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Carnival Freedom 12 Day Repo Cruise with tons of pictures

lovestocruise19

By lovestocruise19,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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cruzin Phillis

cruzin Phillis

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I bought black coral earrings, a magnet and a Patriots poncho for my best friend who was back home watching my cats. DH got a t-shirt. We then drove back to the ship.

 

I wish the tour had more time in the scoot coupe. We really didn't see that much of the island. This was probably our least favorite excursion we've ever done. Especially for the price of $129. And it seemed like they were trying to milk even more money out of you. At one point we were sitting at a bench resting and our tour guide told us we had more time to go shopping. At the end he passed out little review sheets and then basically said he lived off tips.

 

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Looks like they are building a new Carnival pier:

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I hate when they do that. We did the buggies on our own one year and the cabs were not to friendly.

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lovestocruise19

lovestocruise19

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So I have the before ( 06/26/14) and you have the after haha [ATTACH]341392[/ATTACH]

 

Loving your review bringing back wonderful memories

 

somone once told me " You will get sick of cruising " I smiled and said

" Only when I'm dead "

 

Hey, that's cool! And I love your mentality about cruising! :D

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lovestocruise19

lovestocruise19

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Back in the room I saw an ambulance on the pier. DH and I watched as they wheeled an elderly man into the ambulance. Hope he ended up being okay!

 

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A little while later we heard some noises. It was cheers and jeers for pier runners at 4:15 p.m. They were 45 minutes late! DH bought the $16 value internet plan for 24 hours so we could check our flight for delays/cancellations because another big snowstorm was about to hit New England on Saturday. Unfortunately, the flight status wasn't there yet because it was more than 24 hours ahead of time, so we had to wait until the next day.

 

I then bought this picture they took in the MDR the night before:

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Then I briefly watched from the Lobby Deck as Freedom left Breeze at the pier.

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Back in the room:

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lovestocruise19

lovestocruise19

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We ate at the Lido buffet that night. After that, we went to the Red Frog Pub and we played foosball-it was my first time playing and it was so much fun even though I lost multiple times to DH. Lol! We also attempted table shuffleboard even though we didn't know the rules.

 

Steel City Band played for a half hour and we watched them. Or attempted to watch them because a larger group of ladies plopped their stools down right in front of us. DH was pissed. He stood up to see and one of the ladies asked for his stool! He told her he had to stand because her friends were all in the way! Geesh!

 

After that we went back to the room and watched a little of American Idol. We decided to skip the comedy that night because we didn't feel like getting there an hour early just to get seats. In the Fun Times it said to set our clocks back an hour before going to bed.

 

DH and I went up to the aft whirlpools on Lido deck. The retractable roof was closed. As a matter of fact, I think they closed it every night. The whirlpool wasn't all that hot, but it felt good. DH jumped in the pool for like 30 seconds and then got back in the whirlpool and said it felt hotter. Lol! We got ice cream and then went back to the room.

 

What's this supposed to be?

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lovestocruise19

lovestocruise19

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I woke up and went to the shops. I bought DH a hat/shirt combo he'd been eyeballing the whole cruise, sour watermelon gummies and two Reeses hearts. I went back to the room and gave it all to him as an early Valentine's Day present.

 

We then went to brunch so we could use our free drink coupon. We were seated with six other people. I had scrambled eggs, hash browns and turkey bacon. The turkey bacon was inedible and reminded me of leather. DH got has browns, a fried egg and he was supposed to get bacon, but never got it. I told him to tell someone, but he never bothered. We actually got our free drinks right outside the MDR where they had a little bar set up. So it looked like you could get the drinks without having to do the brunch.

 

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We drank them on Lido and wandered down to Promenade.

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I bought heart Junior Mints and a Twix heart. DH played a tabletop video game in the sports bar. I went back to the room and filled out the customs form. DH came back to the room and then I went up and bought the photo of me and the mermaid from Cozumel and asked about how the Carnival bus worked at guest services.

