PHOTO REVIEW~Freedom, the 4th, and my 40th!

[Boozebabe]

Lol, really?! The fish was fishy? Sorry, I am absolutely LOVING your review, but that made me chuckle. :D

 

I thought it was funny too. Was he supposed to say it tasted like pork chops? LOL

[TxChick]

I thought it was funny too. Was he supposed to say it tasted like pork chops? LOL

 

When you are used to having seafood you understand fish is never supposed to taste like it smells, it's an indicator of how well it's prepared and how fresh it is.

[TxChick]

Great review! We sale in November and can't wait. I, too, have MS so I understand the heat intolerance. Glad he's doing well. I noticed he's on copaxone - I'm so much better on the new pill, Gilenya, and have been relapse free for 6 years. If he is looking for something different tell him to check it out.

[Boozebabe]

Little French Key (excursion)

 

 

 

 

 

I'm NOT exaggerating. BEST. DAY EVER!!!

 

So I am curious about this place. Do you enter the water from those ladders? I have a hard time walking in sand and can't get out of the ocean by way of the beach, so I don't get to get in the ocean.. I could get out if there was a ladder and thats what it looks like to me.

[flyawayca]

I am really enjoying your review! This is one itinerary I have not done yet and it is on the to do list :D

 

Thanks for taking the time!:)

[Martini Mom]

TxChick-That's awesome! I'll let him know. He's been relapse free for 3 yrs, so we're hesitant to change his meds, even though he hates the shots. Definitely something to consider.

 

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[Martini Mom]

So I am curious about this place. Do you enter the water from those ladders? I have a hard time walking in sand and can't get out of the ocean by way of the beach, so I don't get to get in the ocean.. I could get out if there was a ladder and thats what it looks like to me.

Yes, you can enter from the ladders, via the beach or the teeny hop off the boardwalk area. It's very shallow in that whole area, there aren't any waves at all because of the coral reef nearby, and the the sand isn't that squishy (meaning you don't sink down into it).

Great review! We sale in November and can't wait. I, too, have MS so I understand the heat intolerance. Glad he's doing well. I noticed he's on copaxone - I'm so much better on the new pill, Gilenya, and have been relapse free for 6 years. If he is looking for something different tell him to check it out.

 

 

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[Martini Mom]

I am really enjoying your review! This is one itinerary I have not done yet and it is on the to do list :D

 

Thanks for taking the time!:)

It was new for us too and it was a nice change of pace. It's also nicer to fly 3 hrs to Texas vs 5 to Florida. :)

 

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[Lady_Bayou]

Loving this review. We've booked LFK & I can't wait. We depart 9/26. I think I might just cry when I hold a monkey. It's a lifelong dream :) I booked LFK after finding it on Trip Advisor & then stalking it on Instagram & Google Images. It seems to be one of the most beautiful places on earth!

[whaletaillover]

Thank you for the reply and the info on returning to the ship on time , If my sister-in-law wants to go there we will be booking .

[nunuc2000]

Loving this review!! :)

[macsandy1957]

love your review! thank you!

[TrqoisWtrs]

Great review! Just booked the Freedom for October, so looking forward to more. :)

 

Please let me know if there are any questions you have or pics you'd like to see

 

I love changing my desktop wallpaper to match my next cruise. :) Do you happen to have a nice picture of the ship itself?

[Martini Mom]

Thank you everyone for following! :) I will add plenty more pics and info tomorrow :)

 

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[Landlocked_N_Texas]

Following your review! Love it. I'm ready to go back to Roatan after your review! Thanks for the great pics and info!

[MikeMA]

First off thank you for the detailed review and pics.

 

We booked the Freedom for January 9th. My wife and daughter (3 1/2 at the time of sailing) are meeting up with my brother and sister in law and their children(2 1/2 and 5 yrs old) who moved to the Dallas area last year.

 

They are picking us up in Houston and we are driving don to Galveston.

