off for our excursion. We purchased the Gatun Locks and San Lorenzo Fort Tour through Carnival. The locks were interesting but crowded. It was hard to see the ship going through until it was right in front of us. We were lucky enough to stay for a second ship and a lot of the crowd had cleared out, so it was easier to see the ship go through. We headed back to the bus but had to wait for awhile since some of group couldn’t follow directions. After everyone was back on the bus, the drive headed in the direction San Lorenzo. Along the way our driver stopped several times so that we could get off the bus and photograph sloths, monkeys, and my husband’s favorite, leaf-cutter ants.

 

We arrived at the fort and were given time to explore on our own. The fort was a perfect place to play around with our new camera lens. After we had taken pictures to our heart’s content we got back on the bus where our tour guide provided us with homemade banana muffins and bottled water. It was back to the ship from there.

 

On the ship we had to wait for an extra 90 minutes before leaving since one of the tour groups didn’t get back due to heavy traffic. While we waited to leave port, we watched a little football on the big screen before I headed back to the room and took a nap before getting ready for dinner. It was Thanksgiving and I was a little leery to order the turkey, but it was delicious—a close second to my grandmother’s.

 

After dinner it was on to the nightly show followed by a trip to the casino where I played a little blackjack and won 60 bucks. I left when I was up and headed for bed.

 

Day 7—Sea Day

 

Woke up by eight and headed to the gym. It was hard to find a treadmill, but I eventually did. After my workout I met Hubby by the pool and we headed to the buffet for breakfast. After the buffet it was back to the pool where I spent most of the day consuming Miami Vices and reading my novel. However, we did take time out to hunt for a ship on a stick. Hubby and I played the photo scavenger hunt. We were given a list of things to photograph around the ship. We had 30 mins and everyone in the group had to be in the photo, except for the person taking the picture. So, camera in hand, Hubby and I sprinted around the ship photographing trays of cakes, the whale tale, a lady in a red bikini, and many other things. After 30 minutes we returned to the meeting point. Most of the groups had dropped out but we found everything on the list but three things. And for our hard work, we were awarded with a ship on a stick. Hubby was so proud he took some of the Mardi Gras beads from the deck party and turned the ship on a stick into a necklace which he proceeded to wear to dinner. It was pretty funny and he received many compliments in the dinning room. He reminded me of Snoop Dogg with his giant bling hanging around his neck. It really added to his suit that he wore for formal night. After dinner we hit the show, casino, and then bed.

 

Day 8—Sea Day

 

We spent the last sea day lounging by the pool. We also decided to try out the slide which ended up being faster than I thought it would be. We enjoyed the Mongolian Wok for the last time. I could have eaten there every meal, every day. Then it was back to the room to pack before dinner. After dinner we headed to the casino to play a few more hands of blackjack where I ended up breaking even.

 

Debarkation

 

Debarkation was a breeze, but we did have to wait for quite a while. We were in one of the last groups to be called. We spent our time in the buffet area where we ate breakfast and I continued to read my book. After we got off the ship, finding our luggage was very easy. It took five minutes to get through customs. The only terrible part of leaving the ship was trying to get the shuttle back to the Park-N-Go. We had to wait for over 90 minutes for the shuttle, and it was hot. When we finally did get back to our car, we were given a discount for our trouble.

 

All in all, the cruise was wonderful. My favorite parts were the deck party with the beads, despite the fact that it poured. I also loved the Sun King Steakhouse and the Mongolian Wok. Our ocean view room was quite spacious, and it was always clean. I loved having four sea days as well. I was kind of disappointed with Costa Rica and Panama. Both ports seemed kind of run down and there wasn’t much to do around the port, but once we got outside of that area the countries were lovely.

[LBumb]

great job

[TakeMeAway1001]

Nice review, thanks for sharing :)