Our Cruise on the Carnival Freedom w/ Lots of Pics

[plan2go]

How busy was the tendering in the morning with so many ships in port? We need to meet our guide at 9:00 and are not sure how much time to allow. Any advice you can give would be appreciated. Thanks and I am loving your review. 5 days til we sail!

[wrigley80]

How busy was the tendering in the morning with so many ships in port? We need to meet our guide at 9:00 and are not sure how much time to allow. Any advice you can give would be appreciated. Thanks and I am loving your review. 5 days til we sail!

 

If you have to meet your guide at 9:00 am then I would plan on being ready to get off the ship no later than 8:00 am. Our excursion left at 9:00 as well.

The tendering process was very smooth. We are both platinum so we have priority tendering but I noticed that other guests were walking right on to tenders. There was no wait to board.

How many other ships are in Grand Cayman the day you are there???

[tattoos]

Brianna, I love that photo of you and your Dad with the ship in the background. You had great weather in Grand Cayman, was the water cold when you swam with the stingrays? Two years ago, we sailed on the Dream in April to the eastern Caribbean and snorkeled in St. Thomas and the water was very chilly.

 

I'm sailing on the Sensation next month and the Liberty in May. I'm so fortunate to live in Florida and have easy access to all the cruise ports. The Sensation will be my 25th cruise but I didn't use my Milestone certificate yet. I'd love to book the Miracle next year to Hawaii.

 

Loving your review, insights and sense of humor, as usual.

 

Rose

[funinthesun1964]

I rode down the elevator with Fun Ship Freddy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am jealous :o

LOL Loving your review. Glad you had a great time!

[CheckersMidwest]

I always love reading your reviews ! Great job, I feel like I'm there. :)

 

We used that same boat on the Stingray City tour last year. I also really liked how the stairs went into the water.

 

Thanks for posting all the pictures !!

[hoss23]

Your review and pictures are awesome. Thanks for taking the time and patience to share. One question, we will be on the 8 day cruise on the freedom april 20. We have anytime dining. So am i correct that it is in the chick dining room midship? And if it is, is it upstairs, downstairs or both. Thanks.

[Lace]

Nice pix. It looks like you had a lovely time.

[wrigley80]

Brianna, I love that photo of you and your Dad with the ship in the background. You had great weather in Grand Cayman, was the water cold when you swam with the stingrays? Two years ago, we sailed on the Dream in April to the eastern Caribbean and snorkeled in St. Thomas and the water was very chilly.

 

I'm sailing on the Sensation next month and the Liberty in May. I'm so fortunate to live in Florida and have easy access to all the cruise ports. The Sensation will be my 25th cruise but I didn't use my Milestone certificate yet. I'd love to book the Miracle next year to Hawaii.

 

Loving your review, insights and sense of humor, as usual.

 

Rose

 

The weather in Grand Cayman that day was low to mid 80's. The water was a little chilly at first but you quickly got used to it and it was so comfortable.

Have fun on the Sensation....check out my pictures of the Sensation in my last review. Have fun on the Sensation. If I lived in Florida it would definitely be hard for me to get any work done ;) :p :)

[wrigley80]

I always love reading your reviews ! Great job, I feel like I'm there. :)

 

We used that same boat on the Stingray City tour last year. I also really liked how the stairs went into the water.

 

Thanks for posting all the pictures !!

 

Which itinerary are you cruising with on the Freedom??? MarineLand tour boat is wonderful.

 

Thanks for your kind words about my review

[wrigley80]

Your review and pictures are awesome. Thanks for taking the time and patience to share. One question, we will be on the 8 day cruise on the freedom april 20. We have anytime dining. So am i correct that it is in the chick dining room midship? And if it is, is it upstairs, downstairs or both. Thanks.

 

Yes we had anytime dining as well. You will be eating in the Chic dining room....which is midship. The entrance to the Chic Dining Room is just behind the Atrium Bar. It is a 2 level dining room. If you want wonderful service by 3 amazing guys.....I highly recommend requesting Alan's section in the dining room

[wrigley80]

Nice pix. It looks like you had a lovely time.

 

Thank-You....we always do when we are on a Cruise :D

[wrigley80]

We passed the Mariner of the Seas and Celebrity Equinox as we were leaving Grand Cayman

 

My dad and Tereza. She was a bar waitress from the Czech Republic. She was awesome

 

If one thing needs to change on Carnival ships....it is the gift shops. The shops onboard SUCK.....they need to sell more Carnival logo shirts and souvenirs.

 

Atrium Lobby

 

Players Bar on Deck 5

[wrigley80]

 

Chicken Tenders in Thai Sauce

 

 

Dad and Hery

[wrigley80]

Shrimp and Fries

 

Petit Filet Mignon with Braised Short Ribs.....this was delicious. Probably one of the best meals we have ever had with Carnival

 

Our wait staff in the dining room

 

Chocolate Raspberry Sorbet cake.....this was delicious

 

Apple Pie

 

Diet Pumpkin Pie

[BellaBaci4]

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

[wrigley80]

Our Next Stop on the Carnival Freedom brought us to Ocho Rios, Jamaica. This day my dad and I decided to just stay onboard and enjoy a relaxing day. It was so nice to have a quiet, relaxing day

 

We headed to breakfast onboard in the Posh Dining Room.....this breakfast was a traditional breakfast because it was a port day.

 

Posh Dining Room

 

[qbanrican84]

Thanks for the tip. My DH and I are thinking about booking the horseback/Dunn Falls excursion. Have you or anyone heard about this one?

 

G

 

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

[plan2go]

If you have to meet your guide at 9:00 am then I would plan on being ready to get off the ship no later than 8:00 am. Our excursion left at 9:00 as well.

The tendering process was very smooth. We are both platinum so we have priority tendering but I noticed that other guests were walking right on to tenders. There was no wait to board.

How many other ships are in Grand Cayman the day you are there???

 

 

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!

[qbanrican84]

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!

[qbanrican84]

I'm also looking forward to your review & photos !

 

Did you go to any of these:

 

Cooking demo at the steakhouse

Thriller Dance Class

80's night at disco (did people dress up?)

White party at disco (did people dress white?)

How was the Crème Brulee'? :)

What did they have for sale close to the dock in Ocho Rios....(.looking for purses, painted art, and sunglasses).

 

 

I was wondering about a few of these questions too

[WorkHardCruiseHarder]

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

[GAMOM4]

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:)

[kdooley]

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:)

 

 

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!

Edited March 26, 2013 by kdooley

[GAMOM4]

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!

 

What did you take with you when you went on this excursion? Were you able to leave your stuff somewhere so it would stay dry? How many people do we need to take money to tip if we do decide to do this...the bus driver...the person leading you down the river? How much money should we take to eat on? Did you change into dry clothes before the trip back? And did you run into many aggresive vendors? My husband is really thinking this is the right tour for us.

[kdooley]

What did you take with you when you went on this excursion? Were you able to leave your stuff somewhere so it would stay dry? How many people do we need to take money to tip if we do decide to do this...the bus driver...the person leading you down the river? How much money should we take to eat on? Did you change into dry clothes before the trip back? And did you run into many aggresive vendors? My husband is really thinking this is the right tour for us.

 

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!

Edited March 26, 2013 by kdooley