 

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We were hauling this day-going 21 knots. We hung out in the room for a bit and then trying logging onto Southwest to check in for our flight. Apparently the satellites were down. We thought it was the signal and went up to Lido, then back to the room. I always dread the last sea day because it always seems like we are in sour moods trying to print our airplane tickets! We finally got on and were able to change our flight to fly into MHT instead of Boston. I really wish they still had a pay by the minute plan, too, because we basically spent $16 just to change and check-in for our flight.

 

I ordered a turkey and cheese sandwich and veggie sticks from room service and DH got his last Guy's burger.

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lovestocruise19

lovestocruise19

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We took a nap and then ate dinner on Lido at 7 p.m. They had the fudge cake again, which I have come to the conclusion that I like more than WCMC!

 

We listened to Trent, the country singer, sing a few songs in the Red Frog Pub and then went back to the room. DH popped up to Lido to get us a little bit of ice cream. We were all packed and ready to do self assist. Self assist for Deck 1 was supposed to be at 6:30 a.m.

 

Here's a picture of something. Not sure what it is, but it was pretty out my window:

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lovestocruise19

lovestocruise19

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We got off the ship at 7:08 a.m. using self assist and only had to wait in line for 13 minutes for customs. There were people directing us to the bus for Hobby. Nobody checked our names off a list or anything so I guess it was the honor system.

 

The bus ride took an hour and 10 minutes because we got stuck in some traffic. We were at the airport by 8:48 a.m. which was too early to check our bags (has to be four hours or less) so we waited until 10:18 a.m. to get in line. DH tried to see if we could change to a 10 a.m. flight, but it would have cost a lot.

 

We stood in the bag check line for 20 minutes and then went through security. We found our gate and settled down to wait. We saw our flight was delayed by a half hour. I got Subway for lunch. I ate my heart Junior Mints. Lol!

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Then we heard something we didn't want to hear. Our flight from BWI to MHT had been cancelled! Fran, a Southwest rep, helped us book a flight to Orlando and then Orlando to MHT the next day. We searched for a hotel room in Orlando, but no dice! Darn Valentine's Day! Fran then called us and said they had returned our bags to luggage claim. At that point we asked her if we could switch our flight again and just fly home from Houston instead of Orlando. She had said earlier that that was what her supervisor recommended. She gave us a voucher for a discounted rate for a hotel and even gave us three choices of hotels close by. We chose Doubletree.

 

We got our bags from baggage claim and the airport shuttle was there within minutes. The hotel is super close to the airport. We checked in and then took a nap! We were hungry when we woke up, so we went to the Cockpit Bar and Grill next door, but when we walked in the bartender said they don't serve food. Um, okay, then maybe you shouldn't have the word "grill" on your sign. Back in the hotel we went to the hotel restaurant, but when we saw the choices and prices we left!

 

Back in the room we ordered pizza delivery from Pizza Hut.

 

I texted my boss and let her know that I unfortunately would have to miss work tomorrow due to Mother Nature!

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lovestocruise19

lovestocruise19

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We woke up and showered and then took the free airport shuttle back to the airport. This is the only pic I got of the Doubletree. It's just a shot of the fountains in their driveway:

 

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I got a bagel and cream cheese at Dunkin Donuts in the airport. I bought a bag of Cheddar Chex Mix to have on the flights. We waited for our flight and actually boarded and took off this time. Yay! Our flight had a stop in Atlanta where we didn't need to get off the plane. It then went from Atlanta to Raleigh-Durham. Once it landed, DH checked out Southwest on his phone and showed me that the flight from BWI to MHT had been cancelled again! What?! I was a little teary eyed and didn't believe him.

