Just off Freedom...W. Caribbean 4/5-4/11

[AnnieB925]

No, it's definitely not Titanic.

 

LOL....ok, where is the best (least crowded) hot tub?

[jbroons]

LOL....ok, where is the best (least crowded) hot tub?

 

 

Go to the rear of Freedom.....adult only on Lido....bar/pool yes....hot tub I don't recall, maybe because of the bar.;)

[AnnieB925]

Thanks John. I just printed our Southwest boarding passes. We'll be landing in Ft. Lauderdale tomorrow morning at 10:30. Can't wait to check out the Freedom!

[buggystuff]

Thanks John. I just printed our Southwest boarding passes. We'll be landing in Ft. Lauderdale tomorrow morning at 10:30. Can't wait to check out the Freedom!

 

no baggage fees, and cruisers carry baggage! HA!

 

Enjoy and save your Capers! I'm in 8262 in 3 weeks!

[newbieMom]

Hey Bonnie :) I can't believe it's time!!!!!!!!! I think we might skip the roll call M&G. We've got to get the kids all set up with their camp stuff and I don't want to stress about it. We might get there, who knows:) I'm in cabin 2392. Leave me a note and we can hook up for our "for Jim" picture;)

[AnnieB925]

Hi Carrie,

I understand, having 3 children myself. We're in 1061 so feel free to knock at any time. I'll give you a ring and we'll set up our photo shoot!

 

See you soon!

Bonnie

[jbroons]

Bon Voyage Annie & Meg;)

[HarperSays]

I just read this whole thread from beginning to end in one sitting...and now I'm exhausted! Great review and so much fun! I loved the pictures of your girls with the sting rays.

 

I will be cruising on Freedom in October. Only my 2nd cruise and 1st was on Norwegian. Does Carnival have any specialty restaurants that you pay an extra fee for, or are all the dining options included in your fare?

 

I can't wait to hear from Meg/Carrie and Annie!

[jbroons]

I just read this whole thread from beginning to end in one sitting...and now I'm exhausted! Great review and so much fun! I loved the pictures of your girls with the sting rays.

 

I will be cruising on Freedom in October. Only my 2nd cruise and 1st was on Norwegian. Does Carnival have any specialty restaurants that you pay an extra fee for, or are all the dining options included in your fare?

 

I can't wait to hear from Meg/Carrie and Annie!

 

Hello....and thanks for reading!!

 

Yes, on Freedom the "Supper Club" was in the Sun King restaurant. It is $30.00pp extra and, I have heard, totally worth it. I had a reservation during our recent cruise but one of my girls didn't react well to a relaxed, potential 2 1/2 hour meal so I cancelled. The MDR was great though so it's OK!!:)

[Debster2Cruz]

Hey John, since you have your first cruise under your belt now are you planning a second? Do the girls want to go again? Maybe don't want to kiss a stingray the second time around!

[jbroons]

Hey John, since you have your first cruise under your belt now are you planning a second? Do the girls want to go again? Maybe don't want to kiss a stingray the second time around!

 

Hi Debbie - YES...we all want to plan our next cruise!! And, you are right....maybe back to dolphins next time and not stingrays (although I LOVED it). We are going to Florida, on air & land, in June...so no cruise then. But definitely very soon after....maybe just me as a single guy.

 

You didn't go on the recent Looter cruise, right?! (did they have fun?)...but you will be on the next one (economy permitting:(). Thanks for the "bump" Deb!!:)

[jbroons]

Hey John, since you have your first cruise under your belt now are you planning a second? Do the girls want to go again? Maybe don't want to kiss a stingray the second time around!

 

You still have the BEST siggy Deb, btw.;)

 

John

[Debster2Cruz]

Hi Debbie - YES...we all want to plan our next cruise!! And, you are right....maybe back to dolphins next time and not stingrays (although I LOVED it). We are going to Florida, on air & land, in June...so no cruise then. But definitely very soon after....maybe just me as a single guy.

