Our Cruise on the Carnival Freedom w/ Lots of Pics

[GAMOM4]

You take a 30 minutes bus ride up the side of a mountain on a one-lane, two-way road (No Problem, Mon!), that takes you to a welcome center. This was the hardest part of the trip, mostly on our backs on the bumpy roads. You have about 15 mins to put your stuff (clothes, towel, etc..) in a locker (we purchased a lock for $5) then headed back to the bus. You wear your swimsuit and take only take what you need on the tube, which would be your water shoes (rocky river bottom) and a string for your glasses, if needed. We also had a waterproof camera on a wrist strap. The bus then takes you up the river to the entry point. We joined up with 2 other bus loads of people (about 12/bus) and then headed down the river. It takes about 1 hour to float back to the welcome center. I don't know if there were showers or not, but they have a bathroom to change in. They also had a grill where they made Jamaican jerk chicken and some other local dishes (about $10/12), beer, t-shirts and the photo booth. They take your picture at various times on the river and then you can buy the CD to take with you. The same guides (2 or 3) are with you the whole time you are on the river back to the center and the bus driver is the same throughout the whole trip. I don't know how much you need to bring, it would depend on if you want to eat lunch and get a beer. And no aggressive vendors since this was a private/national (?) park. The bus left straight from the cruise port so we didn't have issues. Booked on the ship.

 

We had a great time and would go again!

 

Thank you so much!!! This answer all my questions....I think we are going to book it...the only thing we have ever tubed on was the Chattahoochie in North Georgia...and we really enjoyed it so we should love Jamaica :)

[TakeMeAway1001]

I somehow missed this review when you started it, I just read through all 12 pages.....great review!

Edited March 27, 2013 by TakeMeAway1001

[MrFunInTheSun]

The Carnival Freedom had some of the best and most friendly crew members that we have ever come across on a Carnival ship.

In fact I came home with 5 new friend requests on Facebook. We had your time dining for the first time and we truly loved it. We had the same waiters every night.

 

 

This is such a true statement! Carnival Freedom was by far one of the best cruises I've been on. Am glad you and your dad enjoyed it just as much! Seems like we've agreed pretty much about the same ships too as we've sailed the same ships over the past few months starting with the Carnival Ecstasy being better than the Carnival Sensation!

 

Great review as usual, its great seeing you and your dad having a great cruise adventure.

 

When the time comes I cruise Carnival again, Carnival Freedom or Carnival Breeze will be at the top of my list to book.

 

Happy Cruising!

[JohnSpo]

Wrigley80. Great review! I will be going to Key West in May and this review and pics gave me some ideas of things to do. I tried Any Time Dining on my last cruise and I also like it.

 

Great photos and an excellent review. Thanks for taking the time to review it. It looks like you and your father had a great time. :)

[jwalk03]

Did you hear any of the other passengers say anything about their excursions in Ocho Rios? We are still trying to decide what to do there in May....I was looking forward to seeing your pictures of a Jamaica:)

 

Ocho Rios gets a bad rap, especially on these boards. Yes some of the locals can be a little more agressive than people like, but don't stay on the ship just becuase of what anyone says on here.

 

If you have never been, I strongly recommend going to Dunn's River Falls. These are several excursion choices to take you there. We did the Cool Runnings Catamaran and had an absolute blast!

 

Here is a link to my Freedom review with lots of pictures from all the ports and such. Check in out, and really consider Cool Runnings for a great Dunn's River Falls excursion.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1756016

[jwalk03]

Wrigly your review is awesome by the way. I have been re-living my Freedom cruise from March of last year by reading your review, and counting down the days to my Valor cruise in September.

 

On a side note I was in Chicago recently and took the Wrigley Field tour, simply amazing. That old ball park is so cool, now if only the Cubs could put together something other than a AAA team to play there!

[wrigley80]

Thanks for taking the time to post the review. Love, love love it.

I have always wanted to visit sting ray city, but honestly, it scares me a bit. Is it something you grow comfortable with, or did that never bother you?

Thanks!