 

I am VERY interested in LFK as an excursion but I am reading different reviews online. Most say it is fine or young kids, but I'd say 25 percent say no.

I've read on some sites Children under 12 are 1/2 off and children under 3 and under free. Do you know if this is correct? I checked the LFK website but it doesn't say anything about the toddlers.

 

Obviously they won't be eating or drinking on the island so I'm hoping they don't expect us to pay $44 each for a 2 and 3 yr old. Otherwise the excursion prob won't happen.

 

Did you see it as a place young children could enjoy? I am trying not to be selfish because it looks beautiful after seeing all of your pics.

 

We are trying to decide on an excursion for either here or Belize (again factoring in the children) I've been to Cozumel before and we will use that for beaches and shopping.

 

Thanks for any help and again for the great review.

[Martini Mom]

First off thank you for the detailed review and pics.

 

We booked the Freedom for January 9th. My wife and daughter (3 1/2 at the time of sailing) are meeting up with my brother and sister in law and their children(2 1/2 and 5 yrs old) who moved to the Dallas area last year.

 

They are picking us up in Houston and we are driving don to Galveston.

 

I am VERY interested in LFK as an excursion but I am reading different reviews online. Most say it is fine or young kids, but I'd say 25 percent say no.

I've read on some sites Children under 12 are 1/2 off and children under 3 and under free. Do you know if this is correct? I checked the LFK website but it doesn't say anything about the toddlers.

 

Obviously they won't be eating or drinking on the island so I'm hoping they don't expect us to pay $44 each for a 2 and 3 yr old. Otherwise the excursion prob won't happen.

 

Did you see it as a place young children could enjoy? I am trying not to be selfish because it looks beautiful after seeing all of your pics.

 

We are trying to decide on an excursion for either here or Belize (again factoring in the children) I've been to Cozumel before and we will use that for beaches and shopping.

 

Thanks for any help and again for the great review.

You're welcome! I could definitely see taking small kids there. The water was clear, without waves, shallow and no drop offs in the water. They would also enjoy the zoo area with monkeys, birds, etc. We bought the mid level package because it included food and drinks. You could always do the base package for the kids and just purchase whatever they wanted to eat at the time. I think that deal was about $55 per person. I don't know if they discount for kids. You can also snorkel with them or go horseback riding right there in the water. Most of the pics I posted are from one small area of the island, put favorite part, but there are several other areas.

 

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[macsandy1957]

I've been trying to find info on the mid-level wine package you mentioned. Is that something you get in the dining room? order ahead? cost? I haven't found anything about it on Carnival's site but I'm a new girl, soooooo... TIA

 

1st Elegant Night. What I'd read was true. Most people were not super dressed up, including myself. I didn't see a lot of suits or full length gowns. Most guys seemed to wear a button down shirt, polo, or at most a shirt and tie. Most ladies wore a sundress or church type outfit. Everyone that I saw was dressed nicely. Another thing I noticed is that a majority of people changed into casual clothes right after dinner or after the show. Very few stayed dressed up all night. I wore a blue dress that I wear to church and high heels and Mike wore a new blue dress shirt and tie, slacks, and dress shoes. I don't have a lot of great pics of us at the table because there was this little spotlight type light right above us that cast strange shadows on our faces in most pics.

 

They dressed up our tables for elegant night :). There were white tablecloths and pretty silver sea-themed table decorations. Our tiny table had one and the big tables had 3 or so. The dishes were also nicer. The bread plate didn't have brown artwork on it. Now it was a sleek white dish.

