Live From The Carnival Freedom: Crossing the Atlantic for a New Whale Tail

[Pear Carr]

You made the right decision - that lunch beats any hassle you would have had organising a whistle stop day in Rome!

[Petersonfcu]

6 hours ago, jam19872016 said:

 

 

I am going to ride the shuttle to where it drops me and take a look around but I think that's as far as I'm getting today.

Too bad you couldn't get to Rome, though understandable in your situation.  Perhaps you will go back some day.  For history buffs I think Rome and Athens are the tops in the Western World and are bucket list visits.  Well, London is pretty good too, given all the historical sights there and the location of the British Museum (arguably the best history museum on this planet).

[exlondoner]

11 minutes ago, Petersonfcu said:

Too bad you couldn't get to Rome, though understandable in your situation.  Perhaps you will go back some day.  For history buffs I think Rome and Athens are the tops in the Western World and are bucket list visits.  Well, London is pretty good too, given all the historical sights there and the location of the British Museum (arguably the best history museum on this planet).

This is a nice time of year for Rome, but, honestly, how much can you do in a day?

[Petersonfcu]

18 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

This is a nice time of year for Rome, but, honestly, how much can you do in a day?

Yes, one of the few drawbacks of cruise vacations.

[jam19872016]

Holy heck! I got the wifi to connect on my computer. I confirmed that none of the computers work very well in the library so I had given up trying. While I have this working, I am going to start catching up on my days on shore. It was too photo heavy to try and do this on my phone.

 

We left off alllll the way back in Malaga on Carnival Freedom.

 

These first pictures might be repeats but my day is a little fuzzy at this point as this was back on October 2.

 

We had docked at 7AM and after our sixth day of losing an hour, the ship was definitely quiet this early in the morning. I had stepped outside after a quick bite to eat to grab a few pictures of the other ships in port with us today and the surrounding port area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was very cool out. It did warm up a little later in the day but for the most part it was a very nice day.

[jam19872016]

For my day in Malaga I had purchased a hop on hop off tour through the ship. I could have purchased it only for just under $27 (€25). Buying it through Carnival was $28 so just over a $1 markup, but I think it was worth the small upcharge.

 

The reason I say this is because the tour purchased direct did not start until 10am. Our tour started at around 8:30 and allowed us a head start on the crowds. I imagine you could have purchased it direct at the pier for the lower price, but you would not know that ahead of time. I also advise going early like I did.

 

It was a little disorganized to start. The directions on my tickets just say meet at the pier from 8AM untill noon. Thankfully it turned out to be easy to figure out once I got there and again I do recommend getting there early.

 

We lined up with our excursion tickets which we traded for the tickets to get onto the bus.

 

 

 

By 8:36 we were on our way.

 

I did my best to get pictures, I did get a great seat up top on the edge, but of course it is a moving vehicle

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jam19872016]

Continued.

 

 

 

 

 

I would return later to this spot, but I wanted to take the full loop around first.

 

 

 

[jam19872016]

 

 

 

 

 

[jam19872016]

More photos from around the city...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jam19872016]

After the first loop there was a massive line to get on the bus. It was about 10:15 at this point. I asked someone who got on how long she had been waiting. She said about a half hour and said the line was much longer now than it was when she started. So bear that in mine if you don't want to wait for a bus.

 

Alternatively, the last stop before this one is at the hard rock cafe, less than five minutes walk from the pier. You run the risk of the bus being full but most likely there will be seats available and you will skip all the people waiting in line.

 

This time I got off at Castillo de Gibralfaro and set off on foot to explore.

 

 

 

I did not know where I was going and I think maybe if I had, I wouldn't have ventured on so in hindsight, I am glad I did not know because I got some incredible views! Be warned, though, it is steep and very hard to make your way back up the hill. It is also very challenging walking downhill and you could be seriously hurt if you lose your footing. Very, very steep.

 

 

Looking back up, and this was before it got very steep.

 

 

Some great views along the way though.