Bella aka the chicken

 

It doesn't bother me one bit. We have swam with stingrays, dolphins, and manatees. The stingrays are a lot of fun. There were a lot of people in our group that had never done it before and there was one lady who was very reluctant to get in the water. She saw how much fun everyone else was having and she decided to get in. On our way back I asked her if she liked it and she said she couldn't believe how much fun it was :) Give it a try ;) I'm sure you will love it

[wrigley80]

I am pretty sure there are 4 other ships (one of them another carnival ship). Thanks for replying, as I went back and read some of your early posts I realize you had pretty much already answered this question. You are very patient!

 

You're welcome....:D I would still plan on getting off around 8:00 am. There are shops in the Terminal area that you can look in while you are waiting for your tour to start

[wrigley80]

I love your review :) especially your sunset pictures, they're awesome :)

I wrote down quite a few tips from reading through all 11 pages too lol

Can't wait to go next month!

 

You will have a blast....be sure to visit the Serenity Deck. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. I hope you get to see some good sunsets at sea as well

[wrigley80]

This is to answer someone's question from the review....

 

Cooking demo at the steakhouse.......NO. I did not go to the cooking demo at the steakhouse. In fact I never saw it published in the daily Fun Times.

Thriller Dance Class......I know they had it in the main show lounge but I didn't go to it because I have 2 left feet :p

80's night at disco (did people dress up?).......NO. I went to the disco a couple nights and it was a lot of fun to watch people dance and drink

White party at disco (did people dress white?)......YES. I went to this and it was an absolute blast. I wore a white t-shirt that people wrote messages on :D I met some wonderful friends on the ship and we all met there and did this with each other's shirt.

How was the Crème Brulee'? :).......Didn't try it :p

What did they have for sale close to the dock in Ocho Rios....(.looking for purses, painted art, and sunglasses)..........we didn't get off the ship in Ocho Rios but I do know that they have a small shopping area close to the ship

[wrigley80]

Thanks for the great review Wrigley! I'll be on the freedom doing the same itenerary in May. very excited!

 

I hope you have a wonderful time...if you have any questions about the Freedom feel free to ask

[wrigley80]

Did you hear any of the other passengers say anything about their excursions in Ocho Rios? We are still trying to decide what to do there in May....I was looking forward to seeing your pictures of a Jamaica:)

 

If you are still looking for something to do in Ocho Rios....I would try Mystic Mountain and go with the Bobsled and Sky Explorer ride. I have had a lot of friends do that in Ocho Rios and they had a blast.

 

Sorry I couldn't help you out a little more :)

[wrigley80]

We went on the Tubing excursion in Ocho Rios and had a great time! I was really worried that I couldn't get back on the tube if I fell off, but the guides were super nice and knew the river so I had no problems at all. If you go, remember water shoes and a string if you wear glasses.

 

Wrigley - Loving your review - I had to rush home from work to see more pictures of your cruise!! We went on this same cruise over Christmas week and this is making me want to go again - soon!

 

Don't rush home from work too fast ........ :D I have always wanted to do a cruise over Christmas someday. Our next cruise isn't until December and I am already going through withdrawals ;)

[wrigley80]

Thank you so much!!! This answer all my questions....I think we are going to book it...the only thing we have ever tubed on was the Chattahoochie in North Georgia...and we really enjoyed it so we should love Jamaica :)

 

See that is why I love Cruise Critic and love doing photo reviews.....just because I couldn't help you with what to do in Ocho Rios there was someone on here who could.

 

I'm happy that you guys found something that interests you :D

[wrigley80]

I somehow missed this review when you started it, I just read through all 12 pages.....great review!

 

Sorry that you had to read all 12 pages at once but I hope it was a good read ;) :) :D There is still more to come

 

Thank-You for reading my review

[wrigley80]

This is such a true statement! Carnival Freedom was by far one of the best cruises I've been on. Am glad you and your dad enjoyed it just as much! Seems like we've agreed pretty much about the same ships too as we've sailed the same ships over the past few months starting with the Carnival Ecstasy being better than the Carnival Sensation!