 

WINE! We decided to purchase the mid level wine package, since that's our evening drink of choice. It ended up being a great thing for us! They brought all 5 bottles out to us and asked if we wanted them stored there or what we preferred. We had him open one and we took the rest back to our cabin. Why? We were able to borrow a wine opener from our room steward and open them throughout the cruise. We could take the bottle to dinner and they would serve it to us or we could enjoy wine in our cabin or pour a "traveler" to take to the comedy shows (as you can see in my glow necklace pic I posted earlier). Although the wine was obviously marked up, it still saved us on buying it by the glass and gave us the freedom of having some when we wanted it, without going to a bar. I don't know why, but I didn't take any pics of that. Probably because I couldn't get Mike back to our room quick enough to drop off the wine. I thought it looked terrible to be carrying 4 bottles of wine. One was even in the metal wine bucket chiller thingy that he asked if he could borrow. He got lots of funny comments, but he didn't care. ;)

 

 

 

 

 

Next.....Food Porn!! :)

[Martini Mom]

You can buy it at any bar once you're out to sea (Texas law), but it's offered and more commonly purchased in the dining room. They also have a wine menu with the same glasses/bottles of wine and many others so you can compare prices. The basic package was about $115, middle about $135, and top about $150. I don't remember the exact prices.

 

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[tiggerttfn61]

Wonderful review. I won't be on the Freedom, but will be on the Magic with the same ports.

[Martini Mom]

Ok, where was I? Belize, post cavetubing!

 

We headed back to the owner's office/home for our lunch and rum punch that was included. We were starving! We sat at long tables and were served a small piece of chicken, some rice and beans and a small amount of cole slaw. I don't have any pics of the food because I was dealing with "the look" from my husband. Everyone who is married knows "the look." We can speak volumes to each other in a glance. It was a tiny bit of bland food, but they offered to bring out more if you wanted, once piece at a time. The "rum punch" tasted like seriously watered down Sunny D and no alcohol. We ordered beers from them at a cost and were much happier. I like to try the local beer anyway. 2 beers later, and my husband was much happier with the experience ;). When we boarded the bus back to port, they brought a jug of the punch onboard in case anyone wanted more. No thanks.

 

BUT, I mentioned in my initial reservation request that this would be my 40th birthday, so they brought out a homemade cake for me! Very unexpected and sweet of them. It's also my favorite, yellow cake with chocolate frosting. We took a slice and shared it with our table, then shared it with a table of very thankful teenage boys and their parents next to us. :)

 

We got back to the port and got in the long tender line. It moved quickly though. As the tenders bunched up at the Freedom, waiting to offload everyone, a group of cruisers partied on their 2 story yacht next to us. I guess that excursion basically tenders itself. They were dancing, yelling, drinking and having a great spring break style time. Again, hubby gave me the look. Ok ok, we'll do that next time.

 

 

Edited July 25, 2015 by Martini Mom

[macsandy1957]

Thanks!

You can buy it at any bar once you're out to sea (Texas law), but it's offered and more commonly purchased in the dining room. They also have a wine menu with the same glasses/bottles of wine and many others so you can compare prices. The basic package was about $115, middle about $135, and top about $150. I don't remember the exact prices.

 

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[Martini Mom]

40th BIRTHDAY TREATS!

 

Mike brought decorations from home and decorated our room for my birthday. He knows I'm not a girly girl, so he put up Disney princess decos ;). In addition the the towel cake, Carnival made another towel animal and gave me this birthday card. There was also another card that offered me a free glass of champagne if I ate in the fee-based steakhouse. No thanks. Mike also ordered this Corona gift pack for "me" from Bon Voyage. ;) He got comfy on our balcony as I got ready for dinner. We were so tired. If it hadn't been my birthday, we would have skipped the MDR that night.

 

P.S.- You can see tenders in the background of my balcony pic. They were arriving much later than last call.

 

 

 

 

[Martini Mom]

A few random pics of the ocean before we head to dinner. The beige area is the sand being kicked up as Carnival starts up the ship and stirs the bottom. Next time we're in Belize it will definitely be a water based excursion for us.

 

 

 

 

[MalibuBoi804]

Very nice photo review! You've got me so excited about cruising in a few months!

 

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