 

You didn't go on the recent Looter cruise, right?! (did they have fun?)...but you will be on the next one (economy permitting:(). Thanks for the "bump" Deb!!:)

No, I didn't go on the mini cruise. It was my FD dance performance that week and this is her senior year so it will be the last one and I couldn't miss it, not even for a cruise. Then she is off to college in the fall. I am losing two FD this fall and will only have one left. I am going to just stick to that one for awhile and enjoy a little free time. I have been so tied down always having teenage girls that I want some free time for me for awhile. The youngest spends the night at her friends alot which will give me some time to actually go out on the town. Something I haven't been able to do in a long long time. I will probably be bored with only one teenager in the house. We will see. I know me, I will wind up getting more.

Yes, they all had a great time on their mini cruise. I will be on the next one in April for sure. I don't have to fly anywhere for it. I do have my CRAZIES cruise coming up this September 20th. Can't wait. The two will be off to college so just need to find a sitter for one while I am gone. Woops, sorry for the long reply.

[Debster2Cruz]

You still have the BEST siggy Deb, btw.;)

 

John

I had the website design it for me so no one should have it but me. I LUV IT too!

[AnnieB925]

We're baaaack! What a fabulous cruise, from start to finish, it was sheer perfection.

 

We flew down to Ft.Lauderdale the morning of the cruise, booked the transfers through Carnival, and were whisked off to the terminal by a Carnival rep/bus. The embarkation process was slow, I'm not going to lie about it. We got there a peak time (around noon) and waited in line for about an hour.

 

Once on board we went right up to our cabin, threw open the balcony door and took in the sights! We loved our cabin on the Panorama deck (upsell fairly called us 10 days before the cruise and we took the offer). We could walk right out to the lido deck and be at the hot tub, bar, pool, dining, etc. Plus we were only one flight below the gym.

 

The gym is awesome, with plenty of good equipment: ellipticals, bikes, treadmills, weight machines, free weights, mats, etc. We never had to wait at all to get a cardio machine. We love to work on so we made that a priority.

 

We really lucked out with out dining mates. I think we've made friends for life! No kidding, we had so much fun every night eating, drinking and talking. It was the first time we were ever wait listed for the 8:15 seating so we were a bit worried. We had asked to be seated at a large table (we like to mix and mingle.) Once we embarked we saw that we had been assigned the second seating, so far so good. We got to the dining room that night and were escorted to our table for 4 (oh, no.......would this work?) It was a good fit right from the start. How could Carnival know that? We had no desire to go to the supper club after that! Nor did they, so we had a ball every night in the DR.

 

Tours: We booked the Dunns Falls through Marva Shaw at www.knowjamaica.com and found her to be reliable and much cheaper than Carnival excursions. We did the falls (bring water shoes) and then had her drop us off at Reggae Beach (a bit off the beaten track) where we sipped the local beer and caught some sun.

 

In Grand Cayman we walked to/from 7 mile beach (total of about 4 miles, because we went to the resort part of the beach) and it was fabulous! The water was so blue, clear and clean and the sand was as fine as silk.

You could easily hop a cab for about $5.

 

In Key West we walked to Southernmost Point and then did some shopping and ate Key Lime Pie dipped in chocolate on a stick at the Blonde Giraffe on Duval Street. We've been to Key West a few times and have done tours in the past. It's one of our favorite places to walk and sightsee!

 

The food: excellent! How they can manage to pull off the buffets with the variety and quality of the food they serve is amazing. In the DR we bought the 5 bottle wine package on day 1 and that lasted thoughout the 6 days. On most nights we had a couple of starters and a main dish. We always had dessert and espresso. Our service was superb and we never waited long for any part of our meal, yet we were not rushed either.

 

This was the first cruise where I didn't use room service once. We were so close to the food that it was just as easy to go out and get what we wanted. Typically I order breakfast in, but not this time.

 

We kept our costs down: no drink of the day. In fact, very little drinking during the day: a beer on deck a couple of times and out in ports as well. Shopping is a hobby for me, but not on this cruise. I bought nothing, nada, didn't even look. I decided to spend my time enjoying the sights rather than running into stores. Our sail and sign bill was a joke, certainly the lowest we've ever had.