 

Great review as usual, its great seeing you and your dad having a great cruise adventure.

 

When the time comes I cruise Carnival again, Carnival Freedom or Carnival Breeze will be at the top of my list to book.

 

Happy Cruising!

 

Yes we do seem to have the same thoughts on those ships. We were just blown away at the service on this cruise by the crew members. I came home with about 10 new friend requests on Facebook from crew members. It is so weird to say but it is like they become family for that week you are onboard.

Yeah we loved the Ecstasy as well....it is hard to believe that the same style of ship can bring such different feelings between the Ecstasy and Sensation. The one main thing we loved about the Sensation is the location of our room. It was right off the Atrium Lobby Bar.

My dad and I always have a great time on our cruise. We just booked the Carnival Sunshine for December. I was on the Destiny so it will be cool to see the changes. A friend of mine has been on the Breeze 4 times....he keeps telling me that he wants me to come along with him on the Breeze soon. I may just have to take him up on that ;) :) :p

[wrigley80]

Wrigley80. Great review! I will be going to Key West in May and this review and pics gave me some ideas of things to do. I tried Any Time Dining on my last cruise and I also like it.

 

Great photos and an excellent review. Thanks for taking the time to review it. It looks like you and your father had a great time. :)

 

Thank-You....you will love Key West. There are so many things to see and do there.

 

We didn't think we would like Anytime Dining but we really enjoyed it so we have that reserved for our cruise in December on the Sunshine

[wrigley80]

Wrigly your review is awesome by the way. I have been re-living my Freedom cruise from March of last year by reading your review, and counting down the days to my Valor cruise in September.

 

On a side note I was in Chicago recently and took the Wrigley Field tour, simply amazing. That old ball park is so cool, now if only the Cubs could put together something other than a AAA team to play there!

 

The Carnival Valor was our first Carnival ship in 2005....I guess you can say that was the ship that got us hooked on Carnival ;) I love the Atrium Lobby décor of the Carnival Valor.

 

This is bad to say but I am a Cubs fan who absolutely hates Wrigley Field. The seats are too cramped....I like the newer, modern stadiums. It is a shame that the Cubs can't field a decent baseball team....they will definitely lose 100 games this year :eek: I guess we will just have to say "Wait Until Next Year." ;) :p

[wrigley80]

The day we were in Ocho Rios was really warm and humid. After breakfast we went out to the Outside Promenade deck to get some pictures

 

 

 

 

 

 

All these pictures are of the beach area that is close to the port area in Ocho Rios.

[wrigley80]

This is the pier in Ocho Rios....it is very long but we did notice that they had wheelchairs at the gangway for anyone that needed one. That is wonderful because that pier is horrible :eek:

 

The marina in Ocho Rios. This is where a lot of the tour boats were going in and out

Booze Cruise Catamaran Tours

[wrigley80]

 

See this is how quiet the ship is when everyone is off the ship in port. It is literally like you have the entire ship to yourself ;)

Relaxing out on the Serenity Deck. There are Lounge Chairs, Clamshells, Straight Back chairs (like the one my dad is sitting in), and chairs/couches that are up under the canopy on the Serenity Deck

The Chukka Catamaran excursion

[wrigley80]

As we were sitting out on the Serenity Deck we watched as the storm clouds and rain started to roll in......

 

It got really dark really fast and people were sprinting back to the ship :eek:

 

 

 

These are some of the beautiful homes in Ocho Rios that are set in the Mountains....very cool.

Now as quick as those storm clouds rolled in....they were gone and the blue sky re-appeared

[wrigley80]

Lido Deck was starting to Get Busy again

 

 

The Grill on Lido Deck.....this was the one by Mid-ship Pool

[G-Luvs2cruise]

I'm doing the same excursion next month! :) I'm sailing on the 28th of April for my bday...I'll let you know how it goes

 

 

Oh that would be awesome!! Thank you so much! Have a great trip.

 

Gerry

Edited March 27, 2013 by G-Luvs2cruise
P.S. Happy Birthday!!!!

[wrigley80]

I will be back later today to finish up our pictures from Ocho Rios