Freedom 12-13-14 Shrimp, Dr. Seuss and A Few Calamities

[Delta Dear]

Continuing where I left off.

 

PLEASE, NO comments or questions about the similar thread. It is being revised due to some errors I made and will be reposted later.

 

Let's move on to FOOD, with special shout outs to SHRIMP.

 

About 35 years ago, I developed a definite allergy to tree nuts. Around that same time, I thought I was also allergic to shellfish. That was purely a self diagnosis because at the time my allergist said, "Skin testing for food is not as accurate as your own body's reactions." Well, guess what. I was WRONG, I am not allergic after all. So, this would be my first cruise since confirming that. Therefore, we'll get the shrimp feast out of the way first.

 

I enjoyed the shrimp cocktail in the MDR several times.

I had the Tiger Shrimp appetizer in the Steakhouse,

the night of the lobster/shrimp entree, I ordered two of them and finally, the room service shrimp salad was absolutely the best of the best, it was absolutely awesome. I added a garden salad with blue cheese dressing. YUM.

[MrsPhoenix91]

Beautiful pictures! Is Italian dressing an option for the salads?

[Kacot]

Keep them coming!

[Delta Dear]

I'm glad I had lunch and hope you have eaten or I guarantee that you will be drooling through the next few posts.

 

Before we cruised, I made a list of foods and other things I wanted to be sure to try on this cruise. Being a chocolate lover, of course I have always had Chocolate Melting Cake with two ice creams (a la GA Pearl.) I had never tried the chocolate cake from the Fun Shops or the chocolate cake from room service. I also had room service cheesecake on my To Try List.

 

Now for the chocolate porn. It will be brief. Believe it or not, I skipped the Chocolate Buffet on the last sea day because I had just left the Green Eggs and Ham Breakfast and wasn't sure how the two would mix.

 

The cake and strawberries were in our stateroom when we arrived; a gift from a friend. Both were delicious.

 

 

The cake from room service later in the week was yummy. The cheesecake was ok, but not good enough to order that again.

 

 

 

Finally, the topping on the cake, no pun intended. On our first Carnival Cruise on the Legend, I ordered the Chocolate Sampler at the Steakhouse. As they set it down in front of me, I said, "This does not have nuts, does it ?" The server said, "Oh, yes it does, " at which point she removed it from in front of me. Boo Hoo. I JUST learned recently that with advance notice, I could order one made without nuts so that is what I did. That sent me into Chocolate Heaven. I waited five long years to savor that dessert. It was worth the wait.

 

 

Here are the, 'misses,' on my list; Spring Rolls, YUCK. I'll take the Egg Rolls from my local Chinese restaurant any day. I decided to try different desserts in the MDR. The Puff Pastry with Apples, YUCK, too. I didn't even finish that. I did not ask for something else. I was full from the meal.

[jbhcw]

subscribing:):):)

[Delta Dear]

Other comments about the food on this cruise.

 

The meals in the MDR were all pretty good; Lido Deck, not so much. We had dinner there three nights because of Morgan's mobility challenges; those nights he just couldn't push through the discomfort of the walk to the MDR. There are times in life when you do what you have to do.

 

Guy’s of course is the best lunch on the ship. We must have had those three times. Having a Chilius Maximus was on my hit list. Pretty good. The Blue Iguana burrito was too salty, for me. I think it was either the refried beans or the chicken that had the excess sodium.

 

The only miss in the MDR was the Beef Barley Soup. I have always liked it, but this cruise, not a grain of barley was found in my or Morgan’s soup.

 

I found the Omelet station on Lido Deck where you go to the window (similar to the Deli window on the port side of the Freedom.) That one stays open until noon, so if you are too late for the one near the Wok, just waik around the corner on the Starboard side. The omelet maker remembered our order so when I would show up, he’d say, “One with everything except bacon, one with everything except mushrooms.” That’s the service that earns you extra tips at the end of the cruise, and so it did.

 

The other breakfast that we must have at least once on each cruise is the room service bagels, smoked salmon, cream cheese and fruit or juice. Love that room service that only requires a tip.

 

As always, the Steakhouse dinner is an outstanding option. I wish they offered some smaller cuts of rib eye steak. I’d love to try it, but 18 oz. of any meat is just way too much. Morgan and I both had the New York Strips. At 14 oz, they were really too much also. Our friends were there the same night. After they finished their dinner, they came over to visit with us.

 

I already commented on the scrumptious Chocolate Sampler that was so awesome.

 

 

 

 

Morgan has another nickname, King Garlic. Did he ever LOVE that roasted garlic that was on top of our steaks.

 

The Indian food was a good compliment to the grilled chicken breast that Morgan ordered one night in the MDR. He spent two years in India in the Peace Corps from 1961-1963. He is still fluent in speaking Hindi and usually has fun watching the reaction of crew members when he greats them and converses with them in their language. Morgan enjoyed the chilled Mango soup.

 

 

 

Edited December 28, 2014 by Delta Dear

[Delta Dear]

Beautiful pictures! Is Italian dressing an option for the salads?

 

I would think so. Honey Mustard was available so I imagine Italian would be, too.

 

Hello OHIO ! I grew up in Cleveland and am an OSU Buckeye.

[INCHARGE]

Dropping in to say hi!!!! I am on the road riding back to VA from Atlanta, so I am waiting for more. I love your reviews. :D

Edited December 28, 2014 by INCHARGE

[Delta Dear]

We went to the Sea Day Brunch on the first sea day because we, not Morgan, but some friends, were doing the Dr. Seuss Green Eggs and Ham on the last day at sea. We went around noon and had no wait at all. I really enjoyed the huevos rancheros even if I didn’t know how to pronounce it. That, and cheese grits. Loved it. Of course, I used my free drink coupon for a well made Chocolate Mocha Getaway. I’ll talk about the Green Eggs later.

 

 

 

 

On the lighter side, if you have ever read reviews by GA Pearl, you know how she has given Carnival the thumbs down on what they call ‘corn bread.’ I spotted corn bread on the Lido Deck one afternoon at lunchtime and just HAD to take it to examine it for myself. I’ll admit, I wasted it because it was so unappealing I didn’t even taste it. I like good made from scratch southern style corn bread. Morgan likes Jiffy mix corn bread which is a stretch for me. This Carnival corn bread is like nothing I’ve ever seen in life. NO WAY is it even close. Disgusting looking, isn’t it? Even bacon can't help.

 

 

 

 

 

GA Pearl; This was just for YOU. If you have it, please put in the link of your first comments about the Carnival corn bread. They were hilarious.

Edited December 28, 2014 by Delta Dear

[Delta Dear]

Dropping in to say hi!!!! I am on the road riding back to VA from Atlanta, so I am waiting for more. I love your reviews. :D

 

Hello, my friend, In Charge. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and I'm glad you are tuning in to my review. Much more to follow, I promise. Safe travels and Happy New Year.

[Delta Dear]

Now on to the entertainment;

 

I was expecting to dislike the Playlist Productions because when I went to the opening show on the Breeze in 2013, I was totally turned off by the flashing lights, the handful of dancers and what seemed like a poor production. I must say I was pleasantly surprised, though when we went to the Heart of Soul production. The singers and dancers did a decent job, we liked the graphics or whatever you call the changing backgrounds.

 

We never did make it back for any of the regular productions, but I did go to the Christmas Show which was held at 4:30 of the last sea day. It was wonderful. It included singing and dancing with some of the many children on the cruise. Santa arrived and each child who wanted to came on stage to tell Santa their hearts desires. Parents were invited to join their children on stage. There was an audience sing along of both Silent Night and We Wish You A Merry Christmas. It was a lovely, festive production with the regular singers and dancers also performing.

 

We enjoyed one group in the Atrium one night and especially enjoyed the group, who did several sets of Motown hits in the area near the casino one night. They were quite good. Sitting on Deck 5 as we enjoyed the music, we enjoyed watching the people walking through. Many were singing along, almost dancing along the deck and snapping their fingers. Motown music has a way of energizing a crowd.

 

Here we are, Morgan, Dona and I enjoying the beat. We both love the old Motown hits. I was teaching in Detroit from 1965-1967 when many of the groups were just getting started and the nation was rocking to a new beat. Judging from those walking across the deck that night, many of them were in the same era, but so are many younger folks.

 

 

 

Edited December 28, 2014 by Delta Dear

[MrsPhoenix91]

I agree with you regarding Carnival's poor interpretation of cornbread. Between both my mother's Bluefield, West Virginia and my mother-in-law's Winona, Mississippi roots, I know what cornbread is supposed to look and taste like...and that AIN'T it.

[Delta Dear]

The ports for the trip were St. Maarten, St. Kitts, San Juan and Grand Turk. We now cruise for rest and relaxation. Ports are secondary especially since Morgan’s mobility pretty much means he is not comfortable with the walking involved in ports. He will not consider a scooter which would make cruising easier for him. Can you say, STUBBORN? His doctors want him to walk as much as possible, but having a scooter would allow him to do both. Oh, well. Maybe in the future he will consider renting one. Here at home often uses a cane when we go out, but that’s it.

 

We had been to St. Maarten once and toured the island. Since it was sprinkling/ raining/cloudy that day, I decided to stay on the ship with him. On the St. Kitts Day, I did get off and wandered in and out of the shops for several hours. I even ran into the tour guide we toured several years ago. We spent a wonderful day with her on a previous cruise stop in St. Kitts. I enjoyed some shopping success and was back on the ship in time for Morgan and I to enjoy a Guy’s lunch together. I really appreciate that there is a shuttle that takes you from the ship to the port for only $1.00. That service was a blessing to my knees. I wish every port offered that.