 

We don't gamble so never went to the casino. I can't speak to that, other than to say it was hoppin' every night.

 

The shows were good. We went nightly. We really enjoyed "Ticket to Ride" and had seen it on a previous cruise, but they changed it up a bit. We also like Allyn Ball, the comedian, who we've seen before, but is just hysterical! The dancers, singers, orchester were all wonderful. The guest talent show was just so-so. We've certainly seen better, but that's ok.

 

We liked the piano bar and found that to be the place we went for a pre-dinner drink or after dinner chat with our tablemates.

 

I never did meet up with Meg. We changed cabins on day #2 to allow a big family group to have adjoining cabins, so we packed up and moved. Maybe Meg tried to call me, but if so, I wasn't in the cabin I was supposed to be in. We briefly passed by the meet 'n greet but didn't stop as there weren't many people there.

 

On our last cruise the meet 'n greet was huge and we had our own food: coffee and pastries. The CD dropped by to check out what all the CC people had to say! The guy who organized it left no stone unturned.

 

Let's see, what else? Debarkation was a breeze. We were off by 10:00, took the transfer to the airport, checked our luggage ( a new service that Southwest has for cruise passengers ), then hopped a cab to E.Los Olas Blvd. We walked a bit then found a restaurant where we sat the bar had a couple of beers, ate some lunch and killed some time. Then we hopped in a cab, back to the airport for our 5:30 flight home. We got dirt cheap prices on SW so didn't mind wasting some time in Ft.Lauderdale.

 

Flew home on a plan that was so new it had been in the air only 3 times! Could be good--could be back, right? Landed before our scheduled time, retrieved our car from long-term parking and drove home.

 

I'm seriously considering purchasing the Carival linen package. I love those sheets and sleep like a baby while cruising. Our room steward was excellent. He kept our room immaculate, kept our ice bucket full and was never in the way at all.

 

I'd highly recommend the Freedom. We enjoyed our sea days, didn't find chair hogs to be a problem at all. The ship is perfect in every way. The cruise greatly exceeded our expectations, which are quite high.

 

We loved it,,,,,every minute of it. We're now convinced that we will always get a balcony (I needed more convincing that my husband who has always liked balconies.)

 

If anyone has any questions I'm happy to try to answer them.

[Tee Tee]

WOW! Awesome review Annie

I am cruising on the Freedom leaving on Oct 24 and doing the 8 day Western Carribean itenary. How was dinner? What did you eat? Did you like flying Southwest and how far out did you book your flight? Soutwest has not yet released their flights for November so I can see the prices for my departure date of Oct 21 or 22 but not for my return of Nov 1. They won't release these flights until the end of June and I am a little nervous about waiting. What do you think?

Thanks Laticha

[newbieMom]

great review Bonnie! (Annie)

I also noticed that chair hogging was not a problem...what a nice surprise! I'll do my review later today or tomorrow....doing the Mother's Day thing and honestly a little sad today. I feel like I've been kicked out of my home on Freedom. Oddly, I still feel like I'm on the ship. It's a swaying sensation that's really kind of cool actually, because I can close my eyes and imagine walking down the hall to our cabin or making my way through the dining room, but then I open my eyes and see the pile of cruise laundry that awaits me:( BooHoo! All I wil say for now is that it was the best week of my life, and my my kids kept saying the same thing. Just amazing!

[AnnieB925]

Dinner was fabulous. I had chateaubriand (my favorite meal on the ship), chicken, lobster tail (we're from New England and the lobster is better here!), another beef dish and a veal dish. All were excellent. The starters were good too. We both loved the crabcakes (and I make pretty good ones myself!) The soups were varied and delish. I liked the cherry soup, the asparagus vichyshois (sp?) We enjoyed the vaious salads too. Sometimes my husband would order a starter size of the pasta dinner entree. They are very flexible. You can order as much as you want and you can share/slit dishes if you want to order two.