 

We got off the plane and confirmed with the agent that yes indeed, the BWI to MHT flight was cancelled. At that point I sat down and began to cry! DH went off to get food and I called my Mom. I told her what happened and she was talking to my Dad in the background. Mom said she had to tell me something and I said what? She said that Dad drove to our apartment complex the other day and shoveled the three feet of snow we had gotten while away off our vehicles. We had been worried that the management company would tow our vehicles, so this bit of news made me so relieved and happy that I began to cry. This time happy tears. Lol! Mom said that Dad wanted it to be a surprise, but she knew by telling me now it would be one less thing for us to worry about.

 

At this point, we really wanted to get home, so we were checking bus schedules and train schedules from BWI, which were all very expensive. We finally settled on renting a car!

 

I had some food and shortly thereafter (after talking to a sweet gentleman named Rydell about the state of NC which we have always thought about possibly moving to someday) we boarded our flight to BWI.

 

Once in BWI, we went to baggage claim and they said that our bags would go on to our final destination of MHT, which was kinda lame.

 

We went outside and apparently in BWI the car rental place is 8 minutes away by shuttle bus. To say I was cold waiting for that bus is an understatement. :eek:

 

We were finally on our way in the rental car by 10:45 p.m. DH and I took turns driving, although he drove the bulk of it. We tried to nap while the other was driving, but it didn't happen. I think we were both running on adrenaline at that point.

 

GW Bridge in NY:

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After five or six pitstops for gas, bathroom breaks and hot chocolate, we FINALLY made it home by 7:45 a.m. Monday morning. Nine hours later.

 

So, that's it! Feel free to ask any questions and I will also be posting links to a bunch of videos I took on the cruise, too.

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pghsteelerfan

pghsteelerfan

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I've been following along since you've started and just got caught up and finished the last part. I remember you posted about booking this one and how excited you were. I'd love to be able to do a longer cruise to more ports some year, but DH can only take a week at a time due to his job. I've enjoyed this review as much as the others you've done and always love the pictures you get. We haven't been to Aruba or Curacao yet but hoping to go on an itinerary that includes them someday.

 

So glad you guys finally made it home, but wow, that would have been nuts. We live fairly close to BWI (hour and a half away) but very close to Washington Dulles (about 10 miles) and are actually under their flight pattern of planes landing/taking off (depending on wind direction) and it was eerily quiet due to all the cancelled flights for that storm. We didn't get nearly as much snow as areas north and east of us. How was the drive from Baltimore home, were the roads really bad. Again, glad you made it safe.

 

Thank you for doing another wonderful review of your cruise and hope you do another the next time you cruise. :)

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lovestocruise19

lovestocruise19

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I've been following along since you've started and just got caught up and finished the last part. I remember you posted about booking this one and how excited you were. I'd love to be able to do a longer cruise to more ports some year, but DH can only take a week at a time due to his job. I've enjoyed this review as much as the others you've done and always love the pictures you get. We haven't been to Aruba or Curacao yet but hoping to go on an itinerary that includes them someday.

 

So glad you guys finally made it home, but wow, that would have been nuts. We live fairly close to BWI (hour and a half away) but very close to Washington Dulles (about 10 miles) and are actually under their flight pattern of planes landing/taking off (depending on wind direction) and it was eerily quiet due to all the cancelled flights for that storm. We didn't get nearly as much snow as areas north and east of us. How was the drive from Baltimore home, were the roads really bad. Again, glad you made it safe.

 

Thank you for doing another wonderful review of your cruise and hope you do another the next time you cruise. :)

 

That's funny how you could tell that there weren't as many flights out of BWI. The roads weren't bad at all on the way home, actually. It wasn't snowing at all during our whole journey, but it was windy. I think that the second MHT flight might have been cancelled due to the wind/cold. Since we were driving in the middle of the night, we didn't hit much traffic, just on the GW Bridge. There were cops in front of us going really slow over the bridge. DH thinks maybe they were slowing us down because of the wind? Once we hit Mass we saw how high the snowbanks were on the side of the road! The wind was making the snow drift into the road a little.

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ladybugcruiser

ladybugcruiser

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Enjoyed your review and pics! Have a few questions.

Did you see any dolphins?

Did you participate in any sailaway or deck parties? No pics so was wondering.

Do you guys not like beach days? You said you did not like your buggy excursion so was going to say, there are some nice beach day excursions there. Nachi-cocom. Was good and parasailing is awesome!

You covered a lot inyour review but you also seemed to miss a lot of things I would love to see such as the crowds on lido and pool area. How was the music on lido? Sunsets and sunrises? Atrium pics?

Did you not join the huge CC roll call or join any of the activities that were planned for this group?

Thanks for the review. Glad you got back home finally!

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iheartmarshall

iheartmarshall

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DSCN0826.JPG

 

DSCN0827.JPG

 

I bought black coral earrings, a magnet and a Patriots poncho for my best friend who was back home watching my cats. DH got a t-shirt. We then drove back to the ship.

 

I wish the tour had more time in the scoot coupe. We really didn't see that much of the island. This was probably our least favorite excursion we've ever done. Especially for the price of $129. And it seemed like they were trying to milk even more money out of you. At one point we were sitting at a bench resting and our tour guide told us we had more time to go shopping. At the end he passed out little review sheets and then basically said he lived off tips.

 

 

DH and I did this excursion back in May 2014 and didn't like it either. It was fun, but I expected more time in the scoot coupe and thought we would see more of the island as well. If I remember correctly, when we went Carnival had just started offering this excursion again so I felt like a guinea pig. There were only three of us plus the guide (DH, me, and a solo cruiser) and while our guide was nice, it just didn't meet my expectations. I'd love to return to Cozumel and take advantage of the other excursions that were on our short list -- there's so much offered there that we're interested in and I wish we would've picked one of those over this one. Way too pricey for what it is.

 

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lovestocruise19

lovestocruise19

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Enjoyed your review and pics! Have a few questions.

Did you see any dolphins?

Did you participate in any sailaway or deck parties? No pics so was wondering.

Do you guys not like beach days? You said you did not like your buggy excursion so was going to say, there are some nice beach day excursions there. Nachi-cocom. Was good and parasailing is awesome!

You covered a lot inyour review but you also seemed to miss a lot of things I would love to see such as the crowds on lido and pool area. How was the music on lido? Sunsets and sunrises? Atrium pics?

Did you not join the huge CC roll call or join any of the activities that were planned for this group?

Thanks for the review. Glad you got back home finally!

 

Didn't see any dolphins. :( The only time I've ever seen dolphins was from the Lido deck on the Glory on a cruise to Canada! Lol!

 

We didn't participate in any deck parties, but we watched one for a few minutes once.

 

We aren't huge lounge on the beach people. I'm sure if we visit Cozumel again we'll be able to find something different to do. There are a lot of excursions offered there.

 

I'm pretty sure I posted some Lido pool pics. I also have a video of a flash mob on Lido that I'm going to post. The music was either by the DJ or a guitar player named Ashby and he was good.

 

I posted a sunset pic in St. Maarten and as for sunrises, I was never up that early!

 

I also posted a pic of the atrium, but maybe not looking down it. I had been on the Freedom before, so I probably didn't take as many ship pics.

 

I was involved on the CC roll call, but didn't participate in the events. My DH doesn't like strangers. Lol!

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lovestocruise19

lovestocruise19

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DH and I did this excursion back in May 2014 and didn't like it either. It was fun, but I expected more time in the scoot coupe and thought we would see more of the island as well. If I remember correctly, when we went Carnival had just started offering this excursion again so I felt like a guinea pig. There were only three of us plus the guide (DH, me, and a solo cruiser) and while our guide was nice, it just didn't meet my expectations. I'd love to return to Cozumel and take advantage of the other excursions that were on our short list -- there's so much offered there that we're interested in and I wish we would've picked one of those over this one. Way too pricey for what it is.

 

 

Definitely agree!

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