 

As you see Morgan enjoys the ports even if he doesn't get off. Cruises are what you make them

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were in San Juan from 7-2 which was earlier than I wanted to do anything. Dona and I did get off close to noon to go to the Duty Free shop there at the port where she bought some rum. I checked the price of what I had purchased on the ship’s first two day sale. They told me the ship matches prices if you take a picture to show you found a better price, so click, click of the price and yes, the ship did give me a refund for the difference. Since we had to board by 1:30, we knew we didn’t have time to explore the city. I would like to go back some other time to do that, though.

 

I knew from past reviews that the pier at Grand Turk was extremely long, so my arthritic knees knew better than letting me even try to go there. Besides, I didn’t think I’d be missing very much of interest. I did love looking at the beautiful blue water. It reminded me of the blue water when my mom used to put food coloring in my bath water each night just for fun. We have a good time on the ship even on port days.

 

[cruisecraze96]

He will not consider a scooter which would make cruising easier for him. Can you say, STUBBORN?

 

My dad was the same way, he has had several back surgeries due to being shot in Vietnam and now his legs are starting to go out as well. He decided to join us when we went to Universal and were staying at Portofino Bay, he moaned and complained about everything that night because of how much he was hurting. I went down got him a scooter and told him to get his butt on it :) He ended up staying with us there all week and then the next week at Disney and even went to the parks one day to see WWOHP :)

 

After that trip he now will rent a scooter when we go places, even joined us this fall at Disney Again ( no parks for him ) but I got him a scooter to roam the Animal Kingdom Lodge and loved it. When we do our next cruise I will have to check into how a scooter would work out, I know it is a little harder on the ship.

[ProfCruise]

I didn't like the spring rolls either! Loving this so far!

[luv2cruz44]

Awesome review so far,Jane! And you know a fellow maniac would chime in eventually. As to San Juan, we just went for the first time on our recent Liberty cruise and loved it. We return there in November of next year in the Triumph and can hardly wait to spend more time there doing the things we missed this time around. Make it a return trip for another cruse...you won't be disappointed.

[Delta Dear]

Awesome review so far,Jane! And you know a fellow maniac would chime in eventually. As to San Juan, we just went for the first time on our recent Liberty cruise and loved it. We return there in November of next year in the Triumph and can hardly wait to spend more time there doing the things we missed this time around. Make it a return trip for another cruse...you won't be disappointed.

 

Hi Ann, I hope we can go back and have more time there to explore. Thanks.

[Delta Dear]

That next to the last day was the day I had been waiting for; The Invasion of the Towel Animals. I was so excited to see that the Lido Deck chairs had been taken over by towels. There were a few non-towel animal lovers who actually removed the towels so they could lounge. Those who were on the loungers were polite as those of us with cameras stepped all around them to take pictures.

 

Lots of us towel animal lovers were out with our cameras trying to capture the joy of those lovely creatures. I think the crew left them there until almost noon.

 

 

[Delta Dear]

Dr. Seuss was on the loose. I was an elementary teacher for 36 years and have always loved Dr. Seuss books. Our own children grew up on them, too. When I found out that the Dr. Seuss program was being launched on the Freedom I was super excited.

 

I wanted to see the Camp Ocean area for myself even though it meant putting my knees through some changes to climb up to the 11th floor. It was very exciting to see the emphasis on reading and on books. The colorful area was inviting.

 

Before snapping any photos, I did ask permission to do so. I could only take pictures in the lounge or common area because of privacy issues for the children inside the camp area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I even had a chance for the photo op with The Cat in The Hat. He did seem a little fresh, don’t you think ?

 

 

[Delta Dear]

The day of the Dr. Seuss Parade, I was right there ready to join in the fun. I am just a kid at heart. I even marched in the parade from the International Lounge, Deck 5, to the top of the steps leading to the Atrium chanting Dr. Seuss is on the loose. Well, more accurately, I marched at the end of the parade. I passed that banner on to someone younger. The entire length of the parade, we chanted, "Dr. Seuss is on the loose." There were fans along the route who joined in the chant.

 

The parade hit the steps down to the theater on Deck 3, I hit the elevators and joined the group for the Storytime lead by Cruise Director, Wee Jimmy. There were some volunteers from the audience as part of the storytelling and there was audience participation also. It was fun.

 

 

 

[Delta Dear]

You know by now that I was certainly going to the Green Eggs and Ham breakfast. I enjoyed the breakfast and the photo ops with several old and several new friends.. Dona and I had t-shirts made to wear that day. The shirts say, The Three Seuss-A-Teers, Sandy, Dona, Jane. Sandy is Dona's friend who was unable to cruise with her after all. The breakfast was fun to say the least.

 

[Delta Dear]

Just a few more photos. You don't have to borrow a child to go, just have the bring your inner child with you. They do have real adult choices as well. Spending time with old friends and new friends was fun. Those bow ties were the napkins.

 

 

 

[Delta Dear]

Some background from the, 'to be revised,' portion for those who missed it. After our '13 cruise on the Breeze, Morgan said he was finished with cruising and never wanted to cruise again. Nothing bad about the cruise, he just wasn't feeling well on that one.

 

The other piece you need to know is that calamity #1 was that I discovered after we arrived in FLL that Morgan had not packed sufficient insulin pens. We spent Fri on the phone and running around to get an emergency supply RX filled at several Walgreens. Now the rest of the story will make sense. I'm wrapping this baby up tonight. Now back to the review;

 

 

We had a fantastic time on the ship. Mr. “I don’t want to cruise again kept telling me how much he was enjoying the trip and thanking me for ignoring his earlier statement. He’s even saying now that he’d like to cruise to the Panama Canal. So, ladies, ignoring your husband’s statements can be a good thing now and then. I am so glad I followed my heart and not his words. Yeah, I tell him the same thing.

 

I just love the sea and the sky views when you cruise. Whenever I feel stressed, I can look at these pictures and immediately feel the calm and peace.

 

Debarkation day was a breeze. We had breakfast and were off the ship by 9:15. John picked us up and took us to our hotel where we planned to stay until Tues., Dec. 23. We now need the security of handicap hotel room grab bars so we no longer stay with John and his wife, Cynthia when we go to FLL. They had something to do that day, so we went to the hotel to relax until being picked up later for dinner.

 

Coming up next; A FEW more calamities ! Get ready to really shake your head on the next one, but wait, there are even more.

 

 

[Delta Dear]

Say It Isn’t So.

 

When Morgan was ready to take his insulin before a light lunch at the hotel, I opened the refrigerator, handed him his insulin and said, “Where are the two boxes of insulin pens that we got before the cruise? “ The expression on his face told the tale. He’d left those in the refrigerator of the ship. All I could do was shake my head…..”Say it isn’t so,” but it was. Fortunately, he had enough insulin in the newly opened pen for another day. (He’d used what he’d originally packed by the Friday on the ship so he would have faced FIVE days without, or a early flight back home from some island, had we not gotten that emergency refill.)

 

It was clear that once again we would have to adjust our schedule and go back home on Dec. 22 instead of Dec. 23. Thank goodness we fly an airline that does not charge a change fee. You only pay the difference in fare. I was afraid that would be high since it was a last minute change during a holiday week. As it turned out, we had a $103.00 credit which was to expire on 12-30-14. I had considered that a loss since we simply had not used it. We ended up using that and only having to pay $6.04 total for our one day early air fare home.

 

We had a lovely dinner on Sunday night with John and Cynthia who are expecting their first child in Feb. Cynthia looks radiantly pregnant so it was exciting to see her.

 

We left FLL on Monday afternoon, arrived in Baltimore (BWI) at 3;30. Picked up our van and headed home. Delaware has no commercial airports so Baltimore or Philadelphia are the options we have.

[Delta Dear]

I wanted to beat the traffic and get over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge before the traffic. We did just that, decided to stop at the a restaurant for dinner. It had been raining the whole time since our landing. We came out from dinner all ready for the hour drive home and ……….. Calamity Jane’s van would NOT START. What ? We had just driven at least 30 miles from the airport.

 

A call to our road service provider, a half hour wait, a jump start, advice to replace the battery soon, and a ride home to home sweet home concluded our wonderful Freedom adventure.

 

The next morning, I called the road service provider to come to our house to install a new battery. The battery was the original in my 2010 van so I was not surprised it needed to be replaced. I had used their jump service twice before in the past few months, so a new battery was what I needed.

 

The day early worked well for us. There were lots of airport delays on Dec. 23 due to weather conditions. We were warm, dry and cozy on that day.

We had a wonderful time in spite of the challenges. Fortunately, none of the issues were serious.

 

We’ve had enough serious situations in our lives to not allow minor inconveniences to upset us. We end up laughing at the things that happen to us.

 

I will say this one thing for sure. Captain Morgan will no longer be allowed to handle his insulin needs before a trip. Three strikes and he is OUT !

 

Thanks for joining me on our adventures. So long until Calamity and the Captain cruise again. Yes, we will cruise again.

 

I also forgot to tell you that the Eagles football game was fun to watch in the EA Sport Bar. Too bad they lost.

 

Over and out. See you tomorrow with the revised first installment.