 

The desserts were good. I got dessert every night and my favorite was the Grand Marnier Souflee, seconded by the chocolate melting cake. I barely ever finished my desert but sure did enjoy the espresso or cappicino.

 

Re: Southwest. Yes, I know they don't release flights that far in advance. We found that out when we flew out to Phoenix in February. We had to wait, but I just kept checking and when they released the flights I booked the "gotta get away" special.

 

This time we booked the cruise and flights on short notice. Notheless, I was able to get "gotta get away" fares so the flights cost $480 total from Boston to Ft.Lauderdale non-stop. One thing you've got to do is check in 24 hours in advance so you're in the A group for boarding. That means that one the cruise you'll be in the internet cafe (or in your cabin, they have WiFi, if you bring your laptop) to sign in to be in the A group. You can print out your boarding passes in the internet cafe.

 

Don't be nervous, you'll do just fine. Wait until they release them then jump right in!

 

We really like Southwest, but haven't flown them much because they didn't go out of Boston until recently. For us that means driving to Manchester, NH (which we did in Feb.) or to Providence, RI (which we did this time.) Both are about an hour away and the long-term parking is much cheaper than in Boston. Now SW flies out of Boston so we'll have more options in the future.

 

Happy planning!

[Ron_L]

John... Thanks for the fun review. We cruise on Valor during the week of 4/19 and I'm looking forward to our next cruise and the Freedom Eastern itinerary is one of the possibilities.

 

Annie and Carrie, it's good to hear that you had agreat cruise on Freedom as well.

 

Carrie, where are you in the 'burbs? We are in Batavia.

[AnnieB925]

Hey Carrie,

So glad to hear that you loved the Freedom and that your kids did too. It's an amazing ship, isn't it? We really lucked out with weather, no flu and everything falling into place.

 

Sometimes I sway a bit afterwards but not this time. I think the stabilizers on the mega ships must be incredible. Like you though, I'm tired and depressed and facing a mountain of laundry to do.

 

Along with that I'm studying my brains off for a major exam that I have to take tomorrow as part of my new job, which starts next Monday.

 

My husband is cooking dinner tonight and our daughters have been waiting on me hand and foot today.

 

Can't wait to hear what your impressions were and what excursions you did. Did you hear about the guy who fell at Dunns River Falls and broke a couple of ribs and his clavicle? Ouch!

 

Happy Mother's Day!

 

 

great review Bonnie! (Annie)

I also noticed that chair hogging was not a problem...what a nice surprise! I'll do my review later today or tomorrow....doing the Mother's Day thing and honestly a little sad today. I feel like I've been kicked out of my home on Freedom. Oddly, I still feel like I'm on the ship. It's a swaying sensation that's really kind of cool actually, because I can close my eyes and imagine walking down the hall to our cabin or making my way through the dining room, but then I open my eyes and see the pile of cruise laundry that awaits me:( BooHoo! All I wil say for now is that it was the best week of my life, and my my kids kept saying the same thing. Just amazing!

[jbroons]

John... Thanks for the fun review. We cruise on Valor during the week of 4/19 and I'm looking forward to our next cruise and the Freedom Eastern itinerary is one of the possibilities.

 

Annie and Carrie, it's good to hear that you had agreat cruise on Freedom as well.

 

Carrie, where are you in the 'burbs? We are in Batavia.

 

Hi Meg & Annie - YAAAYYYY!!!!

 

I am so happy that you both had a great cruise and loved Freedom....however, I am somewhat unhappy that there is no "Jim Picture"......tell us/me MORE!!!!!

 

Thanks for reading Ron.......Cruise on Freedom....You will LOVE her!!!

[AnnieB925]

You want more......let's see.....ok, each day included:

a trip to the lido deck for breakfast: eggs, yogurt, chocolate milk, coffee and fruit.

 

Lunch was typically on the lido deck: buffet or sandwich bar. One day I did the pizza and Caesar salad bar. Most days we had frozen yogurt for dessert.