 

 

 

 

 

[jam19872016]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jam19872016]

 

 

I seriously debated just walking back to town from here. I really did not think I could make it back up but I did not know how long the walk would be. It looked close but I knew my perception from this vantage point was skewed. I am not going to lie, I really, really had a hard time getting back up. I only recommend this for those who are in great physical shape. Maybe just go to the first lookout point and turn back around. 

 

They also had a castle you could enter and look around at. I did not enter but here are the prices for reference.

 

 

 

 

[jam19872016]

That wore me out and I did not get off at any other stops. I may do the tour again to see some more of the other stops on the return crossing. 

 

It took two busses arriving before I was able to reboard as nobody wanted to get off. I can't blame them, I am sure most of them had just waited a long time to board as this was the first interesting stop after the cruise terminal. Then I didn't get a spot up top and it was now quite warm sitting on the interior of the bus.

 

Once I got back to the pier and started moving, I got a second wind and decided to walk around on foot a little.

 

It was now 12:30 and the line had died down. Although you don't really have time now to do much except take the loop and maybe one quick stop somewhere.

 

Some sights along the way as I walked.

 

 

 

 

There is a great free beach nearby if you just want an easy beach day.

 

 

 

 

[jam19872016]

 

 

 

I have a morbid curiosity to try one of these American fast food spots here to see the difference.

 

 

Is it morbid curiosity, or morbid obesity?

 

Very walkable city.

 

 

 

[jam19872016]

Finishing up my walk.

 

 

Looking back up to where I looked down onto the city earlier.

 

 

 

The final stop on the bus before the pier if you want to walk to it to skip the line.

 

 

 

 

 

[jam19872016]

I had a great day in Malaga and in the fog of port after port of exploring, I was planning to stay on board for this port on the way back. But after seeing my pictures and reliving my time, I am rethinking that plan. It was a very beautiful port.

 

I'm getting death stares to hurry along so I am going to get ready and head to dinner now. Hopefully whatever issues I was having are cleared up so that I can continue catching up on my port days.

[jam19872016]

Tonight's dinner menu. 

 

 

[jam19872016]

2 hours ago, Pear Carr said:

You made the right decision - that lunch beats any hassle you would have had organising a whistle stop day in Rome!

Agreed.

 

 

2 hours ago, Petersonfcu said:

Too bad you couldn't get to Rome, though understandable in your situation.  Perhaps you will go back some day.  For history buffs I think Rome and Athens are the tops in the Western World and are bucket list visits.  Well, London is pretty good too, given all the historical sights there and the location of the British Museum (arguably the best history museum on this planet).

I made it to Athens last year and did a wonderful tour around the city and acropolis. 

[jam19872016]

2 hours ago, exlondoner said:

This is a nice time of year for Rome, but, honestly, how much can you do in a day?

 

1 hour ago, Petersonfcu said:

Yes, one of the few drawbacks of cruise vacations.

I'll make sure I get back in the next year or two 😀

[exlondoner]

10 minutes ago, jam19872016 said:

Tonight's dinner menu. 

 

 

Rather a boring menu, unless you really like pork, and I have found the pork fillet didn’t have much flavour.

[jam19872016]

Just now, exlondoner said:

Rather a boring menu, unless you really like pork, and I have found the pork fillet didn’t have much flavour.

I'm not real hungry again either. I ended up just doing one entrée, the fish which has not been their strong suit.

 

I know I will end up at the buffet for late night snacks anyway so I will be ok.

[jam19872016]

Lemon spinach for my mom 708.

 

 

Grilled baby corn for me.

 

[jam19872016]

Our port is canceled tomorrow 😞.

 

Safety first of course. 

[exlondoner]

13 minutes ago, jam19872016 said:

Our port is canceled tomorrow 😞.

 

Safety first of course. 

That’s a shame. I enjoyed my one call at Ajaccio. Another time.

[jam19872016]

Very tasty but certainly not filling and now my appetite is returning, hope its a big piece of fish.

 

My rainbow trout is here 724

 

 

 

My 

 

My mom got tje slow roasted Veal loin.