 

I lived on iced tea with lemon as my drink of choice each day. Yum! I'd take two of those little glasses (when did Carnival do away with the tall glasses?) up to the pool and hydrate myself before slathering on the SPF 30 sunscreen. Then I'd read a bit, dunk a bit, read some more, run back to the too convenient cabin on deck 10, back out to the sun, etc.

 

Around 6-7 each evening we'd shower and have a glass of wine in the cabin before dressing and heading out for the evening. We had the late seating--8:15, so we'd wander around and/or have a drink at the piano bar.

 

We did not buy one, not one photo! We have several from other cruises, and after a while the cruises kind of all blend together and we can't remember where we did what and where the photos came from. Enough!

 

In between cruising, we take "active" land vacations and that's where we tend to take more photos. This cruise was an opportunity for one new port for us: Ocho Rios in Jamaica. We were pleasantly surprised at how lovely it was. We docked, opened our balcony and stepped out not knowing quite what to expect, other than a dump. It was beautiful! I can't believe there are people who actually recommend staying on the ship instead of exploring.

 

We found the people in Jamaica to be friendly and very accomodating. We booked a tour ahead of time and were able to pass all the Carnival groups to be whisked off on our own tour. "ya mon" is the word of the day and the people are so laid back! Forget what you read about the vendors being in your face. We found it to be no more so than in the Bahamas or Barbados.

 

We loved the Dunns Falls climbing excursion. We wore our water shoes and up we climbed. Yes, we got wet, but it felt good. Our tour guide was a big Jamaican guy who was always willing to show us the easy path and to lend a hand. We had no problems in our group. I would recommend a water camera. We took nothing w/ us, thus no pictures of our climb.

 

The ship never seemed crowded, so I don't think it was full. We never waited for a thing and there were no lines for dinner and very short lines at the lido for breakfast and lunch.

 

The longest line was embarkation. Next time we'll get to the port later in the day. We took the cheapest non-stop flights we could get so we couldn't be too picky. However, waiting in line for over an hour was not a fun way to start a cruise.

 

Todd the CD was ok. He wasn't around that much and we didn't think he had the "stage presence" fo some of the other CD's we've seen. The captain was MIA also. We barely heard from him. On our last cruise on NCL out of Boston to Bermuda the captain would come on the intercom to tell us to look out to see dolphins jumping around. He was friendly and very good at communicating.

 

The Captains reception wasn't on the level of what we've had in the past. There were drinks but no food. I guess it's one way Carnival is cutting costs. We skipped the past guest reception because it was held at 4 in the afternoon, which we assumed was another way of saving some $$$. They probably figured fewer people would show up. On previous cruises the past guest reception has been full of food and drinks and was timed right before dinner on formal night (now know as elegant night.)

 

The suitcases are empty now. The laundry is started. We're thinking about what our next vacation will be. We know it will be Europe, but aren't quite sure if it'll be a Med. cruise or a land vacation. Time will tell.

 

Carrie, can't wait to hear your stories!

[jbroons]

Thanks Annie....did they have the hot hard boiled-eggs? Did you like the adult area aft on Freedom?

[AnnieB925]

Yes, they did have the hot hard boiled eggs. I saw them in the breakfast buffet daily.

 

We went to the back pool only once. It was just so easy for us to go to the front pool because of the location of our cabin. One day I sat out there and watched Slum Dog Millionaire on the big screen. The other days we'd head up to the front of the ship. I found the hot tub up front to be less full than the one at the back.

 

Hey, where'e the breakfast buffet today?

[jbroons]

Yes, they did have the hot hard boiled eggs. I saw them in the breakfast buffet daily.

 

We went to the back pool only once. It was just so easy for us to go to the front pool because of the location of our cabin. One day I sat out there and watched Slum Dog Millionaire on the big screen. The other days we'd head up to the front of the ship. I found the hot tub up front to be less full than the one at the back.

 

Hey, where'e the breakfast buffet today?

 

I know!! The withdrawals aren't fun.....I also want the breakfast buffet....even still!! Welcome Home Annie!!!....Where's Meg??:confused: